Struggling Pitcher? Cards Can Cure What Ails Ya!

The acquisition of Mark DeRosa should give Cardinal fans hope, but in his Redbird debut, DeRosa fell victim to the same hitless plague that has infected the bats of everyone on the roster (with the obvious exception of Albert Pujols). Francisco Liriano is the latest struggling pitcher that has turned into Cy Young while facing St. Louis this year. Going into the game, Liriano had compiled a 3-8 win-loss record with a whopping 5.88 ERA. Throwing statistics aside, Liriano found a way to make the baseball disappear as it crossed the plate as he pitched seven innings of one run ball using only 97 pitches to get there.

The Cardinal offense isn’t exactly the hardest to tame, but what’s amazing is the after-effect that mastering the Cards seems to have on struggling pitchers. After a pitcher does his best Nolan Ryan impression against St. Louis, he continues to pitch like a hall of famer afterwards. In a way, the Cardinal offense jump starts the opponents struggling pitchers. Here are a few examples.

JORGE DE LA ROSA










Before pitching against St. Louis, De la Rosa hadn’t won a single game and had compiled an 0-6 record. Leading up to the game, De la Rosa hadn’t made it passed the fifth inning in his previous three starts. But against the Cards, he managed to go six and two-thirds in an 11-4 Colorado Rockies victory. Since mastering the Redbird’s lineup, De la Rosa is 3-1 and has gotten passed the fifth inning in three of his four starts.


AARON COOK
After De la Rosa’s performance, Aaron Cook knocked the Cards bats out the very next day, pitching eight innings and only giving up one run in a 10-1 Colorado beat down. Before that, Cook was having a sub par season accumulating a 3-3 record with an ERA close to 5.00. Since then, Cook has won four straight decisions and his season ERA is 3.77. If this isn’t finding your groove then I don’t know what is.


Of course, this could just be because the Rockies have decided they only want to lose once every ten games. But let’s look at a team that the Cards recently paid a visit who is still struggling: The Cleveland Indians.

CLIFF LEE
The reigning American League Cy Young Award winner got off to a fairly rocky start this season, losing three of his first four decisions and compiling a 5.25 ERA. But as the Cards have proven this season, statistics mean absolutely nothing when you can’t hit. Lee pitched a complete game shutout against St. Louis and only gave up three hits the entire game. Since then, Lee has gone at least seven innings in his two starts since and has given up a total of five runs combined. His season ERA now stands at an impressive 2.92.

DAVID HUFF

OK, you could argue that Cliff Lee is the reigning AL Cy Young winner, so he was bound to come around. But what about unproven rookie David Huff? I know what you’re thinking: “An unproven rookie pitcher with an ERA over six beat the Cardinals? I don’t believe it!” Well, it definitely wasn’t the first time it’s happened this year and, with the way things are going, it definitely won’t be the last. Before going seven and a third against St. Louis in a 7-3 win, Huff’s ERA was 8.71. In fact, in that game alone, the Cards helped Huff lower his ERA by OVER A WHOLE RUN! Since that game, Huff has started three games, during which his ERA has been 2.00.

So will this trend affect Francisco Liriano as well? We’ll have to wait and see. And what can the Cardinals themselves do about this? I suggest that they start charging pitchers to pitch against this team so the opposition can get their groove back. Why not make a little money off of your struggles? You’re helping people get their careers back on track, it’s only fair that you share in some of the profit. Besides, Bill DeWitt could use the extra cash to build a new softball field.