Entering the season, one of the easy strengths for the Cardinals was the bullpen. It was a group that had a phenomenal second half and postseason a year ago, and was getting a boost from a few of the promising prospects in the organization finally reaching St. Louis as well. However, what’s gold doesn’t always glitter, and the bullpen has been remarkably dull in the early season, and already has the team search for new answers on a daily basis.

Coming into Tuesday, the parallels between the Cardinal staff were huge. While the team’s overall ERA is third in the National League at 3.24, the bullpen’s effort still drug the total down. It has been responsible for three Cardinals losses and had the worst overall ERA in the National League at 5.92. With five of the seven bullpen arms with ERAs over 4.00, it’s been a group effort to drag down every level of the bullpen’s effectiveness.

The current standing of the organization’s roster has created this idea of infinite options to solve every problem the team faces, but in reality facing the situation in the bullpen is the toughest issue for the organization to solve. The quick fix of plugging in a new (fill in the blank uber-prospect) truly denies the complexities of constructing a well-rounded roster, and especially bullpen. The Cardinals early struggles have been because it is a mixture of arms that are searching for new identities on the run. The loss of closer Jason Motte late in spring training is quickly showing to be the worst possible loss for the pitching staff, as there is no easy successor to his role. Even replacing Chris Carpenter and Kyle Lohse has gone much smoother than finding an answer for the one-inning door closer. Motte was responsible for the most important inning of them all, and has truly shown why not just anybody can be a closer.

But the scramble to find out how to account for the loss of the one absolute part of the pen from a year ago has been rough. Mitchell Boggs, while only truly blowing one save, has not inspired late game confidence. He is sporting an ERA over 9.00 in seven games, and managed to strikeout only one more batter than he’s walked. For whatever reason, he has not shown the same calm execution that he did an inning earlier a year ago, when he set the club record for holds with 34.

Yet he still is the clearest choice of the crowd in the pen for the job. The most frequent name that is clamored for is Trevor Rosenthal, who has in effect become the bridge to Boggs thus far. And while he’s got all the tools of a stereotypical closer (chiefly, the 100 mph fastball), he is absolutely not the answer right now. He’s still working out his arsenal so that he’s not all fastball, and it’s taking some time. In seven games this year, he’s surrendered runs in five of his appearances, and has struggled some with pitch count and location with runners on. These are the same issues Boggs is facing, yet they just aren’t magnified by the spotlight of the ninth inning yet, and are also cushioned by the optimism his promise brings. Although he is a member of the big league squad now, his development is still taking place and that is much better off not being burdened by the ninth inning quite yet.

So what else is there currently? Not much really. Edward Mujica has struggled mightily in his career the later on he has pitched (4.79 and 3.69 8^th and 9^th inning ERAs). Mark Rzepczynski and Randy Choate aren’t the type, and have an essential to keeping the situational management that eluded the team a year ago. That leaves the undesirable idea of moving a middle reliever to the back end of the bullpen in an ultimate trial run, promoting a new arm to the mix that isn’t ready for the pressure, or the absolute worst option, making a trade. Teams would hang the Cardinals out to dry for prospects and developing Major Leaguers to accommodate such a request, so it seems unlikely that route is taken, especially with the uncertain return date (and recent multi-year contract extension) of Motte still in the picture.

So where does this leave it all at? Boggs may very well not be closer material; he’s labored through nearly every outing thus far. Ultimately, a decision will have to be made, even if it means truly not making one. Is it a committee, based on who is the most capable at the moment, a la 2011? Maybe it’s Rosenthal ascending the role early. Or perhaps it’s Mujica by process of elimination (Matheny had him ready to enter on Monday if the game would have pulled within three). Or maybe it remains Boggs, simply by pulling himself together. Regardless, there’s no other choice that makes clear sense now, and really, “thus far” isn’t that far at all. All of this could be for naught, but for better or worse in the time being, this is what there is to roll with. So affairs will have to straighten themselves out, because there’s no other choice but for them to do so.

