So, I was kind of surprised that the Cardinals chose to go with only one lefty reliever (Ray King, of whom I see a “raking against Ray King” headline in the making). Then I read this on the Cards’ page:
[Al] Reyes’ inclusion, on the other hand, was a bit surprising. The right-hander made 12 appearances for the Cards after a late-season callup. In addition, using Reyes rather than Randy Flores leaves King as the only southpaw in the bullpen against a team with a number of dangerous left-handed regulars and bench players.
“Randy Flores and Al were the two guys that we were keeping in shape,” La Russa said. … “Maybe (against) a different club we’d have given a closer rook at Randy. There’s not much of a left-hand presence with the Red Sox.” (Link)
Not much of a left-hand presence? Have you seen our roster Mr La Russa? Damon, Ortiz, Trot, Mientkiewicz, and Roberts? Strange move, especially for a manager famed for believing in matchups.
Incidentally, in that same article, Steve Kline sounds really angry at the way he found out he was left off the roster (i.e. off ESPN, like the rest of us schlubs). 9 hours to game time. I’m psyched.