Here is our daily rundown of who's hot and who's not-so-hot for the Cardinals:
TRENDING UP
Jeremy Hazelbaker, OF: He made his first big league start, handled his center field chores like a boss and hit his first big league homer. Not bad for a player the Cardinals picked out of the minor league recycling bin to add some offense for their Springfield affiliate last summer.
Matt Bowman, RP: This Rule 5 pickup got the last spot in the bullpen after veteran Jordan Walden's shoulder broke down again. His major league debut went swimmingly: He threw two shutout innings to close out Wednesday's lackluster 5-1 loss. That should help him settle into the mop-up role, at least for the time being.
Yadier Molina, C: Fans are still fretting about that catching glove thumb. But he still has an elite arm. Molina made a perfect throw to catch Gregory Polanco trying to steal second base. That was one of the few highlights in a dreary contest.
Jonathan Broxton, RP: The big fellow walked a batter in relief of Tyler Lyons and threw eight balls in his 14 pitches. But he managed to strike out too batters to maintain his 0.00 ERA.
Greg Garcia, Utility: This handyman infielder will have to fight to keep his roster spot if the Cardinals ever get healthy this season. So his garbage time double meant something to him, anyway.
TRENDING DOWN
Randal Grichuk, OF: He started the season 1 for 10 with six strikeouts. Manager Mike Matheny started Hazelbaker in his place in center field and put Brandon Moss in the cleanup spot. It may take NASA engineers to calculate the rocket-like speed of balls exploding off Grichuk's bat, but he actually had to make contact for that raw power to have value.
Mike Leake, SP: It didn't take him two hours to get out of the first inning Wednesday, it just seemed like it. He lacked his usual command and paid a big price for it. Had he not demonstrated good reflexes -- picking off missiles back through the box -- the game could have gotten much uglier.
Matt Carpenter, 3B: What a series he had in Pittsburgh: 1 for 11 with two walks and a RBI. He has contributed four strikeouts to the big pile. Carpenter has set a tone for this offense as the leadoff hitter, but not in a good way.
Matt Holliday, OF: He, too, went 1 for 10 in Pittsburgh. He drew three walks and drove in a couple of runs with grounders, true, but the Cardinals need a whole lot more their No. 3 hitter.
Marco Gonzales, SP: Sore elbow? Going to see a specialist? Uh, oh. This is not good news at all for the Cardinals. Gonzales was supposed to be the team's No. 6 starter, biding his time in Memphis as the lead pitcher in the Triple-A rotation. His demise and the spring soreness for fellow lefty Tim Cooney leaves the organization perilously thin in near-term help.
Jeff Gordon • 314-340-8175
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