Tagged: P. J. Walters
Those Sneaky Snakes
Coming
off a triumphant sweep of the Houston Astros, the St. Louis Cardinals traveled
to Arizona to go Diamondback hunting. The Snakes put up a pretty good fight, but the
Cardinals won the series 2-1. The Cardinals are
leading the Central, a full game ahead of the Cubs. Yet, with Carpenter injured again, it feels
like we are losing.
Chris
Carpenter
Chris
Carpenter, if you are reading this (which, of course, you are not), I want you
to stop now. Fans, continue on:
Chris
Carpenter needs to believe that he can comeback and have a full healthy
season. I want him to believe that. However, as fans, we need to be
realistic. The fragility of Carpenter has
been proven over and over. Injuries are
not a matter of “if”, but “when”, “how severe” and “how long”.
Yet, the
few innings he has taken the mound, both this year and last, have been
beautiful. The thing that amazes me most
is the man can be out for months and months, but when he comes back, he throws
a gem.
So,
fellow fans, we need to thing of Carpenter as gravy. Or, dessert.
Anything he does this year will be a bonus. A treat.
Something to be savored, but not counted on. The rest of the starting rotation has to be
the meat and potatoes. Fortunately, they
are proving that they can be.
Starter
#6 – I actually called it
Before
Chris Carpenter made it to the clubhouse at the top of the fourth on Tuesday,
speculation began about who would be called on to start in his spot. Names were tossed about: Kyle McClellan, Brad Thompson, Mitchell
Boggs. However, a different name came to
my mind, and I thought I must be wrong since no one seemed to be saying it.
In an
email to a friend this morning, I gave the name of the Memphis Redbird who I
thought would get the call–just to go on record. When I saw the Chris Perez and Mitchell Boggs
call ups today, I knew I had missed it.
But, maybe
not. Later, I checked St. Louis
Post-Dispatch website, and there he was:
P. J. Walters. Walters will be
joining the Cardinals rotation on Friday against the Cubs, which will give an
extra day of rest for Lohse, Wellemeyer and Pineiro.
I saw P.
J. Walters pitch in Chris Carpenter’s spot in one of the Cardinals’ exhibition
games in Memphis. And, he pitched well,
giving up only one run, which was unearned.
Walters also had a fine start against the Oklahoma City Redhawks, going
seven shutout innings, giving up only 2 hits and 1 walk.
Walters,
24, was drafted by the Cardinals in the 11th round in 2006. He spent most of 2008 in Triple-A
Memphis. He had a great Spring Training.
He will make his Major League debut at Wrigley Field going against Carlos
Zambrano. It does not get much bigger
than that. Welcome to the bigs, Mr.
Walters.
Notes
on the D-Backs Series
Despite the double loss in Tuesday’s game, there were many positives that came out of this series. Felipe Lopez was not one of them.
Felipe
Lopez
Late last
year, Felipe Lopez’s major league career was in the waste basket. The Nationals put him on waivers. How bad is your year going when possibly the
worst team in baseball kicks you out?
The
Cardinals picked him up, dusted him off and he became a new man. He hit like crazy in a Cardinals uniform. He seemed to earn a spot in St. Louis.
Yet, he did not get one. The
Diamondbacks picked him up.
During
this series, Lopez was very much the rattlesnake we turned our back on. He struck and struck and struck. Hitting the ball again and again. Making great defensive plays. He was a Cardinal killer.
Don’t get
me wrong, I like Lopez. I am glad he is
having success. I just wish he would go
have it against the other National League teams, and not so much mine.
Todd
Wellemeyer
In Monday’s
start, Todd Wellemeyer looked like, well, Todd Wellemeyer. That is the Todd Wellemeyer that was named
the National League’s Pitcher of the Month in May of last year. Not, the Todd Wellemeyer that has struggled
in Spring Training. The slight change in
his delivery seemed to do the trick.
Great to have him back on track!
His
outing rounded out a five game winning streak by Cardinals starting pitching. It
was five beautiful days where, in the best possible way, it was impossible to
tell which pitcher is the staff ace.
Brian
Barden
Wow. Game winning home run in his first game
against the team that originally drafted him and waivered him. In addition, he made contributions both
offensively and defensively to keep the Cardinals in Tuesday’s game. While we look rather longingly at Felipe
Lopez and wonder what might have been, D-Back fans are scratching their heads
trying to remember why they let Barden go.
Yadier
Molina
Even with
a day off on Monday, Molina got a workout behind the plate. In particular, catching seven different
pitchers on Tuesday when Carpenter left after the third.
On top of
that he was an offensive force, taking great at bats ending in clutch hits,
getting on base and even racking up a critical stolen base that put him in
position to score. In two games, he has
racked up two runs, four hits, four RBI’s and three walks. He was on base five out of five times in
Wednesday’s matinee with 3 hits and 2 walks.
Up
Next
So far,
the Cardinals look like a great team, with a plethora of tools and moving
parts. As a whole, they have been sharp
and effective. Of course, the
competition has been the Pirates, Astros and Diamondbacks. Not to discount these talented clubs, but
they are not the cubs.
The
Cardinals go to Wrigley for a four-game series with the Chicago cubs. Their mettle will be tested. Come Monday, we will know.
