Caution: Brooms In Use

You know you are in a skid when neither Chris Carpenter nor Adam Wainwright can stop it.

Save for Ryan Ludwick's three-run homer, the Cardinal bats were again quiet last night.  Yadier Molina was a bit too powerful in the ninth, getting a ground-rule double instead of the regular sort that would have scored Albert Pujols.  Then again, if something is going to go wrong with this team, it's likely going to happen right about now.

Pujols was a strike away from having a hitless series, his second of the year.  I thought I'd go back and see how many hitless series he's had in the past and if there was any pattern the hits he got, whether he usually went through these cycles.  Then the charts that I made were too crowded and it took me too long to go through the last five years, much less the beginning of his career, but let me see what we have.

First off, there are 52 series a year.  Here's the number of the first series AP went hitless:

2010: 15 (vs. LA Angels)

2009: 34 (vs. Houston)

2008: 21 (at Houston)

2007: 5 (vs. Pittsburgh--two game series)

2006: 9 (at Cincinnati--two game series and only played game one)

So he's done the hitless thing earlier in the year.  In fact, in 2006, he had two hitless series by this time.

How many hits has he had by this time in those year?

So even if the hits aren't necessarily of the form we are used to or timed when we'd like to see them, he's within his general range.

Let's project, if we can.  The Cards just finished their 20th series.  What has Pujols done in series 21-25?

2009: 19 hits

2008: 1 hit (missed three complete series with a DL stint)

2007: 17 hits

2006: 6 hits (missed three complete series with a DL stint)

If Albert can stay healthy, this is about the time he really picks up some steam.  He's always been one of the best interleague hitters, and that's where this usually falls on the schedule.  After this upcoming Arizona series, there are four straight series against AL opponents.  If history is any indication, he'll get a bit of a kickstart there.

Rough night for Skip Schumaker last night, with three strikeouts in three at-bats.  The dropoff of Schumaker and Ryan has been a large part of the weakness in the offense.  There's got to be more than Pujols and Matt Holliday, and while Ludwick and Colby Rasmus are doing their part, contributions from other sources would help out.

As for Wainwright, well, you can't be perfect all the time.  We knew from looking at the numbers yesterday that the Dodgers had been able to handle him in the past and it sounds like the strike zone wasn't in his favor at all.  He limited the damage after Manny Ramirez's blast in the first inning, though that single by Blake Dewitt proved to be the difference.  Nothing too concerning, just a bump in the road that came at the wrong time for a team that needed a win.

After some initial "no, we're fine" talk, it looks like the club is out searching for pitching options.  My discussion of them going after Cliff Lee and picking up salary may not be that out of whack, though it's not discussed in the story.  They don't want to pay for Kevin Millwood, but that's not surprising since he's owed $12 million this year and, though they are overrated and not quite his fault, doesn't have a win for the Orioles.  (Lee's only at $8 million for the year, and I still think with the Type A status he'll be bestowed, it's completely worth a push.)  Brian Bannister's name comes up in that story and he'd probably get along famously with Dave Duncan, though you wouldn't want to spend too much in the prospect line for him.

However, any discussion about Jeff Suppan really needs to be nipped in the bud.  Loved Soup while he was here, but everyone knew he wouldn't be able to sustain it in Milwaukee, at least not for the length of the contract.  Last year, his numbers were 5.29 (ERA), 1.69 (WHIP) and .306 (BAA).  It would be difficult for an effective pitcher to do worse than that, but this year they are 7.84/2.00/.388.  He's 35, which isn't out of the realm of possibility for a pitcher to bounce back, but being that he wasn't exactly top notch to start with and really can't change his pitching style all that much, even a league minimum deal is more than he's probably worth right now.

Cards get a day off, which is huge since that should mean Rasmus and David Freese will be ready to go for Arizona.  We'll try to take a look at Friday's game tomorrow morning.