Blooper (ha!) to start against Mets

[GatewaySnayke]

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — When Braden Looper takes the mound to make his debut as a starting pitcher in the major leagues, he will do so against a team that once signed him to be their closer.

The Cardinals continued a burlesque-like revealing of their starting rotation Friday when Looper, the Cardinals reliever turned righthanded starter, did not make the scheduled trip north to face the New York Mets on Friday. Instead: Looper started for High-A Palm Beach back in Jupiter, Fla. This time of year, with a season-opening series against the Mets fast approaching, that kind of move can mean only one thing.

Looper is going to start against the Mets, his former team.

The Cardinals have announced, sort of, that ace Chris Carpenter will start opening night at Busch Stadium. When they originally outlined the rotation for spring, Anthony Reyes was scheduled to pitch Game 3 of the regular season with Kip Wells starting on ring night. Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan and manager Tony La Russa met several times Tuesday to discuss the rotation and appear to have reordered the pitchers.

They would only confirm that Carpenter and Looper will throw in that opening three-game series at Busch Stadium. Most likely, Wells will start a game in the series, too, but it’s unclear if Looper will go ring right or Game 3.

“That first series is not that far away and we play this very team,” Duncan said. “To have him out there competing against them might give them a little bit of an advantage against him in that series. We just decided to avoid it.”

In Single-A Palm Beach’s 6-2 victory Friday, Looper went 5 1/3 innings, allowing two hits and one earned run. He threw 75 pitches, walked two batters, struck out none and 11 of his 16 outs were groundballs.  

La Russa said he plans to meet with the starters on Saturday or Sunday to give them an understanding of the rotation as its mapped out for the first month of the season. Neither here nor Duncan would offer a hint on if they plan to roll through a five-man rotation or if they plan to use the off days to get more starts for Carpenter.

Coming into spring training, the rough draft of the rotation had Carpenter make two more starts in April than the fifth starter.

The rough draft has been modified by performance.

“I’m kind of measuring myself against Carp,” Looper said. “I look at what he’s doing. My innings are pretty much where he’s at. I look at that as a good sign. … It’s a process. I think it’s gone well.”

I figured the Cardinals would wait until the second or third series to start giving away games. I can see the results now:

Top 1st - Reyes HR, Lo Duca 2B, Beltran HR, Delgado HR, Wright BB, Green HR **Hancock replaces Looper**

[stretch]

I hope they keep a five man rotation. Carpenter has tired the last two Septembers.

[GatewaySnayke]

Yeah, I think getting Carpenter as much rest as possible can only bring good things. It just doesn't make sense to throw your worst starter against a pretty good lineup in his first start ever.

[ZigZagCardsFan]

Yeah, I think getting Carpenter as much rest as possible can only bring good things. It just doesn't make sense to throw your worst starter against a pretty good lineup in his first start ever.

It makes sense if it sets up the rotation so Looper starts less than all the other starters this month.

Hummel was saying the Cardinals are trying to make it so they only start Looper 3-4 times this month.

[JohnnyJay]

If we are going to stretch someone the first month of the season, I'd prefer it to be Looper rather than Carpenter.

[GatewaySnayke]

Hummel was saying the Cardinals are trying to make it so they only start Looper 3-4 times this month.

That's more clear.

[jim]

You could have Carpenter go on the openers of both the Mets and Pirates series on normal rest. How getting Looper in against the Mets would minimize the number of starts for him is beyond me.

[Jmodene]

What surprises me is that they've decided to have Looper pitching regularly, and skip one of the other guys instead (since we still don't need a fifth starter until April 10).

The only thing I can think of is that they're concerned about keeping Looper fresh between March 29 (I think that's his final spring start) and April 10 (the opportunities for long relief may not be there, given how well the guys have been pitching this spring), whereas Reyes has already demonstrated an ability to handle an 8-to-10 day layoff with little ill effect.

[greenback44]

I figured the Cardinals would wait until the second or third series to start giving away games. I can see the results now:

Top 1st - Reyes HR, Lo Duca 2B, Beltran HR, Delgado HR, Wright BB, Green HR **Hancock replaces Looper**

I have the same Looper concerns (and propensity to ridicule the notion of this experiment) as everyone else, but that's more homers than he gave up during the entire 2006 season.

[PujolJunkie]

Not to say I trust Braden Looper as far as I can throw him.. but I'm gonna be the optimistic one here.. but Looper hasn't really shown that he's a bad player, has he? No, he's never started a game in the Majors(regular season) before. Yes, it's a tough transistion. But look at his spring stats(not a good measure, I know, but just look):

1st Start(MAR 02, 2007): 3.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K(vs Mets)
2nd Start(MAR 07, 2007): 3.1 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K(vs Dodgers)
3rd Start(MAR 12, 2007): 4.2(longest) IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K(vs Braves)
4th Start(MAR 17, 2007): 3.0 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 HR, 2 BB, 1 K(vs Braves)

And his NP/S in those 4 starts: 83 pitches. 70 strikes.
And his GO/AO in those 4 starts: 20 groundouts, 16 air outs.

He's got a decent ERA, the 2nd Atlanta game being the only blemish. In his longest outing, he was lights out(true, no where close to 7 IP with that line). So why not give him a shot to prove himself? He's been masterful in the spring. Let's say he gives up one run in that last Atlanta game, goes one more inning. That's a 1.20 ERA. How can you argue with that? If he goes 5 innings, 1.12. Carpenter has been worse this Spring. No doubts about him.

I know nothing is for sure until April 1st, 2007. But let's at least have some optimism.