Play Catch (up) with the St. Louis Cardinals May Edition

After the first month of the season with Season-ending injuries, slumps, several top prospect call-ups and amazing starting pitching, I thought it was time to deliver the news. Those of you that aren't everyday Cards fans...should be (but that's a different post), but this is just a few of the interesting items that have come from StlCardinals.com in the past few weeks.

Enjoy playing Catch(up) with the Cards!

• Cards ride sharp Garcia, second-inning rally to sweep

  Allen Craig's bases-loaded double scored all three runners to key a six-run second inning, and the Cardinals completed their first four-game sweep of Milwaukee with a 10-1 victory on Sunday at Miller Park.More» Craig rips bases-clearing double in second Comment (884)

• May 05 7:55 PM ET

  Lynn leads surging Cards in series opener vs. Cubs

  The Cardinals have won six straight games, and they will have a pitcher who has won five of his first six starts this season on the mound Tuesday in the series opener against the Cubs at Wrigley Field.More» Lynn keeps Reds in check over seven frames Comment (38)

• Third-base coach Oquendo misses Sunday's game

  Third-base coach Jose Oquendo missed Sunday's game to attend to family matters in St. Louis, and manager Mike Matheny said he is pleased with his coach's aggressive approach this season.More» Aoki throws out Jay at third base Comment

• Cards' bullpen enters Sunday back at full force

  The Cardinals bullpen was back at full strength Sunday, one day after Trevor Rosenthal and Carlos Martinez were unavailable. Martinez was a starter in the Minors and pitched a scoreless inning Friday night. Rosenthal pitched Monday, Wednesday and Thursday.More» Martinez pitches a scoreless frame in debut Comment

• May 04 9:35 PM ET

  Bauman: Cards finding all the right answers

  Much has been made of the "problems" facing the St. Louis Cardinals early in 2013. There are 28 other franchises that would happily take these problems if only they could have the Cardinals' 19-11 record after 30 games.More» Wainwright beats Braun to the bag

• May 04 4:09 PM ET

  Carpenter begins throwing program, no timetable set

  Manager Mike Matheny said Saturday he would welcome the return of Chris Carpenter if the veteran right-hander is able to recover from pain in his right shoulder.More»Carpenter drops by Cards camp, discusses his health

• May 04 4:09 PM ET

  Miller learning from veteran teammates

  Shelby Miller has had a great start to his season, and the right-hander gives a lot of credit to the veterans in the clubhouse.More»

• May 04 4:09 PM ET

  Young additions give Cards more bullpen options

  Young additions Carlos Martinez and Seth Maness have bolstered the Cardinals bullpen, as it seems St. Louis has an inexhaustible supply of flame-throwing pitching prospects.More» Martinez pitches a scoreless frame in debut

• May 04 4:09 PM ET

  Freese heating up after taking a break from slump

  David Freese has swung the bat better since returning from two days on the bench. The Cardinals third baseman was given Tuesday and Wednesday off after an 0-for-16 slump. He's had consecutive two-hit games since returning to the lineup against the Brewers.More» Freese's single puts Cards in front by four

• May 03 6:50 PM ET

  Tommy John surgery to end Motte's season

  Cardinals closer Jason Motte will have Tommy John surgery next week and won't pitch this season, Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak said on Friday.More»

• May 04 12:45 AM ET

  Bauman: Cardinals able to get some relief

  The performance in the St. Louis bullpen so far this season has not been satisfactory. But the Cardinals appear to have some really viable solutions.More» Mozeliak talks about Motte's injury

• May 03 11:35 AM ET

  Cardinals promote pitching prospect Martinez

  The Cardinals on Friday promoted Minor League pitching prospect Carlos Martinez from Double-A Springfield and optioned reliever Mitchell Boggs to Triple-A Memphis.More» Martinez pitches a scoreless frame in debut

• May 03 8:22 PM ET

  Boggs sent to Triple-A to work on mechanics

  Mitchell Boggs was optioned to Triple-A Memphis Friday after going 0-2 with a 12.66 ERA in 14 games this year. In 2012, Boggs had a 2.21 ERA in 78 relief appearances.More» Boggs gets his first save by retiring Scutaro

• May 03 1:58 AM ET

  Bauman: Cards' success so far just a start

  Through the first month of the 2013 season, the St. Louis Cardinals were carried by their starting pitchers. And those five pitchers were not buckling under the burden of toting the rest of the roster.More» Westbrook works six strong to get 100th win

• May 02 8:38 PM ET

  Rosenthal finding groove after shaky start

  Despite struggling for the first couple of weeks of the season, rookie right-hander Trevor Rosenthal quietly pitched well during the final two weeks of April.More» Rosenthal throws a perfect frame of relief

• May 02 8:38 PM ET

  Cardinals waiting for power to pick up

  Carlos Beltran has seven homers, but others are behind their 2012 pace. With several established players, manager Mike Matheny thinks his sluggers will start hitting homers soon.More» Beltran goes deep with solo homer in fourth

• May 02 8:38 PM ET

  Matheny plans to use Maness

  Seth Maness had his contract purchased from Triple-A Memphis on Sunday but had yet to pitch for the Cardinals entering Thursday's game. The right-hander last pitched April 22.More» Maness gives up three runs in 1 1/3 innings

• May 01 6:18 PM ET

  Cards' offense finds rhythm it's been seeking

  With three runs off Reds starter Homer Bailey in a five-batter span, the Cardinals positioned themselves for a 4-2 win and matched their run production from the last three games combined. Lance Lynn earned his NL-leading fifth victory.More» Lynn keeps Reds in check over seven frames

