Cards Still Need Offensive Boost

The Cardinals made their big trade, but they’re still just treading water in the weak NL Central. After acquiring Mark DeRosa on Saturday, they have lost all three games in which he has played. They nearly dropped another contest on Wednesday night after getting a fantastic performance from Adam Wainwright, who allowed just one run over nine innings to the Giants, but caught a couple of lucky breaks to win it in 10 innings.

Colby Rasmus led off the inning and would be followed by Albert Pujols and Ryan Ludwick, so one would figure they’d have a decent chance to score, even on a night when they only picked up one run through nine innings. Rasmus had a decent at-bat, but it should’ve ended when he popped up a foul ball near the Giants’ dugout. Third baseman Pablo Sandoval circled around it but couldn’t make the grab, as the ball bounced off his glove. Sandoval apparently can’t field against St. Louis, as he’s committed four of his six errors this year against the birds, three of which came in one game in San Francisco. Rasmus then took a pitch that appeared to be knee-high and on the outside corner, but the umpire didn’t ring him up, allowing him to crank a monster shot into the right field bleachers on the next pitch. It was the first of hopefully many walkoff homers and it certainly gave the Cards a boost. They could really use tonight’s game too as their next 10 will all be on the road against the three teams that are currently in fourth, third, and first in the division.

The Cardinals did get a little bit of good news yesterday when they found out that DeRosa’s injury is just a strain and should only keep him out for a few days. Troy Glaus also could be ready for a rehab stint in a couple of weeks with a possible ETA of early August. With Glaus at third and DeRosa at second, that would make for a really strong offensive infield. If Glaus can produce for the team, then it may be wise to move Skip Schumaker back to the outfield. At this point, Rick Ankiel and Chris Duncan should be backups as the two have combined for fewer than 10 homers this year, which is just sad. Ankiel’s made some nice defensive plays this year, but if he can’t hit, he’s not any more valuable than Endy Chavez. Unfortunately, Tony LaRussa will probably continue to give him starts over Rasmus and Ludwick due to his blind loyalty to Ankiel

The other changes that need to be made are that Joe Thurston needs to be shipped out to the minors until he can learn to run the bases properly. He’s cost us at least four outs on the bases this year and they’ve all been mental mistakes. The Cards would’ve had the tying run at the plate on Sunday in the ninth inning had he picked up his third base coach and not wildly rounded second base. It’s inexcusable and I’m beyond tired of watching him be an idiot when it could cost the team games.

Todd Wellemeyer is heading to the hill tonight for what could be the last time as a starter. Brad Thompson has been significantly better since being placed in the rotation and if Kyle Lohse is able to come off of the DL next week, Thompson should get to keep his spot. I’m not saying Wellemeyer should be DFA, but he could swap spots with Thompson and be the long man down in the pen, where it would be more difficult for him to hurt the team. I’ll make another post tomorrow about hockey. Go Cards!