Kuzul

One St. Louis Cardinal is rapidly making his way toward a rather exclusive club this season. Carlos Beltran is within hitting distance, no pun intended, of the 300-300-2000 club.

This status is reserved for players who have hit 300 home runs, stolen 300 bases and amassed 2,000 hits over their career. Lots of talk has floated about Beltran hitting 300-300, but the 2,000 hasn’t gotten much attention.

As of Tuesday, June 12, 2012, Beltran has 320 home runs, 299 stolen bases and 1,977 hits. Barring a major injury, he will make the club in 2012 without breaking a sweat.

Following are the few players who have made the club, including a few near-misses.

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St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright will take the mound tonight in anticipation of his sixth win of 2012.

Wainwright, who is still getting back to form following Tommy John surgery in 2011, has seen more success in his last four outings than all season.

His sinker sinks again. His curve moves again. That wasn’t the case earlier in the season.

Wainwright’s road back has been a rocky one. So far in 2012 he has bounced back and forth between good starts and, well, not so good ones. We’ve seen glimmers of hope and moments of the old Wainwright, but his last few outings have shown more than a glimmer.

It has been the culmination of 15 months of rehab and hard work to re-discover himself as a pitcher.

Tonight, he will face off against Jose Quintana, the rookie pitcher for the Chicago White Sox. Quintana is 1-1 on the season and has posted a 2.05 ERA in his first five big-league starts. He has given up only 15 hits to date which could be a problem for the Cardinals stymied offense.

In his last four starts, Wainwright is 3-1 and has pitched 27 innings. He’s given up a total of 11 runs, but seven of those came against the New York Mets. He’s also posted 25 strikeouts and surrendered only five walks. Over the last 10 games, he has an ERA of 4.08.

His season numbers are somewhat inflated at the moment, mainly due to his April struggles. Assuming he continues to go the direction he has been headed of late, they will correct themselves.

While it’s likely he won’t look great in every outing, a few simple successes are exactly what he needed. He and the world have been reminded of just how dangerous he can be when he is in the zone.

One thing is for sure, a pitcher with his drive and that amount of natural-born talent won’t go down without a fight. It will likely be July before the dominant pitcher who won 19 games in 2009 and 20 in 2010 is here to stay.

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The St. Louis Cardinals won their third consecutive pennant in 1944.  They faced the St. Louis Browns in the World Series. Since the teams shared Sportsman’s Park, all the games would be played in the same park.

The Cardinals had beaten the New York Yankees in 1942. The Yankees returned the compliment in 1943.

The 1944 Cardinals won 105 games. The Browns had won 89. The purists wrung their hands in anguish. How unfair to give a team with a record 16 games worse than its opponent’s record a chance to win the World Series.

When the leagues were split into two divisions in 1969, the purists cracked their knuckles in disgust, because the team with the best record was forced to play a best-of-five series against an opponent that might have finished with a much worse record.

Baseball purists never liked the wild card. To them, having a second wild card is anathema. They cite the possibility that a team can finish 15-20 games behind a division winner and win the World Series.

In 2006, the Cardinals won 83 games. Only the 1973 New York Mets ever won a division title with fewer wins when they finished at 82-79. The Mets defeated the Cincinnati Reds, a team that won 99 games, to win the pennant.

The 2006 Mets won 97 games but lost the NLCS to the Cardinals. The Mets’ 14-game regular-season edge over the Cardinals was meaningless once the playoffs started.

The 1944 Cards held a16-game edge over the Browns. They were highly favored to win the World Series, which is just what they did.

Despite the war, the Cardinals had a fine team, which is more than can be said about the Browns. The Cardinals averaged about five runs a game to lead the league. They were the only team in the majors to hit 100 home runs, and the pitching staff led the league with a 2.67 ERA.

Stan Musial (.347), Johnny Hopp (.336) and Walker Cooper (.317) all batted over .300. Mort Cooper led the staff with 22 wins.

The World Series was a little closer than expected. Cooper held the Browns to a pair of runs over seven innings in the opener, but it wasn’t enough as the Browns won, 2-1.

The Cardinals won the second game 3-2 in 11 innings, but when the Browns became the home team, they won the third game handily by a 6-2 score to take a two-games-to-one edge.

Then the Cardinals went to work, winning the next three games. The Browns could manage only two runs in the three games and finished the Series batting .183. They scored only 12 runs in the entire Series.

The 1944 Cardinals maintained their regular season excellence to win the World Series. The 2006 Mets were unable to maintain their regular season play to win the pennant.

The purists just don’t get it. A team that gets to the World Series because it took advantage of the rules earned it by playing best when it counted the most.

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Position: 3B

Height/Weight: 6’1”/210 lbs

Bats/Throws: R/R

DOB: 3/9/1994

High School: Valencia HS (Calif.)

