Triple-A

The Omaha Storm Chasers (Pacific Coast League) went 4-2 over the last week improving to 44-27 on the season.  The Storm are leading the Northern Division by 14 games over the Iowa Cubs.

Who’s Hot

The Storm Chasers have continued to pile up runs on offense.  One of the best offenses in minor league baseball, got great weeks from Wil Myers and Irving Falu.  Myers, has lived on the hot list all season long.  In his past ten games he is hitting .350 (14-for-40) with three home runs, nine RBI, and 13 runs scored.  Falu has not been far behind hitting .351 (13-for-37) with three home runs and 12 RBI, to go along with 11 runs scored in his last ten games.  Blaine Hardy turned in his best Triple-A performance this past week. He went four innings allowing just one-hit while striking out four against Round Rock.

Who’s Not

Outfielder Jason Bourgeois is on the cold list despite heating up of late.  The outfielder is hitting .231 with two runs scored in his last five games.  Will Smith has hit a rough patch after being sent down from Kansas City to Omaha.  In his last two starts, the left-hander is 0-1, having worked ten and a third innings allowing 16 hits and nine runs.

Double-A

The Northwest Arkansas Naturals (Texas League) went 3-4 over the past week getting swept by Tulsa on the road, splitting a four-game set with the Cardinals on the road, and taking the first of an eight game home stand against the Drillers.  The Naturals sit in second place in the Texas League’s North Division four games behind Tulsa.

Who’s Hot

Paulo Orlando seems to be returning to the form that many fans remember.  After a spring injury and a cool start, Orlando’s bat has heated up in June.  The outfielder is hitting .378 (14-for-37) over his last nine games with six runs scored.  On the mound for the Naturals Buddy Baumann turned in a solid week in relief.  The left-hander appeared in three games for the Naturals working four innings allowing three hits, while striking out five.  He also picked up his first save of the season on June 17 in Springfield.

Who’s Not

Eric Duncan seems to always come through with a big clutch hit, but is hitting just .188 (6-for-32) with one home run and three RBI.  Elisaul Pimentel had been on a hot streak, but had a rough outing on his last trip to the hill.  Pimentel is 0-2, having worked nine innings allowing 18 hits and 11 earned runs.

Class-A Advanced

The Wilmington Blue Rocks (Carolina League) went 1-5 over the past week dropping to 29-41 on the season.  The Blue Rocks have fallen to third place in the North Division and trail the Lynchburg Hillcats by 10.0 games for the division lead.

Who’s Hot

The Blue Rocks offense has continued to be sparked by shortstop Alex McClure.  McClure hit .304 (7-for-23) over the team’s last ten games.  He entered the season well-known for his defensive abilities.  Edwin Carl has continued to shine on the mound for the Blue Rocks since being promoted from Kane County.  In two outings last week he worked four and a third innings allowing just three hits and striking out five.

Who’s Not

Brian Fletcher has fallen into a slump.  The outfielder is still tops on the team in hitting with a .289 batting average, but has hit just .159 over the team’s last ten games.  Cole White has been hit hard in his last two outings in relief.  White has allowed six hits and six runs, while issuing seven walks in his last five innings of work.
 

Class-A

The Kane County Cougars went 1-5 over the past week making them 34-36 on the season.  The Cougars fell to fifth place in the Midwest League’s western division and are 10.5 games out of first place.

Who’s Hot

Outfielder Jorge Bonifacio is hitting everything that pitchers are throwing to him right now.  The 19-year-old is hitting .333 over his last ten games with two home runs and an impressive 15 RBI.  On the mound for the Cougars, Jason Mitchell has turned things around.  In his last two trips to the hill Mitchell has worked 11 innings allowing eight hits and one run while striking out 10.

Who’s Not

Infielder Michael Antonio went through a tough week last week for the Cougars.  He hit just .143 (5-for-35) with one run scored and one RBI.  Aaron Brooks has not been missing many bats lately on the mound.  The right-hander has allowed 21 hits and 14 runs in his last 11.2 innings (2 appearances).

The Northwest Arkansas Naturals are the Double-A Texas League affiliate of the Kansas City Royals and play at state-of-the-art Arvest Ballpark, located in Springdale.  Visit our website, nwanaturals.com, for information on season tickets and ticket plans.

When the St. Louis Cardinals started the season with an 11-5 record and a substantial lead in the NL Central, everything looked sunny in Baseball Heaven. Then the dreaded injury bug visited and slowly but surely Cardinals players have checked in to the disabled list.

Relief pitcher Kyle McClellan, and outfielders Jon Jay and Allen Craig all went to the disabled list this week.

