Sure, this Dodgers series ended in ugly fashion, the same ugly fashion that so many games seem to have ended in as of late. But I honestly don't want to dwell on that. Based on TLR's post-game comments and, well, his entire managerial career, Ryan Franklin's going to hold on to his fancy closer title for as long as his invincibility cheat lasts. At least this time the disastrous death bomb to center field came at the hands (or bat, really) of Matt Kemp instead of Cameron Maybin. The glass is half-full, right?
Seriously, though, the glass has to seem half-full right now if you're a Cardinals fan. The team just finished up a streak in which they scored a minimum of eight runs for five consecutive games, something that hasn't happened in my lifetime. For that matter, it never happened in Jack Buck's lifetime! It was a truly fantastic streak that saw Albert start to heat up, Lance Berkman remind me why I took the life of multiple mobile phones when he opposed the Cardinals a half-decade ago, and Colby Rasmus show why he's so important to the future of this team. I certainly wouldn't have thought this around the start of that Giants series, but there's a lot to get excited about with this offense.
I'm going to back off for a moment and restate that I haven't changed my mind in relation to the big picture. I don't think this team is going to win more than 90 games at the most, and I still think this division is going to be quite the fight all the way to the finish line. What I am starting to realize is that Lance Berkman may be something of a bargain for this offense. No, he isn't going to slug .700, but who's to say he can't hearken back to his still-productive 2009? Colby hasn't done anything to disprove the hypothesis I and several others made prior to the season. You know, the one about him approaching stardom. David Freese looks totally competent at the plate and has played an outstanding third base. Skip Schumaker hit a home run that one night.* There's a lot to be excited about!
*At the exact moment that Skipper popped his little dinger my Mediacom connection was briefly lost and my TV screen blacked out. The signal returned just in time for me to see a three-run change in the game's score and everyone high-fiving Skip. Come on! What are the odds? I feel like I missed a lunar eclipse or something!
But wait! I'm not just excited about the offense. Between Bryan Augenstein's wiener and Brian Tallet's hand, the team was forced to call up both Fernando Salas and Eduardo Sanchez (no, not Kenny Powers' dad) as replacements. Salas has shown himself plenty competent, and Sanchez is most likely the best relief prospect in the organization. TLR probably just hates it, but his back is now against the wall and he has to prize talent over guts and Connect Four skills. Tallet is useful against lefties and all, but this bullpen excites me more. Some of that probably has to do with the fact that Sanchez has faced 10 fellas as a Big Leaguer. One of them got a base hit. Eight of them were sat forced back to the bench with their heads shaking at the hands of the Ed-ucator. (I'm still working on a better nickname, so don't even bother).
Going into Tuesday's series opener against the Expos, my over-exaggerating early-season self now comfortably believes this team is as good as he thought it was before it was Franklin'd on March 31. It's a nice change considering he was starting to see shades of the 2003 Tigers.
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