10% through the season...

[Transmogrified Tiger]

The Cardinals rotation is Wainwright, Lohse who just hurt his knee, and pray for rain. Unless they pick up Halladay, there's not much to worry about.

 

you're leaving out wellemeyer, who was legitimately good last year and seems to be magically flourishing there, so i wouldn't write him off as "pray for rain." pineiro isn't good and boggs is terrible, but if carpenter comes back after the all star break that's four above-average starters. plus they do have a pretty good minor league system now and can make a trade if they're in contention.

 

Wellemeyer's WHIP is 2, and Carpenter is quickly falling to Priordom levels of health.

[TruffleShuffle]

that's in 4 games. last year he had a 1.25 WHIP and a .245/.308/.416 line against. he's not "pray for rain".

[Rob]

that's in 4 games. last year he had a 1.25 WHIP and a .245/.308/.416 line against. he's not "pray for rain".

 

He also forces the Cards to throw their bullpen out there for four innings each time he starts.

[XZero771679666304]

that's in 4 games. last year he had a 1.25 WHIP and a .245/.308/.416 line against. he's not "pray for rain".

 

I'd hardly consider his one decent season a basis for expectation. With the rotation they have now, I can't imagine them maintaining anything close to their current pace for much longer. If the Cubs pull their heads out of their arses, it's conceivable to me that the Cards could be 8-9 GB by the time Carp returns.

 

Let's not forget that aside from Fuku and Sori, this is pretty darned close to as bad as we realistically could have imagined for this point in the season. Soto's been nonexistent, Fontenot hasn't hit, Bradley has been a complete non-contributor, Z hasn't been good, Lee has been bad, Aramis has been battling his back, the bullpen has been bad, Dempster has looked more like old Dempster, everyone and their cousin has been injured, and even the bench has been bad.

 

Not that life has been perfect in STL, but everyone not named Ankiel and Greene has hit, and losing Carp seems to have made them better.

 

I am not dismissing the Cards, but I think it's a whole lot more likely that a few of the things that have gone bad for the Cubs correct themselves than things continue like this for the Cardinals.

[TruffleShuffle]

Let's not forget that aside from Fuku and Sori, this is pretty darned close to as bad as we realistically could have imagined for this point in the season.

 

and theriot, and ramirez hitting great and playing most of the games, and hoffpauir and koyie hill, and heilman and marmol and lilly and marshall.

[Tyrant]

the one thing we can get out of this is that if the Cubs dont make the playoffs, this could well be the end of the Hendry/Piniella era.

 

I don't think you understand how much worse things could be.

[The Other 15]

its also too early to take the cardinals seriously.

Oh, no it's not. Everyone in their lineup will hit over .300 like they are now. Their team ERA is bound to remain at 3.50 for the remainder of the season. That's really good, but then I expect nothing less of players exposed to LaRussa and Duncan. I just wonder how they failed to do that last year.

 

You mean when they won 86 games in an awesome division?

Yes, that's exactly what I mean. At their absolute best, with guys like Wellemeyer, Lohse and Looper carrying a heavy load, they were still worse than the 2007 Cubs.

 

Sorry, I just don't wet my pants in fear of teams built with that type of pitching. Get back to me when they make a move for a substantial pitcher in order for me to take them seriously. Until then, or until the Cubs prove that they are this bad for 60 or 80 games, I will continue to not take the Cards seriously.

 

After the Cubs incredible start last year, the Cards worked themselves to within 1 game of the Cubs by late July. Oooh, it's the Cards, time for me to fall to pieces with fear. Alas, the season goes deeper than that and they soon became a afterthought again. This is nothing more than a hot start by a team taking advantage of a early season home schedule. I was much more concerned with the 2007 Brewers than I am right now of the Cards. Wellmeyer, Boggs and Pinero, along with that bullpen, do not inspire a whole lot of fear from me just yet.

 

That's not to say the Cards can't win this division, but that'll take a lot more of the Cubs laying down than the Cards out pitching them for a season. Still way too early for any penis envy of the Cards.

[XZero771679666304]

Let's not forget that aside from Fuku and Sori, this is pretty darned close to as bad as we realistically could have imagined for this point in the season.

 

and theriot, and ramirez hitting great and playing most of the games, and hoffpauir and koyie hill, and heilman and marmol and lilly and marshall.

 

And Marmol being hurt, Theriot with his usual crap brand of baserunning and defense. Lilly has pitched pretty much to expectation, as with Marshall. And aside from his homer in Milwaukee (which was a loss in the end), Hill hasn't contributed a whole lot. Hell, he didn't even play for a week.

 

Hoffpauir has been good, I'll give you that. But the bad things that have happened to this point far outweigh the positives. I don't think too many non-neurotic people envisioned the Cubs playing as poorly as they have to this point. Even though they got off to an 8-4 start before the recent bed crapping, the Cubs hadn't really played that well at all.

[TruffleShuffle]

i'll tell you one mirage who needs to come down to earth - joel pineiro. he has 5 strikeouts in 32 innings and yet his ERA is under 4. what is this crap.

[17 Seconds]

its also too early to take the cardinals seriously.

Oh, no it's not. Everyone in their lineup will hit over .300 like they are now. Their team ERA is bound to remain at 3.50 for the remainder of the season. That's really good, but then I expect nothing less of players exposed to LaRussa and Duncan. I just wonder how they failed to do that last year.

 

You mean when they won 86 games in an awesome division?

Yes, that's exactly what I mean. At their absolute best, with guys like Wellemeyer, Lohse and Looper carrying a heavy load, they were still worse than the 2007 Cubs.

 

Huh? The 07 Cubs won 85 games in a terrible division. The 08 Cards won 86 games in a stacked division.

[cubbyvirus00]

i think im gonna become a cards fan

[Little Slide Rooter]

If it makes you feel any better, the Dodgers will probably make short of the Cards in the NLCS.

[Clem Fandango]

I mentioned it in another thread, but thought I'd post it here because it is sad and pathetic how bad Soto has been this year.

 

Geovany Soto, before tonight, was ranked 1,137th overall in Yahoo's fantasy rankings. He was down about 100 spots from yesterday when he was at about 1,025th.

 

Matt Wieters, who has never seen a single MLB pitch or even sat on an MLB bench before, is ranked 924th. He's up 100 spots form yesterday when he was ranked 1,039th.

 

So, Geo... knock it off

[Guest]

I mentioned it in another thread, but thought I'd post it here because it is sad and pathetic how bad Soto has been this year.

 

Geovany Soto, before tonight, was ranked 1,137th overall in Yahoo's fantasy rankings. He was down about 100 spots from yesterday when he was at about 1,025th.

 

Matt Wieters, who has never seen a single MLB pitch or even sat on an MLB bench before, is ranked 924th. He's up 100 spots form yesterday when he was ranked 1,039th.

 

So, Geo... knock it off

I bet this is the last time he plays in the WBC. All he did was sit around and get fat.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

i think im gonna become a cards fan

 

I tried. It's harder than it sounds.

[moorecg]

i'll tell you one mirage who needs to come down to earth - joel pineiro. he has 5 strikeouts in 32 innings and yet his ERA is under 4. what is this crap.

 

 

His kid is in my Son's class...you want I should have him taken care of? :cool: :flame: :mod: :duel: :club:

[mojorisen]

i'll tell you one mirage who needs to come down to earth - joel pineiro. he has 5 strikeouts in 32 innings and yet his ERA is under 4. what is this crap.

 

And to add he is 4 and 0