The Lineup 3.21: Some twists
JUPITER, Fla. — Manager Tony La Russa aimed to give some his regulars a day off before playing them through the weekend and saving them from Monday’s road trip across Alligator Alley. That has led to some wrinkles in the lineup today and one tell-tale chance for a veteran almost out the door:
D’Angelo Jimenez is starting at shortstop.
A lingering injury for Brendan Ryan leaves the Cardinals in need, possibly, of a backup shortstop other than Aaron Miles, who has played the position in a pinch. The one available on the roster is Jimenez. He has not had a distinguished spring, but he’s still around, catching time at third base and short when available — and now offering insurance depending on the severity of Ryan’s ribcage injury.
Also, there’s a new No. 9 hitter and four outfielders squeezed into the lineup.
THE CARDINALS
- Skip Schumaker, LF
- Aaron Miles, 2B
- Chris Duncan, 1B
- Rick Ankiel, CF
- Troy Glaus, 3B
- Ryan Ludwick, RF
- D’Angelo Jimenez, SS
- Adam Wainwright, RHP
- Jason LaRue, C
Notable members of the bench: 1B Mark Hamilton, CF Colby Rasmus, 3B David Freese, INF Rico Washington, OF Amaury Marti.
Bullpen plan: Obviously with this being Wainwright’s penultimate start of spring the idea is for him to go deep into the game today and follow his innings with LHP Ron Villone, LHP Randy Flores, RHP Ryan Franklin and RHP Jason Isringhausen in regular-season style.
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Derrick Goold said he was going to Mizzou for capital-J journalism, but after growing up in the Time Zone Baseball Forgot he was really drawn to MU sitting between two major-league cities. Goold joined the Post-Dispatch in 2001 after working for The Times-Picayune and Rocky Mountain News, covering sports from LSU to NHL and every level of baseball in between. 
Nice to see our 2nd leadoff hitter today is that “speedster” Jason LaRue.
A “backup” shortstop? The cards already have three at that skill level. The NEED a starting shortstop.
A major league starting shortstop would be nice to have. Is this too much to ask….am I being greedy?
I’m skeptical of Izturis as well…what good is range if you can’t pick and throw? I know he’s better than his Spring, but that’s ALL most Bird fans have to go on. Some of us DO remember the quick turns and annoying snags of sure up-the-middle singles when he played for the Pirates, but that’s a small sampling.
That being said. Why would we put Cesar in the #9 spot? Isn’t the point to get hitters on ahead of Pujols? If Kennedy has found his stroke, shouldn’t he be in the #9 spot and Izturis be batting ahead of the pitcher and behind Yadi?
Yadi…Cesar…Pitcher doesn’t exactly get sound great to me, though I’d like to think (wish, dream, fantasize?) that Yadi’s capable of hitting .250+, .300+ OBP and knocking in a dozen or more doubles and homers.
Agiain, I have NO faith in CI’s bat and little faith in his glove.
Here’s hoping I’ve got a mouth full of crow feathers come July…
I say go after Uribe and ditch Izturis as soon as Ryan is fully healthy.
FWIW, Uribe’s career OBA is .295. And he strikes out about 3 times as often as Izturis, while walking less.
It seems like the middle infield is going to be like the rotation. Throw a bunch of junk at it and see what sticks. Brendan Ryan will be a capable bench player for several years, but we don’t really have a quality starter up the middle unless Kennedy comes back to career norms, which isn’t likely given his age and knee problem(s).