I was reading a Sports Illustrated article the other day (an old one, I might add, that was published before the World Series) that described the Cardinals' bullpen as "vaunted." Which, you know, came as a shock to me.
A brief look at the Cardinals' relievers of the postseason in a long-overdue post that I've been meaning to write for weeks (stats from the playoffs in parantheses):
Arthur Rhodes (8 G, 2.2 IP, 0.00 ERA): Signed in August three days after he was released by the Rangers. A situational lefty (obvious given his game-to-innings ratio from the playoffs), the AL's third-oldest player in 2011 (he turned 42 in October) and MLB's career leader in holds. Only once in the postseason (Oct. 13, against Milwaukee) did he last longer than a third of an inning.
Jake Westbrook (2 G, 2.0 IP, 0.00 ERA): In his first full year with the Cardinals, he started every one of his regular-season appearances. He pitched twice against Texas, with one of the appearances in the dramatic Game 6 (though it was a bit surprising he wasn't left in longer, with the available hands in that game dwindling). He replaced Kyle McClellan on the World Series roster after being left off for the NLCS and was expected to be the long reliever, but he barely qualifies as a member of the bullpen.
Jason Motte (12 G, 12.1 IP, 2.19 ERA, 5 S): Motte became the closer pitching well down the stretch and into the playoffs. He had a run somewhat similar to Adam Wainwright's in 2006, though obviously not as dominant (9.2 IP, 0.00 ERA, 4 S), in that he made the job his own after not getting a ton of work during the regular season: Motte's first save of the year came on Aug. 28 (after he had blown three), just as the team was starting to scratch back into contention. The guy's got a live arm (high-90s fastball, plus slider), but I'm still finding it hard to forget his first few appearances of 2009, when he was thrust into the closer spot to start the year after making the transition to pitcher, from catcher, in the minors just a couple of seasons prior. Opening Day that year: 1 IP, 29 pitches (four strikes swinging, three looking), 4 ER in a blown save/loss.
Octavio Dotel (12 G, 10.1 IP, 2.61 ERA): Acquired from Toronto in the Colby Rasmus deal in July. Maintains a ridiculous K/9 ratio (11.7 in his 29 regular-season appearances with the Cardinals, 12.19 in the playoffs), and his career number I seem to remember reading was a record -- and for players of all ages, not just those older than his (now) 37 years. He certainly gave the team something it lacked, but it's telling of those around him that he took on such a noteworthy role after the deadline.
Lance Lynn (10 G, 11 IP, 3.27 ERA): Most of my friends who follow other teams seemed to respond to his appearances with "... Who?" Good reason: He made 18 appearances in the regular season, and this wasn't even a September call-up situation (four games in June, 10 in July and four in August). La Russa seemed to take a shine to him in the playoffs, though, as he notched five appearances against both Milwaukee and Texas. He mostly stepped up: He gave up runs in only two games, the first being a Game 3 win against Texas and the other being the near-loss in Game 6, of which he could have been the goat.
Fernando Salas (11 G, 13.1 IP, 3.38 ERA): Solid all year in his first full campaign (68 G, 0.947 WHIP, 2.28 ERA, 24 S). Motte stole his job as closer, but it's hard to bash that move given the results. The stranger thing was how he was used for much of the playoffs, less as a setup man than as a, well, I don't know what you'd call it. Innings in which Salas pitched during the playoffs: 3rd, 4th (4x), 5th (3x), 6th (2x), 7th, 8th (4x), 9th. Huh.
Marc Rzepczynski (12 G, 8.1 IP, 4.32 ERA): After he was acquired from Toronto, you'd have expected him to get the TLR lefty treatment, but he actually faced only one batter in three of his playoff appearances. He even went 30 pitches in a 2.1-IP Game 6 against Milwaukee to earn the win. His ERA is only as high as it is because of the three runs he allowed (on no outs) in a game against Philadelphia. One of the least flashy, but most consistent, arms on this roster.
Mitchell Boggs (7 G, 7.2 IP, 5.87 ERA): Banished after his Game 4 debacle against Texas: a three-run homer by the first batter he faced after relieving Edwin Jackson (so only one of the runs was charged to Boggs). He made it out of the inning and pitched a scoreless one after that, but TLR never called his number again.
Kyle McClellan (1 G, .1 IP, 27.00 ERA): A starter for a large chunk of the year (43 G, 17 GS), he was booted from the World Series roster. He gave up two hits and a run in a third of an inning against Milwaukee.
To recap: three key members acquired at the deadline or afterward, two converted starters, a near-rookie, a guy who didn't play at all in September, a closer who started closing in the season's last month ... and Mitchell Boggs.
What part of that qualifies as vaunted? All in all, it's some combination of dumb luck, Tony La Russa's mystique, poor knowledge on the part of pundits (many of whom probably didn't start watching the Cardinals until the playoffs) and the comparison with the generally terrible bullpens of other teams -- although, on that last point, I'm not sure I'm even willing to concede that these relievers were the league's least bad.
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