The St. Louis Cardinals have gone through a 15-game stretch when they’ve scored more than three runs just five times, yet they’ve won eight of those games. So despite near panic that the lineup has forgotten how to hit, the team is still winning ballgames mostly because the starting pitchers have been terrific to start the season.

The starting rotation likely won’t continue to pitch with a historically low 2.15 earned-run average, which was the fourth-lowest starters ERA for April in franchise history, but there are several reasons to believe the offense will start scoring many more runs on a consistent basis.

Third baseman David Freese is currently in a horrible slump, hitting just .163 with no homeruns and three RBIs, and centerfielder Jon Jay is hitting .213 with two homeruns and eight RBIs. Those sound like great numbers compared to Freese, but the Cardinals need at least average production from both of those spots to contend in the National League Central Division.

The other aspect of this situation is the Cardinals’ opponents. The Cardinals have faced arguably four of the six toughest non-divisional opponents in April, the Arizona Diamondbacks, San Francisco Giants, Philadelphia Phillies and Washington Nationals, and every NL Central team they’ve played has a winning record.

This isn’t going to be an easy season no matter how well the Cardinals play. Sure, the Cardinals could have four or five more wins already if the bullpen hadn’t been horrible to start the season, but chances are slim the Cardinals are going to go on any long winning streaks this season. The competition is just too good.

The Pittsburgh Pirates took two of three games from the Cardinals last weekend as A.J. Burnett threw another quality start Saturday, and rookie Jeff Locke shut them down Sunday (which isn’t surprising given the Cardinals typical struggles against left-handed pitchers, especially ones they haven’t faced before).

Then the Cincinnati Reds visited Busch Stadium for a very well-pitched series in which Reds starter Homer Bailey was the only starting pitcher to give up more than two runs in the three-game series when the Cardinals scored four against him Wednesday.

Those types of games are unquestionably difficult to watch when the Cardinals lose, but they are well-played games nonetheless. The offense does need to produce more runs, but good pitching has always beaten good hitting, and thankfully the Cardinals have good pitching.

Also, several Cardinals hitters are unlikely to stay stuck in their slumps.

Freese and Jay have proven throughout their careers they are good hitters who can make significant contributions to a lineup. Freese has a career .290 batting average, including his poor start to the 2013 season, and Jay is a career .294 hitter who has shown recent signs of life at the plate with three hits in a recent series against the Pirates.

Plus, the Cardinals schedule lightens up a bit in May. They will face the Chicago Cubs, New York Mets and San Diego Padres, which are already a combined 17 games under .500, for nine games in the next month. By comparison, the Cardinals’ April opponents are a combined 10 games over .500 as they head into May.

So although it’s easy to look at the winnable games the Cardinals lost in May, they should win more of those types of games this month because the schedule will be a little easier and, based on career averages, the offense should begin to produce more runs, especially against teams with weaker pitching staffs.

That all sets up what could be a fun month of baseball so long as the Cardinals avoid injuries, which isn’t a guarantee. This is the point in the season when they lost Allen Craig, Lance Berkman and Matt Carpenter to injuries for extended time in 2012.

The NL Central is too good this season for the Cardinals to jump out to a large lead, but St. Louis fans should be confident their team will still be at or near the top of the division by the time the calendar turns to June.

It gets lost in the shuffle sometimes just how important of a Cardinal Scott Rolen was. And with his career perhaps coming to a close this week, it’s a ripe time to take a look at why. Perhaps it’s because it ended on such a dismissive note that what he represented in St. Louis at such a high point in the franchise’s history.

How will he be remembered? Overall, he’ll stand up tall with the people that watch his era. Not to the statuesque level of Chipper Jones, but really, there’s not many, if any, that played the hot corner in the last 15 years that were any better than him. A seven-time All-Star, 1997 Rookie of the Year and owner of eight Gold Gloves. But it’s the glove that truly stands out, because with the exception of Brooks Robinson’s escapades on the hot corner, nobody has ever done it better. There are some that would say he ever surpassed Hoover in the glove game, a claim that could amount to blasphemy by some, but has some credence with many. But the ground that Rolen could cover while standing at 6’4″, and combined with one of the best infield arms ever, makes it valid.

But what is it about Rolen that makes him not be more revered as a Cardinal? Was it the silent, perhaps even standoffish way he went about his business? Dig a little deeper, because he has some legit claim to be in the discussion for greatest Cardinal third baseman ever. That’s a not too shabby group that includes Ken Boyer, Mike Shannon and Whitey Kurowski. After being acquired as at the trade deadline in 2002, he embarked on a remarkable six year run with the club. Among all third baseman in franchise history, he is second in second in home runs (111) and doubles (173) and fourth in RBI with 453 despite hitting behind Albert Pujols and Jim Edmonds the majority of his time with the club and missing much of the 2005 season.