On top of that, outfielder Carlos Beltran has been slowed by a leg injury that kept him out of four games this week and first baseman Lance Berkman has yet to see regular playing time because of nagging injuries.
The injury issue was the biggest concern for the Cardinals heading into the season. This is an old club that has several veterans with substantial injury histories.

The injuries have played a large part in the Cardinals recent 2-6 slide that began last weekend with a sweep by the Atlanta Braves. The Cardinals had just a 2.5 games lead in the division over the Cincinnati Reds, who could easily be leading the division if they put together a winning streak. Thankfully for the Cardinals, the Reds have only gone 3-5 heading into play Saturday’s game against the New York Yankees.

Granted, the Cardinals’ pitching has also been less than stellar of late. The team has the third-worst ERA in May at 4.79, and the relievers have given up runs during critical points in games recently. For example, Berkman hit a game-tying blast in the ninth inning Friday against the Los Angeles Dodgers to tie the game at five. Then Fernando Salas came in and promptly lost the game with a bases-loaded walk.

Although it has been a depressing week to be a Cardinals fan, there are still reasons to remain positive. The team still leads the NL Central by 2.5 games heading into play Saturday with a 22-17 record.

Plus, all of the injured players are scheduled to be back at some point in the next month. It’s the long-term injuries that could seriously hurt this team’s chances at the postseason. McClellan, Jay and Craig are important parts to the team, and it would be foolish to think the Cardinals could continue to play .700 baseball, especially against good teams such as the Dodgers and San Francisco Giants.

Anyway, Berkman is likely to start producing more runs soon as he continues to recover from an early season calf injury, and Beltran is making progress, albeit slow, and was able to start Friday’s game against the Dodgers.

Also, none of the pitchers in the starting rotation have missed a start this season. Consistency in the rotation is typically a huge factor in determining a team’s overall success.

The Cardinals won’t get much of a break in the upcoming schedule. The San Diego Padres come to town to start the week, but then the Cardinals play the Philadelphia Phillies and Atlanta Braves. We already know what the Braves are capable of, and this time the Cardinals will have to visit Atlanta for three days.

Still, this is a part of the season that could boost the team’s confidence if it can play .500 or better against some of the best teams in the National League.

Life isn’t as rosy as it was a couple of weeks ago, but the Cardinals will have to suffer a few more injuries before the panic meter should rise substantially. Hopefully that’s a situation we don’t have to discuss anytime soon.

After a rough start down in Houston the St. Louis Cardinals picked up right where they left off in April. With Tyler Greene leading the charge.

Second baseman Tyler Greene showed all those offensive skills Sunday that have labeled him still a prospect although he more often than not has been suspect at the big-league level.

Greene, mostly a reserve who was starting at second base against Houston LHP J.A. Happ, clubbed two homers and a double and drove in four runs as he bumped his average to .256. He stole one base and nearly had another and he also turned in a nifty double play in the field as the Cardinals captured the finale of a three-game series from the Astros, 8-1.

First baseman Allen Craig, knocked out for two months last May when he slid into a railing here and suffered a broken right kneecap, got his revenge on Minute Maid Park by homering and doubling and knocking in three runs.

As the Cardinals stopped their losing streak at three games and the Astros’ winning streak at five, RHP Adam Wainwright did what he always does against the Astros. Wainwright, winning his second straight, held the Astros to one run on seven singles in seven innings and struck out seven. It was Wainwright’s 10th win in 11 career decisions against the Astros and his earned-run average for that body of work is 1.54.

But what Greene did certainly was less expected than the feats of the other two. In fact, he did what no other Cardinals second baseman ever has done.

According to SABR research, Greene is the first Cardinals second baseman to have as many as four RBI, three hits and two homers and at least one stolen base in the same game.

“Hopefully, I was able to earn a couple of days out there (in Arizona),” said Greene. “Everybody wants to be out there every day. You just take whatever circumstance you’re given and do the best you can with it.”

A few notes

–1B Allen Craig is hitting .375 and slugging .750 after his first four games, including three doubles and a homer, after leaving the disabled list. “I can’t wait for the year I can see 500 to 600 at-bats from that guy,” said hitting coach Mark McGwire.

–RHP Adam Wainwright is getting closer to the form he displayed in 2009-10, when he won 39 games for the Cardinals before losing last season to an elbow operation. After pitching poorly in his first three starts this season, amassing an unsightly 9.88 ERA along with three losses, Wainwright is 2-0 and 2.70 since then, including a one-run, seven-hit allotment over seven innings on Sunday. “You could see he had a good feel for all his pitches. I don’t think (Wainwright) is very far away now,” manager Mike Matheny said.

