All posts by Brian Walton

Brian Walton runs The Cardinal Nation, covering the St. Louis Cardinals and minor league system.

Pujols, Cardinals continue historically high double play rate

On Thursday night, Arizona took game one of their four-game road series at the St. Louis Cardinals. The home club was most hospitable, rapping out just three hits and grounding into two double plays en route to a 4-1 defeat.

The double-play culprits were the big bats in the middle of St. Louis’ lineup, Matt Holliday and Albert Pujols. Despite a 15-day disabled list stint with a non-displaced wrist fracture, Pujols still leads the National League with 19 double plays grounded into this season. His teammate Yadier Molina is third in the NL with 13 GIDP.

As a team, the Cardinals have amassed a whopping 97 GIDP in their first 89 games. To help put that into context, at second place is the NL is Pittsburgh with 72. NL Central combatants Milwaukee and Cincinnati have 55 and 53, respectively. The Cards’ current opponent, the Diamondbacks,  have grounded into just 44 double plays despite entering the series with an identical 47-41 record to St. Louis.

I last looked at this subject in detail just one month into the season, back on April 28. At that time, the small sample size argument could be used. With well over half the 2011 schedule now complete, that card can no longer be played.

While the Cardinals’ GIDP pace has eased a bit since the first month, it still sticks out like a sore thumb for a team has simply been treading water. The lack of timely scoring has certainly been a factor in St. Louis’ pedestrian 33-33 record since April 28.

The Cardinals are currently on pace to ground into 177 double plays this season. It would set a new MLB record, surpassing the current high-water mark of 174, set by the 1990 Boston Red Sox.

The NL record is also in serious jeopardy. The 1958 Cardinals, with 166 GIDPs in just 154 games, had the most in NL history to date.

All is not lost. You first need to have runners on base before you can eliminate them.

Though they are nowhere near a record-setting pace in run scoring, the Cardinals are currently second in the NL in runs. They are in the middle of the pack in ERA, seventh, and are just 12th in fielding.

In fairness, they constructed their 2011 club that way – to be heavy on offense. Still, it would seem a lot easier to outscore the opposition if they weren’t erasing a historically high number of runners on the bases.

A return to the Pujols of old could be the most important single factor in the 2011 NL Central race. Finishing the season as the league leader in grounding into double plays on the club with the most GIDPs in MLB history does not seem the optimal route to get there.

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Opening up a Cardinals 40-man roster spot

Let’s assume that the St. Louis Cardinals, weary from a hard-fought series against Cincinnati and coming off a 13-inning contest on Wednesday, need fresh arms. With four straight games immediately ahead against Kirk Gibson’s resurgent Arizona Diamondbacks, let’s assume that right-hander P.J. Walters is returned to the 40-man and 25-man active rosters.

There are candidates to be optioned out, with probably the easiest, though perhaps not most deserving, being Walters’ fellow Memphis rotation member for much of the season, Brandon Dickson. Dickson went 2 1/3 shutout innings Wednesday night against the Reds at Busch Stadium.

Walters, scheduled to start for Memphis in Round Rock Thursday evening, should offer that replacement fresh arm in long relief.

With the Cardinals’ 40-man roster full, however, how might they make room for Walters, who was removed from the 40-man less than six weeks ago, on May 28. Since then, the 26-year-old went 4-1 with a 2.10 ERA and fanned 34 in 34 1/3 June innings to be named The Cardinal Nation Pitcher of the Month.

Here are some of the 40-man possibilities. Vote for your preferred choice. Refer to the Cardinals organization Roster Matrix for details on who is where. On the Roster Matrix, 40-man players are bolded.

[poll id=”95″]

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Cardinals players on Twitter

Twitter continues to be an interesting as well as expanding source of baseball news. Many minor leaguers are not only establishing a public presence there, but some have even been actively begging for fan followers in apparent good-natured popularity contest with their peers.

Earlier this season, we first learned of the promotion of St. Louis Cardinals number one prospect Shelby Miller from Palm Beach to Springfield via a tweet from the player himself.

The trend continues as Tuesday night, Joe Kelly received congratulations from other players in the organization for his yet-to-be announced move up to Springfield from Palm Beach.

As more and more players join Twitter, you may be interested in following them, too. Here is a list of Cardinals major and minor leaguers, though likely far from complete. Their Twitter handles are listed first. The active links for many of the player names will take you to their stats page at Baseball-Reference.com.

St. Louis
DanielDescalso – Daniel Descalso
dfreese23 – David Freese
ESanchez52 – Eduardo Sanchez
jonjayU – Jon Jay
mattholliday7 – Matt Holliday

Memphis
kingchambers_8 – Adron Chambers
PJWalters33 – P.J. Walters

Springfield
ShelbyMiller19 – Shelby Miller
Ngreeny23 – Nick Greenwood
cswag8 – Chris Swauger
JermaineCurtis – Jermaine Curtis
MCReid42 – Chase Reid

Palm Beach
jkell005 – Joe Kelly
philipthebases – Phil Cerreto
Xavier_Scruggs – Xavier Scruggs
AlanAhmady – Alan Ahmady
sneakpeekatneek – Niko Vasquez
JordanSwagerty – Jordan Swagerty
Tyler_Lyons – Tyler Lyons
jesseLsimpson – Jesse Simpson

Quad Cities
codystanley21 – Cody Stanley
dannybibona – Daniel Bibona

Batavia
PlayPatt_22 – Jeremy Patton
Gwittels10 – Garrett Wittels
DannyMiranda40 – Danny Miranda
DrewBenes – Drew Benes
NickMartini26 – Nick Martini
Maness_43 – Seth Maness

Johnson City
s_ramos9 – Steven Ramos
TyrellJenkins14 – Tyrell Jenkins
DWashington52 – David Washington

Gulf Coast League
@theCordDodd_ – Corderious Dodd

On military duty
Cardinals15 – Mitchell Harris

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Bitter blogger Chass rips another Hall of Famer Gibson

Following his retirement from the New York Times, Hall of Fame baseball writer Murray Chass became an angry and bitter blogger.  Living off his past accomplishments, Chass now seems focused on settling the score with others against whom he holds grudges from the past.

Chass’ latest target is none other than a fellow Cooperstown inductee, former St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Bob Gibson.

Following a sparse, two-paragraph review of the upcoming HBO special about the late Curt Flood and his fight against MLB’s reserve clause which bound a player to a team, Chass quickly turned to his specialty, attacking others.

Chass labels the former Cardinals hurler a “tin man,” in other words, heartless, because Gibson did not come out publicly in support of his teammate Flood’s legal challenge against baseball’s owners in 1970.

Even as he completed his skewering of Gibson, Chass undercut his own position by admitting that Gibson was far from alone. In fact, the writer acknowledges that not one major league player came to Flood’s defense at the time.

In other words, Gibson was simply one of 599 other major leaguers in 1970 that did not step out of line to risk the ramifications of crossing the then-all-powerful owners.

Though other contemporaries of Flood such as Joe Torre and Tim McCarver are quoted in the article about their own indifference to the Flood situation, they were spared Chass’ slander.

Apparently one reason Gibson was singled out was because the candid former pitcher was willing to discuss the situation in depth with the HBO filmmakers, providing Chass quotes to dissect.

Another reason appears to be that Gibson’s long-tenured dislike of the press remains stuck in Chass’ craw.

“As a player, Gibson intimidated opposing batters with his blazing fastball and reporters with his menacing stare and gruff responses to questions,” Chass wrote. “In retirement he has not mellowed. He neither takes phone calls from reporters nor returns them.”

Did Chass single out Gibson because he spoke with HBO and not him?

One final question.

In his 1970 writings, did Chass spring to Flood’s defense, joining the lonely fight against baseball’s barons? Or instead, did he “wimp out,” just as his headline over 40 years after the fact accuses Gibson of doing?

One thing we have learned from the steroids era is that silence was wide-spread at the time. Moralizing after the fact about what should have been done simply creates the impression of hypocrisy by the accuser.

More than likely, the pot is calling the kettle black here and it is not becoming.

Update:  A reader provided this link from the NYT, noting that in 1971, the very brave and visionary Chass wondered if players who demand change have mental issues.

Notes: “The Curious Case of Curt Flood” is a 90-minute documentary that premieres on HBO at 9 P.M. EDT on July 13. I also highly recommend reading “A Well-Paid Slave,” a Flood biography written by Brad Snyder.

The above photo is from the aftermath of game seven of the 1964 World Series. On the far left, an exhausted Gibson is helped off the field by catcher McCarver, while Flood, number 21, is in the far right of the shot.

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Cardinals-Reds match-up means Fourth of July fireworks ahead

I know there is still one game remaining for the St. Louis Cardinals in Tampa but as I looked at the pitching match-ups for the upcoming Cincinnati Reds series, I could not get past Monday’s Independence Day opener.

Mon., July 4 vs. REDS: Chris Carpenter (3-7, 4.00) vs. Johnny Cueto (5-2, 1.84) 5:15 p.m. CDT (FOX Sports Midwest, KMOX Radio and Cardinals Radio Network).

As fans all over baseball know, there is history from 2010.

The Cardinals had slipped to two games behind the Reds heading into a crucial three-game series in the Queen City that began on August 9. St. Louis swept Cincinnati, reaching the 15 games over .500 mark while re-taking the division lead for what would be the last time.

