The Royals took two out of three against the Angels and now stand at 20-17, a game and a half back of the division leading Detroit Tigers. In the midst of a nine game road trip, the Royals will now head to Oakland to take on the A’s in a three game set. Here are three things we can take away from the series in Los Angeles (read: Anaheim).

1. Alex Gordon is raking: After going 6/13 with a double against the Angels, Alex Gordon has now posted a scorching hot  .357/.362/.571 line in 58 plate appearances in May.

2. Jeremy Guthrie is who we thought he was: We couldn’t have expected Jeremy Guthrie to win every start, but he certainly fun to watch, having gone nearly a half season’s worth of starts without registering a loss. It appears Guthrie has begun to regress to his career averages, but he’s still going to be a solid starter who will be able to eat innings and will pitch well enough to the Royals in the game and give them a chance to win.

3. It’s time to panic for Mike Moustakas: Struggling mightily coming into the series, Moustakas’ woes continued as he went 1/14 against the Angels, lowering his line to a meager .194/.266/.339 in 139 plate appearances this season. Moustakas hasn’t shown any signs to suggest that he’s going to figure it out anytime soon and the Royals front office should be thinking about other options at third base, if they aren’t already. I assume the front office would prefer to promote from within, so they might consider giving Anthony Seratelli a shot. Seratelli has put up a solid .326/.423/.516 in 111 plate appearances at AAA Omaha this season.

Spring Training starts in about a month. Barring injury or a terrible performance, the Kansas City Royals lineup is pretty much set, except for second base. Like last year, Chris Getz and Johnny Giavotella will compete for the job at second. But this year, Tony Abreu and Irving Falu could be in the mix as well.

Going into Spring Training, Getz is the likely favorite, despite an injury-filled 2012 and only playing 61 games at second. While the Royals praised Getz’s ability to drive the ball, he hit only 10 doubles, three triples and no homers with a .275/.312/.360 average and a 0.4 WAR in 210 plate appearances.

But the Royals were more concerned about his defense, where he had a .983 fielding percentage at second and a 4.43 RF/9. The league average fielding percentage was .983 and the league RF/9 was 4.63, making Getz a league average second baseman. If he keeps that up, he’ll be the Royals starting second baseman. If he stays healthy.

Many fans would like to see Johnny Giavotella at second, but so far he hasn’t done enough to win the job. He struggled last spring and started the season in AAA Omaha. He played 21 games with the Royals in May and June before coming back for good in August and September after Getz suffered a season-ending thumb injury.

In the Minors, Giavotella played well offensively, but needed work on his defense. But in 189 Major League plate appearances, Giavotella hit seven doubles, one triple and one home run with a .238/.270/.304 average and a -0.6 WAR. Giavotella played 45 games at second, with a .967 fielding percentage and a 4.23 RF/9. the league average fielding percentage was .983 and the league RF/9 was 4.63, which made Giavotella a below average second baseman. He’ll get an opportunity to win the second base job, but unless he starts hitting Major League pitching and his defense improves, Giavotella will start the season in Omaha.

Tony Abreu was a Spring Training non-roster invitee last year and got called up in August after the Royals released Yuni Betancourt. Abreu saw limited playing time, appearing in 22 games, 11 of those at second. In 74 plate appearances, Abreu hit two doubles, one triple and one home run with a .257/.284/.357 average and a -0.2 WAR.

With a small sample size of 11 games at second in 2012, it’s better to compare Abreu’s career playing second. In four seasons at second, Abreu has a .975 fielding percentage and a 4.59 RF/9. The league fielding percentage was .984 and the league RF/9 was 4.77, which at best makes Abreu a utility infielder. Seeing the most games Abreu played at second was 25 in 2007, the League tends to agree. If he makes the club, it will be as a utility infielder.

A possible dark horse at second is longtime Royals farmhand Irving Falu. In 24 games with the Royals last year, Falu played 14 of those games at second. In 996 games over his Minor League career, Falu played 315 of them at second. The most games he played in a season at second was 63 with Omaha in 2009, so even in the Minors, Falu was a part-time second baseman. He’ll get his opportunities in Spring Training, but it’s a long shot for Falu to make the Opening Day roster, much less as the Royals starting second baseman.