–CF Jon Jay turned in his sixth spectacular play of the three-game series when he avoided LF Matt Holliday, who had pulled up, and made a sliding catch on Justin Maxwell‘s drive to left center in the fifth inning.

–Injured 1B Lance Berkman ran in the outfield for some 10 minutes before the game and said his strained left calf “felt a lot better than the other day. Marked improvement.”

–Matheny had pondered giving 34-year-old SS Rafael Furcal a day off Sunday. But too much was happening for Furcal and not enough was happening for the Cardinals.

–Furcal, matching Lou Brock in 1974, had led off six straight games with hits and he had scored in the first inning after five of them. Matheny said, “He was excited about getting in there and facing a lefty (J.A. Happ). And there’s no question that everybody’s pretty excited about winning a game here.” The Cardinals won but Furcal’s streak was snapped with a first-inning fly out.

–St. Louis has scored in the first inning for eight games in a row.

–The Cardinals’ five homers in Monday night’s game were their most since hitting six on July 5, 2007, against Pittsburgh.

–Beltran needs two stolen bases to become the eighth player in major-league history with at least 300 steals and 300 homers.

–Westbrook followed his most difficult outing of the season — a 6-3 home loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates — with his most dominant. He has as many quality starts through this season’s six outings as he managed in the first 16 in 2011

Photo Courtesy of Minda Haas

Triple-A
The Omaha Storm Chasers (Pacific Coast League) has posted the second best record in the PCL going 17-8 trailing only the Fresno Grizzlies who are 19-6 on the campaign.  The Storm Chasers have remained hot despite having send several players up to Kansas City, some of which have since returned.

Who’s Hot

The offense has slowed down a touch, but is continuing to carry Omaha to victories.  A pair of former Naturals have been leading the charge over the last week.  Anthony Seratelli is hitting .412 for the season, and posted his first four-hit game of the season back on April 27 against Memphis.  Terry Evans, who began the season in Northwest Arkansas has been red hot since being called up.  The outfielder has posted a .378 batting average and has belted a pair of home runs in 11 games.  On the mound for the Storm Chasers Mike Montgomery has been brilliant as of late.  The left-hander has turned in three straight quality starts (at least 6 innings and three earned runs or less).  He has allowed just seven runs in his last 20 innings of work after giving up the same number in his first 7.2 innings to start the season.

Who’s Not

Jamie Romak is in limited playing time (29 at bats) is hitting just .172 with no home runs and two RBI.  On the mound for the Storm Chasers Francisely Bueno  has surrendered five runs, only two of which were earned, in his last two outings, which have totaled three innings.

Double-A
The Northwest Arkansas Naturals (Texas League) are back to .500 after at 12-12 after a 7-1 homestand that put them back in second place in the Texas League North.  The Naturals are heading out on the road to Springfield for four games.  They are just 2-8 away from Arvest Ballpark this season.

Who’s Hot

Wil Myers who was named the Texas League Player of the week (April 23-29) has been leading the charge for the Naturals.  The outfielder is hitting .349 while leading the Naturals in home runs with six and RBI with 15.  Another outfielder made a name for himself over the last homestand Carlo Testa.  Testa hit three home runs on the homestand including a grand slam on April 27 and two more home runs on April 30.  He is now tied for second on the team in RBI after driving home 10 runs in his last four games.

Who’s Not
Rey Navarro had a three hit game on April 26, but has been cold since.  The second baseman has gone 1-for-17 over the last four games.  On the mound for the Naturals Bryan Paukovits allowed just one run of his own in his last appearance, but did allow all three runners he inherited to cross the plate as well in two thirds of an inning.

Class-A Advanced
The Wilmington Blue Rocks (Carolina League) went just 2-5 last week and after getting back to .500 the week before.   The Blue Rocks are now 10-13 on the season and sit in second place in the Carolina League’s North Division.

Who’s Hot

Brian Fletcher has turned his season around in a matter of days.  The corner outfielder has hit in eight of his last nine games and collected multiple knocks in seven of those contests.  He has raised his batting average from .152 to .305 over that same stretch.  Nick Rogers has continued to be as close to perfect as anyone on the mound, and has yet to allow a run this season.  The right-hander has allowed just six hits over nine innings walking just one and striking out nine.  His opponents are hitting just .182 against him and he has converted both of his save opportunities.

Who’s Not

Outfielder Geulin Beltre had a tough week, but showed signs of breaking out of his slump with his game yesterday tallying three hits in that contest, prior to that he had been mired in an 0-for-12 slump.  Tyler Sample allowed a season high five runs in his last outing on April 27 against Winston Salem.  Sample issued three walks and five hits in that contest.  The rough outing for Sample followed his best outing of the season, which came on April 17, when he worked six innings allowing just one run and fanning a season high seven.

