The 2009 St. Louis Cardinals season was the 128th season for the St. Louis Cardinals, a Major League Baseball franchise in St. Louis, Missouri. It was the 118th season for the Cardinals in the National League and their 4th at Busch Stadium III.
The Cardinals, coming off an 86–76 season and fourth place in the NL Central, got off to a strong start in April before a team-wide offensive breakdown caused them to fall behind the Cubs in the NL Central standings. Brilliant seasons from starting pitchers Chris Carpenter, Adam Wainwright, and Joel Piñeiro helped St. Louis to stay in contention until the key midseason acquisitions of Matt Holliday, Mark DeRosa, and Julio Lugo revived the Cardinal offense. An August 20–6 effectively ended the National League Central race, and the Cardinals won the division with a 91–71 record, seven-and-a-half games better than the second-place Cubs. However, their playoff run ended quickly when they were swept in three games by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLDS. The Cardinals also hosted the All-Star Game on July 14.
Offseason departures and acquisitions
Hitters The Cardinals retained the services of backup catcher Jason LaRue, signing him to another one-year contract.
On December 4, 2008, the Cardinals agreed to a trade with the San Diego Padres sending reliever Mark Worrell and a player-to-be-named-later (the Padres eventually chose minor-league pitcher Luke Gregerson) in exchange for shortstop Khalil Greene, who will make $6.5 mil, and will be eligible for free agency after 2009. Greene replaced César Izturis, who departed via free agency.
Utility infielder Aaron Miles, a member of the 2006 World Series champion Cardinals, signed a two-year deal on December 31 to play with the Cubs.Miles signs with Cubs Felipe López, who became the starting second baseman after a 2008 deadline trade and hit .385 for the Cardinals in two months, became a free agent and signed with the Diamondbacks. The third and last second baseman on the 2008 Cardinals, Adam Kennedy, was given his unconditional release on February 9. With no second baseman with significant big-league experience on the roster, outfielder Skip Schumaker was tabbed to make the unusual transition. Late in training camp Schumaker was designated the official starting second baseman.Schumaker nails down 2B job
Third baseman Troy Glaus underwent right shoulder surgery on January 21, 2009, and was originally expected to miss Opening Day (April 6) and probably most of April. Glaus' progress in rehabbing his repaired right shoulder stalled, and he did not return until September (see below).
Pitchers Kyle Lohse, who went 15–6 with a 3.78 ERA after signing a one-year contract with the 2008 Cardinals, was re-signed to a hefty four-year, $41 mil. contract on September 29, 2008, the day after the season ended. Mark Mulder's injury-plagued time in St. Louis ended when the Cardinals declined to pick up his $11 mil. option, but instead bought out the remaining year of his contract in 2009 for $1.5 mil.
In December, the Cardinals declined to offer arbitration to relief pitchers Russ Springer and Jason Isringhausen, starter Braden Looper, and relievers Tyler Johnson and Randy Flores. St. Louis made no attempt to retain lefty reliever Ron Villone, who eventually signed with the Mets. On Dec 3, to fill the lack of left-handed relievers caused by the departure of Flores, Johnson, and Villone, they signed lefty relief specialist Trever Miller to a one-year deal potentially worth $2 million if he reaches all the incentives in the contract.Miller signs
On January 5, the Cardinals signed lefty reliever Royce Ring who was with the 2008 Atlanta Braves, to a one-year contract. However, two months later the Cardinals signed Dennys Reyes, a 31-yr.-old left-handed relief specialist, to a two-year deal worth approximately $3 mil. A few weeks after the acquisition of Reyes, Ring was placed on waivers, eventually accepting an assignment to the minor leagues.
Spring training St. Louis went 19-12-2 in Grapefruit League play,Cardinals have solid Grapefruit League run their most victories since they had 21 wins in 1997. Attendance at RDS was 106,266 in 18 home games (9-7-2) for an average home attendance of 5,901. In 15 road games (10-5-0), attendance 84,499; road average 5,633.
On March 30, relief pitcher Chris Perez was optioned to AAA, finalizing the pitching situation for Opening Day. Cardinals will carry 12 pitchers, including seven relievers which include long-reliever Brad Thompson. Rookie Jason Motte appeared to win the closer job, although the Cardinals made no official announcement.
Joe Mather was the final cut in spring training. Among the players making the Cardinals out of camp were utility infielders Joe Thurston and Brian Barden and two players making their big-league debuts: David Freese, who took the injured Troy Glaus' spot at third base, and former first-round draft pick (and highly anticipated prospect)Keith Law prospect rankings Colby Rasmus. Mather's demotion left Ryan Ludwick as the only outfielder on the roster who hits right-handed.
Regular season
April Opening Day 2009 looked a lot like 2008: a blown save and a bullpen loss. Rookie closer Jason Motte gave up four runs with two outs in the ninth inning, and the Pirates beat the Cardinals 6–4.
On April 7, the Cardinals beat the Pirates 9-3 as Albert Pujols hit his first home run of the season and reached base five times. As such, Pujols became only the third Cardinals player in the last 55 years to reach base four or more times in each of the first two games of the season. On April 8, the Cardinals lost to the Pirates by a score of 7–4, but Albert Pujols set the franchise record for most assists by a first baseman in a 9-inning game with seven. It was the most assists by a Major League first baseman since the National League record of eight was set in 1971. Pujols also collected his 700th career walk in the game.