I first considered turning this into an analogy about finishing my first 5K today, and how the season is just too long for panic attacks. I considered getting in line to announce how Luke Hochevar was finally figuring it out before his ankle injury forced him to leave the game. Unfortunately, I think the disaster that was Opening Day at the K deserves a little more sincerity and a little less levity.

It started around 11:30 AM as I pulled into Lot F and checked my phone to see Ned Yost’s Opening Day lineup. Jarrod Dyson was leading off, Jeff Francoeur was hitting second, and Alex Gordon had been moved to the 6 hole. To say this was ominous doesn’t begin to cover most Kansas City Royals fans’ feelings about it. Dyson’s career .292 OBP and Francoeur’s .313 would be setting the table for the three best hitters on the club. In fairness to Yost, his #2 hitter just went on the DL, but still. There was plenty of argument about who should be filling in for Lorenzo Cain on a daily basis, none of those arguments made a very good case that whoever did should be leading off.

As much as the lineup disturbed me, I still felt pretty good about Friday. After all, Luke Hochevar was on the mound and you all know how I felt about him coming into 2012. The Indians came into the game with an offense that scared no one and Hoch was coming off a very solid performance. Of course, that good feeling didn’t last long as the first three hitters reached for the Indians. After two relatively quick outs, the next 5 batters slapped the ball around the park, and before I could get a beer vendor’s attention, the Royals were down 7-0. It is important to note that with a little help from Yuniesky Betancourt, the Royals probably get out of the inning allowing just one run. Or that Dyson’s speed wasn’t enough to make up for his atrocious jump, leading to triple on a deep fly that also could have ended the inning. Hochevar was bad, no doubt, but he didn’t get much help either.

Even after the worst start to a Royals game that I can recall, it was still easy for the Kool Aid Drinker to be his optimistic self when Dyson, Francoeur and Eric Hosmer started off the home half of the first with 3 singles of their own. Maybe, just maybe, Yost’s crazy lineup was the one thing that could overcome the disastrous start from Hochevar. Of course, Billy Butler returned to 2009 form with a 4-6-3 GIDP and Alex Gordon struck out in a 5 pitch at bat. Other than a 2 run blip in the bottom of the 4^th (right after Hochevar left the game) Derek Lowe was on cruise control for the rest of the afternoon. There were positive signs in the box score, like Everett Teaford’s 4 shutout innings in relief, but overall it was a miserable day in Kansas City.

So, here we sit, 7 games into Our Time, and it’s tough to find much room for positive reflection. The Royals have lost their starting catcher and starting centerfielder from the lineup and replaced them with players that are worse both offensively and defensively. They lost a candidate for the rotation in Spring Training, and now Luke Hochevar’s next start is in question. Speaking of Hochevar, any illusions that he had actually “figured it out” seemed to be dashed on Friday, at least until his next dominant performance. Add to it the fact that Ubaldo Jimenez and Justin Verlander are on desk for a lineup that is hitting .243 and ranks 13^th in the league in runs scored? Yeah, it would be hard to blame you for panicking…assuming you forgot that you’re cheering for the youngest team in all of baseball.

This team will get better as the season goes on. Mike Moustakas, Danny Duffy, Alcides Escobar, Lorenzo Cain, even Eric Hosmer…all of these guys will improve the more baseball they get under their belt. Has the injury bug bitten this team early? Absolutely. Am I disappointed in Luke Hochevar? Of course.  Has anything really happened to change my mind about “The Process” or where this team is going? Not even a little bit.

Spring Training is about a month or so away for the St. Louis Cardinals, and plenty of intrigue surrounds the team as they head for Florida. Last weekend at the Winter Warm Up, much of that was discussed with Cardinal players, coaches, and members of the front office. But the fact of the matter is, much of the 2012 team promises to also have to answer questions of “living up” to predecessors. For instance, exactly how does one improve on a World Series Championship? And just for good measure, some competition for pivotal roles will be thrown into the mix as well.

