First Place-ish

Since my last post, which was admittedly far too long ago, the Cardinals have ascended to the ranks of NL Central leaders and a 29-20 record. They have the largest run differential in the league and the best Pythagorean record. There are a lot of things to be grateful for, and I'll get to those, but first I need to vent once again about this team and what it's doing with its bullpen.

The only Achilles heel that's ever brought up nationally in regards to the 2011 Cardinals is the team's shaky bullpen, a unit that, as I've said before, would be far less shaky if the right personnel were in place. At this point, it's obvious who needs to be in the game when things really matter. Jason Motte, Eduardo Sanchez, Fernando Salas, and Mitch Boggs have all proven themselves to the point where they should be trusted. Sure, Salas has a track record of being merely acceptable. Sure, Sanchez walks too many at this stage in his career. Sure, Motte has just one real pitch. At this point, though, we need to throw all of that out and look at the results, all the while realizing that the peripherals back these guys up.

Notice how I didn't really have anything bad to say about Boggs? That's because there just isn't much to say. He's been very solid since 2010 and has two plus pitches that support his success. His strikeout rate remains right around a batter per inning, while his walk rate is under two per nine innings. What's not to like? Well, apparently quite a bit, as the Cardinals have sent the reliever packing for Triple-A Memphis so Skip Schumaker can return to the team and find ways to dropkick ground balls.

Wait. Really? I understand the team wants to carry 13 position players rather than 13 pitchers. I would, too. But can't the Redbirds' 12 pitching spots be utilized in a more constructive matter? Let's look closer at this bullpen. Boggs aside, we know Motte, Sanchez, and Salas are all staying on the roster. Add in the five members of the starting rotation and that leaves four pitching spots left to fill. Trever Miller, who looks a lot like a gas station attendant at the Kum 'n' Go near my house, has struggled mightily and walked more than double the men he's fanned. Despite this, he has a strong history of effectiveness against lefties and the sample size is small. This is no Franklin-style buttplosion. He should still be a member of this bullpen. I'm even cool with Brian Tallet, another lefty-stopper, keeping his job despite injuries and marginal results. Hey, we really need to have two left-handed options.

We're now left with two spots left and the following options to consider: Mitchell Boggs, Ryan Franklin, and Miguel Batista.

This isn't that hard. Boggs has outperformed both Franklin and Batista by leaps and bounds no matter what statistic you want to use. Well, unless you want to use pitcher wins, and I assure you, you don't.

Boggs: 3.66 ERA, 3.06 FIP, 2.84 xFIP, 1.07 WHIP, 8.69 K/9, 1.83 BB/9, .227 AVG against
Batista: 2.76 ERA, 4.68 FIP, 5.35 xFIP, 1.78 WHIP, 5.51 K/9, 4.96 BB/9, .286 AVG against
Franklin: 9.20 ERA, 7.00 FIP, 5.24 xFIP, 1.98 WHIP, 3.07 K/9, 3.07 BB/9, .358 AVG against

I mean WOW. I don't even need to say anything. If ever numbers spoke for themselves, it's the numbers you see above. The only thing I can see holding the Cards back from making the decision that will help them not lose at baseball is that they didn't want to designate either of the old codgers listed below Boggs for assignment. You know what? I understand that Franklin's been a respectable member of the team's bullpen for the past three seasons, but this is the last year of his contract, he's already discussed retirement, and you're trying to run a successful baseball club here. Cut your losses and let the man go. Someone'll probably take a flier on him, anyway. I only hope that Franklin and Schumaker, who's just going to take away at-bats from cheaper and younger options with honest room for growth, have no place on this team in 2012.

I'm not here solely to complain, however. As a long-tenured baseball fan with a bit of a pessimistic outlook, I should really savor the good things as well. Let's start with Jaime Garcia. His first outing of the season set the tone for what was to come, as Garcia sits among the top 10 in the league in ERA, WHIP, WAR, FIP, xFIP, and BB/9. The gains he's provided are such a big reason that the Cardinals haven't seen a colossal downturn following the season-ending injury blow dealt to ace Adam Wainwright.

We're all aware of the hot starts from Matt Holliday and Lance Berkman. I think we're also all aware of what those hot starts mean. Holliday is likely to have a slightly better season than he did a year ago, but he's already an excellent player and among the best in the game. Berkman, in part thanks to looking less fatly, started off on an extreme tear that will likely dissipate but still leave his season looking fantastic when compared to his 2010. But what about Yadier Molina, everyone's favorite piss-and-vinegar backstop with an Indiana Jones whip for an arm? Yadi's hitting .333/.380/.493, good for a .371 wOBA! He's been worth nearly two wins above replacement already! This is a player whose career wOBA is .307! Can we really expect these gains to continue? Probably not, but it's sure been fun to watch. Molina has limited his strikeouts as usual, and his line drive percentage remains right around where it always is. If there's anything to take as a truly good sign, though, it's that he's hit the ball in the air more and more of his fly balls have left the yard. For one of the slowest players in baseball, that has to be considered a big positive.