Observations From Cards Dodgers First Two Games

The Cardinals are half way through the 4 game series with the Dodgers which could decide a whole lot about both teams going forward in the hunt for the second Wild Card playoff spot in the National League.  After watching these games, there have been a few things that have stood out for both teams.  In a way, the Dodgers and Cardinals are very similar, but in different ways.  Both teams struggle to score runs despite having offenses that should be capable of putting up crooked numbers.  Both teams also boast star filled rotations with some starters performing much better than their won loss record suggests (Lohse and Kershaw) along with other starters who pitch much worse than their resumes would suggest they are capable (Beckett and Garcia).  Both of these teams also have young managers who are lacking the type of success that they would like at this point in their careers, and that is where we will start.

Mike Matheny has done about a C+ job of managing the Cardinals this season.  He has been good enough to allow a roster of players who were talented enough to win the World Series last season minus their one superstar player who ironically left for greener grass on the other side of Los Angeles, to be in contention for the newly added second wild card slot.  This does not sound particularly flattering, and to be honest it is not meant to.  Matheny has made some questionable moves this season, but one particular move last night left me completely perplexed.  He went to Sam Freeman in the bottom of the 7^th inning last night against the Dodgers.  I know that the Dodgers had multiple left handed batters in the inning, but Freeman has done little right this season, and despite his potentially big fastball, he exited the game with an ERA over 6.  At that point in the game, I would rather see some combination of Rzepcyzynski (who is really not a whole lot better but at least more experienced and less shaky on the mound).  At that point the Dodgers were only up by 2 runs and the Cardinals were still at least in the game.  I understand that the bridge to Boggs and Motte is a perilous one filled with holes and rotten wood, how is Freeman a better option than mixing and matching with Salas and Rzepcyznski who have been there before.  No one would criticize Matheny if he used these guys and they failed.  He should be criticized if the guy who should be the emergency guy out of the bullpen when all else fails is called in with bullets still in the chamber.

We have been talking about the Cardinals’ line up being far less than the sum of its parts, but let’s look at this Dodgers’ team.  I almost felt like the Cardinals were doing ok after watching a combination of Victorino, Ethier, Kemp, Hanley Ramirez, and Adrian Gonzalez struggling to put up more than a one run in Game 1 of this series against the young and talented if not consistent, Lance Lynn.  While the Cardinals do seem to struggle to score with nothing but .300 hitters, the Dodgers have perennial All-Stars and legitimate super stars in their lineup the likes of which dwarf the one Cardinal who could be viewed as a legitimate superstar by the majority of people who do not follow the team’s daily performance, Matt Holiday.  While this roster is overwhelmingly frightening from the stand point of what it could do when/if everyone starts clicking, I can only hope that this roster can assimilate an underachieving Boston Red Sox 2.0 in Los Angeles for the rest of the season.

Lance Lynn looked like the man who pitched at the beginning of the season for the Cardinals.  He began the game looking almost unsure of himself and unconfident similar to how he had been looking in other games recently, but he warmed up as the game went along.  There was one point in particular when you could see Lynn transform into the pitcher that the Cardinals hoped he could be.  In the bottom of the 4^th inning, Lynn looked like he might have been running into his old demons.  He gave up a single to Matt Kemp and fell behind Adrian Gonzalez.  He then struck out Gonzalez with a fastball and Molina threw out Kemp trying to score.  The next batter was Hanley Ramirez, and Lynn started throwing like it was May again, blowing 95 mile an hour fastballs right by the talented shortstop of the Dodgers.

In speaking of Molina throwing out potential base stealers.  Is there anyone better than this guy?  I mean really, I get goose bumps just thinking about how amazing Molina is behind the plate as well as standing next to it with a bat.  He is 5 for 7 in this series so far with a homerun and 3 runs scored.  Is there any doubt that the Cardinals would be down 0 and 2 in the series if it were not for his throwing out runners and finding ways to score despite foot speed that rivals your average sloth?  If there is a player more deserving of MVP votes who will most likely get fewer votes than Molina this season, I would like to hear about it.  He is an MVP that you need only to open your eyes to see, not stare at line after line of numbers searching for some magical variable which tells us what we already know: Molina is amazing.

Other than Molina’s tremendous defense, these Cardinals are rough to watch for anyone who remembers the likes of Jim Edmonds, Mike Matheny, Scott Rolen, Edgar Renteria, Fernando Vina or the other great Cardinal defensive players of the last decade.  David Freese seems capable of making both a great play on occasion and seems scared to get in front of a ball or just too slow to try the next.  He is good for probably one more runner a game at this point, and then there is the other side of the diamond, where Allan Craig’s stone hands reside.  Add in the playing of Matt Carpenter at second base and Descalso’s good glove but diminished range at short stop and you have quite possibly the worst defensive infield possible.  They might as well invite Ryan Theriot back to complete the ineptness.  I could talk much more about this, but I believe that the Cardinals of the future should look to move Freese to first base, Craig to the outfield, and let Carpenter or whatever other young guy coming up to play third base.  I believe that will give them a more capable infield defense which could compliment the pitch to contact philosophy of the pitching staff.

Finally, I am impressed with Matt Carpenter.  I think the guy is a good player, and should continue to get time down the stretch.  He is the type of scrappy guy who the rest of the Cardinals need to emulate as the post season approaches.  Carpenter plays with the type of energy and excitement that needs to stay in the lineup, even if a double switch is being made.  Oh and by the way, the Cardinals were putting Rosenthal in the 6^th hoping for only one inning right?  Then they would go to Mujica, Boggs, and Motte to close out the game.  In that case, why do a double switch when Rosenthal would just be pinch hit for in the bottom of the inning anyway?  Why burn matt Carpenter just to show that Matheny knows the nuances of the National League where a double switch is possible? 

Let’s just hope that the Cardinals can learn from the mistakes of Game 2 enough to give them a chance to win, and Garcia can figure enough out to last more than 4 innings this time.