READING TIME 5 MINUTES:
* Is there a break in the schedule? Starting Friday, the Cardinals and rival Cincinnati Reds enter a stretch of schedule that seemingly offers a smoother ride for the Cardinals.
From Friday until Sept 8, the Cardinals will have only one series and three games against a team (San Francisco) that currently has a winning record. And those three games are at Busch Stadium, where the Cardinals are 34-16 so far.
From Friday through Sept. 9, the Reds have four series and 13 games against teams that currently have a winning recor, and only three are at home. The Reds will host Atlanta for three, go to San Francisco for three, Los Angeles for three, and will have four at Colorado. The Giants, Dodgers and Rockies are a combined 93-58 at home this season. But the Reds have been a solid road team; at 26-24 they're only one of three NL clubs with winning road records. San Diego (28-20) and San Francisco (28-25) are the others.
The Cardinals had better take advantage of this stretch, because the schedule breaks in Cincinnati's favor over the final three + weeks of the season. The Reds will play 19 of their final 22 games against Pittsburgh, Arizona, Houston and Milwaukee. And the Cardinals over the final three weeks have a combined 12 games against Atlanta, San Diego and Colorado. At least the Colorado games (which close the regular season) are at Busch. Up to this point the Rox have been an awful road team (20-32). And the Cardinals will also get a shot at the Pirates (six games) and Cubs (six games) over the final three _ weeks.
* The Cardinals have a lefty problem. No disrespect to Trever Miller, who was sensational Wednesday night in giving the Cardinals two scoreless innings of relief in the 13-inning win over the Mets. But Miller and the other lefty specialist, Dennys Reyes, have been off form for a while now.
Especially Reyes. Since June 1, lefthanded batters are 13 for 32 against Reyes (.406 batting average) with a .457 OBP and a .500 SLG. Overall since June 1, Reyes has allowed 26 base runners in 11 innings, has thrown three wild pitches and has a 7.36 ERA. During this stretch Reyes has also allowed 6 of 16 inherited runners to score, or 37.5 percent.
Miller has been better, but he's also struggled to lock down lefthanded hitters. Since June 26 the LH batters are 5 for 16 against Miller and have 5 walks, with only two Ks. Until Wednesday night's sterling performance, Miller had been rocked for a 7.20 ERA in his previous 10 appearances. Overall Miller has allowed only 19 percent of inherited runners to score, the best percentage by a Cardinals reliever this season. But two of his last five inherited runners have scored.
This explains why Cardinals GM John Mozeliak is searching for a lefty reliever. But the good ones are hard to find. And the cost for getting them is high. Toronto has made Scott Downs available via trade but reportedly is demanding that teams overpay for him.
* As I type this, rookie QB Sam Bradford isn't in camp, and it's ridiculous, no? The Rams drafted Bradford on April 22 and knew that it would cost a lot of money. Based on what QB Matthew Stafford received from Detroit as the No. 1 overall draft choice in 2009, the general range for guaranteed dollars for Bradford was pretty much in place. And the team wasted a lot of time, declining to begin negotiations until two weeks ago. There's no excuse for this. Every practice is crucial for a rookie quarterback.
* Update: Rams GM Billy Devaney says the deal is "right there," and that fans shouldn't be concerned.
* The Big 12 Conference is one, big, deliriously happy family. Right? That's what all of the coaches and ADs have been telling us. So it must be true. Um, maybe not. It seems that Texas A&M is ready to declare war if necessary. Through all of this, I've been amazed by A&M's sense of entitlement. I can understand why Texas and Oklahoma have the hammer; they win big, can compete for the BCS championship and have national-brand programs that attract the TV networks. But the Aggies? They're 31-41 in conference play since the start of the 2001 season and have gone 6-23 overall against teams ranked among the Top 25.
Thanks for reading...
-Bernie
