Today was a bad game for the Reds. They almost one but they didnt'. Zack Cozart started the game off good. He hit a home run and we were off to a winning start against the Braves. Unforuntaly, the pitching. Because prospect Daniel Corcino was actually 45 years old, the Reds had to go with youngster Bronson Arroyo and boy was he bad. At one point Brain McCann and Jason Heyward hit back to back home runs off of him. That was probably the ticker that Bronson was done. But he wasn't. Because I dont know where to find the fangraph for the game, i'll make my own .

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Initiate Cardinals Hate Sequence:

Today, the Cincinnati Reds open their season series against the St. Louis Cardinals. The two teams come into the series with the same record of 10 wins and 9 losses, which is better than 9 wins and 9 losses, but not as good as 11 wins and 9 losses. One team will emerge from this series ahead of the other. The time is come.

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via www.sportsgrindent.com

The 2010 St. Louis Cardinals gave the Reds hell. A lot of it. In their 129th season, the Cardinals steamrolled Cincinnati, going 12-6 against the team that would ultimately beat them for a playoff spot. The Cardinals spent 83 days in first place, leading the NL Central by as much as 5 games. The team finished with a record of 86-76, good for second place behind the Reds (yay!). The Cardinals underperformed against their Pythagorean which had them at 91-71. The Reds and Cardinals created some headlines after remarks by Brandon Phillips where he called them "whiny little b******" and simply put into words what the rest of us already knew. Yadier Molina proceeded to tell Phillips that he didn't appreciate being called a WLB by acting like one and a brawl ensued.

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Who are you taking? Auburn or Oregon? 

Will the crazy psychotic uniforms prevail, or will they opposite of prevail? Why are you still reading this? You should stop. Now you should comment so that this thread is no longer empty, or... in the event that it is not in fact empty, you should comment so that it is no longer without your comment. 

Also, I'm interested in what you guys think of Blaine Gabbert, out of Missouri, who some people have ranked as the #1 quarterback. I have some pretty major thoughts on that, but I want to see what you guys think first. WOO!! College football is almost over, so we're ALMOST TO BASEBALL!!!

So, we're all ready for the playoffs, and presumably, management has been making some pretty tough choices about the playoff roster. Here's what I want to know. If the decision was left up to you, what would your 25-man roster look like? (Not what you think the roster WILL look like, rather what YOU would make it)
Here's mine in no real order:

1. Ramon Hernandez

2. Joey Votto

3. Brandon Phillips

4. Scott Rolen

5. Orlando Cabrera

6. Jay Bruce

7. Drew Stubbs

8. Jonny Gomes

9. Bronson Arroyo

10. Edinson Volquez

11. Johnny Cueto

12. Francisco Cordero

13. Aroldis Chapman

14. Nick Masset

15. Arthur Rhodes

16. Homer Bailey

17. Travis Wood

18. Miguel Cairo

19. Paul Janish

20. Ryan Hanigan

(I feel like these 20 are probably going to be on almost everyones' rosters.)

21. Laynce Nix

22. Logan Ondrusek

23. Chris Heisey

24. Juan Francisco (I'm taking END over Alonso right now, but that kind of changes day to day.)

25. Bill Bray (Over Valaika, methinks)

Entirely possible that I failed miserably and left some people off the roster that are rather obvious choices since I did this off the top of my head, but that's not what's important- I want to know what you all would do!

So, here we are. The Reds have a one game lead on the Cardinals, and the Cardinals are facing a possible sweep from everyone's favorite Houston team. The Astros have been surprised to find out that Roy Oswalt and Lance Berkman were in fact bringing them down, and they happen to be playing much better without them. Let's see if Keppinger and the Stros can flat out sweep our division rivals, because I have nothing better to do, and with any luck, neither do you.

JA Happ faces Chris Carpenter tonight, and the Cardinals have put reliever Jason Motte on the DL. He started to turn into a pumpkin, which was just weird. 

Go Astros, they're my second favorite team because they're playing the Cardinals! Yeah!

Before I go into anything, I need to kind of let you guys know about my history with attending Major League Baseball games. I've never seen the home team win. Ever. Let's go through those games. The first game I attended was when I was really little. All I know is that it was between the Cardinals and the Dodgers at the old Busch Stadium. The only things I remember are that the Dodgers won, and that Mike Piazza played, and I think he hit a home run. I'd been to 3 or 4 Reds at Cardinals games here in St. Louis, and the Reds had won each one. I went to This game against the Giants and this one against the Cardinals in Cincinnati. Both were losses. I went to a game last year at Kaufman Stadium in Kansas City where the Royals lost badly to the Angels. This adds up to either a 7-0 or 8-0 record for the away team at MLB games I'd attended. I was obviously hoping that this streak would continue.

