TOWER GROVE — At one point this season, manager Tony La Russa approached Brendan Ryan to assure the young, live-wire infielder that some people just had it wrong. No matter what he heard or read or inferred from any comments, La Russa told Ryan he really, really did like him, 3-0 swinging and all.

Now it’s time to show him.

With shortstop Cesar Izturis on the 15-day disabled list with a sore hamstring, there is an opportunity…

DOWNTOWN — For obvious reasons, Adam Wainwright’s curve ball gets all the press. It was, after all, at the heart of what The New York Daily News called the biggest sports moment in New York City sports back in 2006. It froze Carlos Beltran, sent the Cardinals to the World Series and, Wainwright joked recently, is the ball Yadier Molina “let me keep.”

It is a primo bender. No doubt.

But, this season, it hasn’t been Wainwright’s best…

TOWER GROVE — One thing about a player being on base all the time: he gets loads of practice running them and has plenty of opportunity to excel — and fail. Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols showed this past week that he can pound out the headlines with more than just his bat; carrying a big stick does not require always walking softly.

In the span of a few games, Pujols showed the plus and minus of…

TOWER GROVE — A day after watching on television as Cardinals closer Jason Isringhausen riddled the Houston Astros with sinister curveballs for his fourth save of the season — another in a line of what were no-sweat saves — I was in Houston and asked Isringhausen why so many curves?

“I think it was only five,” Isringhausen said. “Not that many. But now if it jinxes me, I know who to blame. If it’s going…

SOUTH GRAND — Starting with a possible trade partner that probably doesn’t have what the Cardinals are looking for and ending with a question about the chances of a fan-favorite outfielder trying on an infielder’s glove, this week’s edition of the mailbag is loaded with all manner of things middle infield.

Oh, and there is also an advocacy of a four-man rotation.

Reliever Russ Springer is back. Rico Washington gave everyone a great story. And…

TOWER GROVE — Rick Hummel’s look at how Milwaukee has adopted the “Crazy 8″ lineup to such success that catcher Jason Kendall is leading the league in hitting jogged my memory about a email received earlier Tuesday. This one comes from ACTA Sports, the publishing house of Bill James and others, and it’s John Dewan’s “Stat of the Week.” This week’s topic:

Whose batting slot is the best in baseball thus far?

Using on-base-percentage-plus-slugging (OPS), Dewan ranks the best…

(THE FILIBUSTER) JUPITER, Fla. — The only times Cardinals manager Tony La Russa has batted the pitcher eighth is when his team has been struggling and, cynics argue, when it offers a red herring, a distraction from the performance on the field.

The manager might quibble with the cynics — always does. But while he believes it’s the best way to build a National League lineup, he concedes he has only done it when his team is scuffling. Earlier this…

JUPITER, Fla. — Apparently, Russ Springer wasn’t the only one who wanted to have the same conversation with spunky shortstop Brendan Ryan in the wake of Scott Spiezio’s release from the team earlier this spring.

Manager Tony La Russa also pulled the infielder aside.

“Just don’t take for granted because Scott’s not here that you’re automatically on the team,” La Russa recalled telling Ryan earlier. “That’s not the way it works.” 

In fact, few players in camp have…

TOWER GROVE — A quick-hit sampler of things I’ve read, reported or researched recently:

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More from the latest Bill James Handbook below, but on the day the Cardinals potentially add a righthanded bat to their bench, how’s this for a surprise number: 405. That would be the average length, in feet,  of Ryan Ludwick’s home runs this past season, tied for sixth-longest in the National League with … Jim Edmonds. On the next page of the…

TOWER GROVE — While doing the research and reporting for today’s article on the three Cardinals who are arbitration eligible – a trio that includes Rick Ankiel — I rifled through statistics and articles and Web sites looking for a comparable player who even vaguely fit Ankiel’s uncommon numbers.

No luck.

Looking at Ankiel’s pace of 11 home runs in his first 47 games as a professional hitter, I revisited the familiar fast starters. Kevin Maas….