2006: A Cardinals Oddity?

[Solair Wright]

Considering we lost five in a row, and how badly we have done against the American League (where we promptly lost eight in a row), I don't see a playoff spot for the Cardinals. Here is why:

- starting rotation: Ponson already poisoned the lineup as bad as it is. Marquis and Suppan should have been gone during the trading deadline. Marquis can be very inconsistent and Suppan is a hit-or-miss. One game he lasts 7 innings and fans 3-5, the next he lasts 2-5 and gives up ? runs (depends on his control). Marquis is terrible at times and Dave Duncan should shout at his face to "Grow up for god's sake. You're a better pitcher than this." I'd yell at him too if he's on his "I'm stubborn and I'm not listening to Dave Duncan." Let's force old starters out of retirement if all else fails.

- offense (or lack of it): Currently, we are in 11th place in batting average. (from 1st a few weeks) Hal McRae was trying to get the team to focus more on base hits and batting average this year, which may be the death of the team this year. Another 2003 perhaps? Lack of the long ball really hurts the team (21st in Home Runs). I want to see a team that can hit the long ball, get base hits, minimize batter strikeouts and maintain a good BA. Maybe after the season, see how he's doing his job, and if he's doing poorly, then it's a new hitting coach. Look at 2004 for example for a good hitting team. This 2006 team is NOWHERE near that.

- bullpen: where do I start? Thompson turned out to be decent, and Tyler Johnson is just a mediocre lefty RP. Our bullpen slipped drastically in ERA when the Ponson Virus struck. Maybe Jorge Sosa should give a little relief to back up the team, and let Duncan talk if he is having trouble. Scold if he's not listening

- subpar trades/free agent signings: Walt Jocketty is a good GM, but he made two horrendous signings that he'll regret this season: Junior Spivey and Sidney Ponson. Spivey may not even recover from his horrible Spring Training, which probably means he's close to being out of baseball, and we all know what happened to Ponson. Encarnicion is a good fielder and sometimes gets fans discouraged when batting. I'm not saying "CARDS FREE AGENT SIGNINGS STUNK LAST WINTER," I'm saying that we could have done a bit better, and good thing we didn't sign AJ Burnett. (sorry Jays fans)

- Left Field, the random LF: Who gets to play Left is random every day. We could have traded a couple people for Abreu and moved Encarnicion to LF (his first OF position) until the evil Yankees stole him.

- Fans (unrelated to Cardinals' success): my major complaint is not about the team or anything, but it's the loudmouthed fans who are disruptive and rude during the games. This isn't a reason related to the postseason, but it's annoying to hear fans so drunk they get disruptive and foulmouth each other.

My major problem unrelated about this is left field seats at the New Busch Stadium. You can barely see the outfield, in some sections. I sat there for one game, and I regret it.

You can discuss why, because the Cardinals have been struggling all year (injuries, rotation, etc.)

[Matthew C.]

I will agree that the Cardinals are not a very good team. If they played in the AL Central, they would be in 4th or 5th place 20 games back. Same if they played in the NL East. Thankfuly for the Cardinals, the other teams in the NL Central (and the entire NL in fact) are also not good teams. The Mets are the best team in the NL, and have an old, injury plagued, stuggling starting rotation. The Cardinal have a great chance to make the playoffs, only because the Reds and 'Stros, etc. are just as bad.

Bottom line, look for another sweep in the World Series, unless Pedro or Carp sneak a game for the NL.

[Senior skittles]

i think that we should give sosa a try in the rotation and just see how he does....maybe he will pitch well in new bucsh. I agree about hal mcrae.....he kinda sucks...encarnacion has oficially won me over and I am content he is a cardinal( needs to work on clutch situations though...). I Honestley think this team can go all the way but to do that.....we must be playing our best baseball come the playoffs (5-6-7 game winstreak). we can be playing shaky but instead confident. Anybody notice pujols struggling in the clutch lately?????

[tonjes]

we're fine. we may be struggling this year, but there's no way cincy is better than us. things will come together. the national league is so weak, i wouldn't be surprised if we made it back to the series.

[Solair Wright]

We're doing a bit better thanks to the solid pitching, offense and defense. Now it's time to use all three again against the Reds, who can be a pain if left unattended, and their hitters can cause serious damage (Junior, Dunn, Freel, Aurilia, and David Ross to name a few; Freel is listed there because if you walk him, expect a steal) in only a couple BFP. Hopefully the Cards can ride a winning streak if everything goes right during the race to October.

I voted for Wait and see how they do first because the Cardinals are very unpredictable at times.

[tdk1984]

We'll make it. I doubt Cincy will catch us (though they're close behind).