Perhaps it can be attributed to my overly-cautious and paranoid nature, but I'm simply not convinced that the current formula utilized by the St. Louis Cardinals is capable of keeping the Redbirds at an arms-length from Chicago.
Saturday's dramatic conclusion partially changed my mind, but I am not fully convinced.
For one, as much as it pains me to admit it, they are not the New York Yankees, and they cannot mash a longball on command to win a game in the ninth inning, unless Albert Pujols comes to the plate.
Second, while it's almost a guaranteed victory when Chris Carpenter, Adam Wainwright, and Joel Pineiro take the mound, the remaining two slots are 3-13 since the All-Star break. That is much worse than the former's 20-3 record.
The issue is simple: The Cardinals need to improve the back-end of their rotation. As it stands currently, in a five-game series (if such thing exists) the Cardinals would accumulate three wins and two losses.
In my opinion, that simply will not cut it.
I'm not sure if anyone has suggested this, but I will do it regardless. Why not insert Blake Hawksworth into the rotation?
As we saw in the series with the Los Angeles Dodgers, he's capable of going four innings with no difficulty. Additionally, those Dodgers are some of the best hitters in baseball. Even more so, they had already been to the plate roughly six times, and Hawksworth still shut them down.
His performance on Saturday seemed to prove his case, as he came in to pitch during a stressful situation, then he promptly induced a double-play, and struck out the next batter. There's no reason to question his stuff. It's likely his stuff is better than Brad Thompson, and they allowed him to start for almost a month.
And so I ask: Why not give Blake Hawksworth a chance?
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