After yesterday's walk-off blast from Matt Kemp, this Monday morning seems a little bitter for Cardinal Nation. But, there was a lot of very good things that came out of this weekend, so let's recap:
The GoodThe offense. Outside of yesterday's beating at the hands of Chad Billingsley, the boys were pounding the ball. Pujols seemed to be picking it back up, Holliday continues to be on a terror, and ESPN has adopted The Puma as a constant topic of discussion. In these past 10 games on the road, the Cards put up 73 runs. Wow.
Pitching. Chris Carpenter returned to form yesterday. K-Mac has been very strong, while I continue to grow more and more excited about Kyle Loshe's return to acceptability. On top of that, future Mariano Rivera protege Eduardo Sanchez made his debut and did not disappoint.
The Bad
Ryan Franklin. I tried to (and did) show earlier that he can be an average closer and even a bargain at times. But, he isn't doing any help for himself. One batter, one bomb. An ERA over 10. The quickly aging Ryan Franklin seems to be the Card's biggest weakness thus far and Cardinal Nation is grumbling.
Joe Strauss tweeted earlier that Mo, TLR, and Dunc will be discussing the closer situation in the next 24 hours. Franklin could, and should, be seeing a demotion coming as soon as today. My pick, obviously from my comment above, is Eduardo Sanchez. The guy just an arsenal of junk and would appease all of those Cardinal fans just begging for a high K, shutdown guy in the back of the rotation. Make it happen Mo.
The Future
Looking forward, the Cards start a 3 game series tonight in Washington before heading home for in-division rivals Cincinnati. The Nats have started the season fairly well at 8-7, including a 3 game sweep of the Brew Crew this weekend. Without Strasburg, no pitcher in this rotation is too intimidating, with perhaps tonight's starter John Lannan being one of the best. Of course, the Nats did add the second coming in Jayson Werth this offseason with an ungodly bad contract, so the offense is improved. Look for a win this series.
On a final note, be sure to keep your eyes out for Rick Ankiel this week, as most seemed to have forgotten he has moved to Washington. While he hasn't exactly been "lighting it up", I love seeing him prowl the outfield. He needs to grow the mustache back.
Thanks for reading. Go Cards!
The team is looking better and better. But, Ryan Franklin has been walking a tight rope for 2 seasons. I have no idea how a pitcher who sits in the low 90s, has little movement, a low k rate, and no out pitch converted ~90% of saves. But it's catching up. Opposing batters are hitting him like it's batting practice.
ReplyDeleteMy next post will probably take an in-depth look at the closer situation -- it is more of a hot topic for the time being than the future of the middle infield. But, since we're on the topic, I see no reason to go outside the organization. Really I would not complain about the following choices: Boggs, Sanchez, Motte, or Batista. I think Sanchez is the long term solution, but I think the others would be fine stop gaps. To be honest, I love(d) our bullpen with the exception of Franklin, so yesterday was actually a welcome blown save, helped speed up the inevitable.
Nice post, amigo.