The huge series win was not without tragedy. On August 10, a melee erupted that had its origin in words from Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips the night before. The physical incident was touched off when Phillips tapped the shin guards and spoke to Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina to begin the bottom of the first inning.

In the scuffle that followed, Cardinals reserve catcher Jason LaRue suffered what became a career-ending concussion when kicked in the head by the Cincinnati pitcher Cueto. Carpenter also suffered cuts and scratches while Cueto ended up receiving the most minor rap on the knuckles, a seven-game suspension.

“I turned around and I’ve got Cueto kicking me in the back with his spikes,” Carpenter said at the time. “He ends up kicking my backup catcher in the face. Totally unprofessional. Unbelievable. I don’t know where that guy learned to fight.”

Is there any doubt that Carpenter, coming off three long games in terms of pitches thrown, will be at his competitive best come Monday? Does Cueto dare dig in when he steps up to the plate?

This will be Cueto’s first mound appearance in St. Louis since the fight. He defeated the Cardinals and Kyle McClellan in Cincinnati on May 14.

Here are the other two series games, also expected to be interesting.

Tue., July 5 vs. REDS: Jaime Garcia (7-3, 3.33) vs. Edinson Volquez (5-3, 5.65) 6:09 p.m. CDT (ESPN, FOX Sports Midwest, KMOX Radio and Cardinals Radio Network).

Wed., July 6 vs. REDS: Jake Westbrook (7-4, 4.92) vs. Bronson Arroyo (7-7, 5.49) 7:15 p.m. CDT (FOX Sports Midwest, KMOX Radio and Cardinals Radio Network).

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What I am working on (instead of a blog post)

With the holiday weekend almost upon us, focus is on family and friends (with some baseball mixed in, hopefully). Here are some of the items on my current to-do list, with several already crossed off. New blog entries fall to the bottom of the priority list – unless it is a post about not posting!

Done

FOXSportsMidwest.com

My weekly column is entitled “The Cardinals’ Starlin is Rising,” with the focus being new Palm Beach second baseman Starlin Rodriguez. I also provide updates on minor league signings and more news.

Memphis Redbirds Notebook: 2011 Week 12

The Cardinals’ Triple-A club managed a split at first-place Omaha and return home with Adron Chambers on fire at the plate. (The Cardinal Nation subscriber article.)

Tampa Bay Rays series preview

My friend and Rays expert Jason Collette of DRaysBay.com and Baseball Prospectus provides an in-depth look at the St. Louis Cardinals’ weekend opponent, the Tampa Bay Rays. This audio interview is available for The Cardinal Nation subscribers.

Cardinals player “Hot News” items

The Cardinal Nation is often the first place to report player moves across the minor league system as well as explaining their ramifications. We have several dozen “hot news” items each week. Today is no exception with news on Cody Stanley, Kleininger Teran, Kyle Deese and more for TCN subscribers. Basic information on the moves themselves is added to the free Roster Matrix here usually within 24 hours.

In progress

Cardinal Talk on KXnO FOX Sports Radio

My usual Friday afternoon segment with Ken Miller and Jim Brinson of KXnO FOX Sports Radio 1460 in Des Moines will be at 5:30 P.M. CDT today on the air and streamed via KXnO.com. (As always, I will also post the audio for The Cardinal Nation subscribers this evening.)

Fantasy column at Mastersball.com

My weekly fantasy baseball-oriented column runs each Saturday at Mastersball.com. I expect this week’s article to have considerable Cardinals-related content.

The Cardinal Nation June Player of the Month

Look for my free article coming that will announce the top player across the Cardinals minor league system this past month. Our Pitcher of the Month has already been disclosed.

Gulf Coast League Cardinals Notebook: 2011 Week 2

Good news and bad. The Cardinal Nation has a new writer, Paul Ivice, who is the official scorer for the Gulf Coast League Cardinals and has years of professional writing experience. His first first-hand report on many of the newest Cardinals ran last weekend for subscribers.

The bad? Paul is off this weekend so I will be sitting in.

Cardinals Minor League Notebook: 07/02/11

Our daily recapper of all Cardinals minor league action each day, Josh Jones, is taking a day off tomorrow as well, so it looks like I will be writing the daily site notebook for Saturday morning. These are also subscriber-only.

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Carpenter throws most pitches since 1998

St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Chris Carpenter came into Wednesday with just two wins in 16 starts this season and had been victimized at times by poor bullpen support.

On one hand, with the short-handed pen in flux, one can understand why manager Tony La Russa left his starter in Wednesday night for a season-high 132 pitches in the complete game, 5-1 win over the Baltimore Orioles.

On the other hand, Carpenter is being ridden hard. The veteran right-hander has thrown over 120 pitches in each of last three starts. In his entire previous seven years with the Cardinals, he threw that many pitches in a game only four times.

132 pitches is Carpenter’s second-highest pitch count ever, with his career high of 134 achieved during his sophomore season of 1998. Carpenter was 23 years old at the time.

Now 36 years of age, Carpenter has never gone more than three full seasons as a major leaguer without suffering some type of injury. He remained off the disabled list for most of 2009 and all of 2010 when his 35 starts led Major League Baseball.

In his prior life with the Toronto Blue Jays from 1997 through 2002, a much younger Carp threw 120 or more pitches 14 times. With his now seven such starts with the Cardinals, his career total is 21 games of at least 120 pitches.

Interestingly, Wednesday night was the first of Carpenter’s five 125-plus pitch games in which he was the winner.

Thanks to researcher Tom Orf, here are Carpenter’s previous 20 starts in which he threw 120 or more pitches.

Rk Date Tm Opp Rslt App,Dec IP H R ER BB SO HR Pit Str GSc BF AB
1 6/2/1998 TOR BOS L 3-11 GS-8 ,L 7 8 7 7 2 6 2 134 79 39 33 31
3 8/16/1999 TOR SEA L 5-7 GS-7 ,L 6 7 4 4 9 5 0 131 70 40 34 24
4 7/13/2000 TOR PHI L 5-8 GS-8 ,L 7 10 8 8 2 4 2 129 79 29 34 32
5 8/26/1998 TOR KCR L 2-7 GS-8 ,L 8 11 5 5 0 6 1 126 85 46 34 34
T6 6/23/2011 STL PHI W 12-2 GS-7 ,W 7 5 1 1 1 7 0 124 80 69 27 26
T6 6/17/2011 STL KCR L 4-5 GS-8 ,L 8 10 5 4 1 7 0 124 83 50 36 32
T6 10/6/2001 TOR CLE W 5-2 GS-8 ,W 7 5 2 2 4 8 1 124 82 65 31 27
9 6/14/2000 TOR DET W 8-1 GS-8 ,W 8 9 1 1 6 7 0 123 71 61 38 32
T10 9/26/2006 STL SDP L 5-7 GS-7 ,L 7 12 6 6 2 6 0 122 75 33 34 31
T10 8/26/2004 STL CIN L 0-1 CG 8 ,L 8 3 1 1 1 11 1 122 80 82 28 27
T10 6/9/2001 TOR FLA L 1-6 CG 9 ,L 9 9 6 3 6 5 1 122 73 50 42 33
T10 5/6/2000 TOR CLE L 6-8 GS-8 7 8 6 6 4 7 0 122 70 41 32 28
T10 7/16/1998 TOR CHW W 5-2 GS-8 ,W 8 4 2 2 1 10 0 122 80 75 29 27
T15 6/3/2000 TOR FLA L 1-2 GS-7 7 5 0 0 4 3 0 121 72 66 29 25
T15 5/6/1999 TOR OAK L 2-3 CG 9 ,L 9 6 3 3 1 7 1 121 82 69 33 31
T15 9/1/1998 TOR KCR W 2-1 GS-7 ,W 7 4 1 1 3 6 0 121 76 68 27 23
T18 9/3/2005 STL HOU W 4-2 CG 9 ,W 9 8 2 2 2 8 1 120 78 69 36 33
T18 6/24/2004 STL CHC W 4-0 GS-8 ,W 8 7 0 0 1 9 0 120 82 76 31 30
T18 7/1/2001 TOR BOS L 0-4 GS-8 ,L 7 6 3 3 2 6 2 120 79 59 29 26
T18 5/1/1999 TOR SEA W 9-3 GS-6 ,W 5 9 3 3 4 3 1 120 71 38 29 24

Only time will tell how many more such outings Carpenter has remaining in his talented right arm. While the Cardinals hold an option on his services for 2012, the $15 million price tag may prove prohibitive.

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Relief for Cardinals relief

The St. Louis Cardinals bullpen was prominent in their win over Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards on Tuesday evening.

Lance Lynn, up again from Triple-A Memphis where I saw him just one week ago, was named the FOX Sports Midwest Player of the Game after he fanned five and allowed just one hit and no walks in two scoreless innings. The rookie is showing he deserves to receive more work.

Though he had struggled recently, especially in multi-inning outings, closer-for-now Fernando Salas did his job. Asked to once again go longer, to secure five outs to seal the win, that is precisely what the 26-year-old did.

Perhaps the reason for seeing Salas in the eighth was the lack of dependable options in the bullpen, but I will give manager Tony La Russa the benefit of the doubt. I give him considerable credit for apparently recognizing that the most crucial point of the game was in the eighth. Holding Salas until the ninth would be of no value if the contest had already gotten away from his staggering club, losers of 12 of their last 15. Using the closer in a non-save situation is not TLR’s standard M.O., but it was clearly the right thing to do on Tuesday.