My mom bought the tickets (actually they were supposed to be for the next day's game, but she hit the wrong button- good call) as a birthday present, and I went with my best friend (LB was busy at her theater stuff). Best friend doesn't really pay a lot of attention to baseball- he's more of a football and wrestling guy.

A shot of some of the Reds taking batting practice.

Didn't take very many pictures, and they're certainly not BubbaFan quality, but hey-

Scott Rolen fielding during batting practice.

Joey Votto during the first inning.

Cueto warming up.

The game:

1st inning- Things started out fast. I gave Peter my Reds hat for the Reds half of the inning and we ended up scoring three runs. Hmm. P.J. Walters looked really hittable. His fastball was around 87 and his breaking stuff didn't seem all that great. When Orlando Cabrera struck out early, he complained about the strike zone on his way back to the dugout. Scott Rolen showed up to play. That home run was a thing of beauty. Us Reds fans went crazy. The bottom half of the inning wasn't so awesome. Gomes throw to nail Lopez at the plate was beautiful though. That had me going crazy again. Colby Rasmus is one of my new least favorite players. I think I just hate Cardinals center fielders.

Not much happened the next inning, but the third inning was nice- I seriously didn't think that Votto's home run had a chance to go. That thing just kept going. Rolen's shot on the other hand was a no doubter. I kind of called it. I yelled "Do it again!" and he did.

Cabrera's RBI double in the 4th didn't come without consequences. I tried out the ol' "Orlando Cabrera! If you deliver here, I won't say a bad thing about you for a week!". He delivered. Luckily, Peter had my back and said bad things about Cabrera for me. That's teamwork.

The next interesting play was when John Jay, otherwise known as "The Lawyer" hit a home run. I don't really remember anything about it- I was too distracted by the genericness of his name.

The Cardinals just wouldn't pitch to Gomes. That ticked me off. I mean, common! 2 walks and a HBP? Not cool. When they hit Gomes, I yelled for Gomes to charge the mound. He didn't. I was disappointed.

The home half of the sixth was pathetic. Cueto walked the first guy on four pitches, and it was obvious that he was done. Not that Dusty took notice for several more batters. Enerio Del Rosario came in (which confused the hell out of me- I hadn't heard about any of the bullpen moves) and we probably could have gotten out of the inning without too much damage, but Phillips and Rolen each had poor fielding plays, trying to stab at balls hit off to their sides.

In the 7th inning, the Reds came up again, and were losing. Luckily, Votto, Bruce and Gomes all singled, and Stubbs hit a sac fly, we come away with 2 runs... and a lead.

Now the scoring was over, but man- the Reds pen made things interesting nonetheless. Rhodes pitched out of a jam in the 7th, as did Masset in the 8th on a huge strikeout. The atmosphere just died when he struck out Rasmus.

And then Coco came in and got it done. The streak is in tact! We drove home, and I got to bed at about 2 am, and went to work the next day slightly tired. Yeah. Soooo... Any questions?

Last year, the St. Louis Cardinals won the Central Division, posting a 91-71 record and finishing 7.5 games ahead of the second place Cubs. In the postseason, they didn’t fare so well, as they were swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers. 

The team hasn’t made a whole lot of drastic changes and looks to be about an 85-90 game winner if everything goes according to plan. Let's hope it doesn't. We'll start things off by analyzing the team's roster. Let's begin with the key to their season- the pitching staff.

THE STARTING ROTATION- The Cardinals rotation last year really carried them. Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright finished 2nd and 3rd in the Cy Young voting behind Tim Lincecum, and many think that Carpenter probably deserved the award- but that’s a discussion for another day. In this section, I’ll give an approximate order to the staff as well as 2009 stats and projections via ZiPS for 2010 and a little overview on each pitcher.

1.     Chris Carpenter

2009: 17-4, 2.24 ERA, 183 ERA+, 144 K, 1.007 WHIP, 192.2 IP.

2010: 6-4, 3.47 ERA, 123 ERA+, 66 K, 93.1 IP.

First of all, the case can be made for either Carpenter or Wainwright to be the ace of this staff. I’m going with Carpenter though based on his 2009 numbers. Carpenter staying healthy is a big key to the Cardinals winning this season. ZiPS does not appear to think he’s going to be staying real healthy. He’s projected to throw almost 100 fewer innings than last year, with his ERA+ dropping 60 points. Carpenter will be 35 this season and with an injury-riddled past, his health is a red flag.

