This week, the St. Louis Cardinals began to show what they are capable of again, at least from a pitching standpoint. But they are still a long way from right.

The rotation of Adam Wainwright, Kyle Lohse, Lance Lynn, Jake Westbrook, and Joe Kelly collectively had an ERA just a shade over 2.00 this week, allowing nine earned runs over 40 innings. Lynn had the best start of his young career against the Chicago White Sox Wednesday, allowing no runs while striking out 12. But the rest of the starters looked good, too. Even Jake Westbrook—who has struggled mightily over the past four to six weeks—turned in a six-inning outing Thursday night where he allowed three runs and five hits and kept the Cardinals in the game before they pulled out the win. It may not be a Bob Gibson line, but it is pretty good for Westbrook considering what he has given the Cards recently.

The bullpen flashed a few bright spots this week as well. Jason Motte was three for three in save opportunities; he had a few earned runs tacked to his total but the saves are important there. Victor Marte, Sam Freeman, Fernado Salas and Eduardo Sanchez threw a total of 5 2/3 innings without allowing a run and only two batters managed to even get a hit off the quartet.

Now, of course, the trick is sustaining it and adding some consistency to the mix.

On the other side of the ball, the Cards’ offense continues to sputter. Since hanging 14 runs on the Houston Astros June 7, the Cardinals have managed to score more than two runs in a game only once: Thursday’s 5-3 win over the White Sox. That is abysmal output. And yes, guys are missing and the guys that are in the dugout are hurting too. But that excuse only carries so far. Everyone is hurting right now; every team is dealing with some injury or another.

And speaking of injuries, some of the forgotten brethren on the disabled list appear ready to re-join the big club soon. Matt Carpenter and Skip Schumaker are already on rehab assignments, and Chris Carpenter threw a couple of pitches off a mound. That’s huge news for the Cards, especially Schumaker’s and Carpenter’s.

The Cincinnati Reds have a four game lead over the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Cardinals as of Saturday morning. So nothing is out of reach for the Cards. The competition in the NL Central does figure to remain stiff for the remainder of the season, but at this point all the Cards really need is a healthy team and a shot at the postseason. And they will most definitely need the former to achieve the latter.

At this point, it does look like the Cardinals will end up getting some of their key guys back in the not-too-distant future. If the rest of the team has put themselves in a position to win more often than not, the return of the walking wounded is just that much sweeter. So it is big to see the rotation settling in and the bullpen settling down. Now if the lineup could only start scoring runs again…

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

After Edwin Jackson inked a new deal with the Washington Nationals, the St. Louis Cardinals now sit pretty with five of the first 60 picks in this year’s amateur draft. With that many selections so early, the Cards should be in good position to fortify organizational needs.

Every MLB team shows time and again that the ultimate weapon to wield is depth. It doesn’t even matter where the depth is—positions on the field, rotation, bullpen, lineup, bench—the more quality players a team and a franchise has, the better their chances of making it to and through October baseball.

Take a look at the 2011 Cards’ bullpen as a prime example: at the beginning of the season, Ryan Franklin was the closer. By the ninth inning of Game Seven of the World Series, the closer (or ninth inning man…whatever, Tony La Russa) was Jason Motte. In between was a closer rotation consisting of Fernando Salas, Eduardo Sanchez and Mitchell Boggs. Lance Lynn made it to the big club and had a huge impact in the ‘pen. Kyle McClellan started and then pitched relief. Arthur Rhodes. Mark Rzepczynski. The list is long, but the story was clear…the Cards’ bullpen depth was one of their greatest strengths through the end of the regular season and into the playoffs. Just look at how they were used in the postseason. If that group falters, the Cards are done. But they held up, and the team kept advancing.

A long-standing credo states “You can never have enough pitching.” And that’s true, to a large extent. But one of the many things the Cards proved in 2011 amends that theory. It should really state “You can never have enough up the middle,” including catcher, pitcher, middle infield, and center field. Those zones are the ones that rely most heavily on defense, and by deepening those positions the Cardinals are likely to enjoy success for years to come.

