Game # 18

CARDINALS 2, GIANTS 0

Did I just say Albert Pujols will get it straightened out?  Today was a good start.  Pujols went 3 for 4 today with two singles and a solo home run.  He can take that positive back to St. Louis, and maybe there he will heat up, and we will really see this offense going.  Like I said in my last post, when Pujols goes, this team as a whole goes.

Brad Penny was the story of today's game, with probably his best start so far.  Penny pitched seven and two-thirds, and allowed no runs on eight hits.  Penny is off to a spectacular start to the season.  I'm starting to get excited about him.  Ryan Franklin got the save, his sixth on the season, and continues to roll.  No one should be heading for the bomb shelter yet.

There's not much more for me to say about today's game, but I do have something on my mind regarding the lineup against left handed starters.

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Tony La Russa may need to reconsider his lineup for left handed starters.

I think Colby Rasmus should play every game, regardless of whether it's a lefty or righty on the mound.  Yes, Raz has been abysmal against lefties.  But he's not going to learn how to hit them while riding the bench.  Besides, I don't like the lineup TLR writes up for games against lefties.  The RBI potential is less deep in the vLHP lineups than in the vRHP lineups.  I have nothing against Yadier Molina as a run producer, but him batting fifth in those lineups just shows how significantly weaker the Cardinals' RBI potential is in those lineups.  

Since the number 2 spot in this lineup is golden because of the luxury of hitting in front of Pujols, I believe La Russa should give Rasmus a shot at batting 2nd against lefties and move Ludwick to 5th.  I love Luddy in the 2 hole; he's been fantastic there.  But having him bat fifth against lefties adds more depth for RBI potential.  If Rasmus is ever going to find a way to hit lefties, batting second in front of Pujols is the way to do it.  On top of that, Rasmus has shown that he is not only good for driving in runs, but he's also good for setting them up.  Rasmus is the team leader in on-base percentage, getting on base an impressive 41.9% of the time.  He also leads the team in walks.  Yes, he has more than Pujols.  That both demonstrates how badly Pujols has been struggling and how much more patient Rasmus has gotten at the plate.  He's a great run producer, but I also think Rasmus can do well at setting up scoring chances for Pujols, Holliday and Ludwick.

And just for the record, I love the lineup against righties.  Nothing wrong with it.  But I hope Tony reconsiders this lineup against lefties and decides to tweak it later on.  In my opinion, it just can't produce runs very effectively the way it is set up.  I say bat Rasmus 2nd and Ludwick 5th against lefties.  That way, you have a similar structure to your lineup that has been successful against righties, but you're just swaping the Ludwick and Rasmus in the 2 and 5 spots.

That's just my take.  But I'm no major league manager, so maybe I'm completely wrong.  Who knows?

Boxscore courtesy of mlb.com.