Goodbye Skippy Schu

One of the finest young men to wear the Cardinals uniform since I started following them in 2004. Anyone who says otherwise only looked at the box score of the game instead of watching them day in and day out. Skip was one of the most liked teammates in the past decade and he truly found a way into the hearts of Cardinal fans. No one on the Cardinals team ever got on Skip for "not trying hard enough" or for "not being willing to go the extra mile" simply because it never happened. Skip was the best of the best when it came to playing the Cardinal way.

With this all being said, I think the trade that has broken so many Cardinal fans' heart was a good trade. You may be conflicted right now, but if you know anything from reading this, know that I was as heart broken as the next die hard Cardinals fan when I read on the internet that my beloved Skippy Schu was heading to LA. I will give you three good reasons why it was a smart trade.

Lack of playing time. Skip's playing time has been dwindling ever since his breakout year in 2009, especially this past season with the new manager. Matheny made it pretty clear that he is willing to sacrifice the better offense that Skip had for the better defense that Descalso had. With Matt Carpenter preparing to come into Spring Training as a second baseman and with the recent signing of super-utility man Ty Wigginton, Skip was bound to see an even greater deduction in playing time. If Matheny wanted to get more offense at second base than what Descalso offered, he can easily turn to Matt Carpenter or Ty Wigginton.

Skip requested a trade. Cardinal fans didn't find out till after the trade, but Skip had actually requested to be traded. As a way of thanking Skip for his exception professionalism and love for the city of St. Louis during the past 10 years, MO went the extra mile and trade Skip to a team whose stadium is only an hour away from Skip's permanent residence. Skip was also be reunited with his hitting coach, Mark McGwire, who had been Skip's personal hitting coach long before Mark was hired by the Cardinals. While Skip does have to part ways with the city of St. Louis, which is heart-breaking, but he can fully settle into Los Angeles with his wife and daughter.

Double-A Shortstop is a good player. If you only glanced at Jake Lemmerman's stats, you would probably think that the Cardinals got the short end of the stick. That however, may not be true. The number that sticks out the most among Lemmerman's stats is his .233 batting average in 2012. Yes, that's not a pretty number, but he is still a solid offensive player. Although his batting average has dropped from .363 his first season to .283 his second season to .233 his third season, that doesn't automatically mean he is not improving as a hitter. A player's batting average is an old school statistic that if solely looked upon, will not depict an accurate picture. Although Jake's batting average was a career low at .233 last season, his .347 On-Base-Percentage was still very good, in fact, it is amazing considering how low his batting average was. As a team, the Cardinals led the major leagues in OBP with .338. The ability to consistently get on base even when they're not hitting well is a quality that managers look for for top of the order hitters. Rafael Furcal, who was the Cardinals' leadoff hitter for the majority of the first half of the season and some of the second half had an OBP of .325. Jake stole five bases with a 55% success rate in his first season. In his second season, he stole 10 bases with a 76% rate. In his third season, he stole 8 bases with a 100% success rate. That stat alone shows his maturing into a smarter baserunner.

While this all might not classify Lemmerman as a solid hitting shortstop, these stats might. Jon Jay, the Cardinals' every day leadoff hitter, averages one extra base hit for every 13 at-bats. Although Lemmerman has a lower career batting average, he averages an extra base hit every 9.5 at bats. In 2011, 21% of Lemmerman's hits were doubles. In 2012, even though his batting average dropped 50 points, his percentage of doubles hit increased by 14%. His percentage of triples, home runs, walks, and stolen bases all increased. It's really hard to be able to tell which players are going to do well in the major leagues and which ones aren't, but no matter what, when you see a player who is progressing in all areas of his game, you know it's a good sign. Lemmerman probably won't be a career .300 hitter, but that doesn't mean he won't be a good hitter. Imagine him as a micro version of Ian Kinsler. Kinsler is a great hitter even though he hit .255 and .256 the past two seasons. While Lemmerman probably won't hit 20 home runs or steal 20 bases either, it wouldn't surprise me if he hit 10-15 homers with 10-15 steals while getting on base a lot. He is a great doubles hitter and could very well turn out to be a good hitter overall.

Schumaker wanted to be traded, and he was traded to a favorable place for him. The Cardinals got a player at the only weak position on their team/farm system who has shown positive signs of a quality major league player.

Play for now, or 2014?

The St. Louis Cardinals have a problem that many teams would give anything to have, too many young talented arms and a potential All Star first baseman. With that being said, John Mozeliak and his think tank need to decide if they want to play to win it all in 2013 or if they want to not fully pursue another World Series trophy to have a better team in 2014 and beyond.

Adam Wainwright, Chris Carpenter, and Jake Westbrook all have contracts that will expire at the end of the 2013 season. Mozeliak will likely strongly pursue signing Adam Wainwright to a long term contract, and let Carpenter and Westbrook go. After the 2013 and at the age of 38, Carpenter will probably strongly consider retiring. Westbrook, however, will have a few more years in him. Adam Wainwright deserves to have one of the ten largest pitching contracts in the Major Leagues, however, he may not demand that much. When he signed his last contract, a modest 4 years, 15 million dollar deal, he said he took the cheap contract because he wanted to be the most underpaid player in the Major Leagues. If he keeps that mentality for his next contract, then the Cardinals will be very pleased, but he may ask for full price. There's no reason to assume that Wainwright won't be back in St. Louis for the 2014 season. Both he and the organization want him back.

To fill the remaining four spots in the rotation, the Cardinals have ample of options. Unless traded, contestants for those spots will likely be Jaime Garcia, Lance Lynn, Joe Kelly, Shelby Miller, and Trevor Rosenthal. Most likely a year or so behind the rest of them is Carlos Martinez, a 21 year old who is projected as a future front-of-the-rotation starter. The Cardinals could have a rotation that could match that of the infamous Atlanta Braves in the late 90's and early 2000's. Wainwright is already a perennial Cy Young candidate, and Miller and Martinez have been considered future All Stars since they were drafted. Lance Lynn has already become an All Star and was in the Cy Young consideration for most of the year. This is so rare when on organization has this many potential dominating pitchers. Shelby Miller has a life time K/9 IP of 11. Trevor Rosenthal has a K/9 of 9.29. Joe Kelly 8.26. Lance Lynn 8.32 (9.4 in majors). Carlos Martinez 9.74. That is a lot of strikeouts. If developed correctly, the Cardinals have a strength that is only dreamed about. Do they want to sacrifice part of this talent core of pitchers for a need somewhere else?

