Nooooooooo! Tragedy has struck. Albert Pujols went down last night with what looks like a hellacious injury to his left calf. No word on how long he’ll be out. But he had to be helped off the field, and he screamed in pain when he tried to put weight on that leg. Also, staff ace Adam Wainwright is out for at least three weeks with an injury to the middle finger of his pitching hand. To lose your ace and Albert in the span of two games is just, well, it ain’t good. (Plus, I won’t be able to see Pujols play tonight when I go to the game. Damn!) Anyway, I’ll be over here silently weeping if anyone is looking for me.
Class A ball? What are they doing with Willis? Are they really trying to mess with his head? It’s one thing when you’re making a rehab start knowing that you’ll be back with the big club in a few days. But I don’t get the impression that is what the Tigers are doing.
Yeah, I saw that. Sucks for Albert, hope he’s OK.
But enjoy the game tonight. GABP is an awesome park to catch a game if you haven’t been.
Be sure to wear red!
Damn, that hurts. Maybe it won’t be so bad.
dalej42: Years ago the Blue Jays sent Roy Haliday down to single A to straighten himself out. Sometimes a player just needs to either reinvent themselves or rediscover what they use to do correctly. Dontrelle Willis has looked completely lost in a pitcher’s park.
Onto the Yankees, Wang pitched a very good game after 4 very bad ones. He saved himself with four key double plays after allowing 6 lead off runners.
Rivera bounced right back of course. Over the years of watching Mo, I have noticed an oddity about him. We all know that if you put him into a save situation he is great. However in tie games and games where the lead is over 3 runs, he is far less successful. I would say he gives up runs twice as often. It has to be mental with him as he is also the odd bird who’s post season ERA is about a third of his regular season ERA. He has a lifetime 2.31 ERA which is 2.24 better than league over his career. His postseason is a miserly .77 ERA. That is of course with the most post season relief innings recorded.
Ooh, ouch dude. That’s the epitome of fan frustration right there I’d say.
My main man Asdrubal Cabrera got sent down to Buffalo the other night and they brought up Josh Barfield. Asdrubal has been stellar in the field this season (unassisted triple play!) but he was batting UNDER .200. I contend that he was at least laying down some good bunts and running well but the stats don’t lie. I hope he doesn’t mysteriously end up in Pittsburgh like Jason Michaels did. Asdrubal has a future with us…but Barfield is looking good at 2nd. We’ve got four guys vying for 2 infield spots…
'Ol CC threw a complete game shutout last night. Which is good, because we only managed to score one goddamn run. ARGH!!!
On a personal level, I’m sorry he’s hurt. I hate to see anyone suffer. But on a baseball level, I gotta say I for one am happy he’s out of the lineup.
Go Cubs Go!
Noooooooo! indeed. Maybe we can at least be glad it wasn’t his elbow; Cardinal fans have been worrying since before the season started that Albert would blow out his elbow requiring season-ending surgery.
Willis always had a strange delivery,but I think I see even more extraneous motion. I like to see what ever the wind up is ,that it all gets its momentum in the right direction at release. I don’t see that now. I hope it is just timing and enough pitching will resolve it. if not he is through.
Halladay - c’mon, dude, he won a Cy Young Award - is a different case, though, in that he was a young pitcher with a single flaw in his delivery that, when corrected, completely changed the trajectory and break of his pitches. Unlike Willis, Halladay’s problem wasn’t control; it was just that he could not throw a pitch a major league hitter couldn’t crush. So they actually changed his motion (from full overhand to a 3/4 delivery) and all of a sudden he’s one of the most frustrating pitchers in baseball to face. I can’t think of a pitcher whose turnaround was quite as rapid and dramatic as Halladay’s, but I can think of other pitchers who’ve made adjustments or added new pitches and enjoyed great success as a result. Mike Scott jumps to mind (added the splitter.)
Willis, on the other hand, has Steve Blass Disease. There was nothing wrong with Willis’s stuff when he had it. Halladay prior to 2001 threw nothing but Straight Balls, which according to the latest Gallup poll enjoy a 100% approval rating among major league hitters. Willis actually had some good stuff, but now he’s stricken with Blass Disease.
And here’s the thing; it’s hard to cure. Mark Wohlers came back from it… but only after Tommy John surgery. There’s no way to know for sure, but I think Blass disease might be the result of an undetected injury of some sort. Willis has been horribly overworked. His arm may need reconstruction more than his confidence.
Well, the Braves are in the midstof their 3rd straight June swoon. At least Chipper’s hitting .420. Saw an article on Baseball Prospectus about his chances of hitting .400 with enough plate appearances to qualify for the title, and the writer estimated his chances at about 12%.
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=7652
For those interested. Even if the Braves utterly collapse, there’s something to root for anyway.
I don’t care about the Braves one way or the other but it would be truly, resplendently awesome if Jones were gunning for .400 on the last weekend of the season. I wouldn’t miss an at bat.
Just got back from the game. Rough night for Cueto. Helluva night for the Cards. Of course, the Cubs are putting a smackdown on the Braves right now, so the Cards probably won’t pick up any ground. Anyway, Ankiel was looking good. He absolutely crushed one in the first. Maybe he’ll get on a hot streak again while Pujols is on the DL. The Post-Dispatch is saying Pujols will be out at least 3 weeks. Could have been worse, I guess. But with the Cubs churning out win after win, three weeks is like forever.
Goddamn sorry outing by Cueto. Too bad we can’t clone Volquez and have him pitch every night!
Glad you had fun (grudgingly, as it was at the Red’s expense), that ballpark is cool, isn’t it?
You should treat yourself to Diamond Club seats once if you can afford it. but those are $235 a ticket.
I hate my team. Can’t hit for shit, make too many AA errors and pitching is once again suspect outside Volquez and the pen (damn you Aaron Harang!)
shakes fist
Tigers beat the White sox 2 in a row. Not a big thing but a thing. If Rogers beats them tomorrow it has to be a big deal for their sagging confidence. Takes them to 8 games back ,If they win tomorrow.
Yeah, Great American is a fine park. I think this is my third trip there. I always enjoy going there. And last night was a perfect night – clear, low 80’s, a little breeze. The Diamond Club might be out of the budget, however.
I did have to wince at that dropped ball in the outfield, even though it was in my favor. By then the game was out of hand, but still…that was ugly.
Well, but did you see Alfonso Soriano got his hand broken last night and will miss several weeks?
This is a very interesting year for the Cardinals-Cubs rivalry. Right now they have the two best records in the National League, so it’s not unreasonable to expect they’ll face each other in the postseason. And I can only hope that everyone will be healthy by then.
For some reason, post 2002, I always have this strange feeling that the Sox can’t beat the Tigers. Rogers got roughed up last time they met, iirc. I haven’t been following the left-handed gambler, but I think this is an off year for him. While I rather not see a sweep, I’m not too concerned because teams need breaks from 7 and 10 game win streaks.
Well a Matsui Grand Slam during a great 8 inning effort by previously slumping Andy Pettitte wrapped up with a Rivera save made by happy if sleepy last night.
I am really waiting for the team to put together a run that puts .500 in the rear view mirror.
How much are the Mets fans pulling their hair out? Wagner blowing it again.
They really don’t want to see the Texas Rangers right now. The Rangers are putting up a lot of runs and have been playing good baseball.
Dodgers/Tigers seems to be the best of the interleague matchups this weekend.
D-backs need to take advantage of Kansas City this weekend.
The Met fans that call into the local radio stations “Want something done!”
The something is either the firing of Willie Randolph or Minaya or a massive shake up of the team.