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| 04/02/2008 1:50 AM ET Wellemeyer continues audition St. Louis (0-1) vs. Colorado (1-0), Wednesday, 7:15 p.m. CT By Matthew Leach / MLB.com |  |
Having won one competition, Todd Wellemeyer now gets set to begin another one.
Wellemeyer emerged as one of the two victors in a three-man race for spots in the Cardinals' season-opening rotation. He and Brad Thompson were selected to begin the year as starting pitchers, while Anthony Reyes was sent to the bullpen.It's a significant victory for Wellemeyer, who prefers to start but has rarely gotten the opportunity. He believed he would compete for a starting job with Kansas City in 2007, but was shunted to bullpen work early in the spring. By May, he was waived, and picked up by the Cardinals.
"It's the goal I had coming into spring," Wellemeyer said. "Now is my chance to go out there and, these next few starts, show them I belong here."
However, as he notes, he's not done fighting for his spot.
Wellemeyer and Thompson are both placeholders, to an extent. The Cardinals have four starting pitchers on the disabled list: Chris Carpenter, Mark Mulder, Joel Pineiro and Matt Clement. Pineiro is expected to be activated before April is over, and Mulder could return early in May. Clement's date is uncertain, but the hope is that he'll be in big league games in May. Only Carpenter is not expected back before the All-Star break.
That means that somebody -- several pitchers, in fact -- will be booted from the rotation. Wellemeyer and Thompson are the two on the hottest seats, and the way to keep getting starts is to pitch well.
"There's four guys coming off," Wellemeyer observed. "Obviously I want to go there and help us out as long as I can."
He helped a lot in 2007. Though it was sometimes difficult to see how he was doing it, Wellemeyer managed fine results after he was brought in from Kansas City. He walked 29 batters in 63 2/3 innings, but he did manage 51 strikeouts and kept the home runs to a reasonable number.
It added up to an excellent 3.11 ERA as a Cardinal, even though the peripheral numbers suggest that number might not be sustainable. On Wednesday, he'll get the chance to show just how good he is this year.
Pitching matchup
STL: RHP Todd Wellemeyer (0-0, -.-- ERA)
Wellemeyer was a revelation for the Cardinals after they plucked him off waivers from the Royals. It remains to be seen how Wellemeyer will fare as a full-time Major League starter, having made his first 11 career starts last season in St. Louis. But pitching coach Dave Duncan is a big believer, and that's a good ally to have.
COL: RHP Aaron Cook (0-0, -.-- ERA)
Cook has always struggled with the Cardinals, going 0-3 with a 6.75 ERA in six games -- five starts -- against them. He actually pitched well in his lone start at the current Busch Stadium, holding the Cards to two runs and seven hits in seven innings on June 16, 2006. However, the bullpen imploded, leaving Cook and the Rockies with an 8-1 defeat.
Tidbits
Troy Glaus is 5-for-9 lifetime against Cook with four extra-base hits. ... Wellemeyer finished 2007 with 18 strikeouts and six walks in 16 2/3 September innings. ... The Cardinals have lost the second game of the season in five of the past seven years. ... Rick Ankiel hit .319 with a .691 slugging percentage at Busch Stadium last year. ... Wellemeyer has a 3.18 ERA in 14 career appearances at the current Busch Stadium.
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