As I watch our Cardinal middle infield every day/night I have been asking myself--Good Lord, how bad is our middle infield trio? I don't think I'm sharing any trade secrets when I say "pretty bad". The trio of Kennedy, Miles, Izturis isn't exactly putting fear in anyone's hearts (except some Redbird faithful).

I know there is the obvious "it's early" caveat. I get it. But I did want to see exactly how bad our middle infield has been compared to rest of the National League. What I did find is that while the Redbird triumvirate it isn't the worst in the NL it certainly is close. Allow me to use OPS as the measuring stick if that's ok.

Here are some basic findings before the good ole statistics. The Cardinals MIF (abbrevation for middle infield) is joined by only the San Diego Padres duo of Greene and Iguchi as the only ones to not hit any home runs so far in 2008. Although I would put my substantial (if $453 is substantial) life savings on the fact that the SD group will hit more round trippers than the STL crew. Meanwhile, only one other group (the Pittsburgh Pirates) has a worse slugging percentage than the Cardinal group.

Basically--the ONLY saving grace for the Cardinals is the high BB/HBP numbers of Izturis and the fact that Kennedy has hit a lot of singles. Anyway, here are the findings from best to worst in the NL (in OPS order).

Los Angeles         .329/.409/.550/.959

Philadelphia         .295/.349/.577/.926

Florida                    .286/.345/.526/.871

Chicago                  .308/.375/.491/.866

Atlanta                     .275/.366/.471/.837

Houston                  .276/.353/.418/.771

Arizona                     .271/.325/.443/.768

Cincinnati               .278/.333/.417/.750

Washington            .264/.328/.393/.721

New York                  .269/.330/.379/.709

Milwaukee               .229/.313/.350/.663

St. Louis                  .254/.346/.291/.637

Colorado                   .216/.284/.331/.615

San Diego               .231/.298/.293/.591

San Francisco         .208/.286/.305/.591

Pittsburgh                  .202/.238/.240/.478

There is no way Tulowitski will be as bad as he is--the Rockies are clearly better there. Ditto for Greene/Iguchi in San Diego and Weeks/Hardy in Milwaukee. Pittsburgh does have a former batting champ with Sanchez and Wilson is just back from the DL so I doubt they stay that low. Honestly, the only thing keeping the Birds from having the worst MIF in the NL the minor league group in San Francisco.

Hello those at BrewCrewBall. I intend for this not to be a troll post. I also wouldn't have started a FanPost but I really didn't know where else to ask this.

See, my issue--I'm a St. Louis Cardinal fan living in Milwaukee. Thankfully due to the world wide net web and increases in modern technology I don't have to work hard to get my day-to-day Redbird coverage. However, I still do follow some of the Brewer stuff since I am, well, here.

My question--thoughts on the Brewer media coverage? Personally, I've REALLY disliked Jim Powell since the very first day I heard him (maybe this should be more about Powell). I find him arrogant and extremely condescending to Brewer fans. It's like he talks down to them. He's also an ungodly homer who never questions anything Brewer but everything, everything else.

I do remember his ridiculous comments about Tony LaRussa thinking he was smarter than everyone else by batting the pitcher 8th. Does he still use those same comments and same tone towards Ned Yost now?

I realize I didn't like Powell from Day One so I do not judge him fairly. As for Uecker--fine. The TV guys are fine. I really think the Journal does a good job with the Brewer stuff and even the national MLB stuff. And I am glad blogs like this exist--it gives me faith in Brewer fans. I will be honest, I never got that feeling from Brewer fans in my early days going to games at Miller Park.

Now, to address this silly notion of tailgating at baseball games........ :)

I'm sorry if this post is in the wrong area or taking the wrong way. I just don't have many intelligent Brewer fans--yes they exist :)  in my circle of friends.

As like most people here, I have been pretty amazed by Todd Wellemeyer's ability as a starting pitcher. And, like most, I take it with a grain of salt and I'm not sure how long it will last.