Class-A
The Kane County Cougars also went 2-5 over the past week and now sit at 11-14 on the season.  They are sitting in sixth place in the Midwest League’s Western division, but are just three games behind Quad Cities for the division lead.

Who’s Hot

Starting pitcher Alexander Scott has been on point for the Cougars as of late.  Scott made his first two appearances out of the bullpen, before starting in two of his last three appearances.  In his two starts Scott has worked ten innings allowing just eight hits and two earned runs, while striking out eight.  He has posted a 1.04 ERA in five appearances.  Outfielder Jorge Bonifacio has continued to carry the bulk of the load offensively.  He is leading the team with a .340 batting average, and has nine extra base hits in 24 games this season.

Who’s Not

Right-hander Michael Giovenco has hit a rough patch in his last two outings.  The 6’6” relief pitcher has giving up seven runs over his last three innings of work.  These two outings are coming after he had allowed just two earned runs over his first seven and a third innings.  Cather Jin-Ho Shin is stuck in an 0-for-16 slump over his last five games.  The South Korean born backstop has seen his average dip down to .179 after it had been up at .258 back on April 19.

Alumni Report (Former Naturals outside the Kansas City organization)

Who’s Hot

Jordan Parraz continues to be hot for the Triple-A Gwinnett Braves.  The outfielder is leading the team with a .367 batting average in 22 games.  Parraz has been his best against left-handed pitching hitting a scalding .600 (15-for-25) against them on the season.  A teammate of Parraz Dusty Hughes seems to have found a spot in the bullpen late in games.  Hughes earned three saves in his last four outings and has continued to see his ERA be one of the top ones in all of minor league baseball.  The left-hander has allowed just one run in 12.2 innings, while striking out 11, posting an ERA of just 0.71.

Blake Johnson has continued to be one of the top pitchers for Double-A Chattanooga in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization.  Johnson has appeared in eight games, and worked 15.1 innings allowing just three earned runs while striking out 14.  He also ranks second on the Lookouts with a 1.76 ERA.

Tim Smith, who was released by the Kansas City Royals following spring training, has signed a deal with the Atlanta Braves.  The veteran outfielder made his debut with Class-A Advanced Lynchburg this past week going 2-for-3 with two walks and a run scored against Frederick on April 29.

Who’s Not

Ernesto Mejia had been off to a hot start for the Triple-A Gwinnett Braves, but has cooled off of late.  The first baseman is just 4-for-28 over his last eight games with the Braves.  He has provided some power though with five doubles and three home runs to go along with 15 RBI.

The Northwest Arkansas Naturals are the Double-A Texas League affiliate of the Kansas City Royals and play at state-of-the-art Arvest Ballpark, located in Springdale.  Visit our website, nwanaturals.com, for information on season tickets and ticket plans.

Rejoice! The Royals won 8-2 against the Cleveland Indians Wednesday night, ending their 12 game losing streak. It’s a good thing, because if the Royals kept losing, who knows what would happen…

Alex Gordon found dazed and incoherent in the Royals clubhouse.

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May, 3, 2012: After losing their record setting 21st game to the New York Yankees, Royals coaches and officials were alarmed when they found left fielder Alex Gordon cowered in the corner of the Royals clubhouse, surrounded by empty bottles of Cherry RC and plates of half-eaten funnel cakes. Gordon was babbling incoherently and his mouth and face were coated in powdered sugar. Gordon leads the league with 42 strikeouts and seven face plants in left field while making defensive plays. Efforts to bring Gordon back to reality were unsuccessful.

"Yeah, we're a bit concerned about Gordo, but everyone handles adversity differently," said Manager Ned Yost. "We just need to wipe the powdered sugar off his face and he'll be ready for tomorrow."

Triple-A
The Omaha Storm Chasers (Pacific Coast League) are tied for the best record in the Pacific Coast League going 14-5 over the first week plus.  The Storm Chasers are an even more impressive 10-1 while playing at Werner Park.  They will look to defend their Pacific Coast League Championship and certainly have the talent to do so.

Who’s Hot
The offense has carried Omaha early in the season and a pair of former Naturals, Clint Robinson and Derrick Robinson have been right in the middle of things.  Clint has seen his power return of late and is second on the Storm Chasers in home runs with four and has driven in 10.  Derrick has moved back into the number two spot in the lineup now that Jarrod Dyson has returned from Kansas City to take over the leadoff spot.  The outfielder is hitting .352 with ten runs scored and four stolen bases.  On the mound Jeremy Jeffress has gone 2-0 with a 1.50 ERA in six games out of the bullpen, and earned a call-up to the major leagues when the Royals placed Greg Holland on the disabled list.  Nate Adcock has been phenomenal as he has transitioned back to the starting rotation. The right-hander is 3-1 with a 1.37 ERA in four games.  He has worked 26.1 innings allowing just 16 hits and four runs, and has held opponents to a .174 batting average.

