Wainwright's Return Further Delayed

by tville on Jul 30, 2008 11:52 AM CDT

Per the St. Louis Post Dispatch this morning:

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/cardinals/story/346704F1DEE0C02E862574960014A9CE?OpenDocument

Earlier this week it was thought Wainwright would pitch at Wrigley in the upcoming series, but this now seems rather unlikely.

Interesting that LaRussa is miffed with the media for questioning Wainwright's role upon his return, asking whether he would be a starter or pitch in relief. After all the blown saves, Tony, how can you think the quality of your bullpen is above question?

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Well, the Cubs bullpen hasn't exactly been stellar lately

what do you think about Zambrano going to the pen? Sounds kinda silly doesn’t it?

by Tackle Box on Jul 30, 2008 12:25 PM CDT reply actions

The closer for the 2006...............

..................World Champion Cardinals was?

Adam Wainwright

That’s not on Zambrano’s resume.

"Happiness? A good cigar, a good meal, a good cigar and a good woman - or a bad woman; it depends on how much happiness you can handle." ~ George Burns

by tville on Jul 30, 2008 12:39 PM CDT up reply actions

Not only was he a rookie who was thrust into the closer's role in late September

due to injuries, but he also wasn’t the ace of the pitching staff which he is now. And you don’t think that with the addition of Carpenter and Wainwright to the rotation, that other pitchers like Looper, Wellemeyer or Piniero might then shift to the bullpen?

by Tackle Box on Jul 30, 2008 12:50 PM CDT up reply actions

The problem for the Cards...........

............has not been their rotation. From stats I saw a week ago, their starters had the 2nd best ERA in the National League.

The bullpen, particularly with the failures of closers Isrinhausen and Franklin, has been the weak link.

So if their starting corps can continue to perform – perhaps improved by the addition of Carpenter – then all the more reason Wainwright makes sense closing out games.

"Happiness? A good cigar, a good meal, a good cigar and a good woman - or a bad woman; it depends on how much happiness you can handle." ~ George Burns

by tville on Jul 30, 2008 2:34 PM CDT up reply actions

I'm not sure...

exactly where you saw that stat because as of right now, their starters have an ERA of 4.33 which would put them 8th in the NL behind the Cubs, DBack, Mets, Brewers, Dodgers, Braves, and Padres.

The other thing is if Wainright can start…then he should replace someone like Wellemeyer. Todd’s ERA went from 3.16 at the end of May to 4.13 currently after having a 5.02 June and 5.88 July.

by CubFan81 on Jul 30, 2008 4:09 PM CDT up reply actions

Tony....

seems to get miffed about a lot of stuff. He acts like every question asked is a stupid one. he can be pretty condescending. He got miffed about something Edmonds said after the series here. I don’t remember what it was but I heard it at the time and thought Tony was way off base. He took it the wrong way.
The talk of Wainwright going to the pen has been going around for awhile. I guess it makes sense on some ways and doesn’t in other ways.
There’s also been a rumor going around that Izzy has some personal problems….something about some gal….I don’t want to go any further with that but it could be what’s wrong with him.
For the most part the starters have been pretty good. Looper and Wellemeyer have been spotty lately but they keep the team close enough to win. With a better pen the standings could be a lot different.
I think Tony could use a page out of Whitey’s book and go with a “bullpen by committee”.
The word right now is that Izzy has been given back the job of closing…if it’s a save situation. I’m guessing that Tony will put him on a time limit to be successful.
Franklin did his best and wasn’t bad at first but he’s been overworked and it shows.
Carpenter’s return last night was good to see and he did about what a lot of us expected.
not real sharp but not bad at all. It looks like he has a chance to return to form or something close to it.
Meanwhile….the Cubs are putting it on the Brewers. It does my heart good to see that.
Even though I’m a Cardinal fan, I’m pulling for the Cubs this year. I like to see the best teams get to post season. The Cubs are just a better team this year than we are. If and when the Cubs get to the World Series I want it to be a situation where they deserve to be there…not by backing into it or being a Wild Card team that gets hot at the right time.
I want them to be the front runners all the way through.
I’m a baseball fan first and THEN a Cardinal fan. So….since the Cardinals have been there fairly often I think it would be a LOT of fun to see the Cubs in the World Series….and then see if Lou runs for mayor! He’d have a shot at it, don’t ya think?

"I wouldn't be a part of any club that would have me as a member" : Groucho Marx

by Dave Pendleton on Jul 31, 2008 11:20 AM CDT reply actions