Obviously, one of the major departures is Albert Pujols. And while that subject has been beaten to death from every possible angle, the Cards do have a quite capable replacement at first base in Lance Berkman. After proving he still had plenty left in the tank with a monster comeback season in 2011, Berkman is ready, willing and able to step back into the post he held for so many years in Houston. So with the on-field hole filled, what about the offensive production missing with Pujols’ bat no longer in the lineup? The Cards went out and signed Carlos Beltran, and he certainly will contribute power to the lineup. But he also brings an element of speed—albeit not what he once had in his prime—and versatility as a switch-hitter. Beltran can be dangerous and effective hitting anywhere from 2nd to 6th in the lineup.

Of course, Beltran and Berkman are not spring chickens any more, and both have a recent injury history that cannot be ignored. Such is the case with Matt Holliday, David Freese, and Allen Craig. All these players are expected to have major roles on the field for the 2012 St. Louis Cardinals, and every season’s success is dependent on the old axiom, “Well, if everyone can stay healthy…” No one can guarantee the health of any player or players. But with the lineup the Cards at least expect to run out onto the field on a daily basis, they have to stack up favorably with any team in the league.

What could be bigger than losing a Hall of Fame player? Why, losing a Hall of Fame coaching tandem, of course. And it just so happens the Cardinals lost both in the same offseason. Replacing Tony La Russa and Dave Duncan is impossible. But the Cards must find a way to move on, because they are not coming back but there are still games to be played.

Mike Matheny takes over as the team’s skipper and says he is ready to learn a lot. He has already spoken to most of the players and tinkers with potential lineups every day. He also appears to have a grasp on some of the Cards’ shortcomings from 2011 and wants to formulate a plan to remedy those issues for 2012 starting in Spring Training. “There’s going to be a lot of bunting going on,” Matheny said, when asked about his approach. “There’s going to be a lot of fundamental situational hitting. There’s going to be team fundamentals that are going to have a focus. I think it’s going to cover the whole gamut…We’re going to have some guys come in from the past who have been extremely good baserunners and are going to help us out for the first part of spring.”

Derek Lilliquist has some tough shoes to fill, too, taking over for Duncan as pitching coach. Adam Wainwright spoke of Duncan in glowing terms echoed by the rest of the staff: “Dave Duncan is the best big league pitching coach I’ve ever had. Dave’s philosophy has just been bred into us…Not that we don’t need Dave, but we understand what we want do out there now. I think Carpenter and myself, Lohse, Westbrook, Jaime…I think we’ve got five guys who have learned from the best in the business, and continue to learn from each other, too.” But he also thinks Lilliquist understands pitching really well, and believes his philosophy is a lot like that of Duncan. “When you look at what Lilly brings, we’re still really excited about our pitching coach,” Wainwright said.

Arguably the biggest unknown on the field going into Spring Training is the second base position. Both Matheny and John Mozeliak anticipate an open competition between Tyler Greene, Skip Schumaker, and Daniel Descalso for the starting job. Matheny spoke numerous times about “healthy competition” and how it would benefit the team and the players involved. Mozeliak also expects all three to challenge for the job, but feels the opportunity is Greene’s to seize. “We do want to see Tyler Greene get a strong opportunity there,” Mozeliak said. “We look at his athleticism and what he’s capable of doing and I do know we want to give Tyler a very good chance at playing and getting a lot of AB’s in Spring Training…(Greene) has never really had an opportunity at the ML level to be given that job. It’s understandable because we’ve always had competitive clubs and players that were playing better than him. So it’s just about opportunity.” But the GM stopped short of giving Greene any sort of leg up before the preseason gets underway. “It’s a different situation this year—second base is open so that’s where we’re going to try to give him a shot.”

Other positions remain unsettled until the team heads to Florida. Beltran, Craig, and Jon Jay figure to be a part of some sort of rotation or platoon in center and right. The Cards signed Koyie Hill to a minor league deal, and he figures to be the defensive dark horse for the backup catcher job. But the team already has two younger backstops in Tony Cruz and Bryan Anderson who have had a taste of the majors and are no doubt chomping at the bit to win that supporting role. And the bullpen has a lot of returning faces staring at a young corps who makes it increasingly difficult for the Cardinals to keep sending them back to the minors.

