{"id":3298,"date":"2010-03-11T21:38:15","date_gmt":"2010-03-11T21:38:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.seamheads.com\/?p=3298"},"modified":"2010-03-11T21:38:15","modified_gmt":"2010-03-11T21:38:15","slug":"wounded-birds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/2010\/03\/11\/wounded-birds\/","title":{"rendered":"Wounded Birds"},"content":{"rendered":"

While there was plenty of news from the game yesterday, the biggest discussion point probably happened before the first pitch was ever thrown.<\/p>\n

Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday were both scratched<\/a> from yesterday’s game against the Nationals. \u00c2\u00a0Pujols’s back still isn’t quite right and Holliday has a strained rib cage muscle. \u00c2\u00a0A team that looks strong offensively drops quickly into mediocre without those guys.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Now, it’s not time to start sounding alarms and looking for the nearest bridge, of course. \u00c2\u00a0If they are still out a week before the season starts, then I think you get worried. \u00c2\u00a0Still, it’s a cause for concern. \u00c2\u00a0Both of those guys need to be ready to answer the bell, so that the Cards don’t wind up slipping behind early.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The game itself<\/a> provided some good talking points as well. \u00c2\u00a0First among them was the start of Brad Penny. \u00c2\u00a0After his first outing, there were a few questions about just what the Cardinals had gotten themselves into. \u00c2\u00a0Those were eased yesterday with four scoreless and effective innings. \u00c2\u00a0I still think Penny is in line to have a big year for the squad and seeing results like yesterday’s help reinforce that in my mind.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Allen Craig made his presence known as well. \u00c2\u00a0If he’s going to make this team, which is still a possibility, he’s going to have to hit his way there. \u00c2\u00a0Hitting a home run in his first spring at-bat probably didn’t hurt at all. \u00c2\u00a0Craig also wound up with a RBI double later in the game and with AP and Holliday out for a bit, he looks to get quite a few at-bats this week.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Then there was Shelby Miller. \u00c2\u00a0Cardinal fans have been waiting to get a glimpse of the first-round draft pick and they, along with his family<\/a>, got their chance yesterday. \u00c2\u00a0(At least the ones that were in Jupiter–it figures this game would be one with no TV or radio.) \u00c2\u00a0Tony La Russa seems impressed, at least. \u00c2\u00a0Dave Duncan is passing along good things. \u00c2\u00a0With all of this, could it be that Miller won’t spend much time at A ball this year, getting a promotion to Springfield mid-season or so? \u00c2\u00a0It’ll be interesting to keep an eye on that as the summer goes along.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I expected that he’d be sent out after this outing, but not only is he staying in camp for a while, there’s a chance he’ll get another outing before going down. \u00c2\u00a0I expect that Miller has made quite an impression during this camp!<\/div>\n
Cardinals take on the Marlins again today, with Kyle Lohse going. \u00c2\u00a0Remember there are only two days left to express your opinion in the Cardinal Approval Ratings<\/a>!<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While there was plenty of news from the game yesterday, the biggest discussion point probably happened before the first pitch was ever thrown. Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday were both scratched from yesterday’s game against the Nationals. \u00c2\u00a0Pujols’s back still isn’t quite right and Holliday has a strained rib cage muscle. \u00c2\u00a0A team that looks […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":347,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[4732,796,1415,336,4001,524,4734,335,4727,4728,4733,345,394,463,665,4729,793,4731,4730,1836],"class_list":["post-3298","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","tag-alarms","tag-albert-pujols","tag-bats","tag-brad-penny","tag-cardinal-fans","tag-cardinals","tag-craig","tag-dave-duncan","tag-discussion-point","tag-first-spring","tag-glimpse","tag-jupiter","tag-matt-holliday","tag-nationals","tag-rbi","tag-rib-cage","tag-shelby-miller","tag-talking-points","tag-those-guys","tag-tony-la-russa"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t