It's Anyone's Year

Former Cardinal pitcher and fan favorite Joaquin Andujar once said, “This game can be summed up in one word: Youneverknow." Andujar, of course, was referring to the old baseball adage that any team can beat any other team on any day; you just never know if the better team is going to be the one that comes out on top.

This baseball season has taken the idea of “youneverknow” and expanded it to more than a game by game basis and has turned it into this year’s theme. Only one team, the Los Angeles Dodgers, is running away with their division and, barring an unheard of collapse, is almost certainly going to finish with the best record in the National League and a trip to the playoffs. The rest of the league, however, is a different story. Every other division, in both the National and American League, has at least three teams within 5.5 games of first place. The NL Central Division alone has five teams fighting for first place. And at this point in the season, that is relatively unheard of. What’s even more unheard of is that over half of the league’s teams are at .500 or better. Eighteen teams to be exact.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR CAN MAKE!

On this date last year, only one division had more than two teams within 5.5 games of first place, which was the Central Division. This includes the God awful NL West, where at this time last year, the Arizona Diamondbacks were in a first place tie with the Dodgers with the ever so stellar record of 45-46. To make things even worse, only half of the MLB’s teams were at .500 or better.

If you go back even further, things only become more separated. Only one division, the AL East had more than two teams fighting for first place and one division was almost completely locked up as the Cardinals enjoyed an 11.5 game lead over the Houston Astros in the NL Central and were the only team above .500 in the division. To make things worse, less than have of the MLB was above .500.

So what has led to this “spreading of the wealth” in baseball? For your consideration, I present my three theories on the newfound parity in baseball.

1. ALMOST EVERYONE IS STRUGGLING

No team has been able to runaway with their division because almost no team has been able to stay hot for very long. Only two teams have been able to string together exceptionally large winning streaks: The Boston Red Sox and the Colorado Rockies (both tied with one eleven game winning streak each). The longest after that is a respectable seven game winning streak by the Arizona Diamondbacks, who spoiled the winning streak by having no offense or any pitching after stud pitcher and former Cardinal Dan Haren. There have been two losing streaks of note, one by the Toronto Blue Jays and one by the Chicago Cubs. The Blue Jays were looking like real contenders until they decided to lose nine games in a row, catapulting them to third place behind the Red Sox and the Yankees, but somehow they are still within striking distance of first place. The Cubs lost eight in a row earlier this year, which dropped them below the .500 mark. They have been hovering around .500 ever since, yet they are still only three games out of first. It could be an interesting year for several teams if nobody steps up and starts to take control of their division.

2. THE UNBALANCED SCHEDULE IS TAKING ITS TOLL

When Major League Baseball created the unbalanced schedule for the 2002 season, many fans were outraged as their favorite team was going to start playing the majority of their games against foes within their division, which meant seeing the same teams over and over and over again.

While the lack of variety in match-ups kind of stinks, it is beginning to create some very interesting division races. By making teams beat up on each other, it means that each team has more control over its own destiny and keeps some teams from running away from the rest of the field. In the Central Division, the Brewers have the best interdivision record standing at 23-14. But after that, the Cards have the best record being at just 22-17 followed by the Cubs who are only three games over .500 when playing their division rivals.

Only one team in all of baseball has a record within their division that is far and away better than any other team chasing them: The Dodgers. With an interdivision record of 30-12, they are the only team playing over .500 ball within the NL West. The San Francisco Giants are second best with a record of 15-16. It’s no wonder why the Dodgers are running away with that division. With no team able to really get a groove going against their division rivals, teams will continue to beat up on each other until the team with the least amount of bruises takes the division crown.

3. HOW MANY INJURIES CAN YOU HAVE?


With this being a Midwest sports blog, we focus on the NL Central for this theory. No team in contention has been completely healthy this year. While injuries are to be expected throughout the year, I cannot remember a year in which so many key players were hurt at the same time. For the Cardinals, Troy Glaus is yet to play in a game and there is a chance he has played his last game in a Cardinal uniform. Shortstop Khalil Greene apparently doesn’t know how to handle failure and, in a move to protect him from physically hurting himself, the Cards not only removed all sharp objects from the team clubhouse, but they put Greene on the DL twice to help him solve his anxiety problem. Now, newly acquired Mark DeRosa is on the DL with a wrist injury before recording his first hit as a Cardinal.

The Cubs have had it even worse. With Aramis Ramirez being out a majority of the season, the Cubbie offense has been fairly silent and inconsistent (much to the delight of your’s truly). Now things have gotten even worse as mediocre Cubs super pitcher Ryan Dempster is out with a fractured toe after trying to climb the fence in front of the Cubs dugout and one hit wonder Geovany Soto has now landed on the DL, though this might be for the best as Lou Piniella is no longer forced to continue to play him.



The Brewers have had a key injury as well. Rickie Weeks is out for the season with a wrist injury similar to Mark DeRosa’s, only much more severe, apparently.

