Notes: Ponson makes his case
03/14/2006
TAMPA, Fla. -- Sidney Ponson passed another test in his audition for the fifth spot in the St. Louis rotation Tuesday when the right-hander turned in his strongest outing of the spring.
Ponson took the mound against Randy Johnson and the New York Yankees at Legends Field and held the Yankees to a run on four hits in four innings. He did not walk anyone and allowed just two baserunners. Of the 48 pitches Ponson threw, 31 were strikes.
"I feel much better, I kept the ball down in the zone a little more than I did last time," Ponson said. "I was pretty happy with the way I threw today, but I still have to work on a couple of little things. But the main thing I was able to work on was keeping the ball down in the zone, and 75 percent of the time I was able to do that."
Ponson did a good job of keeping most of his pitches low. Eight of the 12 outs he recorded came via ground balls. One pitch he did leave up, a fastball to Robinson Cano in the fourth, accounted for the only run Ponson would allow when the Yankee second baseman hit the ball out of the park.
"The home run was up in the zone," Ponson said. "I threw more changeups, sliders and fastballs today. I threw a couple of curveballs. I'm trying to incorporate the curveball in my repertoire, I last used it a couple years ago. Hopefully I'll get that back so hitters cannot sit on certain pitches."
Ponson said his stamina is where it needs to be at this point in the spring, and his focus is on building arm strength. He is curious to see how his arm rebounds tomorrow and does not know when he pitches next. But he is pleased with his preparations thus far in what for him is a different kind of Spring Training than he had in his years with Baltimore.
"In Baltimore, I pushed the envelope a little bit more, because I was a veteran over there," Ponson said. "Now I'm just ... fighting for a spot to start or in the bullpen."
Ponson, who is competing with Anthony Reyes and Adam Wainwright for the final spot in the rotation behind Chris Carpenter, Mark Mulder, Jeff Suppan and Jason Marquis, has given up one earned run and only five hits in his last eight innings. Overall, in three Grapefruit League appearances, including two starts, the 29-year-old is 0-1 with a 4.50 ERA.
If Ponson wins the final spot in the St. Louis rotation, the Cardinals could have another right-hander capable of taking care of 150-200 innings. Two years ago, Ponson led the American League with five complete games. He has pitched 210 innings or more in four of the last seven seasons.
The Cardinals signed the free agent to a $1 million contract that includes an additional $1.5 million in incentives based on the number of starts he makes.
Reyes makes his pitch: Reyes didn't hurt his chances, either. The right-hander pitched four innings and allowed two runs on five hits, struck out two and did not walk anyone.
"Nobody has eliminated themselves from anything," Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan said. "They both looked good today, and so has Adam Wainwright."
"I feel like I'm definitely improving," Reyes said. "I felt more confident today, each time I've gone out there I think I've improved."
Rolen along: Scott Rolen started and hit third against the Yankees, marking the first time this spring the third baseman has started consecutive games at his position.
Rolen, who is coming back from surgery after a shoulder injury limited him to 56 games last season, flied out each time in three at-bats, including a drive to the warning track in left-center field with the bases loaded and two outs in the fifth.
"I feel good," Rolen said. "At this point, the only thing I'm trying to do is accumulate at-bats and get my work in, and so far that's what I'm doing."
Rolen played errorless defense and made a nice play to throw out Yankees shortstop Felix Escalona in the third inning.
"Everything feels normal," Rolen said. "No problems at all."
Family affair: The Duncan family had a reunion of sorts as Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan and his two sons, Cardinals infielder/outfielder Chris Duncan and Yankees infielder Shelley Duncan were all on the field together.
Shelley Duncan went 0-for-1 to drop his batting average to .391. Chris Duncan hit his fourth home run of the spring and drove in two runs, and is hitting .325.
"It was pretty nice to have both my boys on the field at the same time," Dave Duncan said.
Chris Duncan, the only left-handed hitter in the starting lineup against Randy Johnson, rocketed a 2-0 fastball from the Big Unit over the right-field fence in the fifth inning. It was Duncan's fourth homer of the spring and second in as many days.
"It was pretty neat for all three of us to be out there," Chris Duncan said. "It was good to see [Eric], I hadn'd seen him in a while."
Chris Duncan's torrid March -- his 28 total bases ranks third among in the Grapefruit League and his four doubles were tied for first entering Tuesday's game -- might make things interesting when rosters have to be trimmed. He has hit safely in four consecutive games and has reached base nine of his last 16 plate appearances.
"I'm not thinking about that at all," he said. "I'm just trying to do the best I can."
La Russa blogs: Cardinals manager Tony La Russa is now blogging on mlblogs.com. The St. Louis skipper's first blog was posted Tuesday in conjunction with La Russa's Animal Rescue Foundation. ARF is a charity organization which seeks to save dogs and cats who have run out of time at public shelters and brings people and animals together to enrich each other's lives.
Quotable: "Once in a while I let the frustration out. I try not to show it. Hopefully you guys won't hear that much." -- Ponson, on briefly showing his anger with himself after throwing a bad pitch during Tuesday's game
Extra bases: The Cardinals' visit to Legends Field to play the New York Yankees on Tuesday was their first visit there since the 1997 season, when the Cardinals trained in St. Petersburg. ... Junior Spivey was hit on the left forearm by a pitch from Yankees reliever Kyle Farnsworth, but Spivey said he was OK and did not have anything more serious than a bruise.
On deck: Their three-game road trip to central and west Florida completed, the Cardinals return to Roger Dean Stadium for a game Wednesday against the Florida Marlins beginning at 12:05 p.m. CT. Left-hander Mark Mulder will make his third start of the spring and second against the Marlins. Sergio Mitre will be on the hill for the Fish.
