Back in February I discussed St Louis Cardinals starter Kyle Lohse, and how his ability to command his curve ball might define his season.  Lohse just finished April 4-0 for the Cardinals; how is his curve ball working for him?

Through five starts Lohse’s velocity on all his pitches is within .5 MPH of what he was throwing last year, except with his change-up; interestingly that’s up 1 MPH from 2011.  He is also throwing all his pitches with roughly the same frequency as in 2011 with two notable exceptions.  Lohse’s change-up usage is down ~5% from his 2011 numbers, and his slider usage is up over 7%.

Has it made much difference?  That is unclear so far.  Lohse’s walk rate per 9 innings is down slightly as compared to 2011 (1.6 now, 2.0 last season), and his strike out rate is up a commensurate amount (5.7 now from 5.3 a year ago), but that could just be noise in the statistics.

Ok, so let’s look at his isolated pitch values.  The wCH value is currently 2.0, the lowest it has been in April since 2008.  On the other hand, his wSL value of 4.2 is the highest it has been as a Cardinal. Lohse’s slider has been a devastating pitch in 2012.  His fastball hasn’t been half bad, either.  Last season his April wFB value of 8.0 was more than twice as good as it had been in his Cardinal tenure.  This year’s number of 4.2 is half that personal best, but it is also the second-best value he’s had as a Cardinal.  Now Lohse’s fastball is a valuable pitch because it sets up all his off-speed stuff, but it has never been an out pitch for him.  It would be exciting if he’s able to maintain that quality with his fastball throughout this season.

Lohse’s curve ball has not been a good pitch so far this year, just like it has not been that good in April in all his years in St Louis.  So far it would appear the curve ball is not what’s driving Lohse’s success; it’s his slider that’s making him one of the NL’s best pitchers in 2012.

One caveat to all this discussion.  Lohse is 14-2 in April as a Cardinal, by far his best month of the season; and April is the only month in which Lohse is over .500 in his career.  Early season success does not guarantee full season success, as his injury-plagued 2009 would suggest.  Lohse is pitching great so far, helping to lead St Louis to the second-best record in the league after one month of play.

Mike Metzger is a freelance writer based in San Diego.  He also blogs about the Padres.  Follow him on Twitter @metzgermg.

The following information was provided to i70baseball by the St. Louis Cardinals organization.

Busch Stadium Tour Tickets Now Available Online
Fans Can Purchase Tour Tickets at cardinals.com/tours

ST. LOUIS (July 26, 2011) — The St. Louis Cardinals announced that starting today fans are able to purchase stadium tour tickets at cardinals.com/tours. The new online process is designed to make the practice of booking a stadium tour easier and more efficient.

“Our tour staff does an exceptional job of giving fans an intimate perspective of Busch Stadium while sharing with them the history of the Cardinals,” said Vicki Bryant, Vice President of Event Services & Merchandising for the Cardinals. “The online ticket option gives fans a more convenient way to purchase the tickets for individual use or as a special gift.”

Tours are normally offered daily at 9:30 a.m., 11:00 a.m., 12:30 p.m and 2:00 p.m. throughout the baseball season (April through September) with exceptions for public holidays and events. Tour tickets are $10 for adults, $8 for military personnel and seniors and $6 for children 15-years-old and under. In addition to being able to purchase tickets on line at cardinals.com/tours, fans may still purchase tickets at windows 19 and 20 on Clark Street at Gate 5 thirty minutes prior to the first tour or by calling 314.345.9000.

Busch Stadium tours last approximately one hour and include stops in the Redbird Club, broadcast booths, Cardinals Club and Cardinals Dugout, as well as other unique areas of the stadium.

Groups with more than 25 guests qualify for special rates. Call the Tour Information Line at 314-345-9565 for details.

Over 30,000 fans each year have taken stadium tours in the new ballpark since it opened in 2006.

As the Cardinals set into full squad camp for 2011, there is little debate out there. The starting eight are set. The bench has a little flexibility, but not a lot. The starting rotation is well in place. The bullpen, with a few exceptions, looks to be in place. Spring Training, for the first time in a long time, seems to just be a workout period for the established players.

Writers, bloggers, and avid fans hate a spring like this. What is there to talk about? I cannot talk about Jaime Garcia forcing his way into the rotation, who is the fourth outfielder, or what rookie will break camp. It takes the wind out of our sail and leaves us scrambling to come up with a few words for you.

In that interest, many of us have taken to looking at the batting order. We all know Albert will hit third and Holliday fourth, but there is little certainty after that. When the manager himself was confronted with it lately, he added another certainty – Berkman will hit fifth.

Since the Berkman signing, few things have been debated more than where Big Puma would hit in the lineup. During analysis of the signing, he seemed to fit the mold of a Tony LaRussa number two hitter. He provided the “pop” that Tony likes from that spot in the order, he provided a high on base percentage in front of the big hitters, and he was a patient hitter that would benefit from hitting in front of Pujols. He seemed to be, historically, exactly what the team hoped Colby Rasmus would become (and still hopes he will become, yet).

With the middle of the lineup set, it leaves to debate the placement of Colby Rasmus and David Freese more than any of the other eight. Skip Schumaker or Ryan Theriot will surely lead off. Yadi will hit no higher than seventh on a regular basis and most likely hit exactly there. Freese is best suited, in my opinion, to hit sixth. If that is the case, then the skipper would hit Rasmus in the two slot, at least initially. The alternative to that is to hit Schumaker or Theriot – whichever one is not leading off – second, bump Rasmus to sixth, Freese to seventh and Molina to eighth. It makes far more sense to me to hit Rasmus second, Freese sixth, Molina seventh, and the loser of the leadoff man sweepstakes at the bottom of the order.

Spring Training 2011 will not be full of exciting moments or events to debate, but at least with Tony LaRussa at the helm, we can analyze the lineup for Opening Day. Of course, he will change it on day two….and three….and four…

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.
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