Again, the 2011 team is a prime example of this theory in action. At the beginning of the year, the Cards had Colby Rasmus in center field and Ryan Theriot at shortstop. But John Mozeliak strengthened the pitching staff by sending Rasmus to Toronto and filled up a leaky shortstop position by acquiring Rafael Furcal. These may not have been foreseeable moves early in the season, but they were very necessary in building the 2011 World Series Champion.

Overall, the Cards showed how important organizational depth can be in 2011. When a player went down to injury, or a defensive substitution was needed, or a big out had to be secured on the mound, it seemed like another Cards’ farmhand was stepping in to take the reins. And it would be nice to know that if any problems at all creep up in the middle of the field, a capable player waits in the wings to get a chance to prove his worth to the Cardinal organization. Finding those players starts with the draft.

The Cards do have some promising Middle Field players coming into their own already. Jon Jay obviously has the most credentials of any position player. Daniel Descalso and Tyler Greene look to challenge Skip Schumaker for the starting role at second base. Tony Cruz and Bryan Anderson will be the favorites to back up Yadier Molina in 2012. And prospects Kolten Wong (2B) and Ryan Jackson (SS) look to get a chance to open some eyes fairly soon.

But it’s not enough. It’s never enough. The Cards need to take these extra draft picks and concentrate on the middle of the field. They need to look at center fielders with gazelle legs, cannon arms, and live bats. They need to look at middle infielders with magnetic gloves and impressive hitting stats. And pitching…well, a team can never have enough pitching. You pick often in 2012, Cardinals. Please pick wisely.

Chris Reed also writes for InsideSTL Mondays and Bird Brained whenever he feels like it. Follow him on Twitter @birdbrained.

Various media outlets are reporting St. Louis is the front runner to land former Houston and Philadelphia starter, Roy Oswalt, and if that deal happens, watch out folks.

Adam Wainwright, Chris Carpenter, Jaime Garcia, Roy Oswalt. That’s a nasty 1-4 in the rotation. Then you’ve got Kyle Lohse coming off a career year, going 14-8 with a 3.39 ERA. Jake Westbrook would either be an insurance starter, an asset to be traded, or an additional option in the bullpen. Waiting in the wings is top prospect Shelby Miller, who has a chance to rise to Triple-A Memphis this season. We haven’t even touched on Kyle McClellan, who had a very successful season as the club’s 5^th starter, or Marc Rzepczynski, who’s also projected to be a starter someday.

So what’s that all mean? It means that John Mozeliak will have some serious bargaining chips to work with this spring and summer that could make the Cardinals even better than the team already is.

Let’s take a look at the projected lineup for a minute:

1. Furcal
2. Jay/Beltran
3. Holliday
4. Berkman
5. Freese
6. Craig
7. Molina
8. Descalso/Schumaker
9. (Pitcher)

Not a lot of holes to fill, but let’s say Furcal gets hurt or the team wants a little more pop at second base. Mozeliak is now free to make a move. Without Pujols in the lineup, the Cardinals will have 9 legitimate starting position players with only 8 spots to play them, and have 7 legitimate starting pitchers will only 5 spots in the rotation. Even the bullpen will be loaded with talent with the return of Eduardo Sanchez, Fernando Salas, Jason Motte, Lance Lynn, McClellan, Rzepczynski, and company.

There were two general thoughts when Albert Pujols left (other than outrage, anger, and despair), and those were: 1) Mike Matheny will have less pressure to repeat with Pujols gone, and 2) the team will have a lot of flexibility to make improvements.

We’ve already seen scenario number-2 in action… and if the club lands a healthy Roy Oswalt, it blows scenario number-1 out of the water.

Simply put, the addition of Roy Oswalt (and all the other options the move would present) puts this team on the fast track for at the very least a return trip to the NLCS, if not the World Series. It should be fun to watch.

[Adapted from an article on El Maquino]

Right after the All-Star Game on Tuesday, Sports Illustrated reporter Jon Heyman was rushed onto the MLB Network on-field studio to announce the news: the holder of the all-time saves in a season record Francisco Rodriguez had just been sent to the Brewers for some mid-level prospects.

You must be this tall to be a Cardinal, sorry Aaron Miles.

