St. Louis Cardinals: Cutting Them Down to Size

Along with a loss to go into an off day, yesterday was particularly painful for some players, as they were reassigned to the minor-league camp, ending their shot (for the most part) of starting the season in St. Louis.

None of the cuts were all that surprising, though it was slightly disappointing to see Brian Barton go down. Barton could be an interesting bat off the bench for the Cardinals, especially since he's right-handed, but getting more regular at-bats in Memphis may be better for his development. 

With as many outfielders on the roster, either actually playing outfield or masquerading as infielders, he might have been sitting around a lot in St. Louis.

The case of Allen Craig is a little peculiar. Not really that he was sent down, even though that close to .500 average for the spring probably made that decision a little tougher, but the fact that he didn't play third at all during the spring. 

I guess that the team was already committed to Joe Mather if he could at all hack it and Craig probably won't play third at Memphis either (with David Freese or Brett Wallace or both there), but still, with him hitting that well and third being his natural position, you'd have thought they'd have looked a little longer.

Charlie Manning had to know this was coming once Dennys Reyes signed. I like having him in Memphis, though, if either Reyes or Trever Miller gets hurt. I'd expect Royce Ring will wind up being cut soon, but they'll keep him and Ian Ostlund around while they need arms in the spring.

Jess Todd, like Craig, probably made a positive impression on the staff, though his last outing wasn't that great.  They'll remember these days when it's time to promote someone to fill a slot due to injury or trade. 

There's no doubt he's learned some things this spring as well.

On to the game.  Cards got out to the early lead but just couldn't hold off the Tigers.  Todd Wellmeyer didn't look as sharp as he did last time out, allowing four runs in five innings. 

That's going to happen from time to time, so we'll have to see how he bounces back from this one next week.

Jason Motte was about the only person to distinguish himself on the mound, striking out the side.  It's probably telling that he wasn't part of the cuts that were made yesterday.

Offensively, Albert Pujols cracked his first home run of the spring. Just what pitchers want to see, him starting to pick up the power just in time for Opening Day. Khalil Greene had another big day, going 3-for-3. 

He's hitting .447 on the spring, folks. He hits 60 percent of that in the regular season, with some pop, and this lineup is going to be so dangerous.

Skip Schumaker is still playing second base and still hitting (two hits yesterday), plus he hasn't made an error since the possibility of him not playing there blew up, so it's becoming clearer that, at least to start the season, Skip will be playing second.

Tony La Russa is apparently looking at Chris Duncan, Rick Ankiel, and Ryan Ludwick to bat behind Pujols and help make sure someone pitches to El Hombre. Hitting in front of Albert is usually the most cushy spot, because you know that pitchers aren't going to walk you.

They'd rather make sure you have a chance to get out rather than face AP with runners on.

Behind the man, though, seems to be a different story. If you look at the numbers, I think Ludwick has proven he can hit back there for the most part. Duncan and Ankiel right now tend to need the protection of Pujols to make sure they can do their most damage.

Hopefully the entire lineup will be solid enough that, if the cleanup man doesn't come through, the next guy will. If the entire lineup is clicking, pitchers won't want to be putting extra men on base anywhere, even if it is Pujols.

We've got more UCB transcripts up! 4thebirds talks about the offseason, The Redbird Blog asked for some bold predictions and La Beisbolista discussed the next retired number.  Should be seeing one up at 5 O'Clock Blogger later today.

John Rooney has a pretty decent reputation in Cardinal Nation, racking up an 82.2% approval rating. I gave him an 80, because while he does get a little overly excited sometimes, he's got a voice that just says baseball to me.  I can't explain it more than he sounds like a baseball announcer and that's a good thing.

Today, we check in on the other side of the media divide and ask about our color analyist on the TV side, Al Hrbrosky. Al seems to rile people up a lot.  Do you factor his Cardinal career into your rating? Do you like it when Al gets going with Dan? Leave your rating in the comments!