Maybe it was Memphis
Maybe it was Memphis
Maybe it was southern summer nights
Maybe it was you maybe it was me
But it sure felt right
-Michael Anderson
Since I will see both minor and major league games this year, it
did feel right to start off my season seeing both the St. Louis Cardinals and the Memphis Redbirds play two exhibition games over the weekend. The match-up took place at Auto Zone Park on historic Union Avenue in Memphis Tennessee.
Walking into the ballpark, I felt I had died and gone to redbird
heaven. The entire field was covered
with St. Louis Cardinals and future St. Louis Cardinals, such a beautiful
sight.
I had heard that Auto Zone Park was even
nicer than AT&T Ballpark, the home of the Oklahoma City Redhawks. And, the ten-year-old park is nice, but I do
not think it has anything on the ballpark in Oklahoma
City. AT&T
Ballpark managed to add historic value to a new park, by making monuments to Oklahoma born players,
such as Johnny Bench, Mickey Mantle and others.
The park in Memphis is missing
the historic element.
However, you know you are in Memphis when you are
greeted by a live band playing in the courtyard, just inside the front
gates. In the city that gave birth to
the Memphis sound, music is everywhere. Also, the courtyard is graced with the lovely Memphis Redbird Red Hots.
I knew I took a bunch of pictures, but even I was surprised when I uploaded them to my computer that there were 600+ taken over the course of two days. Unbelievable. I swear, I did not have my finger on the button the whole time. I actually kept a scorecard, too. But, evidently I was very busy. So, when I say here are “just a few” pictures, you will know I mean it.
Everybody stops to watch Albert Pujols take batting practice. I think he could sell tickets to his batting practice to raise money for the Pujols Family Foundation.
The Cardinals 25-man roster includes a number of rookies. Here are just a few getting ready to take batting practice: Infielders, Joe Thurston and David Freese, and outfielder, Colby Rasmus. I believe fellow rookie, infielder, Brian Barden was in the cage.
New Shortstop, Khalil Greene, looks happy to be a Cardinal. He had a great spring training, and hit a bomb in Memphis, so we are so happy to have him.
Yadier Molina heads to work.
One of my favorite game sights is the catcher, starting pitcher and pitching coach walking in from the bullpen, all warmed up and ready to go. The walk means it is almost game time. In the first picture are Yadier Molina, P. J. Walters and Dave Duncan. P. J. Walters, who will start in Triple-A Memphis, made a spot start for the Cardinals in Friday’s game in place of Chris Carpenter. Walters had a very fine outing, as the Cardinals won 13-1.
The second picture is Yadier Molina, Joel Pineiro and Dave Duncan. Joel Pineiro had a great spring training, and he pitched well on Saturday. He got into a couple jams, but did not loose his cool. He pitched better the longer he went. The Cardinals won 7-3.
Another beautiful sight:
I took the following two pictures, because I wondered if the kid in the #12 Aaron Miles jersey was asking John Mozeliak, “Hey, Mo. Why didn’t you pick up Miles? Now, I need a new jersey. Forget the autograph. I want a new jersey.”
Amazingly enough, another kid walked up with a #12 T-shirt. I imagined him asking the same question.
This is a nice shot of Khalil Greene , but the guy on second base got my attention over the weekend. Memphis center fielder, Shane Robinson, has a nice bat. He made a great diving catch in center, and literally climbed the wall to try to get to a Rick Ankiel home run that was long gone.
But, I found the following shot of him hilarious. From left to right (field), we have Jon Jay (5’9″), Shane Robinson (5’7″) and Joe Mather (6’4″). Mather looks like a Giant.
Chris Carpenter was scratched from the Friday start, which is fine with me. There is always a worry that he has X number of pitches left. No need to waste them on an exhibition game. He was reported to have a calf injury, but if he can cop a catcher’s squat to catch Adam Wainwright, the calf must be healed.
Before Saturday’s day game, I was at the park before it was open. So, I decided to take a little walk all the way around it. When I got to the back of the park, the gate was open. I resisted the urge to trespass. However, I could see through to the field. I was not surprised by what I saw: Third Base/Infield Coach, Jose Oquendo was hitting early morning ground balls to Skip Schumaker. Here is a picture of Schumaker warming up later.
Speaking of Jose Oquendo, late in the game on Saturday, he was sent in to pinch hit. The crowd went wild. He fouled off a couple and then drew a walk. When he took his lead at first, the crowd wanted him to steal. He got moved around to third base. He had an opportunity to tag and score on a fly ball, but evidently, he did not send himself. Ironically, he was stranded at the base he will be coaching all year.
The-closer-who-must-not-be-named, Jason Motte, pitched in the ninth inning Saturday.
Not to be outdone by the Cardinals coaching staff, Memphis Redbirds Manager, Chris Maloney, sent himself in to pinch hit. He made nice contact, but grounded out to finish the game.
Ballpark Food Note
I give the ballpark hot dog a grade of “B”. Good quality hot dog, toasted bun. Good, but not fantastic. The unique food to have are the barbecued pork nachos. Very good, but very pricy at $8.50. The hotdogs were $4.00
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