Chris Carpenter

With Chris Carpenter going tonight, there's a good chance that we won't see the picture on the right tonight either.

 

The Cardinals now have a shot at getting homefield throughout the National League playoffs. The Dodgers have slowed down quite a bit over the last month the Cards are now just one game back of La and only three percentage points behind the Phillies for the second best record. The Cardinals should make sure that they allow players like Yadier Molina who's played a lot of innings this year and Mark DeRosa who's battling a wrist injury are fresh for the postseason. But if you can avoid a trip or two to the west coast, it could really benefit the team's postseason chances.

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They're now 28-3 in games started by Wainwright, Chris Carpenter, and Joel Pineiro since July 1st if my counting is accurate. All three guys have embraced Dave Duncan's pitch to contact idea and have executed it brilliantly. All three also can bare down and strike someone out when they need to. Wainwright did it in the eighth last night. Carpenter did it in the eighth last week against the Dodgers. And even Pineiro, who wasn't striking anyone out early in the season, has 18 Ks over his last three starts.

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3. Ankiel may come back tonight, which would certainly give the Cardinals a boost. Chris Carpenter’s going to start on the mound, so even if Ankiel isn’t quite ready to come off of the DL, the Cards have at least one positive working for them. GM John Mozeliak believes that Ludwick will be ready to return once he’s eligible to come off of the DL, so we could see the entire team that got us off to our hot 17-7 start back before the end of May, which would give us plenty of time to right the ship. I haven’t heard any update on Troy Glaus in quite some time, so anything that he might contribute I would just have to consider a bonus.

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instead, who went on to make the final out of the game.

The worst part of Tuesday's loss was that Chris Carpenter got injured. It seemed like it would just be a matter of time after the Cardinals' management opted not to sign any starting pitchers as an insurance policy in case Carp or some other starter went down. Brad Penny for $5 million is looking pretty good right now. Even if his injury isn't serious, the Cards still don't have many options in the minors if he has to go on the DL. Carp was scheduled to pitch next on Sunday against the Cubs and they don't have any off days until Monday, so pushing someone back a day that's already in the rotation isn't an option. It's still early in the season, but the Cards can't afford to give the Cubs a head start during the four-game set. If Carpenter misses a lot of a time, this could be another season down the tubes.

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The Cardinals got four shutout innings from Chris Carpenter today as the Redbirds came back for a 4-2 win over Boston in the Grapefruit League. He allowed just two hits and two walks while stri

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1. Chris Carpenter has looked good so far this spring, but due to his history (surgery before he actually played for us, the nerve thing at the end of 2004, Tommy John surgery in 2007, and now the shoulder injury in 2008 relating to the Tommy John surgery) I don't think I'm going to be convinced that he can go a full season without getting hurt. Even if he's fine in 2009, makes 33 starts while pitching 200+ innings, I think I'll still be skeptical heading into 2010. He's one of the best pitchers in the majors when he's on the field, but he's extremely unreliable.

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($16M)Mike Mussina ($11M)Carl Pavano ($11M)Matt Morris ($10M)Greg Maddux ($10M) Barry Zito ($14.5M)Chris Carpenter ($10.5M)Vincente Padilla ($11M)Kevin Millwood ($10.3M) AJ Burnett ($13.2M)Roy Halladay ($10M)

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His power will most notably suffer. Given that the Cardinals will start the season without ace Chris Carpenter as he works his way back from Tommy John surgery himself, it would seem wise for P

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Adam Wainwright is the only top-notch starter available. Mark Mulder may come back, but Chris Carpenter is not available this season. It looks like again another year for a hopefully solid bullpen.

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