CARDINAL NATION: DOWN, BUT NOT OUT

From the picture above it looks as though Albert Pujols is preparing to attempt a headstand. That would make the man in the red polo his spotter...right?? I WISH!
The news came down from the Cardinals front office yesterday afternoon: our first baseman has a broken bone in his left wrist. He will likely miss 4-6 weeks due to the injury. That means that Albert has a reserved spot on the bench until sometime in August. I'm sure Adam Wainwright and David Freese can save him a seat....
As news spread about Albert's date with the DL, one could almost hear the cheers and clapping coming from the other cities in the NL Central race. I'm willing to bet that Brandon "Big Mouth" Phillips had to sit on his hands to keep from tweeting his joy. Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun & company probably threw a party. My take on the situation? Not so fast boys.

Albert joining an already crowded Disabled List is bad news for St. Louis. It figures that he would get injured right when he was heating up at the plate. His batting average was steadily climbing, but it will now sit dormant at .279 until his return.
There is some good news in all of this, I promise. Don't hit the panic button just yet. Hear me out Cardinal fans...
For starters, Albert was hitting .279! He had the worst offensive start of his career in 2011. Because of his dismal start at the plate, other guys had to step up and make things happen. Remember Daniel Descalso? How many late-inning heroics has he come up with so far? Pujols's injury clears the way for more Zeroes to become Heroes.

Another plus to the situation is that Lance Berkman will probably anchor first base in Albert's absence, which in turn gets John Jay's hot bat into the lineup. One thing that people tend to overlook is Albert's gold-glove winning defense on the corner. That will be missed just as much as his bat. It's obvious from the couple of chances he's had at first so far that Lance is a tad rusty: I think a few more reps in practice could work wonders.

As long as Berkman doesn't break a hip and Ryan Theriot remembers which hand his glove goes on, my Redbirds will be just fine. When Albert Pujols returns to the lineup in August, there will still be a lot of baseball to be played. As much as people might like to believe it, one guy does not define an entire team.

I hate to say it St Louis, but we might have to get used to winning without #5. It could be good practice for next year...

CAN YOU SAY CHOKE

Tuesday night, Jaime Garcia didn't have his best stuff. In the beginning of the game, he didn't need it. Pujols and Berkman each hit a bomb, and the Cardinals had some unlikely sources come through in a 3 run 5'th inning. The Birds were up 6-1 going into the bottom of the 5'th when Ryan Theriot forgot how to use his glove.

Brendan Ryan was our shortstop in 2010. Brendan is one of the best defensive shortstops in the game today, but he couldn't hit worth a crap (at least when he was wearing a Cardinals uniform). So we sent him packing to rainy Seattle and the Mariners, and traded Blake Hawksworth to the Dodgers for Theriot. Theriot came in, and from Day 1 of Spring Training you could see that the guy knows how to get on base. He's batting lead-off for us, just finished a 20-game hitting streak, and is hitting .296 on the year.

On the field it's another story. Theriot's fielding skills are pretty pathetic. We're not even at the halfway point of the 2011 season and he has already made 13 errors. Watching him Tuesday night made me want to cover my eyes or hide my head under the blanket. That seems to happen a lot lately...There were 3 balls hit to him in a row, and he couldn't make a play on any of them. At one point he booted the ball and was crawling on his hands and knees with it in front him, but he still couldn't pick it up.

Nobody is perfect, and Theriot is trying his best. It just seems that having a sound defensive shortstop who is also a solid hitter is impossible, at least in St Louis anymore. I am by no means saying that the loss on Tuesday was all Ryan Theriot's fault. Although his defensive miscues were difficult to watch, he contributed at the plate with 2 hits and 2 walks. No, for last night's disaster I blame the Cardinals bullpen...

Miguel Batista was a Washinton National in 2010. He started the bottom of the 7'th inning in relief of Jaime, with a 4 run lead. All he needed was 9 more outs. Instead, Batista, Miller, and Motte combined to give up 6 runs, and all of a sudden we were down by 2.

The bullpen has been shaky all year. It makes me wish that our starters could throw complete games every time out, so that we never have to hand the ball over to the guys in the pen. I know that being a relief pitcher in the Major Leagues has to be hard. Sometimes you only get one shot to get a guy out. But here's a news flash: it's your job, so do it!

Yes, once again I am bitter. The best news from yesterday came out of Wrigley Field, where the Cubs came from behind and beat the Brewers 5-4 with Starlin Castro's walk-off single. This is even more frustrating, because St. Louis should have picked up a game on Milwaukee, but thanks to Theriot and the bullpen, we are still tied in 1'st place. Can't wait to see what the Cardinals have in store for us tonight...(sarcasm, like always)