Boggs to start Friday; Wellemeyer to bullpen
St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa made it official this afternoon. Struggling righthander Todd Wellemeyer will miss his next scheduled start on Friday and righthander Mitchell Boggs, who was 1-0 with a 3.22 earned run average in five games, four of them starts, with the Cardinals earlier this season, will be brought back from Class AAA Memphis to make that start.
Boggs, who won’t be added to the roster until that night when he will face the Houston Astros, is 6-4 with a 4.29 ERA in 13 starts at Memphis.
Wellemeyer, 7-9 with a 5.79 ERA and 192 baserunners allowed in 110 1/3 innings, is going to the bullpen without argument.
“I think it makes sense,” he said. “Something’s got to change.
“I’ve just got to stay positive and try to get back on track.”
Wellemeyer has had different ideas along this rocky road about how to correct his faults but he thinks now he just needs to be more aggressive rather than trying to nibble and paint corners.
“I feel like I was a little lax,” he said. “I was trying to pitch too much.
“This is a good time to do it. It’s a good opportunity for me to work on stuff.”
La Russa said, “It will give him a different feel for things. This spot doesn’t come open after those off days (two next week) for a while. Then we’ll just play it by ear as we go along.
“We don’t lack any confidence in what he’s capable of doing. He’s just been struggling. There are different things you can do when a guy’s struggling and this is one of them. I think he understands.”
Boggs was due to pitch tonight for Memphis but was scratched.
“I like a lot of things about him,” said La Russa.
Boggs’ biggest problem in his earlier trial with the Cardinals was that he wasn’t able to take two of his starts past the fifth inning.
(12 votes, average: 4.67 out of 5)
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We better have a BIIIG lead when TLR decides to put him in….I remember that last bullpen session for Owellemeyer….he gave up 2 walks and 1 hit to load the bases in 1/3 of a inning….
Wellemeyer works into the setup role? You heard it here first…
Is there any interest among the cards in Justin Duchscherer? He’s recovering from surgery so he’s a total gamble but he would probably be a cheap solution and be healthy enough to pitch in a month
He needs to get his confidence back. Probably will just be used in mop-up situations at first to see if he still has it.
Wellemeyer is going to the bullpen without argument? Well, I should hope so. This organization has given him more than enough time to get back on track. If he’s going to pitch out of the bullpen, I certainly hope he has a better attitude than he had last time they used him in relief. He even admitted himself that he wasn’t happy about relieving and it showed in his dismal performance. I wouldn’t use him unless it’s in a mop-up/blowout situation.
I’m a Wellemeyer fan . It’s not from lack of effort or a Marquis thing. Get it fixed and help us any way you can until your number is called again.
Go Cardinals.
Wellemeyer just needs a break. His velocity and location has been off all year. Boggs is clearly not the answer.
Here’s some good news. The Cards don’t need a 5th starter - thanks to the remaining schedule. Cards average one day off per week here on in. If the top 4 starters stay healthy (knock wood), and Tony maintains the rotation, the 5th spot will come up only 5 times for the rest of the season. Comparatively, Carp, Waino, Piniero and Lohse are all due 13-14 starts each.
@Birdflu: you can’t trade a player that is hurt.
Hopefully we wise up even more and realize this guy was a fluke. he doesn’t have what it takes to pitch for this team. What have you done for me lately?