Post by Fish Troll on May 13, 2007 18:27:07 GMT -5
Notes: Encarnacion activated from DL
Outfielder in lineup after returning from offseason wrist surgery
By Matthew Leach / MLB.com
SAN DIEGO -- Juan Encarnacion was thrown right into action on Sunday, activated from the disabled list and inserted as the Cardinals' starter in right field and in the No. 6 spot in the batting order.
It's Encarnacion's first Major League action of the year. He played 15 games at Double-A Springfield on a rehabilitation assignment after undergoing offseason wrist surgery. To make room for him, Skip Schumaker was optioned to Triple-A Memphis.
Encarnacion hit .155 at Springfield, but in the middle months of last season he was one of the Cards' most effective hitters. He slugged over .500 in May, June and July before his wrist troubles surfaced and sapped his power.
"He could provide us with a real lift," manager Tony La Russa said.
Schumaker, meanwhile, was caught in a numbers crunch. Neither So Taguchi nor Ryan Ludwick could be optioned, and both have been seeing more playing time than Schumaker.
"That's a really difficult conversation," La Russa said. "When he had a chance to play a full game, he certainly gave every indication that he could be a guy that could take a bunch of at-bats in the Major Leagues. But with Jimmy [Edmonds] healthy, and Juan, and Chris [Duncan] going, where are the at-bats? He didn't even get a lot of at-bats [before Encarnacion returned]."
More mileage: Aaron Miles got another start in place of David Eckstein on Sunday, but La Russa emphasized that the move was more about getting Miles in the lineup than sitting Eckstein.
"Aaron's given us a solid game when he plays," La Russa said. "I'm going to play him at least one or two games every series. I've got to. He's important to us. So either David rests or Adam [Kennedy] rests, if it's just one game. Sometimes they both rest a game and he gets two."
Miles is batting .259 with a .302 on-base percentage and a .310 slugging percentage on the year. Eckstein, meanwhile, had a bit of a rough game at the plate on Saturday but had shown some signs of improvement prior to the start of this road trip.
"I really don't like not playing him today because that sends the wrong message," La Russa said. "But Aaron, he's very important to us."
Rotation in Detroit: La Russa said that the Cardinals expect to roll over their rotation over the weekend in Detroit, rather than bumping anyone up -- but he left the door open for some sort of tweaking. Braden Looper is a lock to start the opener on Friday after an off-day, and Anthony Reyes would quite likely stay on turn on Saturday. One option that's open to the Cards would be to bump Brad Thompson back to the following homestand, keeping Adam Wainwright on his regular fifth day for the series finale at Comerica Park.
"Most probably we'll just roll guys over, but there's an opportunity there [to line things up differently]," La Russa said.
Memphis injury update: Memphis is playing several men down these days. Rick Ankiel is dealing with a sore Achilles tendon that is only expected to sideline him for a few days, according to general manager Walt Jocketty. John Rodriguez is also out with a hamstring pull.
Most concerning, though, is the situation of Chris Narveson, who has been placed on the DL with a shoulder injury. Jocketty said that Narveson is expected to be examined within the next few days by Dr. George Paletta, the Cardinals' head team physician.
This date in Cardinals history: On May 13, 2006, Albert Pujols hit his 19th home run and Scott Rolen drove in five runs in a 9-1 win over Arizona. Pujols reached 19 homers in the Cards' 37th game, fewer games than it had taken anyone in Major League history to reach that number.
Baby 'Birds: Memphis rallied from an early hole but lost, 5-4, to Colorado Springs on Saturday. Troy Cate allowed four runs on six hits over six innings, and Travis Hanson hit his first home run of the season. ... Springfield dropped a doubleheader to Wichita, 5-3 and 5-4, but Colby Rasmus had a productive day. Rasmus doubled in the opener, and in the second game he homered and drew two walks. Rasmus is up to an excellent .295/.381/.557 (average/on-base/slugging) line in 33 games at Double-A. He has 21 extra-base hits and six steals without being caught. ... Class A Palm Beach was held to five hits in a 6-2 loss to Dunedin. ... P.J. Walters pitched five shutout innings in Class A Quad Cities' 1-0 win over Burlington. Jaime Landin singled, doubled and drove in the Swing's only run.
Walters is the player of the day for his excellent performance. He allowed four hits and no walks, striking out three. The 22-year-old right-hander was the Cardinals' 11th-round draft pick out of South Alabama in 2006. On the year, Walters is 3-1 with a 2.87 ERA, 36 strikeouts and only five walks in 37 2/3 innings.
Coming up: The Cardinals open a three-game series at Dodger Stadium on Monday night. Thompson makes his second start of the year for St. Louis, going up against former Cardinals righty Brett Tomko. First pitch is at 9:10 p.m. CT.