Second base was a weak position last year and it will be again in 2013. If the Royals can get league average offense and defense out of second, they’re in good shape, as far as second base goes.

Jake Odorizzi Joins Royals

SPRINGDALE, AR – Right-handed pitcher, Jake Odorizzi, was brought up to the Kansas City Royals on Sunday, September 16.  Odorizzi becomes the 32nd former Natural to make it to the major leagues.

Odorizzi spent the beginning of the 2011 season with Wilmington (A Advanced) and the latter part in Northwest Arkansas pitching a total of 147.0 innings.   He went 10-7 on the season and posted a 3.73 ERA in 27 starts.

The Illinois native has spent the beginning of the 2012 season with the Northwest Arkansas Naturals going 4-2 with a 3.32 ERA over seven starts.  Oddorizzi was transferred to Omaha (AAA) on May 17 and has surrendered 35 earned runs in 107.1 innings with Omaha.

Odorizzi went into the 2012 season rated as the fourth-best prospect in the Royals organization by Baseball America.

The 22-year-old was acquired from the Milwaukee Brewers along with RHP Jeremy Jeffers, INF Alcides Escobar and OF Lorenzo Cain in exchange for RHP Zack Greinke and INF Yuniesky Betancourt, December 19, 2010.

It was a short playoff run for the Class High A Wilmington Blue Rocks, who lost two of three games in the Carolina League Division Championship Series last week against the Lynchburgh Hillcats, the Braves High A affiliate.

The Blue Rocks hosted the first game where the Hillcats had a 15 hit attack, 14 of them being singles. The Hillcats scored one run in the first, one in the fifth, two in the eighth and four in the ninth to win the game 8-0. Hillcats starter Gus Schlosser got the win and Blue Rocks starter Brooks Pounders took the loss.

The next two games were in Lynchburg and the Blue Rocks got their revenge with a postseason record 18 hits on their way to a 12-3 game two victory, tying up the series. Rocks starter Jason Adam pitched seven innings, getting the win while Hillcats starter Dimasther Delgato took the loss.

The winner of game three would advance to the Mills Cup Championship Series. The two previous games were blowouts, but game three was tied at 1-1 until the bottom of the eighth inning. Hillcats catcher Braeden Schlehuber smacked a homer on a 3-2 count, giving the Hillcats a 2-1 lead. The Blue Rocks tried to answer in the ninth, but they failed to score and their season came to an end. The Lynchburg Hillcats advanced to the Mills Cup to face the Winston-Salem Dash, the Chicago White Sox High A affiliate.

Meanwhile, the AAA Omaha Storm Chasers played a five game American Conference Championship Series last week against the Albuquerque Isotopes, the Los Angeles Dodgers affiliate. The winner of the series would play for the Pacific Coast League Championship.

The Chasers took the opening game at Omaha 8-4, jumping to an early 5-0 lead by the third inning. The Isotopes scored a run in the fifth, two in the sixth and a run in the top of the eighth to make the score 5-4. But the Chasers added three runs in the bottom of the eighth to get the win.

The second game in Omaha stared out well for the Chasers, who had a 3-0 lead by the fourth inning. But the Isotopes scored two runs in the sixth, two in the seventh and one in the eighth to get a 5-3 victory and tie up the series.

The next three games would be at Albuquerque, and game three started with a two hour and three minute rain delay and two scoreless innings before the Chasers took a 3-0 lead in the third. They tacked on two more runs in the seventh before the Isotopes scored one run in the seventh and three in the eighth. The Chasers answered with single tallies in the eighth and ninth to win 7-4, one win away from taking the series.

Game four was going the Chasers way, who were ahead 10-3 after the top of the seventh inning and nine outs from the PCL Championship Series. But Royals luck waylaid the Chasers and the Isotopes scored nine runs in the bottom of the seventh to take a 12-10 victory. It was a demoralizing loss for the Chasers, who would have to win game five or go home.

