The Final Countdown
by Michael Riehn
Whiteyball Staff
Skip at 2nd base
With the recent call up of David Freese from minor league camp, and Skip Schumaker’s improvement at second base, I think the Cardinals have almost set their roster for 2009. Surprises can always occur (especially with Barden in the infield and Perez in the bullpen), but I think the players are pretty well decided, with opening day just around the corner. I’ve updated my roster predictions below.
Schumaker is still not ready to play every day at the position, but it looks like he will get a chance to learn on the job. Our newest blogger, Paul Dobbins was scouting for Whiteyball in Spring Training last week. He paid special attention to the Skip Schumaker experiment, and got the impression that he still looked tentative and unsure of himself.
He is making the routine plays, and has cut down on the errors, but you can see where there is continual room for improvement. You must look past the obvious stats to see miscues that don’t show up in the box scores. Taking a step in the wrong direction, or “just” missing a double play are still routine for him, and it will cost this team games in 2009. I firmly believe that he can be our future second basemen, but it will take at least a year for him to become even passable on the major league level.
It also looks like Rasmus will break camp with the team this year. (Cardinal Fandom and Bloggers rejoice!). Unless they pull a surprise move and start him over Duncan, I think this is a mistake. Rasmus needs regular at bats, whether it be Triple A or the majors. Being the 4th outfielder (or 4 1/2 half with Skip), is a waste of what he can bring, gives him one less less year before free agency AND slows his development. It is the worst of both worlds in my opinion.
La Russa is great at getting all of his players at bats, so it won’t be a total lost year (and he will play in over 100 games, due to defensive prowess), but 300 plate appearances are not enough in the development process, and certainly not worth 600 relatively inexpensive plate appearances in 2015. Don’t get me wrong, he has picked up the pace, and probably deserves a spot on the 2009 team. He will still make this team better, but only marginally so, and that’s not worth the opportunity cost of what we are giving up for 300 PA.
Catchers
Yadier Molina
Jason LaRue
Infielders
Albert Pujols
Khalil Greene
Skip Schumaker (also OF)
Joe Thurston
Brendan Ryan
David Freese
Joe Mather (also OF)
Outfielders
Rick Ankiel
Ryan Ludwick
Chris Duncan
Colby Rasmus
Starting Pitchers
Adam Wainwright
Kyle Lohse
Todd Wellemeyer
Chris Carpenter
Joel Pineiro
Relief Pitchers
Ryan Franklin
Dennys Reyes
Trever Miller
Kyle McClellan
Jason Motte (closer)
Josh Kinney
Brad Thompson
Opening Day lineup (vs. a left hander):
Schumaker 2B
Ludwick OF
Pujols 1B
Ankiel OF
Greene SS
Molina C
Mather LF
Wainwright P
Ryan 3B (after opening day, this will be a platoon with Freese, Mather and Ryan)
vs. righties
Schumaker 2b (Thurston/Ryan substitute in the 6th)
Duncan LF (Rasmus/ Schumaker platoon and substitute often after the 6th)
Pujols OF
Ankiel OF
Ludwick OF
Greene SS
Molina C
Pitcher
Freese/Mather/Thurston/Ryan 3B (Platoon)
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Filed Under: Baseball • Spring Training
About the Author: I am a Cardinal fan, from a small town in Missouri and grew up listening to the Whiteyball teams of the 1980s (but still love the Tony LaRussa version). Currently living outside of St. Louis, I am a partial season ticket holder with a great group of friends.
I hold the position of Director of Sales and Marketing for a hydraulic press manufacturer and serve on a local youth baseball board of directors. Follow me on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/mriehn
[...] once again the leading candidate to win the job. Whiteyball thinks Freese will break camp with the parent club. Yesterday, he went 3-for-4 with a walk and two runs batted in [...]