Results tagged ‘ Dave Duncan ’
Should Cards Have Made One More Free Agent Move?
Little has been said regarding the Cardinals’ free agent signings other than, “glad we got Holliday back,” but one more signing could haveset them in a far better position regarding their pitching staff.
A proven winner, Chien-Ming Wang, was on the market until just recently after being signed by the Washington Nationals.
Wang, a previous two-time 19-game winner for the New York Yankees, has proven his ability to pitch, when healthy, in the tenacious American League East. Previously with the Yankees, Wang injured himself running the bases in Arizona, and has struggled each of the last two seasons, only making a total of 24 starts.
Despite health issues, Wang looks as if he’s recovered from his right shoulder strain and bursitis he suffered last season, and is in good form for the upcoming campaign.
The Cardinals signed the always-dangerous Brad Penny this offseason for $7.5 million base salary, with a $1.5 million possible incentive bonus.
Penny struggled early on last season with Boston, but was sent to the Giants, where he returned to old form, managing a 4-1 record in six starts. His struggles in the AL East are what shipped him right out of town.
Wang, who has won many games in the AL East, slipped out of the Cardinals’ grasp without even a consideration.
Hesitation on the side of the Cardinals, as well as many other teams, allowed Washington to snatch Wang up, for a humble $2 million base salary with an additional million in possible incentives.
It looks as if, with the current payroll, the Cards have about $7 million to work with, according to Matthew Leach, Cardinals MLB.com Beat Writer.
The team supposedly wanted to wait until Spring Training or later to make a move that will bolster the team at any position. The Cardinals have made it known they are seeking help in a few positions: third base, back-end rotation help, and a left-handed bat off the bench.
A main target of the Redbirds for third base help is Felpie Lopez, who had a brief stint with the Cardinals in ’08. David Freese currently sits as the favorite to win the job, who has had his own problems this offseason.
Lopez would most likely take no more than half of the remaining budget of the Cardinals, which begs the question: Why was Wang not a candidate for back-end rotation help?
Instead of looking into the possibility of signing a pitcher with proven dominance, they signed former Cub lefty, Rich Hill.
Hill, with Baltimore a season ago, struggled mightily, recording a .500 record and a 7.80 ERA in 14 games (13 starts).
The departures of Joel Pineiro and John Smoltz left two vacant spots in the rotation, with one being filled by Penny, and the other still up in the air, and no overpoweringly strong favorite heading into Spring Training.
Wang would’ve been that favorite, had he been signed, but instead, it will be battled out by Hill, Jamie Garcia, Kyle McClellan, Mitchell Boggs and Blake Hawksworth.
For the small price to pay for Wang, the upside was tremendous, especially working with one of the most highly touted pitching coaches in the game, Dave Duncan.
This Postseason the Last for LaRussa?
With this postseason being very sweet, it could be the last for Cardinal manager, Tony LaRussa.
LaRussa, 65, is in the last year of his contract with the Redbirds, and hasn’t heard any talks of extending contract talks. His postseason presence seems to loom every October, with the Cardinals taking home the Central again this season.
His seven NL Central titles has brought his teams to the postseason as many times, and most recently in 2006, a World Series ring.
After 2002 the skipper won his fourth Manager of the Year award, and is the only manager to have won the award four times in a career.
Not only does he bring his seemingly endless knowledge to the game of baseball, but his cabinet of other coaches. Dave Duncan, pitching coach, Dave McKay, base coach, and Jose Oquendo, also a base coach and fielding coach.
This crew of coaches can be argued as one of the best in the game among all managers and baseball analysts.
Dave Duncan is no longer under contract after the remainder of this season, but is unlikely to go anywhere if LaRussa doesn’t depart.
With the acquisition of all of the pieces the Cardinals felt necessary to obtain another division title as well as a World Series championship, it begs the question: Could this be Tony’s final go-around with the Cardinals?
A extremely successful tenure compiled by LaRussa has put him at third in wins by any manager. If Tony does decided to leave, it will not only leave a position vacant, but shoes which would be extremely hard to fill.
If this is, unfortunately, Tony’s last stand with the Birds, let’s make it a memorable one!
Smoltz’s Success Due to Helpful “Tip”
Sure-fire Hall-of-Famer, John Smoltz, received a helpful “tip” from his teammates and coaching staff once he reached St. Louis in the middle of August, after struggling and being released by the Red Sox.
Pitching Coach, Dave Duncan, makes all of his starting pitchers watch each other while they throw their bullpen sessions, hoping the more eyes watching the pitcher, the better chance of finding something only one pair of eyes could catch. His everyone-watch mentality was key in helping Smoltz figure out what was holding him back from his old form.
The group of starters picked up on something very minor that Smoltz was doing which allowed hitters to gain an advantage: seeing what grip Smoltz had on the ball which allowed them to know what pitch was coming.
After beginning his windup, Smoltz would raise his glove over his head, rock back, and as he rocked back with the ball in his hand, he would move the glove slightly back which exposed the grip on the ball.
Although the tip was very faint, hitters pick up on the smallest details of a pitchers delivery and make them pay the consequences.
Duncan worked on Smoltz’s windup to doctor the dilemma. Results were immediate as Smoltz took the mound against the Padres, bulldozing an already anemic offense. The remainder of his outings have been strong for the most part, exemplifying the presence of Dave Duncan.
It’s evident why Duncan is such a highly touted commodity and noted as one of the best pitching coaches, if not the best, in all of baseball. His success is a testament of the meticulous mentality he possesses.
