02.21.2009 8:16 am
Chris Carpenter faces hitters in first Live BP
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
JUPITER, Fla. — Cardinals pitcher Chris Carpenter will throw to hitters for the first time this morning as he takes the mound back on Field No. 3 at 10:40 a.m. He is the last of the Cardinals designated starters to throw live batting practice, and he is sure to draw a crowd — of Cardinals’ players, Cardinals’ brass and the always lurking pens-and-lens set.
Carpenter will throw to the outfielders in a controlled setting. He’ll choose where he wants to throw with an L-screen or not, and his goal will be to mix up pitches — but he’ll be looking more for location and movement than result.
Check back during the midday today for an update of his throw.
Other things of note on Saturday’s schedule:
- Blake Hawksworth, Clayton Mortensen will face a group that includes Albert Pujols, Chris Duncan, Khalil Greene, Joe Mather, Skip Schumaker and Yadier Molina.
- Mitchell Boggs (shoulder stiffness) will start his throws, a few days behind, with a bullpen.
- Shaun Garceau and Francisco Samuel will throw to mostly catchers.
- Infielders, including Joe Mather and Skip Schumaker, will work on steals and hit-and-run covers at 10:20 a.m. This is rather precise stuff for manager Tony La Russa, right up there with bunt defense. La Russa takes great pride in his steal and bunt defense, and other teams in the NL Central have mentioned the steal defense as a big part of why it’s tough to steal on the Cardinals.
Well, that and Molina.
-30-
(5 votes, average: 4.6 out of 5)
Loading ...
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. 
Here’s looking for Blake Hawksworth to finally reach some of his potential that had scouts raving over this guy just a few short years ago. Injuries have taken their toll, no doubt. Hes lost a few MPH on his fastball. That’s to be expected with all the arm troubles hes experienced. However, apparently nothings wrong with that nasty changeup, and in general even though his stuff isn’t what it once was, I see him as a guy with the makeup of being a very solid back of the rotation guy if he can stay of the DL.
Needless to say, this is a big spring for Hawksworth. Possibly his last chance to prove himself in this organization. I’m not ready to give up on him yet.
Again, with each step I cross my fingers and wish Carp the very best. Forget about the second guessing of management and the need to spend more on payroll, Carp is the cornerstone of the 2009 season and without him, there’s no one that can replace him.