Expectations will be high for the Cards in 2012, but that is normal after a World Series win. These players have already proven they can execute. Now they have to go out and stay healthy enough to do it again. The NL Central appears weaker on paper than it did last season, aside from the overhauled Cincinnati Reds. But not many picked the Redbirds to make the playoffs last year, either. The Cardinals appear poised to make another serious run at the division title. Getting into the playoffs is tough for any team, but once you’re in…well, you know.

Chris Reed also writes for InsideSTL Mondays and Bird Brained whenever he wants. Follow him on Twitter at @birdbrained.

Yesterday, three finalists were named at each position for Gold Glove winners. As expected, Alex Gordon and Jeff Francoeur made the cut. Gordon finished with league highs at his position in fielding percentage (.991) and outfield assists (20). Francoeur ended the year with a .986 fielding percentage and 16 outfield assists.

However, the Royals best defensive player didn’t even make the top three at his position.

That player, of course, being Alcides Escobar.

It has long been said that offensive numbers often play a large role in an award that is given based solely on defense. This has been proven throughout the years and this is the best example for this year’s finalists.

The players chosen ahead of Escobar were Erick Aybar, JJ Hardy, and Asdrubal Cabrera. This is what their offensive numbers looked like:

Aybar: BA: .279 HR: 10 RBI: 59

Hardy: BA: .269 HR: 30 RBI: 80

Cabrera: BA: .273 HR: 25 RBI: 92

Now, let’s take a look at what type of offensive statistics the Royals shortstop put up:

Escobar: BA: .254 HR: 4 RBI: 46

I got to watch Escobar play in basically every game this year. Almost every single game, he made a play that seemed like it should have been physically impossible. His bat is not even close to the level that his glove and arm are on, but that shouldn’t matter when deciding on the Gold GLOVE.

If I had to pick a winner from this year’s finalists it would be Erick Aybar. He is the type of defensive player that can make plays similar to Escobar. He has the range and athleticism to be considered the top defensive shortstop in the American League.

I didn’t get to see a whole lot of JJ Hardy this year, but what I was able to see wasn’t as impressive as what Escobar did on a daily basis. His range was nowhere near to Escobar’s, but hitting 30 HR’s as a shortstop is a sure way to steal some votes.

As far as AsdrubAl Cabrera goes, he either made a spectacular play or made an error on a routine grounder. His range was good but his instincts weren’t even near where Escobar was.

It’s too bad that on a yearly basis, great defensive players are left completely out of the discussion of being named the best at their position. Defensive play gets overshadowed by being a big name with a bigger bat. While Alcides Escobar was saving games with his glove, these other players were saving games with their bats.

Maybe next year Escobar will get to 10 HR’s and a .270 average so he can be considered the best defensive shortstop in the American League.

Royals Tweet of the Week

This week’s Tweet of the Week comes from Tim Hawkins.

All right #Royals, the WS is over, time to wow me. #offseason #SP

October 29, 2011 6:51 pm via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite

@tbhawkins

Tim Hawkins

Simple, subtle, honest.

Follow Tim @tbhawkins and myself @tbryant824

Game six rolls around and the Cardinals find themselves in yet another do-or-die situation. The team must win to extend their 2011 season. Extending the season is required at this point to keep a lifelong Cardinal in the home team uniform for one more game.

No, I’m not talking about Albert Pujols. I speak of Skip Schumaker.

I do not sit here and pretend that Skip Schumaker is not replaceable, nor do I feel he is a future Cardinal legend of any kind. He simply has never been in that category. What he has been, however, is a player that has given the team and the fans everything he has on a daily basis. He is an outfielder who has spent the better part of the last three seasons playing second base because that is where the team needed him. He has been a near .300 hitter for his career while batting almost everywhere in the lineup.

