March 23, 2009

Cardinals camp tour: Different approach to seeking relief

By Danny Knobler | CBSSports.com Senior Writer
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Cardinals: Five things | 1 Man vs. 1 Fan | La Russa

JUPITER, Fla. -- It's not like Tony La Russa has never had to choose a closer before.

He had to do it plenty of times last year, because Jason Isringhausen got hurt. He had to do it when Isringhausen got hurt in 2006, and couldn't pitch down the stretch or in the playoffs. Adam Wainwright went from starter to closer, and the Cardinals won the World Series.

So Tony La Russa can choose a closer. We know that.

What we haven't seen La Russa do, at least not in a long time, is spend spring training figuring out who will pitch in the ninth inning.

"I don't recall having to do it in spring training," said Dave Duncan, La Russa's longtime pitching coach.

La Russa and Duncan are as responsible as anyone for defining the role of the modern closer by the way they used Dennis Eckersley in Oakland starting in the late 1980s.

Sleeper ... Khalil Greene: At age 27, Greene broke out with 27 homers, 97 RBI, 89 runs and a .468 slugging percentage -- all career highs. At age 28 last year, Greene was a mess, slumping to just .213-10-35-30-5. The rebuilding and cost-cutting Padres then dealt him to the Cardinals this winter, where he should find himself in a far more potent lineup and a much better hitter's park, especially with respect to homers. San Diego's Petco Park is death on hitters. St. Louis' park allowed the journeyman Ludwick to enjoy a 37-homer season at age 29. That, coincidentally, is Greene's age this year and we should see him return to being a top 15, perhaps a top 10 Fantasy option. He won't go off the board until at least 20 other shortstops are taken, so consider Greene an outstanding last-round pick in mixed leagues and a superb flier in NL-only formats. Bust ... Troy Glaus: We thought about making Ludwick the Cardinals' bust, but we didn't have the guts to do it. See, Rick Ankiel is returning from abdominal surgery and will be available to protect Pujols in the cleanup spot, possibly allowing Ludwick to go back where he started in the two-hole. Instead, our bust is the older and far more brittle Glaus, who suddenly required shoulder surgery this January. He woke up one day this winter and realized he was going to be this year's Travis Hafner, who had similar shoulder weakness a year ago. Glaus got his shoulder cleaned out and might still be available for opening day, but, if you follow this website and this writer in particular, you know shoulder injuries notoriously sap a slugger's power. We cannot be sure Glaus will ever be the same and advise you to just avoid him altogether on Draft Day. Breakout ... Adam Wainwright: We have already mentioned Wainwright in our story on breakthrough 27-year-olds and ranked him No. 1 in our story on third-year starting pitchers. Yeah, we are pretty bullish on Wainwright becoming a big-time Fantasy ace. He is already valued among the top 30 starters to target on Draft Day, but the pitcher we once called the next Carpenter could be on the verge of a Cy Young-caliber season. He can be a relatively low-investment mound ace in the middle rounds on Draft Day. We project 15-8 with a 3.63, 154 strikeouts and a 1.28 WHIP, but if you could guarantee us a full season of health and 210 innings, we would think those are baseline numbers of what he is capable of doing. -- Eric Mack Top Cardinals Prospects ('09 destination) 1. Colby Rasmus, OF, Triple-A 2. Jess Todd, RHP, Triple-A 3. David Freese, 3B, Majors 4. John Jay, OF, Triple-A 5. Daryl Jones, OF, Triple-A

Cardinals Fantasy outlook | '09 Draft Prep

Eckersley was their closer through nine years and 320 saves with the A's, then through two more years and 66 more saves with the Cardinals. Isringhausen arrived five years after Eckersley left, and he was there for seven years and 217 saves.

Now Isringhausen is gone, off to try to extend his career with the Rays.

And La Russa and Duncan still aren't completely sure who replaces him.

Part of what makes this interesting is La Russa's history with closers. Part of it is the candidates themselves.

La Russa and Duncan say they believe 26-year-old Jason Motte will be a major league closer. They also say they believe 23-year-old Chris Perez will be a major league closer.

They still have yet to be convinced that either Motte or Perez can close now, which is why Ryan Franklin is still a possibility, too.

"I think the uniqueness of this situation is that the top two candidates are very inexperienced," Duncan said. "Not only inexperienced at the major league level, but inexperienced at professional baseball. The plus is that they both have above-average physical abilities."

Motte's fastball has been clocked at 98 mph. Perez is a little behind on the radar gun, but his delivery is harder to pick up.

Motte has had a strong spring, giving up just one earned run in his first 8 1/3 innings. Perez has been slowed by some shoulder trouble in the spring.

Motte was once a catcher. He only started pitching three years ago, and only because he was a .191 hitter in his first four minor-league seasons.

"I don't know if I really understand pitching mechanics yet," he said. "I don't know if my mechanics are good or terrible."

Perez was once a catcher. His high school coach didn't put him on the mound until his senior year, and even then Perez resisted the move.

"I didn't like it at the time," he said this spring. "I like hitting. I liked catching, and I was a good catcher. But I made a good choice. I wouldn't be here now if I was still a catcher."

He's here now, in a competition that's not easy to hold in spring training. We judge closers on how they react to pressure, and when Motte and Perez feel pressure to make the big leagues, they can't simulate what it's like to take the mound in a big league ballpark with 50,000 people in the stands, the game on the line and the team completely counting on you.

If a closer fails in the regular season, the clubhouse is quiet and everyone talks about "a game we should have won." If it happens in spring training, the closer might not be happy, but the rest of the team is unaffected.

"It's really not anywhere close to the intensity level," Perez said.

He knows, because he was the Cardinals' closer for a month or so last season. He did well enough to hold the job for a few weeks, but not well enough to hold it for the rest of the year -- or to come to spring training with a hold on the job.

Motte has a few games of big league experience, too, but no real time in the closer's role.

How do you decide between them, or how do you decide that they start the year sharing the job? Or how do you decide that neither one is ready and that Franklin takes over for a while?

How do you decide, with only spring training games to go by?

"You've just got to evaluate when the guys go out there," La Russa said. "See how they pitch, and the impression they give you. If one guy emerges, he becomes the closer. If it doesn't happen, then they all kind of share it.

"Whatever you're given, you max it out."

This is what La Russa has been given for 2009. The Cardinals did try to acquire a veteran closer, but Brian Fuentes went to the Angels instead.

So now La Russa will pick someone else for the job. The guys he's picking from know his history, and they trust his judgment.

"He's had a good history of picking out guys who succeed in that role," Perez said. "Whatever he says is going to be best."

Yes, Tony La Russa can choose a closer. We know that.

We're just not accustomed to seeing it happen in the spring.