Isringhausen to Close Again

With Monday’s announcement that Jason Isringhausen is going back to closing games for the St. Louis Cardinals it is now safe to say the will not be going to the postseason this year.  Knowing that Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter were on their way back from injury I was not yet ready to write the Cardinals off, but with Monday’s revelation it is apparent the Cardinals are not going to make an effort to acquire a closer before the deadline.

I just do not get this move at all.  Granted Ryan Frankline is clearly not the answer any more and it would be one thing if Isringhausen had rediscovered his groove of, but he has not.  In his last six appearances Isringhausen has allowed 6 runs, 2 homers, and 10 base runners in just 5.2 innings.  What has LaRussa seen to convince him that Isringhausen is the answer and is ready to go back to closing out games?  I don’t understand it.  This team is this close to having all of the pieces necessary to make a run and the key piece they are missing is a closer who can get the job done and they are not even going to make an attempt to go get one.

MLB: Joe Blanton to the Phils and Other Random Tidbits

In an effort to sure up the backend of its rotation the Philadelphia Phillies shipped off 3 little known prospects in exchange for Joe Blanton yesterday.  The Phillies felt they needed to do something with the Mets having caught them in the standings on the strength of winning their last ten games and guys like Adam Eaton and Brett Myers having horrendous seasons.  Is Joe Blanton really the answer though? 

Even though Blanton has floundered this year in Oakland he has been a reliable arm at the back end of Oakland’s rotation.  He had won 42 contests and posted a 4.09 ERA in the 3 previous seasons leading up to this one.  However, the caveat here is that he has always pitched markedly better in the pitcher friendly confines in Oakland and has been pretty bad when pitching on the road.  Over the past 3 seasons he has averaged 6.7 innings per start while posting a 3.48 ERA while averaging just under 6 innings on the road and posting a 4.70 ERA.  He is going from a pitcher friendly park in McAfee Coliseum to an overwhelmingly hitter’s friendly park in Philadelphia.  This move just seems like the Phillies feel the need to do something and they are just grasping at straws here.  The only thing Blanton may give the Phils is an extra inning a game that Adam Eaton was not.

Don’t look now but Kyle Lohse is inching closer and closer to being a legit Cy Young candidate.  After last night’s 7-inning outing Lohse is now 12-2 with a 3.35 ERA.  Lohse may not have the sexy strikeout numbers or the dominating ERA but he has won his 9 decisions last not lost since May 13 and the Cards have won 11 of his last 12 starts.  With Chris Carpenter currently on the shelf and Adam Wainwright right next to him for the past few weeks Lohse has stepped up and filled the role of staff ace quite ably and is a big reason the Cards are still in the postseason hunt.

In addition to Lohse’s hot streak Rick Ankiel and Troy Glaus seem to have both re-discovered their swings at the right time.  Glaus is hitting .360 and Ankiel .354 for the month of July and each has launched 6 home runs in their 13 appearances during the month of July.  In concert with that Ryan Ludwick seems to have re-found his groove since Albert Pujols returned from his 2-week stint on the disabled list.

Don’t Look Now: Baseball Quick Hits

Don’t Look Now But…

-Jake Peavy (1.20), Justin Germano (1.35), and Randy Wolf (1.42) rank 3rd through 5th respectively in the National League in ERA.  The significance there is that they are all members of the Padres starting rotation.   Oh, and Greg Maddux ranks 9th in the league with a 2.00 ERA.  What has to be disconcerting for the Pads is that while their rotation sports a 2.02 ERA and a .195 batting average against the bullpen has a 5.13 ERA, a .268 BAA and has already lost more games (6) than it has saved (4).

-The Yankees will not make the postseason with the starting rotation they are currently deploying.  Andy Pettite and Chien-Ming Wang have been solid but after that it has been a disaster for manger Joe Girardi.  The threesome of Mike Mussina, Phil Hughes, and Ian Kennedy have given the Yanks just 3 quality starts out of the ten they have made.  Hughes has made through the sixth just once this season and has given up 12 runs over his last two starts.  Mussina has given up 5 homers in just 20 innings and currently sports a 5.75 ERA while Kennedy is checking in with a 8.74 ERA.  I cannot help but wonder how long the Yanks are going to wait before moving Joba Chamberlain in the rotation.

-The White Sox and Royals continue to sit atop the AL Central while the Tigers and Indians struggle to get out of the cellar.  The main reason for this has been pitching.  Chicago’s Gavin Floyd and Javier Vazquez are showing some of the reasons why they were so heralded coming up through the minors while Zack Greinke and Brian Bannister have come from nowhere to be two of the best pitchers of the league thus far.  On the flip side of that C. C. Sabathia and Paul Byrd cannot seem to get anyone out for the Indians while their bullpen seems to have imploded this year while nobody for the Tigers seems to be able to get anyone out.  Jeremy Bonderman has the best ERA in the rotation with a 4.58 mark.  What was supposed to be a strength for the Tigers has turned into a weakness and unfortunately for them they traded away some of their top pitching prospects in the Renteria and Cabrera/Willis deal.  To make matters worse for the Tigers is the injury of Dontrelle Willis and Justin Verlander is struggling to get out of the low 90s with his fastball.

Some Early MLB Thoughts

Some early thoughts on the young MLB season:

-The Tigers are now 0-7 and in trouble resting 5 games behind the first place Royals and White Sox. Everyone knew the bullpen was a bit shaky but this was supposed to be a potent offense and it has managed to post just 15 runs in their first seven games.

-Who would have thought the Orioles would have the best record at this point with a 6-1 record after dumping ace Erik Bedard. What makes it more amazing is the staring rotation has won just one of those games while posting a 6.34 ERA and just one quality start. The bullpen has been lights out for the O’s with little known George Sherrill saving four games.

-Over in the NL the Cardinals have been the biggest surprise thus far getting out to a 5-2 start resting just a game behind the Brewers. The Cards were expected to finish in the bottom half of the division behind the Brewers, Cubs, and Reds. However they have been done it behind strong outings from guys like Kyle Lohse and Todd Wellmeyer and I would not count on that lasting the entire season. The offense should be good enough to keep them in most games and if they can get Cris Carpenter, Mark Mulder, or Matt Clement back and giving them quality innings they could be a team to contend with come September. The key is to stay in it until then.