College Commitment: Pepperdine

Much like Lance McCullers, Williams comes from a family with big-league experience, as his father, Eddie, spent 10 seasons in the major leagues.

A right-handed hitter, Williams has plus raw power thanks his projectable frame and loose, quick wrists. There’s a fair amount of swing-and-miss to his game, and he tends to be overaggressive, but that’s something should improve with experience. He gets off his back side as well as any hitter in the 2012 draft class, and the ball really jumps off his bat.

At the hot corner, Williams is an agile defender who moves well laterally thanks to quick feet and an instinctual first step. While he showcases soft hands, his footwork and actions are rushed at times, which in turn limits his body control. Still, Williams has above-average arm strength and delivers crisp throws across the diamond.

Even as he develops physically, Williams tools should keep him on the left side of the infield, and he may even receive some looks in professional games in left field. However, he’s still incredibly raw and it’s likely he won’t be big league-ready by about the 2017 season.

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Adam Wainwright has gotten off to a pretty rough start this season, posting an ERA of 5.77 prior to Tuesday’s action.

After Tuesday night’s contest against the Padres though, it’s safe to say that his ERA will see a nice drop.

Wainwright pitched a shutout against the Padres, throwing just 111 pitches over nine innings while allowing just five baserunners—four hits and one walk. He also struck out nine.

Yonder Alonso, Edinson Volquez, Andy Parrino and pinch-hitter Blake Tekotte recorded the only hits off Wainwright. Parrino’s and Volquez’s hits went for doubles.

The St. Louis Cardinals won the game 4-0.

This is just his third career shutout, with the other two coming back in 2010—the year he finished second in the NL Cy Young voting.

Any doubts that people had regarding Wainwright’s recovery from Tommy John surgery should now be silenced, as it’s clear that he is back to his dominant ways.

He remained the only real question mark in the starting rotation until Tuesday’s game. The Cardinals have been lucky enough to experience strong starts from Jake Westbrook, Kyle Lohse, Jaime Garcia and Lance Lynn.

With Wainwright pitching like the ace everyone expects him to be, the Cardinals have arguably the most formidable rotation in the National League.

It’ll be interesting to see what happens when Chris Carpenter is ready to return, but for now, let’s celebrate the strong performance by Wainwright.

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The St. Louis Cardinals have one of the most talented rosters in all of Major League Baseball.

Stars like Matt Holliday, Lance Berkman and Carlos Beltran fill the batting order and pitchers like Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter are the anchors of the rotation.

But, that doesn’t mean this team is perfect. Like all teams, there are some holes on the St. Louis roster.

With that being said, let’s take a look at three players currently on the roster that need to be cut, traded or sent to the minors.

Tyler Greene 

When Mike Matheny took over for Tony La Russa as manager of the Cardinals, it was thought that Greene would start performing better since he was out of La Russa’s doghouse.

That’s ridiculous.

Greene was never in La Russa’s doghouse. If he was, he’d have been traded or cut several times.

La Russa, and now Matheny, have given Greene, a career .221 hitter whose only asset is his speed, way too many chances.

He should either be cut or traded before this year’s trade deadline. A change of scenery might be just what he needs.

Mitchell Boggs

Much like Greene, Boggs has been given more chances to succeed than he should have been.

The problem with Boggs is that he has a tantalizing fastball. It’s definitely a MLB-quality pitch.

But, he relies on it too much. Big-league hitters will hit a 98 mph fastball if they see it enough.

He’s had plenty of time to develop a secondary pitch, but he hasn’t done it. It’s time for the Cardinals to cut ties with him and move on.

Fernando Salas

The problem with Salas is that he doesn’t have MLB-caliber pitches.

His fastball isn’t that fast and his secondary pitches are so-so at best.

And, with his recent command problems, he’s become highly ineffective as a pitcher.

I’m not as ready to give up on Salas as I am with the first two players on this list, but a stint in the minors might do him so good.

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Remember Colby Ramsus?

Ramsus was hailed as the next Jim Edmonds, a franchise center fielder who was to bring championships with his bat at well as glove.

The Cards’ former top prospect was a vital piece in the Cardinals‘ championship year, but not because of what he did for the team, but rather what he was able to bring back in a trade involving him and the Toronto Blue Jays.

While young Colby was impressive in his early stint with the Cardinals, it was clear that he was not going to be around very long when he and then manager Tony La Russa were not seeing eye to eye on Rasmus’ issues. 

So what does each team have to show for the trade that went down before last year’s deadline?

Well for one, the Cardinals decided to hold on to lefty reliever Marc Rzepczynski. Although he has not performed as admirably as he did in the postseason, Rzepczynski is only twenty-six years old and has plenty of room to improve. 

St. Louis will also receive two first sandwich round compensation draft picks as a result of letting Edwin Jackson and Octavio Dotel go to the Washington Nationals and Detroit Tigers respectively. 