As far as position players, the Cardinals have several players that will be lock down for many years to come. Yadier Molina just signed a five year deal last offseason that will keep him in St. Louis through 2017. Matt Holliday is signed through 2016, with an option for 2017. Allen Craig and Jon Jay don't hit free agency till 2017. Freese will be a free agent in 2016, but will most likely sign a large deal before then. With Molina at catcher, Allen Craig at first, Freese at third, and Matt Holliday in left with Jay in center, the Cardinals have an amazing group of players to build this team around. Matt Carpenter could turn into one of the most offensively productive second baseman in the National League. Oscar Taveras, a 20 year old right fielder, is on the fast track to becoming the Cardinals right fielder of the future. In four minor league seasons, he has a career batting average of .321 and OPS of .906. Last season at Double-A Springfield, he hit 23 home runs and swiped 10 bases. He even got some playing time in Spring Training in 2012. If all of these players stay healthy and continue on the track they are on, the Cardinals are going to have a deadly lineup. The only whole is shortstop. They don't have a short term solution for shortstop, or long term. This is where the Cardinals will consider trading Matt Adams, a blue chip minor leaguer. If it weren't for Allen Craig, Adams would be the Cardinals long term first baseman. As it is, they have two future All Stars and only one spot to put them (Holliday and Taveras block Craig from playing the outfield).

Cardinals vs. Nationals Preview

Many foresaw that the Cardinals would wind up in the playoffs once again, but no one envisioned it would be against the Washington Nationals, who just so happened to have the major's best record. That's right. However, both clubs come into this best of five game series without some of their key players and irreplaceable weaknesses but still with some serious firepower.

The St. Louis Cardinals come into the NLDS with two major advantages-a great offense and playoff experience. The Cardinals scored the were second in the National League in batting average, runs scored, and on-base percentage. In the two years that Mark McGwire has been their hitting coach, they have been the first and second best offensive teams. Because of their tremendous run from nine and half games back at the beginning of September all the way to a World Series championship in Game 7, nobody is taking the Cardinals lightly, nor should they.

The Nationals, on the other hand, were not expected to be in the position that they are in. They were fifth in the National League in runs scored. They also know how to drive the ball out of the park as they drove in the second most home runs in the NL. The Nationals real key is their pitching which sported the league's best ERA even while pitching the most innings.

Each club has very good strengths which is why they are in the postseason. They have both been without some of their integral players for part of the season, but they have both over adversity. Neither of them come to this series with any doubts that they should be the one that gets to have the coveted champagne party while the other team watches with envy. The question is "Which team is more likely to advance to the National League Championship Series?"
Let's start with the visiting team for the first two games, the Washington Nationals. To win a franchise-best 98 games after finishing half a game below .500, they must have a pretty improved squad.

Let's start with their offense, the Nationals were among the league's best offensive clubs thanks to a solid season by a healthy Ryan Zimmerman and the long anticipated breakout years of Adam La Roche, Ian Desmond, Danny Espinosa, and Bryce Harper. The combination of those five shadows the disappointing season by Jason Werth who owns the franchise's biggest contract. Their four infielders combined for 100 home runs, 326 RBI's, and 323 runs scored. That's a pretty lethal infield. Pitching wise, the Nationals had four pitchers with 150+ strikeouts, sub 3.41 ERA's, and 164+ innings pitched. One of their two aces, Gio Gonzalez, has held hitters to a minuscule .206 batting average over 199.1 innings. Their bullpen has been just as solid as their starters. They have three relievers have sub 2.40 ERA's.

That's the Washington Nationals at first glance. Now let's take a quick look at the St. Louis Cardinals.

The Cardinals biggest strength is without a doubt their offense. With 5 players with 20+ home runs, there is no doubt that they know how to score runs in a quick. Freese, who's already a playoff phenomenon, proved that he could stay healthy for a full season. Yadier Molina had an offensive season that was second only to San Francisco's Buster Posey among major league catchers. Carlos Beltran continued upon his success from 2011. Allen Craig continued to climb higher amongst the game's most dangerous hitters, and Matt Holliday once again had another very productive offensive season.

The Cardinals pitching staff was lead by Kyle Lohse and Lance Lynn in the first half, and by Lohse again and Joe Kelly in the second half. Their starters may not have the most impressive statistics, but they can definitely can any offense. Adam Wainwright has a career 0.51 ERA. Chris Carpenter, a postseason beast, owns a 9-2 record with a 3.02 ERA. Kyle Lohse has had the best season of his career and has remained consistent throughout the whole year. After being moved to the bullpen and then back into the rotation, All Star Lance Lynn has been lights out. Their bullpen has been held down by excellent seasons from Jason Motte and Mitchell Boggs.

Despite being the best team in baseball in 2012, the Nationals do enter the postseason with a few weaknesses. They have to notable weaknesses. The first of which is the absence of their franchise pitcher Stephen Strasburg. The General Manager of the Nationals decided that it was in the team's best interests to shutdown their ace in August. However, the Nationals continued to play exceptionally without him. Still, his arm is a very key tool that the Nationals do not have this postseason. The other notable weakness is their club's lack of postseason experience. In fact, few players on this team have played for successful teams before this year. Two of their key players that were brought in this past offseason are Adam La Roche and Gio Gonzalez. La Roche spent the majority of his career in Pittsburg who haven't had a winning season in 20 years. Gonzalez played for the Athletics haven't been competitive for many years either. In fact, their only good players with postseason experience at all are Jason Werth, from his time with the Phillies, and Edwin Jackson, from his time with St. Louis last postseason.

That statistic alone is a very important piece of information that is often overlooked. Talent is definitely an important skill, but experience is what makes good teams great teams.

Their bullpen is solid, yes, but it's not untouchable. Their closer, Tyler Clippard, has a high ERA of 3.72 and lost a total of 6 games last season. Against a team that doesn't give up even if they only have one strike left and are down by two runs-twice, that is a good thing to know. The Nationals are also prone to swing and miss quite a bit which is exemplified by having 5 players with over 100 strikeouts (and one with 97). Another major weakness that can be taken advantage of is the Nationals' lack of a solid catcher, offensively or defensively. As a team, they caught only 16.5% of runners stealing. With the Cardinals who like to do sneaky base running, that could definitely be a game changer.

There St. Louis Cardinals have four basic weaknesses that the Nationals can capitalize on. Their manager and much of their coaching staff's lack of major league coaching experience, the Cardinals' poor defense, their bullpen frustrations, and their lack of depth on the bench. Rookie manager Mike Matheny has done a good job of guiding his club into the postseason thus far, but the managing the postseason is a beast of a its own that he will have to find a way through. Their defense has had its up's and down's this season, but there certainly won't be perfection. However, catcher Yadier Molina and center field Jon Jay could be recipients of Gold Gloves this offseason, but overall, they committed the third most errors in the National League. Unlike the Nationals, the Cardinals only have three relievers with a sub 4 ERA. As seen in the NLCS and ALCS last year, bullpens are essential for postseason success. The Cardinals had some much depth in their lineup in 2011, that the had Allen Craig on the bench most games, who was arguably one of their top 3 hitters. Now, their best bat off the bench is Matt Carpenter who is average major league hitter.

