WOWs are nice, but Cardinals still need a bat.

June 22, 2009 | Clark | Comments 0

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Wow, make that two wows, actually, let’s make it three.  The first is for the Cardinals offensive explosion this weekend.  The second is for Khalil Greene while the third is for the best player in the game, Albert Pujols.

The Cardinal bats came to play this weekend folks, and don’t think for an instant this is the K.C. Royals team you’ve become accustomed to, they’re doing much better this year and will start making some noise sooner than folks might think.  Regardless, the bats showed up and wreaked havoc on our neighbors.  Ludwick, Ankiel and Duncan all showed signs of life and give hope.  But if Duncan and Ankiel can’t add more power to the mix, especially Duncan who’s defensive liabilities detract (I’d bet money if he would use two hands his defensive statistics would be much better – every ball I’ve ever seen him drop is because he was trying to showboat) from what Ankiel and Ludwick bring to the table.  Colby is becoming a fixture in the best lineup spot in baseball and as of now, deserves to play everyday, again, as long as he’s being productive.

Let me state I’m not a Duncan hater, I love Chris, but he’s on this team for power.  The singles are nice, but he needs to rediscover that power stroke and start mashing.  One has to consider that the burden of trying to protect Pujols has to be a factor in lack of production, for all the outfielders.  So even with the the offensive explosions, which are nice, the team still has the propensity to fall into slumps, hence the need for a bat behind Pujols to help the other guys relax.  Does this bat need to happen right away?  I don’t think so.  Does it need to fill the third base?  Now I’m not sure.  Does it need to happen before the trade deadline if the Cardinals want to make noise in the post season?  Yes.

That brings me to my second WOW.  K. Greene looked like a different ball player this weekend.  It was fun to watch and gave you that feel good vibe you come to expect after watching an uplifting movie.  As I noted last week, I’d actually like to see what K. Greene can do.  He has 20+ homer potential, can play good defense and won’t cost any prospects.  If the team is going to deal and a change is made, I think it needs to come in the outfield.  You deal from strengths, or at the moment, depth.  If Greene can’t cut it, then you’re looking for a third basemen as well, unless they give Brett Wallace a shot, who, by the way, is hitting over .300 in his last ten games.  I’m past caring about defense if we’re going to continue to play Skip at second.  (Sorry Dustin!)

As for my third WOW, Albert Pujols, I think that’s really all I have to say.

Thanks for reading,

Clark

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