Tag Archives: Keith Butler

Joe Kelly To DL, Keith Butler To Memphis

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After having an MRI today, Joe Kelly was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left hamstring. In addition, Keith Butler was optioned to Triple-A Memphis.

nurseTaking their places on the Cardinals roster: Eric Fornataro and Jorge Rondon, both rookie right-handers who are being called up from Memphis.

Kelly injured his hamstring while running to first base during yesterday’s game in Milwaukee.

Butler had made two appearances this season, allowing six earned runs in two total innings.

Here’s more on Fornataro and Rondon from Cardinals.com:

Fornataro, 26, appeared in four games for Memphis this season, going 1-0 with the team’s lone save. He had yet to allow a run and had been touched for just one hit in five innings of work. The 6-foot-1, 225-pound Fornataro was the Cardinals’ sixth-round selection in the 2006 First-Year Player Draft out of Miami Dade Community College. He has made 180 career Minor League appearances (71 starts) and will make his Major League debut with his first appearance.

Rondon, 26, was an international free-agent signing by the Cardinals in July 2006 and is a product of the Cardinals’ former Venezuelan Summer League team. The 6-foot-1, 215-pound Rondon led the Memphis squad with 51 relief appearances in 2013. He appeared in five games for Memphis this season, allowing three runs infive innings pitched. Like Fornataro, he too will be making his Major League debut with his first appearance.

Both will be in Washington, D.C., for tonight’s Cardinals-Nationals game.

Is It Time To Worry About The Cardinals Bullpen?

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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.

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Hopefully, Cardinals, That Will Be The Only Star Wars Night

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What’s that saying — it’s all fun and games until somebody takes a line drive off the elbow?

Westbrook 8-7

Yes, Jake, we felt the same way. (Photo: St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

Yeah. That was Star Wars Night at Busch Stadium. Two pitches, a Carl Crawford liner, Shelby Miller out of the game.

Then there were the nine runs allowed by Jake Westbrook (including six during his first inning of relief), four allowed by Keith Butler and four RBI by Skip Schumaker as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the St. Louis Cardinals 13-4.

But, hey, Rob Johnson pitched! Yes, the Cards backup catcher faced Dodgers relief pitcher Paco Rodriguez — and got a strikeout. (Not even our blog namesake ever got a K in his five career innings pitched.) It was the first time a Cardinal position player took the mound since Mr. Schumaker himself, back on Aug. 23, 2011, coincidentally against the Dodgers (and our namesake had a role in that game as well).

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Cardinals Fans, Doggies Make Everything Better

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How to feel better when this 2013 Rangers-Cardinals match-up has been nothing like all those 2011 World Series clips we’ve seen? Puppies!

Well, doggies anyway — pictures of them, anyway, made all the more soothing because these are photos of the Cardinals with their doggies.

Yesterday was the annual Pooches in the Ballpark game, which prompted these photos from the Cardinals on their Facebook page yesterday.

Enjoy!

freeseYes, we’ve seen plenty of 2011 highlights of David Freese this weekend — and will see even more tonight with the game on ESPN. Not that anyone is complaining … or complaining about this picture, right?

 

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Cardinals Homers, Hitting Streaks And Shaky Relievers – Oh My!

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Here’s a quick review: games with 8-run innings and 5 homers, including one by the pitcher – good.

Extending hitting streaks to 16, 15 and 10 games — also good.

Photo: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Photo: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Six innings with 9 strikeouts from the starting pitcher and maintaining the National League ERA lead at 1.91 — obviously good as well.

A 12-2 lead — very good.

Getting rookie pitchers a chance to gain some experience — yes, that is good.

Having to bring your closer into a game because the score becomes 12-7, the bases are loaded, it’s now a save situation and he gives up a sac fly to make it 12-8 — not good.

But all’s well that ends well, as the saying goes.

And despite the drama that built as Seth Maness and Keith Butler had rough nights and allowed three runs each, it was a good night. Not ideal, obviously, and of course getting battered around like that is not what anyone wants to see from any relievers — especially ones in a bullpen with the Cardinals’ track record for too much of this season.

Still, it was a win.

Let’s go back to the good.

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Fifteen Runs In Two Games? Yeah, A Good Cardinals Day

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Whether you prefer watching the St. Louis Cardinals score a lot of runs or continuing more of this year’s stellar pitching, you were happy with Saturday’s doubleheader.

Photo: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Photo: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

In fact, with scoring 15 runs and giving up only 1 in the day’s sweep of the San Francisco Giants, every Cardinals fan should be plenty pleased.

Come on — even Ty Wigginton went 2 for 3 with 2 RBI in the second game.

Thankfully, that was far from the day’s highlight.

In game one, the Cardinals had a third inning that was very reminiscent of April 7 against the Giants in San Francisco — except this time the Cards only scored 7 runs in the inning off Matt Cain instead of 9. However, 16 runs in 2 of the innings he’s pitched against them this season? Pretty productive.

Twelve batters came to the plate in the third inning, with the dynamic duo of Daniel Descalso and Pete Kozma getting things started with a double and a single. Shelby Miller then sacrificed Koz to second before Matt Carpenter got the scoring started. It continued when Jon Jay singled, Allen Craig singled and Matt Adams singled with three more runs scoring.

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