Dark Bilious Vapors

But how could I deny that I possess these hands and this body, and withal escape being classed with persons in a state of insanity, whose brains are so disordered and clouded by dark bilious vapors....
--Rene Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy: Meditation I

Home » Archives » September 2004 » 5 into 4 won't go?

[« Gem o'the Day:] [Killian documents, redux... »]

09/14/2004: 5 into 4 won't go?


The Post-Dispatch finally catches up with the question that's been bothering the Cardinals blogosphere for a few weeks now: One of five won't start in playoffs. But for now, they (or rather, Cardinals manager Tony La Russa and pitching coach Dave Duncan) are playing coy:

How to divide five accomplished starting pitchers into four slots in the postseason rotation?

The question long ago began to irritate manager Tony La Russa, who now straddles the issue. It has challenged pitching coach Dave Duncan, who describes the issue as "pretty much decided" but prefers not to go further.
Like I'm qualified to answer the question.... Right now my inclination is to drop Matt Morris from the starting rotation, since he's easily the most inconsistent pitcher on the staff.
If the Good Morris shows up tomorrow, then the Cardinals just need an inning or
two from Tavarez. If the Bad Morris shows up, then One Lucky Fan gets to pitch
the 9th.
--Rob of STLOutsider.blogspot.com
Some of the commentators have noticed some interesting situational skews in Morris's stats; the short form: start him during a night game at Busch, bench him during a day game on the road (see, e.g., "Morris: The Final Word" over at The Cardinals Birdhouse; unfortunately the Birdhouse doesn't have internal links to their articles, so you'll have to go to the homepage and search for the referenced article).
So, breaking it down:

When Morris starts a night game at home, the Cards are 8-1.
When Morris starts a day game at home, the Cards are 3-2.
When Morris starts a night game on the road, the Cards are 5-3.
When Morris starts a day game on the road, the Cards are 2-5.
This works for me.

The one thing I find myself feeling strongly about: let's save Rick Ankiel for next season. Especially once we've clinched the NL Central, let's loosen up and give him some more playing time, including a few starts, but the important thing is to get him ready to take his place in the starting rotation next season.

UPDATE: Then again (re: Rick Ankiel), Brian Gunn of Redbird Nation passes along this tidbit:
But there's one argument for keeping him on the roster if we play the Giants (and this was pointed out to me by Rich Lederer) -- he's faced Barry Bonds three times in his career and whiffed him each time. Cool.


Len on 09.14.04 @ 07:19 AM CST



[TrackBack]
New Comment
Name:
E-Mail:
Homepage:
 
 

September 2004
SMTWTFS
   1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
2627282930  



Home
Archives
Archives of Blogger site



RSS 1.0 FEED
Powered by gm-rss

Len's sidebar:
About Len (The uncondensed version)
Memorial to a dear friend
Frederick W. Benteen
The Web of Leonards
The St. Louis Cardinals
The Memphis Redbirds
The St. Louis Browns
The Birdwatch
Hey! Spring of Trivia Blog
BlogMemphis (The Commercial Appeal's listing of Memphis blogs)
The Guide to Life, the Universe, and Everything

Len's extended blogroll:

Brock's Sidebar:
About Brock
Boing Boing
Crooked Timber
Dispatches from the Culture Wars
Fafblog
Heretical Ideas
John and Belle Have a Blog
Jon Rowe
Letters of Marque
Literal Minded
Majikthise
Marginal Revolution
Matthew Yglesias
Oliver Willis
Pandagon
Political Animal
Positive Liberty
Signifying Nothing
Unqualified Offerings

Karen's Sidebar
About Karen
The Ig-Nobel Prizes
The Annals of Improbable Research
The Darwin Awards
EBaums World
Real Clear Politics
U.S. News Wire
Foreign Affairs
The Capitol Steps
Overlawyered
Engrish
Legal Affairs
Nobel Laureates for Change
Program On International Policy
Law of War
Sunday Times
Media Matters
Fafblog
Is That Legal?
Discourse
Andrew Sullivan
Evolutionblog
Literal Minded
Jon Rowe
Dysblog
Freespace Blog
Thought Not
Publius Pundit
Maddox
Blog Maverick
Rosenberg Blog
Crooked Timber
GreeneSpace
EdCone.com
Conglomerate
McSweeney's

The Rocky Top Brigade:


Rocky Top Brigade Sampler


A New Memphis Mafia


The liberal alternative to Drudge.

Get Firefox!



Cardinals Countdowns:
Days until pitchers and catchers report:
Your browser doesn't support Java applets.

Days until first Grapefruit League game (3/3/05; @ NYM):
Your browser doesn't support Java applets.

Days until Opening Day (4/5/05; @ HOU):
Your browser doesn't support Java applets.

Days until Home Opener (4/8/05; vs. PHI):
Your browser doesn't support Java applets.


How many visitors are here:


Blogrings/Blog indexes/Blog search:
« ? Verbosity # »




Listed on Blogwise
Popdex
Popdex Citations
Technorati
Blog Search Engine



Greymatter Forums
template by linear