Redbird Rants » Motte

Woe Is The Cardinals Bullpen

Nick Zell — Thu, 26 May 2011 00:50:34 +0000

The Cardinals bullpen has been…for lack of better words….a work in progress this year. The future outlook is terrific, but for the time being it has been somewhat shaky.

Currently this is the list of the Cardinals bullpen:

*Brian Tallet – age 33
*Bryan Augenstein – age 24
*Eduardo Sanchez – age 22
*Fernando Salas – age 25
*Jason Motte – age 28
*Miguel Batista – age 40
*Ryan Franklin – age 38
*Trever Miller – age 37

Mitchell Boggs was amongst the names but was sent down to Memphis the other day to do work and become molded as a starter.

Last night, Cardinals GM John Mozeliak was questioned in the matter and said for now there is no talk of bringing anyone in. He did stress that June or July may be the time they really start to evaluate the situation and make rash decisions.

“The good thing for us right now is we’re competing, we’re doing it in a lot of different ways, and as long as we can stay in contention and be in a place where we can compete, the St. Louis Cardinals always look for ways to improve themselves at the Trade Deadline.”

– John Mozeliak (Read The Entire Article Here)
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Managing the Bullpen

Gabe Simonds — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 10:00:18 +0000

Last week, I wrote about Ryan Franklin and the misconception that he is a bad closer. However, I also put a disclaimer on that tag by saying that he has been very lucky in his last two years because he just does not have a good enough K:BB ratio to maintain that ERA.

Now Franklin has since blew another save. This is a tricky situation. The Cardinals do not really have any good options to replace Franklin. At the same time, we don’t want him to pull a Jason Isringhausen circa 2006 on us.

Also, Tony La Russa is not exactly using the bullpen the way it was constructed. Given Miguel Batista’s usage so far this season, he might become the closer if Franklin loses his role. Not only would that be ridiculous, it would be boderline insane. So how should the bullpen be managed?

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Interview with Matthew Leach, MLB.com

Ryne Gery — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 12:30:55 +0000

Matthew Leach, the Cardinals beat writer for MLB.com, was kind enough to answer some of my questions on the major storylines so far in the season. Below, find his thoughts on Albert Pujols’ future in St. Louis, the rise of David Freese and Colby Rasmus, what to expect come October, and more.

… [visit site to read more]