For game five, the Chasers opened a can of whoop and pounded out 16 runs and 19 hits, defeating the Isotopes 16-7. The Chasers had 10 runs on the board before the Isotopes scored a run in the bottom of the fourth. The Isotopes scored six more runs, but so did the Chasers, who won the American Conference Championship Series three games to two. The Chasers would play the Reno Aces, the Arizona Diamondbacks affiliate, for the Pacific Coast League Championship.

The first game of the PCL Championship Series opened Tuesday night in Reno, NV. The Aces opened their own can of whoop, smacking the Chasers around in a 13-1 victory. Chasers starter Jake Odorizzi took the loss, lasting 3.2 innings and giving up nine runs, eight of them earned and four of them home runs. Aces starter Trevor Bauer got the victory, pitching 6.2 innings, giving up an earned run and three hits.

The Chasers will try to bounce back in game two, which began Wednesday night at 9:05 Central time. There’s an off day Thursday, then the series continues in Omaha for game three and if needed, game four and five.

It will undoubtedly be the number one mission of Dayton Moore to improve the pitching for his Kansas City Royals in the off-season. While history shows that inking a true #1 starter is probably out of Moore’s reach, there has been some hope amongst fans that a steady #2 could be coming along with help from the minors. Today we’ll take a look at the top pitching prospects, and how they’re performing in the minors.

Jake Odorizzi (12-4, 3.22 ERA, 118 K, 41 BB) Easily the best hope for Royals fans hoping to find a young pitcher that can help this club in 2013. Odorizzi has put up acceptable numbers in AAA, especially for a 22 year-old, but he’s averaging less than six innings per start in Omaha and his WHIP has increased dramatically since his promotion while his strikeout numbers have plummeted.

Mike Montgomery (5-9, 5.64 ERA, 91 K, 57 BB) Montgomery has taken the opposite route as Odorizzi this year, putting up a 5.69 ERA in Omaha before getting demoted this summer. Once thought to be a possible ace in the Royals’ future, the 23 year-old is now looking like he may be a long shot to ever turn into even a decent starter. The results haven’t been much more promising since his demotion as he still sports an ERA over 5 and his k/9 inning rate has actually dropped to 6.0.

J.C. Sulbaran (7-7, 3.98 ERA, 113 K, 57BB) This 22 year-old righthander was a part of the Jonathan Broxton trade. He has electric stuff, striking out more than a batter an inning at every level so far, but far too many walks still. In his first start in Northwest Arkansas he walked three and gave up three hits in just four innings, but only allowed one run to score.

John Lamb- It’s still questionable whether he will actually get into game action in 2012. Lamb is fully recovered from Tommy John surgery, but battled tendinitis in his foot just before he was ready to return in July. He’s still just 22 years old but he has a long ways to go before he’ll be considered ready for the majors.

Chris Dwyer (7-11, 5.83 ERA, 94 K, 58 BB) Like many other pitchers in the Royals system Dwyer has lost both the ability to throw strikes and strike people out. His five starts in Omaha have been Jonathan Sanchez-like and at 24 years old it’ll be hard to consider him a prospect much longer.

Yordano Ventura (3-7, 3.78 ERA, 115 K, 38 BB) After his appearance in the Futures Game Ventura was promoted to AA and has seen mixed results. He just turned 21 years old, so a couple of bumps at this level are to be expected, but if he struggles for an extended period many think the Royals may try to turn him into a reliever. His stuff is outstanding but he’s much more likely to help in late 2014 or Opening Day 2015.

Noel Arguelles (3-12, 7.17 ERA, 41 K, 55 BB) A lot of time stats do not tell the full story, I’m not sure these need any explanation.

Jason Adam (3-11, 3.94 ERA, 99 K, 30 BB) A local kid that has been very solid in high-A ball. He just turned 21, and should get his shot in AA next season, but he probably doesn’t profile as anything more than a back-end of the rotation starter at this point.