In between, former closer Ryan Franklin was given the ball to start a clean eighth with a six-run lead and floundered. A J.J. Hardy home run, a single and an RBI double in just 1/3 of an inning increased Franklin’s 2011 ERA to 8.46 and created the mess Salas was asked to clean up.

As researcher Tom Orf pointed out, Franklin has now given up nine home runs in 28 innings this year after yielding just nine in 2009 and 2010 combined, over 126 frames.

As we know, both La Russa and general manager John Mozeliak have repeatedly expressed confidence in the beleaguered reliever, saying they want him to return to pitching in meaningful situations. If there is an injury, no one will admit it.

After over two months of trying, it seems about time to admit a turnaround may not happen – at least in this environment.

Franklin’s last save opportunity (it was blown) was back on April 17. Since then, La Russa and pitching coach Dave Duncan have been reluctant to use Franklin and when they have, the results have not been good. The 38-year-old appeared in just six games in May and six so far in June.

Franklin is not getting better as he has been scored upon in five of those six June contests with his ERA this month now 10.61. That is worse than his 10.13 ERA during his April meltdown (four blown saves and two losses over his first five appearances of the season).

Fierce loyalty to his players (as well as having a large doghouse for those who end up on his wrong side) are among La Russa trademarks. The trait is usually admirable, but at times like this, the manager seems painfully slow to acknowledge what most others can clearly see.

This is a game of results and despite all the past successes, the results have not been there in 2011. Extreme patience has been shown, but improvement is not occurring.

Franklin was a solid player for the Cardinals prior to this season and deserves thanks for those memories, but his performance has deteriorated to the point that his presence on the roster is hurting his team.

It is time for someone to take action, whether Mozeliak, La Russa or Franklin himself.

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Cardinals players hearing it from fans

By Marilyn Green

I’ve been a St. Louis Cardinals fan since I was six years old.  I went to my first Cardinals game at Busch Stadium II when it was brand new.  My family consists of over the top baseball fans.  My father played high school baseball, and coached both my brothers in Little League.  Baseball in the Green family is sacred.

I take my fandom very seriously.

Because I love baseball and the Cardinals so much, it disturbs me to hear and see the things I have from St. Louis Cardinals fans.  I have been to three games so far this season and three last season.  I would go to more if I could but it is not possible.  But I don’t have to go to every game to see the disturbing trend of fan behavior.  Fans booing at players who don’t play well.  Yelling and cursing at players.  Constant harping and criticizing every at bat, every defensive play that isn’t up to par.  This kind of behavior may make the fan feel better, but the fan is not playing the game.  The players hear and hear about that kind of behavior.  They are not automatons.  They are human beings with feelings and insecurities just like you and me.  They have special skills and they are paid well for those skills but they do not deserve to be treated like their feelings don’t matter.

I was privileged to have access to some players and players’ families at the game against the Blue Jays on Saturday.  It is easy to criticize and complain about that guy you see on your TV or from a long distance away in the stadium.  But when you actually meet them face to face, hear them speak, talk to their parents or their spouses, you realize that they are no different from you.  That player’s wife or child, or mother or father, feel the same way you would feel if someone cursed a member of your family or called them ugly names.  And believe me, that does go on at games – with the player’s family sitting within earshot.  Players hear what it is yelled at them from the stands.  Think about how you would feel if you had other people screaming at you how worthless you are.  Wouldn’t it affect you adversely?  Of course it would.

The players don’t mess up on purpose.  Have you ever had a boss or a co-worker constantly harping at you?  How did it make you feel?  Did you get to a point where you just didn’t care anymore because you knew it didn’t matter what you did?  Do you think the players don’t have these same feelings at times?  I can say without reservation that I performed the best at my job when I felt appreciated, when I received encouraging words from those around me.  Yes, I still messed up at times, but I picked myself up and was more determined to do better when I knew I had the support of my boss and my co-workers.

We love our Cardinals.  We have been recognized as the Best Fans in Baseball.  However, from what I have seen going on in the stands in the last couple of seasons, that moniker is in serious jeopardy.  Bad behavior becomes contagious.  We as Cardinals fans need to respect the game, other fans and most importantly, the players.  Booing and cursing is not respect.  Booing and cursing do not make the players play better.  Please Cardinals fans, continue to be the Best Fans in Baseball.

Walton joins Rains duo on radio Monday

On Monday afternoon at 2:00 P.M. Central, I will be joining Rob Rains and B.J. Rains on The Sports Zone Show on Sports Radio 1380 AM in St. Louis. If you are outside the St. Louis area, catch the live internet stream for free.

The focus will be the Cardinals minor league system and specifically top prospects such as Shelby Miller, Zack Cox and Oscar Taveras.

In addition to their weekday show from 1:00 to 3:00 P.M. CDT, also catch Rob’s writings at RobRains.com and B.J.’s daily beat coverage of the St. Louis Cardinals at FOXSportsMidwest.com.

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Is Pujols worth 20 wins per season?

How might one try to quantify what St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols means to his team?

Relevant data is scarce, though the population is growing since the 31-year-old suffered a forearm fracture and was placed on the disabled list effective Monday. It is just his third career DL stint and will be the first to go beyond the minimum 15 days.

Pujols missed 15 games in June 2006 and 13 in June 2008. The team went 14-14 in total with an 8-7 record the first year followed by a 6-7 mark two years later.

Even before Albert was hurt one week ago today, Sunday, the Cardinals had begun a slide. They had been 2-7 in their last nine. Since Pujols’ absence from the lineup, the club is 1-4, including Saturday evening’s loss to Toronto, for a total 3-11 skid.

With another defeat on Sunday, the Cards with Pujols on the DL would be 15-19 (.441) since his 2001 debut. In games Pujols has appeared over his career, the team is 911-720 (.559). In all St. Louis contests during the time in which Pujols was on the active roster, whether he appeared or not, they are 930-733 (also .559).

The difference over an entire 162-game season would work out as follows.

  • Without Pujols (.441) = 71-91 record
  • With Pujols (.559) = 91-71 record

Even in this overly-simple analysis, that difference of 20 games is something to think about for the future.

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Cardinals organization roster matrix: 2011 short season

NOTE: This version of the roster matrix is no longer current. It reflects the 2011 changes from the start of short-season ball until the end of the 2011 World Series. It should now be considered a historical reference document. For the active roster matrix covering the 2011-2012 off-season, click here.

With the short-season minor league schedule now underway, it is time for another refresh of the St. Louis Cardinals system roster matrix. This version will reflect the changes made from the first week of 2011 short-season play. The previous matrix reflects the rosters as they evolved from the end of spring camp until then.

If you are new to the blog and not familiar with the Cardinals organization roster matrix, here is quick summary:

In the first week of 2011 short-season play, the St. Louis Cardinals had 288 players under contract from top to bottom, including a full 40-man roster. The matrix places each one at his current assigned level in the system based on his placement at the end of last season as well as by position. It is kept updated daily or as transactions occur.

Nowhere else will you find this current and comprehensive single-page view of the entire Cardinals organization.

Don’t be concerned about the order of the players’ names within a team. It doesn’t signify anything.

The players on the 40-man roster are called out in bold.

The short-season pitchers are broken out into returnees and summer 2011 signees. The latter group is either denoted by the round drafted or FA (for free agent).

At the end is a group of currently inactive and unassigned players. The final group, 2011 unsigned draftees, is not a part of the signed total.

Full team rosters and player profiles at The Cardinal Nation

Remember that to get detailed profile information on every single one of these 288 Cardinals players, simply check out their free player profiles freshly updated now at The Cardinal Nation.com / Scout.com. You can see bios, photos, videos, articles, news items, links to current season and career stats and much more – everything you need to know about a player in one place.

Click on the following links to be taken to one of the nine team pages at The Cardinal Nation:

Full-season clubs
St. Louis Cardinals
Memphis Redbirds
Springfield Cardinals
Palm Beach Cardinals
Quad Cities River Bandits

Short-season clubs
Batavia Muckdogs
Johnson City Cardinals
Gulf Coast League Cardinals
Dominican Summer League Cardinals

Once there, just click on a player’s name to be taken to his individual profile page. For example, here is Shelby Miller’s profile.

Looking ahead and back

Now that you’ve found this page once, remember one of three ways to get back here. Bookmark the page, type “Roster Matrix” in the dark blue search box at the upper right or use the dropdown menu at the top of the page: “Players/Staff” > “Depth Charts/Roster Matrix”.

For details behind past rosters and transactions, check out the earlier versions of the Cardinals organization roster matrix as follows.

Link to previous matrices: Jan–March 2009, April 2009, May 2009, June 2009, July 2009-February 2010, Spring camp 2010, Opening season 2010, First half 2010, Short-season 2010, 2010-11 Off-season, 2011 spring training, 2011 regular season

Transactions

6/24: New matrix. Organization total: 288 players. LHR Iden Nazario from Bat to QC. LHR Justin Wright from QC to PB. RHR Francisco Samuel to PB DL. C Steven Hill from Spr to Mem. 1B Matt Adams off Spr DL.

6/25: C Nick Derba from Mem to Spr. 2B Kolten Wong (1st round) signed, assigned to QC. New total: 289 players.

6/26: LHR Justin Wright onto PB DL. RHR Arquimedes Nieto off PB DL. C Travis Tartamella onto Spr DL.