That being said, how big must a sample size be for us to start using the "legit" status? I'm not saying Wellemeyer is there right now. He's not. But with each start does the skepticism go away or will we always have it?

The dude has made 13 career MLB starts. Is 30 a truer indicator? There is no doubt that he has been better than league average for those 13 starts. I know the stat guys will get on me but he has a 3.38 ERA and 1.30 WHIP in 61.1 innings. His K rate is decent at 7.2 per 9. Of course his walk rate is bad at 3.9 per nine. His opponent OPS is under .700 and his opponent BA is under .235. Really, that's impressive.

My question--when can we start feeling confident when the Colonel takes the mound?

I am personally not a guy who obesses about the leadoff slot--but I do know that people put a lot of weight into it.

I am also probably one of the few Cardinal fans who actually kinda likes Skip Schumaker. I know he has limits, and that he's 28. However, I do feel confident that a combination of he and Brian Barton can do at least an adequate job of playing CF and manning the leadoff slot in the lineup. Have I totally lost it?

In over 1000 AAA at-bats Skip is at .298/.351/409/.760. In his 255 major league at-bats hes at .294/331/400/.731.

Again, I'm not saying they will be all-stars--or that Skip is a great player by himself. However, given the proper LaRussa favorite platoon splits can't they be league average? My question is--what would be an adequate statistical line from our CF combo (if it is those two).

My thoughts---.275/.340/.410/.750--is this good enough? Is this an attainable number for Barton/Skip to reach? Just wonderin.

I don't want to be one of those guys who does a diary all the time--and this is my first. However I had some downtime at work and had some Cardinal related thoughts going through my mind and wanted to share them.

Basically, I'm excited/interested/intrigued by the Cardinal outfield situation in 2008. I realize that as I type on January 11 of the new year there are MANY, MANY things that still can happen. That being said, I actually think the production from the Redbird OF will be pretty good this season--if not in an unorthodox way.

I know we all have our complaints about Tony LaRussa. Perfect he ain't. However, one thing I've grown to like about him is how he uses his bench and puts players in situations to succeed. Now it may be just me, but I am not obsessed with the "play guys every day" theory that some fans are (i.e. Duncan vs. lefties, etc.). I want the best lineup on the field for that day. It's an individual matchup game and this is one area where I feel Tony does a nice job.

That being said, IF Tony works it right---like he often does, I see positive production from the OF. I think if we look at it as a whole and not on an individual basis we might be surprised. For example, I want good RF production--if it takes two or three guys to get us there--fine. It doesn't matter--it's all the same in the end. One thing I also like is that none of the current crop is destined for greatness (save God Rasmus God) they are all under 30 and bring different things. We have:

Duncan, LH, 26, career .884 OPS in 660 career ABs
Ludwick, RH, 29, .818 OPS last year, 300 ABs
The Ricker, LH, 28, .863 OPS in 175 AB's in 2007
Skippy, LH, 27, good last year, .731 career OPS
Phelps, RH, 29, .820 career OPS in 1300 ABs
Mather, RH, 25, emerging late, .769 career OPS in minors
Barton, RH, 25, speed, .893 career OPS in minors
Haerther, LH, 24, .837 career OPS in minors
Colby---we all know his story

Now, the #'s were more for my sake as I'm sure everyone knows them. I also only see five of those guys on the roster and it was a stretch to include Phelps. However, I like the RH/LH mix---I like the power potential (Ludwick, Duncan, Ricker, Mather, etc.). Barton is an interesting option and I actually am intrigued by Haerther as a hitter--he's still young enough.

Anyway, assuming Colby ISN'T one of the five (and this may not be true), I still can live with a group of Duncan, Barton, Ankiel, Ludwick, and Phelps/Haerther/Skip. In the end I think the overall production from the group will be quite positive.

Sorry to ramble--I just kind of see the OF as ONE actual area to look forward to in what may be a pretty down year. Thanks.