Ankiel and the Improbables

Posted Friday, August 10, 2007, at 9:12 AM

The Milwaukee Brewers have lost 15 of their last 22 games. Before Thursday night's victory against Colorado, the Chicago Cubs had lost four straight and seven of their last 10.

The Brewers have lost pitcher Ben Sheets until September and infielder Tony Graffanino for the season. An injury to outfielder Alfonso Soriano has Cubs fans singing the blues.

All this agony and despair at the top of the division hasn't gone without notice. Even down in Houston, where the Astros are 8 ½ games back, optimistic thoughts are beginning to stir.

Things are getting interesting in the NL Central. And nowhere are they more interesting right now than in St. Louis.

Consider the improbable cast last night. The Cardinals get seven shutout innings from Joel Pineiro, a pitcher the Boston Red Sox designated for assignment a few weeks ago. He's relieved by Troy Percival in the top of the 8th inning, a guy who retired from the game two years ago.

In between that switch on the mound, Rick Ankiel, last seen in the big leagues firing pills all the way to the backstop, cranks a three-run home run.

There are novels that don't have this many unlikely characters.

A combination of rag tags, rejects and a few real stars have St. Louis just four games out of first place on the loss side heading into this weekend.

After that miserable 1-5 road trip in cellar dwelling Pittsburgh and Washington, St. Louis looked all but dead. Not many people would have blamed the Cardinals for pulling the plug on the season and starting a fire sale. Instead, they responded by taking three out four from a pretty good San Diego Padres team.

And starting next Tuesday, the Cardinals will have seven straight games against Milwaukee and Chicago.

In a division that nobody wants to win, St. Louis still has a shot -- albeit a small one.

The stats guys say the Cardinals have a 2 ½ percent chance of making the playoffs this season.

I wonder what the odds were on seven shutout innings from Pineiro and a home run from Ankiel?

All I know is 2 ½ percent ain't zero.

Barring a weekend collapse, next week should be a lot of fun. And I think that's all you can ask for as a fan. No team is going to win every year. But to have a chance late in the season, even it's a small one, is worth something.

It's now up to Ankiel and the rest of the improbables to prove their value.

Are you buying or selling?

Comments
Showing comments in chronological order
[Show most recent comments first]

selling

-- Posted by Rick... on Fri, Aug 10, 2007, at 9:44 AM

buying

-- Posted by Hugh M Bean on Fri, Aug 10, 2007, at 10:50 AM

selling - deal edmonds to get what you can and get some more prospects up to gain experience, maybe make a run, but more importantly get our team better for next season.

i would even consider dealing rolen, moving pujols back to 3rd and putting duncan at 1st to bring up colby rasmus. Pujols is the only viable MV3 member left - those days are now gone and we need to develop the next generation of Cardinals. why not now?

-- Posted by slinger on Fri, Aug 10, 2007, at 12:12 PM

I love the idea of promoting young players as quickly as possible but Rasmus is not ready. He can play CF at a major league level but his bat needs more time. He's batting .255/.369/.488 in AA, while those are pretty good numbers for a 20 year old when you figure in the relative strength of the Texas League Rasmus would be lucky to hit much above .200 in the majors with moderate pop.

If we think we have a chance the one guy to bring up is Chris Perez, he has nothing left to prove in the minors and has an absolutely filthy slider that will rack up strikeouts at whatever level he is pitching at.

-- Posted by Nil on Fri, Aug 10, 2007, at 1:20 PM

Mainly just enjoying. Over the last ten years or so, the Cardinals are probably the most compelling team in baseball. No team has generated more storylines--tragic, triumphant, and otherwise--than the Redbirds.

Yes, it's too early for Rasmus. Take away a red hot May, and he's hitting just .223. Luhnow recently said he would not even be moved to Memphis. He's having a rough time with breaking pitches and has gotten pull happy, although there has been improvement lately.

The problem with moving Pujols to third is his injured elbow. It is not affected by swinging the bat, but throwing is another story.

-- Posted by unclegrubworm on Fri, Aug 10, 2007, at 1:36 PM

Encarnacion had some value at the trade deadline and I would be interested in knowing if he cleared waivers. I like the Ludwick/Ankiel/Duncan combination over the next few years and the future potential of Rasmus. I can see this team getting very young, very fast. Hey, we got a Series victory. I am fine with a few mediocre seasons while our young guys develop, then make a run in 2010. I agree with trading Edmunds but you can't unless he can prove he can play. Rolen could fetch something interesting. I would love to see Eckstein stay, move him to 2nd and have Ryan be the everyday SS next year. I know we are on the hook for Kennedy, but he can be a super sub with Miles. Teach him to play catcher.

-- Posted by adman on Fri, Aug 10, 2007, at 3:20 PM

I am morw concerned about our pitching than our offense. The guys that are swinging the bat will come around and show some consistent power and contact. Having a rotation that consists of relievers (Pooper and Thompson), washed up "vets" (Wells), a cocky youngun (Reyes), and a developing star (Wainwright) is something to be considered. If Carp and Mulder come back and are consistently effective, then I would like to see who they keep around. I would have to guess:

1. Carp

2. Mulder

3. Wainwright

4. Reyes (barring that he continues to move up from the NL's Worse Pitcher).

5. Piniero (Must be able to drain innings and utilize damage control).

-- Posted by mattstl77 on Fri, Aug 10, 2007, at 11:47 PM