2.     Adam Wainwright

2009: 19-8, 2.63 ERA, 157 ERA+, 212 K, 1.210 WHIP, 233.0 IP.

2010: 15-9, 3.15 ERA, 136 ERA+, 184 K, 205.2 IP.

            It looks like ZiPS isn’t expecting quite as spectacular a season out of Wainwright either. Frankly, I’d be a little worried about Wainwright’s injury possibilities as well. He jumped from 132 IP in 2008 to a league best 233 in 2009. That could certainly put some strain on an arm, so it will be interesting to see if he’s able to stay healthy. If he does stay healthy, we can probably expect another strong year from him, and expect him to emerge from 2010 as the undeniable ace of the Cardinal pitching staff.

3.     Brad Penny

2009: 11-9, 4.88 ERA, 94 ERA+, 109 K, 1.396 WHIP, 173.1 IP.

2010: 8-9, 4.63 ERA, 93 ERA+, 95 K, 151.2 IP.

            I’ll be honest. Penny’s year depends almost totally on health. Penny can’t throw upper 90’s heat every pitch anymore and is going to have to work a little harder to get batters out. Apparently though, he’s working on a sinker. With Dave Duncan as the pitching coach, we could easily see Penny have a career year and redevelop like we’ve seen so many times with pitchers like Carpenter, Woody Williams, Kyle Lohse, and Joel Piniero.

4.     Kyle Lohse

2009: 6-10, 4.74 ERA, 87 ERA+, 77 K, 1.368 WHIP, 117.2 IP.

2010: 8-10, 4.65 ERA, 92 ERA+, 93 K, 153.0 IP.

            ZiPS seems to be pretty optimistic about Lohse’s chances this year. He had a great 2008, but fell off in 2009. Ultimately though, he probably is the best option the Cardinals have in the 4 spot. Unless they trade for another pitcher, the rest of the candidates are really only vying for the 5th spot (much like the Reds rotation).

5.     Kyle McClellan

2009: 4-4, 3.38 ERA, 122 ERA+, 51 K, 1.350 WHIP,  66.2 IP.

2010: 4-4, 3.86 ERA, 111 ERA+, 53 K, 70.0 IP.

            ZiPS is projecting McClellan as a reliever, as he was a setup man for the Cardinals last year, but he has been working towards starting this year. While he’s not the only option, I feel that he’d make the best impact for the team. Plus, if he doesn’t work out as a starter, you can always send the 31-year old pitcher back to his role as a setup man and collect some innings out of him there.

The others vying for the 5th position: The position isn’t necessarily McClellan’s. There are a few other players who could make an impact as the 5th pitcher in the rotation. 25-year old Mitchell Boggs made 9 starts for the Cards last year, going 2-3 with a 4.19 ERA. Another option is 26-year old Blake Hawksworth who worked out of the bullpen for the Cardinals, going 4-0 with an ERA of 2.02. Another possible starter is Jaime Garcia. Garcia is one of the Cardinals top prospects. We’ll talk more about him in the prospects section. One final possibility is former Oriole Rich Hill. Hill posted a 3-3 record while starting 13 games last year, with a less than glorious ERA of 7.80.

THE BULLPEN-

Closer- Ryan Franklin

            2009: 4-3, 1.92 ERA, 214 ERA+, 38 SV, 44 K.

            2010: 5-4, 3.80 ERA, 113 ERA+, 44 K.

So… that’s a pretty big drop off from his ’09 campaign. He’s 37 this year, so some drop off is to be expected, although that much might be a little wild. As long as he isn’t taken out of the closing role, we could still probably see him grabbing 30 or so saves.

Setup- Jason Motte

            2009: 4-4, 4.76 ERA, 86 ERA+, 56.2 IP.

            2010: 4-4, 4.22 ERA, 101 ERA+, 64.0 IP.

Motte had some troubles last year. The 28-year old finished strong though, striking out 16 and posting a 0.73 ERA during his last 12.1 innings. Motte has a good strikeout rate (8.6 SO/9), and could potentially be the closer if Franklin doesn’t work out.

Left Handed Specialists- Trever Miller and Dennys Reyes

            ZiPS projects Miller to be the most effective pitcher in the Cardinals bullpen as far as ERA goes. They have him posting a 3.67 mark with an ERA+ of 117. Now, this isn’t to say he should be implemented against righties. In 2009, righties hit .295 against Miller. Miller’s K/9 rate of 9.5 is strong as well. Miller will be 37 this year.