The number one reason that the Washington Nationals should win is that they are overall a great team. They were second in home runs, first in ERA, and 3 in fielding percentage in the NL. The reason why the Cardinals should win is that know how to beat the Goliath's of baseball. Adam Wainwright (0.51 ERA), Chris Carpenter (9-2, 3.02 ERA), and Jason Motte (6 saves, 0 blown, 1.82 ERA) have all had phenomenal pitching success in the postseason. Yadier Molina (.302 ave, 24 RBI's, 58% caught stealing), Allen Craig (4 homers, 10 runs, and 9 RBI's in only 41 AB's), Carlos Beltran (.360 ave, 11 homers), and David Freese (.385 ave, 5 homers, 22 RBI's) have all had outstanding offensive postseason success.

There is one player that can have the most affect on this series. That player is Yadier Molina. Yadi can determine the Cardinals' success through so many different ways. The Cardinals wouldn't have won their last two postseasons without his clutch bat. The Cardinals' pitching staff's success wouldn't be what it is without Yadi's excellent pitch calling. And most importantly, Yadi shuts down the running game. For many postseason teams, running mad around the bases is essential to getting an edge on their opponent. With his 58% success rate in throwing runners out in the postseason, Yadi completely takes that advantage away. No other team has made it to the World Series as many times in the past 8 years as Yadi has (3), nor have any of the team's catchers made such a big influence on getting there. Tony La Russa said that Yadier Molina, not Albert Pujols, was the only irreplaceable player on their 2011 team. Here's a key stat you probably didn't know: In the 2011 World Series, the Cardinal with the most RBI's was not David Freese, nor was it Lance Berkman, but rather it was Yadier Molina with 12. Also another stat that shows you how essential Yadi is to the Cardinals' success: The Cardinals have better than 95% of winning a game if Yadi gets at least 2 RBI's. 95 Percent.

Tell me there is another player that can make a bigger influence in this series.

Player Profile

Thanks to a three hour car ride (one way) for Easter weekend, I have plenty of time to express my thoughts on the Cardinals. Let's go through each position and look at each player.

Catcher:
Yadier Molina: After signing a mega deal in the offseason, Yadi is showing his worth early in the season. He set a career high in home runs (and RBI's) last season, and he's already homered once in the two games so far. His defense has been superb, although he did allow a batter to reach on a dropped third strike. Outside of statistics, Yadi looks like he's in great shape. I know it's not saying much, but watching him running the bases, he is running faster than ever before. I'm expecting great things from the Puerto Rican.

First base:
Lance Berkman: The Big Puma had a great year last season to defy critics who said that his career was over. And he's out to prove himself again this year. Through the first two games, Berkman is hitting a solid .333 with one RBI and two doubles. One of the biggest reasons for Berkman's success last year was how healthy and in shape he was. You could tell he was in great shape after his first at-bat of the year when he stretched a single into a double, thanks to great hustle and some fancy sliding. Of course, one of the Puma's strengths is getting on base. In each of the first two games, he's walked twice. That's a .600 on-base percentage, folks.

Second base:
Daniel Descalso: Take note that I put Descalso ahead of Tyler Greene on the second base list. Through the first two games, Double D has had 9 plate appearances. Comparatively, Tyler Greene has had zero. Considered the under bird to win the second base job at the beginning of spring training, Descalso has been rewarded for his hard work with the first two starts of the season. He's hitting the ball well, and as always, his defense is amazing. I think Descalso has better knowledge of baseball and different situations than Tyler Greene, which will help him earn his spot in the lineup during high pressure situations. That's the reason why Nick Punto started at second base during the World Series.

Tyler Greene: Well, it's hard to comment on a player who hasn't seen any action yet. Still, there is plenty to discuss when it comes to the former first round draft pick. No one is doubting TG's potential. He's had occasional power in the minor leagues which could lead to double digit home runs in the majors if he ever gets the chance and adjusts to major league pitching. Tyler is also a great base stealer. For some players (such as Jon Jay and Colby Rasmus), there speed doesn't translate in stolen bases. That's not the case for Greene who has 16 career stolen bases and no caught stealing. And with Matheny who is encouraging stealing bases this season behind the helm, Greene could really shine in he can get on base. He has a .219 career batting average in the majors (.270 in minors).

Shortstop:
Rafael Furcal: Furcal struggled for much of spring training, but he kicked it in gear once the games (and stats) count. Through the first two games, he has a .600 batting average, 2 RBI's and 2 stolen bases. The Cardinals need Furcal to be a leadoff hitter for them this year. They need guys to get on ahead of the big boppers and since Beltran is hitting second, Furcal's ability to consistently get on base is critical to the Cardinals' success.

Third base:
David Freese: After becoming a postseason legend, David Freese is out to prove that he wasn't a 18 game wonder. So far he's hitting a whopping .500 with 5 RBI's and one home run. If he can keep that up for the rest of the season, he will hit 81 home runs and drive in 530 runs…. More realistically, Freese should be aiming for the .300/25/100 (average/homers/RBI's) mark. He should also be trying to reach 150 games played for once in his career. Through the first two games, pitchers have shown that they would rather pitch to Freese with runners on first and second than Berkman with a runner on second. This will give Freese a lot of RBI opportunities during the season.

Matt Carpenter: Carpenter didn't make the team because they needed a backup third baseman (Greene and Descalso can play third), he made the big league club for the first time because he can hit. He proved that in his first at-bat when he doubled into right center to drive in two runs. If Freese goes down with another injury, the Cardinals should be in good hands with the newest Carp.

Outfield:
Matt Holliday: The simple truth is that if Holliday is healthy, he will produce. He hasn't quite had his swing back to start the season (striking out four times through two games), but there is no need to worry. He should be a lock for a .300/25/100 mark.

Jon Jay: Through the first two games, Jay's defense has been great. If he keeps it up, he could win a Gold Glove some day. Offensively, Jay makes contact and has occasional power. Look for him to hit just over .300 with 10-15 homers.

Carlos Beltran: Beltran has come out of the gates racking in his first two games as a Cardinal. He's got a .444 batting average with a home run, RBI, stolen base, and 3 runs scored. If he remains in the two hole for much of the year, he could wind up with close to 100 runs scored. Having his .400 career on-base percentage in front of Holliday, Berkman, and Freese will bring in a lot of runs over the course of 162 games.

Eric Komatsu: A Rule 5 draft pick Washington, Komatsu made the big league club knowing that if he didn't he would be sent back to Washington. I saw Komatsu start in a spring training game this spring and after watching him get his first big league hit, I can say I'm surprised Washington didn't protect the former first round draft pick. He has a lot of skill that I think could get him a lot of at-bats for the Cardinals this year.