The natural first reaction (I had it too) was that Cards GM John Mozeliak had to counter with a move of his own. In fact, Mo was even discussing with the media what kind of deal he will be making with the trade deadline now only a bit more than two weeks away. But now my question is Why? Why is a trade taken for granted?

K-Rod is good, but he will operate as a setup man in Milwaukee since a big paycheck hike is in store for the team if he ends 21 more games. So his role is diminished in an already awful bullpen (20 losses, most in the Majors). So how good did this move really make them? Better than the Cardinals? I don’t think so. The only reason the NL Central is even close at this point is because the Cardinals were banged up ever since Adam Wainwright went down in spring training. But now, they’re healthy. Matt Holliday, Albert Pujols, David Freese, Skip Schumaker, Gerald Laird and Kyle McClellan are all healthy with the only key players still on the DL being Allen Craig and Eduardo Sanchez. They were equal with the Brewers when they were injured. Now, everyone’s back.

So, to me, the Cardinals are better than the Brewers by not making any deals. In a way, getting Pujols and others off the disabled list are trades in their own right.

Plus, what do the Cards really need? The primary answers to that would be defense, relief and starting pitching. Defense is an obvious hole, but you can’t point to a single player who is on the field solely because of his defense. For instance, why does Lance Berkman play right instead of Jon Jay, who is a much better rightfielder? Because Berkman puts up MVP numbers at the plate. So while defense is important to most teams, it’s obvious that it will not be an integral part of this one.

If you had said the Cards needed to make a deal to help the bullpen a month ago, I would have totally agreed with you. But now, the entire thing has been re-worked since Opening Day:

Bryan Augenstein (Still injured)
Miguel Batista (Fired)
Mitchell Boggs (Demoted for some reason, re-promoted)
Ryan Franklin (Fired)
Trever Miller
Jason Motte
Brian Tallet (Injured)

Fernando Salas (Promoted, now closer)
Lance Lynn (Promoted, now long reliever)
Raul Valdes (Promoted, now lefty specialist)
P.J. Walters (Promoted)

Eddy Sanchez (Promoted, injured)
Maikel Cleto (Promoted, demoted)
Brandon Dickson (Promoted, demoted)

Raul Valdes’ job is kind of confusing right now. As one of only two lefties in the ‘pen, you would think his job would be to face other lefties. But actually, he has faced 11 right-handed batters (.273) and nine left-handers (.222). (He’s also never pitched in a winning game in six outings, but only one of those was his fault.) So we don’t know if he will be good or bad yet. We do know that Trever Miller is having an awful year. One unknown and one bad equals the need for lefty relief help: the only thing I think the Cards need to trade for. Fernando Salas has done a great job closing games, so the highly-proposed move for Heath Bell, who offered to come over from San Diego, is unnecessary.

And offense is obviously not a problem.

One more thing to consider: Who gets traded in these trades? The only chip that carries enough value for a big name player is Colby Rasmus. I’ve said it before and will keep saying that a trade of Rasmus is not a good idea right now. He is too young, has not hit his ceiling yet, and is playing virtually for free right now. If it ever looks like he won’t top out like he should, get something for him either this offseason or next year. But it’s better to wait and see than give away an All-Star in a tight payroll setup just to one-up the Brewers’ new setup man.

Postscript: Hit me up at my site or on Twitter @El_Maquino.

Haven’t heard much complaining about Cardinals’ demoted reliever Ryan Franklin in a while? There’s a reason for that. No, he hasn’t been leading a remarkable resurgence on the mound. In fact, he hasn’t taken the mound at all since May 1^st.

Two weeks ago, I raised the question, “Will Tony La Russa do the right thing when it comes to his personnel options in the bullpen?” Basically I questioned whether the Cardinals’ skipper would keep Ryan Franklin on the team despite his 8.86 ERA and send a promising young arm like Eduardo Sanchez or Fernando Salas back to AAA when Brian Tallet and/or Brian Augenstein came off the disabled list.

