The St. Louis Cardinals have stripped 38-year old righty reliever Ryan Franklin of his closer’s job. Franklin has pitched in 6 games (0 starts) for the Cardinals so far this year and he is 0-2 with 1 save, a 11.57 ERA and a 2.14 WHIP. He has given up 8 hits (3 of which are homers) in his first 4 2/3 innings this year as he has been pitching batting practice this year. Franklin saved 82 games for the Cardinals from 2008-2010, but he appears to have lost it. 27-year old righty Mitchell Boggs will likely get the first shot to replace him. Boggs has pitched in 6 games (0 starts) for the Cardinals so far this year and he is 0-0 with a 2.00 ERA and a 0.67 WHIP. Boggs has only given up 3 hits while whiffing 12 batters in his first 9 innings this season for the Cardinals, so he has the stuff to succeed as the closer for them. The question for Boggs is if he can handle the pressure of being the closer and I guess we’re going to find out soon.

31-year old righty starting pitcher Kyle Lohse has been awful this season for the Cardinals. He has started 13 games for the Cardinals this year and he is 2-7 with a 7.13 ERA and a 1.78 WHIP. He has given up a whopping 93 hits in only 65 2/3 innings this year! I know that he has better stuff than Jeff Suppan but that’s who I would replace him with. Suppan has pitched in 10 games (9 starts) for the Cardinals this year and he is 1-5 with a 4.53 ERA and a 1.66 WHIP. The Cardinals just can’t afford to keep running Lohse out to the mound every fifth day as they are still five games behind the Reds in the N.L. Central.

27-year old righty Blake Hawksworth will be going back to the pen. He started 8 games for the Cardinals this year and he was 3-4 with a 5.83 ERA and a 1.80 WHIP. He has now pitched in 30 games (8 starts) for the Cardinals this year and he is 4-7 with a 5.37 ERA and a 1.82 WHIP. Hawksworth has given up 96 hits (11 homers) in 70 1/3 innings and he has walked 32 batters so far this season. The Cardinals hope that a move back to the pen will get Hawksworth back to the pitcher he was as a rookie for them last year.

The Cardinals have had two huge holes in the starting rotation ever since Brad Penny and Kyle Lohse have been placed on the D.L. Neither of them is anywhere near a return for the Cardinals so they will need to look for some help and I don’t think that Jeff Suppan is the answer. P.J. Walters, Adam Ottavino and Blake Hawksworth are all failing so far this season trying to pick up the slack. Walters has pitched in 4 games (2 starts) for the Cardinals this year and he is 1-0 with a 7.94 ERA and a 1.77 WHIP. He has given up 22 hits (4 homers) and he has walked 8 batters in only 17 innings pitched this year for the Cardinals. Ottavino has started 3 games for the Cardinals this year and he is 0-2 with a 7.53 ERA and a 1.88 WHIP. He has given up 19 hits (4 homers) while walking 8 batters in only 14 1/3 innings. Blake Hawksworth has been a reliever most of this season. He has pitched in 20 games (1 start) for the Cardinals this year and he is 0-3 with a 6.11 ERA and a 1.86 WHIP. He has given up 42 hits including 5 of them which have left the yard in only 28 innings this year. The Cardinals will likely be targeting Jake Westbrook of the Indians and Jeremy Guthrie of the Orioles in the trade market soon.

The Cardinals tried to give closer Ryan Franklin a day off using Jason Motte in the 9th inning and he imploded once again as they lost the game. The Cardinals should have learned their lesson last season when Motte went into the season as the closer and lost the job before saving a game. Motte has great stuff but the Cardinals should never pitch him in pressure situations as he can’t handle the heat. Motte has pitched in 2 games this season and he is 0-1 with a 27.00 ERA and a 6.00 WHIP.