St. Louis Cardinals: News And Notes

The St. Louis Cardinals got off to a fast start this 2010 season by going 15-8 in the month of April and opening up a three game lead over the second place Cincinnati Reds.

Since the end of April, the Cardinals have gone 12-13 and now find themselves one game back of the Reds.

So what has happened to the Cardinals over the last 25 games?

Let’s take a look.

Kyle Lohse Has a Rare Condition 

I watched Lohse pitch against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim last Saturday and not only did he pitch terribly (Six runs in 3.1 Innings), but his body language suggested something was seriously wrong.

As it turns out, Lohse was diagnosed with a rare condition called, “extreme compartment syndrome.” Or as my friend Justin calls it, “Sucks Syndrome.”

Lohse is scheduled to undergo surgery on Friday and could make his return in two months.

Since signing his four year, 41 million dollar contract in September of 2008, Lohse has been terrible for the Cardinals.

It was a terrible signing at the time and it looks even worse now. This is a very under-the-radar terrible contract that nobody really talks about.

In Lohse’s place in the rotation will be P.J. Walters.

P.J. Walters sounds like a detective on any of the 100 cop shows on TV. Regardless, Walters pitched five scoreless innings yesterday against the San Diego Padres.

The win was Walters’ first as a major leaguer.

Colby Rasmus is Ice Cold

Rasmus was a huge reason why the Cardinals got off to a hot start in April.

In baseball’s first month, Rasmus hit .323/.463/.708 with six home runs. He looked like an MVP candidate.

May has been a different story. Rasmus is hitting just .205 this month with one home run. I blame this a little bit on the over managing of Tony LaRussa.

Rasmus was killing it in the five-hole, so what does LaRussa do? He moves him to the leadoff spot, then sixth, then seventh, then eighth. Why mess with a good thing? It makes no sense.

Rasmus is the key to the Cardinals’ lineup in my opinion. If he gets going then the Cardinals have a lineup that has tremendous depth. If not, it doesn’t look so good.

It’s not the bullpen’s fault

Collectively, the Cardinals’ bullpen has been very good this year. Whatever issues the Cardinals have had in May, it’s not the bullpen’s fault.

They currently rank second in baseball bullpen ERA (3.00) and sixth in OPS Against (.673). Their bullpen is led by closer Ryan Franklin and setup men Kyle McClellan and the least friendly reliever in the game—Jason Motte.

I say that about Motte because he wouldn’t throw any fan a ball during batting practice last year in Milwaukee. I was one of those fans and once you ignore, The Ghost of Moonlight Graham, you are blacklisted forever.

With the recent injury to Lohse and the unpredictability of Brad Penny, I would say the Cardinals need another starting pitcher to get them over the top in the National League.

However, I am not sure they have the resources (prospects and money) to get Roy Oswalt.

You can follow The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on Twitter @ theghostofmlg