Results tagged ‘ Lance Berkman ’

Sunday tidbits: Holliday in, Franklin still the choice

Yet another beautiful day in San Francisco. If you’ve never been to this park, seriously, get here. For my money, best place for a game in the Major Leagues.

* Matt Holliday is in the lineup and playing with basically no restrictions. He expects to be pretty much an everyday guy from here on out.

* TLR said that Ryan Franklin is still the closer, though Franklin is not available today except in case of emergency. He actually did entertain questions about the topic today, and we had a pretty good chat with him about it. And in short, his answer is that he and the club do not believe that Mitchell Boggs, Jason Motte, Miguel Batista or anyone else is a better option right now. But he didn’t dismiss the topic out of hand.

* Lance Berkman sat out today despite good numbers against Barry Zito, in large part so he can play the next several games in a row. Just a preventative day.

* One topic that came up some last night on Twitter was a relatively quick hook on Jaime Garcia. I asked about it, and La Russa said it was not about getting a pinch-hitter in the game. Instead, he was simply convinced Garcia had had enough. Garcia had begun to look different to him in the 5th and 6th innings.

* Nick Punto continues to progress well, according to John Mozeliak. Punto is working out in extended spring training and is pain-free, the GM said, but he hasn’t yet been cleared to run at game speed. Punto will likely begin taking some at-bats in extended spring games before he’s cleared to play full games.

And, finally, one more Bay Area playlist, potpourri edition:
Counting Crows, “Angels of the Silences”
Primus, “Jerry Was A Race Car Driver”
Tony! Toni! Tone!, “If I Had No Loot”
Digital Underground, “The Humpty Dance”
Huey Lewis and the News, “Walkin’ On A Thin Line”

-M.

Wednesday workout tidbits, and Opening Day lineup

First, the lineup for tomorrow:

1. Theriot SS
2. Rasmus CF
3. Pujols 1B
4. Holliday LF
5. Berkman RF
6. Freese 3B
7. Molina C
8. Schumaker 2B
9. Carpenter P

 

As for the tidbits…

 

* Brian Tallet should be fully available tomorrow.

 

* Same goes for Matt Holliday. TLR said he had no real concerns about Holliday’s sore right big toe, and Holliday participated fully.

 

* Bryan Augenstein is wearing No. 22. He wore No. 44 in Arizona, but that’s taken by Miguel Batista, and he said that 22 is also a tribute to his high school pitching coach, George Estock, who passed away last fall. Estock wore 22 for the Braves in his only big league season, 1951.

 

* Kyle McClellan will have some kind of throw on Friday in advance of his first game, which will be Tuesday at home against the Pirates. He does not expect to face hitters, but he’ll get some work.

 

* TLR wasn’t giving much away about anything going forward. He did say that Daniel Descalso will be his primary backup option at 3B, ahead of Tyler Greene or Allen Craig. But he didn’t give any indication of how he intends to use Lance Berkman — i.e. whether or not he feels Berkman will require preventative days off in the early going.

 

And, finally, the playlist:

Material Issue, “International Pop Overthrow”
Dead Milkmen, “Punk Rock Girl”
Everclear, “Queen Of The Air”
Rancid, “Roots Radicals”
Red Hot Chili Peppers, “Knock Me Down”

 

-M.

Wednesday Tigertown tidbits

Greetings from a really neat ballpark — Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland. It’s been renovated, but it still has the classic field of an old ballpark. Cool place for a game.

* Chris Carpenter is on a flexible pitch count today. TLR said that if Carpenter is breezing along, he could go north of 60 pitches, maybe even 70. But he also allowed for the possibility that Carpenter might be really amped up and labor a bit, in which case he could come out quite a bit sooner than that.
* Kyle Lohse will start Saturday’s home game against the Marlins, with the starting pitcher for the other half of that split-squad day, at Kissimmee, to be determined. 
* Lance Berkman will hit left-handed against lefty Phil Coke in order to protect his sore left elbow.
* In a bit of a step from yesterday, TLR explicitly said what has been clear for a little while now: the only way that Kyle McClellan is not the fifth starter is if something happens to the relief corps.
Again, this isn’t a surprise. But after he didn’t explicitly acknowledge that yesterday, he did today. 
And now a playlist of road songs:
* Drive-By Truckers, “Where the Devil Don’t Stay”
* Bob Marley, “Waiting In Vain”
* Rolling Stones, “Ventilator Blues”
* Black Crowes, “My Morning Song”
* Audioslave, “I Am the Highway”
-M.