While we haven’t gotten an “official” answer to that question yet, it seems pretty clear now what La Russa’s answer will be. It’s been a good run, Mr. Franklin. By all accounts, Ryan Franklin is a great person and teammate and no one likes to see a good guy end his career like this. But the bottom line is he just can’t be trusted to get hitters out anymore. Disagree? The Cardinals’ manager doesn’t. Ryan Franklin hasn’t been trusted to take the mound since giving up the winning run in the bottom of the 9^th in Atlanta a week and a half ago. Interestingly enough, every game since then has been decided by 3 runs or less (the lone exception was a 4-0 loss to the Brewers, but that game was 1-0 heading into the 9^th).

In the past 2 ½ weeks, Franklin has taken the mound twice: Once with a 6-0 lead in the 8^th where he gave up 2 hits on just 4 pitches and was yanked, and again in the aforementioned game in Atlanta where he was essentially La Russa’s only remaining option.

Pretty soon Brian Tallet will be coming off the disabled list, and when he does, look for Ryan Franklin to be designated for assignment. What other choice does the Cardinals’ management have now? Every other active reliever has an ERA below 3.25…and Franklin’s ERA is more than 2 ½ times higher. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what went wrong this season. Franklin followed up an All-Star appearance in 2009 by saving all but 2 of his save opportunities in 2010. I suppose a reasonable guess is that Mother Nature, and consequently every hitter in the National League, has caught up with the 38 year old right-hander.

When the obituary of Ryan Franklin’s baseball career is written… it will highlight the fact that before his downfall in 2011, he managed to save 65 of 72 games in the previous two seasons. Not bad for a 5^th starter turned middle reliever in his mid 30s.

Mr. Franklin, Cardinals Nation wishes you well on all your future endeavors. When the dust settles, most fans will look back on your career fondly.

A week filled with no-no’s saw some flirtation with perfection at Busch Stadium. Jaime Garcia and Yovanni Gallardo had some back-to-back near perfect performances, as Gallardo became the first pitcher to shut down the Cards hot bats in weeks.

The Cardinals continue their string of division rivals traveling to Chicago and Cincinnati in week 6. They have a promising week of matchups, which could mean some high scoring games from an already scorching hot offense. The Cubs hope to dampen the flame with Zambrano, Garza, and Coleman. Then, the Reds will pitch Arroyo, and then most likely Cueto and Wood. There should be some offense on display as the top two run producing teams in the league play at Great American.

Injury Front:

Skip Schumaker is still a week or more away from returning.

David Freese had surgery on his broken hand and is out until after the All-Star Break. Keep him on your roster if you have the room as he is proving to be a valuable commodity.

Ryan Theriot was hit in the shin by a pitch but should not miss much time.

Playing Time:

If you had to own a guy from the Cardinals bullpen, it should probably be Eduardo Sanchez. If you had to own two, the second would be Fernando Salas. Would you want to own any until someone emerges as a clear closer? No.

Who’s HOT:

Colby Rasmus has started to hit again. He’s had three multi-hit games last week and is hitting the ball hard even when he makes outs. His HR/FB % is only at 7%, with the road trip ahead (he has a 1.036 lifetime OPS at Cincinnati) expect some of that to regress (in a good way). He’s walking more (14^th most in baseball), striking out less and I still expect his best season yet. He, Holliday, Berkman, and Pujols are in the top nine in the league in runs scored this season.

Matt Holliday is still hitting the ball well and even though his batting average finally fell below .400 he’s still coming up clutch batting .500 with runners in scoring position.

Jaime Garcia threw 7 perfect innings Friday and nailed down his second shutout of the year. In his worst outing of the year, Garcia gave up 3 ER in 5.1 IP. With Carpenter’s early frustrations, Garcia is the best Cardinal starter to own currently. Garcia is going deep into games (averaging over 6 IP a start) and he is doing it with pitch efficiency with 102 being his highest pitch count of the year.

Who’s NOT:

Ryan Theriot has gone 5-28 in his last 8 games dipping his batting average back below .300. A guy with little to no pop who is on pace to steal about 15 bases only really offers you a good average. When he’s not doing that, he loses all worth. That’s why we stay away from guys like Theriot in mixed leagues.

After a slow, disheartening start the Cardinals have not lost a series since rolling into Arizona and taking two of three from the Diamondbacks April 11-13.