I have been one of the biggest critics of the second base transition for Skip Schumaker. I am also a very big fan of Schumaker as a St. Louis Cardinal, but feel he is much more valuable in the outfield. He is a speedy fielder with a live arm and good instincts. He can play all three outfield positions very well and projects well as a fourth-outfielder in key spots, such as filling in for Jon Jay in the centerfield in the World Series.

Skip Schumaker’s Career Stats

When it comes time to decide who stays and who goes at the end of this season the name Skip Schumaker will be batted around. If his name comes up as a solution to the middle infield rebuilding process, then it is time to let Skip find his way onto another roster. If, however, there is room for Schumaker to be the fourth (or fifth) outfielder on this team, I think he deserves to remain a part of this franchise.

When game six plays out, and game seven follows if necessary, the fans will stand and applaud Albert Pujols as he takes what may be his final at bat in front of a home town crowd that realizes he is a once in a lifetime player. At some point during that game, Schumaker will possibly take his final at bat in front of that same crowd. The young man has bled Cardinal baseball since he was drafted in 2001. He has given the fans everything he has had in the outfield, infield, and even on the mound. If you are lucky enough to be in attendance for whichever game proves to be the end of the 2011 season, I ask but one favor: recognize Skip Schumaker for the player that he has been for this team and show him that St. Louis appreciates him.

Bill Ivie is the editor here at I-70 Baseball as well as the Assignment Editor for BaseballDigest.com.
He is the host of I-70 Radio, hosted every week on BlogTalkRadio.com.
Follow him on Twitter here.

Well hello there.

My name is Bill Ivie and last year I launched a new Baseball Digest affiliate site known as I-70 Baseball. That site is supported by fourteen writers, a weekly internet radio show, and countless man hours of design, writing, and editing. The site covers the Kansas City Royals and St. Louis Cardinals on a daily basis. All in all, the site has been successful and given birth to a new company, Ivie League Productions.

At Ivie League Productions, we look to capitalize on the success of that website to produce others similar to it. We also look to continue to provide top quality internet radio programming on a nightly basis. Currently, you can find shows five nights a week from Ivie League Productions, ranging in topics from all over baseball. The Sunday night show that was launched over a month ago is hosted by David Mitchell and Mark Donahue and supports the very site we announce to you today.

Today, it is my pleasure to bring you a team of writers dedicated to covering the Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Indians. The writers here will be impartial observers of the team and will aim to keep the pulse on what you, the fans, are feeling. They have been tasked to bring the best coverage of the teams that they can and I have no doubt they will succeed.

I have said many times that the people that write for me on the various websites I represent are my favorite writers from around the world. This site is no different and I invite you all to add this site to your bookmarks, your Google Readers, or any other way you would like to read the content. The various voices will aim to entertain and inform you in as unique a way as possible while discussing the game we all love.

So welcome, to Battle Of Ohio Baseball, we all hope you enjoy.

Bill Ivie is the Assignment Editor for BaseballDigest.com and the founder of Ivie League Productions.
His love of the game comes second to very few things in his life.
Follow him on Twitter.

During the overrun period of I-70 Baseball Radio Monday, the first of many announcements for 2011 was made concerning the network of sites, broadcasts, and voices that will be featured going forward.

The first part of this announcement was the creation of Ivie League Productions, a parent company that will oversee the production of multiple sites and the various outlets that those sites will provide.

Along those lines, I-70 Baseball is being billed as the flagship enterprise of this new company, providing a solid footprint of hos things can be done successfully when providing this coverage. I-70 will continue to bring fans a one hour radio show every week, new articles about the Cardinals and Royals on a daily basis, and social media outreaches through Facebook and Twitter on a daily basis. The same great coverage our fans have come to expect will continue to be present throughout 2011.

I-70 Baseball and Ivie League Productions are proud to announce the newest member of the family, Battle Of Ohio Baseball. The team of writers at Battle Of Ohio Baseball will provide daily insight into the Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Indians. The site will launch during Spring Training 2011 and will be supported by a separate, hour long radio show to be featured under the Ivie League Productions network on Blog Talk Radio. Battle Of Ohio Baseball is the latest Official Baseball Digest website set to launch.