Saturday camp tidbits: Boggs, Freese, Berkman, Spagnuolo, etc

It’s another gorgeous day in Jupiter, a little bit cool with no clouds.

* Mitchell Boggs is scheduled to pitch today, and is a priority pitcher. They will get him an inning almost no matter what else happens in the game.
* David Freese will start tomorrow and Monday, the first time this spring that he gets back to back games.
* Lance Berkman isn’t expected to play the outfield until at least Thursday’s game against Florida. He’ll DH in games where that’s an option, or sit out, until then. 
* Rams coach Steve Spagnuolo is in camp today as a guest of TLR. 
* It’s no secret at this point, really, but TLR acknowledged today that Matt Carpenter has at least some shot at making the roster. I’ll be writing on this at more depth later today, but in short, he’s not just getting ABs for down the road. 
* Another player who has emerged this camp, John Gast, is a bit of a longer shot, but the manager also acknowledged that it’s not impossible that Gast could make the club. I’d definitely bet against it, but after a round of cuts yesterday, Gast is still here and some guys who looked like better shots are not.
Today’s playlist is the first five tracks from The Clash’s debut album (UK version, natch):
“Janie Jones”
“Remote Control”
“I’m So Bored with the U.S.A.”
“White Riot”
“Hate & War”
(that’ll wake ya up on a Saturday morning…)
-M.

Friday lineup and early tidbits

Still awaiting a Tigers lineup.

A few early tidbits, prior to our morning session with TLR:
* Chris Carpenter is scheduled to throw live batting practice at 10:15 a.m. ET. The hitters who will face him are Bryan Anderson, Tony Cruz, Adron Chambers and Pete Kozma. 
* Mitchell Boggs is listed as a backup-available pitcher today. He’s on the card, but on a separate line from the guys who are slated to pitch.
* Justine Siegal, whom you’ve likely read a good bit about at this point, will be throwing batting practice to David Freese, Skip Schumaker and Ryan Theriot this morning.
* Lance Berkman is back in, as DH.
And now the lineup:
1. Theriot SS
2. Craig RF
3. Pujols 1B
4. Holliday LF
5. Berkman DH
6. Freese 3B
7. Rasmus CF
8. Molina C
9. Schumaker 2B
Lynn P
-M.

Tuesday camp tidbits: Berkman and B games

* TLR said that Lance Berkman will be held out of pretty much all throwing for a few days to rest his sore elbow. He’s the starting DH today and won’t be back in the outfield for a few days. He also won’t throw in drills.

* For Thursday’s split-squad day, Kyle McClellan will pitch at home against Washington, while Jaime Garcia will start the game against the Mets at Port St. Lucie.
* No starting has been named for the Saturday game at home against the Astros.
* On March 9, the Cardinals and Braves will play a morning “B” game at the Braves complex, at Atlanta’s request.
* TLR had quite a bit of praise for Adron Chambers and Matt Carpenter this morning. Doesn’t mean either is going to make the club, but safe to say they’ve both made a good impression.
* Albert Pujols is out of today’s lineup but will play tomorrow and Thursday, then skip the trip to Kissimmee on Friday.
Today’s playlist:
Tanya Donelly, “World On Fire”
The Hold Steady, “Arms and Hearts”
R.E.M., “New Test Leper”
Aimee Mann, “How Am I Different”
The Jesus and Mary Chain, “Sidewalking”
-M.

Monday camp tidbits: Game on

* Nick Punto returned to camp Monday, his first day back after having surgery to repair his sports hernia. Punto is walking reasonably well, but that’s all he’s really allowed to do at this point. He also seemed to be in good spirits.

