Carpenter to Start and Rolen Out, Ensberg In

[STL FANATIC]

Obviously Scott Rolen's batting stats and games played didn't make him real deserving of starting or really even being in the All Star Game (though he's defense is so good he could make a case on that alone).

Still, Rolen was gonna play because the fans voted him in and he felt it was right to respect the fans decision and play.

Now though, it appears Rolen has opted out and Ensberg, who is very deserving, will take his place, though it hasn't been announced who will actually start.

It sounds like Rolen opted out because his shoulder is still bothering him, and the Cardinals coaches and trainers finally talked him into resting it. Rolen probably also understands that this allows the deserving Ensberg into the game, but had it not been for the injury, he likely would have played.

So now there's just a few snubs left who haven't gotten in on injuries.

[STL FANATIC]

I wanted to add that Tony La Russa has notified the commisioners office that Chris Carpenter will start the All Star Game for the National League.

I hope nobody screams favoritism, because Carpenter deserved this. Not like La Russa will pay any attention to complaints anyways.

[DEAD!]

FAVORTISM!!!! Just Kidding .....

[buzzcut]

FAVORTISM!!!! Just Kidding .....

It IS favortism quadival. Clements and Willis deserved to start ahead of Carpenter.

But can you really blame LaRussa for starting his own guy, seeing that the Cards have the best record in the NL?

[CC97]

So it would've been Carpenter vs Halladay in the All-Star Game?

I hate you Texas Rangers!

[DEAD!]

FAVORTISM!!!! Just Kidding .....

It IS favortism quadival. Clements and Willis deserved to start ahead of Carpenter.

But can you really blame LaRussa for starting his own guy, seeing that the Cards have the best record in the NL?

Actually I do think it's favortism as well, but I am not really shouting about it. I do think Carpenter at least deserves the start. He may not be as "flashy" as Willis or as dominant as Clemens. But Carpenter is 13-4, same record as Willis, but has a slightly higher ERA.

Personally, I would have taken Clemens.

So it would've been Carpenter vs Halladay in the All-Star Game? cry.gif cry.gif

I hate you Texas Rangers!

YEAH DAMN YOU TEXAS RANGERS!!!!

[epper]

im happy that Ensberg got in. it would have been one of the all-time all-star shams if a guy with 24 jacks didn't get in.

[See Red]

Wow... Carpenter starting? That is favoritism... there is absolutely no way he should be starting over Roger Clemens. He's had a good year... but Clemens has had one of the best half-years ever! And really, Carpenter has never played this well before... odds are he drops off and then can we really say he was worthy of starting the ASG...

[kingssss]

Good. Now everyone that was shouting about ensberg not being in can be happy......and yea, favoritism........i think clemens should start........but carpenter does deserve it with his record and ERA.......i guess.

[Phil]

So it would've been Carpenter vs Halladay in the All-Star Game?

I hate you Texas Rangers!

So at one time, in 1998, the Blue Jays had past or future Cy Young winners Roger Clemens, Pat Hentgen, Roy Halladay, and now All-Star Game starter Chris Carpenter in the same starting rotation? Wow.

I guess that's how they achieved their best winning percentage in the post-World Series era in 1998.

[CC97]

So it would've been Carpenter vs Halladay in the All-Star Game?     

I hate you Texas Rangers!

So at one time, in 1998, the Blue Jays had past or future Cy Young winners Roger Clemens, Pat Hentgen, Roy Halladay, and now All-Star Game starter Chris Carpenter in the same starting rotation? Wow.

I guess that's how they achieved their best winning percentage in the post-World Series era in 1998.

And then proceeded to fire their manager after his only season -- not to mention their ace demanding a trade "because the team wasn't contending"... yeah 3 games back of the wild-card, and winning 88 games isn't contending

Although I wouldn't consider Halladay a part of the rotation, he only made two starts that season, and they were both in September

[pcgd]

Wow... Carpenter starting? That is favoritism... there is absolutely no way he should be starting over Roger Clemens. He's had a good year... but Clemens has had one of the best half-years ever! And really, Carpenter has never played this well before... odds are he drops off and then can we really say he was worthy of starting the ASG...

I'm sure all the AL fans would love Clemens starting the all star game like last year.

Clemens last pitched on Friday. 4 days rest for a start.

Willis also pitched on Friday. again 4 days.

Carp last pitched on Wednesday. 6 days rest, plus the Cardinals don't play til friday.

Of course, Clemens and Willis will likely pitch so my arguement goes out the window.

Carpenter pitched this nearly this well LAST year. He was great up until the Playoffs when he had a nerve problem.

Meh...oh well. You are right. Tony's played favorites throughout this whole thing. I mean, Billy Wagner over Matt Morris reaked of favoritism. As was advising Scott Rolen to stay home.

[See Red]

Wow... Carpenter starting?  That is favoritism... there is absolutely no way he should be starting over Roger Clemens.  He's had a good year... but Clemens has had one of the best half-years ever!  And really, Carpenter has never played this well before... odds are he drops off and then can we really say he was worthy of starting the ASG... 

I'm sure all the AL fans would love Clemens starting the all star game like last year.

Clemens last pitched on Friday. 4 days rest for a start.

Willis also pitched on Friday. again 4 days.

Carp last pitched on Wednesday. 6 days rest, plus the Cardinals don't play til friday.

Of course, Clemens and Willis will likely pitch so my arguement goes out the window.

Carpenter pitched this nearly this well LAST year. He was great up until the Playoffs when he had a nerve problem.

