Cardinals' rotation filled with lots of problems

Updated: March 22, 2008

JUPITER, Fla. -- Several St. Louis Cardinals can be seen walking around camp in T-shirts with the old U.S. Marines motto, "The More You Sweat in Training, the Less You Bleed in Battle.'' The shirts, which come in navy blue and institutional gray, were the brainchild of staff ace and former Cy Young Award winner Chris Carpenter.


Chances are the guy who coined the phrase didn't have Tommy John surgery, rotator cuff repairs, simulated games and endless rounds of long toss in mind.

St. Louis' pitchers haven't been through boot camp or stormed any beaches lately, but they've spent their fair share of time lying on a table under the influence of anesthesia. Matt Clement, Mark Mulder and Carpenter have all undergone major surgery since the fall of 2006, and they're well-acquainted with the ups and downs of the rehab process.


Adam Wainwright will likely be the Cardinals' starting pitcher on Opening Day.
Pitching aside, the Cardinals have found some reasons for optimism while coming off their first losing season since 1999. Albert Pujols, Rick Ankiel and Troy Glaus are having productive springs, and the Cards have been impressed with outfielder Brian Barton, a Rule 5 pick from Cleveland who looks like a lock to make the team.

The starting rotation? Let's just say it's in a state of flux.

St. Louis' Grapefruit League rotation consists of Adam Wainwright, Braden Looper, Brad Thompson and Todd Wellemeyer. Kyle Lohse, who arrived in camp just nine days ago, made his Florida debut on Saturday and allowed two runs on six hits in five innings pitched in a game against the Twins.

After that, it's a matter of waiting, monitoring and hoping. Joel Pineiro, who felt some shoulder discomfort early in camp, should return by mid- to late April. The Cardinals are hoping for contributions from Clement in early May, Mulder in mid-May and Carpenter sometime after the All-Star break.

That's some cavalry. While manager Tony La Russa is never comfortable with the idea of treading water under any circumstances, he's aware that the Cardinals have a chance to get better as the season progresses.

"I've had situations where there have been pitching issues and you don't see the help coming,'' La Russa said. "In a way this is a more positive situation than some of the other ones, where you're kind of strapped and you have to mix and match and hope a young guy comes up from Triple-A and helps you.''

Nevertheless, the amount of help the veterans can provide is subject to debate. Carpenter underwent Tommy John surgery on July 24, so chances are remote that he'll regain his old Grade A form this season. And baseball observers are withholding judgment on Mulder and Clement.

"Yeah, they might come back,'' one scout said, "but Mulder might be throwing 86 [mph], and Clement hasn't pitched in a game since 2006. Can you really count on these guys for significant innings and quality starts?''

As always, the Cardinals are putting a lot of faith in pitching coach Dave Duncan's ability to maximize strengths and get the most out of a staff. Duncan has justifiably earned a reputation as Mr. Fix-It in a dozen seasons coaxing big efforts from the likes of Kent Bottenfield, Garrett Stephenson, Dustin Hermanson and Jason Simontacchi. We also can't forget Jeff Weaver's memorable turn as Mr. October in 2006.

But Duncan can't always whip up a sumptuous buffet from a few cans of Spam. Kip Wells was a disaster last season, Jason Marquis wore out his welcome in St. Louis before doing the same thing in Chicago, and the consensus is that Anthony Reyes needs a change of scenery and a fresh start somewhere else.

Meet The Cardinals
The Cardinals' projected starting rotation for the 2008 season:

Adam Wainwright, RHP
Kyle Lohse, RHP
Todd Wellemeyer, RHP
Braden Looper, RHP
Brad Thompson, RHP

Duncan's most intriguing new project is Lohse, who fell into the Cardinals' laps in early March. At the start of the Hot Stove season, Lohse and Carlos Silva were considered the top two free-agent starters available. But after Silva signed a four-year, $48 million deal in December, Lohse endured a lengthy and mysterious wait to find a job.