Shane Robinson: The Cardinals have been wanting a right handed hitting center fielder to back up their lefties (Jay and Schumaker). This is why Robinson was able to make the club out of spring training for the first time in his career He is a great defensive player and has good speed. However, he's not much of a power hitter, but he can occasionally send one to the wall.


Starting Pitchers:
Adam Wainwright: Obviously a 0-6 loss to the Brewers was not the way Wainwright wanted to start the season after going undefeated in Spring Training. However, I still believe that Wainwright will have an outstanding year, despite concerns about his health. His innings pitched probably won't be north of 200, but the innings he does pitch he will pitch well.

Jaime Garcia: If you just looked at the box score for his first start, you'd think he pitched well. However, if you watched him pitch, you would know that he was skating on thin ice for the majority of the game. He had no control of his pitches, leaving them many up in the strike zone, but he was fortunate not to be crushed. However, this is the kind of start that aces give you; even when they don't have their stuff working, they still go out there and give you a quality start.

Kyle Lohse: A lot of Cardinal fans don't like Lohse because for the first two years of his four year 41 million dollar contract, he spent the majority of the seasons on the disabled list and when he was pitching he was pitching poorly. Another reason for fans' dislike of him is that he tends to have poor body language when things start to go bad. However, personal biases aside, Lohse is a lot better pitcher than many people give him credit for, when healthy that is. In the past two seasons, he has allowed 2 stolen bases. He is also one of the league leaders for fewest pitches per inning. His Opening Day start was a great example of him getting on a role and mowing the offense down quickly.

Jake Westbrook: After probably his worst season in the majors, Westbrook seems primed to have a bounce back season. He reported to camp in great shape (20 pounds lighter) and has had a terrific spring. His great spring can also be attributed to the slight change in his windup as he adjusted more towards the delivery of 2010 which was different in 2011. I am expecting a great year from Westbrook this season.

Lance Lynn: A lot of fans probably just know Lance Lynn from his great work out of the bullpen during their historic run to win the championship. What they might not know is that Lynn was slated as a future top-of-the-rotation starter during his minor league days. He has a full four pitch arsenal (fastball, curveball, slider, change up) and he is a durable starter. He could be right along with Adam Wainwright and Shelby Miller as the team's aces in 3 years. Lynn could make a case to stay in the rotation once Carpenter comes back from rehab.

Relief Pitchers:
J.C. Romero: Romero is a step up from most of the lefty reliever in the past (Reyes, Villone), but he can struggle at times. He probably won't pitch against righties during high pressure situations which is fine because of the depth of their righty relievers.

Marc Rzepczynski: I was very impressed with Scrabble once he came over from north of the border. I think he's been the best lefty reliever for the Cardinals in the past decade, excluding Trever Miller's 2009 campaign. Mozeliak can invasion using him as a starter if necessary, but I think he is too valuable of a tool in the bullpen to be put into the rotation.

Mitchell Boggs: Boggs is a different pitcher than the young hard throwing starter that struggled to get through five innings. As a reliever, he has boosted velocity on his fastball and has added sharper movement to his slider. I still have faith that Boggs can absolutely dominate hitters on a consistent basis. I think that when the new manager and pitching coach that he will give himself a clean slate to start with.

Kyle McClellan: There were trade rumors during the offseason that McClellan could be dealt to make some room on the payroll for Roy Oswalt. However, a deal couldn't be made and the Cardinals have the experienced righty for another year. In 2010, McClellan was one of the most dominate right-handed relievers. However, in 2011 he took a step backward as he became a full time starter. I think it was a great move to not pursuing the overpriced Oswalt and instead keeping a valuable reliever.

Fernando Salas: Salas was the closer for the majority of the 2011 season, but lost it to Motte in September. While he was effective as a closer, I don't feel that he's cut out for that role. Salas has three quality pitches (2 seam fastball, slurve, and circle change), but he doesn't the ability to dominate pitch. He lacks the ability to mow down hitters. Motte, Sanchez, and Boggs can all completely dominate an at-bat. Thus, I think Salas is more cut out for the eight inning role instead of the ninth.

Jason Motte: Motte has really evolved as a pitcher since 2009. When he first came up, he just threw it as hard as he could without concern of where it ended up. That got him a lot of strikeouts, but a lot of walks and home runs as well. In 2010, he changed from throwing a straight four seam to throwing three miles per hour slower but with two seam action. That brought his walk and home run rate down, but it also brought down his strikeout rate. In 2011, he went back to the four seam fastball, but he located it very well and had a high strikeout rate with few walks and home runs. He should run away with the closer job this season.

Even though these players aren't on the major league roster, they still deserve a look at.
First base:
Matt Adams: You may not have heard of this young lefty, but you will be as inches closer to St. Louis. Adams was not a big name when he was drafted (in the 9th round), but then again, neither was Albert. In his 2 seasons in the minors, Adams has a better than .900 OPS. Any player with a .900 OPS is a lock for an All Star selection. Think of him as a slimmer Prince Fielder. He has tremendous power, but we don't know if his .300 batting average will hold up against major league pitching. Matt Adams is the reason that I believe that letting Albert sign with the Angels was a smart move.

Starting Pitcher:
Shelby Miller: I probably won't tell you anything that you don't already know about Shelby. A former first round has flown through the system with success that spells "future ace". Being drafted in the first round is the first of many steps to being a super star. The next step is to be successful and get better in the minor leagues. Miller has definitely done that. He will start the season at Triple-A Memphis, and will likely make his debut sometime this year, and it will not be out of the bullpen.

Relief Pitcher:
Eduardo Sanchez: Sanchez was lights out with a towel under the door when he first came up to the bigs. He had a well over 15 K/9 after the first two weeks in the majors. That slowed down, but he is still a very effective reliever. Think of him as a young K-Rod with hopefully a better control of his emotions and personality.

Spoiler Alert

For the second game in a row, the Cardinals ruined the home opener for the opposing team. The Brewers appeared to be coming out of the gate firing when Carlos Gomez tripled in Rickie Weeks on the second at-bat of the bottom of the first. But that lead didn't hold up...

St. Louis: 11 Winning Pitcher: Jaime Garcia (1-0)
Milwaukee: 5 Losing Pitcher: Yovanni Gallardo (0-1)

RBI's:
Carlos Gomez (1)
Aramis Ramirez (1)
George Kottaras 3 (3)

Yadier Molina (1)
Carlos Beltran (1)
Matt Holliday (1)
David Freese 3 (5)
Matt Carpenter 2 (2)
Shane Robinson (1)
Rafael Furcal (2)

Home Runs:
George Kottaras (1)

Yadier Molina (1)
Carlos Beltran (1)
Matt Holliday (1)
David Freese (1)

Player of the Game:
David Freese
Stats: 2-5, 1 1B, HR, 1 Run, 3 RBI's
Summary:
Freese came through big with Berkman on first after Holliday and Beltran went back-to-back. His home run was the longest one of the game. Freese also came through with a hard single into center in his next at-bat with runners on the corners and two outs. He's proven in the two games so far that his heroic clutch hits last postseason were a sign of yet to come and not just a fluke.