Meh...oh well. You are right. Tony's played favorites throughout this whole thing. I mean, Billy Wagner over Matt Morris reaked of favoritism. As was advising Scott Rolen to stay home.

Well, for one, he advised Rolen to stay home to avoid injuring his shoulder (?), not because he wasn't deserving of the spot to begin with.

Secondly, as you said, Clemens will pitch the same amount of innings regardless. You can't argue that Carpenter is having the better season of the two. You just can't. Clemens is on pace for one of the greatest seasons ever for a pitcher. And my saying that Carpenter hasn't had this good of a season before was a joke because of how STL said D-Lee shouldn't start because 'odds are he's not going to stay this hot' and how full careers should be taken into consideration. By even his ASG criteria, Clemens should be starting. Though, if it came down to it, I'd lean towards starting Carp over Dontrelle.

I don't mean to say that LaRussa is making every single move based on favoritism... but the Carpenter over Clemens starting move just reeks of it, to me.

[STL FANATIC]

ITE, if Clemens is on pace for one of the best seasons in history, it's probably better than his best (era and whatnot wise), so since he's never done it...he'll cool off and thus your argument is out the door.

I really don't think what I said about Pujols and Lee applies here at all though. Carpenter did almost this good last year, so it's not unprecedented for him, where as Lee's season is quite unprecedented.

Anyways, you could put Livan's, Dontrelle's, Roger's, and Carp's, name in a hat, pull one out, and it would have been a fine choice for the starter.

Because your saying Clemens should start over Carp though, here's a look at the stats (I self calculated run support, so it may not be accurate, but I felt it should be included to be fair to Clemens):

             ERA     RS     W-L    K    BB   WHIP
Carpenter   2.51   5.28   13-4   128   33   1.07
Clemens     1.48   3.33    7-3   112   34   0.95

Now, if you can look at those and say Clemens is easily the starter...fine...but I just don't see it. To tell you the truth, I don't really see the record breaking pace he's on either (but I might be ignorant to the records).

Starting pitcher was pretty much a toss up, and I figure Carpenter got it for a few reasons.

(1) He's currently the hottest pitcher of the 4 (2 ER in 41.2 IP).

(2) He has no statistical weaknesses (Not Clemens fault completely, but just okay W-L, Livan has low K's and high WHIP, Willis nothing big...low K's compared to Clemens and Carp though)

(3) Tony has more flexibility with how long to use Carp since he doesn't have to worry about an outside manager getting upset.

[See Red]

Alright. Fair enough, you convinced me that it's a lot closer than it looks.

And nevermind, no record setting pace, I misread something on ESPN, here it is... it's actually about him being the midseason Cy Young...

Much as we love Dontrelle Willis and the electric current he plugs into every ballpark he pitches in, the Cy Young is about one thing and one thing only: Who has pitched the best? So we don't care if Willis has won 13 games and the Rocket has won just seven. Clemens' ERA is nine-tenths of a run lower than Willis'. And it isn't much closer in departments like strikeout rate, opponent batting average, WHIP or quality starts. The Marlins have blown just one save for Dontrelle. The Astros have blown three for Clemens. And you can account for their entire win differential in the six games Clemens started in which the Astros scored zero runs while he was in the game. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Clemens' 1.48 ERA is the lowest by any pitcher at the break, in a non-strike season, since 1968 (Bob Gibson and Don Drysdale). And if the Rocket can keep his ERA that miniscule, it would be the lowest by any 40-something pitcher since Cy Young (the pitcher, not the trophy) in 1908. Any more questions?

[redsfan39]

hell its larussa coaching who do you think hes gonna give it to

[GeneralW91]

Livan Hernandez? Anybody? The guy won 11 decisions in a row, and while that isn't enough merit, I do contend that the Nats would not be in 1st without him.

[Cujo]

LaRussa is starting Carpenter starting over Willis and Clemens?! What a joke.

[HedleyLamarr]

La Russa made the wrong decision, and it very well could be because it's his own pitcher, but he couldn't have any of the aforementioned all start at the same time. Clemens would have been the sentimental favorite (possibly his last year), and Willis was the trendy pick. John Smoltz would have been a nice selection, being the homegrown player. But ABA hit it on the head: Livan should have been named the starter. Not only are his stats impressive, but he's been part of the biggest story in baseball this year: Washington. The Nationals didn't get one every day player selected to play in the game, yet are leading the division. There's a very real chance that neither Nationals pitcher gets in the game tomorrow night (12 pitchers, possibly only 8 innings needed for National League pitchers, starters usually going 2 innings). I'm pretty sure that a lot of the viewers watch to see the All-Stars of the teams they rarely get to see.

However, La Russa made another obvious decision that hasn't been talked about: Pujols being the starter at DH. Pujols is the only other 1B the NL has, and Derrek Lee has a sore shoulder. Dusty Baker will be mightily pissed if Lee plays all 9 innings, and further injures his shoulder to the point that he'll be limited and kill the Cubs' chances at the Wild Card. He should have let the NL's co-HR leader (A. Jones) or the NL's RBI leader (C. Lee) be the starting DH instead of his player. Of course, Pujols could move over to 1B later in the game, and the NL squad will lose the DH for the rest of the game, and they could just use pinch hitters when the pitcher's spot comes up, but La Russa could have saved the hassle of the viewers trying to figure out who's batting next.

Any guesses on who La Russa would choose if the NL has a save situation in the bottom of the 9th?

[lucky]

Quick, who were the starters in last year's ASG?

Yeah, me neither. So why is this a huge deal?