All of us at I-70 Baseball look forward to working with the new team at Battle Of Ohio Baseball in 2011 and beyond.

You can find Battle Of Ohio Baseball on Facebook here.
You can find Battle Of Ohio Baseball on Twitter here.

The Northwest Arkansas Naturals have won the Double-A Texas League championship, powered by a whole slew of exciting young prospects. And that’s terrific, but of course it’s completely meaningless to the Kansas City Royals.

That’s right – minor league titles are meaningless, unless you happen to be a fan of that particular team and not the franchise as a whole. The minor leagues exist purely, solely for the purpose of supporting the major league team.

And, based on that criterion, the Kansas City Royals’ minor league system has been a complete and utter failure over the past two decades.

But…

Just because the Texas League title is meaningless doesn’t mean there’s not value in it. Those may sound like conflicting ideals, but let me explain.

Mike Moustakas was a star for the Naturals early in the season before being promoted to Triple-A

The Naturals team is a simply collection of individual players. It’s not a team in the true sense. And that’s really true of all minor league organizations. Just look at the transaction logs for each minor league team and you’ll see that it’s a constant revolving door, with players being shipped in, shipped out, shipped up and shipped down on a daily basis. At the major league level, players stay together for a much longer time and are able to form a team. And we’ve seen over and over and over again that the best teams are not necessarily made up of the best players.

But it sure as heck helps. And it bodes well for the Royals that the Double-A team this year was made up of superb individual players.

Clint Robinson won the Texas League Triple Crown this season

And the star offensive players on the Naturals this year are much different than any players we’ve seen on the big league team in recent years. Northwest Arkansas’ lineup was composed of headlining sluggers, including the likes of Mike Moustakas (who was shipped to AAA halfway through the season and excelled there, too), Eric Hosmer (who was promoted from Single A halfway through the year and became a playoff hero for the Naturals) and Clint Robinson, who was arguably the best of the bunch this year.

For crying out loud – Clint Robinson won the Texas League Triple Crown award, leading the league in batting average, home runs and RBIs.

All of those guys could be contributing at the major league level soon – perhaps even as soon as next season for Moustakas.

Another benefit: it gives these young players a sense of what it means to play for something, even if what they’re playing for is only a meaningless title. Perhaps in a few years, some of them will be in Kansas City, playing for a much more meaningful purpose: a World Series.

Matt Kelsey is a Royals writer and the content editor for I-70 Baseball. He can be reached at mattkelsey@i70baseball.com.

Considering the fact that there are less than 300 miles between the St. Louis Cardinals and their AAA affiliate Memphis Redbirds, one would think the two teams have fairly similar stories.

If you think that, you could not be more wrong.

Beyond the fact that both teams play baseball, wear the birds on the bat, and shared some of the same players this year (Allen Craig and Fernando Salas have worn quite a path between the two cities this season), it would be tough to find two teams that are more polar opposites of each other.

Fanbase

Face it, most regular baseball fans pay little to no attention to minor league teams on a daily basis. They watch their major league team, check the standings, and go about their day. Players who get called up from the minors are just a cursory note in the newspaper or on the team website until they do something to get the regular fan’s attention.

While many believe that the fans in Cardinal Nation are of above average baseball intelligence, I imagine many of them fit this description quite nicely, including myself up until the last year or two. Life is too busy, or the minors just not interesting enough to keep track of what player is where and how each team at each level is doing. Minor league teams have fans, but they are usually localized around where each team is located. There are not a lot of Johnson City Cardinals fans running around out there, because most people either have no idea where Johnson City is (Tennessee – and yes, I had to look it up), or have very limited interest in how a rookie-level baseball team is doing.

With the still relatively new state of social media, many fans have been brought into a more aware state of how their teams’ minor league affiliates are faring on a daily basis. While the fanbase for any minor league will never be as large as one of the big league squads, I know many fans that have become fairly recent members of the Baby Birds, an affectionate name given to the Memphis Redbirds.

