Posts tagged JasonIsringhausen at FanHouse - AOL Sports Blog

After yesterday's fiasco against the Pirates, the Cardinals HAD to do something about Jason Isringhausen. It seemed like the choices were going to be an outright release or to DFA him and hope he accepted a demotion to AAA. Instead, they placed him on the disabled list with either a week-old cut on his hand or an arthritic hip that he's been cleared to pitch with, depending on which story you believe. From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

"They found some infection [in the hand]," Cards manager Tony La Russa said when asked about Izzy's injury. "There's an issue there and it affects his grip some, but that definitely is not what anybody is pointing at as his problem. It's an irritation. He would not have been available for a few days."

The move to disable Isringhausen, La Russa said, is "being realistic. It's being creative."

It is being creative, but that's not going to help the Cardinals any. I assume the reason behind this move is to allow Isringhausen to make a few "rehab" appearances, which will let him pitch in the minors without having to DFA him, but I think his problems run a lot deeper than something that a few AAA appearances can fix. I guess that's a bridge the Cardinals will cross when they reach it.

John Lackey, SP, LAA -- The would-be Cy Young candidate returned for the first time this season on Wednesday, throwing 99 pitches over seven innings, while allowing six hits, one earned run and one walk. He also struck out four. Good luck getting your hands on him if you don't have him already. He's a legit fantasy ace though, so if you can somehow still get him cheaper than normal market value, it's best to hustle up and do so.

Justin Duchscherer, SP/RP, OAK -- He only qualifies as a starter for fantasy purposes, and with the way he's pitched in the role, it is hard to imagine him going back to the pen. He hasn't allowed more than three runs in any game this year or walked more than two in one game. He's really just been a victim of no offense behind him. A very nice buy when you look at his 2.67 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and his 26:9 K:BB ratio against his 3-3 record.

While watching the first two Pirates/Cardinals games earlier this week, one of the main topics of conversation was Jason isringhausen. The Cardinal announcers constantly wondered how Izzy would handle his first outing in front of the Busch faithful after his demotion and were puzzled that Tony La Russa didn't use him in last night's easy 5-1 win over the Pirates. I didn't see today's game, but I can tell you that La Russa chose today to put Isringhausen in the game with a 5-4 lead in the eighth inning. Things did not go well.
Isringhausen started the eighth by walking Doug Mientkiewicz. That's always a bad sign. Ronny Paulino followed with a single, then Isringhausen threw away Chris Gomez's bunt to let a run score and tie the game up. La Russa left him out there to face pinch-hitter Jason Bay. That was a huge mistake, as Bay took Izzy way deep to left and suddenly a 5-4 Cardinals lead was turning into an easy Pirate win.

Even though it wasn't the ninth inning, Isringhausen picked up his sixth blown save of the year with his implosion on the mound today. I don't know why La Russa put him into a close game this afternoon, but I can't imagine he's going to think about doing it again any time soon.

I've always been one for letting my employer decide when I'm no longer capable of doing my job, but Eric Gagne and Jason Isringhausen apparently feel differently, being "honest" enough to let their managers know they're no longer worthy of the closer role. (Update: Gagne can apparently close again!) Either way, not a lot of confidence. What they did is rare in the sense of being voluntary, but it certainly underlies the basic fantasy notion that saves are easy to come by.

In Milwaukee, if you're looking for saves, you actually love Gagne flip-flopping; Ned Yost will probably go back to the well with him, and you'll have an easier time going after the guy who will probably end up getting the saves. Salomon Torres, Guillermo Mota and David Riske are the official closer by committee. (The reality is they shouldn't have let Francisco Cordero walk, but that's neither here nor there at this point). I've been saying that Riske is my guy since early in the season, but in fairness, he hasn't pitched perfectly. Then again, neither has Torres, so I'm sticking by my guns here and saying Riske ends up with the most saves in the Milwaukee pen this year (unless Yost does something cr-r-r-r-azy and puts Carlos Villanueva in the spot).

The Cardinals end of things appears to be a little more cut and dry, in the sense that Ryan Franklin is the new go-to guy from the bullpen in St. Louis. Russ Springer and Randy Flores are apparently in the mix as well to a degree, but when you look at Springer's walk count -- five! -- since Izzy went down, it's hard to imagine Tony La Russa trusts him. Plus, Franklin is actually locking down the ninth. And the guy you want to grab for your fantasy league.

What a terrible time to be a relief pitcher. We're only a month and a half into the season and already people are being pulled out of position for poor performance, scolded for showing emotion, and blamed for managerial jobs being put on the line. The worst examples of this have been St. Louis's Jason Isringhausen and Milwaukee's Eric Gagné.

In today's Dugout, we discuss the many reasons how and why St. Louis's Jason Isringhausen and Milwaukee's Eric Gagné are the worst examples. Oh boy, are they a couple of bad examples.

(Oh yeah, and if you don't get Izzy's screen name, say his last name out loud slowly.)

More, after the jump.