* TLR still seems quite committed to Lance Berkman in the fifth spot in the batting order, and sounds very open to Colby Rasmus in the two spot. Today it’s Ryan Theriot there, but that’s in part because Rasmus isn’t playing today.
* Rasmus and Yadier Molina, two of the regulars not in today’s lineup, are both expected to play tomorrow.
* David Freese, however, is not. Freese will not start any sooner than Thursday’s split-squad game, though he could pinch-hit before then.
* Cardinals players, coaches and TLR met with MLB umpire representatives on Monday morning, a meeting that TLR described as quite productive.
And, finally, the playlist:
Soundgarden, “Pretty Noose”
Rise Against, “Prayer of the Refugee”
Chevelle, “Vitamin R”
Against Me!, “White Crosses”
System of a Down, “Revenga”
-M.

Friday camp tidbits: A (gasp!) normal day?

Greetings from what, at the moment, appears to be a normal, relatively quiet day at camp. Here are some of the tidbits from this morning’s session with TLR. Of course, check the site as the day goes on for fleshed-out versions of most of this, as well as for a feature on Mitchell Boggs.

* Lance Berkman is getting a day off from most of the defensive drills. TLR described it as simply a maintenance day after Berkman went full-on the past two days.
* TLR said that David Freese is feeling great, but that they won’t want to push Freese. As a result, Freese will play some in the early games, but not a great deal. Allen Craig, Daniel Descalso and Ramon Vazquez will all be candidates for a start or two at third base. Tyler Greene will probably play more at shortstop than at third this spring.
* The Cardinals will try to have “coaches’ games” each of the next two days, though it may be tough tomorrow. The club has a Spring Training season-ticket-holders’ reception after tomorrow’s workout, limiting how late in the day they can go. A portion of tomorrow’s workout will take place within the stadium rather than on the practice fields.
* Shelby Miller’s opportunities to pitch in the main ‘A’ games will probably be reduced as a secondary consequence of Adam Wainwright’s injury. The new fifth-starter competition means that more pitchers will be stretched out longer, which could squeeze out some innings for Miller.
* Adam Ottavino is a little bit behind some of the other fifth-starter candidates, in part because he’s coming off of health issues and didn’t pitch at all at the end of last year. TLR said that if Ottavino is the best, the club wouldn’t hesitate to use him, but that he’s definitely starting at a disadvantage.
* Boggs is one pitcher who will NOT be considered to start, despite his past experience.
And today’s playlist…
The Beatles, “Oh! Darling”
Elvis Costello, “Deep Dark Truthful Mirror”
The White Stripes, “Ball & Biscuit”
Keith Richards, “999″
Gregg Allman, “Just Another Rider”
-M.

Wednesday TLR Tidbits

I have a story going up soon on Cardinals.com on TLR’s chat with reporters today, but I also wanted to blog a few extra tidbits that didn’t make it into that story.

* He made it sound like the club is leaning very strongly toward playing Lance Berkman in right field, rather than shifting Matt Holliday and playing Berkman in left.
The quote: “Lance has played more right field than he’s played anything. So I think our plan is to go into Spring Training with Matt playing left and Lance working in right.”
* At this point, the manager does not consider Berkman a platoon player.
“I think he’s an everyday player against everybody. You know, there were a couple of years there where his numbers were down. Last year’s…  You know, he can hit, he can just plain flat hit, so…”
* He said that Allen Craig will in fact play a great deal of third base this spring.
“He proved last year he could play in the outfield. So last year he took very little work at third base, took a lot of work in the outfield. It’s going to be the opposite this year.  He’s going to get enough outfield times where he keeps reading balls. But he’s going to get a lot of work at third base because I think even if  we’re assuming David’s going to be fine, there will probably be days that David should not push it. There’s playing time for Allen, so that’s a good question, and he’s going to get more work at third base.”
-M.
| back to blog home | newer posts »
Theme: MLB “pro” | Get a free blog at WordPress.com
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 19,455 other followers