TOWER GROVE — It would be tempting to begin any look at the St. Louis Cardinals’ bullpen and its search for additional power sources with the fact that the Cardinals relievers had the fewest strikeouts of any bullpen in the National League. Their 340 were the least in the majors by 21 behind Tampa Bay.

While that stat is telling, it’s not entirely revealing.

The Cardinals’ relievers also had to pitch the fewest innings of any bullpen….

JUPITER, Fla. — What is true for major-league spring training is also true in minor-league spring training: The statistics are the ends, and often the means are more important.

Consider Adam Ottavino’s day.

The former first-round pick had a garish line from Monday’s game against Class AA Jacksonville. It read:

4.2 IP, 7 H, 6 runs, 2 BB, 4 Ks

But there is a story behind the numbers. Five of those six runs were unearned, and he was darn…

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. — Back when Triple-A Memphis used to be a depot for depth and journeymen minor leaguers, the list of non-roster invitees read like a Who’s Who of Who Was Who. Previous NRIs* made good included Scott Spiezio, Bill Pulsipher, and, most recently, Ron Villone. And then there were the NRIs who didn’t have the staying power — Juan Gonzalez, Greg Vaughn, Quinton McCracken, Jeff Nelson, and so on.

Now that the Cardinals have transitioned…

DOWNTOWN — The big-ticket day of the 13th annual Winter Warm-up continues this afternoon with National League MVP Albert Pujols, who is on the stage right now signing, and a parade of other headline Cardinals, many of whom will be receiving an award at tonight’s Baseball Writers’ Dinner. The news was this morning’s signings of Todd Wellemeyer and Chris Duncan, but the comments from St. Louis Cardinals players today address a wider spectrum of topics.

There’s…

DOWNTOWN — Brad Thompson said he was too nervous at his wedding to think twice about the unorthodox choice he and his wife-to-be had made when choosing someone to preside over their nuptuals.  He had other things on his mind and no time for smirking as he stood there, beside his bride and exchanged vows under the guidance of the “reverend” Randy Flores.

He was however concerned about Jason Isringhausen.

“Izzy was the only one I couldn’t look…

DOWNTOWN — Cardinals reliever Josh Kinney was thrilled to describe a winter that included his engagement to a gal from Springfield, Mo., and a successful bear hunt as “normal.”

“Been nice,” Kinney said at the Warm-up. “No rehab. That’s different.”

Kinney missed all of the 2007 season and most of the 2008 season after needing Tommy John surgery to repair the elbow that helped the Cardinals to their World Series win in 2006. He made a strong…

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…

SOUTH GRAND — Already the closest vote in two years of doing the (Bird Land) Community Top 30, the poll for No. 21 produced something even more remarkable while, numbed by baseball’s sputtering hot stove, we caught up on Christmas shopping this weekend.

After more than 530 voters clicked in, No. 21 is a virtual tie.

Pitcher Fernando Salas and outfielder Shane Robinson each received 25 percent of the vote. At the time I checked this morning, Salas had…

TOWER GROVE — The list of players offered arbitration is in, with 24 free agents getting the notice from their former teams and not one St. Louis Cardinal. While the deadline revealed more about who won’t be a Cardinal in 2009 than who will be, the list of players not offered arbitration will expand the Cardinals’ shopping list.

Houston opted not to give Randy Wolf an arbitration offer and the Astros, with Mike Hampton on the way,…

TOWER GROVE — As the weekend arrived, the St. Louis Cardinals continued to work Friday on the details of the deal for lefthanded reliever Trever Miller while also keeping conversations open with other lefthanded relievers and free agents on the market.

Miller, 35, came to St. Louis on Thursday for a physical, a clear sign of the team’s and player’s mutual interest and what some baseball sources believed was a step toward finalizing a deal. The…

TOWER GROVE — With the subtraction of the salaries for Mark Mulder, Braden Looper, Scott Spiezio, Juan Encarnacion and Jason Isringhausen (though possibly only briefly for him), the St. Louis Cardinals have a raw total of about $29 million in expiring contracts from their 2008 payroll. But presented with the question on whether the Cardinals had $25 million to even $30 million of flexibility for the coming season, an organization official was direct with his answer:

“You might…

TOWER GROVE — When I found myself trying to decide between Miguel Batista and Aaron Cook as my No. 5 starter while others were wondering if Cy Young or Steve Carlton would fill out their rotation or whether Randy Johnson has a place in their bullpen, I knew I was out of my league.

In the coming weeks, we’ll have Opening Day of the Seamheads.com Historical Baseball League. Bill James’ all-time Boston Red Sox roster will face Curt…

TOWER GROVE — As the doors to Major League Baseball’s free-agent marketplace swing open Friday, the St. Louis Cardinals plan a bee-line to the lefthanded reliever auction, where they will find plenty of other bidders looking to beef-up on that same side of the bullpen.

The Cardinals have been rather public with their plan to address holes on the left-side of the bullpen via free agency — because why deny what the depth chart reveals? Renovating…