Lynn has pitched like a legit number two.

Miller has been improved of late as well.

Continuously, it's the anemic offense that will doom this season.

Unless the team can maintain a 2.0 ERA we are hosed.

The good thing is that pitching wins in the playoffs, but I'm not sure we can get there

He earned it. It was obvious he had talent but he would melt down at the slightest trouble. An error committed by a player, a bad call by the home plate umpire etc. We weren't crazy or not analyzing his production incorrectly.

For whatever reason it has clicked with him this year. He is not letting things bother him. He just moves on to the next pitch.

With this new found stability on the mound he is definitely a good #2 right at this moment.

Why does it seem like our core future young players are regressing? Seems to me we do a damn fine job finding them. Developing them into big show calibur players. Then they have regressed when they get under Matheny. Wong is the only one who is better than he was last year.

Is this a trend? Small sample size quirk?

From Bernies column on STLtoday:

This opinion may surprise some readers, but if Oscar Taveras is coming up short in his work ethic or hustle, then manager Mike Matheny is absolutely doing the right thing to sit him for a while. A little tough love can be valuable in sending a message to a young player. Matheny did the right thing here.

Now, having said that … Matheny can’t bury Taveras -- not that he will. I was surprised that Matheny dogged Taveras to the media. That goes against Matheny’s service-leadership philosophy and contradicts Matheny's accusations of "cheap shots" taken at his batting coaches by those who cite the team's poor offensive numbers. What Matheny said about Taveras was pretty personal -- unlike what anyone in the media has said or written about John Mabry. Until now, the manager has always kept unpleasantries in house.

Teaching Taveras a lesson is fine but I’d also like to see Matheny be more consistent in getting after veteran players who aren’t grinding or hustling the way they should be. The players who make terrible base-running mistakes; the Cards are awful in this area and Taveras isn't alone. So where's the heat on the others who run the bases poorly? A manager can’t have double standards.

I would also add this: while I support Matheny’s teaching moment here with Taveras, why is it that so many young Cardinals have regressed or stalled after performing so well in 2013? Closer Trevor Rosenthal’s walk rate has more than doubled. His strikeout rate is down. Shelby Miller has regressed and continues to be overly dependent on one pitch, the four-seam fastball. Top pitching prospect Carlos Martinez — so dominant late last season — was demoted to the minors. Matt Adams’ home-run rate has declined dramatically. Reliever Kevin Siegrist — after being sidelined by a forearm strain earlier this season — isn’t as good as what we saw in 2013. And starting pitcher Michael Wacha’s season was derailed by a shoulder-related injury.

On the other hand, second baseman Kolten Wong has made progress. I realize that young players have fluctuations in performance and confidence. And injuries can knock them back. The Cardinals aren’t alone in experiencing this. But Matheny got this gig, in large part, because GM John Mozeliak believed Matheny would do an exceptional job of bringing along the young talent. I think it’s fair to say that the Cardinals have taken a step back in this area in 2014. (I wrote an extensive piece on this; you can read it at STLtoday.com.) And some of this can be attributed to the simple reality of regression to the mean.

Related note: last month Matheny said, “We’re not here for development,” and you know that Mozeliak’s bow tie had to be spinning after that one. It’s going to be a very interesting offseason for the Cardinals.

I have never been a fan of the decision to hire Matheny as manager. I think that has been Mo's worst decision thus far.

Reds bullpen throws 144 pitches yesterday, Jon Jay swings at the first pitch.

Some of it could be that the pundits and the Cardinals themselves overrated their farm system. It happened to the Royals.

With that said, Mabry and Lilliquist are clowns. No young pitcher on this team has progressed, and that's not an accident. If it weren't for Yadi and Wainwright, Lilliquist's fat ass would be in the fire along with John Mabry, who couldn't teach Tiger Woods how to **** a whore.

Masterson ****ing blows.

Masterson seems to be working out. Couldn't Martinez have done this?

I don't think anyone thought he would ever be better than Westbrook. That was the high bar. Martinez is stretched out but it looks like we are going to need him for the 8th when Neschek moves to the 9th.

I could see Masterson being useful in the playoffs. Bring him in after one of our hard throwers. Let him work one time through the lineup and pull him.

Yadi and Waino have a lot of pull for sure, as they should. Rumors galore that Mabry is done after this year. Going to spend more time with the family excuse. Who knows if its BS or not.

Descalso not being a sack of shit is a pleasant surprise.

No Neshek? Come on Matheny WTF.