24-year old lefty swinging CF Colby Rasmus has had a solid sophomore year for the Cardinals. Rasmus has played in 141 games for the Cardinals so far this year and he is 125 of 453 (.276 avg, .861 OPS) with 82 runs scored, 23 homers, 65 RBIs and 11 stolen bases. The only regression that Rasmus showed this year was that he whiffed 146 times while last year he only whiffed 95 times. Rasmus has now played in 288 games in his two years with the Cardinals and he is 244 of 927 (.263 avg, .787 OPS) with 154 runs scored, 39 homers, 117 RBIs and 14 stolen bases. The best is yet to come for Rasmus.

The Cardinals have shut down 23-year old lefty starting Jaime Garcia due to his workload. Garcia started 28 games for the Cardinals this year and he was 13-8 with a 2.70 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP. He only gave up 151 hits in 163 1/3 innings this year while whiffing 132 batters showing that he has pretty good stuff. He did walk 64 batters which is way too many but he often got out of trouble with his good stuff. He has a pretty good shot at winning the Rookie of the Year Award in the National League with the way he pitched this year. Garcia has now pitched in 39 games (28 starts) in his first two years in the majors and he is 14-9 with a 2.96 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP. The future looks bright for Garcia in a Cardinals’ uniform.

The Cardinals have shut down 27-year old righty swinging starting catcher Yadier Molina due to a knee problem. Molina played in 136 games for the Cardinals this year and he was 122 of 465 (.262 avg, .671 OPS) with 34 runs scored, 6 homers, 62 RBIs and 8 stolen bases. Matt Pagnozzi, Bryan Anderson and Steve Hill will split up the time behind the plate the rest of the year for the Cardinals. Pagnozzi has played in 5 games for the Cardinals so far and he is 2 for 8 (.250 avg, .500 OPS). Anderson has played in 12 games this year for the Cardinals and he is 7 of 25 (.280 avg, .668 OPS) with 1 run scored and 2 RBIs. He will likely get more starts than the rest of the other guys because he is a highly thought of prospect. Steve Hill has played in 1 game for the Cardinals this year and he was 1 for 3 with a solo homer. The Cardinals will miss Molina’s glove more than his bat.

The Cardinals were the clear cut favorite to win the N.L. Central when the season started but they just weren’t up to the press clippings this year. You can’t blame that on 30-year old righty swinging sluggers Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday who did their parts in 2010. Pujols has played in 148 games for the Cardinals this year and he is 171 of 557 (.307 avg, .990 OPS) with 105 runs scored, 39 homers, 109 RBIs and 12 stolen bases. Holliday has played in 147 games for the Cards this year and he is 175 of 559 (.313 avg, .925 OPS) with 88 runs scored, 27 homers, 99 RBIs and 8 stolen bases. The problem for the Cardinals was not Pujols or Holliday….it’s the fact that they didn’t have much help in the batting order.

The Cardinals have released 30-year old righty swinging infielder Felipe Lopez. Lopez played in 109 games for the Cardinals this year and he was 87 of 376 (.231 avg, .651 OPS) with 50 runs scored, 7 homers, 36 RBIs and 8 stolen bases. He played in 152 games in his career with the Cardinals over parts of two years and he was 147 of 532 (.276 avg, .742 OPS) with 80 runs scored, 11 homers, 57 RBIs and 12 stolen bases. He must have really got someone mad at him to not get to finish the season with the team.