St. Louis Cardinals Rumors & News

St. Louis Post-Dispatch "The first-place Cardinals had a .400 hitter sitting on the bench for the 11th time in 12 games Friday night. Manager Mike Matheny, who had pledged he would try to get lefthanded-hitting slugger Matt Adams at least a start a series, has revised that plan a bit, although there is a chance Adams..." May 25

St. Louis Post-Dispatch "Third baseman David Freese was back in the Cardinals’ lineup Friday and righthander Jake Westbrook, on the disabled list with right elbow inflammation, was back in the field, too. But Westbrook did very little. After the Cardinals pushed the envelope a bit when they had Westbrook try a session..." May 25

St. Louis Post-Dispatch "Jaime Garcia, out. Jake Westbrook, out. Chris Carpenter, still out. And the Cardinals’ rotation rolls on, no matter what Memphian is added. Lefthander Jon Gast, who features a changeup, has won his first two big-league starts in relief of Westbrook. Lefthander Tyler Lyons, a curveball..." May 23

St. Louis Post-Dispatch "Tyler Lyons will be the second lefthanded rookie to join the Cardinals’ rotation this month when he starts tonight's game against the Padres. But he said he is not like John Gast, who won his first two starts. “I would say Gast and I are not very similar pitchers, for sure,” said Lyons...." May 22

St. Louis Post-Dispatch "The classy Carlos Beltran is off to another good start in 2013. Beltran's two-out, two-run single in the 5th inning Tuesday night broke the game open in the Cardinals' 10-2 rout over the Padres. Beltran has 10 homers, 29 RBIs and a combined onbase+slugging percentage of .845. That's right in..." May 22

St. Louis Post-Dispatch "Cardinals lefty Jaime Garcia will have surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder and his 2013 season is over as a result of the injury. A team official confirmed that he'll have the season-ending procedure. The surgery will be done Friday by Cardinals' team physician Dr. George..." May 22

St. Louis Post-Dispatch "Adam Wainwright, Daniel Descalso and Mike Matheny all recorded firsts at Petco Park on Tuesday night. The first had never won a game here as a pitcher. The second never had hit a grand slam. And the third had been 0-4 here as a manager. All those droughts were quenched in a 10-2 Cardinals..." May 22

Chicago Tribune "Minor league reliever Eduardo Sanchez, a Cardinals prospect, was claimed off waivers by the Cubs on Tuesday and sent to Triple-A Iowa. The 24-year-old Sanchez had a 3.72 earned-run average in nine appearances at Triple-A Memphis. He made 43 appearances for the Cardinals in 2011 and '12,..." May 21

St. Louis Post-Dispatch "The Cardinals can position their decision to promote lefty Tyler Lyons in time to start Wednesday at San Diego as a matter of production and performance. There is also an element of protection. Lyons, a 25-year-old Class AAA starter, will take Jaime Garcia’s next scheduled start. Garcia was..." May 20

St. Louis Post-Dispatch "Along with the depth charts and spreadsheets that he has at his fingertips, Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak keeps a ledger that he cracks open in case of injury. In it is a list of the major-league players and beside each name is the name of the planned replacement should the team need..." May 19

St. Louis Post-Dispatch "Sports Illustrated has had a writer and photographer in town the last few days to do a potential cover story on the Cardinals’ rotation, which has had by far the best earned run average in the majors (2.38 before Friday) although one member of that rotation, veteran righthander Jake Westbrook,..." May 18

St. Louis Post-Dispatch "David Freese can begin reading his mail again. No doubt besieged by suggestions as to how he could locate his power stroke — or find any stroke, at all, for that matter — the Cardinals’ third baseman made sure his first home run since last September was a resounding one Friday night at Busch..." May 18

St. Louis Post-Dispatch "The Cardinals have had some really crummy days swinging the bats against lefthanded starting pitchers. Your favorite team ranks 28th among 30 MLB teams with a .225 batting average vs. lefties this season. In addition the Cardinals are 20th in onbase percentage, 24th in home-run ratio and tied..." May 18

Fox Sports Midwest "Mick Foley considers himself good friends with St. Louis Cardinals right fielder Carlos Beltran (the two first met when Beltran played for the New York Mets). But the Cardinal the professional wrestler would pick to join him in the ring plays on the other side of the outfield. "Holliday had..." May 18

New York Post "There is finally joy in Crudville. Just when it appeared the Mets would never win another game, their lineup rose to the challenge for a day against a premier pitcher. And so, the Mets rolled to a 5-2 victory over Adam Wainwright and the Cardinals at Busch Stadium yesterday, snapping a..." May 17