6/27: IF Nick Punto and 3B David Freese off StL DL. OF Andrew Brown and IF Pete Kozma from StL to Mem. OF Dutch Deol (17th round) signed, assigned to GCL. LHP Justin Edwards from Bat to QC. RHS Carlos Martinez and 2B Starlin Rodriguez from QC to PB. 2B Jose Garcia from Mem to Spr. IF Luis Mateo to PB DL. New total: 290 players.

6/28: RHP Richard Castillo from Spr to PB. IF Freddie Bynum to Mem DL. LHS John Gast from PB to Spr. RHR Eric Binder from JC to Bat.

6/29: RHR Aaron Terry released from PB. IF Domnit Bolivar from Spr to PB. IF Packy Elkins from PB to QC. IF Joey Bergman from QC to Bat. StL RHR Ryan Franklin released. OF Reggie Williams from Bat to GCL. New total: 288 players.

6/30: RHP Brandon Dickson added to 40-man and moved from Mem to StL. Contract of 23rd round RHP Kyle Deese voided (JC). LHR Rich Rundles re-signed to Mem.

7/1: C Cody Stanley onto QC DL. C Kleininger Teran off QC DL.

7/2: Five Latin American signees (DSL): LHPs Dewin Perez, Alirio Negrette, RHP Luis Arias (2012 contract), C Jose Godoy, SS Eliezer Alvarez. FA IF Garrett Wittels signed, assigned to Bat. New total: 294 players.

7/4: C Nick Derba onto Spr DL. C Travis Tartamella off Spr DL. FA LHP Matt Rein signed, assigned to JC. RHP Kevin Jacob (31st round) signed, assigned to Bat. New total: 296 players.

7/5: 1B Albert Pujols off StL DL. LHR Brian Tallet onto StL DL. LHR Ron Mahay, RHR Blaine Boyer signed to minor league contracts, assigned to Mem. SS Kenny Peoples-Walls (4th round) signed, assigned to GCL. New total: 299 players.

7/6: RHS Joe Kelly from PB to Spr. GCL rehab of PB RHR Jeff Lyman ends.

7/7: LHR Daniel Calhoun from PB to Spr. RHRs Jose Rada, Chase Reid onto Spr DL. C Gerald Laird off StL DL. RHP P. J. Walters from Mem to StL, onto 40-man. Mem RHP Bryan Augenstein DFAed. OF Daryl Jones from Mem to Spr. RHS Adam Ottavino, C Steven Hill onto Mem DL. RHP Brandon Dickson, 1B Mark Hamilton from StL to Mem. IF Freddie Bynum off Mem DL. RHP Mike Blazek, LHR Nick Greenwood from Spr to Mem. OF D’Marcus Ingram to Spr DL. C Cody Stanley off QC DL. C Kleininger Teran onto QC DL.

7/9: LHR Ron Mahay activated at PB.

7/11: RHS Blaine Boyer activated at PB. LHS Kevin Siegrist to PB DL. RHP Bryan Augenstein outrighted to Mem. RHS Mike Blazek and LHR Nick Greenwood from Mem to Spr.

7/14: LHR Ron Mahay from PB to Mem. OF Shane Robinson off Mem DL to Spr. C Travis Tartamella to PB DL. RHS Drew Benes from Bat to QC. RHP Javier Avendano to Bat DL.

7/15: RHR Hector Corpas to QC DL (retro 7/12).

7/16: RHR Scott Bittle from GCL to Bat. OF Mike O’Neill from Bat to QC, IF Jonathan Rodriguez, OF Nick Longmire to QC DL. IF Luis Mateo from PB DL to QC.

7/17: OF Kyle Conley off PB DL. OF Edgar Lara onto PB DL. C Nick Derba from Spr DL to Mem. 2B Freddie Bynum onto Mem DL.

7/18: RHS Adam Ottavino off Mem DL. LHS Nick Additon onto temp inactive list.

7/19: OF C.J. McElroy (3rd round) signed, assigned to GCL. New total: 300 players.

7/21:  Spr RHR Brett Zawacki released. RHR Francisco Samuel from PB to Spr. LHR Justin Wright off PB DL. 1B Mark Hamilton to Mem DL. LHS Nick Additon off Mem TI list. New total: 299 players.

7/22: OF Shane Robinson from Spr to Mem. OF Jim Rapoport from Mem to Spr. IF Jonathan Rodriguez off QC DL. OF Mike O’Neill onto QC DL.

7/23: IF Hector Garcia from GCL to JC.

7/25: IF Luis Mateo onto QC DL. OF Nick Longmire off QC DL.

7/26: LHS Nick Additon from Mem to Spr. LHR Daniel Calhoun from Spr to PB. RHS Blaine Boyer from PB to Mem. Bat RHR Scott Bittle released. DSL Ps Carlos Oraa and Alberth Almeida released. RHP Norge Parades signed, assigned to DSL. New total: 297 players.

7/27: LHR Manuel De La Cruz from JC to Bat. OF Colby Rasmus, LHRs Trever Miller and Brian Tallet and RHR P.J. Walters traded to Toronto. RHS Edwin Jackson, LHR Mark Rzepczynski, RHR Octavio Dotel and OF Corey Patterson from Tor to StL.

7/28: LHR Raul Valdes from StL to Mem. LHS Kevin Siegrist off PB DL. RHR Jeff Lyman from PB to Spr.

7/29: IF Nick Punto to StL DL. IF Tyler Greene from Mem to StL. IF Freddie Bynum off Mem DL. RHP Kevin Thomas to Spr DL.

7/30: LHR Rich Rundles to Mem DL. DSL Ps Delvi Rodriguez and Jean Carlos De La Cruz off RL. OF Jose Martinez and P John De Aguas released from DSL. New total: 295 players.

7/31: SS Rafael Furcal acquired from LA Dodgers. Spr OF Alex Castellanos to LA. SS Tyler Greene from StL to Mem. RHR Eduardo Sanchez from 15- to 60-day DL.

8/1: OF Aaron Luna from Mem to Spr. IF/OF Edgar Lara off PB DL. LHP Kevin Siegrist onto PB DL.

8/3: IF Breyvic Valera from GCL to JC. OF Mike O’Neill off QC DL. 1B Victor Sanchez onto QC DL.

8/4: RHP Seth Blair onto QC DL. RHP Hector Corpas off QC DL. 1B Mark Hamilton off Mem DL. IF Donovan Solano from Mem to Spr.

8/5: LHR Manuel De La Cruz to Bat DL. IF/OF Phil Cerreto from PB DL to Bat. Spr RHR Casey Mulligan retired. Spr 2B Jose Garcia to DL.

8/9: RHS Seth Blair off QC DL.

8/10: RHR Lance Lynn onto StL DL. IF/OF Allen Craig off StL DL.

8/11: RHS Deryk Hooker from Spr DL to PB. RHR Joel Pichardo off PB DL and released. RHS Arquimedes Nieto onto PB TI list. RHP Manuel De La Cruz off Bat DL. RHP Sam Gaviglio (5th round) signed, assigned to Bat. OF Aaron Luna to Spr DL. Total remains 295 players.

8/12: 2B Kolten Wong, OF Michael Swinson to QC DL. RHR David Kopp Spr to Mem. RHR Jordan Swagerty PB to Spr. LHR Ron Mahay released from Mem. LHR Rich Rundles off Mem DL. 2B Joey Bergman Bat to QC. OF Edgar Lara PB to QC. LHR Raul Valdes DFA off 40-man, Mem 25-man. C Tony Cruz from StL to Mem. LHR Arthur Rhodes signed to StL. RHR Chase Reid off Spr DL to PB. LHS Kevin Siegrist off PB DL. New total still 295.

8/13: RHS Seth Blair back to QC active roster. RHP Chris Costantino (43rd) signed, assigned to JC. RHR Eric Binder released from Bat. RHS Blaine Boyer released from Mem. LHS Nick Additon from Spr to Mem. RHS Arquimedes Nieto off PB TI to Spr. 2B Jose Garcia off Spr DL. New total 294 players.

8/15: OF Charlie Tilson (2nd round) signed, assigned to GCL. RHR Francisco Samuel to Spr DL. RHS Kevin Thomas off Spr DL.

8/16: Spr RHS Shelby Miller suspended. C Nick Derba onto Mem DL. LHS Ryan Sherriff from JC to Bat. Mem LHR Raul Valdes claimed by NYY off waivers. New total 293 players.

8/17: RHR Ethan Cole signed, assigned to Bat. IF/OF Phil Cerreto to Bat DL. New total: 294 players.

8/18: RHS Seth Maness from Bat to PB. RHS Deryk Hooker from PB to Spr.

8/21: C Audry Perez onto Spr DL. C Travis Tartamella off Spr DL. OF Victor Encarnacion from GCL to Bat.

8/23: RHS Shelby Miller off Spr SL. RHS Arquimedes Nieto from Spr to PB. RHS Carlos Martinez onto PB DL.

8/24: OF Reggie Williams from GCL to Bat. RHP Juan Bautista from DSL to JC. LHP Jonathan Cornelius and OF Roberto Reyes onto Bat DL. RHS Seth Blair off QC DL. RHR Hector Corpas onto QC DL. Purchased contract of SS Vance Albitz from Lincoln of American Assoc and assigned to Bat. New total: 295 players.

8/25: OF Charlie Tilson from GCL to JC. LHR Manuel De La Cruz to Bat DL.

