St. Louis Cardinals: Having Flashbacks

Wonderful to have actual baseball to talk about. Even if yesterday's game reminds us of the dead-horse arguments and comments from last year.

Terrible numbers with runners in scoring position. A bullpen that let the lead get away.  Does any of this sound familiar?

Not that you can extrapolate and expect that 2009 will be a repeat of 2008. Those that let the lead get away won't be in St. Louis come Opening Day. A number of the hitters won't be either. And you can always chant the spring mantra, it's early.

What was good about yesterday's game? How about Blake Hawksworth?  A strong two-and-two-thirds, getting strikes and allowing no runs. As we talked about last night in the UCB Radio Hour (which you really should listen to if you missed it—download it from iTunes!), with more performances like that, he'll move to the front of the line when it comes to a need for a replacement due to injury or Joel Pineiro's ineffectiveness.

Colby Rasmus had two hits, including a double, as he starts his quest to shove other outfielders aside and take a starting job. Skip Schumaker also had two hits, even if he didn't get a ground ball. It was interesting that both outfielders in the infield (Schumaker and Joe Mather) caught popups for their first chances.

In other news, it was disclosed that David Freese's injury came from a car accident earlier in the year. I don't know that it matters much—he told the team, it was a weather thing, not an alcohol thing, he'll be ready soon—but it does solve at least one minor mystery.

The only problem for him is that now Joe Mather is getting a shot to establish himself at third, at least in the minds of those that make the decisions. Freese may have to work a little harder to overcome that head start.

Cards head over to Orioles camp for today's action. Kyle Lohse will take the mound, followed by Chris Perez, Brad Furnish, Ian Ostlund and Charlie Manning. Get our first look at a couple of the LOOGY candidates. This is the first lineup I've seen:

Joe Thurston 2B
Joe Mather 3B
Colby Rasmus CF
Ryan Ludwick RF
Chris Duncan 1B
Yadier Molina C
Brian Barton DH
Jon Jay LF
Tyler Greene SS

Lots of intriguing things there.  Neat to see Colby sitting in the three slot. That's a pretty strong 2-6 and I don't mind seeing Barton in the lineup either. Thurston gets his first chance to make an impression, trying to at least earn the platoon spot with Schumaker. 

Jon Jay probably better appreciate these ABs, because he won't be getting too many of them in the major league camp with all the other outfielders.

That's a pretty fun lineup. I'm ready to see how they'll do. The Cards will face Dannys Baez, who is trying to go from the bullpen to the rotation. Everywhere you look, people are following the Cardinals lead...

If you've not signed up for Twitter, consider doing so.  Matthew Leach and Derrick Goold, along with 101 ESPN have been providing great detail on that format and, since today's game is only on Gameday Audio, it's a great way to keep up.  CardsClubhouse will have a game thread going as well if you want to talk to other fans.