I’ll try to take up less of your time this morning/evening:

1. Ryan Franklin Deserves to be an NL All-Star: The bearded one got the win Wednesday night, pitching a one-two-three 10th as the Cardinals edged the Giants 2-1 in 10 innings. This was a “clean” win in that it didn’t come after Franklin blew a save. He’s 2-0 on the season (though the first win at Cincinnati, did come after a blown save). Franklin has saved 18 games in 19 attempts and four of his saves were achieved by throwing 1+ innings. He hasn’t allowed a base runner in his last three appearances. The batting average against him this season dropped to .174. His ERA is down to 0.90. His rate of base runners per nine innings is third-best among NL relievers. One nitpick from the statheads: Franklin’s FIP (Fielding Independent ERA) of 3.25 seems unsually high; even though I think that stat, generally speaking, has merit).

Oh, I’m sure the stat boys can come up with some hopelessly esoteric mathematical equation that will tell us that Franklin is somehow a bad pitcher, or not deserving of accolades. or that he’s no better than, say, Ricky Bottalico. But some perspective usually helps. Also helps to watch the game. And to have a memory. Remember the 9th inning last season? A horrow show for the Cardinals’ relievers? All of those blown saves and late leads that slipped away? Now: think about what Franklin has done to alleviate a problem that tore last season apart, and was threatening to do the same in ‘09. You could make a case that Franklin qualifies as the No. 2 MVP of the 2009 Cardinals for the first half of 2009. I guess you could figure out the identity of No. 1.

I nominate Franklin in using the formula that usually applies to All-Star selections; they go with starters and closers. Maybe there are some better relievers out there who don’t close. I don’t doubt that. But when the roster is chosen every summer, it’s all about starters and closers. And Franklin fits. There are some exceptional closers in the NL this season (Broxton, Rodriguez, Street, Cordero, Bell, Wilson, etc.) but unless Franklin gets smacked around over the next few days, the case can be made (by reasonable people) that he rates a spot on the NL squad, especially with the All-Star Game game being played in St. Louis.

2. Joe Thurston? I don’t know what to say. I do not want to be disrespectful in any way. Look, I like the guy. He’s an underdog you want to root for. He’s plugged away, been a grinder, never gave up on the dream, finally stayed in the bigs for more than a cup of java. He’s a terrific person. I don’t forget what he did for the Cardinals in April, filling in (mostly at 3B) on an emergency basis, and batting .278 / .371 / .407 for the month. He contributed to a winning month. And unlike a lot of the STL hitters, Thurston will actually take walk. But here’s the lowdown: since May 6, Thurston is batting .172 / .304 / .276.  And he’s made seven errors during that time. On the season, Thurston has made nine outs on the bases, frequently getting nailed on helter-skelter dashes.  I can’t fault the dude; Thurston isn’t writing out the lineup card. Thurston is here because Troy Glaus got hurt, and David Freese got hurt, and because Brian Barden went 10 for 69 (.145) and got demoted. But surely the Cardinals can come up with something better than what Thurston has been giving them for the last couple of months. Can Jarrett Hoffpauir play third until Mark DeRosa is ready?

3. RBIs aren’t an important measuring unit for judging a hitter’s value: I didn’t realize that.  When I wrote about DeRosa’s impressive RBI total the other day, I received a few e-mails from perturbed quasi sabermatricians, informing me that RBIs are meaningless. Thanks for that. I guess I’m crazy, but as I watched the Cardinals struggle for one run into the 8th inning on Wednesday, I was thinking that an RBI might be a good idea. I saw them load the bases with two outs in the 8th. The score was tied 1-1. Thurston was up. Now, I know this is an old-fashioned, outdated and total-dinosaur concept that has kept mainstream sportswriting in the dark ages … but I sort of thought it might be beneficial for the Cardinals right there if Thurston delivered a single to drive in a run or two. You know, I pondered the possibilities and thought that maybe an RBI single in that situation – to give the Cardinals a 2-1 or 3-1 lead – might be a more desirable outcome than, say, a strikeout to end the inning. Thurston, indeed, struck out. Perhaps he was also informed that RBIs were not all that important.

(Sarcasm. I’m just kidding. Relax. Thank you.)

4. Adam Wainwright, Part I: Waino is usually the intellectual property of Derrick Goold, so I am straying into dangerous territory here by saying a couple of things about him. First: this is one tough-minded pitcher. He hasn’t been as sharp as usual this season, and he’s allowing about two more runners per nine innings compared to last year, but the man fights his way out of jams more times than he probably should. (Example: 8th inning Wednesday against the Giants. Bases loaded, no outs, he allowes one run). Another thing is, Wainwright attacked the Giants the way pitching coach Dave Duncan has been imploring him to do with all hitters: use his fastball to set them up for the kill, then polish ‘em off with the curve. That was the case Wednesday. Not all the time, but most of the time. I added this up hastily and may be off by a pitch or two. But by my count, Wainwright got 17 outs on curves, including 10 of his 12 Ks. But he used the two-seam fastball effectively. It was a good plan.

5. Adam Wainwright, Part II: Where is the offense? Why is he slumping, just like he’s another Cardinals outfielder? In 2007-2008, Wainwright was about as fine a hitting pitcher as you’d hope to see. In 122 ABs over the two seasons, he batted .279 with a .305 OBP, a .369 SLG, five doubles, two homers, and 12 RBIs. This year? He looks like a pitcher. He looks like he doesn’t know what a bat is. In 43 ABs, Wainwright has six hits (.140 BA) and one homer. He’s struck out 12 times. I guess Wainwright has caught whatever it is that’s infected the STL lineup.

Thanks as always for reading …

-Bernie