The Chris Duncan Experience

That'd be a good name for a blog, no?

When I was in college, the Villanova basketball had a 5th year senior guard named Pat Enright on the team. Enright was one of those scrappy guys, lots of heart, not really good, who could spell our point guard for a couple of minutes without hurting the team (a helpful talent, as our point guard wasn't really a point guard and we had no true point on the roster). Anyway, my freshman year Villanova made the NCAA tournament, managed to beat Arkansas in the first round, and faced Illinois in the second. Illinois was better, and led by 12 with about 3:30 to play. Villanova began to make a run. As they were picking up steam, and had cut the lead to 9 I believe, Enright got free in the corner.

Pat Enright was not a guy you wanted taking big shots late in the game.

The ball swung around to him, and he launched a three pointer. As it became clear to the 4 of us watching the game in my dorm room that he was going to shoot, we all yelled "NOOOOOOO!" simultaneously at the TV.

Swish.

"GREAT SHOT PAT!!!"

Watching Duncan play yesterday reminded me of that moment. He can be awful in the field - the drop in the sixth inning was just plain ugly - but he can also be very, very clutch. It's just that you never know what you'll see from him until the play is over, so you spend the moments when he is front and center grumbling about what could happen, then, when he comes through, the immediate moments after the play happy about what did happen. HR and 3 RBI will make most forget the defensive adventures he had throughout the game. Hey, it usually works for Alfonso Soriano.

Round 1 to the Cardinals. Wainwright was efficient, and good enough. You're still walking too many guys, Adam. Please work on that. I'd like to welcome Khalil Greene to the Cardinals all-time HR list. It's going to be a fun year needling the locals about Greene if he returns to his 2007 form.

Today, well, most are expecting the Cubs to roll through Walters. With Dave Duncan and Yadier in his corner, he'll have the advantage the first time through the order if he hits his spots. After the third inning, all bets are off. Here's hoping Big Z spent too much time on Facebook last night and doesn't have it today.

Other news: Chris Carpenter has an oblique muscle tear. Just a little more serious than a muscle strain. That explains the 4-8 week timetable for his return. I for one am glad it's not an arm problem. I don't think Walters is with the big club for more than 1 start, although I've been wrong before. Albert Pujols announced he'll be in the HR Derby this year. I would think that just made the HR derby one of the hottest tickets in STL for the All-Star Game week.

That's it from here. Enjoy your weekend. Rotation Round #2 analysis will be up this weekend, as will Bullpen week #2.

Mather Up, Duncan Down; Franklin Loads them Up

I blogged Thursday about the crowded Cardinals outfield. I thought Chris Duncan was the one guy, of the 3 currently sharing time in LF, who would remain on the roster for the foreseeable future, if for no other reason than his ability to play 1B.

Shows how much I know.

Duncan was sent down before Friday's game, and Joe Mather (who was tearing it up at Memphis) called up to replace him. Of course, Mather is an outfielder, too, so this does nothing to alleviate the logjam in the corner outfield spots. But he is hitting the ball better than Duncan, as has been well documented elsewhere, and hopefully more at bats will help Duncan get back on track.

I have been critical of Duncan's OF play since he started out there in left, but a post I read recently (which, of course, I can't find now that I'm looking for it) stated Duncan's defense isn't all that indefensible. He actually gets to all the balls he should, and occasionally gets to one he has no business catching. So I've begun to change my tune on that score. Based on his injury and aggressive efforts to rehab from it, he strikes me as a guy who really wants to play and really wants to prove he belongs here. So here's hoping he fixes his power stroke quickly and gets back soon.

I looked at the box score a little more closely and discovered that Franklin didn't start the ninth last night; he came in to clean up the mess Flores left him. But, he did allow a soft single to load the bases, which got me thinking. Hasn't Franklin pitched in more bases-loaded situations than anyone else on the roster? Is there a stat somewhere that tracks this kind of stuff? I haven't watched as many Cardinals games this season as I usually do, but it seems that every time I see Franklin on the mound the bases are chocked full of opposing runners.

Anyone else out there notice this? Again, no hard metrics, just a feeling.