8/27: 1B Phil Cerreto off Bat DL.

8/28: 2B Kolten Wong off QC DL. OF Mike O’Neill from QC to GCL. RHS Carlos Martinez off PB DL. RHP Seth Maness from PB to QC. Ps Brandon Creath, Tyler Melling and Willy Paulino from GCL to JC.

8/30: OF Edgar Lara from QC to PB. OF Mike O’Neill from GCL to QC. RHP Cale Johnson from QC to JC. RHS Todd McInnis onto Bat DL.

8/31: IF Greg Garcia onto PB DL.

9/1: RHS Brandon Dickson from Mem to StL. C Nick Derba off Mem DL. RHS Mike Blazek from Spr to Mem. RHR Francisco Samuel off Spr DL. LHS Jonathan Cornelius off Bat DL. RHS Jose Almarante onto Bat DL.

9/2: OF Shane Robinson to 40-man roster, from Mem to StL. RHR Lance Lynn from 15- to 60-day DL.

9/3: RHP Maikel Cleto from Mem to StL.

9/5: LHS Hector Hernandez from Bat to QC.

9/6: C Tony Cruz, SS Tyler Greene, OF Adron Chambers from Mem to StL. IF Nick Punto off StL DL. RHS Seth Blair to QC SL. C Jonathan Keener from JC to QC. OF Mike O’Neill from QC to Bat.

9/13: RHR Eduardo Sanchez off 60-day DL. Spr RHR Francisco Samuel DFAed.

9/25: Contract of DSL RHP Luis Arias voided. New total 294.

10/9: RHR Lance Lynn off 60-day DL. OF Andrew Brown DFAed.

10/12: OF Andrew Brown claimed off outright waivers by COL. New organization total: 293 players.

The St. Louis Cardinals Organization Roster Matrix (effective 10/19/11)

25-man (33+1) 40-man (40+1)
SP RP C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
C Carpenter Boggs Molina Pujols
 Schumaker Theriot Freese
 Holliday (I)
Lohse McClellan (I)
 Laird
 Descalso Furcal Punto
 Berkman
Westbrook
 Sanchez (I)
 T Cruz (I)

T Greene (I)
Patterson (I)
Wainwright (60DL) Motte




Jay
Ja Garcia (L) Rzepcyznski (L)




Craig
E Jackson
 Dotel




Robinson (I)
Dickson (I)
 Lynn




Chambers

Salas






Rhodes (L)





(I) Inactive in WS Cleto (I)
Memphis (20+3)
SP RP C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
Broderick Marte Anderson Hamilton
 Bynum Kozma M Carpenter Stavinoha
Blazek
 Rauschenberger S Hill (DL)
Additon (L) Parise Derba
Ottavino Reifer (DL)
Todd
Fick
Augenstein
Rundles (L) Cazana (MX)
Kopp


Springfield (24+8)
SP RP C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
Gast (L) Delgado (DL) Cutler Adams Duncan R Jackson Cox Pham (DL)
Gorgen (DL) Lyman A Perez (DL) Jo Garcia Solano Curtis Swauger
McGregor (DL) Greenwood (L) Tartamella Rapoport
S Miller Swagerty Ingram (DL)
Kelly Schneider Jones
Hooker S Freeman (L) Luna (DL)
Thomas Rada (DL)
Rondon
Samuel
Palm Beach (25+1)
SP RP C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
Fornataro Calhoun (L) L DeLaCruz Scruggs S Rodriguez Bolivar N Vasquez Conley
Lyons (L) Corrigan Stock Obregon Ahmady R Rosario
Ri Castill0 Wright (L)
 G Garcia (DL) Melker
Siegrist (L) Reid Lara
C Martinez Simpson
Nieto J Smith
Butler
Quad Cities (25+9)
SP RP C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
Russell Lucas Espinoza (DL) V Sanchez (DL) Walsh Gil J Rodriguez Longmire
Whiting Corpas (DL) Stanley Stidham (DL) Elkins Edmondson
Bibona (L DL) H Hernandez (L) Klein Wong (1) Swinson (DL)
Blair (SL) De Jesus Teran (DL) Lu Mateo (DL) Taveras
A Ferrara (L) Nazario (L) Keener (32) Bergman
Rosenthal Edwards (L)
Copeland (L) Kiekhefer (L)
Benes Maness (11)
Batavia (29+6)
P P (Draft round) C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
Y Castillo Miranda (L 8th) Ca Rasmus (36) D Medina Stienstra (12) C Valero Patton (38) Martini (7)
Almarante (DL) Cole (FA) J Castillo R Ruiz Wittels (FA) Rbto Reyes (DL)
Daugherty (L) Tra Miller (16) Moscatel Cerreto Albitz V Hill
R Martinez Cornelius (L 24) Encarnacion
Mijares (L DL) McInnis (25 DL) Williams
Avendano (DL) Baker (49) O’Neill
S Watson (L) Bileckyj (L FA)
M DeLaCruz (L DL) Gaviglio (5)
Jacob (31)
Sherriff (L 28)
Johnson City (36+2)
P P (Draft round) C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
Jenkins Mills (9) Byrd (13) Washington Rahmatulla (34) M Williams (15) R DeLaCruz Apelian (27)
Pasen Hald (L 18) Montero B Valera Pritchard (FA) H Garcia Ro Castillo
Santana Gillung (L 19) Martin An Garcia
Canache Billbrough (FA) S Ramos
B Freeman (L) Costantino (43) Bergin (30)
J Lucas Wyatt (33) Tilson (2)
Nuernberg Rein (L FA)
E Hiraldo Melling (L 39)
Nadeau (L DL) Creath (44)
Revesz (L DL)
Bautista
Paulino
C Johnson

Gulf Coast (25)
P P (Draft round) C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
Aguilar B Watson (37) Velazco Knox (41) Le Mateo Peoples-Walls (4) Tuivailala Jeffries (10)
Brand L Perez Vargas Argenal
DeLeon Ehrlich (6) Deol (17)
Toribio Dodd
A Tapia Bryant
S Lopez McElroy (3)
Mendoza
Ulacio
B Martinez
Villanueva (L)
DSL (37+3)
SP RP C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
Paredes A DeLaCruz (L) Baez Mejia Rblys Reyes Pina Agustin Araujo
Escudero A Gonzalez (RL) J Gomez R Medina R Garcia Capellan
Perdomo Ceballo L Cruz Barbuena Celestino
S Garcia F Gonzalez Godoy E Alvarez J Pena
Salazar F Flores Torres
DeLosSantos Villegas D Diaz
Jh Polanco I Brito Acevedo
Montanez (I)
D Rodriguez (L)
JC DeLaCruz
Gerdel
D Perez (L) Planchart
Negrette (L)
Unassigned (6)
P P C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
M Harris (MIL) P Vasquez (RL)
Eager (RL)
Patterson (RL)
Novak (RL)
Mulligan (RL)
Draft unsigned (15)
P (Draft round) P (Draft round) C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
Matulis (L 28) Schmidt (47) Ar Garcia (20) Medrano (14) Asher (48)
Kirsch (L 21) Poarch (42) Arnsberg (40) Moseley (45)
Kamplain (L 22) Madrigal (35) retired Kaalekahi (46) Sibley (50)
Graves (26) Deese (23) failed physical

Codes
(DL): injured – on the disabled list
(I): injured and assigned to Extended Spring Training
(TI): temporary inactive list
(SL): suspended list
(RL): restricted list
(MIL): military list
(TO): tryout player not under contract
(L) left-handed pitcher
bold: on the Cardinals’ 40-man roster
(#+#) number of active players on the roster plus number of inactive/not under contract (DL+TI+SL+RL+MIL+TO) players

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Men, not machines

I still have a lot of catching up remaining after having been on the road for the last two weeks, but I wanted to make a short post with an important reminder.

After managing in the majors for 33 years, St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa has probably said it all at one time or another. One of his seemingly time-worn lines is that players are “men, not machines.”

La Russa cites this to remind probing media members that there is more behind the results on the field than what we see on the television screen or in the box scores. The manager sometimes talks about the importance of and challenge in trying to understand what is going on in a young man’s “coconut.”

I received another good reminder of this during my trip as I learned that an organizational player with a young child is in the midst of a painful divorce. Of course, he still has a job to do. It is easy to say this should not be affecting his play, but how could it not?

His name will not be disclosed as I imagine the last thing he would want is his personal privacy to be violated nor the appearance for excuses to be made for his performance on the field.

Besides, it could be anyone. Other players may have a sick parent or money issues or family problems far away in another country or who knows what else weighing on them?

It is expected of fans to be critical of poor play and mistakes made, yet those who understand baseball players are truly not machines will always stop short of criticizing them as men.

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What’s in a name?

It may seem trivial to the reader, but getting players’ information right is very important to me. I spend hours behind the scenes ensuring The Cardinal Nation player database and team rosters are accurate – down to dates of birth, high schools and yes, even the most basic data – their names.

For example, Quad Cities’ reliever Aidan Lucas’ first name was misspelled by many sources as Aiden when he was drafted last year. Fortunately TCN Johnson City reporter Shawn Kerrick spotted that immediately and I corrected it on our site. This spring, when I first met Lucas in spring training and we shook hands, I opened by saying, “Aidan with two ‘A’s’, right?” We shared a laugh.