Mozeliak Walks Unfamiliar Territory Around Deadline
St. Louis Cardinal fans know their recent management has been somewhat timid to pull the trigger on a deal which people feel would put the team over the edge. G.M. John Mozeliak was not wanting to hesitate a moment after the talks with Oakland intensified about slugging outfielder Matt Holliday.
In late July the Cardinals swung a deal with Cleveland to obtain Mark DeRosa for Chris Perez and a player to be named. Just about a week ago news broke that Jess Todd, St. Louis’ best relief pitching prospect was the player to be named. With Ryan Franklin having a career year the Cardinals might be hoping to keep Franklin around with wishful thinking that he might’ve finally found that “closer stuff”.
Pitching Coach Dave Duncan saw his son dealt to the AL where he seems to be better suited. First basemen/Corner outfielder Chris Duncan was sent packing to Boston in a deal for Julio Lugo. Lugo, 33, was designated for assignment by the Red Sox earlier this month after he’d worn out his welcome. Red Sox G.M. Theo Epstein saw a perfect opportunity to rid themselves of Lugo and pick up a power bat that can play first or DH. Each team seemed to relive the other of a problem player, but Lugo was placed on the St. Louis big league roster, while Duncan was sent to Triple-A Pawtuckett.
Tony LaRussa has been keeping his team atop the NL Central, but the surging Cubs are getting healthy and starting to hit their stride. St. Louis was picked by many to finish in the middle of the pack for the division while the Cubs ran away with another Division Title. Mozeliak saw some areas where the Caridnals could improve and pounced, showing the signs of dedication to win which Albert Pujols wants if he’s going to stay in St. Louis.
More than likely the Cardinals aren’t going to be pulling any last minute deals before today’s 4 p.m. Eastern non-waiver trade deadline, but the deals that have been made already could be enough to help the Cardinals fight off the Cubs for the division or better yet, another team for the NL Pennant.
Carpenter to Miss Start Friday
Last Sunday night against the Chicago Cubs proved to be a little bit of a hiccup for Chris Carpenter and his surgically repaired arm. His third start back from being the DL, Carpenter was pitching a solid game against the Central Division rivals. Carpenter threw a pitch with one out in the fifth-inning and immediately called battery mate Yadier Molina to the mound. Molina motioned for the trainer and manager Tony LaRussa to come to the mound. Carpenter would leave the game Sunday after allowing six hits and giving up two earned runs. The Cardinals would go on to lose the game, handing the loss to Carpenter. His first decision of the season.
Caution is one word that can be used when describing the way the Cardinals will handle the injury to Carpenter. After an MRI was done the conclusion was made that it wasn’t anything too serious. A muscle strain in the right “posterior shoulder” was the diagnosis by George Paletta, Cardinal trainer. Carp escaped another serious injury, but will not make his next scheduled start in Cincinnati on Friday. Dave Duncan, Cardinal pitching coach, mentioned that Jaime Garcia or Brad Thompson are the prime candidates to receive the spot start for the injury to Carpenter. As for Tony LaRussa, he calimed, “If I have any doubts about his health, I’ll err on the side of caution.”
Ludwick Sends Cards Home Happy
Another solid outing from Chris Carpenter should have Tony LaRussa and Dave Duncan very excited about what they’re seeing from the 2005 Cy Young award winner. Carpenter made his second start of the season Tuesday night (his first at home) in which he looked very solid. In his second start, Carpenter didn’t allow a run, gave up only three hits, struck out 2, and walked zero all on five innings of work. In those five innings he only threw a total of 51 pitchers, 33 of them for strikes. He (Carpenter) put himself in line for the victory, but came away with a no-decision after the bullpen squandered the lead.
The Cardinals lead 4-0 after the 7th-inning. Two of those runs coming courtesy of Albert Pujols’ 2-run homer, his 22nd on the seasons. The bullpen looked solid after Carpenter left, but in the 9th LaRussa brought in Ron Villone when pinch-hitter Andruw Jones took him deep to put the Dodgers on the board. VIllone exited after the solo blast and Jason Isringhausen was summoned to close out the game for the Cards. Isringhausen was charged with three earned runs while only retiring one batter. LaRussa had seen enough and brought on Ryan Franklin who gave up two hits and allowed Isringhausens’ run to score giving Franklin his 7th blown save of the season. The bullpen made a strong push after Franklin gave up two hits, he shut down the Dodgers. Rookie Jaime Garcia was brought on to pitch the 11th-inning where he didn’t allow a hit and walked one, keeping the score tied 4-4. Coming to bat in the bottom of the 11th, Adam Kennedy singled to lead-off the inning. Pujols followed him with a weak fly out. Ryan Ludwick, the NL Player of the Week, stepped in and ended the game as he hit a homer to deep left-center field to end the game and give the Cardinals a 6-4 victory.
Although, the Cardinals did walk away from this game victorious, the bullpen has still been struggling, which is something to worry about. A positive from this game was how well Carpenter pitched. Looking like the Carpenter of old, just not going as deep into the ball games as we’re used to seeing. With the recent addition of a strong Chris Carpenter, the more likely it is you’ll see Adam Wainwright come back to the club as a reliever. Wainwright was the closer for the Cardinals in the 2006 season after Isringahusen went down to injury. Wainwright was a great closer, helping the Cardinals finish off the Mets and Tigers to win a World Series Championship. With the struggles continuing for the bullpen, Wainwright is almost a lock to be placed in the back-end of the rotation again.
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