On April 9, Chris Carpenter and relievers Franklin and Reyes combined on a one-hitter as the Cardinals beat Pittsburgh 2–1. It was Carpenter's first victory since Game 3 of the 2006 World Series, October 24. St. Louis followed up the Pittsburgh series with a three-game sweep over Houston. In the second game of the Astro series (Apr. 11), Pujols tied a career best with seven RBI as the Cardinals won 11–2; while in the final game Kyle Lohse retired 24 consecutive batters en route to a 3-0 complete game victory.
On April 14, staff ace Chris Carpenter injured his left rib cage while batting. Early estimates were that he would miss at least a month, and it might be as long as two months. An MRI exam on April 16 revealed an oblique tear on his left side. On April 17, rookie pitcher P. J. Walters was called up from AAA-Memphis to take Carpenter's spot in the rotation.
On April 20 the Cardinals attempted to buttress a sagging bullpen by trading former Rule 5 draft pick Brian Barton for Atlanta Braves' relief pitcher Blaine Boyer. Boyer was tabbed to join the big-league club, leaving St. Louis with 13 pitchers on the 25-man roster, with David Freese optioned to Memphis.St. Louis Cardinals trade for reliever Blaine Boyer
On Saturday, April 25, in a nationally televised game on Fox, with the Cardinals leading 3–1 in the seventh inning against the Chicago Cubs, Albert Pujols hit his 8th career grand slam, helping the team win its 5th consecutive game (8-2) and solidifying their lead in the NL Central division. The slam also gave him 1,002 RBIs, making him the 260th player to reach the 1,000-level.
Brendan Ryan went to the 15-day DL with a hamstring strain on April 30, and former first-round draft pick Tyler Greene was called up to be Ryan's replacement. The Cardinals finished the month of April with a 16–7 record, best in baseball.Standings after April 30 Albert Pujols was named Player of the Month for April and Brian Barden Rookie of the Month.
May Center fielder Rick Ankiel ran face-first into the outfield wall while making a catch on May 4. Three days later, he was placed on the DL (retroactive to May 5), and minor-league outfielder Shane Robinson was called up to take his place on the roster. On May 12, right fielder Ryan Ludwick joined Ankiel on the DL after straining his right hamstring against the Pirates. The team recalled Nick Stavinoha from its AAA-Memphis team to take Ludwick's spot on the roster.Cardinals place Ludwick on DL: Hamstring strain sidelines outfielder; Stavinoha recalled, (May 13). Accessed August 11, 2009. Archived 2009-08-14.
The injuries to Ankiel and Ludwick, combined with the continuing absence of Carpenter, contributed to a 4-10 stretch that dropped the Cardinals out of first place in the NL Central. In a showdown series between the Cardinals and Brewers May 16–18, Milwaukee swept St. Louis in St. Louis, winning three games by a combined score of 17–6. In the opener, Wainwright held the Brewers to two hits in eight innings but still lost, 1–0, on a Corey Hart home run. In the second game, Cardinal pitchers walked eight batters and hit four; in the third game, they walked eleven and hit one. Milwaukee took over first place in the Central.
On May 20, Chris Carpenter returned after missing a month with a strained oblique. Carpenter pitched five shutout innings, and the Cards won a pitching duel with the Cubs, 2–1. In his next start Carpenter was perfect for six innings, but St. Louis lost in 10 innings to Milwaukee, 1–0.Brewers 1, Cards 0 Carpenter's ERA remained at 0.00 after his first four appearances. The two Carpenter starts were part of a nine-game streak for Cardinal pitching in which they held the opposition to three runs or less in every game and did not allow a home run.
On the 29th Ludwick was activated from the DL. To make room, the Cardinals put Khalil Greene on the DL with "social anxiety disorder".Ludwick activated Greene, signed with the intention of being the everyday shortstop in 2009, played poorly in the field, was hitting .200 at the time he hit the DL, and had been playing less and less frequently in May.Greene game log St. Louis went 13–14 in May and finished the month at 29–21, one game behind Milwaukee in the NL Central. The Cardinals spent the month of May in a horrific team batting slump that saw them post a .299 OBP for the month, dead last in baseball;May batting splits exceptionally strong pitching in May (3.56 team ERA) helped St. Louis stay close to the top of the NL Central standings.May pitching splits
June On June 4, the Cardinals released newly acquired pitcher Blaine Boyer and called up Jess Todd to take his place. One day later, Kyle Lohse, still suffering from the aftereffects of a hit-by-pitch on his throwing forearm, May 23, went to the DL for the first time in his career, and infielder Tyler Greene recalled. The day after that (June 6), pitcher Blake Hawksworth became the 13th rookie to play for the Cardinals in 2009 (a major-league high for any team) and the seventh to make his major-league debut, when he was called up and Jess Todd was sent down.
The continuing team-wide offensive blackout reached its nadir in the second week of June, when the Colorado Rockies, second-worst team in the NL with a 21–32 record prior to the series, came to St. Louis and swept the Cardinals in four games, outscoring the Cardinals 33–9.
Khalil Greene, after three weeks on the disabled list due to anxiety disorder, was activated on June 18. In his first start since being activated, on June 19, Greene started at third base and hit a home run. He went on to hit a home run in each of his first three games back, helping the Cardinals to sweep Kansas City in Kansas City and reclaim sole possession of first place in the NL Central. However, Greene went 0 for his next 16, suffered a relapse of his social anxiety disorder, and went back on the disabled list.