NL Central: Injuries to test Cardinals' pitching depth

Baseball Betting Lines

05/28/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Cardinals' starting pitching was the envy of the National League Central heading into this season, a formidable five-man staff anchored by arguably baseball's best one-two punch in co-aces Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright. Add two-time All-Star Brad Penny and promising rookie Jaime Garcia to a group that also contains a former 15-game winner in Kyle Lohse, and you've got a rotation that from top-to-bottom can rival any NL club when at full strength.

The unit has lived up to its advance billing over the first quarter of the season, having posted a collective 3.03 earned run average that's surpassed only by San Diego for tops in the Senior Circuit. Keeping up that strong pace figures to be a challenge in the coming weeks, however, with two members having been forced to the disabled list within the last few days.

Penny was placed on the 15-day DL on Saturday, one day after the burly right- hander exited a start against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim with a strained back muscle. Lohse joined his teammate there shortly afterward after being diagnosed with exertional compartment syndrome, a neuromuscular condition that has caused lingering soreness in his right forearm. He is scheduled to undergo surgery on Friday and will miss a minimum of two months.

Lohse has been plagued by the problem since last season, when the 31-year-old was limited to 22 starts and had a disappointing 6-10 record with a 4.74 ERA. He's struggled even more this year, having gone 1-4 with a 5.89 ERA in nine appearances and allowing an unhealthy .323 batting average against.

The two injuries could be a significant blow to a scuffling St. Louis squad that's produced a 9-13 record since May 4 and finds itself in a dogfight with the surprising Cincinnati Reds for first place in the division.

"It's something that every ballclub goes through, and we should feel blessed to be in second place because it could be a lot worse," first baseman Albert Pujols told the Cardinals' official site after Thursday's 8-3 win at San Diego. "Our pitching has pretty much been carrying us all year long."

While St. Louis will now rely even heavier on Carpenter, Wainwright and Garcia -- a trio that's a combined 15-6 with a 2.27 ERA thus far -- untested youngsters such as P.J. Walters and Adam Ottavino will need to make the most of their newfound opportunities for the Cardinals to remain near the front of the pack. Walters took advantage of his chance in Thursday's game with the Padres, with the recently-recalled rookie tossing five shutout innings to earn his first victory in the majors.

Ottavino, the Cardinals' first-round pick of the 2006 draft, is slated to make his big-league debut in Lohse's place when St. Louis visits Chicago's Wrigley Field on Saturday. The 24-year-old tuned up for the start by surrendering just two runs and four hits over 12 innings in back-to-back wins for Triple-A Memphis.

CUETO COMING THROUGH FOR ROLLING REDS

The Cincinnati Reds continue to show the way in the NL Central and upped their season record to 28-20 after taking three of four meetings with division-rival Pittsburgh earlier in the week. It's the first time the team has been eight games over .500 since June of 2006.

Cincinnati secured another series win with Thursday's 8-2 rout of the Bucs, highlighted by the latest standout showing from emerging ace Johnny Cueto. Unaffected by a blister that reduced him to six innings in his previous start, the hard-throwing Dominican mowed down an overmatched Pittsburgh lineup over six scoreless frames to win his fourth consecutive outing.

Cueto yielded just three hits and struck out a season-high nine in his latest gem, and the 24-year-old has delivered a sensational 0.96 ERA over the course of his winning streak. Opponents have managed a meager .153 average off the right-hander during that period.

Cueto's performance followed up a terrific start from Bronson Arroyo on Wednesday, with the quirky veteran firing 7 2/3 shutout innings to lead the Reds to a 4-0 triumph over the Pirates.

Cincinnati enters this weekend's play with a one-game edge on the defending division champion Cardinals for first place and is a major-league best 14-5 since May 8. Like Cueto, Arroyo has played a big role in that surge, as he's also won his last four starts and is 5-0 with a 2.66 ERA over his last six mound trips.

An offense that's tied for the NL lead with 58 home runs has done its part as well. The Reds went deep twice more in Thursday's win and have now homered in 16 straight games, the longest stretch in the majors this season and the team's best run since a 16-game tear from May 31-June 17, 2006.

MORE TROUBLES FOR PIRATES' MORTON

While Cueto was in control all throughout Thursday's game, Pittsburgh starter Charlie Morton struggled from the outset and was yanked after just two innings, with the puzzling right-hander getting torched for seven runs (five earned) on eight hits, including back-to-back homers by Scott Rolen and Jay Bruce in the opening frame.

That poor display was the most recent ordeal in what's been a nightmare season for Morton, expected to be one of the cornerstones of a young and promising rotation for the ever-rebuilding Pirates. The loss dropped the 26-year-old to 1-9 in 10 starts thus far in 2010, while raising his ERA to a ghastly 9.35. Home runs have been a particular issue for Morton, as he's now served up 12 of them in 43 1/3 innings pitched this season.

Morton, one of three prospects acquired by Pittsburgh from Atlanta last June in exchange for center fielder Nate McLouth, had seemed to have turned a corner after a horrendous beginning to the year. He had worked six innings in four of five assignments prior to Thursday's test and allowed three earned runs or less in all but one of those starts. However, this latest fiasco has once again led to questions about his short-term future with the club.

"We'll re-evaluate and see where we are," said Pirates manager John Russell, who did mention after the game that Morton had been dealing with shoulder fatigue at times this year. "He's struggling. We thought we were seeing a lot of progress in his last few starts and he didn't throw the ball like he's capable [Thursday]."

