The Cardinals have called up Troy Percival to pitch late in ballgames in front of Isringhausen.  Percival looked good in his tuneup in the minors as he pitched in 6 games and he sported a 1.35 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP.  In 6.2 innings he allowed 4 hits, walked 5 batters and whiffed 9.  Percival should definately help the Cardinals out as long as he can keep himself healthy.

The Cardinals have placed lefty reliever Tyler Johnson on the 15-day disabled list with biceps tendinitis.  This injury will hurt the Cards a little bit as Johnson was pitching o.k. for them so far this season.  Johnson has pitched in 37 games this season for the Cardinals and he is 1-1 with a 4.32 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP.  He has worked 25 innings and he has allowed 20 hits, walked 9 batters and whiffed 18.

The Cardinals have acquired lefty starting pitcher Mike Maroth for two players to be named later.  Maroth will step right into the Cardinals rotation that needs a lot of help.  Maroth is a finesse lefty similar in style to Jamie Moyer of the Phillies.  He started 13 games this season for the Tigers and he was 5-2 with a 5.06 ERA and a 1.66 WHIP.  He has pitched 78.1 innings this season and he’s allowed 97 hits, 15 homers, walked 33 batters and whiffed 28.  Maroth has pitched in 147 games (143 starts) in the majors and he’s compiled a 50-62 record with a 4.81 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP.  Don’t expect miracles out of him but Maroth is a huge improvement over what the Cardinals have been using in their rotation.

Tomo Ohka has been signed and he will report to Memphis to make a couple starts and then the Cardinals will likely call him up and plug him into their rotation.  He started 10 games for the Blue Jays this season and he was 2-5 with a 5.79 ERA and a 1.61 WHIP.  In 56 innings, he allowed 68 hits, 10 homers, walked 22 batters and whiffed 21.  This was a good move for the Cardinals as Ohka knows the National League and he will likely pitch much better for the Cards than he did with the Blue Jays.  Also, the he’s better than anything the Cardinals have in their minor league system that they could call up.

Kip Wells is quite simply one of the very worst starting pitchers in all of major league baseball and the Cardinals should get rid of him.  He has started 14 games so far this season and he’s 2-11 with a 6.93 ERA and a 1.64 WHIP!  He has thrown 76.2 innings this season and he’s allowed 84 hits, 12 homers, walked 42 batters and whiffed 57.  The Cardinals should just cut their losses and release Wells and convert Ryan Franklin back to a starting pitcher.  I say to use Franklin because the Cardinals don’t have any starting pitchers that are going good in AAA this season.