Posts tagged KyleLohse at FanHouse

It's hard to imagine a better way to kick off the mad dash to baseball's trade deadline than with the Brewers and Cubs pulling trades for big-name pitchers within two days of each other. Of course, those moves raise a pretty big question: who's the favorite to win the division now? Let's break it down.

Definitely not favorites: Pirates, Astros, and Reds. The Reds are young and exciting but at least a year away, the Pirates seem to be meandering down the right road but they're still way down the path in the wrong direction, and the Astros are a disaster area.

The Cardinals: This team perplexes me. By all accounts they shouldn't be very good, and yet they've still got the second best record in the NL and are ahead of the Brewers in the Wild Card standings. They probably won't join in the arms race with the Cubs and Brewers, but they get Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter back from the DL in pretty short fashion. Still, they're short on offense besides Albert Pujols and Ryan Ludwick, it's hard to know what to expect out of Carpenter after missing most of a season and a half, and Kyle Lohse is a prime candidate to turn into a pumpkin.

All of the turmoil surrounding the Mets in June cost Willie Randolph his job but it didn't cost them a chance at winning the NL East. After beating the Phillies 10-9 yesterday, they are just two and a half games out of first. The Marlins, no one's idea of a contender at the season's start, are a game closer to the Phillies. All that means there's a lot of pressure on Pat Gillick to make a move to shore up the questionable rotation.

He's trying. The Phillies were in the CC Sabathia bidding until the very end but didn't have a hitting prospect to equal Matt LaPorta. There probably won't be another pitcher of that ilk on the market, but that's okay. The Phillies don't need Sabathia, they just need someone better than Adam Eaton. Eaton, via this clip from the 700 Level, says all that needs to be said about yesterday's miserable shelling.


Hindsight is 20/20 but the Phillies look pretty silly for not making more of an effort at signing Kyle Lohse during the offseason. No one may have predicted how well he'd pitch for St. Louis but it didn't take a crystal ball to see him outperform Eaton.

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups.

Chicago Cubs (52-35) at St. Louis Cardinals (49-39) - 3:55 PM ET

It's sad to see a friendship go south as apparently the one between Tony La Russa and Jim Edmonds has now that Edmonds is with the Cubs and La Russa is playing ultra-sensitive. But in reality, La Russa and Edmonds are mere players in the larger war that is Cubs vs. Cardinals, with first place on the line and growing ever so further away from the Cardinals. Today, Kyle Lohse is going to have to continue his 2008 magic (remember when nobody wanted Lohse? Yeah, well now he's 10-2) against Ted Lilly.

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups

Chicago Cubs (45-28) vs. Chicago White Sox (41-31) - 2:20PM Est.

You know how when you're watching a game on television, whether it's football, baseball, or anything, and the game is being played by two rival teams that the announcer tells you to "throw their records out the window!" You know what I'm talking about? I hate that. That's one of the stupidest things that announcers can say.

Why should we throw the records out the window? I mean, if one of the teams is 12-1 and the other is 2-10 I don't care how long they've been rivals, I'm pretty sure that 12-1 team is going to steamroll the other one. So no, I will not throw that record out the window.

Now this afternoon, for the first time ever, the White Sox and Cubs will be meeting head-to-head in the regular season while both are currently holding down first place in their division. Still, the two teams are moving in opposite directions right now. The White Sox just scored 37 runs in a three-game sweep of the Pirates, and the Cubs are limping home after losing three in a row for the first time this season down in Tampa.

Of course, when these two teams meet, it doesn't matter who is playing well and who isn't. In fact, you can throw their records right out the window (son of a...)!

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups

Kansas City Royals (21-32) vs. Minnesota Twins (27-25) - 8:10PM Est.

Generally when looking for the lead game in the On Deck, I try to look for teams that are playing well, or for games that feature a great pitching matchup, or just for a game with a good backstory. It's very rare that I reward a team that's been struggling with such an honor, unless that team has taken losing to an extreme level.

Today is one of those rare days.

While some teams choose to spend their time trying to achieve success, the Royals have spent the last week and a half perfecting the art of losing, and they've been doing a very good job of it. The Royals have lost ten straight, and today they'll be trying to run that streak to eleven as they take on the Minnesota Twins at Kauffman Stadium.

Will they get the job done, or will they blow the whole thing by actually picking up a win?

In general, most baseball fans respond to the early-season unexpected in the same way: with a shrug and an, "it's early." That's fine to an extent, but when does that stop? I'm asking, particularly in regards to the NL Central where the Cardinals sit up top with a 20-12 record and the Brewers sit at 16-15, almost as close to the 12-19 Pirates as the division leading Cards. Clearly, anything can happen from this point on in the season, but is it still "early?"

Honestly, I don't know that it is. The Brewers have some serious problems that can't be glossed over by Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder finding their missing swings. Their rotation was dangerously thin before Yovani Gallardo got hurt, and now they've got no real #2 to step up behind the oft-injured Ben Sheets unless Manny Parra finds his stride. The bullpen is just as suspect, with Eric Gagne leading the league with five saves. You can say it's early, but we're almost to the quarter pole and this team has some real problems.

