Tag Archives: Bullpen

The Bullpen Had A Rough Night, But …

Posted on by
Reply

Yes, things got a little ugly from the bullpen last night — unexpectedly rough performances from Mitch Harris and Seth Maness in particular as the Detroit Tigers ended up beating up on the Cardinals by a final score of 10-4. I will admit I turned the game off in the top of the ninth inning (although that was also because I had to be up very early this morning more than anything).

MediaWiki_Emoticons_StareA quick check of social media last night and this morning shows that — as expected — there was great furor from many Cardinals fans over the eight runs allowed once starter Carlos Martinez pitched five innings and allowed two runs.

However …

Last night was one game, and the Cardinals still have the best record in the majors. They’ve played 35 games now, with that being only the 11th time they’ve lost.

I’ll put my sparkly pom-poms away now and take a look at some numbers instead.

Even with last night, the Cardinals still have the best team ERA in baseball.

Overall ERA

They have the best starter ERA in baseball.

StarterERA

And, while yesterday at this time they had the best reliever ERA in baseball at 1.90 or something similar, they didn’t fall that far based on one bad night.

Reliever ERA

Plus, since every day is a new day in baseball, the bullpen disaster can be all forgotten starting at 1:15 p.m. when the Cards and Tigers are back at it again. Sure, a starter match-up of David Price vs. Tyler Lyons might make you cringe a little bit — but that’s why they play the games.

 

Is It Really A Surprise Joe Kelly Will Be Starting?

Posted on by
Reply

Following yesterday’s game, the St. Louis Cardinals announced that Joe Kelly will be the joining the starting rotation and Carlos Martinez will reprise last fall’s role as the eighth inning setup guy.

Joe-Kelly-2Are you really surprised at this announcement? Honestly?

I am not.

It is what I expected all along when a competition for the fifth starter slot was announced this spring, for the second consecutive year.

Because the “results” of this competition certainly seem based more on last year than anything that’s happened this spring. As you likely know, Martinez has been brilliant in March: 1.76 ERA in four starts and 15 1/3 innings pitched, nine strikeouts, eight hits allowed. Kelly has not quite had the same results, allowing 10 earned runs in 14 1/3 innings during his four starts including two yesterday after not allowing a hit for five innings.

Last year, however, was a different story. Kelly was 9-3 in 15 starts with a 2.28 ERA once he joined the rotation, compared to his 1-2 record and 3.68 ERA when he was in the bullpen. And while the overall numbers for Martinez — record of 1-2, ERA of 5.08 — are not necessarily impressive, we all remember just how great he was in September and October.

Continue reading →

Stay Informed This Season With The Cardinals Bird’s Eye View

Posted on by
Reply

Of course you want to be as knowledgeable as you can about your favorite team. One way that you can guarantee that is by signing up for The Bird’s Eye View e-newsletter.

St_Louis_Cardinals_1998-present_logoProduced by the United Cardinal Bloggers, The Bird’s Eye View will arrive in your in-box before each series throughout the 2014 season — for as long as the 2014 season lasts. (More playoff previews? Another World Series preview? No problem!) With each issue you’ll get a look at the games ahead written by a different blogger, meaning you’ll get a different perspective in that person’s style.

I am one of the contributors again this year, and my first edition of The Bird’s Eye View will be coming soon — for the season’s second series, against the Pirates in Pittsburgh. Sign up now so you don’t miss any of the scoops (oops, does Dan McLaughlin have that word trademarked?) on the 2014 Cardinals. If you’ve subscribed in the past, no need to do anything — you’re still a subscriber.

Just the other day, a season preview of The Bird’s Eye View was sent — including the preview below I wrote on the bullpen. (Researching the spring numbers on the bullpen before writing was what led to this, and we can probably answer “no” to that question now. Right?)

Continue reading →

Is It Time To Worry About The Cardinals Bullpen?

Posted on by
1

Spring training games don’t count, but spring performances are what determine the final St. Louis Cardinals roster that will take the field on Opening Day in Cincinnati March 31. And some spring pitching performances have been awfully unpleasant.

collage318Now it’s true that pitchers sometimes work on specific pitches and take risks they wouldn’t otherwise do when the games count — Adam Wainwright focused just on his curveball in Sunday’s game against the Mets, for example. But is it time to get concerned about the bullpen — or at least some components of it?

Looking at all 30 MLB teams this spring, the Cardinals team ERA through yesterday is 6.27 — tied for last in baseball with the Texas Rangers. Cardinals pitchers have given up 105 earned runs (108 runs total) in 150 2/3 spring innings.

Break that down to starters vs. relievers and the picture changes considerably. The ERA for Cards starters is 3.63, which is fourth-best in the National League and ninth-best in MLB. And for the relievers, it’s 7.66 — not surprisingly last, but more than a full run worse than the team directly ahead of them, the Rangers at 6.18, and two runs worse than the NL team ahead of them, the Padres at 5.42.

Since we need a little good news after that, let’s look at those who are excelling — beginning with closer Trevor Rosenthal. Nothing to worry about with him. After being slowed by a strained groin in late February that kept him from appearing in a game until March 8, he’s now pitched five total innings and allowed one earned run on a homer while striking out five and walking three for an ERA of 1.80. No saves, but no save opportunities yet either.

Having nearly identical stats — same number of games, innings, earned run on a homer, ERA and strikeouts — although with two saves in two opportunities is Kevin Siegrist. No worries there.

Randy Choate has pitched 5 2/3 innings over six games and allowed just two hits while striking out six and walking two. Hard to improve on an ERA of 0.00.

Continue reading →

What Could Keep The Cardinals From Winning The NL Central?

Posted on by
2

It’s a good week ahead, right? Spring training games begin on Friday — just the final step before real baseball games — and the outlook is good for the talented and deep 2014 St. Louis Cardinals.

united-cardinal-bloggers-lgYet yesterday morning, I couldn’t help but feel pessimistic as I thought about what to ask my fellow United Cardinal Bloggers members for our spring training roundtables. Blame it on Monday, blame it on the post I’d just finished at the time, blame it on the rain (for those of you who’ve even heard of Milli Vanilli …)

My question to them: what could keep the Cardinals from winning the NL Central in 2014?

Here are the responses.

Daniel Shoptaw, C70 At The Bat

Your post this morning pointed out the main possibility — Yadier Molina missing a significant portion of the season. Most anything else I think the Cards can survive, but Molina going down would be rough.

Bill Ivie, I-70 Baseball

I’m taking two shots … Health and inexperience …

The Cardinals have depth, but it is young and unproven at a lot of spots. An injury to a key player with little depth behind him could disrupt this team fairly quickly. An injury to a veteran starter and the young arms that have yet to pitch a full season are suddenly going to have to shoulder (pun intended) a lot of the inning load.

The team has the depth in various places to sustain an injury. But young players will have to play up to expectations for the Cards to be able to chug along without a key component. The pitching looks great on paper, but I wonder how hard they will push the young bucks. Time will tell.

Continue reading →