The level of competition from those teams has been diverse; the Cards are beating good teams AND bad teams, which is a nice change from constantly getting beat by inferior clubs last year. They used to play to the level of their competition and now they just play. But it’s the kind of play that doesn’t seem ridiculous and unsustainable. It would be a little suspect if the team was on a 15-2 tear; those are awesome but hot streaks like that end. And I realize no one expects Matt Holliday and Lance Berkman to flirt with a .400 batting average over all 162 games this year. But could the Cardinals continue to be in most games, win series, and hold off the other teams in the NL Central for the next five months? Sure they can.

The normal blueprint for such a run always seems to start with health. “If they can stay healthy, they will be good.” I buy into that line of thinking, and even say it myself practically every year. But have the Cards been truly healthy at all this season? Adam Wainwright barely even saw Spring Training before he went down for the year. Nick Punto also saw little preseason action before hitting the DL and didn’t make his debut until a couple of weeks ago. The Cardinals lost two bullpen arms in Brian Tallet and Bryan Augenstein, Allen Craig took a turn on the DL, Skip Schumaker has been out for a few weeks, and David Freese just checked in for his yearly visit to the unavailable ward.

And yet the Cards keep on winning.

The team has evidently adopted a “closer by committee” even though hot shot newbie Eduardo Sanchez has taken hold of the role with more regularity of late. Much has been said about the bullpen’s troubles this year, but take Ryan Franklin out of the picture and none of the relievers currently on the team has an ERA over 3.00 going into Friday’s action. But then again, taking Franklin out of the picture means the Cards likely would not have a major league-leading eight blown saves. Since Franklin was relieved of his closer duties, several other Redbird relievers have hit bumps in the road trying to maintain a perfect save percentage too.

And yet the Cards keep on winning.

The team defense is kind of the pits. The Cards are second in the majors in errors with 28. That’s almost one per game. They are near the bottom of the majors in team fielding percentage, too, with .938. Yadier Molina is only throwing out base burglars at a 38% clip (his career average is 46%) and he already has three errors on the year after a total of five each of the last two seasons. Ryan Theriot has never had more than 15 errors in a season, but he’s already more than halfway to that total. Albert Pujols has four errors, and he’s never had more than 14 in a season.

And yet the Cards keep on winning.

So far, what the 2011 St. Louis Cardinals have showed more than anything is resiliency. But they have to keep it up: last year, the Cards woke up on May 7 to find themselves in first place with an 18-11 record. The difference is the 2010 Cardinals had not yet been bitten by the injury bug. This year’s team clearly already has. Injuries are a part of the game; how the team responds to them tells a lot about who they are. Getting it out of the way early? Perhaps. The season is still young, having just entered its sixth week. And once again, the Cards will not have their starting third baseman for an extended period. But unlike last year, Freese will return to the lineup. Tallet is on his way back. The younger players are gaining experience through extra playing time. And the Cardinals don’t have the added burden of being the favorite anymore, so maybe the team is a little looser this time around. Maybe the front office was right about the attitude/chemistry/character adjustments that were needed last offseason.

I can buy into that, too…as long as the Cards keep on winning.

Chris Reed also writes for InsideSTL Mondays and Bird Brained whenever he feels like it. Follow him on Twitter @birdbrained.

St. Louis has seen a stormy Spring so far this year, and the forecast showed another doozy headed for the Gateway City right around the time the Cardinals were supposed to start the first game of their first 2011 series against the Cincinnati Reds. What better way to renew the recently escalated rivalry than to drop in a few tornadoes, right?

With the impending weather, Tony LaRussa pulled a quick switcheroo right before the game and penciled Miguel Batista in as the starting pitcher. The reasoning, of course, being that if/when the game was delayed, original starter Kyle McClellan would likely not be able to return to the mound and the game would essentially become a bullpen-burner. The Cards would have wasted the start by McClellan, making it tough to get the series off on the right foot.

Ironically, this is exactly what happened to the Reds. Dusty Baker—even though he had to know of the impending weather, too—elected to submit a lineup card that listed scheduled starter Edinson Volquez. The skies opened up two batters into the top of the first inning…which means Volquez warmed up but did not get to throw a pitch. Two-plus hours later, Volquez was spent…and Baker had to go to his bullpen for the entirety of the game.