Who’s Not
Jamie Romak is off to a slow start.  The first baseman is hitting .190 in 21 at bats for Omaha.  He has a pair of doubles and has also knocked in two runs.  On the mound Ethan Hollingsworth struggled this past week.  He has given up seven earned runs over his last two outings, which totaled five and a third innings.  The last two outings have raised his ERA to 6.92, after it was just 3.52 in his first three outings of the season.

Double-A
The Northwest Arkansas Naturals (Texas League) are off to a 6-11 start so far this season.  The Naturals have returned to Arvest Ballpark where they are now 4-3 on the season after defeating Springfield last night.  The Naturals have struggled away from Northwest Arkansas posting a 2-8 mark on the road.

Who’s Hot
Kurt Mertins, although he is hitting just .190 at the plate for the season has been swinging the hottest bat in the Naturals lineup as of late.  He has gone 4-for-10 the teams last five games, and has played spectacular defense at third base robbing several players of base hits.  On the mound for the Naturals, Jake Odorizzi appears to have found his strikeout pitch.  Last night against the Cardinals, he set a Naturals single game record fanning 11.  It was also the deepest a Naturals starter has worked into a game all season as the right-hander threw seven allowing just four hits and walking one.

Who’s Not
Shortstop Christian Colon picked up a pair of hits in yesterday’s game that snapped a streak in which he had been 1-for-14 over his last four games.  He has also struggled in the field this season committing a team high four errors.  On the mound the back end of the rotation has been struggling as of late.  Justin Marks went three and two thirds innings his last time out allowing six runs, while Tim Melville went just an inning and two thirds last time out allowing eight runs.  Both pitchers had scoreless outings in their first starts.

Class-A Advanced
The Wilmington Blue Rocks (Carolina League) had a great week last week going 4-2 to improve to 8-8 on the season.  They defeated Salem yesterday getting the best of Boston Red Sox starter Daisuke Matsuzaka.

Who’s Hot
Starting pitcher Jason Adam, is putting up unreal numbers for Wilmington.  The big right-hander threw five more shutout innings yesterday to earn his first win of the season.  He is now 1-1 on the year with a 0.40 ERA.  In 22.2 innings he has allowed just 18 hits and one earned run, while walking seven and fanning 21.  Nick Rogers has been brilliant out of the bullpen for the Blue Rocks throwing six innings allowing just three hits and fanning seven.  He has yet to allow a runs this season.  Angel Franco began the year on a cold spell hitting just .150 back on April 11.  Over his last six games he has gone 11-for-18 with five RBI and four runs scored.

Who’s Not
Outfielder Brett Eibner has been on a cold streak of late going just 2-19 in his last five games.  One of Eibner’s two hits was a home run that came in yesterday’s game.  Since he has returned to the lineup the team has hit better as a whole hitting .252 since his return compared to .217 for the entire season.  Chase Boruff has appeared twice in the last ten games for the Blue Rocks and surrendered four runs and four walks over three innings in that span.

Class-A
The Kane County Cougars have gone 3-5 since last week’s report and are now 9-9 on the season.  They are tied for third placed in the Midwest League’s Western division with the Burlington Bees and the Cedar Rapids Kernels.

Who’s Hot
Outfielder Lane Adams has continued his hot hitting.  The native Oklahoman is hitting .375 on the season in 18 games, with 11 runs scored.  Adams has even hit lead off in a few games recently for the Cougars and has driven in 15 runs and stolen five bases so far this season.  Orlando Calixte seems to have found a rhythm at the plate.  Calixte enter the season as the number 20 prospect in the Royals system according to Baseball America.  The shortstop is hitting .412 (7-for-17) over his last five games with five RBI over that span.  On the mound for the Cougars Edwin Carl, has been hot of late.  In his last start Carl went a season long seven innings allowing just five hits and no runs, while striking out three.  Carl has gone 1-1 with a 1.77 ERA to start the 2012 campaign.
Who’s Not

Infielder Henry Moreno has been struggling at the plate so far this season.  He has posted a .149 batting average on the young season (7-for-47), and has struck out 16 times.  Jason Mitchell struggled on the mound his last time out, making just his second start of the season, although some of the fault could be placed on the defense behind him.  Mitchell allowed six runs only three of which were earned over four innings.