St. Louis Post-Dispatch "Rehabbing righthander Chris Carpenter threw only 30 or so pitches in the bullpen during a Wednesday afternoon session after tossing twice that number Monday. But this was by design, said Carpenter. “It was almost like a pre-game warmup,” said Carpenter. The plan now calls for Carpenter to..." May 16

St. Louis Post-Dispatch "Cardinals GM John Mozeliak often sports a flamboyant bow tie when he goes to work at Busch Stadium, but there’s no truth to the rumor that he’s instructed team employees to call him “Branch Rickey” or “Mahatma.” If the bow tie fits, wear it. Rickey is among the most iconic front-office..." May 16

New York Times "The Mets, starting to suffocate under the burden of losing, found relief Thursday afternoon. Whether their 5-2 win over the St. Louis Cardinals represents a building block or just a reprieve from their misery will be determined over time. Regardless, it was sorely needed, as they avoided a..." May 16

St. Louis Post-Dispatch "Shelby Miller wasn’t perfect like he was for the final 27 hitters he faced last Friday. But, even with modest imperfections, he pitched shutout ball again Wednesday night against the New York Mets. This time, however, it was for only 5 2/3 innings and not nine. When Rick Ankiel, a Cardinals..." May 16

St. Louis Post-Dispatch "The Cardinals entered this season advertised as having the best minor-league system in baseball with a talent pipeline years in the making that they planned to exploit for years to come. It took less than two months before they had to test it. Lefty John Gast became the latest rookie to..." May 15

New York Post "The rearranged deck chairs on the Titanic were a sight to behold yesterday with Rick Ankiel’s addition to the Mets, but this ship is still headed toward the bottom of the Atlantic. Or at least for now, the Mississippi. With Ankiel in the lineup and playing center field only hours after..." May 14

Denver Post "It was nearly two years ago when Jorge De La Rosa's career flashed before his eyes. It was May 24, 2011, at Coors Field in the first game of a doubleheader against the Arizona Diamondbacks when he blew out his left elbow. He underwent Tommy John surgery 10 days later. Sunday, on a sparkling..." May 13

St. Louis Post-Dispatch "The Cardinals’ starting pitching, which had posted a major league best 2.11 earned run average, took its first hit this year when veteran righthander Jake Westbrook was placed on the 15-day disabled list this morning with right elbow inflammation. Westbrook, 2-1 with a 1.62 earned run average,..." May 12

MLB.com "Though the Cardinals fell just shy of throwing two no-hitters in as many days, the club's run of retiring 40 straight Rockies hitters between Friday and Saturday matched the all-time record for most consecutive hitters retired by one team against another, according to the Elias Sports..." May 12

Hardball Talk "While Adam Wainwright lost the no-hitter in the eighth inning, he settled for a two-hit shutout as part of a 3-0 victory over the Rockies. Wainwright allowed two hits and one walk while striking out seven. It was the sixth shutout of his career and his 12th complete game. The 31-year-old..." May 11

St. Louis Post-Dispatch "Shelby Miller turned in a dazzling performance on the mound, striking out 13, walking none and allowing one hit for his first professional shutout as the Cardinals beat the Rockies 3-0 on Friday in the opening game of a 10-game home stand. Miller allowed a lead off single to Eric Young in the..." May 11

St. Louis Post-Dispatch "A bullpen that began the road trip in flux ends it having bought the Cardinals enough time to take a lead and holding it tight once they did. The Cardinals received 3 2/3 innings of scoreless relief on their way to a 5-4 victory Wednesday afternoon at Wrigley Field. The Cardinals trailed by..." May 09

St. Louis Post-Dispatch "The Cardinals continue to crank out quality starts at a franchise-record pace. Though he unfairly took the loss in Tuesday’s 2-1 close call at Wrigley Field, Lance Lynn allowed two earned runs in seven innings to turn in the rotation’s 24th quality start of the young season. The Cardinals have..." May 08

St. Louis Post-Dispatch "The Cardinals plan to be conservative at first with using rookie Carlos Martinez as he acclimates to a relief role for the first time in his pro career. Martinez pitched two innings over the weekend in Milwaukee, but the Cardinals were hesitant to use him in back-to-back days. Rookie Seth..." May 08