So how did it all turn out? Once the game resumed around 9:30 CDT, McClellan took the mound and threw a great game. He tossed six innings before being lifted with two on, none out in the 7th and allowing two runs on seven hits. Reliever Eduardo Sanchez came on in relief in the 7th with runners at first and second, no one out and only allowed one of those inherited runners to score. Jason Motte struggled but got two outs in the eighth allowing no runs before being removed for Mitchell Boggs, who nailed down the final four outs for the save. Pretty typical game.

The Reds had a little rougher go of things. Baker was forced to have long reliever Matt Maloney start the game, and he was roughed up for three runs on eight hits in just two innings (73 pitches). After that, the Reds paraded out Jordan Smith for three innings, Nick Masset for two innings, and Bill Bray for one inning. They didn’t pitch a bad game, but they threw a lot of pitches. The Cards scored four runs, and that was enough.

The final score of the first game of this series: Cardinals 4, Reds 2. And the Reds’ bullpen will be short for Saturday’s game for sure and maybe Sunday’s game, too. The one possible advantage for Baker and his Redlegs is Volquez might be able to pitch Sunday night. But the Cards have already drawn first blood and leapfrogged the Reds into first place for the first time in the young 2011 season.

LaRussa haters and most Reds fans probably think the Cards’ manager pulled a dirty trick, but nothing he did was outside the rules. Baker could—and probably should—have done the same thing. As it turned out, LaRussa out-finessed Baker. It’s just another chapter in what is becoming a more intriguing rivalry each time these teams get together. The Reds are set up to be competitive for the foreseeable future, and the Cardinals always seem to find a way to be in the thick of things, even in their off years. Stuff like this, and the continued verbal diarrhea from Brandon Phillips, combine with all of the events from last year to become fuel for the fire. Oh, and these teams play each other 14 more times this season. Take cover.