            Dennys Reyes is not projected to be quite as effective. ZiPS puts him at a 3.99 ERA with an ERA+ of 107. Reyes’ BB/9 rate of 4.6 may also be a little more than what you want out of a situational lefty. Over the course of the year, Miller will probably be the primary specialist, with Reyes helping out when needed.

Middle Relief- Mitchell Boggs, Blake Hawksworth, Josh Kinney.

            Kinney will probably be the leader out of the gate and Hawksworth and Boggs both have the potential to be used as long relievers or spot starters. It also should be noted that none of these guys are necessarily guaranteed to make the roster.  Kinney has the skill set to be a setup man at some point, but injuries have plagued him thus far. The 27-year old Hawksworth is a contender for the starting rotation, but probably would be better suited to pitch in relief. He can strike batters out when needed, but has had some problems giving up home runs. The 26-year old Boggs could end up on the starting rotation at some point, and at the very least will probably be making some spot starts throughout the year. His major weakness is being a little too hittable.

THE STARTING LINEUP-

1.     Skip Schumaker- 2B

2009: .303/.364/.393, 4 HR, 35 RBI

2010: .299/.355/.404, 6 HR, 49 RBI

            The left-handed hitting outfielder-turned second baseman still is the favorite to play 2nd base, although he may be splitting some time with the newly acquired Felipe Lopez. If the Cardinals can manage to find another suitable leadoff hitter, I’m going to go out on a crazy limb and say that the team should implement Lopez at the 2nd base position and use Schumaker as an extra outfielder. Outfield is his natural position, and defensively, it would probably help the team out a bit.

2.     Brendan Ryan- SS

2009:  .292/.340/.400, 3 HR, 37 RBI, 14 SB

2010: .274/.326/.372, 4 HR, 37 RBI,  11 SB

            The 28-year old 2009 Recipient of the MHM (Most Hated Mustache) award had a great season last year, but ZiPS doesn’t think he’s going to be able to recreate last season’s numbers. They give him a 16% chance at hitting .300, after nearly hitting the mark last year. Ryan’s inconsistent fielding and numerous injuries last year also make the acquisition of Lopez look good.

3.     Albert Pujols- 1B

2009: .327/.443/.658, 47 HR, 135 RBI, 115 BB, 16 SB.

2010: .333/.442/.635, 40 HR, 138 RBI, 102 BB, 5 SB.

            Well, I don’t think there’s a lot that I need to tell you about the supposedly 30-year old first baseman. As we all know, he’s actually an escaped government experiment built to dominate and then have his knees give out before he hits 33. Maybe it’s this year. One thing’s pretty much for sure. This guy anchors the St. Louis offense. If Pujols were to get hurt- well, this team gets a lot more tame and their playoff hopes might not hold up.

4.     Matt Holliday- LF

2009: .313/.394/.515, 24 HR, 109 RBI, 14 SB.

2010: .308/.387/.528, 26 HR, 125 RBI, 10 SB.

            Holliday has the most important job on the St. Louis Cardinals. It’s his job to get Albert Pujols some pitches to hit. Holliday’s dropped flyball during the postseason distanced fans from him, but he may have a chance to win them back. I think ZiPS’ projections are a little on the low side for him. We have to remember that the 2009 numbers reflect both his time with the A’s in the AL and his time with the Cardinals in the NL. His NL numbers were significantly better. I’d expect him to hit closer to .320 with 30 HR. His strikeouts may hurt his value slightly, as ZiPS projects him to strike out 112 times.

5.     Ryan Ludwick- RF

2009: .265/.329/.447, 22 HR, 97 RBI, 106 K.

2010: .282/.348/.511, 26 HR, 97 RBI, 114 K.

            Ludwick is an interesting case. He’s a guy who you can compare to Adam Dunn, although he has some edge on defense. Personally, I think ZiPS might be a little too high on him. His 2008 season was great, but with a few injuries last year, this 31-year old right-fielder might not hold up to expectations. I’d expect something similar to his ’09 campaign, with good HR and RBI totals, but a high number of strikeouts and a relatively low average.

6.     Colby Rasmus – CF

2009: .251/307/.407, 16 HR, 52 RBI, 95 K.

2010: .260/.327/.411, 15 HR, 65 RBI, 105 K.

            Rasmus was the Cardinals top prospect going into last year, but fell far short of expectations. A stand out year from Rasmus could give the Cardinals the boost they need to be competitive. If Rasmus manages to have a standout year and hit somewhere near the top of his potential around .300 with 30 HR, we could see a pretty strong outfield.

