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Logjammin’
The 26th Man — ... John Rodriguez. J-Rod apparently has taken up residence in the John Gall Memorial Tony La Russa Doghouse. Sure, Rodriguez hasn’t gotten a hit since St. Patrick’s Day, but that’s also the last time he got more than two plate appearances in a game. Maybe his power surge in 2005 was a fluke, but he has shown an ability to get on base, a quality that doesn’t exist in this lineup beyond the No. 5 hole.

The Cardinals can't hit. Also, Jackie Robinson Day
St. Louis Cardinals Blog - — ... .  Led by Albert freakin' Pujols getting off to a 1 for 17 start for the season and Scott Rolen going 2 for 17.  Those are our two best hitters, people.  3 for 34.  Actually, that might be the best reason for optimism through five games: Pujols will most likely finish with a higher average than .059 and Rolen will probably do better than .118.  I have less confidence about Yadier Molina doing significantly better than his 2 for 14 (.143) start.  As a matter of fact, the only player on the entire team that's hitting is Chris Duncan, who's 6 for 15 and has one of the team's two (count 'em, two) home runs.  Much as Pujols probably won't finish at .059, Duncan probably won't hit .400.

Last Year’s Trade Deadline Could’ve Been a Lot Worse
Pittsburgh Pirates — ... Kip Wells - Kipper recently got pushed to the bullpen, as his starts were becoming too painful to watch. He was 2-11 with a 6.93 ERA in 14 starts for St. Louis this year. ...

The Final Countdown
Whiteyball — ... La Russa is great at getting all of his players at bats, so it won’t be a total lost year (and he will play in over 100 games, due to defensive prowess), but 300 plate appearances are not enough in the development process, and certainly not worth 600 relatively inexpensive plate appearances in 2015. Don’t get me wrong, he has picked up the pace, and probably deserves a spot on the 2009 team.  He will still make this team better, but only marginally so, and that’s not worth the opportunity cost of what we are giving up for 300 PA. ...