He returned in time to help the club rebound from that disappointing 2005 season. He played huge, and slightly forgotten, role in taking the club to its second World Series in 2006; one where he built up eight hits in 19 at-bats, including a home run and three triples. This was his crowning moment as a Cardinal, but soon shoulder injuries would keep him off the field for much of the rest of his time with the club. While he has gone on to have strong campaigns with the Toronto Blue Jays and Cincinnati Reds, his career truly peaked as a Cardinal, and reached a point where he showcased just how great he truly could be.

So what is it that keeps Rolen from being a more embraced member of the franchise’s history? He doesn’t really get an exceptional reception from fans when he returns, especially considering what he contributed to a very recent era. Perhaps it’s the way he faded away at the end, or that there was nothing of great lasting return received for him. Maybe it’s the feud with Tony LaRussa that kept him from relishing many returns with the club. Perhaps it’s his affiliation with the club’s fiercest rival the last few seasons in Cincinnati, that hasn’t allowed for many moments of reflection.

Whatever it may be, if his decision to decline coming to Spring Training with the Reds, a team he recently said is the only one he’d consider returning to this year, it’s time to embrace the man more in St. Louis. He’s a virtual baseball nomad by a career sense; he could never go back to Philadelphia to a warm reception, and he spent the shortest tenures of his career in Toronto and Cincinnati. St. Louis is where he deserves to come back to eventually, for the recognition an outstanding player of his level deserves. Maybe, with some time and reflection, both sides will learn how to properly place each other.

ST. LOUIS, Mo, January 22, 2013 – The St. Louis Cardinals announced today that they have agreed to terms with pitcher Jason Motte on a two-year contract for the 2013 and 2014 seasons, avoiding salary arbitration.

Motte, 30, tied for the National League lead with a career high 42 saves in 2012 and became the first Cardinal in franchise history to record every save during the season. The right-hander ranked 9th among N.L. relievers last season with a career high 86 strikeouts, 8th with a .191 opponent’s batting average and T11th in innings pitched (72.0). He also ranked second in the league with 58 games finished.

“We are excited to be able to have Jason under control for the next two years,” said team Sr. Vice President & General Manager, John Mozeliak. “We wanted to recognize what Jason has accomplished for the Cardinals and the role he has played in our bullpen. He exemplifies the type of player on and off the field we want in our organization, and we’re looking forward to having him part of the team for the next two seasons.”

Motte made his Major League debut with the Cardinals in 2008 and since that time has a 17-13 career record with 54 saves. His 54 saves rank 11th all-time among Cardinals relievers, and his 42 saves last season marked the 6th-highest total in a single season, becoming just the fourth Cardinal in franchise history to reach the 40-save plateau (Bruce Sutter, Lee Smith, Jason Isringhausen).

From MLBTradeRumors.com - The agreement buys out Motte’s two final years of arbitration, but won’t delay his path to free agency. He still projects to hit the open market following the 2014 season. Motte had filed for a $5.5MM salary for 2013 and the Cardinals had countered with $4.5MM, as MLBTR’s Arbitration Tracker shows. The 30-year-old set himself up for a raise from his 2012 salary of $1.95MM by posting a 2.75 ERA with 10.8 K/9, 2.1 BB/9 and an NL-best 42 saves this past season.

The deal is worth $12MM and includes performance bonuses, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports (on Twitter).

Motte’s signing leaves two arbitration eligible players left unsigned: third baseman David Freese and left handed pitcher Marc Rzepczynski.

Major League Baseball announced today that Billy Butler of the Kansas City Royals has been voted the winner of the 2012 Edgar Martinez Outstanding Designated Hitter Award.  Butler received 80 first-place votes out of 84 ballots cast to garner the honor for the first time in his six-year career.  He becomes the second Royal to be named the league’s top designated hitter, joining three-time winner Hal McRae who took home the award in 1976, 1980 and 1982 while playing for Kansas City.  Edwin Encarnacion finished second with 35 second-place votes after slugging a career-best 42 home runs and 110 RBI for the Toronto Blue Jays this past season.

