Tag Archives: Mark Ellis

Countdown Now At Three …

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Regular season baseball is clearly in sight on this Thursday morning, as it’s only three days away now.

The Cardinals final game at Roger Dean Stadium is today before the team heads to Memphis to take on the Redbirds tomorrow. Wrigley Field now has its gigantic new video board installed in left field (see why the rooftop owners across Waveland Avenue were a little ticked? Never mind that they’ve been profiting from the Cubs for years anyway as the rooftops turned into a big-dollar industry).

And, speaking of the Cubs, there is a No. 3 connection in recent Cardinals history. Actually, there have been a lot of No. 3s in recent Cardinals history. The last player to wear the number for longer than two seasons? Edgar Renteria, from 1999 to 2004.

So, with 3 more days to go, here’s a look at the three latest No. 3s.

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Ah, Mark Ellis. Years ago I liked him when he was an Oakland A in the Big 3/Moneyball era. I was excited when the Cards signed him for 2014, thinking he could be a valuable bench addition. So it goes. Most fans have probably already forgotten his 73 games, 202 plate appearances and .180/.253/.213 line. Thanks for the 32 hits, Mark! And happy retirement.

APTOPIX NLCS Dodgers Cardinals Baseball

Better memories here, much better …

Carlos Beltran followed Lance Berkman in right field as a past enemy turned hero once he donned the Birds on the Bat. (Here’s to Jason Heyward continuing that tradition this year and beyond, although he was never quite the Card-killer Beltran and Berkman were.) Carlos hit .282/.343/.493 in his two-year Cardinal career, with 56 homers and 181 RBI during the regular season. And, for the first time in his then-16-year major league career, he made it to the World Series in 2013. Continue reading →

Cards Post-Game Shocker: Garcia, Wacha Going On DL

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Carlos Martinez had his longest outing as Cardinal today — and that’s good. He’s going to be staying in the starting rotation.

nurse-e1397756375763After the game, and after Mike Matheny’s post-game comments on FOX Sports Midwest, John Mozeliak addressed the media with some rather shocking news: both Jaime Garcia and Michael Wacha are going on the disabled list with shoulder injuries.

Garcia’s injury is reaggravation of the shoulder injury that kept him on the DL to start the season, after having surgery on the same shoulder in May 2013.

Wacha has what was described by Mozeliak as a “stress reaction” in his shoulder and Wacha described as a tightness on the back of his shoulder during comments aired on FOX Sports Midwest. More details are available from Viva El Birdos and from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

No roster moves will be announced until tomorrow.

Prior to 40 percent of the rotation going onto the DL, the Cardinals did win today’s game 5-3 to split the series with Phillies. Martinez allowed the three runs in five innings to earn his first win as a starter. The Cards scored four runs in the fourth to take the lead, with the lower part of the lineup getting the job done: Jon Jay and Jhonny Peralta each had RBI singles that inning, while Mark Ellis drove in Jay on a safety squeeze. Ellis also had an RBI single in the sixth.

When Cards Starters Are Good, They Can Be Very Good

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The one thing that’s been fairly consistent through the mediocrity of the Cardinals going 31-31 has been the starting pitching. Yes, there have been those occasional clunker game from each of them — those things happen on occasion.

ShelbyBut when the starters have been good, they’ve often been very good. The Cardinals are tied with the Rangers for the MLB lead in shutouts with 11 (which is three more than the teams tied for second) and, as of yesterday, now has the big league lead in shutouts with four.

That’s thanks to Shelby Miller, who joined Adam Wainwright with two and Lance Lynn on that 2014 Cards shutout list. And, as Jenifer Langosch writes at Cardinals.com, his performance might have been even more impressive than last year’s leadoff-single-then-27-straight-retired performance last year: “While Miller may have relied on an overpowering fastball to mow down 27 Colorado hitters in a row in a start last May, this time he toyed with Toronto purely by pitching.”

It was pretty spectacular to watch.

Continue reading →

So What Now For The Cardinals?

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No positives after today’s Cardinals game, which was a 3-0 loss to the Cubs.

5611453557_158a23d554For the first time since April 8, 2013, the Cardinals are below .500. They’ve now lost four of their last five games.