Kyle Zimmer (1-2, 4.05 ERA, 26 K, 5 BB) The Royals 2012 first round pick started in rookie ball and was absolutely dominant in his three starts there. Since his promotion to Kane County it’s been a little different story, but it’s encouraging for him to be this far along nonetheless. A strong finish could put him in line for a trip to Wilmington in 2013.

With the exception of Odorizzi it is hard to find anyone that might help this club in 2012. What’s perhaps more discouraging is that it’s easy to wonder if Montgomery, Lamb, Dwyer, or Arguelles will ever reach Kauffman Stadium. As the big league team has put up catastrophe after catastrophe, we as fans have held on to the talent in the minors for hope. Now, six years into the process, these are our top nine starting pitching prospects; a hodgepodge collection of Tommy John surgeries, lost command and unfulfilled promise.

As I listened to Dayton Moore’s interview with Soren Petro of 810 WHB last week I found many things hard to stomach. For one thing Petro’s questioning was so timid that it started a #ToughQuestionsForDayton hashtag on twitter that sarcastically made fun of him. If we can’t askMoorethe hard questions at this point, when will we? Second, I hated hearingMooremove the goal line once again by suggesting that 2014 will be the year the Kansas City Royals start competing for the playoffs. I thinkDaytonthinks as long as he keeps saying we’re at least two years away there will never be any consequences. Unfortunately, as long as he continues to line David Glass’s pockets, he’s probably right.

As angry as that made me, nothing irked me as much as when the conversation turned to Wil Myers, and of course Jeff Francoeur. It became pretty clear at that point the Frenchy is going to be the starting right fielder for the Royals on Opening Day 2013 and there’s probably not anything Wil Myers can do about that. We should have long known that Myers has no control over his own destiny. After all, he’s hit 33 home runs in 106 games between AA and AAA this season andMoorestill acts as if he has much to prove. He’s not just shown power, but patience as well, walking more times already this season (51) than Frenchy’s career high for one season (42). Now, everyone already knows thatDaytonloves Frenchy, but my question today is, why?

Don’t get me wrong, I like Frenchy too. He’s such a nice guy, he has a cannon for an arm, and he’s apparently a great leader in the clubhouse. All wonderful qualities, but can that really be the reason? IsDaytonthis attached to someone he drafted a little over ten years ago? Did he fall for his tools and remains too blinded by that love to see the facts? If so I’d like to lay them out for him:

-         Frenchy has had two seasons in his eight year career in which he played more than 70 games and had an OPS+ of 100 or better. For a right fielder, that is disgusting.

-         This great leader has made two postseason appearances ( .171 average/268 slugging %) and his arrival inAtlantacoincided almost exactly with the demise of the Braves dynasty.

-         His incredible arm has been far outweighed this season by the fact that he’s developed Jose Guillen range in right field.

-         He is currently having his worst season as a pro, his incredible -2.8 WAR may not even do justice to how terrible he’s been.

-         If the Royals are really two years away from beginning to compete in the worst division in baseball, they have no reason to let Jeff Francoeur stand in the way of their best offensive prospect.

I’m just beating a dead horse now, and we’re stuck with this dead horse for at least another year. Don’t worry though Royals fans, he won’t stand in the way of winning. We are now, and will always be, two years away from competing.

Since being only 3 games under .500 and sniffing the top of the division the Kansas City Royals have done nothing but struggle.

The pitching has been horrendous while the bats have seem to come alive a little in the month of July.  The batting order has produced the best average in the major leagues for the month of July.  The biggest problem with that is the lack of extra base hits when needed and hitting with runners on base so that when they can put a team away they can do it without relying on a pitching staff that has not helped out at all.