In other cases, it is not so clear. For whatever reason, until my current trip to Springfield, I had never talked with catcher Charles Cutler. That changed on Monday. As you might expect, I had to ask him if he prefers to be called “Charles” or “Charlie.” We have been using the former, while many others use the latter.

He chuckled and said, “Charles is my business name. All my friends call me Charlie. We’re now friends, right?” Of course, I had to agree. In the process, I added a to-do for when I get home – to change his first name in the data base.

A second target in Springfield was Texas League all-star pitcher Mike Blazek. Most other sources use his formal name, Michael. I searched him out to learn his preference. Blazek explained that most people in baseball call him ‘Blazer’ and others ‘Michael.’ While he has no problem whatsoever with ‘Mike,’ he says it isn’t used much. Change number two.

Then there is reliever Samuel Freeman, shown on the Springfield mound Monday night. The lefty from the University of Kansas has been pitching effectively coming off Tommy John surgery though his velocity is not completely back. Freeman is a most engaging and polite man. In fact, so much so that I forgot to ask him how he wants his name specified. For now, it may remain “Samuel,” but I suspect another change is coming.

Also on my to-do list to resolve is Palm Beach’s Dan/Daniel Calhoun. The 2011 draft is bringing a whole new group, as well… Is it Michael Knox, Bradley Watson, Daniel Miranda… ?

Focusing on getting all last names in the proper places, I hope to have a new roster matrix ready on Thursday incorporating the short-season teams. In the meantime, the individual team rosters on The Cardinal Nation site are very close to accurate.

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Walton on RotoWire Fantasy Sports Tuesday on Sirius/XM

I will be returning as one of the guests of co-hosts Jeff Erickson and Chris Liss on RotoWire’s Fantasy Sports Today show on satellite radio. My segment can be heard live starting at noon Central on Tuesday, June 21. The place is Sirius 211 / XM 147.

Our focus will be on fantasy baseball, specifically the impact of Albert Pujols’ injury.

For 2011, RotoWire’s Fantasy Sports Today show is back on Sirius / XM live, Monday through Friday from 10 A.M. – 1 P.M. CT. The call-in number is 888-XM-FANTASY and listener participation is encouraged.

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Baseball by Positions: A great resource

Recently, we had a discussion here about the comparative difficulty of playing a particular position versus another. While the BaseballbyPositions.com won’t answer that directly, the site offers a wealth of comparative information back to 1876 unlike that I have seen elsewhere.

The following is a description provided by site operator Andre Lower. When I get off the road and have some spare time, I plan to really explore the various options. You may want to as well.

What is the greatest Team Position in baseball history?

Have you ever even considered this question? Have you ever heard of anybody talking about this subject? Not only has this question been asked, it’s been quantified and ranked. The answer to this question is found on www.baseballbypositions.com . All 345 Team Positions for the 30 active teams are rated for their all-time performance as compared to league average for that position and then ranked in order.

Every Team Position has its own page, listing the starters for every season as well as showing the ratings for each season, the last 5 seasons through each season and all-time cumulative performances as of each season. These ratings are also graphed for easy viewing.

This website looks at baseball from a positional perspective. The foundation is the 2,800 comparative tables covering every possible combination of league, position and season. Every table features several splits, all of which are summarized in year by year chronologies. The Team Position Histories show all of the players in chronological order for each Team Position’s entire history.

A really valuable feature is the Team Lineups. This is a snapshot of each team’s season showing the fielding position starters, top reserves and most active pitchers for each pitching position. The starter rankings and team index ratings for each position gives you a good, easy way of seeing the positional strengths and weaknesses for any team’s season.

This website gives you tons of great baseball information not found anywhere else. If you want to see baseball from a different perspective, check out www.baseballbypositions.com.

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Happy Father’s Day – Do as I say

“Do as I say, not as I do.”

How many times were we told that as youngsters by our parents and specifically our fathers?

I am doing it again today as I sit in the Busch Stadium press box working instead of enjoying this holiday at home.

Here is hoping all of you celebrate this day with those closest to you, whether you are a father, son, daughter or simply played a part of those roles at some point in your life.

I can’t be with my three sons today and like many men, am not great with sentiment. Here is the message I sent them as I retired last night.

Guys, I did not make a good decision to be away for Father’s Day, but I want you to know that the most important part of the day is the pride I have in each of you. I look forward to seeing you next week.

Love,
Dad

Happy Father’s Day to all!

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Carpenter and Pujols need to party like it is 2005

The difficult season being endured by the long-standing stars of the St. Louis Cardinals continued Friday night as the home club lost to the Kansas City Royals. It was St. Louis’ seventh consecutive defeat.

Starting pitcher Chris Carpenter is now 1-7 with a 4.47 ERA in his 15 starts this season. Despite fanning seven and walking just one, Carp allowed 10 singles and lost the 5-4 game on Friday.

Gold Glove first baseman Albert Pujols committed a fielding error that allowed the winning run to score in Friday’s eighth inning. It was his fourth error in three games, though the other three were at third base. Much has been written about Pujols’ hitting this season as he is batting an uncharacteristic .271.

The fact the Cardinals have played so well despite these two having a subpar season is remarkable. Yet for the team to pull it together down the stretch, they need more from both the 36-year-old Carpenter and Pujols, 31.

Just six years ago, the two were en route to a sweep of the top pitcher and player awards in the National League. In 2005, Carpenter took his only National League Cy Young Award while Pujols won his first of three NL Most Valuable Player Awards.

Starting on June 18, 2005 through the end of that season, here are the numbers the two posted.

2005 from June 18 through end of regular season

Starts CG Shut Outs W-L ERA
Carpenter 19 5 2 12-1 2.61
BA OBP SLG HR RBI
Pujols 0.332 0.444 0.632 23 65

Obviously, the two now have many more miles on their frames, but if they could approach that kind of productivity, think of the benefit to their team. With neither under contract for next season, now is the time to help secure their personal futures as well.

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Cardinals minors first half all-stars: 2011 versus 2010

Over at FOXSportsMidwest.com this week, my column recapped the all-stars across the St. Louis Cardinals’ three mid-season leagues. You should go there to read about each player’s accomplishments, but what I will do here is compare the lists of all-stars year-to-year.

In the case of the Texas League, the drop in number of all-stars from last year is considerable – from eight (or 11 if you count promoted and unavailable players) to five. In the Florida State League, eight were selected in 2010 and only three in 2011.

Only in the Midwest League was there improvement – from four last year to six this time. Matt Adams (pictured) made both years’ lists. Cody Stanley is also a two-time all-star as he was selected in the Appalachian League in 2010.

In the 2010 table below, post-season all-stars are included for information and completeness. The count is always lower as just one starting lineup is typically selected instead of two full teams like at mid-season.

2010



2011
Springfield
 Mid-season Promoted Post-season
Springfield (5) Mid-season Promoted
Pitcher Brian Broderick David Kopp Kopp Pitcher Mike Blazek
Adam Reifer Eduardo Sanchez Maikel Cleto
Blake King Scott Gorgen (inj)
Position Player Steven Hill Hill Position Player Matt Adams
Adron Chambers Carpenter Alex Castellanos
Matt Carpenter Ryan Jackson
Aaron Luna
Curt Smith
Palm Beach



Palm Beach (3)
Pitcher Ramon Delgado Casey Mulligan Luis Aguayo Pitcher Joe Kelly Shelby Miller
Mark Diapoules (coach)
Matt Frevert
Position Player Tony Cruz Jose Garcia Position Player Edgar Lara
Rich Racobaldo
Xavier Scruggs
Quad Cities



Quad Cities (5)
Pitcher Eric Fornataro Scott Schneider Pitcher Anthony Ferrara
Justin Wright
Trevor Rosenthal
Position Player Matt Adams Adams Position Player Cody Stanley Greg Garcia
D’Marcus Ingram Starlin Rodriguez

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What about baseball’s realignment?

With rumors flying around about Major League Baseball’s plans for realignment, some ideas seem to hold more water than others.

Here are four of the elements.

One team from the National League, perhaps the Arizona Diamondbacks or Houston Astros, would move to the American League, creating two 15-team leagues.

The playoffs would expand to five teams from each league instead of the four today.

One version has the six divisions eliminated with the five teams with the best records in each league making the playoffs.

Another major question would be implementing the designated hitter in the former National League teams, since there would be constant interleague play with 15-team leagues.

Any recommendations to Commissioner Bud Selig and the owners will come from baseball’s special committee for on-field matters, which includes Cardinals manager Tony La Russa.

Did I miss any key elements or questions?

What do you think?

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[poll id=”92″]

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The Cardinal Nation post-draft minor league activity

Between traveling, the draft, recent signings and the impending start to short-season play, there isn’t enough quality blogging time for me. With that, here is a short post recapping recent activity on the main site.

Tentative Batavia Muckdogs Opening Roster (subscriber content) – The first 27 players expected to become part of the Cardinals’ initial Batavia roster are disclosed.

Springfield Cards: 5 Texas League All-Stars – Five players from the St. Louis Cardinals system are 2011 Texas League All-Stars.

Cardinals Sign 27 Players from June Draft – The St. Louis Cardinals have signed 27 players from the 2011 June First-Year Player Draft.

Subscriber hot news items in the last 72 hours have been posted about Jesus Montero, Kyle Conley, Packy Elkins, Geoff Klein, Robert Stock, Juan Castillo, Virgil Hill, Oscar Taveras and Allen Craig.