The injury bug isn’t only affecting the NL Central. The Mets were expected to make a push for the playoffs this year, or at least a push for September, but they have had several key injuries to flamboyant shortstop Jose Reyes, Cardinal killer Carlos Beltran and future hall of fame first baseman Carlos Delgado. Needless to say, David Wright can’t carry an entire team by himself and a team full of bench players has left the Mets three games under .500.



Some say that parity in sports is a sign of mediocrity. Even if this is the case, who cares? The more teams involved in a pennant chase the better. One of the reasons that Opening Day is so great is because for one day of the baseball season, everyone is in first place and everyone is contending for a playoff spot. What’s wrong if the majority of team’s feel like they have a fighting chance halfway through the season? I say sit back, open up an ice cold Bud Light (the difference is affordability!) and get ready to watch some bare knuckle baseball. Even if your team is barely hanging on to a respectable record, there’s still hope.

After all...

...you never know.

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.

Protecting El Hombre

After the debacle that was the four game series with the Mets, in which the Cardinals were lucky to even win a single game thanks to a masterful pitching performance by Joel Pineiro (bet you NEVER thought you would hear “masterful performance” and “Joel Pineiro” in the same sentence), the Cardinals offensive problems became even more clear. After one Albert Pujols, there is not much pop to this lineup. But then again, after Albert Pujols, how can the batter that follows him even compare? We are witnessing one of the best players to ever play the game of baseball. Pujols is crushing the ball at an unprecedented rate and with his .356 batting average with runners in scoring position, he is driving in runs at a record rate as well.

While Cardinals fans are blessed with the bat and presence of Albert Pujols, they are also cursed with the bat and presence of Albert Pujols. Touting the horn of almost every major sports writer, there is NO REASON to pitch to this guy, especially when he has nobody backing him up. Right now, the Cards are experiencing a power outage in the cleanup spot. Overall, the Cards are batting .224 as a team in the number four slot with a grand total of 48 RBIs and 13 home runs. Compared to Pujols’ .324 average, 26 home runs and 70 RBIs, it’s clear that no matter who is in that clean up hole, pitching around Pujols is the smart option.

This was not always the case. In 2004, the Cardinals won 105 games on their way to a National League Pennant and an appearance in the World Series. That year, Pujols had the protection he rightfully deserved and needed. The Cardinals batted an above par .286 with 35 home runs and 122 RBIs over the course of the entire season. This was caused mostly by the other two members of the MV3, Jim Edmonds and Scott Rolen, the latter taking most of the at-bats from the four spot on his way to an MVP caliber season.

Even last year protecting Pujols was not as hard of a task. The Cardinals batted a respectable .267 as a team, smashing 34 home runs and tallying 113 RBIs. But this year’s version of the Cardinals is not that different from last year’s. What is it that has changed?

If you guessed it’s because Troy Glaus has been hurt all season, you’d be wrong. Granted the absence of Glaus’s bat has been a factor in the lack of offense this season, he only had 114 at-bats last year in the cleanup spot. Ryan Ludwick was the lucky one who protected Pujols last year and he did a splendid job collecting 20 home runs and nearly 60 RBIs on his way to building a .295 batting average from the four hole. Now THAT’S protection.

This year, however, has been a slightly different story. Ludwick has not been as dependable. Granted he has been hurt, but he is clearly not seeing the ball correctly.

Rick Ankiel, who split time with Ludwick in the 4th spot last year, is yet to have a hit in that spot. During this four game set with the Mets, Ankiel alone stranded six base runners from the four hole. Ankiel is struggling this year, there’s no doubt about that, and it’s beginning to look like struggling is just another day at the office for Ankiel. I like the guy, how could you not? But pitchers are beginning to figure him out, and until he makes some proper adjustments, he’s not your answer to protect Pujols.

So, who do you put in that spot? Ludwick is struggling as I previously stated, but he does have some upside. Ludwick is the only other Cardinal besides Pujols to be batting over .300 with runners in scoring position (.321 to be exact). My advice is to always go with him. He will get pitches to hit. And if he’s in the lineup everyday, it’s only a matter of time until his overall average starts climbing back toward the .300 mark.

So, how do you protect the best hitter in the game? It’s not an easy task and I don’t envy Tony LaRussa trying to find the perfect side dish to Albert’s main course. Although, another option may be one that LaRussa simply hasn’t explored. Why not put El Hombre himself in the four spot? Think about it. If Albert comes to bat in the first inning, then that means there HAS to be a runner on base, which is always the situation you want when Albert comes to bat. If he doesn’t get that first inning at bat, then he’s leading off the next inning. If pitchers choose to pitch to him, then that’s awesome. It’s not the ideal situation, but Pujols will see some pitches to hit. If pitchers want to pitch around him and lead the inning off with a runner on first, then that’s great. The opposition is giving a struggling offense a jump start that they desperately need.

So why not let Albert protect Albert? You’re already not scoring enough runs. What’s the worst that can happen?