Cards lineup? You’re kidding, right?
While Dodgers manager Joe Torre revealed his Game 1 lineup today and cleared up questions about his rotation, Cards manager Tony La Russa was in October mystery mode.
La Russa claimed he didn’t have his final roster set, telling reporters only that the Cards will carry 13 position players and 12 pitchers.
“We know who the 13 position players are,” La Russa said. “The only thing we have left is (a decision about) the 11th and 12th pitchers. I don’t think now is the appropriate time for that.”
When pressed about his Game 1 lineup against lefty Randy Wolf, La Russa said: “Really, the only question is center field.” He hinted that the lineup would look similar to the right-leaning lineups he employed vs. lefties as the Cards made their run to the division title.
Speculation alert: His comment about center field does not necessarily mean he will choose between Colby Rasmus and Rick Ankiel. Cardinal Nation should not be shocked tomorrow to learn that EVERYDAY SECOND BASEMAN Skip Schumaker will be playing center field.
Meanwhile, here’s the Dodgers’ Game 1 lineup vs. Chris Carpenter:
Rafael Furcal, SS
Matt Kemp, CF
Andre Ethier, RF
Manny Ramirez, LF
James Loney, 1B
Casey Blake, 3B
Ronnie Belliard, 2B
Russell Martin, C
Randy Wolf, P
Torre also said that Vicente Padilla will start Game 3 Saturday in St. Louis and Chad Billingsley will go Sunday if Game 4 is needed.
(6 votes, average: 4.33 out of 5)
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Or even Ludwick in center, DeRosa in right and Glaus at third…
Sure, it’s far-fetched but you can’t discount anything from La Russa
You know, even if LaRussa gave his lineup now, it could still be changed between now and Wednesday. Then you sports guys would be howling about him changing it. Good grief. The lineup that matters is the one given to the umpires, not the writers.
I’d like to see this one:
Ryan (SS)
Lugo (2B)
Pujols (1B)
Holliday (LF)
Ludwick (RF)
DeRosa (3B)
Molina (C)
Schu (SS)
Carp (P)
Oops, with Schumaker in CF of course.
There are two left fielders in that lineup…guess Ankiel will have a nice day trying to hit.
How about Ludwick in CF and Jack Clark in RF?
It looks pretty crowded in left field with both Manny and Andre Ethier out there!
Seems to me that Schu deserves to play the position he worked so hard the entire year to master. Plus I think he’s better there than Lugo and with Carp pitching, it is likely that there will be much more activity at 2B than in CF.
12 Pitchers again? I know there honestly hasn’t been much off of the bench to warrant it, but it seems like one too many arms to me…In ‘06 with a thinner rotation and rookie closer he only had 11 pitchers on the roster…
Defensively, in the post season, it’s a risk to pencil-in players into positions where they have few to no hours of game-time experience. That said, you could consider playing Glaus at 3B and DeRosa at 2B (his natural position I believe). As far as center field goes, I think you need to take your chances at the plate and insert either Ankiel or Rasmus for defensive purposes.