Coming soon

In conjunction with the 2011 draftees, I have been getting player bio information into The Cardinal Nation main player database.

Johnson City, Batavia and Gulf Coast League rosters will be updated as their seasons begin. Batavia’s opener is on Friday, Johnson City has an exhibition game on Sunday and the GCL begins next Tuesday.

Shortly after, I will refresh the Roster Matrix here to reflect all of the above.

Finally, in the next week, I will see four clubs in action: Quad Cities, St. Louis, Springfield and Memphis, and will report accordingly.

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Blogger blogging about Rasmus reader comments at another blog

Looking at the site activity here as I periodically do, I noticed an unusual number of queries bringing people to The Cardinal Nation Blog this past weekend. The search arguments were variants on “Tony Rasmus” and “The Cardinal Nation.”

It turns out that a blogger at NBC’s Hardball Talk, Drew Silva, mined a couple of comments from one of the threads here last week and turned it into an article that was posted on Saturday. The subject is trading St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Colby Rasmus.

Apparently, the web searchers are looking all around here for the comments because most oddly, despite quoting from this site directly, Silva’s post did not link back to the original source. In fact, he did not link to The Cardinal Nation Blog at all. Further, I will not comment on his labeling this site a “fan blog.”

The subject is the concern shown by Colby’s father Tony Rasmus that fan expectations of his son are too high to be met and that the player “needs to be somewhere else.”

Tony went on to make a not-so-bold prediction that it is highly likely his son will not be with St. Louis for the duration of Albert Pujols’ next contract.

Think about that width of that potential timeframe for a minute.

The blogger apparently jumped to a conclusion, turning this into a juicy headline trumpeting a supposed new trade demand.

As in the case with any quotes, having context is helpful to understand where the poster might be coming from. And especially in this case, given the past history of events perhaps having been overblown, it is preferable to look at the big picture.

The site has a very good search function, but it is for articles only, not reader comments. The comment feed, viewable at the lower right, has been restricted to the most recent 30 posts to keep the size of the RSS feed manageable. So, to view the larger body of Tony Rasmus’ comments, you will need to look through the daily discussion threads for the handle “RCWarrior.”

You can draw your own conclusions from what you read.

Speaking of the big picture, in a side point, albeit an interesting one, Colby’s younger brother Casey has been tweeting that he is signing with the same organization, the Cardinals, and reporting to short-season Class A Batavia. The catcher from Liberty University was drafted in the 36th round last week.

Note: Regular readers here already covered this situation in Sunday’s discussions, but I had written this post first thing Sunday morning and I wasn’t going to waste it.

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Walton joins Rains on KTRS Sunday

FOX Sports Midwest’s B.J. Rains will be doing a guest host spot from 10:00 A.M. until noon CDT on St. Louis’ KTRS 550 Radio on Sunday.

With the news that Andrew Brown has received the call from Memphis to join the Cardinals for the first time, B.J. asked me to join him on the show to discuss that and other Cardinals minor league news.

I will be on at 10:40 A.M. EDIT: My spot was moved up to 10:20…

KTRS is live streamed over the internet at ktrs.com.

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Berkman: Cardinals have winning culture that Houston lost

Let’s face it.

New St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Lance Berkman will always be first and foremost a Houston Astro. He doesn’t have enough years remaining in his body to perform the quantity of feats on the baseball field to overcome his countless successes achieved during his dozen seasons leading the Houston nine.

That doesn’t mean he isn’t trying to beat the team that showed him the door last summer and refused to take him back over the winter.

The 35-year-old homered for the third straight game in the Cardinals’ just-completed series at Houston’s Minute Maid Park, as the visitors took two of three. Berkman has five homers in his last four games at his old home this season and has gone deep in four of the last six games. The switch-hitter already has 15 homers in 2011, compared to 14 in all of 2010.

He could earn the National League Comeback Player of the Year Award solely based on his performance in Houston. Berkman is hitting .480 with five home runs and 12 RBI in his six games in his old stomping grounds this season.

Houston Chronicle beat writer Richard Justice interviewed Berkman, in a must-read piece. Berkman, in his typical manner, did not pull any punches about what has gone wrong with the Astros.

When asked about the Cardinals, the outfielder said this.

“Absolutely, a winning culture, no doubt about it.”

He acknowledged the Astros had it, too, in the mid-2000s, but let it get away.

Houston’s loss is clearly St. Louis’ gain.

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Theriot’s chase of Rajah, The Man and The Machine ends

Fans with an eye toward baseball’s rich history are very familiar with Joe DiMaggio’s record 56-game hitting streak. Compiled in 1941, it is one of the game’s most famous and arguably one of its most difficult to be broken.

On the National League side, many know Pete Rose holds a share of the longest at 44 games, set in 1978, tying Willie Keeler’s 1897 best. If you are like me, however, you didn’t know who holds the St. Louis Cardinals record.

The correct answer is not shortstop Ryan Theriot, whose 20-game streak ended at the hands of Houston’s Cardinal killer Bud Norris and reliever Mark Melancon on Wednesday night in Houston.

Theriot’s feat was non-trivial, however, and reached more than halfway to the team record. It is tied for 32nd-longest in team history and is the best streak by a Cardinal since Ryan Ludwick went 21 games two seasons ago.

I did find it interesting that Theriot’s .759 OPS during his streak was the lowest of any of the 42 streaks on the top list and his .326 batting average was third-worst.

Albert Pujols strung together 30 consecutive games with a hit back in his third season of 2003, the best performance by a Cardinal in the last decade. In the process, Pujols tied Stan Musial, whose 30 games in 1950 is the longest streak ever by a Cardinals left-handed hitter.

The overall team leader?

That would be Hall of Famer Rogers Hornsby. “Rajah” hit safely in 33 consecutive games almost 89 years ago, in August and September 1922.

St. Louis Cardinals longest hitting streaks, consecutive games

Rk Hitter Strk Start End G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SO BB SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
1 Rogers Hornsby 8/13/1922 9/19/1922 33 146 38 68 11 6 9 34 10 8 2 3 0.466 0.494 0.808 1.302
T2 Albert Pujols 7/12/2003 8/16/2003 30 118 29 46 12 1 8 26 15 16 1 0 0.390 0.467 0.712 1.179
T2 Stan Musial 6/27/1950 7/26/1950 30 121 21 47 12 0 7 31 6 10 0 0 0.388 0.435 0.661 1.096
T4 Curt Flood 9/17/1961 5/4/1962 29 131 26 52 5 4 4 17 9 8 4 2 0.397 0.429 0.588 1.016
T4 Ken Boyer 8/10/1959 9/12/1959 29 117 14 41 2 2 8 23 20 8 1 2 0.350 0.389 0.607 0.996
T4 Harry Walker 7/21/1943 8/18/1943 29 114 23 46 8 1 0 13 3 7 1 0 0.404 0.438 0.491 0.929
T7 Red Schoendienst 6/11/1954 7/9/1954 28 124 21 48 11 3 0 13 4 9 0 0 0.387 0.422 0.524 0.946
T7 Joe Medwick 8/17/1935 9/11/1935 28 120 25 43 7 4 4 21 8 4 3 0 0.358 0.384 0.583 0.967
9 Lou Brock 4/30/1971 5/30/1971 26 112 29 48 9 1 1 9 19 8 9 3 0.429 0.471 0.554 1.025
10 Joe McEwing 6/8/1999 7/4/1999 25 110 13 35 8 1 1 7 21 6 0 0 0.318 0.350 0.436 0.787
T11 Joe Torre 9/30/1970 4/28/1971 24 96 14 41 4 1 4 19 11 3 0 1 0.427 0.444 0.615 1.059
T11 Wally Moon 5/5/1957 5/31/1957 24 99 21 34 10 2 7 20 9 6 2 0 0.343 0.381 0.697 1.078
T11 Stan Musial 6/6/1952 6/28/1952 24 90 23 36 3 3 4 13 3 19 0 0 0.400 0.505 0.633 1.138
T14 Jose Oquendo 6/28/1989 7/25/1989 23 84 15 39 5 3 0 13 8 9 0 1 0.464 0.505 0.595 1.101
T14 Pepper Martin 4/29/1935 6/3/1935 23 104 26 45 7 1 0 11 15 5 3 0 0.433 0.459 0.519 0.978
T14 Frankie Frisch 8/12/1931 9/4/1931 23 99 22 39 3 1 2 23 1 5 10 0 0.394 0.423 0.505 0.928
T17 Willie McGee 7/5/1990 8/1/1990 22 87 12 36 6 0 1 14 16 4 4 3 0.414 0.446 0.517 0.963
T17 Vada Pinson 7/6/1969 8/1/1969 22 89 14 29 4 2 1 17 8 6 0 1 0.326 0.365 0.449 0.814
T17 Harry Walker 5/22/1943 6/15/1943 22 80 18 36 6 3 1 8 1 9 0 0 0.450 0.506 0.638 1.143
T17 Stan Musial 5/16/1943 6/5/1943 22 83 18 32 4 3 3 19 2 15 2 0 0.386 0.485 0.614 1.099
T17 Whitey Kurowski 4/27/1943 5/23/1943 22 90 16 32 1 2 2 13 7 5 1 0 0.356 0.389 0.478 0.867
T17 Johnny Mize 8/2/1936 8/24/1936 22 82 20 32 7 2 5 23 9 13 0 0 0.390 0.474 0.707 1.181
T17 Jim Bottomley 8/4/1924 8/25/1924 22 87 17 40 6 3 5 29 2 7 0 1 0.460 0.500 0.770 1.270
T17 Rogers Hornsby 9/17/1920 4/25/1921 22 99 18 45 7 4 1 12 7 6 4 2 0.455 0.491 0.636 1.127
T25 Ryan Ludwick 9/17/2008 4/18/2009 21 77 15 32 7 0 9 27 18 9 1 1 0.416 0.483 0.857 1.340
T25 Lou Klein 5/9/1943 5/30/1943 21 89 17 27 5 2 4 11 9 8 0 0 0.303 0.361 0.539 0.900
T25 Enos Slaughter 9/8/1940 9/26/1940 21 81 18 34 8 3 2 22 1 8 4 0 0.420 0.472 0.667 1.139
T25 Joe Medwick 7/1/1936 7/23/1936 21 87 18 43 13 1 2 16 4 6 0 0 0.494 0.532 0.736 1.268
T25 Ernie Orsatti 5/30/1932 6/26/1932 21 81 13 30 9 0 1 7 2 3 0 0 0.370 0.400 0.519 0.919
T25 Les Bell 7/7/1926 7/30/1926 21 79 19 41 8 1 4 24 5 10 4 0 0.519 0.573 0.797 1.371
T25 Milt Stock 9/15/1921 4/18/1922 21 84 17 33 5 1 0 10 4 7 1 1 0.393 0.440 0.476 0.916
T32 Ryan Theriot 5/15/2011 6/7/2011 20 86 8 28 7 0 0 11 8 3 0 1 0.326 0.352 0.407 0.759
T32 Placido Polanco 7/21/2001 8/11/2001 20 84 13 28 6 1 1 6 5 3 3 0 0.333 0.364 0.464 0.828
T32 John Mabry 5/19/1997 6/9/1997 20 79 11 33 4 0 2 18 15 5 0 0 0.418 0.447 0.544 0.991
T32 Lou Brock 5/16/1967 6/6/1967 20 93 22 35 7 0 7 16 14 1 10 4 0.376 0.379 0.677 1.056
T32 Bill White 7/23/1964 8/12/1964 20 81 14 38 7 0 3 18 15 6 1 0 0.469 0.494 0.667 1.161
T32 Stan Musial 9/23/1957 5/7/1958 20 75 16 41 13 0 4 15 6 13 0 0 0.547 0.607 0.880 1.487
T32 Wally Moon 7/16/1957 8/3/1957 20 74 14 29 7 0 1 7 6 12 0 0 0.392 0.466 0.527 0.993
T32 Stan Musial 6/1/1957 6/20/1957 20 75 13 30 8 0 6 20 2 9 1 0 0.400 0.453 0.747 1.200
T32 Stan Musial 9/12/1953 4/19/1954 20 79 22 35 9 1 7 22 9 13 1 1 0.443 0.516 0.848 1.364
T32 Terry Moore 8/1/1942 8/22/1942 20 75 13 26 2 1 1 11 2 6 4 0 0.347 0.402 0.440 0.842
T32 Rogers Hornsby 7/3/1923 7/22/1923 20 80 20 43 9 3 4 27 9 7 0 1 0.538 0.575 0.875 1.450