Butler batted .313 (192-for-614) with 32 doubles, one triple, 29 home runs, 107 RBI and 72 runs scored in 161 games in 2012.  He notched the eighth season in franchise history with at least a .300 batting average, 25 homers and 100 RBI, the first Kansas City player to do so since Carlos Beltran in 2003, and his 29 homers were the most by a Royal since Jermaine Dye launched 33 home runs during the 2000 season.  Among qualifying designated hitters with a minimum of 100 at-bats at the position, the Florida native finished first in games played (138), at-bats (538), runs scored (61), base hits (170), doubles (29), RBI (93), batting average (.315), on-base percentage (.371) and slugging percentage (.501).  In addition, Butler was second in homers (23) and stood third in walks (42).  The 26-year-old established career-bests in games, at-bats, hits, homers, RBI, slugging and total bases (313), leading his club in all three Triple Crown categories.  The righty-hitting Butler finished fifth in hits, sixth in RBI, was tied for seventh in total bases and was eighth in batting average among all A.L. hitters.

Billy added numerous accomplishments to his career resume after posting one of his finest offensive seasons to date, including being named as the Royals representative in the 2012 All-Star Game in Kansas City; he was named the A.L. Player of the Week for the period ending July 29^th; he earned his first-career Louisville Slugger Silver Slugger Award on November 8^th, the first Royals player to win the award since Dean Palmer in 1998; and he was named the Les Milgram Royals Player of the Year by the Kansas City Chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) for the third time in his career (also 2009-10), joining George Brett, Amos Otis and Mike Sweeney as the only three-time winners of the honor.

Now in its 38^th season, the Outstanding Designated Hitter Award was renamed by Commissioner Allan H. (Bud) Selig in a September 2004 ceremony at Safeco Field in honor of the retiring Edgar Martinez.  Ballots are cast by club beat writers, broadcasters and A.L. public relations departments with nominees including all players with a minimum of 100 at-bats as a designated hitter.

Kansas City, MO (November 7, 2012) – The Kansas City Royals have announced that designated hitter Billy Butler has been named the 2012 Les Milgram Player of the Year.  The award was voted on by the Kansas City Chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA).

Butler, 26, earned his third Les Milgram Player of the Year award (also 2009 and 2010) after leading the Royals with a .313 average, 29 home runs and 107 RBI.  Butler is the fourth player to win the award at least three times, joining George Brett (1975-76, 1979-80, 1985, 1988, 1990 and 1992), Amos Otis (1971, 1973 and 1978) and Mike Sweeney (2000, 2002 and 2005).  He recorded the eighth season in franchise history with at least a .300 average, 25 home runs and 100 RBI and the first since 2003.  The 2012 All-Star finished fifth in the American League with 192 hits, sixth in RBI and eighth in average.  His 29 home runs were the most by a Royal since Jermaine Dye hit 33 in 2000.  Butler tied for third in baseball with 10 home runs in the eighth inning or later.  The 10 late-inning home runs included three game-tying blasts and three go-ahead home runs.

The Royals announced Monday that shortstop Alcides Escobar won the 2012 Joe Burke Special Achievement award while Greg Holland was announced as the 2012 Bruce Rice Pitcher of the Year yesterday.

Kansas City, MO (November 6, 2012) – The Kansas City Royals have announced that right-handed reliever Greg Holland has been named the 2012 Bruce Rice Pitcher of the Year.  The award was voted on by the Kansas City Chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA).

Holland, who will turn 27 on November 20, made 67 appearances for the Royals, finishing 7-4 with a 2.96 ERA, 16 saves and 91 strikeouts in 67.0 innings.  The North Carolina native overcame early season struggles and a stint on the disabled list by posting a 2.08 ERA over his final 60 outings.  He recorded 16 saves in 18 chances after taking over the closer’s role on July 31, including 13 straight conversions from August 1 to September 9.  Holland finished third among American League relievers in strikeouts, trailing teammate Tim Collins (93) and Steve Delabar, who notched 92 with Seattle and Toronto.  The 91 strikeouts rank sixth in single-season franchise history among relievers.  Holland held opponents to two home runs over 67.0 innings for a ratio of 0.27 per nine innings, second-best in the American League among pitchers who threw at least 65.0 innings.  He became the first Kansas City reliever with seven or more wins in a season since 2000.

Yesterday, the Royals announced that shortstop Alcides Escobar won the 2012 Joe Burke Special Achievement award.

Kansas City, MO (November 5, 2012) – The Kansas City Royals have announced that shortstop Alcides Escobar was selected as the 2012 Joe Burke Special Achievement Award winner.  The award was voted on by the Kansas City Chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA).  The Joe Burke is awarded to an unsung player who contributed above and beyond what was expected, or someone who the writers felt deserved some recognition for an outstanding season.

