John Smoltz will miss his next start with tendinitis in his right shoulder, MLB.com beat reporter Matthew Leach is reporting today on his blog. The Cardinals are downplaying the injury, saying that they want to get Smoltz some rest and that he'll take his spot back the next time the rotation cycles around to him.
With a huge lead in the NL Central, it makes sense for the Cardinals to be cautious with Smoltz, who's been fantastic in St. Louis. In four starts and 22 innings pitched, he's struck out 28 batters and walked just one, allowing 18 hits and just eight runs in that span. With his age and arm issues, giving him some extra rest seems like the right thing to do.
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.
The NL Wild-Card Race
Team
W
L
GB
Brewers
37
32
-
Giants
37
32
-
Rockies
37
33
1/2
Cubs
34
32
1 1/2
Mets
35
33
1 1/2
You Oughta Know ... There are now five teams within 1 1/2 games of the NL wild-card lead.
San Francisco on Monday lost to Oakland for the first time in the past six Bay Bridge Series meetings to fall into a tie with idle Milwaukee.
Meanwhile, the Mets beat the Cardinals and the Rockies took advantage of six (!) wild pitches to beat the Angels, so both picked up a full game.
So Colorado is a 1/2 game back, and the Mets and Cubs are 1 1/2 out.
It bodes for a fun race. A year ago today, only three teams were within five games of the NL wild-card lead and Tampa Bay had a three-game lead on the AL side.
It's doubtful that the second best team in the National League needs good news, but the Cardinals are getting it anyways Monday afternoon as the St. Louis Post-Dispatch is reporting that Chris Carpenter will throw off of a mound either today or tomorrow and could return as early as May 23. This will be the first time the former Cy Young winner has thrown in almost a month, since injuring his oblique against Arizona on April 14.
At this point, it's hard to get excited about any potential return point for Carpenter until it actually happens. He looked great all spring and pitched very well in his first two starts this season before his injury, but he's still only made eight appearances since the 2006 World Series. An oblique injury is theoretically less threatening than the arm problems he's faced, but it's still keeping him off the field.
From the Windup is Matt Snyder's extended look at some aspect of America's pastime each Thursday.
Last Sunday, Alfonso Soriano was hit in the head by a pitch off the hand of Cardinals starter Todd Wellemeyer. Later in the game, Cubs starting pitcher Rich Harden hit Albert Pujols in the middle of the back. It was a fastball, and it was on the first pitch of the at-bat. There was no one on base, and the Cubs had a big lead. Translation: Pujols was hit by Harden in retaliation for Soriano's beaning.
Monday, Ryan Braun was apparently dotted on purpose by Jeff Karstens of the Pirates, but the Brewers didn't get a chance to retaliate, because the umpiring crew offered an immediate warning to both benches.
Week two (April 13th - April 19th) of the fantasy baseball season features 38 pitchers who are making two starts. There isn't a clear cut lock for easiest schedule amongst them, but Jon Lester looks like a very good start this week against Braden in Oakland and Uehara and the Orioles at home.
Daniel Cabrera doesn't look to have a fun week in store as he has to face Jamie Moyer and the Phillies and then Josh Johnson and the Marlins. At least he gets to pitch at home both times.
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.
You Oughta Know ... Not to make a video gamecommercial; apparently it's bad luck.
Boston's Dustin Pedroia, the defending AL MVP, is 4-for-24 (.167) this season, with one RBI. He has yet to have a multi-hit game after leading the league in that category last year. Perhaps everyone is throwing Pedroia that high, inside fastball he can't hit.
And San Francisco ace Tim Lincecum is either not getting up over his front leg, not establishing his dominance with the fastball or has been listening to too much Wang Chung.
Lincecum, last year's NL Cy Young Award winner, lost at San Diego Sunday, giving up 13 baserunners (10 hits, three walks) in 5 1/3 innings. He has a 7.56 ERA after two starts.
FanHouse continues its 2009 MLB Preview with a look at the St. Louis Cardinals.
The pride and joy of Gateway City, the Cardinals certainly have a stacked resume of success both historically and recently. In Tony La Russa's 13 seasons, the Cardinals have reached the playoffs seven times -- which, in turn has yielded two trips to the World Series and one championship. In that span, they have only finished below .500 three times, while winning at least 93 games five times.
Fantasy baseball draft season is coming, so you best be prepared by delving through every major player on each team. Fantasy FanHouse is here to help with a quick once-over.
Meet the ... Home of the best hitter in baseball. Yes, I'm proclaiming that Albert Pujols is the modern-day (and real-life) Roy Hobbs. Last year, people counted him as a huge injury-risk and he went out and won the NL MVP. I think we should have all learned by now that this man should never be drafted outside the top five overall picks.
* Former Orioles skipper Leo Mazzone on his old employer: "Once I got there and saw how they operated compared to the Braves, I knew I made a mistake the first week of spring training," he said, before chuckling and adding, "I said to myself, 'You know what? I done messed up.' The lack of organization. The lack of discipline. The lack of overall professionalism. I was shocked, and I couldn't believe it."
I'm never exactly sure when the "pennant race" begins in earnest, but if I had to pick I think I'd go with the Brewers-Cardinals series this week. The Brewers have a 3 1/2-game lead on the Cardinals in the NL wild-card race and as the calendar is about to turn to September, that's suddenly becoming significant. A sweep by the Brewers gives them a massive lead. A sweep by the Cardinals makes things very interesting.
In the two-game series, the Brewers are kicking things off by sending the semi-scuffling Ben Sheets to the mound against Todd Wellemeyer tonight, while Manny Parra and Adam Wainwright go at it tomorrow. That means that the Cardinals are thanking their lucky stars that CC Sabathia pitched against the Pirates on Sunday and they won't have to see him in their most important series of the season.
Oddly, this is the last time the division rivals will play this year. As Andrew noted yesterday, the schedule is much more favorable to Milwaukee than it is for St. Louis, which heaps even more pressure on the Cards for these two games. If they don't take advantage of these two games with the Brewers, they really might not get a better chance to make this race interesting.
John Smoltz will miss his next start with tendinitis in his right shoulder, MLB.com beat reporter Matthew Leach is reporting today on his blog. The Cardinals are downplaying the injury, saying that they want to get Smoltz some rest and that he'll take his spot back the next time the rotation cycles around to him. 
It's doubtful that the second best team in the National League needs good news, but the Cardinals are getting it anyways Monday afternoon as the St. Louis Post-Dispatch is reporting that 
Week two (April 13th - April 19th) of the fantasy baseball season features 38 pitchers who are making two starts. There isn't a clear cut lock for easiest schedule amongst them, but Jon Lester looks like a very good start this week against Braden in Oakland and Uehara and the Orioles at home.
Starting Five
Fantasy baseball draft season is coming, so you best be prepared by delving through 
I'm never exactly sure when the "pennant race" begins in earnest, but if I had to pick I think I'd go with the Brewers-Cardinals series this week. The Brewers have a 3 1/2-game lead on the Cardinals in the NL wild-card race and as the calendar is about to turn to September, that's suddenly becoming significant. A sweep by the Brewers gives them a massive lead. A sweep by the Cardinals makes things very interesting.