Summary of the Game:
Jaime appeared the whole game like he never had his stuff working. He fanned only three while walking two. However, he worked through his mechanical problems and earned a quality start as well as a victory. Hopefully he can locate and get consistent movement on his pitches his next time out.

Out of the bullpen, J.C. Romero gave up two line drive singles to the only two hitters faced. Not a good sign. But thanks to some fancy ground balls induced by Mitchell Boggs, no runs were added to Romero's resumé. Mitchell was rewarded after getting three clutch outs with two runners on by being sent out to the next inning. He gave up a lead off single the next inning, but also struck out two batters to strand the runner at first. If you just look at the box score for Kyle McClellan, you will see that he allowed three runs in one inning. What the box score won't tell you is that one of the runners reached base on a strikeout. McClellan's great curveball bounced in the dirt and Yadi blocked it, but he thought it went to his left but the ball reflected off of his chest protector toward his right. The second runner reach base on a hit by pitch. McClellan was up 1-2 and threw an inside curveball which didn't break and softly hit him in the shoulders. The next batter, George Kottaras, hit a home run to deep center.

Offensively, every hitter contributed. Literally, every position player got at least one hit, and every starter besides Descalso scored a run. No one had a four hit game, but everyone hit.....and the Brewers gave up seven walks. Shane Robinson, Eric Komatsu, and Matt Carpenter all came off the bench and got pinch hit hits. Carpenter's was a 2 RBI double into right center field. It was a great opportunity for Matheny to watch the young guys get major league at-bats.

Game 2 of 162
Record: 2-0

Opening Day

St Louis Cardinals: 4 Winning Pitcher: Kyle Lohse (1-0) Save: Jason Motte (1)
Miami Marlins: 1 Losing Pitcher: Josh Johnson (0-1)

RBIs:
Gaby Sanchez 1 (1)
David Freese 2 (2)
Rafael Furcal 1 (1)
Daniel Descalso 1 (1)

Player of the Game: Kyle Lohse
Stats:
7.1 IP, 2 hits, 1 (earned) run, 0 walks, 3 strikeouts

Summary:
Lohse was the story of the Opening Day. He took a No-Hitter into the seventh inning until Jose Reyes singled to start off the inning, but the Marlins first rally led to nothing. In the eight inning, however, the Marlins got a break. With no outs, Logan Morrison singled on a one hopper of the right field wall. Next up, Gaby Sanchez struck out. Matheny decided to end Lohse's night on a positive note. So he brought in Fernando Salas. On Salas' first pitch, Omar Infante hit a one hopper to second baseman Daniel Descalso who threw to shortstop Rafael Furcal who threw a one hopper to Lance Berkman for the double play. Unfortunately, Infante was called safe at first base even though the replay clearly showed the ball beat him to first base. The next batter, John Buck, doubled into the right center gap to score the Marlins' only run.

Summary of the Game:
Josh Johnson started the season strong by getting lead off hitter Rafael Furcal to ground out on a 1-2 count. But Carlos Beltran singled on a single to right field. Matt Holliday hit a high pop out to the right fielder. With two outs, cleanup hitter Lance Berkman hit a liner in-between the left and center fielders. Beltran coasted into third but the Big Puma was hustling into second base. Thanks to some fancy sliding at second, Berkman was safe for a double. But they still needed the key hit to bring the runners in. With two outs and a 2-2 count, David Freese singled into left field, scoring both runs.

In the bottom of the second, Furcal singled in Daniel Descalso after Lohse sacrificed him over to second. There were 1-2-3 innings for the next three innings until Furcal led off the fifth with a single. Beltran struck out on a failed hit 'n run, but Furcal made it in safely to second. Holliday struck out and Berkman was intentionally walked. Freese struck out to end the inning.

Quiet baseball loomed until the top of the eight when Daniel Descalso brought in David Freese from third on a ground ball to the pitcher. The bottom of the eight is when the Marlins finally scored on John Buck's RBI double off of Fernando Salas. The Cardinals failed to score in the top of the ninth, which allowed Jason Motte to come in for the save. He gave up a lead off single, but worked around it with a ground ball and back to back strikeouts to end the game.

Game 1 of 162
Record: 1-0

Mike Matheny

12 year veteran, 5 time Cardinal, and 4 time Gold Glove winner Mike Matheny will have butterflies for the first time on Opening Day in many years. Long gone are the days were he was a young gun behind the plate for the Milwaukee Brewers. Even the days that he mentored to current Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina are even in the distant past. The 44 year-old Ohioan will make his major league debut tonight, but this time as a manager.

Even though Matheny has zero experience in a managerial role at any level, professional or not, he seems to be a perfect fit for the Cardinals. The first plus for Matheny is that he is already very familiar with the organization. As mentioned earlier, he spent five years with the Cardinals as a player. During the Cardinals' historic 2011 campaign, Matheny spent the whole season by John Mozeliak's side as the Assistant General Manager. Over the past few springs, Matheny has attended spring training as a special instructor to catchers. He knows the organization, he knows their philosophy. He knows the players, he knows the coaches, the front office personnel, he knows everybody. The second plus is his integrity. As a player, Matheny was known as one of the most integral player in all of baseball. His personality transferred as an instructor, it transferred as a front office executive, and it appears to being transferring as a manager. Through spring training, his players have had nothing but good things to say about their new manager. A common theme among their comments is that he knows the game very well because he played in the same era as all of them, he connects very well with the players who aren't intimidated to share their feelings with him, but he also can take charge and do his job of managing them and tell them what they're doing wrong.

Matheny has big shoes to fill. Tony La Russa managed the Cardinals for 16 years. He also won 2 World Series in the past 6 years which is more than any other club during that time period. With that in mind, Matheny could do very well for the Cardinals. There are three factors for a manager to stay with the same organization for a long period of time. The first one is that he needs to be successful. (This one is still yet to be determined for Matheny) The second one is that he needs to know the game extremely well and be able to adapt as the game changes. (Matheny did that as a player as is evident by his best offensive season which came when he was 35) The third factor is that he has to be a great fit for the organization. There couldn't be a much more perfect fit for the Cardinals than Matheny.

So whether or not Matheny will be a good manager for the Cardinals remains to be seen. However, there is plenty of reason to be optimistic about the new man at the helm.