The question surrounding the organization now is how to keep fans interested one and even more how to get them to go out to the K to watch a team that is everything but mathematically out of the playoffs.  One way that they Royals can make some noise with their fans is by making a trade or two over the next five days before the non-waiver trade deadline on Tuesday afternoon.  One trade that would help fan get excited would the to tade away right fielder Jeff Franceour.  Now Frenchy is a fan favorite and also a good clubhouse guy but not only is he terrible at the plate as of the last few weeks but he is blocking players that seem to be the future in Kansas City.  At the big leauge level alone, he seems to be blocking Jarrod Dyson from getting any playing time not only because he is taking up an outfield spot but the team just cannot afford to have center fielder Lorenzo Cain out of the lineup right now.  The biggest Royal’s commodity that Frenchy seems to be blocking from he major leaues is number one hitting prospect Wil Myers.  Over the last few weeks in AAA Omaha Myers has regressed some but everything out of Omaha says that he is seeing a lot fewer fastballs and just hasnt adjusted to seeing all junk while at the plate.  Matter of fact is that whether he can hit a curveball right now or not he could probably at least hit somewhere north of the .242 mark that Franceour is currently sporting.  Not saying that he will be an instant success but at least it would be a development process and not a guy who seems to not know what pitches to swing at and which ones to take.  .242 is not good at any level especially when it is in front of guys who need to be in Kansas City to prepare for their future.

Another thing that could put the fans in their seats is if the Royals go out and get some kind of pitching that is not Jeremy Guthrie.  Nothing against that trade or the fact that it could end up being an okay thing for this season but that is not a name that is going to bring people to the ball park.  If the Royals were to show that they are committing to this town and this team with a blockbuster deal that would help for not only the next two months but also for the next 24 months or so people would get excited. The names have been thrown around the league of guys that are available but will the Royals bite.  They have the prospects it seems that would attract teams to answer the phone when general manager Dayton Moore comes a calling.  Not only that they could trade guys like Jonathan Broxton, Yuniesky Betancourt and Franceour, get prospects for them and then flip those prospects for a guy who is in the bigs already and coud help the team now and in the future.

Th simple fact is this.  The Royals would have to do something miraculous to play into October this season.  But they could keep everyone interested by making a late season run of good baseball along with the addition of a guy or two that will help in the future.  Training Camp is open in St. Joseph, Missouri for the Chiefs this week and if the Royals do not try and keep the fans interest, the fans will focus their attention to the other side of the Truman Sports Complex and just wait for Opening Day 2013 for a fresh start.

Starting pitching, good or bad, affects every part of a baseball game. Look no further than the two disastrous outings by starters Jonathan Sanchez and Ryan Verdugo last Monday and Tuesday night. In two games with the Seattle Mariners, Sanchez and Verdugo gave up a combined 13 runs over three innings. Neither pitcher got out of the second inning and the Royals lost both games, 9-4 and 9-6. The Royals had enough of Sanchez, designating him for assignment Tuesday after a 1-6 record and 7.76 ERA. As for Verdugo, he’s on I-29 back to AAA Omaha.

So now the Royals starting rotation consists of Bruce Chen, Luke Hochevar, Luis Mendoza, Everett Teaford and Will Smith. This is why the Royals as of Wednesday were 38-51, 11.5 games back of the Chicago White Sox and the starting rotation had only four quality starts in their last 17 games.

And the Royals top three pitchers, Chen, Hochevar and Mendoza, haven’t pitched well lately. In their last three starts, the trio has given up a combined 34 earned runs in 51 innings. The Royals record in those games is 3-6.

Of the three, Mendoza is the only one with a sub 5.00 ERA at 4.32. He’s also gave up the least amount of runs with six in 21.1 innings. But the Royals lost two of the three games Mendoza started. Chen is a good pitcher, but in his last three starts before Wednesday’s game, he’s gave up a combined 18 runs in 13.2 innings. The Royals went 0-3 in those games. Hochevar is pitching a little better lately, giving up a combined 10 runs over 16 innings in his last three starts. The Royals went 2-1 in those games. But Hochevar has a 5.16 ERA and could be one start away from giving up another big inning.

So what about Everett Teaford and Will Smith? Teaford has bounced between Omaha and Kansas City, appearing in eight games, four of them as a starter. Of those four starts, the Royals won three of those games. In his last three starts, Teaford gave up a combined 10 runs in 16.1 innings, where the Royals went 2-1. His 2012 ERA is 4.98.