Pittsburgh does have a potential replacement waiting in the wings in prospect Brad Lincoln, the No. 4 overall pick of the 2006 draft who's gone 3-1 with a 2.79 ERA in four starts for Triple-A Indianapolis this month.

ASTROS' OSWALT ON THE OUTS?

A 6-1 loss at Milwaukee on Tuesday dropped the Houston Astros to an NL-worst 15-30 on the season, the same record the team carried when it made its only World Series appearance on the strength of an astounding second-half run in 2005. The chances of this year's edition duplicating such a turnaround appear remote, however, which has led to widespread speculation about the futures of a number of veteran players presently on the roster.

Those whispers grew considerably louder with last week's revelation that top pitcher Roy Oswalt had asked team owner Drayton McLane to be traded to a contender prior to the July 31 non-waiver deadline. The three-time All-Star does have a no-trade clause in his current contract, which runs through the 2011 season and contains a $16 million team option for 2012, but clearly would be willing to waive it for the right fit.

A member of the Houston organization since 1996, Oswalt has won 15 games or more in five of his first nine major-league seasons and notched consecutive 20-victory campaigns with the Astros in 2004 and 2005. He's just four wins away from tying Joe Niekro for the franchise record for career wins.

"I've been here 10 years and have given everything I've got for 10 years and done everything I've had to do to stay on the field to win," Oswalt told reporters this past weekend. "Hopefully, there may be some options for both of us out there. I'm not looking for an out for me. I think from the standpoint as a franchise player for 10 years, it would be good for both of us."

The 32-year-old has done nothing but enhance his value over the first two months of the season. Despite a 3-6 record resulting from garnering the worst run support of any pitcher, Oswalt ranks among the NL leaders with a 2.35 ERA and has put forth a quality start in all 10 of his 2010 appearances, the first Houston pitcher to do so since Bob Knepper in 1988.

Oswalt had arguably his best effort of the year on Wednesday, when he limited the Brewers to four hits and fanned nine batters over eight shutout innings in a 5-0 Astros' triumph.

ZAMBRANO READY TO RETURN TO CUBS' ROTATION

The Chicago Cubs appear ready to pull the plug on the Carlos Zambrano relief experiment, with manager Lou Piniella announcing this week that the deposed staff ace will start the team's game at Pittsburgh this coming Wednesday. It will be Zambrano's first venture in his customary role since a six-inning stint against the New York Mets on April 20.

Zambrano, a three-time All-Star who's averaged better than 14 wins for the Cubs over the past seven seasons, was shifted to the bullpen in late April due to Ted Lilly's comeback from shoulder surgery and Chicago's need for a capable setup man in front of closer Carlos Marmol. The excitable Venezuelan had been struggling prior to the switch, recording a lackluster 7.45 ERA in four starts, but wasn't overly effective as a reliever either. In 11 games out of the pen, he registered a 4.76 ERA and allowed 16 hits over 11 1/3 innings.

The accomplished right-hander stretched out for his upcoming matchup by throwing 73 pitches in a simulated game this past Monday, although the Cubs' plans were nearly put on hold when Zambrano was briefly hospitalized on Thursday after experiencing abdominal pain. As it turned out, the situation wasn't serious and he was available to pitch in relief in Friday's game against St. Louis.

"He's ready to go," Piniella told the Cubs' official site following Monday's session. "His velocity was good. He worked on his split finger, worked on his cutter. He had a nice workout, a real nice workout."

Zambrano will rejoin a starting group that performed well during a five-game sequence preceding the St. Louis series. The Cubs won four times and tossed two shutouts during that span, with the lone loss coming in the form of an 8-5 defeat to the Dodgers on Wednesday.

Tom Gorzelanny started that game for Chicago and was tagged for seven runs (five earned) in just five innings to take the loss. The left-hander is expected to be the one supplanted by Zambrano in the Cubs' starting five.

BREWERS' MCGEHEE PROVING TO BE NO FLUKE

One of the more under-the-radar pickups of the 2009 offseason was the Milwaukee Brewers' claim of Casey McGehee off waivers from the Chicago Cubs system. The then-unknown infielder emerged as the Crew's starting third baseman and turned in an impressive debut, batting .301 with 16 homers and finishing fifth in balloting for the NL's Rookie of the Year Award.

Those predicting a sophomore slump have been quickly dispelled by McGehee's play over the early stages of this season. The 27-year-old knocked in his NL- leading 41st run of the year with a single in Thursday's 4-3 victory over Houston, part of a 3-for-5 afternoon which raised his average to .315, tied for the third-best mark in the Senior Circuit at the moment. He's also belted nine home runs, sharing the team lead with right fielder Corey Hart in that category.

A 10th-round selection by the Cubs in 2003, McGehee never received much of a look from his original organization despite earning All-Star honors three times in six minor-league seasons. Both opponents and fans have begun to take notice of the California native's accomplishments, as he stood third among NL third sackers when the first wave of voting for this year's All-Star Game was released earlier in the week.

Left fielder Ryan Braun, one of the other few bright spots for a Brewers team that's presently buried in fifth place in the NL Central with a discouraging 19-28 record, leads all league vote-getters in the outfield. The 2007 NL Rookie of the Year, who's batting .322 with 32 RBI, was tabbed as a starter in each of the past two Midsummer Classics.