Notes on a Scorecard: Dunc Strikes Back!
Good evening from Busch Stadium…
Bottom of the first, two out, bases loaded, 0-2 count on Chris Duncan. Roy Oswalt looks to finish it off. Duncan works the count to 3-2, then fouls off a 95 mph fastball to stay upright. Next pitch, 94 mph. Duncan blisters it to right for a 2-run single. It was a terrific at-bat, and got the Cardinals started on their 3-2 victory over the Astros.
Manager Tony La Russa called Duncan “a champion” after the game, and as Dunc’s most prominent supporter, Tony was understandably proud.
Duncan went 1 for 3 in the game, and he’s 2 for his last 14, but this was the kind of at-bats people have wanted to see from him. And if Duncan can deliver them more consistently, there’s no issue here. Nothing to talk about. We’ll move along. But if Dunc has this great AB, followed by a bunch of bad swings and outs and a rut, then the issue of his offensive viability will remain. I hope he gets it going now, because I respect him, and I respect his parents, and he works hard.
What’s funny about all of this is how I’m being depicted as some anti-Duncan attack dog. Anyone who has sparred with me online (Bernie’s Press Box, or on this blog) knows that I often go against the prevailing public sentiment when it comes to Duncan. I’ve frequently defended him when I believe he’s been unfairly maligned. And what’s also funny is that in 2006 I wrote a column that La Russa really disliked, a column that questioned how Chris Duncan could be expected to build confidence when TLR pulled him late for a pinch-hitter when the Cubs brought in a LH reliever. It’s interesting how all of that works, isn’t it?
But really, this situation is crystal clear: Chris D hits, or he doesn’t hit. And if he doesn’t hit, then the Cardinals will have to do what’s best for him.
Keith Hernandez was sent back to the minors to improve. I watched Brian Jordan get sent back to the minors two or three times before his career took off. Brooks Robinson, Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle… quite a few future Hall of Famers were sent back to the minors to work on their flaws. There’s no shame in that. It’s done all the time. It’s often productive. So am I really supposed to believe that it’s somehow blasphemous to suggest that there’s a benefit for young Dunc to visit Memphis for a spell? Please. He’d be in the lineup every day, and really work on his hitting approach and mechanics without a lot of fuss being made.
Now, if Duncan has more ABs like the one we saw against Roy O in the first inning Thursday, then it’s a moot point.
But understand this: Dunc has to keep doing it.
Because if he doesn’t continue to do it, it doesn’t matter how many times Manager La Russa or Dave Duncan or the typical STL media lapdogs try to protect the young Dunc. It doesn’t matter how many times La Russa and others want to shift the Duncan story and make it all about the independent-minded members of the media. It doesn’t matter if they all try to pretend that Dunc’s batting line in 259 plate appearances since last July 29 — a .215 average, .320 OBP and .323 SLG — is some sort of bizarre media/fan fabrication.
Let’s reduce this to the truth at its leanest core, shall we?
Duncan hits.
Or he doesn’t hit.
If he hits, he belongs.
He doesn’t hit, then we’ll see if the adults at Busch Stadium have it in them to act responsibly.
This isn’t about Duncan vs. the media, or Tony vs. the media, or Dave vs. the media.
It’s about Chris Duncan vs. the Pitcher. Nothing more.
That was a great AB vs. Oswalt.
What will it lead to?
– There was so much chest pounding over Duncan after the game, that I almost forgot the real reason the Cardinals won Thursday’s game (and Wednesday’s) to take the series 2-1 from that hot-hot-hot Houston team. The No. 1 reason, of course, was pitching. The Cardinals received awesome starts from Adam Wainwright and Kyle Lohse and superb work from the bullpen, and over the final two games, both Ws, the Astros scored three runs (total) in 18 innings. This was a Houston team that had averaged 5.4 runs per game over the first 24 games in May. And the Cardinals shut ‘em down. That’s really difficult to do, considering the thunder consistently produced by Tejada, Berkman, Lee, Pence, and the other Astromen.
- Lohse is an interesting case. He’s allowed only four earned runs in his five wins (over 30.1 IP). He seemed really lost through the first three weeks of May, but now has stepped forward again with consecutive strong starts against the Dodgers and Astros. Lohse is hugely important to this team, and this season. If Lohse pitches at a high level, as he has multiple times this season, he elevates the Cardinals’ rotation and gives them three quality starters (with Wainwright and Todd Wellemeyer being the other two). But if Lohse is bad, the Cardinals’ rotation sure looks a lot worse, doesn’t it? I don’t know what to expect from Lohsie, but as the second month winds down, he’s standing there at 5-2 with a 4.02 ERA, and the Cardinals will take a repeat of that two more times.
- I was curious as to the Cardinals’ won/loss record when their five outfielders play. It probably doesn’t mean much, but it’s something to talk about.
Schumaker 31-22
Ludwick 28-19
Ankiel 28-19
Barton 23-19
Duncan 25-22
- This is a typical La Russa team in that it’s grimly determined to press on. It’s one of their greatest strengths. Five times this season, the Cardinals have lost the first game of a three-game series at home, only to take the final two games and snatch the series 2-1. Overall, they are 6-2-2 in taking series after losing the opener. That’s impressive.
- Troy Glaus at home: .236 / .314 / .368
- Troy Glaus on road: .295 / .439 / .410
- The Cardinals need someone to cool the Cubs down. The Cubs have been beating up just about everybody at Wrigley Field, where they’re 23-8 this season. (On eight series on the road, the Cubs are 1-6-1). With Thursday’s win at home over Colorado, the Cubs ascended to the best record in the MLB. But the plucky Cardinals are still only 1.5 games back.
- Next up, four at home vs. the Pirates, who are 10-17 on the road so far.
- Nickname alert: I’m gonna call Chris Perez “CPR” because the other team needs it after inhaling that 98 mph heat. CPR fits, of course. Chris Perez, Reliever.
Thanks for reading …
-B
Nice column, Bernie, as per usual. However…
I don’t remember Mays going back to the minors, though - he went into the Army a month or so into his sophomore season instead.
And Mantle, of course, was sent down mainly because of his defense - he was an awful shortstop - which was affecting his hitting. Once they made him an outfielder, he was fine.
And none of these guys were sent down in their 3rd or 4th seasons like we’re proposing to do with Duncan. One guy who *was*, though, was Joe Garagiola, who was a rookie in 1946 and had a decent sophomore season in 1947, but struggled badly in early 1948 and was sent down - and he responded by hitting .354 or thereabouts, got called back up, and was on the road to stardom (hitting .313 and driving in runs in the early part of 1950) before suffering a season-ending and career-altering injury.
So the precedent is there for even a third-year player to go down, although you don’t see it happen very often nowadays - players’ union and all that.
Have you heard anything about the Mather rumors? There’s rumblings from Memphis that Joey Bombs is coming up this weekend.