7.     Yadier Molina- C

2009: .293/.366/.383, 6 HR, 54 RBI.

2010: .289/.352/.389, 7 HR, 63 RBI.

            ZiPS seems to expect Molina’s power numbers to go up. Offense is the big question mark with Molina. Last year he put up strong numbers as far as average. Defensively, he’s one of, if not the best catcher in baseball, so there’s nothing to worry about as far as that goes.

8.     David Freese- 3B

2009: .323/.353/.484

2010: .265/.326/.429, 13 HR, 66 RBI, 92 K.

            Freese only had 34 plate appearances last year, although he made the opening day roster. It’s really tough to know what to expect from him. Offensively, he certainly won’t keep up that average of over .300. Best case scenario is 20 HR, with maybe a .270 average. Freese is a bit like Juan Francisco in that he’s a free swinger, who doesn’t draw enough walks.

THE BENCH:

            Backup Infielders: Felipe Lopez, Julio Lugo.

                        Lopez and Lugo are both recent acquisitions. Both will probably be needed a fair amount as well, since the infield looks to be pretty weak with the obvious exception of Pujols. Either one of these guys could end up replacing either Ryan or Freese if they start to hit a cold patch. Freese is especially susceptible.

            Backup catcher: Jason LaRue.

                        We all remember LaRue, don’t we? LaRue only had 112 plate appearances last season, despite being on the team for the whole season. As long as Molina stays healthy, LaRue probably won’t see much playing time.

            Backup outfielders: Joe Mather, Allen Craig.

                        Craig was a 2006 8th round draft pick. The 25 year old may not make the opening day roster, but I think we can expect to see him up at some point this season. Mather is a 27-year old converted shortstop equipped with decent power as well as some good speed. Fielding wise, he’s still trying to learn the ins and outs of the outfield. He also apparently strikes out a little more than what the Cards might desire. Starting 2nd baseman Skip Schumaker played outfield until last year, and could also be used as a backup.

KEY ADDITIONS AND LOSSES:

            Key Additions:

                        Felipe Lopez

                        Brad Penny

            Key Losses:

                        Troy Glaus

                        John Smoltz

                        Joel Piniero

                        Khalil Greene

                        Mark DeRosa

                        Rick Ankiel

PLAYERS THE REDS DON’T WANT TO SEE

            Albert Pujols- He has an average of .361 against the Reds with 40 HR over the course of his career.

            Chris Carpenter- He’s got a 7-3 record with a 2.11 ERA.

            Ryan Franklin- Record of 2-0 with an ERA of 2.42 and 4 saves.

            Jason Motte- Has a 2-0 record, with an ERA of 1.59 in 5.2 IP.

            Brendan Ryan- Batting .364, BAbip of .412, in 82 PA.

PROSPECTS OF NOTE

            Shelby Miller- RHP

                        Miller was the Cardinals top draft pick in 2009. The 19-year old is 6 foot 3, 200 lbs and can throw mid-90’s heat., occasionally touching around 97. Also has a strong 2-seamer that clocks in at the 89-92 MPH range. Has a strong curve and is developing a changeup. Needs to improve on command to be an effective major leaguer.

            Jaime Garcia- LHP

                        Garcia was a 22nd round in 2005. The lefty is 6’ 1" and about 200 lbs. He throws around 94 MPH and has good movement. Also is reported to have a strong curve. Probably will be with the major league team at some point this season.

            Lance Lynn- RHP

                        Lynn was the 39th pick in the 2008 draft. He’s 6 foot 5 and 250 pounds. Despite his frame, he’s more of a finesse pitcher, with low 90’s heat, a good changeup and a decent slider. He projects to be more of a middle of the rotation innings eater.

            Daryl Jones- OF

                        The lefty was a 3rd round pick in 2005. He’s 6 foot, 180 pounds and won the organization’s Player of the Year award in 2008.

            Robert Stock- C

                        Stock played for USC and was drafted 67th overall in last year’s draft. He pitched as well as played catcher. The 19-year old was chosen as Baseball America’s Youth Player of the Year in 2005 at age 16.

FORMER REDS

Former Reds on this Cardinals team include:

Ryan Franklin

Ben Jukich

Kyle Lohse

Dennys Reyes

Jason LaRue

Felipe Lopez

So, in conclusion, the team is definitely going to contend. They have some decent raw talent in the minors, but the system really isn’t anything special. For the Cardinals, they basically need to win within the next few years, before the team starts to get older and they need to begin rebuilding.