Alumni Report (Former Naturals outside the Kansas City organization)

Who’s Hot
Ed Lucas now with Triple-A Salt Lake City was 0-for-3 Monday, but is coming off of a ten-game hitting streak during which in the previous four games he was 8-for-15 with 4 RBI.  His average is up to .333 from .278 in last weeks report.

Dusty Hughes, who is with Triple-A Gwinnett, has not allowed a run in his last four and a third innings with five strikeouts and not issuing a walk.  Outfielder Jordan Parraz, who is also with Gwinnett currently has an active six-game hitting streak, during which he has gone 10-for-22, including a four RBI effort last Thursday against the Norfolk Tides.  On the season he is hitting .359 in 18 games for the Braves.

Blake Johnson who is now with Double-A Chattanooga in the Dodgers system has only allowed one run in his last four outings out of the bullpen, cover eight and two thirds innings.  Last Thursday he recorded a four inning save against Birmingham striking out five without issuing a walk.  Opponents are hitting just .186 against him.

Who’s Not
Slick-fielding infielder Chris McConnell who is in the Nationals system with Double-A Harrisburg picked up his first hit on Saturday night, but he is hitting .048 (1-for-21) while with the Senators.  Josh Johnson, who moved up to Triple-A Syracuse is hitting just .240 in his first 25 at bats with the Chiefs.

Jose Duarte is hitting just .152 (5-for-33) on the season with Double-A Jacksonville, in the Florida Marlins system.  Angel Sanchez is in the Astros system with Triple-A Oklahoma City, and is mired in a 3-for-27 slump dating back to April 14.

The Northwest Arkansas Naturals are the Double-A Texas League affiliate of the Kansas City Royals and play at state-of-the-art Arvest Ballpark, located in Springdale.  Visit our website, nwanaturals.com, for information on season tickets and ticket plans.

Less than three weeks into the 2012 regular season, the St. Louis Cardinals entered play Saturday with a 10-4 record and already a four-game lead over the second-place Milwaukee Brewers. Based on the Cardinals’ upcoming schedule, that lead could grow quite large by the end of the month.

The Cardinals have faced divisional opponents in every game this season except Opening Day in Miami against the Marlins, and they won’t face a team outside the NL Central until May 7.

A crazy schedule that matches a team against divisional opponents in 27 of its first 28 games could make for a fantastic start to a season or a horrible start. For the Cardinals, it’s been a fantastic start that could quickly develop into runaway for the division title.

Granted, the Cardinals likely won’t continue to win 10 of every 14 games this season. They would near the 2003 Seattle Mariners mark of 116 wins at that pace. However, the Cardinals could have a sizable lead by May 7 even if they win slightly more than half of their remaining games through May 6. That’s because every game they play from now until May 7 will have a direct effect on the size of the Cardinals’ lead in the division.

Every time they win a game, it automatically drops one team another full game off the pace. There won’t be any nights where every team in the division wins or loses, thereby keeping the standings the same for two consecutive days.

The Cardinals also have a three-game set with the Brewers next weekend. If the Cardinals go into that series with the same lead in the division they have currently (four games), they could have a six-game lead in the division by the end of April.

Surely the Brewers (6-8) and the Cincinnati Reds (6-9) won’t continue to play sub-.500 baseball for long, but their lousy starts combined with a hot start from the Cardinals will make it tough for either team to catch the Cardinals. Even if they do catch up, it will likely take most of the season because they will both have to substantially rely on other teams to beat the Cardinals in order to make up ground in the standings.

Plus, the Cardinals are running through the division right now with starting pitcher Chris Carpenter on the disabled list and starting pitcher Adam Wainwright pitching terribly with a 0-3 record. On the offensive side, the Cardinals have battled injuries to first baseman Lance Berkman, third baseman David Freese and centerfielder Jon Jay.

Any fears fans had coming into the season with a new manager and the departures of former manager Tony La Russa and former first baseman Albert Pujols should be long forgotten. This team has shown that it can dominate teams both on the mound and at the plate. And when its stars are hurt, it has shown resiliency that will be key to consistently staying atop the standings throughout the season.

Bench players Matt Carpenter, Shane Robinson and David Descalso already made huge contributions to the early success of the team. With an elite lineup, very good pitching and solid backups, the 2012 Cardinals could very well put together a better regular season than last year when it won 90 games.

Plenty of factors could derail the Cardinals winning ways throughout the six-month season, but the first three weeks suggest the Cardinals might have full control of their destiny in September rather than begging for a massive collapse from another team to make the playoffs.

When Mike Moustakas banged a homer in just his second game as a big leaguer, hopes soared. And when he had a .385 average with four walks after four games, it looked like he was on his way to a great rookie season.