Escobar had a breakout offensive season in 2012, his second with Kansas City after being acquired from the Milwaukee Brewers on December 19, 2010.  The 25-year old set career highs with a .293 average, 177 hits, 30 doubles, five home runs, 52 RBI, and 35 stolen bases.  The 177 hits were 13 more than the previous single-season mark for a Royals shortstop.  His .293 average ranked second to New York’s Derek Jeter among MLB shortstops and was the third-highest single-season mark at the position by a Royal.  Escobar’s 35 stolen bases ranked fifth in the American League and were the most by a Royals player since 2003.  He became the first infielder in franchise history to post at least 30 doubles and 30 steals in the same season and the first Royal to accomplish the feat since Carlos Beltran in 2002.  Escobar’s first career multi-homer game on July 14 vs. Chicago was the first by a Royals shortstop since 1997.

ROYALS ANNOUNCE 2013 REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE
Home opener scheduled for April 8 vs. Minnesota

KANSAS CITY, MO (September 12, 2012) — In conjunction with Major League Baseball, the Kansas City Royals today announced their 2013 regular season schedule.  Opening Day is scheduled for Monday, April 1 when the Royals visit the Chicago White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field.  It marks the seventh time in franchise history that the Royals have opened against the White Sox (1972, 1976, 1987, 2003, 2004 and 2009), the third time in Chicago (’76 and ’09).  Kansas City will begin the home schedule on April 8 vs. Minnesota.  All game times will be announced at a later date.

2013 will mark the first season that each league will consist of 15 teams with the Houston Astros joining the American League West.  The Royals and every other Major League club will play 19 games against each divisional opponent, consisting of 76 division games total.

Kansas City will play 20 Interleague contests played over eight series, four home and four on the road.  The Royals will compete against their “prime rival”, the St. Louis Cardinals, in back-to-back two-game series spanning both cities from May 27-30, with the Cardinals visiting Kansas City on May 27-28 and the Royals returning the strip on May 29-30. The club also will host Interleague matchups against Atlanta (June 25-26), Miami (August 12-14) and Washington (August 23-25).  The visit to Kansas City will be the first in franchise history for the Braves.  The Nationals franchise played in Kansas City in 2004 as the Montreal Expos.  The road Interleague schedule also consists of visits to Philadelphia (April 5-7), Atlanta (April 16-17) and the club’s first-ever trip to Citi Field, home of the New York Mets (August 2-4).

Kansas City’s holiday schedule sees the Royals at home on Mother’s Day vs. the Yankees (May 12), Memorial Day vs. St. Louis (May 27), July 4th vs. Cleveland and on Labor Day vs. Seattle (September 2); and on the road at the Rays on Father’s Day (June 16).

The month-by-month home game totals are: April – 11; May – 14; June – 14; July – 13; August – 16; September – 13.  The Royals will host a pair of 10-game homestands, first from April 26 to May 5 and again from August 5-14.  The club’s longest road trips are a pair of nine-game journeys from May 13-22 and July 26-August 4.

The complete 2013 schedule is located here in PDF format..   The game dates are subject to change.

Lost in the roasting of Kansas City over the booing of Robinson Can0 was the sentiment that fans around baseball would not want to see Billy Butler compete in the Home Run Derby because they don’t even know who he is. If nothing else, after the heroic performance of the fans, at least no one can say that anymore. What’s more, it is about time. Time that Billy Butler get the recognition he deserves.

While the chances of Butler breaking Steve Balboni’s embarrassing home run record seem to be fading, he is nonetheless on pace to put together his most impressive season as  Royal. As of July 18, Butler was on pace for .300/32/100 while posting a career best 136 OPS in a lineup that has offered little in the way of protection. What’s more, Butler is well on his way to cementing his place as the best DH in Royals history and quite possibly the second best hitter in franchise history.

At 26 years old, Butler has already joined the Kansas City Royals all-time top ten in doubles (8^th) and RBI (10^th); he also has the fourth best career batting average (.297) and the fifth best OPS+ (121). Butler is under club control until 2015, and assuming he isn’t traded and maintains his pace of the last 2 ½ seasons, his totals will look something like this in October of 2015:

1510 hits- 6^th

351 doubles- 5th

165 home runs- 5th

751 RBI- 6th

510 BB- 5th

Not overly impressive until you think about the fact that he would still only be 29 years old. Considering that Butler is limited to the American League in terms of value, he’s not the type of power hitter that demands a huge contract, and he seems to genuinely enjoy playing in Kansas City, he could very well be the type of player we didn’t think we would see again; a great hitter to play his whole career in Kansas City. It’s foolish to say you can accurately predict what is career would look like if he did, but it’s hard to imagine that he couldn’t play at at least the same level from 26-33 as he has from 23-26. Let’s take a look at those numbers again, assuming he does:

