We didn't have that guy last year either.whyhellothere wrote:what I don't like about our bullpen is we really don't have that one go to guy that we know can shut down the other team when we need it
we have a lot of decent guys, but no great guys
yeah and last year our bullpen was pretty bad.G. Keenan wrote:We didn't have that guy last year either.whyhellothere wrote:what I don't like about our bullpen is we really don't have that one go to guy that we know can shut down the other team when we need it
we have a lot of decent guys, but no great guys
As good as Wainwright was, he was putting a lot of guys on base towards the end there.
You're right. Our bullpen was atrocious last year. They sold their souls to the devil to be lights out in the postseason and the memory of that has obscured how terrible they were for most of the year.whyhellothere wrote:yeah and last year our bullpen was pretty bad.G. Keenan wrote:We didn't have that guy last year either.whyhellothere wrote:what I don't like about our bullpen is we really don't have that one go to guy that we know can shut down the other team when we need it
we have a lot of decent guys, but no great guys
As good as Wainwright was, he was putting a lot of guys on base towards the end there.
whenever a guy came in last year i basically crossed my fingers and hoped they would do alright. hopefully one of our young guys can develop as a go to guy to bridge the gap to Izzy, who is a cross your finger and hope kinda guy himself.
They were bad last year and this year they will be even worse. I'm not trying to be a downer on the team, but everyone that we didn't think was reliable last year (Thompson, TJ, Flores, Hancock) has moved up a spot or two. And our most reliable relievers, Looper and AW, are out of the pen. I think that the pen will be very inconsistent, despite a return to form from Izzy.You're right. Our bullpen was atrocious last year. They sold their souls to the devil to be lights out in the postseason and the memory of that has obscured how terrible they were for most of the year.
I think Rogers grossly mischaracterizes the bullpen situation. As you suggest, there is a great of uncertainty as to who will perform what role in the pen--much of it having to do with AW and Looper moving into the rotation.greenback44 wrote:I don't see what's so bad about this article. Granting that losing Jason Marquis is a positive and Josh Kinney wasn't particularly important a year ago, the Cardinals pitching staff right now is basically Chris Carpenter, Josh Hancock and 10 question marks.
I agree that the rotation is much more important, and the bullpen, while in flux, won't make a huge difference if the rotation settles in as well as I think it will.If Rogers had done his homework he would have focused on the attempt to rebuild the rotation. Kinney's injury really has no bearing on this.
Not for nothing, but it would even be fair to think of Hancock as a questionmark. He's 29 and has the equivalent of a season and a half in the majors. He puts a ton of balls in play so there is the possibility of some big time regression (especially if lack of depth in the pen means TLR getting to pick and choose a little less than he likes), and he does not get the ball past many hitters. What he is going to do this year is a pretty open question, frankly.the Cardinals pitching staff right now is basically Chris Carpenter, Josh Hancock and 10 question marks
He was hitting (not sitting) 91 this week. And yes, that IS like last year, when he worked 88-91 -- and when he gave up rather a lot of homers, had an ERA of 5, pitched well enough to earn an ERA of more like 5 and a half (see: FIP), and admitted he couldn't throw as hard as he used to and didn't know why. So, being where he left off last season is no particular accomplishment so far, in my eyes.I heard his velocity was coming back up. He was hitting 91 in his last start. That's where he sat last year.