Tyler Greene vs. Daniel Descalso

This was one of the biggest questions going into the spring, and it could continue into the regular season. The battle for the second base job was Tyler Greene's to lose entering into the spring. However, he hasn't been overly impressive and Descalso has had a solid spring. There are pro's and con's to each player. So let's take a look at them.

Tyler Greene
Primary position: Shortstop
Age: 28
Bats: Right Throws: Right
Strengths: Legitimate major league base stealer (16 for 16 in ML career)
Power potential (16 minor league homers per 450 at-bats)
Defense (he can make the spectacular plays, but he will also make errors)

Weaknesses: Batting average (his .270 career minor league average hasn't translated to the majors)
Track record (he has proven he has potential in the minors, but he hasn't done squat in the majors)

Daniel Descalso
Primary position: Third Base
Age: 25
Bats: Left Throws: Right
Strengths: Defense (he was ranked third in Gold Glove in '11 even though he only played 66 games at third)
Clutch hitter (.345 average in Late/Close games, half of his RBI's came with 2 outs)
Track Record (hit .298 after his first two months in the big leagues)

Weaknesses: What you see it what you get (he's not going to hit homers or steal bases)
Second half drop (2 RBI's in 76 at-bats in August and September; 11 RBI's in 85 at-bats in May)


My take: Tyler Greene obviously has a higher ceiling than Daniel Descalso. I think that Greene could hit 15-20 home runs and swipe 25-35 bases if he ever reaches his prime. Descalso, on the other hand, is a safer option because he remained on the major league roster the entire 162 game season. However, I feel that Descalso is most valuable as a utility player and late game replacement (whether it be on defense of Freese or as a pinch hitter in a clutch situation). With that being said, I would give the bulk of the at-bats to Tyler Greene. If he doesn't produce however, I wouldn't hesitate to let Descalso take over.

9-6 Win over Boston

In day 1 of my vacation in Florida, I had the pleasure of attending my first Spring Training game. It was an action filled game. It started off with entering a great facility in the Red Sox's brand new stadium, JetBlue II. It lived up to the hype given by former Cardinals beat writer Matthew Leach after his visit earlier this spring.

Now time for the action. The Cardinals Minor League Hitter of the Year, Matt Adams, put on a show during batting practice. Every ball he hit was a double into the gap. No joke. That guy can rake the ball. I'm starting to see that not signing Albert Pujols to a 10 year deal was a good idea. It would kinda blocked a future MVP candidate. Adams should be the Cards starting first baseman in 2013, assuming that Berkman retires after this season.

Pitching wise, Lohse threw a solid 3 innings. His box score lines will be misleading because of McDonalds's one swing that brought in two of the three runs that were scored that inning. J.C. Romero and Marc Rzepczynski both had rough outings. Jason Motte and Kyle McClellan both had their stuff working though.

Throughout the lineup, no one had a great offensive game, but with timely hitting they produced 9 runs. A third of those came Shane Robinson's pinch hit, bases loaded triple. The outfielders were playing pretty shallow, but that came back to haunt them as Robinson plugged one into center field. It hit off the base of the 375 feet sign on the mini Green Monster.

Earlier in the game, there was a 20 minute rain delay with Matt Adams at the plate. The count was 1-0 when it was called. After play resumed, the same pitcher came out and threw another ball. I had a feeling that Adams was going to put a charge into a pitch after the pitcher had been still for 20 minutes. On the next pitch, my intuition was proven correct as Adams cranked a solo homer to right field. The ball flew approximately 390 feet. It was a no-doubter right after the crack of the bat. Adams later had a RBI single on a sharp grounder past the first baseman.

The Cardinals played solid defense, turning two double plays. Outside of Freeman's three walks, they pitched solidly too. Their pinch hitters (Shane Robinson and Oscar Tavares) were 2-2 with 2 runs and 4 RBI's. They did the little things right and came out on top. The Red Sox, on the other hand, had plenty of blunders. Bard overthrew second on a pickoff attempt, former Redbird Nick Punto was in the way of Matt Carpenter during Komatsu's hit 'n run RBI double in the second inning, Youkilis and Punto both missed ground balls that could have been made but were scored as hits.

Long story short, I liked what I saw from the Cardinals today. Going to watch the Twins take on the Orioles tomorrow. On Saturday, we'll see the Twins again. To conclude the vacation, we're going to watch the Cardinals play the revamped Miami Marlins on Sunday. More coverage tomorrow.

Tommy John surgery

I wrote this argument for my writing class at college and thought it would ease your mind about Wainwright's situation.

Today I am going to prove to you that the performance of pitchers who have had Tommy John surgery is affected very little by it. The surgery was first done on Tommy John in 1974. He was a starting pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers. When pitchers hear that they are going to need to have Tommy John surgery, they get the same feeling like when a person first hears that they have cancer. Jake Westbrook of the St. Louis Cardinals said as of the surgery, "(After rehabbing for 15 months) I know full well that rehab isn't only a physically exhausting process, but it's also a mentally exhausting one."

The first player that I'm going to analyze is Chris Carpenter, also of the St. Louis Cardinals. Carpenter played 9 seasons before he had Tommy John surgery. In that time he established himself as a great pitcher. He earned the Cy Young award (given to the best pitcher in each league) the year before he had the surgery. He was almost 32 when he had the surgery. Carpenter was out of the game for almost two full years after having Tommy John surgery. Here are the average stats of the three seasons before he had Tommy John surgery compared to the average of the three seasons after the surgery.

Before
31 starts, 215 Innings Pitched, 6.935 Innings Pitched per Game Started, 194 hits, 44 walks, 183 strikeouts

After
32 starts, 221.2 Innings Pitched, 6.925 Innings Pitcher per Game Started, 204 hits, 53 walks, 171 strikeouts

As you can see, the numbers are quite similar. He gained stamina and was able to start an extra game each season after the surgery, but he allowed a few more hits and walks as well as struck out a few less. Overall, the three years before the surgery were slightly better. However, the decrease in effectiveness after the surgery could also be attributed to the fact that he was 34-36 years old when he pitched after the surgery and 29-32 years old before the surgery. A starting pitcher's prime is usually from the age 27 until 32. With that in mind, I don't believe that the surgery affected his performance at all.

The next player I am going to analyze is Tim Hudson from the Atlanta Braves. Hudson and Chris Carpenter both represent the best examples of Tommy John victims because of the overwhelming amount of data we have on them. They both played 9 full or reasonably full seasons before having surgery. Unlike Chris Carpenter, Tim Hudson only missed one season and a third of another season as opposed to two seasons. Also unlike Carpenter, Hudson has only pitched two seasons since the surgery; so I will show you the averages over the two years prior to the surgery and after the surgery.

