Tomorrow is the final day of Spring Training for the Cards. The club seems comfortable and ready to go with all the holes filled in the roster. Jaime Garcia earned the fifth spot in the rotation. Kyle McClellan will be a big arm in the bullpen. David Freese will be the man at the hot corner. And the Cardinals are heavy favorites in the NL Central.
-NL Central: Cardinals arms rise with sinkers – A look at Adam Wainwright’s success keeping the ball down and how he and rest of the staff matchup with the rest of the division
-Freese told he’s [...]

FanSided launched a Major League Baseball blog to add to the baseball experience of the site. Most MLB teams are covered by lead bloggers on the site, and now Call to the Pen will take MLB coverage to a new level. MLB Director Wally Fish has worked extremely hard to put this together and I’m sure the site will take off as a top MLB blog on the web. So, if you enjoy Redbird Rants or any other of the fine blogs on FanSided, be sure to head over to Call to the Pen. Here’s an intro and welcome to the [...]

Jaime Garcia is officially the Cardinals fifth starter heading into the 2010 season. The lefty earned the job behind an impressive spring that showed a knack for the strikeout and keeping the opponent off the board. Both key qualities to have as a starting pitcher. He continued his success today to help the Cards beat the Twins 5-3. He went six-strong giving up two runs and scattering eight hits to solidify his spot in the St. Louis rotation. Garcia kept the ball on the ground and threw strikes as he has all spring.
His competitor for the fifth spot, Kyle McClellan, [...]

One of the biggest questions for the St. Louis Cardinals going into 2010 finally has an answer — almost. Tony La Russa announced Kyle McClellan will pitch out of the bullpen in 2010 for St. Louis. Jaime Garcia will likely slide into the fifth spot after a spectacular spring. La Russa said the decision on Garcia was not official but if he pitches well today it’s a done deal. In other words, it’s a done deal either way. With McClellan out of the picture, Garcia is the only worthy candidate for the job. He gets a chance to show everyone [...]

The Cardinals pushed its record above .500 for the spring with a 10-5 win over the Mets today. Its record is now 12-11 with just a few games left on the Spring Training slate. The season begins a week from tomorrow in Cincy.
Albert Pujols finally starred in what has been a quiet spring limited by a stiff back. The Cardinals slugger went 3-for-4 and hit a home run to lead St. Louis to the win. Ryan Ludwick, Nick Stavinoha, and Colby Rasmus each went yard in support of Kyle Lohse. Lohse went 5 1/3 innings and gave up two runs [...]

The Spring Training atmosphere is transitioning from the laid back workouts in the Florida sun to an intense regular season feel. With a little over a week until Opening Day, the Cards are kicking it into high gear to ensure it is ready to roll out of the gate. Yesterday, Adam Wainwright went six innings and struck out eight. The increased workloads continued today. Brad Penny went six innings and allowed just one run in the Cards 3-2 win over the Marlins.
It was Penny’s best performance this spring in what has been a pretty solid preseason for the new Redbird. [...]

Empty. It’s the best way to some up the feeling surrounding the Syracuse basketball season. After a brilliant run through the Big East and to a No. 1 ranking, it’s all over. Poof. The six-month long season ended in a matter of 40 minutes Thursday. The Orange put together a sloppy performance and was upset by the Butler Bulldogs. A season that could have been so much is now finished. The players and fans were left in disbelief. With Syracuse’s basketball season over, there’s only one thing left to look forward to this semester: baseball.
As one season comes to a [...]

When the Cards arrived in Jupiter, there were few questions surrounding the NL Central favorites as a unit. Instead, the focus was on Mark McGwire. Now, that seems like ancient history. With that issue in the rearview mirror, more questions have come up this spring.
Will the bullpen get the job done? Is Albert Pujols’ back OK? What will the lineup look like? When will Shelby Miller be ready? Is Albert Pujols going to Philly in a blockbuster? (OK, the last one was for a laugh, but it did come up.)
The one question that the Cards had going into Spring Training [...]

While the entire nation was mesmerized by the NCAA tournament this weekend, the St. Louis Cardinals continued to fine-tune its final roster for this season. While we learned more about Ali Farokhmanesh, the Cornell Big Red, and Omar Samhan and the pesky St. Mary’s squad, Tony La Russa learned a little bit more about his club, too.
-The bullpen is almost full after the third round of cuts this spring. Among those sent to the minors was Josh Kinney. Kinney was the feel-good story at spring’s start. Many were pulling for him to sneak onto the roster after injuries sidetracked his [...]

Get ready for March Madness in 2010 on Redbird Rants with all your updates and links to watch online. I’ll be rooting for the Orange to cut down the nets. Who is everyone else pulling for?
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