Mike Moustakas by Erika Lynn

But things went sour from that point on. By the time September rolled around, you had to wonder if Moustakas could hit big league pitching. He had not homered since his second game and had just 18 RBIs and an anemic .232 average.

But the big third baseman had struggled to adjust at every level, so the Royals stuck with him.

The show Moustakas put on in September is, the Royals hope, a preview of things to come. He batted .352 for the month and popped 4 homers, driving in 12 runs.

We all know what we WANT from Mike Moustakas. We WANT another George Brett. We want 30 homers and 100 RBIs and a .300 average every season.

But rather than talk about how it’s unfair to expect Moose to be George Brett, Royals fans might look around to see what other, mere mortals are doing at third base.

More specifically, Royals fans can ask “What are other teams in the division getting from their third basemen?”

The Royals sights should be set on becoming the best team in the division. They need some of the parts of their whole to become the best in the division. And believe it or not, Moustakas is not that far off from being the best third baseman in the division.

This season, the Tigers plan to play Miguel Cabrera at third. No one can expect Moose to be Cabrera at the plate, but Cabrera’s work at third remains to be seen. This experiment may not turn out as well as the Tigers hope.

The third basemen in the division consist of, basically, four youngsters trying to develop into solid big leaguers, and one of the best hitters of the last decade who isn’t really a natural third baseman.

For Chicago, 24-year-old Brent Morel has a couple of years of big league experience to build on, but hasn’t blossomed yet. In Cleveland, 23-year-old Lonnie Chisenhall hopes to take the position from last year’s starter, Jack Hannahan. And in Minnesota, the Twins look to 26-year-old Danny Valencia to provide the power they lack in their lineup.

It may not tell a lot to analyze last year’s numbers. But based on them, Moustakas wasn’t far from the others in the division, even with his struggles to adjust to the majors. If you average the numbers posted last season by Morel, Hannahan, Valencia and Brandon Inge of Detroit, you get numbers Moustakas could easily match.

The averages of Morel, Hannahan, Valencia and Inge, compared to Moustakas:

If Moustakas plays 123 games this season, there is no reason to think he can’t blow those numbers out of the water.

Interestingly, the guy being drummed out of a job – Hannahan – actually put up the best OBP, SLG, OPS and WAR: .331/.338/.719 and 2.2. The guy who played the most – Valencia – posted the lowest WAR (-1.1) even though he led the group with 15 homers and 72 RBIs.

The Royals find themselves in the same position as the Twins, White Sox and Indians. Each has a third baseman with minimal experience who they hope can make dramatic improvement.

Moustakas has started slowly this spring, but he won’t be moved out of the lineup by anything but injury this year. The Royals, like three other teams in the division, will wait patiently for their third-base prospect to develop.

Cabrera may post big offensive numbers this year, but the Royals hope Moustakas is the division’s best long-term.

Drop by our friends at Pitchers Hit Eighth, C70 At The Bat, and Aaron Miles’ Fastball to vote in the Musial, Smith, and Gibson Regions of the tournament.  The turn out to this point has been outstanding and we move forward today with the opening of the second round of the tournament.  I-70 is the home of the Buck Region, and the bracket now looks like this:

Which brings us to your participation.

Voting for this round closes Wednesday night at 8 p.m. Central Time.

It’s time to get the Buck Bracket down to four teams and we need your vote in the following four games:

The top seed in the bracket, the 1942 Cardinals, posted a shut-out in their opening match-up.  It is important to note that this is the most successful team in Cardinal history.  With 106 wins (most in franchise history) and a decisive 4 games to 1 victory over the mighty Yankees.  The 1942 team was the beginning of one of the few dynasties in Cardinals history, which would see the team play in four of five World Series and bring home three titles.  A young rookie named Stan Musial had joined the team and pitcher Mort Cooper would bring home a Most Valuable Player Award for his performance.

The 1957 Cardinals were the loan “upset” in our opening round in the Buck Region, knocking off the 1947 team placed just ahead of them in the seeding.  The team that year would finish in second place, watching the Milwaukee Braves represent the National League in the World Series.  A winning record of 87-67 would not be enough for an offensive heavy edition of the Birds-on-the-bat as Stan Musial would once again lead the team in production.

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The fifth seed in our bracket, the 2005 Cardinals, breezed into the next round, and rightfully so.  A great team at a low-seed, the 2005 edition produced 100 wins before losing in heart-breaking fashion to the Houston Astros in the National League Championship Series.  That series produced memorable moments for many Cardinal fans despite ending prior to reaching the pinnacle of the game.  The team was so dominant that they would bring home a Cy Young Award for Chris Carpenter and a Most Valuable Player Award for Albert Pujols.