In mid-February, Lohse left his home in Arizona and worked out near agent Scott Boras' offices in Southern California. When the Cardinals grew desperate three weeks into camp, general manager John Mozeliak tossed out a $4.25 million lifeline and landed a bargain.

Why was Lohse available for so long? Baseball sources said the Mets and Phillies were both prepared to offer Lohse three-year deals for $8 million to $9 million annually. But the Mets viewed Lohse as a fallback in the event they couldn't land Johan Santana in a trade, and the Phillies shifted gears and spent their money on Geoff Jenkins, Pedro Feliz and Kris Benson when it became apparent that Lohse was beyond their price range.

One baseball official with knowledge of the situation said Boras was looking for a "Gil Meche deal'' -- which means five years and $55 million. Lohse, for his part, said he wasn't even seeking a deal like the one Silva got.

"Some teams said they were going to do some things, and they never materialized,'' Lohse said. "I know a lot of people talked about how I turned this and that down. I'm not going to get into what was really going on, but I think a lot of people heard a lot of rumors and assumed they were true.''

An Internet rumor briefly made the rounds that Lohse had fired Boras, but it proved baseless. Client and agent are still together, although Lohse somewhat cryptically suggests that he has a year to "figure out what happened.'' That's a clear reference to next winter, when Lohse goes back on the market at age 30 with no desire to wait around for a cut-rate deal.

"You never say you're going to be together forever,'' Lohse said of his relationship with Boras, "but things are good now. He's done well for me up until this point. This offseason was kind of a tough thing to take. The market was there -- that's all I can say.''

While Lohse has a reputation as an underachiever, he pitched some huge games for the Phillies in a pennant race last summer. Lohse lasted six innings or more in seven of his past 11 starts before giving up a grand slam to Colorado's Kaz Matsui in Game 2 of the Division Series.

The challenge now is breaking through the ceiling of unfulfilled expectations. Lohse, a career 63-74 with a 4.82 ERA, is free from those overpowering American League lineups and cozy parks in Cincinnati and Philadelphia, so the Cardinals have reason to hope he will spread his wings and fly.


In a way this is a more positive situation than some of the other ones, where you're kind of strapped and you have to mix and match and hope a young guy comes up from Triple-A and helps you.
--Cardinals manager Tony La Russa on the state of his team's pitching

Clement, who signed a three-year, $25.5 million contract with Boston in December 2004, was serviceable at the outset before going progressively downhill. He took a Carl Crawford line drive off the head in July 2005, and there were rumblings that he was faking an arm injury until Dr. James Andrews went in for a look and found significant damage to his shoulder.

"You can question whether my slider is any good, whether I'm able to pitch inside -- I don't care,'' Clement said. "Just don't question whether I'm willing to take the ball. That's the one thing I've always taken pride in.''

Clement was a workhorse before his injury -- making 30 or more starts in seven straight seasons -- and he's taken a dogged approach in his rehabilitation. It's a comfort when he can seek out the counsel of Carpenter, a veteran of multiple elbow and shoulder surgeries. When Carpenter tells him, "Don't worry about your velocity -- just worry about how the ball is coming out of your hand,'' Clement files the observation away for future reference. Carpenter has quickly evolved into his benchmark and his personal oracle.

In a best-case scenario, Clement and his fellow wounded warriors will return as scheduled, the Cardinals will hang around the NL Central lead and Mozeliak will have enough surplus pitching to make a trade or two at the deadline. If not, the Cardinals will rely too much on Pujols yet again, and that 78-win season of a year ago will look like a fun fest.

"When you deal with a specific aspect of the game, whether it's hitting or pitching, you come to realize exactly just how long the season is,'' Duncan said. "Once that's the case, it gives you a lot more patience.''

The Cardinals have patience in abundance. Only time will tell if they have enough arms.

Jerry Crasnick covers baseball for ESPN.com.