Thanks to researcher Tom Orf for pulling the above table.

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How rare is Fernando Salas’ 44-pitch save?

The last time I wrote about new St. Louis Cardinals closer Fernando Salas here, his then-perfect 10-for-10 record in save opportunities was quickly ended.

The combination of not being overly superstitious and the fact that Salas keeps getting the job done in one of the most difficult jobs in baseball means the 26-year-old receives another call out here.

On Tuesday night, on the road in Houston, Salas was asked to clean up a major mess, with no outs in the eighth and two runners on base. The Cardinals led by only 6-3 at the time.

After a walk, Salas faced the Astros’ 1-2-3 hitters, collecting a harmless fly ball in between a pair of strikeouts.

With a shaky Cardinals pen, Salas was asked to pitch a second inning. Though he gave up a pair of hits and a run in the ninth, the eighth-inning escape was the difference-maker in St. Louis’ victory.

All told Tuesday night, Salas threw 44 pitches, 31 strikes. He collected his 11th save of the season.

While Salas can pitch multiple innings, his heritage is not as a long man or a converted starter. Prior to 2011, the right-hander appeared in 145 minor league games since joining the system in 2007. His only starts were four games with Palm Beach in his first season. Salas also had two starts in 43 Mexican League appearances in 2005-06.

I asked researcher Tom Orf to pull the list of the most pitches thrown by a Cardinals reliever when securing a save. Only ten pitchers have tossed more than 44 pitches in this kind of situation since the save stat came into being.

Salas is among a group tied for 11th – a list that includes ex-closer Ryan Franklin, who also threw a 44-pitch save in 2008. The record of 51 pitches is held jointly by a pair of hurlers – Mike Matthews in 2001 and Juan Agosto in 1991.

Some, though not all, are hurlers more known for their time in the rotation – names like Bob Tewksbury, Joel Pineiro, Matt Morris and Kent Bottenfield. Former closer Todd Worrell made the list twice with two 40-plus pitch saves in 1988.

St. Louis Cardinals, relievers, most pitches thrown in a save

Rk Player Date Opp Rslt App,Dec IP H R ER BB SO HR Pit Str
T1 Mike Matthews 9/10/2001 MIL W 8-0 7-9f ,S 3.0 0 0 0 2 4 0 51 31
T1 Juan Agosto 9/30/1991 MON W 11-1 7-9f ,S 3.0 3 1 1 1 5 0 51 31
T3 Omar Olivares 1991-04-20 (1) PHI W 12-1 7-9f ,S 3.0 2 1 1 2 2 0 49 27
T3 Lindy McDaniel 6/1/1960 LAD W 5-2 5-9f ,S 4.1 2 0 0 0 3 0 49 33
T5 Brad Thompson 5/8/2005 SDP W 15-5 7-9f ,S 3.0 2 1 1 1 2 1 48 33
T5 Harry Fanok 5/9/1963 LAD W 10-7 8-9f ,S 2.0 2 2 2 4 1 0 48 27
T7 Bob Tewksbury 4/13/1990 PHI W 11-0 7-9f ,S 3.0 3 0 0 1 1 0 47 32
T7 Scott Terry 6/18/1988 PIT W 6-3 7-9f ,S 3.0 3 2 2 1 2 1 47 28
T7 Hoyt Wilhelm 1957-06-16 (2) BRO W 8-4 6-9f ,S 4.0 0 0 0 0 3 0 47 31
10 Ellis Kinder 5/4/1956 BRO W 10-3 7-9f ,S 3.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 45 27
T11 Fernando Salas 6/7/2011 HOU W 7-4 8-9f ,S 2.0 2 1 1 1 3 0 44 31
T11 Ryan Franklin 6/20/2008 BOS W 5-4 8-9f ,S 2.0 3 1 1 2 1 0 44 29
T11 Rene Arocha 7/30/1994 CHC W 10-7 8-9f ,S 1.2 3 0 0 2 3 0 44 27
T11 Frank Cimorelli 7/1/1994 COL W 11-4 7-9f ,S 3.0 2 0 0 1 1 0 44 27
T11 Todd Worrell 9/18/1988 CHC W 5-4 8-9f ,S 2.0 5 2 2 0 2 0 44 35
T16 Joel Pineiro 8/22/2008 ATL W 18-3 7-9f ,S 3.0 5 2 2 1 1 0 43 28
T16 Lee Smith 6/15/1991 LAD W 5-4 8-9f ,S 2.0 3 0 0 1 2 0 43 29
T18 Ricky Bottalico 6/5/1999 DET W 7-2 7-9f ,S 3.0 0 0 0 0 3 0 42 26
T18 Todd Worrell 4/12/1988 CHC W 7-5 8-9f ,S 2.0 0 1 1 2 2 0 42 27
T18 Lloyd Merritt 6/15/1957 BRO W 6-5 7-9f ,S 3.0 2 1 1 0 1 0 42 26
T21 Matt Morris 5/30/2000 ARI W 6-1 7-9f ,S 3.0 2 0 0 1 1 0 41 24
T21 Scott Terry 8/3/1988 PHI W 4-2 7-9f ,S 3.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 41 29
T23 Ricky Bottalico 4/16/1999 HOU W 5-3 8-9f ,S 2.0 1 0 0 1 4 0 40 23
T23 Kent Bottenfield 6/14/1998 ARI W 2-0 6-9f ,S 4.0 2 0 0 0 2 0 40 24
T23 Lee Smith 4/11/1991 CHC W 5-4 8-9f ,S 1.1 3 2 2 2 2 0 40 27

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The Cardinal Nation Blog featured on FOXSports.com again!

For at least the eighth time in the last 15 months, an article from The Cardinal Nation Blog has been highlighted on FOXSports.com’s Major League Baseball page, achieved through this site’s association with Yardbarker. What brought the recognition this time was the post, “Pujols consecutive walkoff homers in extras a rare feat.”

The link to my Albert Pujols article is featured on FOXSports.com’s main MLB page about one-third of the way down the left column. But now that you are here, there is no need to go there, since the link will take you right back here to The Cardinal Nation Blog!

If you’re one of the many first-time visitors here and consider yourself a St. Louis Cardinals fan, please look around, register and join the discussion. I think you will enjoy the fresh new articles and daily commentary.

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