Our number four seed, however, is part of the dynasty that we discussed with our number one seed in the tournament.  If the 1942 Cardinals started the dynasty, the 1943 Cardinals were the only stumbling block.  They won 105 games, second most in franchise history and Stan Musial would bring home the Most Valuable Player Award.  They were dominant from wire to wire, until they reached the World Series.  The only team in the 1940′s run to not win a World Series, the team was very successful otherwise.  The match-up of two great teams that couldn’t win the World Series promises to be one of the best in this bracket.

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The dynasty of the 1940′s continues with our fourth seed, the 1944 Cardinals.  Matching their previous year, the team would win 105 games and, this time, would not disappoint in the Fall Classic.  The second World Championship of the decade would find it’s way home to St. Louis as Stan Musial continued to become a household name.  The World Series would never leave St. Louis that year as the Cardinals would defeat the Browns four games to two.

The 2009 Cardinals were expected to be a force when they reached the playoffs after winning 91 games during the season.  Unfortunately, when they arrived at the National League Division Series, the team seemed over matched and out of place.  The Los Angeles Dodgers sent them home quickly and brought a disappointing end to another strong season under Tony LaRussa.

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Our final game pits our number seven seed, 1935, against the number two seed.  The 1935 group is yet another promising team that did not play in the World Series.  With 96 wins, the team fell four games back of the league winner that year, the hated Chicago Cubs.  This team would see Dizzy Dean finish second for the Most Valuable Player Award, three spots in front of teammate Joe Medwick.

Our namesake here at i70baseball, the 1985 Cardinals, may be the emotional pick and one of the best, non-championship teams in our bracket.  A team built on speed, defense, and fundamentals, the 85 crew was lead by Willie McGee and his .353 batting average and two hurlers that would finish in the top five of the Cy Young voting – Joaquin Andujar (4) and John Tudor (2).

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There you go, run and vote and share with all your friends.  Visit the other sties above to cast your votes in their brackets and help us decide who the greatest Cardinal team of all time is.

A bit of a teaser from Nick at Pitchers Hit Eighth today: Also, stay tuned to the United Cardinal Bloggers website later today for a fun contest you can participate in along with the Tourney!

No longer to be known as LaGenius, moving forward Tony will now be referred to as LaMagician. No matter which side of the LaRussa fence you sit one you have to admit he’s one crafty old dude. Maneuvering through a press conference with grace of an elephant yet somehow able to keep reporters’ questions and thought away from the real issue.

Slight of hand is a key element in any magic trick. A good magician will show his audience the elephant he is going to make disappear then distract them with excited movement and speech. In the end the elephant is gone but you don’t really know what happened. The crowd leaves one part amazed and another part confused.

Monday night’s press conference TLR put on his best David Copperfield. Making the elephant in the room (Cardinals 1-12 with RISP, 12 runners left on base and 2 runs scored despite being issue 9 BB’s) disappear, by focusing everyone’s attention on the fact that bullpen coach Derek Lilliquist cannot decipher between Motte, Rzepczynski and Lynn.

Simply check out Twitter, ESPN, Fox Sports, Facebook or any number of outlets and you’ll find that 98% of all conversation pertains to the ridiculous bullpen incident from game five and not the Cardinals lack of production and execution in the critical moments.

Like him or not, one of the main reasons guys state they like playing for TLR is he will defend them to the death and to his own fault. Monday night is a perfect example. NO ONE is talking about RISP fail, no all the talk is about how game five may have been the worst managed of Tony’s career. It is all about TLR fail.

In all reality we should be sitting around discussing why it took TLR four games to realize the 0-14 Jon Jay might need to sit. Or that Furcal and Holliday are a combined 6-38 with 7 strikeouts and no RBI through five games. The Cardinals are coming home for two games with a chance to win the World Series and no one seems alarmed that the best player of the last decade has hits in only one of five games.

The fact that St. Louis still has a shot with early World Series MVP favorite Allen Craig now 0-9 with five strikeouts since his home run in the 1^st inning of game five. LaMagician has made it all seem to disappear with one swipe of his hands.

Hopefully his greatest magic trick still lies ahead. If Tony can somehow work his magic on the Cardinal hitters the way he did with the bullpen, turning them into the monster of October, we’ll be standing curbside as the parade heads down Market St.

If not…LaMagician better have one more trick up his sleeve. To convince the masses that blowing a 2-1 series lead of which the Cardinals were seemingly in command of from the opening pitch of game 1 never happened.

As always these are just my thoughts…keep on reading and you’ll get up to speed.

Derek is on Twitter @SportsbyWeeze and also writes for the Rams at RamsHerd.com

Also on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/SportsByWeeze