The offense, as you can tell by the score, disappeared once again. The Cards had only 7 hits today, all singles — with 3 from Matt Adams, 2 from Jhonny Peralta, and 1 each from Yadier Molina and pinch-hitter Mark Ellis. The one best chance they had to score, in the top of the 9th, ended when Jon Jay grounded into a double play with Yadi and Peralta on.

They were 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position. They left 8 on base.

Michael Wacha was good, giving up 2 runs on a 6th inning bomb to center by Junior Lake along with 4 other hits while striking out 6. But he wasn’t perfect, which is what’s needed with an offense like today’s. Randy Choate wasn’t perfect either, allowing a homer to Anthony Rizzo — his first homer allowed since 2012, and his first as a Cardinal.

So, what now?

What’s your one solution to get the offense going?

 

Q & A with Newest Cardinal Mark Ellis

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photo (3)One of the good things about veteran baseball players is they aren’t afraid of any question and they are ready to answer completely without thinking about it.  Mark Ellis, fresh off facing the Cardinals in the National League Championship Series and since joined the Redbirds, is the epitome of candid honesty.

Standing in front of the media, Ellis shed plenty of light on expectations, why he came to St. Louis with playing time a question mark and facing young pitchers like Michael Wacha.

Q-Were you surprised the Cardinals got a hold of you?

A-Yes. Very surprised.  I have always been attracted to this team.  I didn’t know that Matt Carpenter would be playing third base.  He just had 200 hits and was playing second base so I didn’t expect it.

Q-What did they tell you about Kolten Wong?

A-They like him from an organizational standpoint.  He’s a good young player.  They didn’t promise me anything.   I just want to play baseball.  I’ll back up Yadi.  Being a part of a winning organization.  No one wants to be a mentor but that’s a role you take on being a veteran player.  You want to help the team win.

Q-Game plan?

A-Help this team win.  I want to help Kolten and they will decide what they want to do.  My game plan is go out there and get prepared and be an everyday player.  I want to win a championship.

Continue reading →

A Cardinals Fan’s Letter to Santa

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Dear Santa,

Two days before Christmas is definitely a little late for sending you a letter, I know, but there’s a good reason for that (beyond being behind on getting ready for the holiday this year): as a Cardinals fan, there’s really nothing I need.

santa hatYes, I know that sounds terribly spoiled of me and could just add fuel to all that October commotion the sports media and fans of other teams had such a great time with in bashing Cards fans. (Some of that was justified — there really are stupid Cardinals fans out there, as there are of every single team in every sport.)

But what I really want to say, Santa, is thanks. Because you’ve already helped John Mozeliak take care of the few needs the Cardinals did have once the final game of the 2013 season ended — and all before the calendar year of 2013 concludes.

Sure, the needs were not great for a team that made it to Game Six of the World Series (which is something those really obnoxious and whiny Cardinals fans need a reminder of: this team made it to the World Series in 2013 for the second time in three seasons. The Cardinals don’t have the needs of the Cubs, obviously. Or the Brewers. Or …) Anyway, we knew what the most glaring need was too: a shortstop.

Continue reading →

Kelly And Company Escape With Game One Winner

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It didn’t look good.

That moment many have feared since Joe Kelly returned to the starting rotation —  the Joe Kelly 1moment the league catches up with his magic tricks — appeared to have arrived. Too many pitches. Too many base runners. Too much adrenaline booming through his usually mellow veins.

That was the first three innings. The good news is, it takes at least nine innings to tell the whole story.

Yes, in the first three innings, Kelly struggled. A single, a hit batter, and a wild pitch in the first; another runner at second base with two outs in the second; and a double, two walks, a botched 1-2-3 double play and a base knock in the third, and the Dodgers — behind Zach Greinke — had a 2-0 lead.

But, we know how this story goes. Where Adam Wainwright is the Ace, Michael Wacha is the Boy Wonder, and Shelby Miller is the Near-Perfect Game guy, Kelly is the Escape Artist. He weaves his way into, and then out of, trouble. He ties himself in knots, bound with the chains of one of baseball’s most potent lineups. And yet, he escapes.

It baffles the minds of the sabermetricians. The numbers don’t always add up. He shouldn’t be this successful. He keeps getting lucky.

… I think he gets lucky a lot. And I have nothing against getting lucky. Continue reading →