The Cardinals: A PREVIEW

by Fat Vegas Alan on Apr 28, 2008 4:25 PM EDT

Those damned Cardinals are six games over .500 and they're doing it with Wainright and Wellemeyer, Lohse and Looper. Just as we Reds fans are thinking that the offense surely must take off one of these days, it seems that the Cards' staff must also return to earth any day now.

Hmm... unstoppable force meets immovable object? Well, probably not but FWIW these unheralded division foes are each 5-6 in their last eleven games.

MONDAY 9pm EST: Arroyo vs Todd Allen Wellenmeyer (2-0 3.77) ... last three starts : 19ip 10er 16h 6bb 18k 3hr

29yrs 6'3" 225# RHP #37 [$1M in '08]

born in Louisville

drafted by CHC 2000 4th round out of Bellarmine University (in Louisvile)

91-94 mph fastball ... plus changeup ... average slider ... no control ("Stay agressive tonight, Skip?")

2007 vs CIN: 3 games (1 start ) 8.2ip 2er 2h 9bb(!) 8k 0hr

career vs CIN: 15 games (4-1 4.22) 21.1ip 10er 16h 20bb(!) 21k 1hr

some Reds vs. Todd: Junya:0/6 Dunn:1/8(w/3bb) BP0/5 Hatte: 1.857OPS in 7PA

In the past 3+ years, Wellemeyer has pitched in over 100 games for a total of four teams (CHC, FLA, KC and now STL)

In 2007, Baseball Prospectus damned him with this faint praise: "Becoming the next Kyle Farnsworth is a best-case scenario." This year, Tony LaRussa says , “If you’re short starters, you do the best that you can. If you don’t have an ideal situation, you don’t look for the ideal.”

~~~

MONDAY 815pm EST: Cueto vs Joel Alberto Piniero (1-2 5.29) ... last three starts: 17ip 10er 22h(!) 2bb 6k 2hr

29yrs 6'1" 200# RHP #35 [$5.5M in '08]

drafted by SEA 1997 12th round out of Edison Community College (FLA)

90-93 mph fastball ... plus changeup ... has a very nice big swooping curve ... his delivery can be disorienting to hitters but it also considered a source of inconsistency for Piniero ... loses focus with men on base

He's only ever faced the Reds once in his career. He outdueled Chris Reitsma on June 18, 2002. 26K+ at old Cinergy Field.. Whew! It's Gettin' Hot in Herre...

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I wanted to get this preview of Wellemeyer up..

..so that we could spend the afternoon salivating over the number of walks that Dusty’s boys are sure to draw tonight.

Am I right or am I right?

I don't know how to paint a banana gourd to look like a Power Ranger.

by Fat Vegas Alan on Apr 28, 2008 4:29 PM EDT reply actions

damn his this faint praise

Brendon, there's nothing wrong with lying to women. Or the government. Or parents. Or God.

by Man Mountain on Apr 28, 2008 4:32 PM EDT up reply actions

Crec'd

I don't know how to paint a banana gourd to look like a Power Ranger.

by Fat Vegas Alan on Apr 28, 2008 4:36 PM EDT up reply actions

My brother and brother-in-law went to Bellarmine

Neither of them have very good control either. I don’t think either makes $1 million a year though.

You're drowning in the past, Mike, and I've got your life jacket right here. It's called the 80s and it's gonna be around forever.

by Slyde on Apr 28, 2008 4:33 PM EDT up reply actions

My wife

is a Bellermine grad also. And she too has no control, unless you count everything I say or do.

I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy. -Tom Waits and others

by Pops Daniels on Apr 28, 2008 4:37 PM EDT up reply actions

you mean she lets you take your kid to a bar?

In the end, life and business are about human connections. And computers are about trying to murder you in a lake. And to me the choice is easy.

by chandrathan on Apr 28, 2008 4:38 PM EDT up reply actions

I didn't mention that to her

I am sometimes allowed to be a shitty father all by myself, you know, when she’s still at work.

I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy. -Tom Waits and others

by Pops Daniels on Apr 28, 2008 5:16 PM EDT up reply actions

i understand...

you gotta hide stuff

In the end, life and business are about human connections. And computers are about trying to murder you in a lake. And to me the choice is easy.

by chandrathan on Apr 28, 2008 6:30 PM EDT up reply actions

What's the over/under on the inning number before a Reds announcer mentions that the Reds missed out on Wellemeyer

who is from the area, sort of?

Too bad Welsh won’t be calling the game tonight or else it would have been guaranteed to happen.

You're drowning in the past, Mike, and I've got your life jacket right here. It's called the 80s and it's gonna be around forever.

by Slyde on Apr 28, 2008 4:45 PM EDT reply actions

that atlanta braves have made a living off of local talent

In the end, life and business are about human connections. And computers are about trying to murder you in a lake. And to me the choice is easy.

by chandrathan on Apr 28, 2008 4:47 PM EDT up reply actions

FWIW..

Here are the dudes the Reds picked before Wellemeyer in 2000.

I don't know how to paint a banana gourd to look like a Power Ranger.

by Fat Vegas Alan on Apr 28, 2008 4:50 PM EDT up reply actions

Damn. Whatever happened to Noochie Varner?

I don't know how to paint a banana gourd to look like a Power Ranger.

by Fat Vegas Alan on Apr 28, 2008 4:56 PM EDT up reply actions

If tHom is announcing tonight...

Then I predict it will come before the third Arizona/Diamondbacks ref tonight by tHom.

At least it wasn't Grady Little.

by Paul Householder on Apr 28, 2008 5:23 PM EDT up reply actions

In the first inning?

by Gray on Apr 28, 2008 5:25 PM EDT up reply actions

If this pitching staff keeps going

is Dave Duncan a HOFer?

Norris Hopper's #1 fan!!!

by Zach K on Apr 28, 2008 4:45 PM EDT reply actions

i think he probably is already

just on his reputation so far. i dont have the names and numbers of the dudes he’s worked his “magic” with, but coaxing jeff weaver to ace the ‘06 Series is downright Merlin-esque.

Abraham Lincoln said that if you're a racist, I will invade you with the north.

by Charlie Scrabbles on Apr 28, 2008 6:01 PM EDT up reply actions