Health of Drew, Edmonds key
By Matthew Leach
4/29/2002


Right now, the Cardinals have a pretty good starting rotation -- on the disabled list: Woody Williams, Garrett Stephenson, Bud Smith, Rick Ankiel and Andy Benes. There are Major League clubs whose best five starters aren't as good as those five. And most of what you hear about the Redbirds and their recent struggles center around that fact.
But at various times, the Cards have also gone without much of the core of their batting order. Placido Polanco, J.D. Drew and Jim Edmonds have all missed time this season. And when manager Tony La Russa has to go without Drew and Edmonds -- his No. 3 and No. 5 hitters, respectively, and two of the top left-handed sluggers in the National League -- it changes the entire complexion of the St. Louis offense.

The numbers are startling, even though the sample size is small. When Drew and Edmonds have both started, the Cardinals have scored 92 runs in 18 games, an average of 5.11 per game. They've scored six runs or more nine times, while being held to three or fewer just five times.

When the starting lineup has not included both players, the Cards have scored 27 runs in seven games: 3.86 per game. They have only reached the six-run mark once in those games, and they've been held to three or fewer four times.

"I don't know if everybody's healthy," Edmonds said, "but it makes a difference if we all play."

When Polanco is out, the team can usually cover. Whether it means putting Kerry Robinson in the No. 2 spot, or getting Eli Marrero in the lineup and moving Edgar Renteria from seventh to second, the Cards have to make changes, but not drastic ones. Players who usually take supporting roles can continue to take supporting roles.

But when Drew or Edmonds sits out, St. Louis has to ask for more from the supporting cast. Renteria, who is slugging under .400, batted third on Friday in Drew's absence. One time, backup middle infielder Miguel Cairo hit in the three spot. With no Edmonds, the slumping Tino Martinez is sometimes asked to hit fifth instead of sixth or seventh. Sometimes it's Eduardo Perez in the fifth spot, who has power but has struggled to make contact this year.

"I know I've got to start hitting a little better," Martinez said, and that's certainly part of the equation. "A lot of guys ... we've just got to start putting together some innings. We're just not getting timely hits right now but it'll come in time."

The Cardinal offense works on some fairly simple principles: get the top couple of guys on base, then let Drew, Albert Pujols and Edmonds drive them in. When Drew, Pujols and Edmonds are on, hope that Martinez, Renteria and the guys at the bottom of the order can come up with a timely hit. But it revolves around the presence of the 3-4-5 guys.

The whole strategy, in fact, can change somewhat when Drew or Edmonds can't play. La Russa is a believer in getting a single run on the board whenever he can, rather than playing for the big inning, but he acknowledges that sometimes it pays to put aside little-ball tactics when you have bashers like that set to bat soon.

"A lot of things that you do, you end up taking a bat out of a guy's hands," La Russa said. "Hit-and-run forces a guy to swing, hitting a guy over, sacrificing. A lot of guys, you don't want to take the bat out of their hands. You can do more damage. I think you've got to factor that in."

The Cards need to do more damage with the bats than they've been doing over the last couple of weeks. Now that they have their two key pieces of lefty lumber back in the lineup, it should happen more often.