Bob Watson has lost his mind

As I was watching Sunday’s game against the Cincinnati Reds, watching the Cards squander another opportunity for a sweep, I saw something that I hadn’t seen from a Cardinal hurler all season.  I saw Kyle Lohse stick up for someone on his team.  Granted, it was himself he was sticking up for, but he showed some moxie nonetheless.

Edinson Volquez had buzzed Lohse in the top of the fifth, high and tight under the chin, and it was clear Kyle didn’t like it, glaring out at Volquez.  Edinson, for his part, played the role he’s supposed to in that case, stomping around like he was upset with himself for losing the pitch up there - he didn’t intend to do it.  And he’d have a good argument - Volquez is among the league leaders in HBP.  He walked four just in this game as well.

Whether he meant to come in on Lohse or not, Volquez quickly saw a very similar pitch from Lohse when leading off the bottom of the fifth inning.  Said Lohse after the game:

“Same spot,” Lohse noted, referring to his reply pitch. “Wasn’t trying to hit him, though.”

Umpire Greg Gibson quickly popped out from behind the plate, warned both dugouts, and the game went on.

“Well I’ll be danged” I muttered to myself.  All too often this season, opposing pitchers have taken liberties with Cardinal hitters, all-too-conveniently plunking them after a St Louis home run or clutch hit.  For all of the reputation that LaRussa has as a head-hunting manager, I sure haven’t seen any proof this season.  Even in this instance, I don’t believe LaRussa was behind it.  Whether you see it every outing or not, Lohse does have a competitive fire in his stomach, and I’m virtually certain that this buzzer to Volquez was all Kyle’s idea.

So,  no harm no foul, the game plods on to the top of the seventh inning.  That’s when Volquez got too far inside on Felipe Lopez and hit him in the small of the back.  While half-way expecting (and hoping for, because Volquez was cruising) an immediate ejection from home plate umpire Gibson, he made what I still to this day believe was the right call.  The pitch was not intentional.  Lopez took his base, Tony argued a little bit (but you’ll note not much, as you’d think he would if he really believed Volquez wanted to hit him), Volquez remained in the game, and they went on.  The funny thing is that not once did I think to myself “he was throwing at him, he should’ve been tossed.”  And I can admittedly be an over-reactive type, when it comes to things like that.

So, at the end of the day, the Cardinals took a loss, Lohse stood up for himself, and the umpires had gotten it right.  Cooler heads had prevailed.  Or so I thought.

The news came down yesterday that Bob Watson, vice president of on-field operations for MLB, had suspended Lohse for five games.

Um, what?

So for once this season (in the midst of heated battles between ownership and the umpires’ union over replay) your umpires had played their cards right, had let the game be decided by the players and not their rash decisions, and now you’re suspending a guy who wasn’t even kicked out of the game?  Come again?

Lohse, upon learing of his suspension said:

“My intent wasn’t to hit anybody. My intent was to make the opposing pitcher feel as uncomfortable as I did the at-bat before. The way they interpreted it, it seems like they feel I was trying to hit him.”

For a guy who has only 39 walks this season and has hit only two batters, I don’t think I’m too naive to believe that Kyle could have that sort of command of his pitches.  Throw it high and tight, don’t hit him.  To his credit, Volquez responded in kind:

“I don’t know if he really tried to hit me,” he said. “Maybe he was trying to take me out of the game a little bit, and mess with my concentration on the game.”

An excellent deduction.  Volquez was cruising, and Lohse had the ultimate spot and reason to fire off that pitch.  More from Volquez:

“I don’t want to hit a pitcher,” said Volquez, who received no discipline. “If I’m going to hit somebody, it’d be position players. In that situation, that wasn’t on purpose. I had two men on base and two outs. If I hit him, I have to face the No. 9 batter. I just tried to throw inside and the ball went up close to him. I think he got ticked off. That’s part of the game.” [bolding is mine]

Two things strike me here:  First, he’s right, he had nothing to gain by hitting Lohse, and I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, based upon his statistics indicating he can get wild, that he wasn’t trying to hit Lohse.  However, he also says that he thinks Lohse got upset with the pitch regardless, and (at least the way I read it) understands why he might have seen a similar pitch in the bottom of the inning.