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

	Eduardo Sanchez Relief Pitcher AAA-Memphis 21-years-old Bats: Right Throws: Right Height: 5’11″ Weight: 155 lbs Signed by the Cardinals as a non-drafted free agent in 2005
Just like every Saturday here on i70baseball, the Cardinal Farm Report spotlights one of the prized Cardinal minor leaguers. This week, it is Eduardo Sanchez, one of the best relief prospects in the Minors.Watching the late innings of a Memphis Redbirds game can be exciting these days. Depending on the score, you could see two of the top relief pitching prospects in the minor leagues. Eduardo Sanchez and Francisco Samuel are both top prospects in the Cardinals system, and both are with the Redbirds. About a year ago, Samuel was Springfield’s pride and joy when it came to closing out games. Samuel, not Sanchez, played in the Futures Game in St. Louis. Samuel, not Sanchez, was the one getting all of the national attention. Nevertheless, Sanchez was given the closing role in the second half of the 2009 season and held on to all the attention that came with it. All of a sudden, everybody was talking about this 5’11” 20-year-old kid with a 100 mph fastball. Sanchez had a really good 2008 season in Quad Cities coming out of the bullpen, but it was in August of last year when he really caught some eyes. When the 2009 campaign finally came to a close, Eduardo Sanchez had compiled 28 saves in Palm Beach and Springfield. In 75 innings he had stuck out 82 batters while sporting a 2.28 ERA. Naturally, he was starting to get the hype he deserved. The guy is labeled as St. Louis’ “closer of the future” and there is no doubt that he is on that track. His high-90′s fastball is what he is known for, but he also has a very good slider and a knee-buckling curve that he can throw consistently for strikes. His control is above-average, and is actually pretty impressive considering how young he is and how hard he throws. He also doesn’t give up any home runs. This season, his HR/9 rate is sitting at a pretty amazing 0.7. The thing I like about him most is this number right here: 78 That is the percentage of batters he faces that either strikeout or groundnut. 78% of batters he faces strikeout or groundnut. That is ridiculous. When it comes to upside and potential, the Cardinals haven’t seen a prospect reliever like this in a long, long time. At the start of this season, Sanchez was still in AA but was quickly promoted after an injury. He wasted no time showing people that he is for real. So far in Memphis, Eduardo rocks a 2.12 ERA with three saves in 22 innings out of the ‘pen. Make no mistake about it, people. Sanchez has “closer” written all over him. Just ask the radar gun in Springfield that clocked him at 103 last season as a 20-year-old. A minor league scout actually compared Sanchez to the Texas Rangers phenom closer Neftali Feliz and said, “Eduardo has very similar stuff. Neftali’s fastball may have more tail, but I would say Sanchez’s breaking pitchers are a notch better.” John Mozeliak has been interviewed on 101 ESPN in St. Louis saying that he “wouldn’t be afraid to bring him up” if he thought he could help the club out. Sanchez may not be a September call-up in a few days, but look for him to be on the 40-man roster next season, and don’t be surprised if he takes the mound at Busch in 2011.
MiLB WEEKLY ROUNDUP
AAA-Memphis Redbirds
Record to date: 75-59, second place in the PCL American North, 1.5 games behind Iowa … This past week: 5-2, including a 2-2 series split with our I-70 friends in Omaha …Transactions: LHP Tyler Norrick assigned to Memphis Redbirds from Springfield Cardinals, RHP Jason Motte assigned to Memphis Redbirds, LHP Ryan Kulik assigned to Springfield Cardinals from Memphis Redbirds, LHP Nate Robertson filed for free agency, St. Louis Cardinals recalled RHP Fernando Salas from Memphis Redbirds, RHP Matthew Scherer assigned to Memphis Redbirds from Palm Beach Cardinals …Coming up: The Redbirds will play games four and five of the long Round Rock series before finishing up the homestand with New Orleans.
AA-Springfield Cardinals
Record to date: 33-27 in the second half (71-59 overall), second place in the TEX North, 3 games behind NW Arkansas … This past week: 3-4, won the San Antonio series 2-1, and lost the NW series 3-1 …Transactions: Springfield Cardinals activated RHP Scott Gorgen from the 7-Day disabled list, LHP Tyler Norrick assigned to Memphis Redbirds from Springfield Cardinals, Arquimedes Nieto assigned to Palm Beach Cardinals from Springfield Cardinals, LHP Ryan Kulik assigned to Springfield Cardinals from Memphis Redbirds … Coming up: The Cardinals will take on Arkansas for three games at home before they head to Tulsa for a four-game set.
A-Palm Beach
Record to date: 33-29 in the second half (72-56 overall), second place in the FSL South, 1 game behind Bradenton … This past week: 2-6, including a five-game losing streak …Transactions: Palm Beach Cardinals activated LHP George Brown from the 7-Day disabled list, Kevin Moscatel assigned to GCL Cardinals from Palm Beach Cardinals, Arquimedes Nieto assigned to Palm Beach Cardinals from Springfield Cardinals, Matthew Scherer assigned to Memphis Redbirds from Palm Beach Cardinals, C Roberto Espinoza assigned to Palm Beach Cardinals from Batavia Muckdogs … Coming up: The Baby Birds will finish up the Jupiter series before taking on Fort Myers on the road.
POSITION PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Joe Mather, OF, Memphis
.500 AVG (14-for-28), .577 OBP, .562 SLG, 5 runs, 1 RBI, 2 walks
This wasn’t a great offensive week down on the farm, but Mather was the exception. He’s been on a tear recently and could get the call up if Holliday misses time. On the season, Joey Bombs is hitting .272/.347/.432 with 49 runs, 14 doubles, nine home runs, and 38 RBI in 294 at bats.
PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Brian Broderick, SP, Springfield
W, 9 innings pitched, 5 hits, 2 runs, 0 walks, 5 strikeouts
You don’t see complete games very often in the Minors, but Broderick accomplished the feat on Wednesday night. In 24 games at Palm Beach and Springfield this season, Broderick is 12-7 with a 3.94 ERA and 86 SO in 137 innings.

Justin Hulsey covers the Cardinals for i70baseball and his blogs, Cardinals Front Office and Rising Redbirds, that are also dedicated to Cardinals baseball and their minor league system.You may follow him on Twitter @JayHulsey by clicking here.