Before
34.5 Games Started, 221.1 Innings Pitched, 6.35 Innings Pitched per Game Started, 228 hits, 66 walks, 136 strikeouts
After
33.5 GS, 222. IP, 6.6 IP/GS, 189 hits, 65 walks, 148 strikeouts

Keep in mind that like Carpenter, Hudson was also toward the end of his career after the surgery. He was just 12 days from turning 33 when he had the surgery. He didn't start his next season until he was 34 and only 4 months away from turning 35. This is about the age that most starting pitchers retire, but the good and more durable ones will play for up to three more seasons an occasionally more. After considering this, look at the stats again. It is even more impressive that his numbers improved because he was getting farther away from his prime years and closer to retirement. Even though he averaged pitching one less game per year after the surgery, he pitched deeper into games resulting in a higher innings pitched per games started. His hits allowed significantly dropped and his strikeouts increased a bit. However, overall his numbers are nearly the same, with just a slight improvement.

The third and final pitcher I am going to analyze is Shaun Marcum who plays for the Milwaukee Brewers. After looking at two pitchers that were already well established big leaguers before the surgery, I decided to look at a pitcher who had less experience. Shaun Marcum was in the big leagues for three full seasons before he had Tommy John surgery at age 27. Each season he was used less and less as a relief pitcher which means he was becoming more of an established starting pitcher. In those three years before the surgery, he was used as a starting pitcher for the majority (76%) of his appearances. By the third season, he was strictly used as a starter. However, this season was cut short by approximately 22% of the season to go due to arm injury and later Tommy John surgery. Here are the numbers comparison from before he had Tommy John and after.

Before
25 Games Started, 159 Innings Pitched, 5.95 Innings Pitched per Game Started, 137 hits, 49 walks, 122 strikeouts

After
32 Games Started, 198 Innings Pitched, 6.19 Innings Pitcher per Game Started, 178 hits, 50 walks, 161 strikeouts

As you can see for the most part, his post-Tommy John surgery numbers are better than his prior-surgery numbers. He pitched deeper into games, walked fewer batters after the surgery. Keep in mind that his numbers before the surgery were indicating that he was getting better every year. So don't come to the conclusion that the surgery made him better pitcher. Although his numbers were better after Tommy John surgery, it can be inferred that the surgery simply did not stop his progression as a starting pitcher.

I have given three examples of pitchers who have had Tommy John surgery. Two of them had incredible amount of data to draw conclusions from, and the third one was on the opposite side of his career as the other two. The statistics of the first example, Carpenter, were slightly worse after the surgery, but that slight decrease in effectiveness can be attributed to his aging well past his prime. The second example, Hudson, improved after his surgery even though he was also well past his prime. The third example, Marcum, had better seasons after the surgery as he was entering his prime than when he was first developing before the surgery. In all three cases, the changes in statistics were either minor changes, or predictable development. With all of these results, I think I can conclude with great certainty that having Tommy John surgery does significantly decrease the performance of a pitcher.

Jaime Garcia

Jaime Garcia has established himself as a great young southpaw. With that in mind, if he wants to become an elite starting pitcher, he needs to have more stamina. He needs to be more than a six inning pitcher if he ever wants a serious shot at the Cy Young, or even an All Star appearance. We have seen him come through and really shine in some of his best starts (2 shutouts last season). In his sophomore season, Jaime G decreased his walk rate from 3.5 BB/9 IP to 2.3. However, his opponents batting average rose from .243 to .273. His WHIP remained the same. His innings pitched per start rose from 5.8 to 6.08. It's not a great increase, and it is still a low number. That is what he needs to change in 2012 to rise to the next level of southpaws. He has a great pitch combination with his cutter that he bears low and in to righties, and his 2 seam fastball that sinks away from the righties. His circle change up is a plus pitch and his curveball can be great but it is a bit inconsistent. He has the tools to be a superstar, but he needs to get to the next level.

Jon Jay

Jon Jay
Jay is one of the more underrated Cardinal younglings since the rise of David Freese and Allen Craig. But I think that he has potential to be a great center fielder. His defense really shined in the second to the last play of the NLCS when he made a spectacular diving play in the warning track. Those are the plays we have come to expect from him. His offense is coming along nicely. He has shown good power that could possibly result in 20 home runs sometime in his career. He slugged higher than Colby Rasmus did with the Cardinals last year. However, so did Nick Punto. He's always been a good average hitter despite his awkward swing. As he progresses as a hitter, he should gain a better knowledge of which pitches are the best ones to swing at. Despite decent speed, he isn't much of a base stealer. Jon Jay is one of those hitters that can either be a great hitter or the next Chris Duncan.

David Freese

Giving a piece of candy to a child that just fell off their bike doesn't always work, but it always helps. Cardinal fans fell off their bike in December when Albert Pujols signed a mega deal with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Fortunately for them, a new face of the franchise had risen up just two months before. 23 is the new 5 in St. Louis.

After receiving the NLCS MVP award, Freese compiled a World Series that he will never forget- never will Cardinal fans. David not only set a record for the most RBI's in a single postseason, but he also had one of the most dramatic home runs in World Series history. Not to mention a two RBI tripe that saved their season the at-bat before. This is all ancient history for Cardinals fans and David Freese fans across the world.

Cardinal fans are now turning to #23 to provide the game-saving clutch hits and the consistent offense that carries a team out of a slump. While he may be an extremely clutch hitter, his numbers show that he won't produce nearly as much as fans anticipate. If all things go well, I think Freese could top out at a solid .280 average with 20+ home runs and 90 RBIs. Nothing like the .330, 35, 110 numbers that Albert would put up annually.

Freese posted a very good 13.2 at-bats per home run in the postseason last year. In his major league career (regular season only), his at-bats per home run is 40.27. That's quite a difference. Over 550 at-bats, that's the difference between 42 home runs and 14. In his minor league career, his AB/HR is 21.6. That would carry out to be 25 home runs for 550 at-bats. However, he could become a more powerful hitter and hit a little lower average, or he could go for average and drop a little power. I think he will be more of a .280-.290 hitter compared to the nearly .300 career hitter he is now. One stat that worries me is his strikeout rate: 4.3 K's/AB. That's 128 strikeouts folks.

Freese's defense is one attribute that is underrated because of his great offense as well as his backup's Daniel Descalso's superb defense. I have seen Freese make some great defensive plays, and I think he is a Gold Glover in the making. While he is not a five tool player, he does possess the most important two tools- he has great offense and terrific defense. I would not be surprised if he was elected to the All Star Game this year, although there is tough competition with David Wright, Ryan Zimmerman, and Hanley Ramirez (all NL East).

Roy Oswalt

The Cardinals have been unofficially trying to sign Roy Oswalt for a few weeks now. But until the Cardinals can find the right suitor for Kyle McClellan and Roy Oswalt raises down his asking price of $10 million for one year, then nothing is going to transpire. Here are some pro's and con's to signing Oswalt.

