Ok, it's official: Redbirds are reeling

[WSUCougar]

Frist sign of a baseball apocalypse: when the Dodgers score 9 runs against you when your (former) ace pitcher starts the game. Matt Morris got bombed early in the game, and the LA boys never looked back. Throwing batting practice reliever Jeff Fassero into the game is like a Tony LaRussa concession speech.

Yep, Matty Mo is mightily screwed up, and I'm not sure what can be done about it. He has always been a favorite player of mine, but he is in a major funk and can't seem to crawl out of it. With the rest of the pitching staff the way it is (except for the ageless wonder, all-star Woody Williams), this is a sign of DEEP trouble for the Cardinals.

The fact that we're still in contention in the division is remarkable. Hope springs eternal, but it'll take something special to go very far as it stands right now.

[Cards4ever]

Don't you think that they will make some kind of trade though? They definitely need another starter.

[primelord]

I am sure they will make a trade, but the question is if that will be enough. You have to wonder who they even have to offer someone for a starting pitcher. The first name that comes up is obviously J.D. Drew, but several things complicate that. 1) Who wants to trade for a guy that can only play 1 out of every 3 games and 2) He is going to be a free agent. So you can't trade him to a team who is just looking to dump their free agent to be star pitcher because they will have the same problem with Drew after the season. So that leaves trading him to a contender who is just looking for an extra bat down the stretch. What contending team needs a bat, but can afford to give up a top flight pitcher?

The other guy that comes to mind is Vina. I would be fine with that. I think it's clear Bo Hart isn't a star, but he is solid and if we can land a solid starter for Vina then the Cards should do that. Is one starter enough though? Something is wrong with Morris, Tomko can't keep the ball in the park, Haren got lit up last time out, Simontacchi can't put together an entire start, and for whatever reason we don't give any run support to Stephenson.

I guess you hope Morris will return to form and that Chris Carpenter will pan out. If that is the case then I think one starter will be enough, but if Carpenter can't pull it off then we are atleast two starters shy of being able to beat any of the playoff teams right now.

[Ksyrup]

Is he in a funk, or is there the possibility that he is injured and trying to pitch through it? He might not even realize it, but may be compensating for an injury by pitching a little differently.

I loved Morris when he first came up, mainly because I had snared him for my fantasy league, was devastated when he got injured, and followed him through his comeback. But these kinds of things always worry me. Is he the next Mike Mussina, or some guy we'll look back at in 5 years and shake our heads at what he could have been had he kept from getting injured?

I have the same fears about Kerry Wood. Just because he's returned and had some success doesn't mean he's out of the woods yet (no pun intended).

[WSUCougar]

I sure hope so, but I've heard virtually nothing lately on the trade winds. You hear any recent rumors?

Edit: Whoops, suddenly lots of replies.

I had heard that Carpenter was not slated to go into the rotation this season, no matter what, but that might have changed. I agree that Drew is logical but questionable trade bait, but I doubt we'd get much for Vina at this point. He is old and expensive by MLB standards, his OBP stinks, and the market is sluggish for 2B anyway.

I just don't know about Morris, Ksyrup. There has been some speculation that he was mentally affected by the anniversary of Daryl Kile's death (which devastated him last year).

[Cards4ever]

I think the knots in his shoulder affected him more thant what they want to say.

[SplitPersonality1]

Originally posted by WSUCougar
Ok, it's official: Redbirds are reeling

Bite me WSUCougar. ;)

I am a Brewers fan. We have been reeling since 1987. :sigh:

[primelord]

Ksyrup,

Morris keeps saying he feels fine. He says his past problems were due to soem mechanics glitches he developed when trying to compensate for a knot in his shoulder, but that is supposed to be resolved. Al I know is watching the game last night Morris never topped 90 with a fastball and was consistently around 85-86 with it. A healthy Matt Morris does not throw an 85 mph fastball. He isn't going to hit 97 or anything, but he egenrally throws around 93 so I think something is worng whether he wants to admit it or not.

The problem is the Cardinals just flat out don't have anyone else to run out there. But if Morris is hurt and he is risking hurting himself further the coaches just need to shut him down for awhile. I appreciate the effort and you love to have a guy on the team who wants to take the ball under any circumstance, but as they said on the telecast last night we don't need any heros in July. If this was September that is one thing, but there is a lot of season left.

Cougar,

They have been saying lately they are grooming Carpenter to go into the rotation. His rehab starts have been geared towards building his stamina so he can start again. Originally they were planning on him going into the bullpen, but originally they weren't planning on Tomko, Stephenson, and Simontacchi having a 5.80, 4.30, and 6.23 ERA respectively. There has been some talk about the Chi Sox wanting Drew for Buehrle. That would be a good deal. Buehrle started off very slow, but has been much better the last couple of months and he has said he plans on signing with St. Louis when he is a free agent anyway. Of course we still haven't addressed the bullpen problem. :)

[WSUCougar]

My god, one of Splits' personalities is actually Dirty Kurt Bevacqua! :D

[SplitPersonality1]

Originally posted by WSUCougar
My god, one of Splits' personalities is actually Dirty Kurt Bevacqua! :D

:D

[MizzouRah]

Morris definitly has no idea what's going wrong and it's painful just watching him sit in the dugout.

