Smoltz will join Cardinals

Various reports today have indicated that John Smoltz will in fact sign with the Cardinals after he officially clears waivers and is released. However, his role with the Cardinals is still unknown. Some reports indicate that Smoltz will be joining at the 5th starter, others indicated he will be the set-up man out of the bullpen. Both options make sense for the Cardinals, though I ultimately see him ending up in the 'pen.

Scenario 1 - John Smoltz the Starter. Including tonight's game, the Cardinals have 40 games left this season. If divided evenly, each starter would get 8 starts. However, the starts won't be divided evenly. Carp, Wainwright, and Pineiro will get the majority of the starts, leaving the remaining to be divided between Lohse and Smoltz. Lohse still seems to have some lingering effects from his forearm injury earlier this summer, meaning Smoltz would probably get a few more starts than Kyle. Smoltz has been effective this season in the first three or four innings in the majority of his starts, which is why some call for him to be in the bullpen. However, the National League is much more of a "pitchers league" than the American League, which would allow Smoltz to get a little more of a break when he reaches the lower part of the order. If John Smoltz is used as a starter, he would only be expected to give the Cards 5 or 6 innings a night. I believe he is capable of doing this.

Scenario 2 - John Smoltz the Set-Up Man. Ultimately, this is where John Smoltz will end up, should the Cardinals make the playoffs because the Cardinals will clearly not use five starters in October. This is a good spot for him because he has been very effective the first time through the line-up so far this season. However, he would prefer to start.

Tonight's anthem - "Use Somebody" - Kings of Leon

Go Cards

Been a little while

Sorry guys, been out of touch for a while. No excuses.

Its great to see the Cardinals playing well again. We're a .700 team since the addition of Holliday. Ankiel and Ludwick are starting to find their swings, we're getting great starts out of Carp, Wainwright, and Piniero - Franklin's been solid in the back end of that bullpen. 

I don't want to harp on the negatives, we're playing far too good of baseball to do that. However, I still see a couple of weaknesses in the land of the Red - middle relief and the back end of the rotation. Our offense hasn't been an issue. We're scoring enough runs to win pretty consistently.  

Middle Relief - Hawksworth has been great; McClellan and Miller have been very good as well. Reyes has taken on a heavy workload and done his job. If either Thompson or Motte can be a little more consistent we've got a good chance of making a run. Justin Speier? Nah. Speier would allow the Redbirds to throw Hawksworth into the rotation. He's been so good in that 7th or 8th inning role. Why mess with that? Let's also remember. Speier got released for a reason. A 5.18 ERA in 40 innings isn't stellar. Who knows though, maybe he could be another Duncan reclamation.  

Back end of the rotation - We can win in the playoffs with three good starters, but with a month and a half left, we've still got to get there. I'm not convinced the Cubs are done, at some point, they're gonna put a few weeks of great baseball together, I'm sure of it. Smoltz? Maybe. I think this makes a lot more sense than Speier. He's good friends with Mark DeRosa and could be a great influence in the clubhouse. He would  only come as a starter and could give us 4 or 5 starts. I really believe St. Louis would be a better fit than Boston. He's pitched in the NL his whole life, and again, Duncan could be a huge help to him.

Okay we're done with the negatives.

Carpenter is laboring on the mound tonight, doesn't have his best stuff. But he's a winner. He's battled through five innings so far surrendering only a run. We're gonna get to this knuckleball sooner or later. 

I don't want to steal Matthew Leach's thunder, but this blog is going to start offering up an anthem every night. This evenings anthem: Ride On by Les Stroud. That's right Survivorman. Yes, he sings too. Great outdoorsy music. Give it a try. 

Go Redbirds.