Pro's: He would obviously be a significant upgrade from Jake Westbrook as the fifth starter, but Roy would probably be the third starter.

Con's: The Cardinals would be letting go of a great versatile pitcher that they have control of for another two years. Westbrook would obviously not be as near a good reliever as McClellan is. For one thing, Westbrook is an innings eater; that's something he can't do as a reliever. He is a ground ball pitcher who doesn't get a lot of strikeouts. McClellan has been a sturdy reliever for three years now. I think that the reason that he wasn't very effective as a reliever last year was the he conditioned himself as a starter ever since Adam went down.

On the other hand, he is very specific about only wanting a one year deal. Which means he will be a free agent next offseason. The same time that Kyle Lohse and Jake Westbrook are free agents. So if they don't sign him this year, there is a good possibility that they could next season. Lohse and Westbrook combine for make $20 million this year. That is more than enough to sign Oswalt next offseason. Shelby Miller will probably fill the other spot in the rotation.

So, to me, signing him this year isn't worth it. We would have to lose a valuable reliever and our bullpen would be weakened both this year and next year. Stats show that Jake Westbrook should be a lot better than he was last year, So I'm pretty confident he can bounce back this season and have a solid year.

The IF's of the 2012 season

As spring training approaches, teams have to look at their roster and plan for the unexpected, plan for the season ending Tommy John surgeries to your ace with a nasty curveball, plan for the midseason broken wrist to your three time MVP. What is the Cardinals plan to bandage up the injuries that are bound to happen in 2012?

IF almost any position player gets hurt, Allen Craig has is covered. Craig can play first base, third base, left field, and right field all on a full time basis. So if Lance Berkman, David Freese, Matt Holliday, or Carlos Beltran are hurt for a significant period of time or just for a game, Allen can fill in until they return. Allen can also play center field as well as second base. Unfortunately, not on a consistent basis. He can probably fill in for a game every now or then, but if Jay or who ever wins the second base job are hurt for a significant amount of time, then Matheny would have to turn to another alternative to fill the hole. Fortunately, the Cardinals have three players, Tyler Greene, Daniel Descalso, and Skip Schumaker, who could fill in at second. Carlos Beltran could move from right to center as long as his knees are good enough for the extra running. If Furcal (or Squirrecal) goes down, Tyler Greene and possibly Daniel Descalso could take his place. At catcher, Tony Cruz, Bryan Anderson, or Steve Hill could take Yadi's spot for awhile. But if he's out for more than a month, then MO might have to look to bring in an veteran catcher because none of those three catchers have significant major league experience.

IF a starter goes down, Kyle McClellan, Lance Lynn, and Marc Rzepczynski would be the three contenders for the spot. However, there are rumors that MO is shopping McClellan to clear cap space for Roy Oswalt. If that were to come to pass, then most likely Jake Westbrook would be sent to the bullpen.

IF closer Jason Motte goes down, Fernando Salas would probably be the one to take over. He would be followed by Eduardo Sanchez, Mitchell Boggs, and then maybe Skip Schumaker who led the major leagues in K/9 IP last season with an 18 K/9. Let's hope it doesn't get to that.

The beginning of a new era

Albert, Tony, Dave. These are all names you've heard mentioned together ever since Black Thursday (December 8th). Just because we lost three future Hall of Famers (Duncan should be in the HOF), doesn't mean that St. Louis can't bring it all home once again in 2012. La Russa and Duncan have been the Cardinals classic combo since '96. And Albert has been the one to save the day since he arrived at Spring Training in 2001. Three icons. Gone as all of us die hards were still celebrating a fantastic World Series run. Yet, there is still hope and perhaps optimism for 2012.

Reason number one for why you should be excited for 2012. Adam Wainwright. What a year for this guy to miss. And yet, what a year to just be able to watch from the dugout. You can be sure that Adam is rearing to get his arm going for this season. Let's hope that he still has the same curveball that struck out now teammate Carlos Beltran back in 2006. While I expect Waino to lead the team in pitching this year, Jaime Garcia challenged him in one thing last year, the best hitting pitcher. Although stats don't show it, Jaime is a great hitter. He has a great swing, a hitter's swing. After all, you don't hit upper deck shots off of Shaun Marcum by swinging like Jason Motte.

Reason number two! David Freese. Freese has become a fan favorite for life. Not just Cardinal fans, but fans across baseball. Quick factoid: @Dfreese23 has 4,000 more than @Cardinals do. A great fielder, and he is the whole package. All he needs to do is to stay healthy for a solid 140-150 games in 2012, and the Cardinals will go places (and not on vacation in October).

Reason number threeeeeee. Ryan Braun. Whether you took the largest dosage of steroids ever recorded in baseball history or not, thank you. You just put your team out of contention for the playoffs. Perfect timing for the arrival of all of prospects which I will blog about later. However, Cardinal fans, be careful because thy pride comes before thy fall. Don't let Cincincy come out of nowhere to claim the division title.

Reason number four. Torty. Yes, the pet turtle of the guy that had the highest OPS (On-base percentage plus Slugging) versus southpaws last year on the club. His OPS clocked in at 1.000. In the first inning, his OPS was off the charts at 1.244. No one with as many at-bats as Craig did had as high of an OPS. Although 2011 MVP runner up Matt Kemp was one point behind him with almost three times as many AB's. But still, stats don't lie....although sometimes they are misleading. Any way you want to look at it, I think Craig should bat third against lefties. To put Craig's stats from 2011 in an overall perspective, if he had as many at-bats as Albert did last year, he would have finished the season with 32 home runs. Compile that with his .311 batting average and you have an All Star on your team that might not even play ever day. Wow.

Reason number five...... Normally, this would be where I would say something about Albert. But, alas, the past is in the past. And unfortunately Albert is now only apart of our past in St. Louis. So let's talk about something exciting. Which rising prospect is more exciting than Shelby Miller? After all, this guy has a career K/9 IP of 12 in the minor leagues. He had the highest K/9 of all starters in the hitter friendly Texas Grapefruit League. In fact, he was the only starter to have more strikeouts than he did innings pitched. He also had the fewest home runs given up at a mere two. I think Miller should start the year at Double-A Springfield so he can start the year on a good note. But, I think he should be ready for a call up to Memphis after the first month or two. Miller's K/9 plummeted from an unheard of 13.97 K/9 at Single-A to a still impressive 9.3 K/9. That four and a half less strikeouts per nine innings pitched is why I think Shelby should start in Springfield. But don't be surprised if he gets called up in September if not sooner.

Clearly, there is still reason to get ready for the 2012 season with plenty of excitement. Pitchers and catchers report in six days and Opening Day will be here soon too! S go to Jupiter, Florida and support your 2011 World Series Champs for there will be plenty of more good times in 2012.