As for Will Smith, he’s spent most of 2012 in Omaha, with only three games with the Royals, all starts. In those three games, Smith gave up a combined 14 earned runs in 14 innings, with the Royals losing two of those three games. He has a 9.00 ERA.

And there’s not much help in the high minors either. The Royals top pitching prospect, Jake Odorizzi, is in Omaha and projects to be a number three starter. These days, a number three starter would be an improvement for the Royals starting rotation. It’s certain we’ll see Odorizzi this year, but he won’t be able to turn the Royals fortunes around by himself. And remember Mike Montgomery, who had a chance to make the starting rotation out of spring training? He’s in AA Northwest Arkansas, trying to figure things out.

And two of the better starters this season, Danny Duffy and Felipe Paulino, had Tommy John surgery and won’t be back with the Royals until the middle of the 2013 season.

When the starting pitchers struggle, the whole team struggles. If a starter doesn’t have at least a quality start, that gasses the bullpen, who have to pitch more innings. If the starter gives up a lot of runs, it forces the offense to try and overcome the run deficit. And if a starter has a high pitch count per inning, the defense behind them are more likely to make defensive mistakes.

It’s simple. Teams with a good starting rotation are more likely to win games and make the playoffs than a team with a decent to bad starting rotation.

This year, the Royals have a good offense, good defense and the bullpen is holding its own. But the starting rotation, this year and in years past, is atrocious. And unless the Royals land a top tier pitcher via free agency or a trade, the Royals starting rotation will continue to be atrocious.

When infielder Chris Getz returned from the disabled list Tuesday night, the Royals sent infielder Johnny Giavotella to AAA Omaha. And when infielder Yuniesky Betancourt returned from the DL earlier this month, long time minor league infielder Irving Falu went back to Omaha.

If you read some of the articles and comments on Royals blogs and websites, it’s obvious Getz and Betancourt are not fan favorites. And with Betancourt’s lack of defensive range and Getz’s lack of power, it’s easy to see why. But are the players they replaced, Falu and Giavotella, any better? Or are Betancourt and Getz the best the Royals have for now?

For the sake of comparison, I’ll compare the positions of second base and utility infielder. For second base, I’ll compare second basemen Chris Getz and Johnny Giavotella. For utility infielders, I’ll compare Yuniesky Betancourt and Irving Falu.

Comparing the offensive numbers of Getz and Giavotella, they’re similar in many ways, but some stats stand out.

Getz has more games and plate appearances than Giavotella and edges Gio in runs RBI and strikeouts. But Getz has seven more hits and a much higher batting average, on base percentage and slugging. Neither player has a home run, but second base is not a power position. Offense is important, but defense is key for asecond baseman. Here’s their defensive numbers:

Defensive stats aren’t as reliable as offensive stats due to a lot of factors I won’t list here. But Getz’s fielding percentage is 52 points over Giavotella’s and Getz is 10 points over the league fielding percentage. Giavotella is 42 points less than league average. And with range factor per nine innings, Getz is close to league average, but way ahead of Giavotella. So looking at statistics, one can see why the Royals say Getz’s defense has the edge and at least for 2012, Getz’s offense has the edge overGiavotella. Like it or not, Getz is playing better than Giavotella and until that changes, Giavotella will be staying in Omaha.

Moving on to the utility infielders, here’s the offensive numbers of Yuniesky Betancourt and Irving Falu:

Betancourt has a lot more games and plate appearances compared to Falu, but Falu has a decent number of hits with his limited playing time, which increases his batting average. And Falu was close to Betancourt in runs. However, Betancourt drove in more runs and Falu almost had as many strikeouts as Betancourt. Yuni has the edge in offense, but if Falu played as much as Betancourt, I have a feeling the numbers would be similar.

