clocking in at not quite a month between posts is better than i was doing a year ago...

some thoughts on this year so far:

offense: clearly, we have a bit more of it that last year, but like the last three years have been, it's seems to have an on-off switch that we don't yet understand. our usual producers are producing, usually, and even a few rookie types are showing their stuff, but when we're cold, we're all very cold.

pitching: so far, despite some stellar performances from surprising individuals (see piniero, joel, first few starts of), the cracks are starting to show. it seems the man we knew to be our go to ace this year has been struggling, but the guy we wanted to hope could come back to ace form knows how to fix it. multiple great pitchers coming back to their true abilities? i'll drink that kool-aid, thanks.

albert: is still albert fucking pujols. greatness, my friends, greatness, like legend of the game type greatness, spoken in the same breath as ruth, mantle, aaron greatness. even the agnostics among us, pray for his continued health and that he likes his restaurant enough to stay in town for the rest of his long and storied career.

yadi: leading catchers in ba? that's what i'm talking about.

manny: being somewhat more than manny. ha.

with three other nl central teams looking at least a little bit threatening, that's all i'll commit to as yet, but i remain cautiously optimistic. i have been able to watch all or parts of more games this year than i was all last year (thank you direct tv) but have missed a few that seemed to be no brainers (all of which we lost, i might add) (god damned mlb restrictions).

call me kool-aid man

but oh yeah! good god we needed to win a series, even if it was against the brewers. we needed to learn that we didn't have to hang every win squarely on el hombre's broad shoulders. we needed yadier to figure out what to do with that stick he's been flailing about with. we needed scott rolen to continue playing like he's the on-base master he's been this year (i won't worry about power yet). we needed a first baseman who's head doesn't look disporportionately tiny and young when compared to his massive physique. ok, we don't always get what we need.

i'll post the 2 pictures of jack's first game soon. they're at home, and i just haven't had the time to do so yet.

bastros

last night i was trying to quiet the boy and watch some of last comic standing, so i didn't get the game turned on right away. when i did, i was just in time to hear rolen's solo shot called by john rooney. seconds later, i heard what sounded like a replay of the call, which had me curious, and then it turns out to be jauncarnacion's homer. i was ecstatic. anthony reyes is major league ready (or so three very strong starts would have us believe).
josh hancock, however... well to be honest, we can give as much or more blame to so's throwing error. let's just say that with the exception of scott rolen, our redbirds weren't themselves after the seventh inning last night. maybe they were worried about jim edmonds. god knows i am.

but enough gloom and doom. juancarnacion looked decent last night, which is a plus. yadi hit an rbi double, which has to be good for him (and when you're batting .174, going 1 for 4 can only help, albeit slowly). hector luna continues to play above his actual skill level, even if no one could manage to get him home. hell, even anthony reyes got a hit.

i still think this could be our year, but it's going to take the acquisition of a larry walker-type to re-energize our offence. i just hope we can settle for only replacing one outfield position by the trade deadline.

slump buster

i had a feeling encarnacion might find his stroke soon. last night was the kind of confidence booster that would do any struggling position player right: great play in the outfield, 3-4 at the plate, and every one for extra bases. ok, juan, good job. just hit two singles today, and you're starting to bring all the redbird faithful to your side.

speizio once again proves that when the pressure is off, he can perform with the best of them. (to be fair, though, our bench hasn't exactly been clutch this year.)

at the beginning of this season, i was touting 2006 as the year of yadier's bat. as yet, this hasn't been the case. shouldn't catchers have something of an advantage just based on their familiarity with the look of pitches? whatever, i'm not really complaining. continue to be a great backstop and a force to be reckoned with for baserunners, yadi, and you'll continue to be one of my favorite cardinals.

just two more days until my first trip to new busch...