That’s part of the game.  Even Dusty Baker was surprised:

“Five games and they didn’t even kick him out of the game. Wow,” Baker said. “The umpires don’t kick him out but the league suspends him. That’s a first, isn’t it? I haven’t seen that.”

Well, apparently not the way Bob Watson sees it.  So in a situation that was completely diffused by the players’ behavior and the calm rationale of the umpiring crew that day, Watson has stepped in and handed down his sentence on Lohse.  Five game suspension and an undisclosed fine.

Of course, Lohse will appeal, and I have to believe that the suspension will be reduced.  SInce he is a starting pitcher, the suspension is likely to have little to no affect on his regular turns in the rotation anyway.  In my mind, that is beside the point.  If Lohse deserved this penalty, Volquez deserved at least the same.  Again, the umpires did not see fit to eject anyone from the game, yet Lohse gets five games and Volquez nothing.  It’s almost as if Volquez is being rewarded for often being wild and having a track record for hitting batters.  Yet I should reiterate, I don’t believe that either player really deserved punishment, but how can you single out one and not the other as well?

Richie Sexson went bonkers earlier this season, charging the mound and throwing his helmet and several punches at a pitcher.  He got six games that was later reduced to five.  How in the world does Lohse’s *almost* hitting a batter come even close to comparing to Richie’s inexplicable display?  Fascinating.

As I said earlier, this will likely (hopefully, assuming that more intelligent heads prevail during the appeal process) be reduced and have little effect on Lohse at all, save for the fine taking a chunk out of his pocketbook.  But the precedent or example being made here is wrong.  Bob Watson needs to let his umpires make the decisions on field, using the knowledge they have of game situations and being in the heat of the moment itself, not by watching on video in his cushy office three days later.

This time the umps got it right.  Maybe they should use instant replay for determining who should be in charge of doling out the suspensions.

Izzy Injured

You’ve probably all heard by now that Jason Isringhausen’s tenure as a Cardinal is likely coming to an end with the announcement of a torn flexor muscle and inflammation in his elbow.

I had previously speculated that Izzy had an undisclosed injury so this announcement comes as no surprise. The question is again one of disclosure. Was Izzy hiding this injury from the Cardinals in an attempt to achieve the 300 save milestone, or was the Cardinal organization hiding it? And how long has this been a lingering concern? Certainly Izzy was feeling discomfort and making a game effort to contribute to the club and pitch through the pain.

I for one applaud all that Izzy has done for the Cardinals. He has had a tremendous impact and despite a few injury plagued seasons where he wasn’t effective, he has been the reliable stopper that a team needs to have winning seasons.

Izzy left Oakland as a free agent and was signed by the Cardinals prior to the 2002 season. From 2002 through 2005 Izzy accumulated 140 Saves, 8W, 7L, 231K, 86BB, 175HA, in 241.2IP. Despite recent memory suggesting he would walk runners or always seem to have men on base, his W+H/IP ratio was around 1 except for the injury plagued year of 2006 and of course this year, seemingly another injury plagued year.

During his post season career Izzy pitched in 23 games earning 1 win and 11 saves with a 2.36 ERA. He pitched in 26 2/3 innings allowing 17 hits and 12 walks while striking out 23.

2006 seemed to be the turning point for Izzy and Cardinal Nation. We didn’t realize the extent of the injury that Izzy was dealing with and all we saw was one terrible performance after another. Hiding the injury hurt the relationship with the fans and did nothing to make him more effective against the opponents. Last year he rebounded nicely, but you had to wonder whether the hip would hold up. Turns out the elbow dealt the final blow. Yes, Izzy may still pitch again, but hard to imagine any scenario where he returns to the Cardinals next year given his huge salary.

So I guess it’s time to turn all of our attention to Mr. Chris Perez and see how he meaures up to the closer role. He will have big shoes to fill. I will conclude by saying that this recent announcement of Izzy’s injury has me a bit more concerned with the status of Chris Carpenter and even Adam Wainwright. How often did we hear the positive news about Mark Mulder and Matt Clement just to be frustrated when learning how far away they really were from joining any major league rotation.

