On Friday, July 2, Fox Sports Midwest is honoring those that serve in the military with a game presentation entitled “This One’s For You.”  Troops will watch the game on American Forces Network, and members of the Missouri National Guard will be interviewed via satellite during the game.  You can see some of the players sending out their greetings and thoughts to the troops in these video clips.

We here at the United Cardinal Bloggers wanted to join with FSMW to honor our military, both retired and active, especially with the Independence Day holiday also this weekend.  So the membership has been encouraged to write posts on their blogs dealing with their thoughts or memories about those that serve our country.

As the blogs are posted, this post will be updated with links to those posts.  Please check back often and read our tributes to the men and women who sacrifice so much so we can have so much.

Blog Tributes

Baseball Digest
Busch Birds
C70 At The Bat
Cardinal Diamond Diaries
Cardinals Front Office
CardinalsGM
Fungoes
The McBrayer-Baseball Blog
Pitchers Hit Eighth
Stan Musial’s Stance

The Cardinals ride a two-game winning streak and some hints of a resurgent offense into today’s game with their arch-rivals, the Chicago Cubs.

After scoring only one run in the first two games in San Diego, the Redbirds have been serious the last two games, piling up fifteen runs.  Yesterday, the Cardinals chased Cub starter Randy Wells before he even recorded an out, scoring five runs on six hits.  The Cub bullpen was effective from that point on until Ryan Ludwick hit a two-run home run in the ninth.

However, with Chris Carpenter on the mound, five runs is usually plenty and so it was in the series opener.  Carp may not have been as dominant as he’s been in the past, but it definitely was enough to keep the Cubs from mounting a serious rally.

Today, the Cardinals hope to continue their hitting ways and provide a warm MLB welcome to Adam Ottavino, who is making his first appearance in the bigs due to Kyle Lohse’s injury.  Ottavino, who was 4-3 with a 4.17 ERA overall in Memphis this year, was given a long look in spring training by the club and seems to have made strides recently, striking out 22 and posting an ERA under 3 in his last five outings.  Ottavino becomes the third rookie in the rotation, following 2010 sensation Jaime Garcia and the fill-in for the injured Brad Penny, PJ Walters.

It seems completely possible that the fact that Lohse was supposed to start on Progressive Game Blog day was the final straw in him deciding to go ahead and have the surgery on his forearm.  In the inaugural PGB, Lohse was shelled by the Cubs in Wrigley.  Last year, Lohse also pitched the PGB game, dominating the Kansas City Royals but getting hit in the forearm with a pitch from Ron Mahay, a plunk that may be part of the recurring issues he’s had since then.

Carlos Silva is a long way from his MLB debut, having put in close to 12oo innings since his debut in 2002.  Obtained from Seattle in the offseason in a swap of terrible contacts (the Cubs sent off Milton Bradley), Silva has surprised a lot of people with his performance here in 2010.  He’s 6-0 with a 3.52 ERA and has a WHIP that currently is the second-best in his career.  His numbers across the board are much better than anything he’s put up in recent seasons and there’s no indication that it’s a mirage.

With him pitching that well, it may not be enlightening to see what he’s done historically against these Cardinal batters, but to add to the discussion, here’s the chart:

As you can see, not a lot of exposure to him, which isn’t surprising given that he’s spent most of his career in the American League.  Could we see Yadier Molina get another day off, even though he rested Thursday, do to Jason LaRue’s past performance?  Small sample size and all, but Tony La Russa does look for every advantage.

Sit back and enjoy the game, then read the perspectives of the bloggers covering the various innings.  A * next to the blog below means that the site has been updated with their inning.

First: Baseball Digest *
Second:  Fungoes*
Third:  Stan Musial’s Stance *
Fourth: Pitchers Hit Eighth *
Fifth: The Cardinal Virtue *
Sixth: Redbird Rants*
Seventh: Cardinal Diamond Diaries*
Eighth: Intangiball*
Ninth: C70 At The Bat*
Extras/Wrapup: Fredbird Follys*

It’s well late, but here they are anyway.

C70 At The Bat
Fungoes
Pitchers Hit Eighth
Redbirds Fun
Stan Musial’s Stance

Ah, the NL Central.  We’re home.  Something tells me the top of this division will have the same team from all of our contributors.

C70 At The Bat
Fungoes
Pitchers Hit Eighth
Redbirds Fun
Stan Musial’s Stance

Today, the UCB takes on the NL East.  A long time ago, this would have entailed where the Cardinals finished, but that’s ancient history.  Now, see where the UCB ranks Atlanta, Florida, New York, Philadelphia and Washington.

C70 At The Bat
Fungoes
Pitchers Hit Eighth
Redbirds Fun
Stan Musial’s Stance

All this week the UCB will be making their predictions about the season to come.  We start off with the American League as a whole, because we couldn’t care less about that league.

5 O’Clock Blogger
C70 At The Bat
The Cardinal Virtue
Fungoes
Pitchers Hit Eighth
Redbirds Fun
Redbirds Rap
Stan Musial’s Stance

One of the things the United Cardinal Bloggers are known for is their roundtables.  A question gets passed around via e-mail, everyone weighs in, and then the transcript gets posted on the questioner’s blog the next day.