Chicago Tribune "The 121-year-old Cubs-Cardinals rivalry probably peaked 10 years ago, when Dusty Baker and Tony La Russa shouted obscenities at one another from their dugouts. That was back when there was some real hatred between the teams, with beanball wars in vogue and Carlos Zambrano and Jim Edmonds..." May 08

St. Louis Post-Dispatch "The one thing baseball teaches us is how quickly things can change. Over the course of an endless baseball summer, a pitcher, a hitter or maybe an entire team can transform from an unsightly train wreck into a delightful masterpiece without much warning. Maybe that’s why baseball is the only sport..." May 07

St. Louis Post-Dispatch "When he watched the game from behind the plate through a mask, instead of from the dugout under a microscope, Cardinals manager Mike Matheny would think ahead to the relievers he might catch and the situations they might face. If his manager had two relievers warming in the bullpen, he would..." May 07

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel "The Milwaukee Brewers have a tough enough time beating the St. Louis Cardinals on any given day. Issue five walks and hit a batter in the first three innings like Marco Estrada did Sunday, and the task goes from daunting to pretty much impossible. The Cardinals drew three of those walks and..." May 06

St. Louis Post-Dispatch "Baseball would be diminished without great arguments. It is entirely appropriate, even necessary, for a timeless game to promote inscrutable questions. What else to do during the pauses between Erik Bedard offerings? Who would you draft first, Trout or Harper? Should the designated hitter be..." May 06

St. Louis Post-Dispatch "It’s a subtle change in how he plays the game behind the plate that has allowed Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina to remain in the game, game after game, this season. Molina has missed only one game of the Cardinals’ 31 this season, and with two off days this week there isn’t an obvious break..." May 06

MiLB.com "Michael Wacha was still pitching at Texas A&M at this time last year, trying to win the Big 12 title and lead the Aggies into the NCAA Tournament. Now he finds himself trying to help the Memphis Redbirds win the American North Division title. "It's been a crazy past year, that's for sure,"..." May 06

St. Louis Post-Dispatch "Few contending clubs do bullpen chaos like the Cardinals. Relief intrigue is as St. Louis as a highway do-over, bad diet and “the high school question.” What would April, May and June be locally without playing late-inning connect-the-relievers? A stretch drive is no fun unless predicated on a..." May 05

St. Louis Post-Dispatch "The same day the Cardinals promoted a top talent from the minors to address immediate troubles in the bullpen they also gained closure on the injury that first led to their discombobulated relief. Righty Jason Motte, who tied for the National League lead last season with 42 saves, will have..." May 04

The Oklahoman "St. Louis Cardinals star outfield prospect Oscar Taveras has been likened to a left-handed version of Vladimir Guerrero. Starting the season in Triple-A with the Memphis Redbirds, Taveras is ranked the second best hitter in the minors behind Texas Rangers shortstop Jurickson Profar. The..." May 03

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel "Hitters who fail to consistently strike the ball hard won't last long in the major leagues. But, every now and then, it works best not to make solid contact. Milwaukee Brewers starter Wily Peralta learned that lesson the hard way Thursday night as the St. Louis Cardinals scored six runs in..." May 03

St. Louis Post-Dispatch "Even before young hotshot prospect Carlos Martinez was able to throw a pitch for the Cardinals this past spring, a Cardinals official said the righthander was capable of "pulling off" what Trevor Rosenthal did last season -- leaping from Class AA to the majors. It took less than five weeks for..." May 03

St. Louis Post-Dispatch "Cardinals rookie reliever Trevor Rosenthal has been able to re-establish his role in the eighth inning by no longer being anxious about fulfilling his role in the eighth inning. “Early on it was definitely something that I was excited about, having a role where I could make a difference in some..." May 02

MLB.com "The Cardinals closed their homestand on Wednesday with the concentrated burst of offense that the club had been seeking for much of the past week. It was a glimpse, players said after the team's 4-2 win over Cincinnati, that should be the norm from a mostly established group of hitters. With..." May 01

St. Louis Post-Dispatch "Cardinals manager Mike Matheny is hoping some days off will be a good thing for struggling third baseman David Freese, who was hitless in 16 at-bats after Monday night. He was given Tuesday off and, Matheny said, possibly today as well. “Right now he’s just not seeing the ball,” Matheny..." May 01

St. Louis Post-Dispatch "The Cardinals got what for them is an offensive outburst – four runs – and closed their homestand with a 4-2 win over the Reds on Wednesday afternoon. It was the most runs for the Cardinals since their 9-1 win over the Pirates to start the six-game homestand, and now they head to Milwaukee for..." May 01