Quotebook: Cardinals 6, Astros 4
It was getting to the point where you worry about him being able to finish. He was having trouble putting hitters away right there at the end. That can be a sign of fatigue. I just thought it was time to get him.
– Tony La Russa on Braden Looper
We’re not so vain as to think that La Russa read Tuesday’s post on pulling a starter before it’s too late (which isn’t exactly a unique idea, besides). But we’re glad he made the right decision on Looper. Sadly for Looper, he picked the wrong night to be a star, since Albert Pujols picked up all the media accolades with his two circuit clouts. But with a 65 FIGS, Looper turned in the team’s second-best start of the season, which, with the string of above-average starts, is actually saying something. On a personal level, his first two starts of the 2008 season rank in his top 10 FIGS outings of his short career as a starter:
| Date | Opp | BF | HR | BB | SO | FIGS |
| 05/12/07 | @SDP | 24 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 70 |
| 04/09/08 | @HOU | 22 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 65 |
| 05/01/07 | @MIL | 28 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 65 |
| 04/20/07 | @CHC | 27 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 65 |
| 07/16/07 | @FLA | 26 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 65 |
| 08/28/07 | @HOU | 26 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 65 |
| 09/15/07 | CHC | 26 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 65 |
| 09/02/07 | CIN | 25 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 64 |
| 08/11/07 | LAD | 23 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 62 |
| 04/04/08 | WSN | 27 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 61 |
By keeping the Astros in the amusement ball park, he also faced the third-most batters without allowing a home run at Minute Maid Park this season:
| Date | Pitcher | BF |
| 4/7 | Rodriguez | 25 |
| 4/8 | Chacon | 24 |
| 4/9 | Looper | 22 |
| 4/8 | Thompson | 20 |
| 4/7 | Wellemeyer | 20 |
| 4/9 | Sampson | 18 |
Sure, you say, the Astros have only had three home games so far, but with the Cardinals off to a 7-2 start, we’re in a "glass is half-full" kind of mood today.
The last thing he needs is some extra edge.
– Skip Schumaker on Albert Pujols
Here’s hoping that "the edge" isn’t like "the clear" or "the cream."
I’m glad that Looper can’t say he has more RBIs than me now.
– Albert Pujols
With his big night, Pujols can sleep better now that the following teammates no longer have him bested:
- Home runs: Yadier Molina (1)
- RBI: Brad Thompson (2)
- Runs: Ryan Ludwick (4)
I thought Albert did [Towles] a favor by just sliding to take his legs out … He’s going to get blasted one of these days.
– Tony La Russa
We love the mobster-like "do him a favor" phrasing. It’s good to hear a little tough talk from Tony Soprano early in the season.
I just thought (it) wasn’t a very good play, and that’s all. He just talked to me acting like I was pressing on about it. I don’t understand where he’s coming from. It’s apparent we don’t like each other, and that’s OK.
– Brandon Backe on Albert Pujols’s takeout of catcher JR Towles
Princess Backe can perhaps be forgiven for his sissified attitude. After all, if we played half our games in a park that is more like Disneyland than a proving ground for athletic competition, we’re sure we’d get a little soft, too.
April 11th, 2008 at 8:51 am
Good analysis on Looper and thanks for the updated FIGS stats on his two starts … I for one have to eat my words on Braden (and do so gladly) … Because of the way he was pitching in ST, which hardly impressed, and his inconsistency last year, especially in night starts, I had reached the conclusion that he had hit the ceiling on potential as a starter, and was vocally advocating his return to the pen, where I thought he naturally belonged … However, as his FIGS results show, he is beginning to stabilize as our most effective starter … his WHIP is currently 1.030, his SO/BB ration is better than 3:1, and he has yet to give up a HR … it’s early in the season of course … but I hope those type of numbers continue … and I’m glad I was wrong …
Also, this FIGS ‘thing’ (to use a little Bush-lingo) is becoming my favorite metric … your ‘Calculators’ page doesn’t seem to work however … I get a blank page when I try to bring it up … I’d like to calculate all of our pitchers’ FIGS after each start … could you tell me what may be the problem, or provide another link? Thanks, Pip …
April 11th, 2008 at 10:09 am
C4E, you might wanna check your javascript settings or other browser settings (i use firefox), as I have no problem using the calculators page and the link has worked for the past 3 days just fine for me…though not sure about others.
April 11th, 2008 at 10:16 am
Never mind Pip, HoosierCardFan: I dug into the Glossary and found the FIGS formula … have already set up a spreadsheet for it & works great … thanks HoosierCardFan for the javascript settings suggestion; I’ll try it …
April 11th, 2008 at 10:23 am
I think there’s probably a happy medium for Looper. Spring stats should be taken with a grain of salt (admittedly, I didn’t help by posting the sabermetric stas
), but he’s probably not going to keep up his early-season success, either. As for whether Looper belongs in the rotation or the pen, I’m advocating a less binary approach to pitchers, as you probably know. It seems like the way to optimize Looper (et al) is to pitch him around three to five innings at a time.
Really glad to hear that you like FIGS. I checked the Calculators page, and it works in Firefox but not in IE. Sorry about that. I’m working to get it to display in IE, but I’m not sure when it’ll be up. In the meantime, are you able to use Firefox? Or I can send you an Excel file that would let you calculate larger sets of data.
April 12th, 2008 at 3:35 am
I really like this blog, I always have. It seems every time I drop by there’s a weird steroids dig, especially in reference to Pujols, which I’m not even sure where that comes from. Regardless, this axe-grinding makes my visits less frequent.
Please write what you’d like to write about; it’s your blog. Just thought I’d let you know that it’s a turn off to at least one person, and I’m not sure it comes off as you intend it to.
Cheers
April 14th, 2008 at 9:48 am
PLH:
Thanks for your thoughtful comment.
As most readers of this blog know, my goal is not to be popular but to help fans think more intelligently, or at least from a different point of view from what is provided in the mainstream media, about baseball. I understand that it is uncomfortable for many fans and observers to deal with the reality of PEDs in the game. One need look no further than the puff piece today on the P-D about Ankiel, which has absolutely no reference to his use of PEDs. I’d prefer a different reality, but I no longer have the option of living in a fantasy land. To pretend otherwise would rob this blog of its integrity.
Again, thanks for taking the time to comment. I’m sorry that the comments rub you the wrong way. Perhaps I need to “pick my spots” more judiciously; I’ll consider that.