Jonny Gomes happily being pummeled at home plate. Jason Motte walking off the mound in a dazed state. The Cards lost and if that wasn’t enough to keep you up all night, the Cubs finally won a game.
Hopefully the nightmares weren’t too bad last night. It is very early in the season, but every game does count. And the Cards bullpen already leaves many questions that must be answered this summer. For everyone’s sake, it would be nice if the answers (or improvement) came sooner rather than later. Before you know it, we’ll be in Anaheim for the 2010 All-Star [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

After losing three straight to start the spring, the Cards got in the win column today. In a home game against the Marlins, St. Louis got good pitching from Kyle McClellan and Rich Hill and clutch hitting from Joe Mather to win 7-4.
It was nice for the Cards to get a win as the team continues to work towards opening day. The best news of the day may have been the performance from the frontrunners for the fifth spot in the rotation. While they are competing for the job, McClellan and Hill joined forces for the win. McClellan was most [...]

With Spring Training underway for the Cards, a few storylines have developed. Besides McGwire’s recent talks and the hovering cloud over the rookie hitting coach, the Cards made some staff additions and the competition for the fifth spot in the rotation is becoming clearer. Here’s what we have learned in the first few days of “Spring” (It’s still cold and snowy up here at the ‘Cuse).
-Mike Matheny will take on a more prominent role in the organization. The former catcher has enjoyed Spring Training as an instructor the past few years, but has now agreed to a more involved position. [...]

A hot topic this offseason for Cardinals fans has been the changes in the rotation. The top two are rock solid, probably the best in the bigs. After that, there are plenty of questions to be answered. Hot Stove posed one of these questions to me yesterday: “Did you agree with the Cardinals’ decision to allow Joel Pineiro to leave via free agency, coming off of a career year, and in essence, replace him with Brad Penny, who’s coming off very shaky 2009?”
My simple answer is yes. “While it may look like a downgrade from Pineiro to Penny, the Cardinals got a very similar [...]

As the steady and dependable Joel Pineiro heads for Anaheim, the Cardinals are still looking to find an apt replacement. Pineiro was consistent in his short time for St. Louis. He threw strikes, rolled ground balls with his sinker, and kept the Cards in every game. Pineiro has an impressive year in 2009 for St. Louis, highlighted by 15 victories. His departure leaves a noticeable void in the rotation as the Cards continue to search for a 5th guy.
John Smoltz, who gave the Cards great value in 2009, remains one option. But the veteran seems to have little gas left, [...]

What started out as a well pitched and well played game, got a little sloppy towards the end of the game. Adam Wainwright pitched 7 solid innings striking out 7 and giving up 3 runs, 2 were unearned. Ryan Dempster was able to baffle the Cardinals until the 5 th inning when Joe Thurston doubled home Yadier Molina and Khalil Greene. After advancing to 3rd base on the throw home to get Greene, he was knocked in by a Skip Schumaker line drive to the outfield. Adam Wainwright kept the baby bears in check until the 7th. His defense behind [...]