I would love to see us get at least one good starting pitcher and a relief pitcher or two.

When is Tony going to release Fassero? That guy has nothing left, nothing.


Todd

[Ksyrup]

They should have picked up Rod Beck. He's been solid so far (8/8 in save chances, 2.57 ERA), although no telling how long that will hold up.

He looks funny without the mullet.

[SackAttack]

Originally posted by WSUCougar
The fact that we're still in contention in the division is remarkable. Hope springs eternal, but it'll take something special to go very far as it stands right now.

Are you talking about the Dodgers or the Cardinals, here? :cool:

[MylesKnight]

The Cardinal Franchise hasn't Folded yet? Hmmm..

[tucker342]

I hate JD Drew

[MrBug708]

Don't be hating on the Dodgers. It must be an LA thing. We let you guys hit our pitchers, you returned the favor

[SackAttack]

Who's hatin'? I'm a Dodgers fan.

...

I'm also a realist. When there's talk that Evans wants to trade Odalis Perez for a bat, then that says something about the state of our offense, and it Ain'tGood[tm].

[Neuqua]

Originally posted by WSUCougar
The fact that we're still in contention in the division is remarkable. Hope springs eternal, but it'll take something special to go very far as it stands right now.

The Cubs aren't in exactly in a prime position either. They just lost their most consistent batter all season to injury for the rest of the year. And now our bullpen has lost countless leads in just the past few weeks.

We need bats, even moreso now that Corey went down. Thank god Sammy seems to be getting hot again.

I honestly see the Cubs finishing right around .500 this year, whether or not that'll win the division I don't know.

[MizzouRah]

Houston is hot, they can reel off some wins pretty quick.

Woody was his usual self tonight, man he's really become a pitcher here. I was cussing Tony's move to bunt Matheny and then let Woody hit, but he came through. I can't believe Jimmy hit his 28th tonight, he is on fire as well. The only way we can win is for a SP to go 8 innings and have Izzy close it out.

It's going to be an interesting second half of the season!


Todd

[MizzouRah]

Dola...sigh...

Well, I'm officially putting a fork in us. The loss of Morris for 3-6 weeks, Fassero pitches a good 4 innings, k's 7 batters, and we still lose to the lowly Padres? We're 4 back of Houston now, our pitching staff is depleted and I don't think anyone wants Drew in a trade.

Oh well, football season is just about upon us. Too many injures to overcome this year.


Todd

[Cards4ever]

If it was just one pitcher they needed, I would say there is still hope, but, with Morris going down, and the Cubs just having to plug a few holes, it's going to be the Cubs and the Stro's fighting it out, and I think that the Stro's are going to be just too tough to catch. But, let's not stop watching now, Pujols is having one hell of a year, and watching him hit is definitely worth the price of admission. I'd say trade Drew, Vina, Martinez and any of the other older players and restock for next year.

[oykib]

Originally posted by Cards4ever
If it was just one pitcher they needed, I would say there is still hope, but, with Morris going down, and the Cubs just having to plug a few holes, it's going to be the Cubs and the Stro's fighting it out, and I think that the Stro's are going to be just too tough to catch. But, let's not stop watching now, Pujols is having one hell of a year, and watching him hit is definitely worth the price of admission. I'd say trade Drew, Vina, Martinez and any of the other older players and restock for next year.

Who the hell wants Vina or Martinez?

You might get something good for Drew, though. I'd certainly rather have him in the Bronx than Juan Gonzalez.

[primelord]

While I fully admit I tend to be over optomistic when it comes to the Cardinals I don't see any reason to give up hope yet. Despite the last two losses to the Padres they are still at the beginning of stretch of 19 straight games against teams with a losing record. And the teams they are playing can be beat on offense alone. Plus Eli should be back soon.

There has been some more talk about giving in to Finley and bringing him back and what he is asking and then if you turn Drew into a pitcher say Lidle I think they can still make a serious push at it. Jocketty always seems to make a deal at the deadline. And I know everyone keeps saying we don't have the farm system to make a deal, but they said that last year too and we still ended up with Finley and Rolen. They are hurting right now, but I don;t think they are quite out.

[Cards4ever]

Originally posted by oykib
Who the hell wants Vina or Martinez?

You might get something good for Drew, though. I'd certainly rather have him in the Bronx than Juan Gonzalez.

I could say the same thing about Orosco, but, for some reason your beloved Yankees went out and got him.