Manager

Tony LaRussa. Every baseball fan knows the name, and many know his track record. He began coaching in 1979, is third on the all-time career wins list for managers, is a two-time World Series winner and four time Manager of the Year winner (three times in the American League, once in the National). He has a law degree, has had books written about him, and even put his name on some video games back in the 1990s. He plays old school, hard-nosed baseball and believes that teaching absolutely does not occur at the big league level.

Chris Maloney. Google barely recognizes Maloney, instead thinking you are searching for the Law and Order: SVU actor Christopher Meloni. If that is not an indication of how little is known in the world about the Memphis skipper, not much else will convince you. Maloney is in his fourth year at the helm for the Redbirds and his nineteenth overall as a manager, despite being just 47. He has won Manager of the Year honors in three different leagues (New York-Penn, South Atlantic and Texas) while also being named the Minor League Manager of the Year by Baseball Weekly in 1993. He led the Redbirds to their 2009 AAA championship. He is a strong advocate for teaching, trying to stay consistent and constantly improving.

As you can see, the comparisons here are nil, minus that whole ‘birds on the bat on their jerseys’ thing.

Talent Level

The Cardinals sent five players to the All-Star game this year – Albert Pujols, Matt Holliday, Yadier Molina, Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter. At various times this year, all of those players have been labeled as potential MVP, Cy Young or Gold Glove Award candidates.

This is without mentioning Jaime Garcia, who this week had to make his case to management to stay in uniform and on the field for the rest of the year instead of being shut down after extending his career innings workload a mere year after having Tommy John surgery. It also fails to point out David Freese, who, until being sidelined indefinitely with a series of ankle mishaps, also found himself thrown in the Rookie of the Year talks with Jaime. Jon Jay, another rookie who made the jump up and down from Memphis once or twice before sticking in St. Louis early in the summer, has also made his mark on the big league club.

The rest of the starters include Colby Rasmus, who came up through the system and looks to still play a strong part in the future of the Cardinals, Brendan Ryan, who has struggled this year with the bat but ranks at the top of the shortstop heap with his glove, and Skip Schumaker, who has brought up his hitting statistics to a more reasonable level after having an incredibly short start.

Down in Memphis there are ballplayers. Not many of them look like superstars. There are no Stephen Strasburgs or Adrolis Chapmans hanging out, just waiting for the call to swing up to the majors and be the star everyone knows they will be. Some of the stars of the Memphis roster – namely Allen Craig, Fernando Salas, Tyler Greene and Jon Jay – have been on the yo-yo between the perks of the bigs and the buses of the minors. Others like Nick Stavinoha, Joe Mather, Adam Ottavino, Evan Maclane and PJ Walters have all been on and off the roster due to injuries and cups of coffee in the majors. Towards the end of the year Lance Lynn made a splash by striking out 16 en route to the winning the game that would send the team to the PCL championship series.

Even with all the players on the team that have made big league trips this year, many more are looking to make that final step. The names and faces might be unfamiliar now (Daniel Descalso? Mark Hamilton? Jim Rapaport? Who???) but they might or might not be unknowns for long. Despite it all, the team is so devoid of talent to outsiders that it took trading a major leaguer in Ryan Ludwick in order to pull in Jake Westbrook for a stretch run that never quite ran the way people thought it would.

…but that’s just what we see on paper!

Fair enough. You should look at how the teams match up this year, right?

Here is the short story: the Cardinals, despite all their superstars and big names, have not made it happen. They get hot for a few games, then trip all over themselves finding new and creative ways to lose. They play reasonably well against winning teams and fall apart against teams that have been making October plans since July.

The Redbirds? They win. None of the players on the roster look like superstars in training. There are really no big-name prospects or sleepers just waiting for the right moment to have their break-out that swings them up to the big leagues for good. Major leaguers? This is possible, but no stars in the making as far as anyone has said. Yet the Redbirds keep winning and winning and winning, to the point that they made it to the PCL championship series for the second year in a row.

