Showing posts with label Todd Wellemeyer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Todd Wellemeyer. Show all posts

Thursday, April 30, 2009

Break It Down! - May 1st Edition

Todd Wellemeyer is pitching for the Cardinals Friday night. How little confidence do I have in Wellemeyer? He makes me feel bad about the chances of the best team in baseball beating the worst team in baseball.

Jordan Zimmerman is pitching against the Cardinals Friday. Supposedly Zimmerman is the biggest thing in D.C. since ... Ryan Zimmerman. How good is he? He has 40% of his team's wins. Granted, his team only has 5 wins, but still.

I will be in attendance Friday, Saturday and Sunday! Pictures and absurdly emotional thoughts/analysis on the way! GO CARDS!!!!

Sunday, April 26, 2009

The Cardinals Lost


Todd Wellemeyer isn't very good right now.

No biggie, he's only one of the Cardinals' five starters. The Cardinals can afford to spot their opponents to a lead once every five days, right? Errrrrrr, crap.

The Cardinals won the series. I'll take it. Monday they need to rebound against the Braves.

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Break It Down! - April 26th Edition

We all know it has been a mixed bag so far this year from Wellemeyer. Bad start, good start, bad start. That means he is due, right? Probably not, but Wellemeyer is pitching for a team that has won 5 straight and 9 in a row at home. The Cardinals have also scored the most runs in the National League, so he has that going for him.

Rich Harden is a fragile little girl. I expect him to strain something sneezing between innings - 3 months on the DL.

Sooooo, every so often I check ESPN's "Accuscore Projection" to find out who is going to win the day's ball game. The computer says the Cubs win Sunday, 58% likelihood. I guess there is no point in watching. Still, the game is on WGN so I will probably watch it anyway.

Well that's it in the way of analysis(?). Wish I were in St. Louis. GO CARDS!!

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Break It Down! April 21st Edition

Too busy today. Big meeting tonight. Suffice it so say that I think the game is going to go something like this, minus the drama:



Suck it, Oliver Perez.

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Break It Down! April 19th Edition

The Pitchers:
- Cardinals: Todd Wellemeyer was crap in his first start and he wasn't in his second. The result is a 1-1 record, a 4.50 ERA, and no idea what to expect from him. Last year Wellemeyer won his only start at Wrigley, but none of his 4 starts against the Cubs was particularly notable (2-2, 3.32 ERA). Hard to say what we can expect from Wellemeyer, but one would like to think he'll be better than his first start this season (5 IP, 5 ER on 12 hits and 2 walks) and at least nearly as good as his second (7 IP, 1 ER on 7 hits).

- Cubs: I hate Ted Lilly for some reason. Not sure why (other than his uniform). Anyways, Lilly was 3-0 in 5 starts against the Cardinals last season with a 3.06 ERA. Lilly is also 2-0 so far this seasosn. These are not things that make me feel confident. Crap.

The Lineups:
- Cardinals: Ted Lilly throws the baseball with his left hand, so it may be safe to assume that he will perform nicely against the Cardinals. In fact, no one on the Cardinals current roster has been terribly good against Lilly. Only Pujols (surprise!), with 2 HRs and 7 other hits in 28 ABs, has had any noteworthy success.

- Cubs: None of the Cubs have been very good against Wellemeyer - in 77 ABs the current Cubs roster has 0 HRs and 0 triples against Wellemeyer, and only 5 doubles. Still, the Cubs lineup is good, I am sure they will breakthrough for a few runs.

NOTE: This game is on national television, ESPN2 to be exact. I am looking forward to watching.

Well that's it in the way of analysis(?). Wish I were in Chicago. GO CARDS!!

Monday, April 13, 2009

"That's a Winner!" - 6


A good start from Wellemeyer! Seven hits and no walks over 7 IP, only 87 pitches thrown. I could be happier, I suppose (fewer hits allowed?), but Wellemeyer FAR exceeded my expectations. Two holds and a save from the bullpen. Nice night, all things considered, for the Cardinals hurlers.

The game also featured home runs from Mr. Pujols and Brian Barden, who was drafted by the Diamondbacks and picked up off of waivers by the Cardinals in 2007. A nice moment.

Cards win! Cards win!