Redbird Tweets added to PHE

I’ve realized that very often, I have short little thoughts, almost stream-of-consciousness stuff usually - other times I just want to be able to have some of the latest and greatest news tidbits available on the site.

I’ve been trying to come up with a way to incorporate these ‘quick hits’ into the site, and I believe I have found a good option.

You’ll notice in the right sidebar that I’ve linked to a Twitter account I’ve set up, using some code called Twitter Tools (Alex King is a genius, folks).  I can send out my quick thoughts and ideas via that medium, and they will be automatically updated on the site here.  I can do that from virtually anywhere, at any time.  I’m hoping it will be a good way to keep me connected to my Cardinal stream-of-consciousness.

I can’t guarantee that it will be a good addition, and I’d love your feedback.  For the time being, I’m anxious to see how this develops…

(P.S. - as for tonight’s game?  I don’t even want to talk about it, other than to say thank you Houston.)


Filed Under Redbird Tweets, Site Updates

2 Comments | Posted on August 19, 2008 by PHE | Subscribe!

I knew I was right about Brad Thompson

Obviously it took someone far smarter than I to prove it (kudos to Fungoes for imparting the knowledge), but I knew Brad Thompson was more valuable to this Cardinal team than he has gotten credit for.

I wrote about Thompson round-about three weeks ago, and his ability to roll with whatever role the Cards asked him to take on any given day.

Apparently spot-starting is one of his better ones.

I don’t have much more to add, but I felt compelled to link to the great work by Fungoes above.  It’s a good read, as is pretty much all of their stuff.  Besides, it backed up something I said - which I can’t claim too often.

Thanks for reading.


Filed Under Brad Thompson, Cardinal Blogs

Leave a Comment | Posted on August 18, 2008 by PHE | Subscribe!

Sunday Spitballs - 08.17.08

I wish that just once this team would display some killer instinct and put a team away when they have a chance for a sweep.  Edinson Volquez was on today, no doubt, but the Cardinals had their chances.  Just winning series for the rest of the season isn’t going to get it done anymore - they need to start putting teams away.

Here’s to five wins in a row by this time next week!


Filed Under Sunday Spitballs

2 Comments | Posted on August 17, 2008 by PHE | Subscribe!

Quick observations

Chris Perez is starting to get ‘that look’ when he pitches.  Tonight, he seemed really pissed off that Brandon Phillips got that hit to left, and he took it out on Javier Valentin and Edwin Encarnacion.  The slider was working, the heater was working, the control seemed to be working.  CP63 has got it going on right now, just at the right time.

Is it just me, or is the bullpen starting to take their performance up a notch?

The starting pitchers definitely have taken their performance to a higher level (probably mostly spurred on by trying to keep their spots, with guys returning from the DL - well, at least until today - heal quickly Chris Carpenter.

For those who haven’t been keeping tabs, Felipe Lopez is now hitting .357 since being signed off of waivers.  I’m still not sold, and I’m not convinced he’s the savior - but he’s doing a lot of good things.  He has two triples since coming into the fold.

Brad Thompson scuffled a bit tonight, but pitched admirably in a spot start role.  He was victimized by both a bad throw and a weak defensive play at the plate tonight by Jason LaRue.

Kudos as well to Jaime Garcia - this kid is showing a lot of moxie in an ever-changing role with the Cardinals.  I think I’m going to enjoy seeing him in a full-time rotation spot with the 2009 version of this club.

The damned Cubs appeared to be done in tonight by the Marlins.  Carlos Zambrano got touched up pretty badly again, and the Fish were on their way.  Then Daryle (don’t forget the ‘e’) Ward hit a pinch-hit three-run homer.  This Cubs team reminds me of the ‘06 Cards in the playoffs right now - everything going their way…

Ryan Ludwick appears to have adjusted nicely to a lineup shuffle - he has hit the ball really hard in the two spot the last couple of nights.

Albert Pujols continues his ‘power slump’ - Mang was only three for five tonight with two doubles.  This guy is sick.

Jarrod Washburn: Appearing at a stadium near you?

