Ankiel, McClellan
Now that's what I'm talkin' about! The Cards are back and, as one sign said during the '06 playoffs, "the experts are idots!" Last place in the NL Central? Forget about it. I thought we had a potent offense and tonight was just a taste. Pujols anchors an offense that features power from Ludwick, Ankiel, and Duncan. Skip Shumaker should be solid in batting for average, making him a decent leadoff guy. Adam Kennedy is showing that he is back to his old self, forgetting that .219 average. Though, I think Miles could pick up the slack if necessary. Izturis is really the only major question mark in this offense, I believe. They're young, so they may lack discipline, but they have potential to be a powerhouse.
Ankiel.... man, what a terrific game. 3 hits, including one home run. An amazing catch to save a run early in the game. Really, the big hero of this game. He's proving his worth as an offensive threat.While he's no Jim Edmonds defensively, that catch shows that he's more than capable of handling the center fielding position. If Skip stays in the lineup most nights, we only have to worry about the Duncan/Ludwick/Barton position on outfield defense (infield defense is a whole different story with Kennedy and Izturis holding the middle infield).
Kyle McClellan - a top pitching prospect with the Cards who, almost surprisingly, won a spot on the 25 man roster, is very exciting. Only adding to the excitement is that he's a St. Louis native. His first inning of work this game was a thing of beauty. It was over almost as quickly as it began. While he gave up a run in his second inning of work, it's because a grounder found a real lucky hole in the middle infield (again, see the question marks around Kennedy and Izturis holding the infield). He's the real deal.
So, our offense is looking great and the defense is mostly serviceable, while less than spectacular. Pitching is the big concern. I don't understand why this is such a big deal. We have so many options. Wain-O is a given. Lohse is solid. I'll even say Looper is a given somewhere in the rotation. Right now, Wellemyer and Thompson are the fill-ins in the rotation. At worst, they seem to keep us in the game. With Reyes and McClellan in the bullpen and on the roster, though - we always have options if we feel our existing starters aren't pulling their weight. That's not even considering that Piniero is going to be back soon and Clement and Mulder are just over a month away. I have to think that, while it's wishful thinking to believe all of these pitchers will be good, we have a lot of options from which to pull a decent five-man rotation. And when Carpenter is back mid-year... our rotation is locked in at that point. Carpenter, Wain-O and all those other potential starters to choose from for the three other spots? How can you really think we're in trouble. It's the first few weeks we have to worry about, and even then we still have a couple options.
This is Cardinals baseball. Tonight is what I hope is the true sign of things to come.