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Break It Down! April 13th Edition

The Pitchers:
- Cardinals: Todd Wellemeyer was crap in his first start of the year. Thankfully, I didn't have to see it. Wellemeyer was also crap all Spring. I didn't see that either. What I have seen is a very competitive baseball team in every game not started by Todd Wellemeyer, so the dude is on a my s***-list if he is crap again Monday. Giving us some reason to be hopeful, the Cardinals' website (hardly an impartial source) says "[Wellemeyer has] identified a mechanical key that he believes will solve the issue, so the hope is that he'll be sorted out in time for Monday's game." If that makes you hopeful then I have some swampland I'll sell you. In one start against the Diamondbacks last year, Wellemeyer took a loss, with 3 ERs in 6 IP. I would take that.
- Diamondbacks: The Diamondbacks are 4-2 thus far this season and one of those losses was credited to Monday's starter, Doug Davis (4 ER in 5 IP). The Cardinals have a fair amount of history with Davis, who used to pitch for the Brewers, and the Cards should be happy to see his familiar face Monday night. Doug Davis has not beaten the Cardinals since 2006. Since then, he has allowed 16 runs in 4 starts. I expect the Cardinals to get to Davis, but nothing crazy. 4 or 5 ERs in 5 or 6 IP seems entirely possible.

The Lineups:
- Cardinals: Albert "The Machine" Pujols (surprise!) has enjoyed quite a bit of success against Davis (1.227 OPS). No one else has been particularly spectacular. Molina has been particularly bad (.077 BA), and LaRua has been pretty good against Davis (.304 BA), so Molina may sit, but who knows.
- Diamondbacks: The Diamondbacks only managed 3 hits yesterday against Randy Wolf and the Dodger bullpen. Not impressive. They have only scored 5 runs combined in their 4 losses. Not impressive. They have, however, scored 9 runs in each of their two wins. Not bad at all. These characters don't have much experience against Todd Wellemeyer. A few Diamondbacks have some success against Wellemeyer, but all in small sample sizes.

Well that's it in the way of analysis(?). Wish I were in Phoenix. GO CARDS!!

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Lucky the Pirates Only Scored 7

12 hits and 2 walks allowed by Wellemeyer = Zero percent chance of a Cardinals victory.

I am sort of disgusted and don't want to talk about it right now. The Cardinals cannot afford to give away one in every five games. Ugh.

The tough part about this early part of the season is positivity in the face of crapiness. I just have to keep telling myself that it is a long season and this was just one game. It's difficult because it is also foreboding. All these early failures feel like harbingers of doom right now.

What is the cure? Tonight, this.

UPDATE: Matthew Leach gives us a reason to smile, sort of.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Break It Down! April 8th Edition

The Pitchers:
- Cardinals: Todd Wellemeyer was garbage in the Spring. How bad was he? 17 runs in his last 20 IP of the Spring. That bad. Still, and you know this, Wellemeyer is a gamer. Also, Wellemeyer was 3 - 0 against Pittsburgh in 5 starts last year with a 3.45 ERA. Nothing to write home about, but not Zach Duke-ian either (see below). Long story short, the Pirates have never really knocked Wellemeyer around, and I don't expect them to do so tonight.
- Pirates: Remember back in 2005 when Zach Duke wasn't entirely crappy? He was 8 - 2 as a midseason call-up and he was anointed the Pirates ace heading into 2006. That was a long time ago. Since 2005 his career has followed roughly the same arc as Britney Spears' career. Last year Duke was 5 - 14 with an abysmal 4.82 ERA. Two of those losses were handed to him by the Cardinals, who battered Duke for 8 runs in 12 IP. If you have any reason to believe Duke will perform well against the Cardinals tonight, please post it in the comments.

NOTE: Zach Duke is so awful that when I did a Google Video Search for "Zach Duke" this was the 4th result (for those of you who can't view it, it's a video of a kid named Zach and his dog, Duke; 61 views):



The Lineups:
- Cardinals: Duke (Zach, not the dog), awful though he is, throws the baseball with his left hand. I therefore assume the lineup will look pretty similar to Monday's (Ryan at 2B, Barden at 3B). Pujols (surprise!), Molina, Ankiel, and Ludwick have all had some success against Duke. I thirst for runs, and I expect them.
- Pirates: Ryan Doumit is the only Pirate with notable success against Wellemeyer (5-for-11 with a tater and 2-bagger). Still, until this Nyjer Morgan leaves town I am going to keep a close eye on him, just as the Cardinals should.

Finally, if you haven't read Keith Olberman's homage to his recently departed mother, then you must. For those of us who are sports fans, who have a parent who taught us the game, obsessed with us, celebrated and lamented with us, what Olberman wrote (and expounded upon during his show Monday night) should strike a chord.

Well that's it in the way of analysis(?). Wish I were in St. Louis. GO CARDS!!