What gives? The Cardinals sometimes are unable to buy a pack of gum, much less a win this year, yet the Redbirds, despite having their best players randomly plucked off the roster for weeks and months at a time, snatched victory from the jaws of defeat repeatedly over the course of this season. It makes perfect sense while simultaneously making no sense at all. This is why baseball is played on the field and not on spreadsheets and computers. You never know what will happen, and this tale of two teams is living proof.

If you have ever played on or been the coach of a team that is as maddeningly frustrating as the Cardinals have been this year, you have no doubt wondered why your team could never beat the teams you were supposed to beat, but found ways to win the tough ones against big opponents that you had no business beating. As a new coach, I am hoping I never experience a season like the Cardinals’ 2010 schedule so far, because I am not sure there are enough clichés in the book to cover what I would have to tell my team on a daily basis.

You know the phrases. One night you “just could not put it all together.” The next you “lost a tough one, but you have to tip your cap to the other team.” Eventually you tell the team that we “just got out-played tonight.” Sometimes you let on that we “should have won that one, and let it slip away.” Of course, depending on the team/coach, these statements could quickly escalate into more colorful language, but you get the point.

People have been bemoaning the fact that the Cardinals keep losing games to cellar-dweller teams such as the Chicago Cubs, Pittsburgh Pirates, Washington Nationals and Arizona Diamondbacks this year, but rise to the challenge against teams such as the Philadelphia Philles, Cincinnati Reds and Los Angeles Dodgers, all of whom have winning records on the year. What truth is there to this thought process? Are the Cardinals really playing down/up to the level of their opponent on any given night?

As of right now, the Cardinals’ record against winning teams is 32-24. Eight games over .500 is not particularly solid, but it is nothing to sniff at, especially considering a 19-10 record against the four teams that are leading their division (Atlanta, Cincinnati, San Diego) and the wild card (Philadelphia). Against the teams the Cards could face if/when they make it to the playoffs, they have not faltered. Here is the entire list of winning teams, along with their record against the home club:

• Atlanta (4-0)
• Cincinnati (10-5)
• Colorado (0-3)
• Florida (2-2)
• LA Angels (2-1)
• LA Dodgers (4-3)
• Philadelphia (4-4)
• San Diego (1-2)
• San Francisco (3-3)
• Toronto (2-1)

So if that was the winning side of things, what about against all the lovable losers floating around the majors this year? Through Saturday’s 14-5 embarrassment against the Washington Nationals, the Cardinals are sporting a 36-35 record against teams that are under .500 on the year. That is unacceptable in every sense of the word. There is no explanation for playing so poorly against such poor competition. Derrick Goold rightly points out that Tony LaRussa and Dave Duncan have shifted the lineup so the big three of Adam Wainwright, Chris Carpenter and Jaime Garcia face tougher opposition, specifically for the Reds, but that does not in and of itself justify the fact that the team is a mere two games above breaking even against teams that are unable to break even themselves. Again, here is the entire list of these teams:

• Arizona (5-4)
• Chicago (4-5)
• Houston (5-7)
• Kansas City (1-2)
• Milwaukee (6-6)
• New York (3-3)
• Oakland (1-2)
• Pittsburgh (6-3)
• Seattle (2-1)
• Washington (3-2)

With 35 games left to play before season’s end, and only 16 of them against teams that have winning records (including four each against the Braves and Padres and three against Cincinnati), the window is quickly closing as to how much damage the Cardinals will be able to inflict on other teams in the division races. The upcoming series against Cincinnati this weekend will be the last chance the team has to directly influence the Central race, and will have to rely on division foes to beat Cincinnati down the home stretch to give them a leg up.

Ultimately, the Cardinals simply have to play better against losing teams. They cannot play down to the level of their competition, or they will be joining those same teams on their couches come October. They have the talent, but they have to have the drive to win and play up to their potential as well, especially on those days where the competition just does not match up.

Angela Weinhold covers the Cardinals for i70baseball.com, BaseballDigest.com and writes at Cardinal Diamond Diaries. You may follow her on Twitter here or follow Cardinal Diamond Diaries here.