Matthew Leach is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Outfielder in lineup after returning from offseason wrist surgery
By Matthew Leach / MLB.com
SAN DIEGO -- Juan Encarnacion was thrown right into action on Sunday, activated from the disabled list and inserted as the Cardinals' starter in right field and in the No. 6 spot in the batting order.
It's Encarnacion's first Major League action of the year. He played 15 games at Double-A Springfield on a rehabilitation assignment after undergoing offseason wrist surgery. To make room for him, Skip Schumaker was optioned to Triple-A Memphis.
Encarnacion hit .155 at Springfield, but in the middle months of last season he was one of the Cards' most effective hitters. He slugged over .500 in May, June and July before his wrist troubles surfaced and sapped his power.
"He could provide us with a real lift," manager Tony La Russa said.
Schumaker, meanwhile, was caught in a numbers crunch. Neither So Taguchi nor Ryan Ludwick could be optioned, and both have been seeing more playing time than Schumaker.
"That's a really difficult conversation," La Russa said. "When he had a chance to play a full game, he certainly gave every indication that he could be a guy that could take a bunch of at-bats in the Major Leagues. But with Jimmy [Edmonds] healthy, and Juan, and Chris [Duncan] going, where are the at-bats? He didn't even get a lot of at-bats [before Encarnacion returned]."
More mileage: Aaron Miles got another start in place of David Eckstein on Sunday, but La Russa emphasized that the move was more about getting Miles in the lineup than sitting Eckstein.
"Aaron's given us a solid game when he plays," La Russa said. "I'm going to play him at least one or two games every series. I've got to. He's important to us. So either David rests or Adam [Kennedy] rests, if it's just one game. Sometimes they both rest a game and he gets two."
Miles is batting .259 with a .302 on-base percentage and a .310 slugging percentage on the year. Eckstein, meanwhile, had a bit of a rough game at the plate on Saturday but had shown some signs of improvement prior to the start of this road trip.
"I really don't like not playing him today because that sends the wrong message," La Russa said. "But Aaron, he's very important to us."
Rotation in Detroit: La Russa said that the Cardinals expect to roll over their rotation over the weekend in Detroit, rather than bumping anyone up -- but he left the door open for some sort of tweaking. Braden Looper is a lock to start the opener on Friday after an off-day, and Anthony Reyes would quite likely stay on turn on Saturday. One option that's open to the Cards would be to bump Brad Thompson back to the following homestand, keeping Adam Wainwright on his regular fifth day for the series finale at Comerica Park.
"Most probably we'll just roll guys over, but there's an opportunity there [to line things up differently]," La Russa said.
Memphis injury update: Memphis is playing several men down these days. Rick Ankiel is dealing with a sore Achilles tendon that is only expected to sideline him for a few days, according to general manager Walt Jocketty. John Rodriguez is also out with a hamstring pull.
Most concerning, though, is the situation of Chris Narveson, who has been placed on the DL with a shoulder injury. Jocketty said that Narveson is expected to be examined within the next few days by Dr. George Paletta, the Cardinals' head team physician.
This date in Cardinals history: On May 13, 2006, Albert Pujols hit his 19th home run and Scott Rolen drove in five runs in a 9-1 win over Arizona. Pujols reached 19 homers in the Cards' 37th game, fewer games than it had taken anyone in Major League history to reach that number.
Baby 'Birds: Memphis rallied from an early hole but lost, 5-4, to Colorado Springs on Saturday. Troy Cate allowed four runs on six hits over six innings, and Travis Hanson hit his first home run of the season. ... Springfield dropped a doubleheader to Wichita, 5-3 and 5-4, but Colby Rasmus had a productive day. Rasmus doubled in the opener, and in the second game he homered and drew two walks. Rasmus is up to an excellent .295/.381/.557 (average/on-base/slugging) line in 33 games at Double-A. He has 21 extra-base hits and six steals without being caught. ... Class A Palm Beach was held to five hits in a 6-2 loss to Dunedin. ... P.J. Walters pitched five shutout innings in Class A Quad Cities' 1-0 win over Burlington. Jaime Landin singled, doubled and drove in the Swing's only run.
Walters is the player of the day for his excellent performance. He allowed four hits and no walks, striking out three. The 22-year-old right-hander was the Cardinals' 11th-round draft pick out of South Alabama in 2006. On the year, Walters is 3-1 with a 2.87 ERA, 36 strikeouts and only five walks in 37 2/3 innings.
Coming up: The Cardinals open a three-game series at Dodger Stadium on Monday night. Thompson makes his second start of the year for St. Louis, going up against former Cardinals righty Brett Tomko. First pitch is at 9:10 p.m. CT.
Matthew Leach is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
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