Nice outing for Marquis today

[kah2523]

If Marquis and/or Carpenter come through, we could have a pretty special team.

[madyaks]

Special as in riding that little yellow bus to school, or special as in they have a chance?

Right now they are getting on the little bus, but they MIGHT have a shot.

[WinstonSmith]

Its going to take a lot from both Marquis and Carpenter.

[cardinalgirl]

I was happy with Marquis today too. I just wish I could have seen it on tv or something.

Jason Ryan did well too.

Little steps.

[kah2523]

Well, the knock on the team is the starting rotation. If Marquis and Carpenter can deliver, and by "deliver" I don't mean Cy Young but at least 10 wins apiece and ERAs around 4.00 or less, the team looks more formidable. They don't have to be the studs, as we have Morris and Williams for that. And with the much improved bullpen, there will be less of a load on the starters.

[cardinalgirl]

To be honest, and I hope I am wrong, but I just don't see Williams being as commanding as he has been for us in the past. I worry about the tendinitis but also other pitching related health problems showing up.

I am just not counting on him as much this year...

[Neutered Cat]

If Carpenter and and Suppan give us what is expected of them, then our starting pitching will be fine. However, I´m not so sure about the bullpen. What names on this team, besides Izzy, give anyone confidence when we have a lead after the 7th inning?

[kah2523]

Originally posted by cardinalgirl@Mar 6 2004, 09:39 PM
To be honest, and I hope I am wrong, but I just don't see Williams being as commanding as he has been for us in the past. I worry about the tendinitis but also other pitching related health problems showing up.

I am just not counting on him as much this year...

But if Morris is healthy and pitching well, Williams won't need to go 18-9 or pitch so many innings this year. And he could prove me wrong, but Morris is going into his walk year and is going to be looking for a big payday. That should be incentive for him to pitch well.

[Neutered Cat]

To be honest, and I hope I am wrong, but I just don't see Williams being as commanding as he has been for us in the past. I worry about the tendinitis but also other pitching related health problems showing up.

Me too, CG. I counted on William´s solidness last season, but I don´t have the same feeling this season about him, especially if he´s gonna be tossed out there for 100+pitch outings after the first 2 or 3 weeks.

[cardinalgirl]

Oh, I think Morris will be fine this year. Having Izzy from the getgo is a big thing too, I know.

But with Williams, I just feel like time is catching up to him. I don't put blame on anyone, but I just have that bad feeling that he may not be as reliable as in years past, and I know he might not have to be.

I am looking forward to Marquis and Carpenter in particular this year. What I am most psyched to see is their attitude out on the mound. It's so cool that we don't have to deal with Tomko this year. That guy drove me batty.

[cardinalgirl]

Originally posted by Chesterfield Cat@Mar 6 2004, 09:41 PM
If Carpenter and and Suppan give us what is expected of them, then our starting pitching will be fine. However, I´m not so sure about the bullpen. What names on this team, besides Izzy, give anyone confidence when we have a lead after the 7th inning?

No Fassero.

[Fishbone]

Some reasons to be optimistic about this year:

Simo, Stephenson, and Tomko are out of their rotation. Their ERA was a collective of 5.14. I refuse to believe that anybody who replaces them will be as bad as they were. The Cardinals were unlucky last year: they had one of the worst record in one-run games in the majors. Some of this can be attributed to the bullpen, but studies have shown that this is also a lot to do with luck. Run differenital and pythagorean standings are the key in evaluating how good a team was, and the Cards were right with the Cubs and Astros. If the offense can replicate what they did last year, they could win 90 games. I'm optimistic though and I'm not sure this is going to happen.

[Neutered Cat]

Fassero was a name that came to mind alot whenever I felt like throwing my radio out the window last season. I was hoping this offseason to hear the cards go out and get a "name" guy for our bullpen, but it didnt happen. Hopefully, they'll come together. I don't want to hear any of that "quiet confidence" crap about our pen this spring that we heard the stl media talking about our starters last year. If thats the case then we're doomed.

[cardinalgirl]

I think I am worried about the bench, but maybe some of the bullpen improvements could make up for that?

I was never impressed with Simo, but was happy that he got those wins for us in 2002. I just never understood how he did that.

tomko and stephenson were as frustrating as any two pitchers could be to me.

[cardinalgirl]

The pen is already better when Izzy is injured for less time this year.

I do think our pen is improved by some of the new guys here, but I just don't know by how much.