So what about Cards? 20-12 is nothing to sneeze at, but much of their early season success has come with Todd Wellemeyer, Kyle Lohse, Joel Piniero, and Braden Looper doing good impressions of league average starters. How likely is that to continue? It can't be that likely, can it? These guys, and the Cards, are coming back to earth.

Do you hear that? It's actually the sound of Cubs' fans smiling. I didn't even know you could hear people smile until now.

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing matchups

Kansas City Royals (9-10) vs. Cleveland Indians (7-12) - 8:10PM Est.

Nobody is sure what the problem is with C.C. Sabathia right now, but everybody agrees that there is most definitely a problem. Is he too busy thinking about free agency at the end of the year? Did he just throw too many innings last season? Have they stopped serving donuts in the Indians clubhouse before games?

What is it?

I can't pretend to know, but what I can pretend to do is see the future. When I looked into that future, I saw Sabathia picking up that first win of the season tonight. He has to win a game at some point, so why not tonight? He's had some decent success against the Royals in his career, going 13-8 with a 3.38 ERA, but he will need some help from his teammates.

While I chose to make fun of Cleveland's left fielders yesterday, the truth is the entire offense is struggling. A lineup that scored 811 runs last season is currently worst in the American League with a .235 average and only 79 runs scored.

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups

St. Louis Cardinals (11-4) vs. Milwaukee Brewers (8-6) - 1:15PM Est.

Okay, a quick raise of hands: How many of you thought that the Cardinals were going to start the season in first place of the NL Central and tied for the best record in all of baseball? LIARS! ALL OF YOU! Nobody saw this coming from the Redbirds, and honestly, I still don't actually believe it's happening. The next thing you'll tell me is that the Marlins are in first place in the NL East, and that the White Sox and Royals are battling atop the AL Central while the Tigers and Indians jockey for position in the basement.

The Cardinals are not only sitting alone atop the division right now, but they're on the cusp of finishing a three-game sweep of the Brewers. They'll be looking to Kyle Lohse to finish the sweep, and considering that Lohse was a pitcher seemingly nobody wanted, and the Cardinals signed out of nothing more than desperation, he's paying off pretty damn nicely for them. He's 2-0 with a 1.04 ERA in three games so far, and didn't give up his first run of the season until his last start against the Giants. He's only 3-3 with a 5.66 ERA in his career against Milwaukee, but in his last three appearances against this current version of the Brew Crew he's 2-0 with a 0.77 ERA.

Manny Parra goes for the Brewers, and although he made two starts against the Cardinals last year he never picked up a decision. He probably wouldn't mind if Prince Fielder ate a cheeseburger or four before the game either, as we still await our favorite vegetarian's first home run of the season.

One of the fun parts of the first week of the season is seeing all the players in different uniforms. It's fun for fans especially to see someone like Johan Santana suit up in their favorite teams' duds and take the field. In St. Louis, Troy Glaus is the big new acquisition, and he made his official debut last night after Monday's partial game was washed out. Opposing him on the mound was another welcome site for Cards' fans: Kip Wells wearing a new uniform.

Unfortunately, things didn't exactly go according to plan for the Cardinals last night. Kip Wells, he of the 7-17 record and 5.70 ERA in Cardinal red last year, held the Cards to one run over 5 and 1/3 innings despite three walks. In the eighth inning, Troy Glaus made a throwing error that allowed a run to score and ended up extending the inning and allowing the Rockies to score 2 more and give them their 2-1 win.

Now, I'm not really one to judge seasons by one game, but it's not really an encouraging start to the season for the Cardinals. Being held to one run by Kip Wells is never anything to brag about, but it does highlight just how thin the Cards' lineup is right now. At least Kyle Lohse was fairly solid in his debut, holding the Rockies to just three hits and no runs in his five innings. That patch-working pitching staff is going to have to be solid this year if the Cardinals want to hang with the Brewers and Cubs instead of the Pirates.

I can't think of a player that's had a stranger journey from the end of last season to the beginning of this one than Kyle Lohse. By now, I'm sure his exploits are more than familiar to you. He and his agent (the nefarious Scott Boras) hit the free agent market demanding in the neighborhood of $10 million a year after finishing up last year in Philadelphia. There were no takers from anywhere all winter until a couple weeks ago when the injury ravaged Cardinals swooped in and signed Lohse to a one-year deal.

That was the low point for Lohse, but somehow the high point has followed it pretty closely behind: as I type he's starting the Cardinals' season opener. Of course, this insane turn of events for Lohse has been brought about by a rainout last night that caused Tony La Russa to juggle his rotation, but it's still an impressive turnaround for Lohse to go from facing the prospect of being unemployed at the start of the year to Opening Day starter.

As of this writing, Lohse looks pretty good. He's into the fifth inning and he's kept the potent Rockie lineup scoreless on only two hits to this point. I can understand why no one wanted him for $10 million a year, but he's going to give the Cardinals 170 or so innings of league average pitching and there's nothing wrong with that.