Source: http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/
TAMPA, Fla. -- Sidney Ponson passed another test in his audition for the fifth spot in the St. Louis rotation Tuesday when the right-hander turned in his strongest outing of the spring.
Ponson took the mound against Randy Johnson and the New York Yankees at Legends Field and held the Yankees to a run on four hits in four innings. He did not walk anyone and allowed just two baserunners. Of the 48 pitches Ponson threw, 31 were strikes.
"I feel much better, I kept the ball down in the zone a little more than I did last time," Ponson said. "I was pretty happy with the way I threw today, but I still have to work on a couple of little things. But the main thing I was able to work on was keeping the ball down in the zone, and 75 percent of the time I was able to do that."
Ponson did a good job of keeping most of his pitches low. Eight of the 12 outs he recorded came via ground balls. One pitch he did leave up, a fastball to Robinson Cano in the fourth, accounted for the only run Ponson would allow when the Yankee second baseman hit the ball out of the park.
"The home run was up in the zone," Ponson said. "I threw more changeups, sliders and fastballs today. I threw a couple of curveballs. I'm trying to incorporate the curveball in my repertoire, I last used it a couple years ago. Hopefully I'll get that back so hitters cannot sit on certain pitches."
Ponson said his stamina is where it needs to be at this point in the spring, and his focus is on building arm strength. He is curious to see how his arm rebounds tomorrow and does not know when he pitches next. But he is pleased with his preparations thus far in what for him is a different kind of Spring Training than he had in his years with Baltimore.
"In Baltimore, I pushed the envelope a little bit more, because I was a veteran over there," Ponson said. "Now I'm just ... fighting for a spot to start or in the bullpen."
Ponson, who is competing with Anthony Reyes and Adam Wainwright for the final spot in the rotation behind Chris Carpenter, Mark Mulder, Jeff Suppan and Jason Marquis, has given up one earned run and only five hits in his last eight innings. Overall, in three Grapefruit League appearances, including two starts, the 29-year-old is 0-1 with a 4.50 ERA.
If Ponson wins the final spot in the St. Louis rotation, the Cardinals could have another right-hander capable of taking care of 150-200 innings. Two years ago, Ponson led the American League with five complete games. He has pitched 210 innings or more in four of the last seven seasons.
The Cardinals signed the free agent to a $1 million contract that includes an additional $1.5 million in incentives based on the number of starts he makes.
Reyes makes his pitch: Reyes didn't hurt his chances, either. The right-hander pitched four innings and allowed two runs on five hits, struck out two and did not walk anyone.
"Nobody has eliminated themselves from anything," Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan said. "They both looked good today, and so has Adam Wainwright."
"I feel like I'm definitely improving," Reyes said. "I felt more confident today, each time I've gone out there I think I've improved."
Rolen along: Scott Rolen started and hit third against the Yankees, marking the first time this spring the third baseman has started consecutive games at his position.
Rolen, who is coming back from surgery after a shoulder injury limited him to 56 games last season, flied out each time in three at-bats, including a drive to the warning track in left-center field with the bases loaded and two outs in the fifth.
"I feel good," Rolen said. "At this point, the only thing I'm trying to do is accumulate at-bats and get my work in, and so far that's what I'm doing."
Rolen played errorless defense and made a nice play to throw out Yankees shortstop Felix Escalona in the third inning.
"Everything feels normal," Rolen said. "No problems at all."
Family affair: The Duncan family had a reunion of sorts as Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan and his two sons, Cardinals infielder/outfielder Chris Duncan and Yankees infielder Shelley Duncan were all on the field together.
Shelley Duncan went 0-for-1 to drop his batting average to .391. Chris Duncan hit his fourth home run of the spring and drove in two runs, and is hitting .325.
"It was pretty nice to have both my boys on the field at the same time," Dave Duncan said.
Chris Duncan, the only left-handed hitter in the starting lineup against Randy Johnson, rocketed a 2-0 fastball from the Big Unit over the right-field fence in the fifth inning. It was Duncan's fourth homer of the spring and second in as many days.
"It was pretty neat for all three of us to be out there," Chris Duncan said. "It was good to see [Eric], I hadn'd seen him in a while."
Chris Duncan's torrid March -- his 28 total bases ranks third among in the Grapefruit League and his four doubles were tied for first entering Tuesday's game -- might make things interesting when rosters have to be trimmed. He has hit safely in four consecutive games and has reached base nine of his last 16 plate appearances.
"I'm not thinking about that at all," he said. "I'm just trying to do the best I can."
La Russa blogs: Cardinals manager Tony La Russa is now blogging on mlblogs.com. The St. Louis skipper's first blog was posted Tuesday in conjunction with La Russa's Animal Rescue Foundation. ARF is a charity organization which seeks to save dogs and cats who have run out of time at public shelters and brings people and animals together to enrich each other's lives.
Quotable: "Once in a while I let the frustration out. I try not to show it. Hopefully you guys won't hear that much." -- Ponson, on briefly showing his anger with himself after throwing a bad pitch during Tuesday's game
Extra bases: The Cardinals' visit to Legends Field to play the New York Yankees on Tuesday was their first visit there since the 1997 season, when the Cardinals trained in St. Petersburg. ... Junior Spivey was hit on the left forearm by a pitch from Yankees reliever Kyle Farnsworth, but Spivey said he was OK and did not have anything more serious than a bruise.
On deck: Their three-game road trip to central and west Florida completed, the Cardinals return to Roger Dean Stadium for a game Wednesday against the Florida Marlins beginning at 12:05 p.m. CT. Left-hander Mark Mulder will make his third start of the spring and second against the Marlins. Sergio Mitre will be on the hill for the Fish.
Source: http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/
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