And if we could add a healthy Carpenter for a stretch run and the playoffs........

I couldn't watch the game for I had to work late. My friend told me Lohse looked real sharp. Great to hear. I like the note the Cardinals have started on. I am obviously really hoping that Pujols busts for the Angels.

If he continues to cry about every single strike he sees, he'll wear the pussy label whether he damn well wants to or not. Seriously, the guy was acting like a petulant little leaguer last night.

A lot to be encouraged by last night. Lohse pitched great, Furcal, Beltran got on base I think 5or 6 times,Berkman & Freese looked sharp, defense was flawless, and it should have been a shutout if not for the first-base ump going Don Denkinger.

Good way to start the season.

Was hoping to see an Ozzie rant.

Yea, I know, it seems like some people like to bitch about everything............

This.

However, I'm not a huge Holliday fan. Seems like every time there is a moment to shine, he does not come through.

I really like Matheny. Did anyone see the interview where Rooney asked him if he slept the night before- "Like a baby" that dude is super cool

Nice, I've been wondering about how he will do as our manager. Hopefully yesterday was a good indicator.

That last pitch that Motte threw to Stanton was just filthy. If he can mix in that pitch with his 100mph heater, it will easily be the best in the NL Central.

Actually his last two pitches were both 90+ mph sliders, and that is just unfair. He doesn't even need to throw that pitch for a strike most of the time, hitters will chase it. Also, his 99 mph letter high fastball to the previous batter was a thing of beauty. With Scrabble and Salas working the setup role, I am pretty damn confident about the bullpen. I am out of the loop, what's the deal with Sanchez? Last year he had perfect setup man stuff before he got hurt.

The heater to Ramirez was the most fun I had all night.

Dude has a freakin' cannon.

As to the rest of the 'pen; Salas is gonna start getting hit this year, IMO. His stuff is wildly mediocre, but I love the way he attacks hitters. In the end, he's probably best suited as your swing man, not your setup man. I'd love to see us go after Lannan now that he's asked to be traded and move Lynn to the 8th. Sanchez has great stuff but his delivery is incredibly violent; he's likely to get injured again. Scrabble is going to be a huge weapon for us, though I'm still a little disappointed that he's unlikely to get a chance to start.

Tons of strikeouts along with walks in Spring Training. The Post Dispatch kind of mentioned that he would have made the team most years (he didn't allow an earned run), but with as good as our bullpen is this year, they wanted him to hammer out his control issues in Memphis. Don't be surprised to see him up again this year.

I've heard reports that Westbrook lost weight and is looking much better. If he can improve, in the short term it could make up for Carpenter's loss. I don't think anyone wants to see Carpenter on the DL long term, but they shouldn't try to hurry him back before he's ready.

Sanchez will be back; he had options left and the others didn't. Well that's not entirely true, Salas did as well, but Salas is an attacker and you know what you have with him. Sanchez still has some rough edges to polish up and ultimately, while he wasn't our worst pitcher in the spring, he was probably the worst one that we could send to Memphis without losing.

It was a numbers game and Sanchez lost it. Though with Linebrink evidently going to the DL, it's Marte that's getting called up and not Sanchez. So clearly there's something in Sanchez right now that the big club doesn't want to work out at the major league level.

We got Marte last year in a trade that happened right in advance of spring training. The cost? $1.

Yeah, if they want to clean up his mechanics it makes sense to send him down to Memphis since he has options left and there is going to be less pressure for immediate results.