• May 01 1:37 PM ET

  Mujica using split changeup to amazing results

  Though few other current Major League closers use the pitch with regularity, Edward Mujica continues to see his split-finger changeup evolve from a decent secondary pitch to an out weapon.More» Mujica retires Lutz to tally  sixth save

• April 30 2:50 PM ET

  Matheny holds cold Freese from lineup

  Despite David Freese's insistence that working his way out of his slump will best be achieved by playing through it, the Cardinals will try to find a spark by going a different route. Mike Matheny pulled Freese out of the lineup on Tuesday and inferred that Freese may remain unplugged for a few days.More» Freese ties the game with an RBI grounder

• May 01 2:02 PM ET

Cardinals Opening Day 2013 Questions

Busch Stadium

So, here we are...CardsMerch blog celebrates its second Opening Day with you...the fans. Can you smell the freshly cut grass of the ballparks across the nation? The team is in Phoenix ready to battle the Diamondbacks tonight, but back in St. Louis and across Cardinals Nation there is a great anticipation along with many questions.


What will the season hold?

Will Yadi be in the run for MVP again?

Can Wainwright gain the wins to return to pre-surgery form?
How long will Shelby Miller be in the rotation? 
Will Chris Carpenter join us on the bench in St. Louis?

How many hours will Matt Holliday put in the gym each day?
Will Matt Carpenter have to play at second base consistently?
Where does Matt Adams find his place in the lineup?
How many players named Matt will be in the lineup during the season?

Will we see Oscar Taveras in the outfield?
Will Kolten Wong join the middle infield?

What other David Freese and Allen Craig type players are going to join us?
After his big spring training, how will Shane Robinson do?

These and many other questions remain to be seen throughout the season.

Follow @CardsMerch on Twitter or subscribe to this blog on Feedly or another reader for updates during the season.

Play catch (up) with the St. Louis Cardinals?

If you haven't been paying attention to the Cardinals off season, then here's the way to get most of the news quickly.
I'll provide some links and a quick recap of the story. Stories are mostly called from MLB.com, but if you haven't been following their feed then this should get you up to date on some of my picks for the greatest news have this offseason.

David Freese avoids arbitration - David Freese signed a 1 year deal to avoid arbitration.

Carpenter out - Chris Carpenter most likely out for the year with continued problems in his throwing arm. It could force his retirement.

1/29/2013 | Taveras ranked No. 3 among Top 100 Prospects Outfielder Oscar Taveras has been named baseball's third-best prospect in MLB.com's Top 100 rankings. 1/28/2013 | Cardinals agree to one-year deal with Cedeno Seeking a veteran middle infielder to provide depth and insurance behind shortstop Rafael Furcal, the Cardinals, after sifting through a thin free-agent market, have signed Ronny Cedeno. 1/24/2013 | Thousands pay respects to Musial at visitation A six-hour public visitation for Hall of Famer Stan Musial, who died at the age of 92 on Saturday, brought thousands of people out to the Cathedral Basilica in St. Louis on Thursday. 1/24/2013 | Musial's 1942 club was Cardinals' best Stan Musial played on three World Series winners and watched many, many more. However, the Hall of Famer, who passed away Saturday, said the 1942 Cardinals were the best in franchise history. 1/22/2013 | Motte, Cardinals reach two-year agreement Closer Jason Motte has inked a two-year contract with the Cardinals that will buy out his final two seasons of arbitration-eligibility. At the end of the deal, Motte will be a free agent. 1/21/2013 | Molina excited to have brother as Cards coach Having never had the opportunity to play professionally with his older brother Bengie, Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina spoke Monday about his anticipation over the prospect of donning the same uniform this season. Along with that came an endorsement as well. What do you think the biggest news of the offseason has been?

ComeBack Chris Carpenter, Come Back

Let's see...recently I've been stringing together posts about how I can learn from the off season news. Well, in my opinion, the biggest news during an otherwise boring off season on the Cardinals front happened yesterday with the Chris Carpenter news conference. if you haven't heard, Carpenter's 2013 season is most likely done before it even started, and his career as a pitcher has most likely come to an end as well.

Questions surface for me such as:
What happens when your career is on the line?
Will you work hard to come back?
Or will you try something new?

Knowing Carp's past and his determination to come back from injury after injury, this has to be a hard blow for him. He's the man who dove head first into first base while avoiding Elvis Andrus' spike during game 1 of the 2011 Series. He's the man that wouldn't take any bull from the spikes of Johnny Cueto during a brawl. He's the guy that when he was on, he was lights out with a nasty curve and control like the masters. he's the guy that won Comeback Player of the Year twice.

So, what can we learn from a 37 year old comeback legend? The same thing we learned from Jimmy V. "Don't give up! Don't ever give up!" Personally, I'd like to see him on the bench teaching the guys the intensity that he has. That's what we like to call the Cardinal spirit. It has been said that Mike Matheny helped recruit him when he first came to St. Louis in 2004. With that said, it wouldn't be a stretch at all to see him on the bench next to his old teammate.

What I'm going to take away from this is that Carpenter has a choice. He would have all the right in the world to just sit back and enjoy the fruits of a successful career, but his character tells me that he won't fade off into the distance that quickly. So if you're listening Mike Matheny and Chris Carpenter, please do Cardinal Nation a favor and let's have a new position on the bench of assistant pitching coach? Trevor Rosenthal, Shelby Miller and Carlos Martinez will have you guys to thank for their successful careers that begin with Carp on the bench to launch them out!