Next Man Up

Next Man Up

When you think of the phrase “next man up,” what comes to mind?  Right, football.  Offensive lineman goes down, next man up.  Running back limps off the field, next man up.  Nature of the beast.  Not generally used in baseball.  But “next man up” perfectly summarizes the St. Louis Cardinals’ season thus far.  In football, you have a 53-man roster; in baseball, it’s a 25-man roster.  A football team uses 20% (11 players) of its roster at a given time.  A baseball team uses 36% of its roster (9 players) at a given time.  All teams in sports have critical, virtually irreplaceable players, but football teams generally are able to assemble more depth than a baseball team.  So when a baseball team (like the Cardinals) suffers a sudden rash of injuries, it’s usually more noticeable. 

The injury problems started in spring training, subsided for most of April, and then really smacked the team in May.  To review:

• Pitcher:  Chris CarpenterI
• Injury:  nerve problem in his throwing shoulder*.
• Next man up:  Lance Lynn
• Result:  Lynn has gone 7-1 with a sterling 1.09 WHIP and a WAR (Wins Above Replacement) of 1.2. 

*Aside: I can’t be the only one who, given his injury history, worried about Carpenter’s health this year after throwing 273 innings in 2011 at age 36. Last October was a brilliant, gutsy, career-defining month for Carp, but it comes at the expense of not having him for at least half this season, if not longer.

• Player:  Allen Craig
• Injury:  knee, hamstring
• Next man up:  Matt Carpenter
• Result:  MattCarp was a revelation for the Cards in April, helping pick up the offense in the absence of Lance Berkman and Craig.  Craig was tearing the cover off the ball up until he pulled his hammy last week.  It’s a double whammy because his return was going to make it much easier to rest Carlos Beltran and his creaky knees.

• Player: Lance Berkman
• Injury:  knee
• Next man up:  Matt Adams
• Result:  too soon to tell.  Adams is a highly-regarded slugger who some experts (such as Keith Law) believe will fill in at first base without much drop-off.  Replacing Puma’s personality and influence in the clubhouse will be much tougher*.

*If this turns out to be the end for Berkman, my enduring memory of him will be two-fold: 1) that two-out, two-strike single that tied the game at 9 in Game 6 of the 2011 World Series; 2) this kind of candor: http://blog.chron.com/ultimateastros/2011/10/28/berkman-having-incredible-experience/.  Guys like Berkman deserve to go out on their terms, not because of a broken-down body.

• Player:  Jon Jay
• Injury:  shoulder
• Next man up:  Shane Robinson, Adron Chambers, Skip Schumaker
• Result:  Robinson and Chambers are perfectly capable 5^th outfielders.  The three combined have hit .276 with 16 RBI.  Not bad.  Except for Schumaker, the defense is solid.

 

• Pitcher:  Kyle McClellan
• Injury:  elbow
• Next man up:  Brandon Dickson
• Result:  Minimal effect.  Relievers are a fungible commodity in baseball, especially righties.

• Player:  Matt Carpenter
• Injury:  oblique
• Next man up:  Steven Hill
• Result:  Too soon to tell.  With Craig eligible to come off the DL on May 30, Hill’s stay is likely to be short.  Unless someone else gets hurt.

This list doesn’t even take Skip Schumaker or Scott Linebrink into account.

The fact that the Cardinals remain in first place speaks volumes of their depth.  In 2007, when the wheels fell off, there wasn’t much help available from the farm.  It’s reassuring to know reinforcements are available now.  It should also give fans some confidence in rookie manager Mike Matheny.  He’s handled it all like he’s done this for years.  Both the depth and leadership are critical in 2012 and beyond as St. Louis moves on from the Pujols/LaRussa era.