How about defense? That’s the bread and butter of an utility infielder and here’s the defensive numbers of Betancourt and Falu:

These defensive numbers are the average of second base, shortstop and third base, all positions Betancourt and Falu played. Both Betancourt and Falu are below league average in all categories, but Betancourt’s numbers are lower than Falu’s. The numbers tell us what we’ve known all along: Betancourt’s defense and range are below average and he’s not a good fielder. And Falu would likely do a better job as an utility infielder than Betancourt and provide almost the same level of offense.

So instead of playing Falu, a longtime minor leaguer who’s been with the Royals for years and would play at league minimum pay, the Royals play Betancourt, who has worse defense and is getting two million dollars that could be spent on pitching. And don’t forget the Royals like to platoon Betancourt and Getz at second base. These are the things which frustrate Royals fans.

These players alone aren’t going to get the Royals towards .500, let alone winning the American League Central. But for now, Chris Getz is the best player at second base and the Royals should dump Betancourt and call up Falu as their utility infielder.

The hits, or lack of hits, kept coming last week as the St. Louis Cardinals continued a rough stretch that included becoming the victim of the New York Mets first no-hitter in franchise history.

Aside from being no-hit by Mets pitcher Johan Santana Friday night, the Cardinals also sent Skip Schumaker back to the disabled list to join an all-star caliber cast that includes Lance Berkman, Matt Carpenter and Jon Jay on the offensive side, and Chris Carpenter and Kyle McClellan representing the pitching staff.

On the bright side, perhaps the only bright side of the week that saw the Cardinals go 2-6 in their last eight games, Allen Craig rejoined the team Friday. Although he obviously didn’t get a hit in his first game back, the Cardinals sorely need his presence in the lineup.

It’s not surprising that the Cardinals have fallen back to the back amid all of the injuries. Sure, every team has injuries throughout the long season, but no team is going to play first-place caliber baseball with six important players hurt.

However, the Cardinals are still capable of playing competitive baseball, and better baseball than they have of late.

The bullpen has been simply atrocious for much of the last three weeks. The Cardinals had the fourth-worst ERA in May at 4.72, and the bullpen’s ERA was even higher. The disturbing part of the bullpen’s performance is injuries cannot be used as an excuse. Aside from McClellan, the bullpen pitchers have remained healthy, they’ve just pitched terribly.

Now it’s to the point where guys such as Sam Freeman, Maikel Cleto and Brandon Dickson are trying to get important outs for the big league club, when in reality they should still be playing for the AAA Memphis Redbirds.

Even with the injuries to position players, the Cardinals put up four runs or more in every game last week before running into a buzz saw this weekend against the Mets. A team that consistently scores four runs or more should win a lot of ballgames, but the pitching staff has found numerous ways to give up more than four runs.

The struggles of middle relief pitchers have been particularly back-breaking. The Cardinals have shown all season they can fight back during a game even if they fall behind early.

For example, the Atlanta Braves scored three runs in the first inning and two more runs in the third inning Wednesday to take a 5-0 lead. The Cardinals fought back and tied the game at five in the six, but Marc Rzepczynski immediately gave up three runs to take away any momentum the Cardinals had built.

So, what’s the fix? Good question. The offense will be fine. A lineup that includes Carlos Beltran, Matt Holliday and David Freese will produce enough runs to remain competitive. However, as we said before the season started, the pitching staff is going to have to be strong for the Cardinals to compete for the division crown.

That happened at the beginning of the season. The Cardinals jumped out to an early lead almost every night, and the pitchers held the opponents in check the rest of the night. The game seemed easy back in April.

That certainly changed in May. Relief pitchers such as Rzepczynski, Fernando Salas and Mitchell Boggs will have to regain their 2011 and early 2012 form if the Cardinals are going to keep up with the Cincinnati Reds throughout the summer. The Memphis Redbirds pitching staff isn’t equipped to compete in the major leagues, and it is showing right now.

Hopefully the Cardinals beat up on the Houston Astros this coming week, but after that series the team faces a stretch against AL Central powerhouses such as the Cleveland Indians, Chicago White Sox and Detroit Tigers.

Hang on tight, folks, the rough ride of the past week could continue for a while.