Apparently Jarrod Washburn has been informed by the Seattle Mariners that he was placed on waivers and some team has claimed him.  The claiming team has yet to be outed, but by waiver rules, the Mariners can work out a deal with the claiming team.

Could we be seeing Washburn in a Cardinal uniform soon?  Buster Olney and Seattle Times writer Geoff Baker both have speculated that to be the case.

Check out the latest updates on this post over at MLBTradeRumors.com (I’ll try to keep this one updated too as I scour for more info).

Does this make sense for the Cardinals?  With several off-days coming in the next few weeks, they can get by with a four-man rotation for a number of series.  Could this be an indication of their expectations for Chris Carpenter the rest of this season?  Would this continue to reinforce the original plan by the Cardinals to ship Adam Wainwright back to the bullpen upon his return?  Or perhaps worse, they aren’t seeing any progress from Waino?

Who gets dropped from the rotation if Carp does make it back?  This would almost surely rule out any extension with Kyle Lohse for next season, with Washburn owed over $10M for 2009.  Could the Cards be giving up something significant in order to convince the M’s to pay most of that tab?

Yikes, lots of questions, few answers.  I’m sure it will come clearer in the coming hours, but one thing is virtually certain.  The Mariners are almost a lock not to pull Washburn back.  He has worn out his welcome there and needs a new locale.  Could Dave Duncan work his voodoo magic again?

I’m not sure I agree with panicking here and adding just to add - the Cards seem to have plenty of arms to throw into a rotation next season, not to mention a burgeoning number of dollars under their ~$100M or so expected payroll that one would think they could be spending on seemingly better free agents than Washburn.

I’ll keep you all posted…

UPDATE (4:27p) - Apparently I’m a little slow on the uptake, as CardsClubhouse.com forums have Olney saying this morning on ESPN that it was either the Tigers or the Twins.  MLBTR had claims that the Twins weren’t on Ibanez, so that would mean they want Washburn?  Seems an unlikely move for Minnesota without the M’s kicking in on that salary for next season, but they have climbed back into the AL Central race.

UPDATE (4:40p) - My buddy Jon Heyman has the scoop over at SI.com, Washburn claimed by the Twins, will remain a Mariner.  So Olney apparently had it right this morning, Tigers claiming Ibanez, Twins on Washburn.  Surprising that the M’s wouldn’t just let Washburn walk.

UPDATE (4:53p) - Derrick Goold has also refuted the rumors, quoting a Cardinals source as saying “his name has not come up.”  Can’t say that I’m disappointed.

UPDATE (5:01p) - Because the question was asked below, I thought I’d link to a great post by Padres’ Assistant GM Paul DePodesta that explains at a high level how the waiver claim and trade process works.

Barton to return sooner than later?

Brian Barton has rejoined the Cardinals, but is has not yet been activated.

Technically, the Cardinals could keep him on the disabled list the rest of the season and retain his rights, after choosing him in this past off-season’s Rule 5 Draft.  While I doubt the Cardinal management would go that far just to keep him while letting him sit and watch, they are still gaming the system here to a certain extent.

I would expect Barton to return within the next week or so.  The Cardinals have a favorable schedule in the coming weeks, with enough off days that they should be able to carry one less pitcher.

Who would go down to activate Barton?  Not to mention - what roster move will be made once Adam Wainwright returns from his rehab assignment?

I could see the Cardinals doing one of two things here - I suspect that unless they get an absolute vote of confidence on his shoulder, Chris Carpenter could get sent back on the disabled list, possibly for the rest of the season.  That might be a move to make room for Waino later on though, after they have exhausted all of their options of “rest” for Carp.

I expect that Joe Mather could be the Memphis casualty once Barton is activated.  Despite finally seeming comfortable at the plate against big-league pitching and starting to really show some of the power that we saw from him in Memphis, Mather is seemingly the odd-man out in the Cardinal outfield, especially as LaRussa continues to use Felipe Lopez in left field.

I still think that long-term, Barton may be trade bait for the Cards, but for now he’s not a bad guy to have around.  His element of speed is something the Redbirds certainly lack.

Ultimately, this will only be a two-and-a-half week problem anyway, as I fully expect all of these guys to be with the big club come September 1.

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