The preseason roundtable always seems to be the biggest, and this year is no exception.  Seventeen of the UCB members–including our newest, Intangiball–(late edit: Fredbird Follys got into the game, so it’s 18!) will be discussing the Cardinals and the game of baseball for the next few weeks.  Links to the transcripts will be added here when they go up, but plan your internet browsing around these sites in the coming days!  (Date is the day the question is posed, so check a day or so after for the transcript.)

Feb. 22: Pitchers Hit Eighth
Feb. 23: La Beisbolista
Feb. 24: Bird Brained
Feb. 25: Redbird Rants
Feb. 26: Obviously, You’re Not a Golfer

Mar. 1: Whiteyball
Mar. 2: Thoughts About Cardinals
Mar. 3: The McBrayer-Baseball Blog
Mar. 4: Redbird Chatter
Mar. 5: Stan Musial’s Stance

Mar. 8: Fungoes
Mar. 9: All Cardinals, All The Time
Mar. 10: Intangiball
Mar. 11: CardinalsGM
Mar. 12: Five O’Clock Blogger

Mar. 15: Play A Hard Nine
Mar. 16: Fredbird Follys
Mar. 17: Cardinals Country
Mar. 18: C70 At The Bat

With pitchers and catchers showing up today, my excitement for the upcoming season has increased.  Here are the things to really watch for this spring:

I’m looking forward to the third base battle.  I think Freese really didn’t do himself any favors with that DWI; as a result, he’s going to have to work for the position.  Allen Craig should really get more of a look than most of the other competitors.  His defense may not be at the level of Freese, but the man has hit at every level.  He should be on the roster as a back up corner option.  Joe Mather would be a outside shot to get the position.  He looked good in his initial call up, but has been either injured or ineffective since then.  He struggled badly last year, so I think he’ll have to prove he’s back to his 2008 level before he gets a real shot.  Tyler Greene is another option.  He’s a quality fielder at short, so he should be able to handle the position well.  I’m worried about his offense; he won’t hit for much power and Tony is not one to let his players run wild on the base paths.  He’s a better option for…

Shortstop was just made interesting in the last few weeks since Brendan Ryan’s surgery.  I’m not getting into the timing of the surgery, since that’s another issue.  They say he’ll be ready for the beginning of the season, but I don’t think he’ll be in the opening day line up.  We hear the same thing every year (like Troy Glaus will be ready for the beginning of the season), so I’m not holding my breath.  I think Tyler Greene is the best option; Julio Lugo will see quite a bit of time there too.  I don’t really see too many other options within the organization.

The 5th starter will also be an interesting competition.  Personally, I like Jaime Garcia over the long run, but I can see the team being cautious with him.  You don’t want a young pitcher recently off of Tommy John surgery being thrown into something he’s not ready for.  I could see him starting the season at Memphis to see if he’s really ready.  Rich Hill was a low risk, high reward signing; if he can pitch like he did in his good season with the Cubs, he’d be a solid 5th starter.  Of course, it’s been a couple of years since he’s been effective.  Kyle McClellan is another option, but I’m not high on it.  I think he could be a great starter; I don’t like the fact that he’s had major arm problems in the past and hasn’t thrown more than 80 innings in a season since 2004.  I would have him start the season in the Memphis rotation.  That leaves Blake Hawksworth and Mitchell Boggs.  We know that the organization likes both guys in the bullpen.  Hawksworth would be my choice out of the 2.  I’d also take a flier on Evan MacLane, who pitched very well in the Memphis rotation last year.  He won’t set the world on fire, but he’d be a quality 5th starter.  I wouldn’t push Lance Lynn into the MLB rotation yet; let him start the season at Springfield and have him in Memphis by the end of the season (or in St. Louis for a September call up).

The Bench should be interesting.  First off, no Joe Thurston; it was nice having a guy that could fill in all over the infield, but his inexperience showed a lot at times last year, specifically on the base paths.  It’s nice seeing a guy like him get a chance, but they don’t always work out (ask Abraham Nunez).  This year will see Julio Lugo in the Aaron Miles role; only he can play the infield better than Miles did.  He’s also free, which is a nice addition.  LaRue is back handling the back up catching duties.  As I said before, either Freese or Craig will be on the bench for the back up corners; my guess would be Craig since he’s got more experience in the outfield and I think Freese will get the third base job.  I’d say Greene (or who ever starts the season in Brendan Ryan’s spot) will get a spot eventually.  The final spot is the question.  It’ll be an outfielder, but who?  Jon Jay is a nice player, but do you want him to continue to develop every day in Memphis?  Nick Stavinoha and Shane Robinson are both back up outfielders, but neither offer much off the bench (Robinson has a little speed, but again Tony doesn’t let his players run much).  There is Mather again, but I’ve already addressed that.  I could see the Cards making a small deal, whether it be a minor league free agent or trading for a guy who’s out of options and cheap; it won’t be an earth shattering move though.

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