...at the same time Sean O'Sullivan reminds us why he didn't pan out as a starter for the LA Angels.
...at the same time the Royals bullpen reminds us what can happen when a bullpen is comprised almost entirely of rookies.
But, as I've said before, although it really isn't accurate to say one team "deserved" a win over another, this is a game that the St. Louis Cardinals should have won. As a pitching staff the Royals have two problems, one of which they can't do much about, the other of which they need to try and address:
- Lack of strikeouts (2nd to last in the AL) - they can't do much about this, since the portion of the staff that has the most impact on this are the starters, and the Royals don't have any strikeout pitchers on their starting staff.
- Abundance of walks (2nd most in the AL) - this is the rub. If you're not a strikeout pitcher, that's fine, but if you're not a control pitcher, either, then there's a problem. For the Royals to remain competitive, they seriously need to cut down on the walks.
For some perspective, the Cleveland Indians are 3rd to last in strikeouts in the AL...however, they also issue the 2nd fewest walks.
Also, it'd be nice to go through a game without a silly baserunning mistake. Billy Butler saw fit on Wilson Betemit's game-tying single to round 2nd base, stop about 4 steps after the bag, then go for 3rd base when he saw the throw go to the plate -- forgetting, I suppose, that he has all the footspeed of a sleepy sloth.
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