Meanwhile, in Toronto, Ramsus is hitting just above the .220 mark with only 13 RBIs and is on pace to break his previous record of 148 strikeouts, a mark he set during the 2010 season. 

The Blue Jays aren’t doing too well as a team either.

While their overall team record might be considered a success at this point in the season, once again it looks like the AL East will provide a few playoff teams, and with the Jays sitting at fourth place, they will have the arduous task of overtaking the always-favored New York Yankees, battling their way through the young upstart Tampa Bay Rays, and dethroning the ultra-surprising Baltimore Orioles, who hold the division lead. 

How goes it in St. Louis’ center field, you might ask? 

Very well actually. John Jay is out batting everyone on the team, getting on base with a .426 OBP and scoring runs. 

The Miami native is doing everything asked of him following a great postseason run. 

While he might not have the mystique or pedigree of Colby Rasmus, Cardinal fans have accepted Jay into their homes and wouldn’t take back that trade in a million years. 

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Shelby Miller might need another year or two in the minors before he’s ready for a big league rotation. 

The Cardinals‘ 2011 Minor League Pitcher of the Year has struggled this season in Triple-A in Memphis. The former first-round pick sports a 3-2 record with a 4.45 ERA, giving up half an earned run per inning played. 

In his short 2012 season, Miller has given up four runs in five innings or less three times. 

Despite the less than stellar numbers, the positive win-loss ratio is nice to be on the right side of, and the youngster’s SO to BB ratio is great. Shelby currently sits at 37:15.

The fact that the Memphis Redbirds are the worst hitting team in the Pacific Coast League allows Cardinals’ fans to exhale. After all, if you don’t get the run support you need, you’re not going to win a lot of games, no matter who you are. 

Recent spring training reports reveal the Cardinals’ concern over Miller’s weight. The top prospect decided to recreate his physique and lose some weight. 

Baseball Prospect Nation’s assessment of Miller is a little more generous with praise. Miller has all the tools to move up the ranks if he works on his control—although expecting the next Jaime Garcia out of the 19-year-old is a bit premature and is wishful thinking. 

The Cardinals won the World Series last year in large part to Garcia’s contributions. Having young pitchers step up and perform under the most clutch circumstances on baseball’s biggest stage is not something that happens every season. 

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After the loss of star slugger Albert Pujols to free agency over the winter, the Cardinals were seen as a team surely on the mend. 

Yes, the team had just won its second World Series in its third appearance of the past decade, bettering Susan Lucci’s Emmy success ratio by a mile. And yes, the team retained its perennial Cy Young Award candidate Adam Wainwright. But still, many commentators saw the departure of ol’ No. 5 as the death knell of the Cardinals dynasty.

And they were completely wrong.

The St. Louis Cardinals have shot out of the gate this season, and despite the departure of Pujols, they haven’t missed a beat. At 16-10, they’re sitting pretty atop the NL Central. So what are the team’s keys to success?  What’s in the Cardinals’ secret sauce?

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The St. Louis Cardinals have played 21 of their 22 games this season against NL Central opponents en route to a division-leading 14-8 record.

That trend won’t change this week, with the Cardinals taking on the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Pirates have struggled their way to a 10-12 record this season, good for fourth in the NL Central.

How do the Cardinals keep their hot start going? Let’s take a look at three keys to this week’s series.

Get Adam Wainwright Back on Track

Wainwright has struggled mightily this season, compiling an 0-3 record and a 7.32 ERA. He’s also allowed five home runs, something that he doesn’t usually do.

The Cardinals ace is clearly not at 100 percent after Tommy John surgery in 2011, with his velocity suffering the most.

If he can get back on track with a quality start against Pittsburgh on Tuesday night, it’ll be a good sign for the Redbirds.

Keep Pirates Hitters in Their Slump

As a team, the Pirates are only hitting .228. That’s the fourth-worst team batting average in all of Major League Baseball.

Star outfielder Andrew McCutchen, despite hitting .302, has yet to hit a home run and has only driven in seven runs.

Pedro Alvarez (who struggled for much of last year) leads the team with five home runs, but has only nine RBI and is batting a measly .203.

If the Cardinals pitchers can keep both Alvarez and McCutchen from taking them deep, the Redbirds will be in a great position to sweep the series.

Find a New Pirate Killer 

Albert Pujols absolutely destroyed the Pirates during his time in St. Louis. It seemed like he hit at least one home run in every Cardinals-Pirates series.

Someone else needs to step into that role and start dominating Pirates pitchers on a regular basis.

With the way he’s been playing lately, that guy might just be third baseman David Freese.

Freese is hitting .333 with five home runs and a team-leading 20 RBI this season. If he can keep that up against Pittsburgh, the Cardinals will be just fine.

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