One thing is clear: it's not a good time to be a closer in the National League Central. After an adventurous week (read: two blown saves) last week, Jason Isringhausen asked manager Tony La Russa to remove him from the closer's job on Friday night and yesterday, La Russa complied. Here's what Izzy had to say about things:

"It's just something that needs to be done," Isringhausen said. "It wasn't about them. It was about me."

Isringhausen ripped his performance after allowing the Milwaukee Brewers a two-run rally in Friday night's 4-3 Cardinals loss at Miller Park. Isringhausen described it as "pitching like a second-grader."

Clearly, when a pitcher is in the mental state that it sounds like Isringhausen's in, it's time to find another closer. Until he pulls himself together, La Russa has said he's going to go with a closer-by-committee, mixing and matching guys like Ryan Franklin and Randy Flores. I'll admit that I think this is the way to go, because match-ups should dictate who pitches a lot more than an arbitrary "closer" designation, but for some reason it rarely seems to work out. Still, if the Cardinals are going to keep their unlikely hot start going, they can't afford a guy like Isringhausen taking the ball at the end of the game until he straightens himself out.

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups.

St. Louis Cardinals (23-15) at Milwaukee Brewers (17-19) - 2:05 PM ET

Milwaukee, already known for its consumption of beer and brats, has been the Tums capital of America this weekend. First, Jason Isringhausen blew a save on Friday after having the Brewers at two outs and nobody on in the ninth inning ... which led to Jason being demoted from the closers role. Then the very next day, there was Eric Gagne blowing yet another save, which was Gagne's ... oh I've lost count this season, how many blown saves is that? Gotta be between 50 and 80 (actually, he only blew a tie game in the ninth, but Gagne did get the loss). And that led Gagne to muse that maybe he should go the same path as Isringhausen. So can anybody here close today's game? Hey, at least extra innings will be fun.

Despite uncertain leadership in the Cardinals' front office (and possibly the dugout), the Cardinals ensured that they'll have stability in the back of the bullpen for yet another year when they picked up Jason Isringhausen's option for 2008. From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

Isringhausen had a physical Friday, and the Cardinals and team doctors were comfortable enough with the stability of his surgically repaired hip after a 32-save season that they did the obvious and triggered an $8 million deal for next season.

"We were looking forward to getting this moving and having Isringhausen back in an important role for us," said interim general manager John Mozeliak after his first major-league move since the departure of Walt Jocketty earlier in the week.

Izzy was a mess in 2006, missing time (including the playoffs) with his ailing hip and posting an ERA north of 3.00 for the first time in six years. But last year he regained his form, posting a 2.48 ERA and only two blown saves without missing a single game due to soreness in his hip.

He's already 35 years old and the Cardinals might want to start thinking about who they want to take the ball in the ninth inning in 2009 and beyond (maybe Adam Wainwright? He's not nearly as dominant now that he's starting ...), but for at least one more year there's little doubt that Izzy is up for the task.

It's crazy to think, and even crazy to write. Take into account all the big names like Jonathan Papelbon, Mariano Rivera, Joe Nathan, and Jason Isringhausen. Even Rangers closer Eric Gagne was a Cy Young winner with the Dodgers in 2003. The former Dodgers closer saved a Major League record 84 straight games in LA. But you know what? All you have to do is add a goatee and goggles to the little-known, underrated Takashi Saito, and you have a stopper who is every bit as good as Eric Gagne was, and dare I say, as dominant and successful as any closer in baseball since he took over the role last year.

The Dodgers PR staff came with a telling stat about Saito: since he took over as closer, he's converted a higher percentage of his 41 save chances than any other closer ever. Saito is 39-for-41, converting .951 of his saves. It's not just the saves either; Saito only has two losses in 100.1 innings, spanning 93 games. The 37-year-old Japanese closer is as good as any closer in baseball this year, with the exception of maybe Francisco Cordero of the Brewers. And dating back to last year, there isn't any other closer who's been more effective than Takashi Saito.

He may be old, he may be foreign, he may not receive much recognition, and he might not enter a ballgame with Guns N' Roses blaring, but Takashi Saito certainly is an All-Star, and definitely worthy of your attention and recognition.

The Cardinals got some good news over the weekend when Jason Isringhausen made his second impressive outing of the spring on Sunday. Isringhausen faced three batters in the Cardinals' 5-4 victory over the Mets.

The righthanded closer threw 15 pitches, nine for strikes, and struck out Carlos Beltran looking on a cutter...

"I'm just trying to fine-tune everything before I get out of here and go into the season with what I think my strengths are," Isringhausen said. "My arm feels good and the hip is staying intact."

Barring a setback, team doctor George Paletta "remains optimistic" that Isringhausen will be ready for the start of the season.

A healthy Isringhausen certainly makes things much easier for the Cardinals where their bullpen is concerned, assuming he can return to some shadow of his 2001-2005 form. It's certainly early on his comeback trail, but retiring the side on 15 pitches and nine strikes is probably a good place to be starting from.