With the major league baseball season being a little past the halfway point, and the Cardinals having just completed big trades for Julio Lugo, Mark DeRosa, and Matt Holiday, it's a good time to see how the predictions I made about the Cardinals at the start of the season are faring so far...
1) The Cardinals will finish with an 82-80 record. TBD. As of tonight, on pace for 86 wins. If the team stays healthy, with the new additions, I think they will win 90. But we'll see.
2) Khalil Greene will win National League Comeback Player of the Year honors. Strike. Khalil has been banished to the minor leagues where he is learning to cope with social anxiety disorder. Maybe next year.
3) Skip Schumaker won't stick at second base. Strike. Skip has been adequate on the balls he gets to, but his range is very poor at second base. He is a very good outfielder, however, the addition of Holiday in the outfield would seem to suggest Skip will stick at second.
4) Albert Pujols and Rick Ankiel will start on the National League All-Star team. Half right. Albert was a no brainer. Ankiel has had a very poor season. Missed Molina and Franklin making the team. (Who did predict Franklin?)
5) Chris Duncan will underperform, and Tony LaRussa will keep playing him. Hit. I nailed this one, until Duncan was traded yesterday.
6) Jason Motte will save 30+ games. Strike. After blowing the save on opening day, Motte was replaced by Franklin as the closer, and Franklin has obviously excelled. Motte has proven to be a solid set-up man, and is probably the closer of the future.
7) Chris Carpenter will win 16-18 games. TBD. Due to injuries, it will be hard for Carpenter to hit 16 wins, but he could if he gets hot.
8) Joe Mather will fight his way back on the club, and hit 15-20 homers. Strike. Not going to happen. Mather has been hurt at Triple A all year. Maybe next year.
9) The Cardinals will trade for a veteran bat to hit 4th behind Pujols. Bingo.
10) Tony La Russa will bat the pitcher clean-up. (Just kidding . . . Or am I?) Not yet, but you never know!
One more thing... If you follow the Cardinals, you know that broadcaster Al Hrabosky and manager Tony LaRussa have been fueding in the media. Hrabosky made a comment during a recent telecast insinuating Yadier Molina (our all-star catcher) is lazy because he didn't run out a pop-up, and LaRussa took exception to it... The only thing I can say is that Hrabosky is right. Molina has moments where he is very lazy. In the game tonight, with the Cardinals up by seven runs and a runner on third base, Molina stabbed at a pitch in the dirt, rather than sliding over to block it with his body (as a catcher is taught to do). The ball got past him, and the run scored easily. You think that's not a big deal in a seven run game, but at some point that laziness will cost the Cardinals a game.
1) The Cardinals will finish with an 82-80 record. TBD. As of tonight, on pace for 86 wins. If the team stays healthy, with the new additions, I think they will win 90. But we'll see.
2) Khalil Greene will win National League Comeback Player of the Year honors. Strike. Khalil has been banished to the minor leagues where he is learning to cope with social anxiety disorder. Maybe next year.
3) Skip Schumaker won't stick at second base. Strike. Skip has been adequate on the balls he gets to, but his range is very poor at second base. He is a very good outfielder, however, the addition of Holiday in the outfield would seem to suggest Skip will stick at second.
4) Albert Pujols and Rick Ankiel will start on the National League All-Star team. Half right. Albert was a no brainer. Ankiel has had a very poor season. Missed Molina and Franklin making the team. (Who did predict Franklin?)
5) Chris Duncan will underperform, and Tony LaRussa will keep playing him. Hit. I nailed this one, until Duncan was traded yesterday.
6) Jason Motte will save 30+ games. Strike. After blowing the save on opening day, Motte was replaced by Franklin as the closer, and Franklin has obviously excelled. Motte has proven to be a solid set-up man, and is probably the closer of the future.
7) Chris Carpenter will win 16-18 games. TBD. Due to injuries, it will be hard for Carpenter to hit 16 wins, but he could if he gets hot.
8) Joe Mather will fight his way back on the club, and hit 15-20 homers. Strike. Not going to happen. Mather has been hurt at Triple A all year. Maybe next year.
9) The Cardinals will trade for a veteran bat to hit 4th behind Pujols. Bingo.
10) Tony La Russa will bat the pitcher clean-up. (Just kidding . . . Or am I?) Not yet, but you never know!
One more thing... If you follow the Cardinals, you know that broadcaster Al Hrabosky and manager Tony LaRussa have been fueding in the media. Hrabosky made a comment during a recent telecast insinuating Yadier Molina (our all-star catcher) is lazy because he didn't run out a pop-up, and LaRussa took exception to it... The only thing I can say is that Hrabosky is right. Molina has moments where he is very lazy. In the game tonight, with the Cardinals up by seven runs and a runner on third base, Molina stabbed at a pitch in the dirt, rather than sliding over to block it with his body (as a catcher is taught to do). The ball got past him, and the run scored easily. You think that's not a big deal in a seven run game, but at some point that laziness will cost the Cardinals a game.
