DENVER — St. Louis Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan, as he is often apt to do as a Dugout Socrates, answered a question with a question.

“Let me ask it to you in this way,” he said the other day in Houston. “If we were to face Roy Oswalt at his best today and then face him again next week, is facing him today an advantage for us?”

The answer-and-question was in response to an inquiry about the pluses and minuses…

TOWER GROVE — Twice this season, St. Louis Cardinals starter Joel Pineiro has had streaks of four consecutive starts without walking a batter. Thirteen times this summer, he has started a game and not allowed a walk. For this, he credits his father.

“My dad taught me that,” he said this past weekend. “You don’t want to walk people. You don’t want to let them get on base. You don’t want to help them start their…

TOWER GROVE — The way Todd Wellemeyer describes it, he joined the St. Louis Cardinals at a vulnerable time in his career. He could not figure out why good stuff was getting bad results. He had just been hammered by the Detroit Tigers in consecutive games against them, and he was about to face the Tigers for a third time in four appearances after being a Cardinals’ waiver claim out of Kansas City’s pitching staff.

He…

TOWER GROVE — This past spring training, one of the St. Louis Cardinals young players took stock of the organizational goal to build from within and his own place on the depth chart. He looked around the clubhouse, pointed out the contracts expiring and the prospects aspiring and concluded:

He didn’t know what 2009 would bring for him, but he knew 2010 was an opportunity if 2009 went well.

Well, some time in the last month the…

TOWER GROVE — The St. Louis Cardinals have managed three runs total in the first two games of the series that concludes tonight at PNC Park. Albert Pujols has driven in two of those three runs. Two of the three runs have come from solo home runs, by Pujols and Skip Schumaker.

Where has all the offense gone? Why, it’s on rehab.

The R&R of what Bernie Miklasz called appropriately this morning the Cardinals’ “first crisis stage…

DOWNTOWN — St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Adam Wainwright spent much of his early major-league career studying and mimicking the ace of the Cardinals staff, Chris Carpenter. Beyond just watching how he pitched and what he did to bedevil hitters, Wainwright even wanted to borrow Carpenter’s mannerisms.

It’s no wonder he remembers vividly the last time he saw Carpenter start. It was at Wrigley Field, against the Chicago Cubs, and Carpenter wasn’t feeling right. Something was…

TAMPA, Fla. — After slicing eight more names from his spring-training roster, St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said a scheduled meeting with him, his coaches and the front office “probably wasn’t still necessary” for Tuesday’s off day.

“This took care of it,” he said. “We have a good idea.”

The most notably cut Monday was outfielder Brian Barton. The former Rule 5 pick had struggled recently — 1-for-16 — and the Cardinals decision to option…

JUPITER, Fla. — The fortunes of Blake Hawksworth as a St. Louis Cardinals minor leaguer can be traced by the injuries as they traveled up his right side or the prospect lists as he dropped down them. Once the organization’s top prospect — not just top pitching prospect — Hawksworth will make the first start of spring training today, against Florida at Roger Dean Stadium.

He feels fortunate just to be around.

If he wasn’t slowed by ankle surgery…

JUPITER, Fla. — On Sunday morning, starter Todd Wellemeyer revealed that he is no longer the only Kentucky Colonel patrolling the St. Louis Cardinals clubhouse. The population of card-carrying colonels tripled this offseason as Wellemeyer recruited pitching coach Dave Duncan into the group and the Cardinals went out and signed another member, lefty Trever Miller.

That means the Cardinals will take three colonels north for the regular season.

If you’re keeping score, that could be two more colonels…

JUPITER, Fla. — Every time St. Louis Cardinals pitching prospect Adam Ottavino would toe the rubber to deliver a pitch there were so many thoughts buzzing between his ears. His arms needed to swing here. His hands needed to be placed there. His shoulder positioned this way. His foot sure that land that way. Not too far back on that back leg. Not too far forward on the release. Don’t do it that way. Be…

JUPITER, Fla. — Young righthander Fernando Salas was throwing his first round of live batting practice this spring and some of the veterans stepping in against him were taking swings as if they had seen him dozens of times before. Catcher Jason LaRue was in the group that hit off Salas, and after drilling a fastball over the fence in left field he explained why as he stepped out of the cage.

“That’s what happens when you…

DOWNTOWN — Back on Oct. 8, just a little bit after pitching coach Dave Duncan agreed to his new contract, a poll went up in this blog asking the simple question: Who closes? Some 1,300 readers voted and “anointed” Chris Perez the closer with 42 percent of the vote. (Brian Fuentes finished third, one spot behind where the Cardinals finished for his services.)

That poll, meant as a prelude to the St. Louis Cardinals’ search this winter,…

TOWER GROVE — Earlier this week, St. Louis Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan did the radio rounds and spoke about the closer role, closer candidates, the rotation and how so much hinges on the shoulder of Chris Carpenter. He also had a telling comment about his retooled bullpen. Asked in an interview on 101 ESPN if he was confident with the new-look left side of his bullpen, Duncan answered plainly, realistically.

He said he does not…

TOWER GROVE — A few days before pitchers and catchers reported for spring training last February, six of the St. Louis Cardinals top pitching prospects — including Chris Perez and Mitchell Boggs — were invited to Jupiter, Fla., early for an experimental minicamp. They were there to learn the classics.

The concept was explained by the Cardinals then-new roving pitching instructor, Brent Strom:

“We’re not trying to reinvent the wheel here. Before coaches came along, Bob Feller, Sandy Koufax,…

LAS VEGAS — In their past 420 games, a stretch that reaches all the way back deep into that golden season of 2006, the St. Louis Cardinals have had a grand total of ZERO games started and won by a lefthanded pitcher.

Since Mark Mulder won his start on June 15, 2006, the Cardinals have trotted out Mike Maroth, Randy Keisler, Jaime Garcia and Mulder (a few times) to make starts. That group has made 15 starts total…