2254 hits- 2nd

527 doubles- 2nd

249 home runs- 2nd

1123 RBI- 2nd

770 BB- 5^th

The point of this is not to project Butler’s stats over an entire career, but it is pretty easy to see that he could make a run at some incredible milestones. Ten years ago we were sure that the economics of baseball would keep us from ever having a member of the 3,000 hit club play their entire career for the Kansas City Royals, Butler could. Here are the hit totals of some of the more recent members of the 3,000 hit club at 26 years old:

Billy Butler- 864

Rafael Palmeiro- 805

Tony Gwyn- 770

Craig Biggio- 624

Wade Boggs- 531

It seemed even less likely that we’d see another Royal get 600 doubles in a Royals uniform, but again, at age 26:

George Brett- 211

Billy Butler- 198

Barry Bonds- 184

Paul Molitor- 147

Every player that has reached either one of those milestones, and is eligible for induction, is in the Hall of Fame except for Rafael Palmeiro. Billy could reach both, even without the expected surge in his performance over the next 3-5 years.  I guess I am okay with the rest of baseball not realizing what a great hitter Billy Butler is, but it would sure be a shame if there was one baseball fan in Kansas City that didn’t.

While we sit around and worry about not being able to sign the Hosmer’s and Moustakas’ of the world, let’s make sure we are celebrating #Country Breakfast, and keeping him around. While we lament the loss of Carlos Beltran, Johnny Damon, and Jermaine Dye, let’s consider that Billy Butler is a better hitter than any of them were through age 26.

You can argue until you’re blue in the face about whether booing Can0 was classless or small-time. I really don’t care even if you’re right. In my eyes it showed an appreciation of Billy that is long overdue, and hopefully the beginning of a love affair that lasts the next 10-15 years.

LINEUPS FOR THE 83^rd ALL-STAR GAME ANNOUNCED

Aces Verlander of the Tigers and Cain of the Giants Earn Starting Honors

KANSAS CITY, MO – The 2012 All-Star Game managers, Tony La Russa and Ron Washington of the Texas Rangers, have announced their starting lineups for the 83^rd Midsummer Classic, to be played on Tuesday at Kauffman Stadium.  The lineups were announced at this afternoon’s 2012 All-Star Game Press Conference.

La Russa’s National League lineup will be:

Washington’s American League lineup will be:

Cain, now a three-time N.L. All-Star, threw the first perfect game in Giants franchise history and the 22^nd of all-time on June 13^th against the Houston Astros.  His 14 strikeouts were tied for the most ever in a perfect game, matching Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax.  The eighth-year hurler, who has a 3.29 career ERA, threw 21.1 innings without allowing an earned run in the 2010 Postseason, helping lift the Giants to the city of San Francisco’s first World Series Championship.  Cain became the sixth pitcher in Major League history to make three starts in a Postseason without allowing an earned run.  His streak of 21.1 innings without allowing an earned run to start his Postseason career is the sixth longest in Major League history.  The durable right-hander has made at least 31 starts in each full season of his career (2006-2011).

Verlander, now a five-time A.L. All-Star, was both the 2011 American League Most Valuable Player and the 2011 A.L. Cy Young Award winner after going 24-5 with a 2.40 ERA, becoming the 10^th pitcher of all-time to win both in the same season and the first since Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley in 1992.  The Old Dominion product was also the A.L. Rookie of the Year in 2006, when he helped Detroit reach the World Series for the first time since 1984.  Verlander becomes the first pitcher ever to win an MVP, a Cy Young, the Rookie of the Year Award and to start an All-Star Game in his career.  Don Newcombe won the three awards but never started the Midsummer Classic in his four All-Star appearances.  Verlander owns a career record of 116-62 with a 3.45 ERA and has thrown two no-hitters in his career.  The Virginia native will become the seventh different Tigers pitcher to start the All-Star Game (10^th overall).

The 2012 All-Star Game will be played at Kauffman Stadium on Tuesday, July 10^th.  The 83^rd All-Star Game will be televised nationally by FOX Sports; in Canada by Rogers Sportsnet and RDS; and worldwide by partners in more than 200 countries via MLB International’s independent feed.  Pregame ceremonies will begin at 8:00 p.m. (ET)/7:00 p.m. (CT).  ESPN Radio and ESPN Radio Deportes will provide exclusive national radio coverage of the All-Star Game.  MLB Network, MLB.com and SiriusXM also will provide comprehensive All-Star Week coverage.

For more information, please visit allstargame.com or royals.com/2012.