Cardinals Report

If this article is any indication, I expect that the Cardinals of the future will have some quality pitching--which hopefully is better than this season has been. In fact, much of our talent is in Double-A and Single-A. That was one of the reasons why we had to give up Hector Luna to get Belliard. When we got Mark Mulder from the Athletics (Don't get me wrong, I still like him), we had to give up some of the best that we had in the minor leagues at that time (pitcher Danny Haren and hitter Daric Barton).

Ultimately, the Cards will need to develop a similar nucleus of players. Jocketty is trying to get by with patchwork solutions at left field and second base – hoping that Duncan and Hector Luna pan out – and he will need to find a new center fielder, too.

For years we heard that Gall would someday fill a void, but his time came and went. You can only hope his passing marked the end of an unproductive era of player development.

So much for finding a spot for Luna. Duncan is filling in greatly at left and don't even remind me that we'll have to find someone in center soon. Can we sign Jimmy to a lifetime contract?!?

Back to farm team news, Will Groff has finally signed with the club after the June amateur draft.

Groff, the 2003 Queensbury graduate, was a 29th-round pick by the Cardinals in June's amateur draft, but both Groff and the organization wanted to see how his injured left hand healed before they came to terms.

"You only sign once and this was jus the opportunity of a lifetime," Groff said.

Groff signed a 2007 contract, which made more sense, he said, because he wouldn't feel the need to rush back to competition. Groff injured his left hand in a Cortland State playoff game in late May and had surgury to insert a two-inch metal plate and five screws on May 31.

There's talk of moving rookie Adam Wainwright into the Cardinals rotation but as much as I would love to see that, I don't see it happening...this season. Wainwright is doing great in the bullpen right now but I say that we move him into the rotation next season.

Yadier Molina has put a depressing first half of the season behind him.

July 25
Cards 1, Rockies 0
Winning pitcher - Chris Carpenter (10-4)
SV - Jason Isringhausen (28)
HR: Albert Pujols (33)

July 26
Cards 6, Rockies 1
Winning pitcher - Jeff Suppan (8-5)
HR: Jim Edmonds (16), Aaron Miles (1)

July 27
Cards 4, Cubs 5
Losing pitcher - Tyler Johnson (0-2)
HR: Juan Encarnacion (15)

July 28
Cards 5, Cubs 6
Losing pitcher - Jason Marquis (12-8)

July 29
Cards 2, Cubs 4
Losing pitcher - Anthony Reyes (2-5)

July 30
Cards 3, Cubs 6
Losing pitcher - Chris Carpenter (10-5)

August 1
Cards 3, Phillies 5
Losing pitcher - Jeff Suppan (8-6)

August 2
Cards 8, Phillies 16
Losing pitcher - Jeff Weaver (4-12)
HR: Chris Duncan (7), Aaron Miles (2)

August 3
Cards 1, Phillies 8
Losing pitcher - Jason Marquis (12-9)
Ronnie Belliard recieved his first hit as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals.

Milestone watch (Through 7/26):
Albert Pujols needs 21 home runs to tie Ken Boyer for 2nd on the Cardinals all-time home runs list with 255.
Jim Edmonds needs 2 home runs to tie Ray Lankford for 4th on the Cardinals all-time home runs list with 228.
Jason Isringhausen needs 6 saves for 250 career saves.
Tony La Russa needs to manage 17 games to tie Bucky Harris for for 3rd all-time at 4408 games.
Ronnie Belliard needs 9 hits for his 1000th career hit and 2 games for his 1,000th game.