The Cardinals end the first half with a sparkling 40-45 (.471) record, 7.5 games behind Milwaukee and 7 games behind the Dodgers in the Wild Card race. Not surpisingly, the Cardinals have the worst 3rd place record in the entire MLB, a testament to what we're up against in the NL Central. The season is not lost, though, as the Cards still have 10 games against Milwaukee and 13 against Chicago. Our future is still very much in our hands, and a hot streak against the Brew Crew and Cubs could mean a very interesting finish in September.

As for yesterday's game, it was a hot one for sure. Todd Wellemeyer got by with 4 walks and a lot of deep pitch counts, but he survived to go 5 innings with only 2 hits. The Barry Bonds strikeout was sweet, one of Todd 2 K's for the day. The start drops Wellemeyer's ERA with the Cardinals to 4.19 in 43 innings. He is starting to round out as a starter, putting up a decent 6.7 K/9, but he still is bottom of the pack in just about everything else. The experiment worked for the 8 games we needed him, but it is just about time to hand over the reigns to Carpenter after the ASB.

A player I do like is Brendan Ryan, who collected 2 hits in 5 at-bats yesterday. He made 2 shaky plays in the field, but in both instances he was able to record an out. He has speed to make things happen, and his bat is starting to come around. I really hope it isn't Brendan who is sent down when Eckstein comes back; in fact, I would hope that Brendan doesn't come out of the lineup and instead slides to second base.

I really don't see any moves being made at the trade deadline because of the amount of talent we have returning from the DL: David Eckstein, Chris Carpenter, Tyler Johnson, Jim Edmonds, and possibly Mark Mulder. Ownership will use that as the reason to stay pat, even though we could definately use an offensive boost in either middle infield or outfield. It is still a matter of waiting it out until we get closer to the deadline, when we can better evaluate where we are this year. I would like to see us trade Randy Flores to a team that needs lefty reliever help, which there always is. I doubt Adam Kennedy would fetch anything at all.

The Futures game was yesterday, and both top prospects Bryan Anderson and Colby Rasmus played for the USA. It was nice to see them bat and play in person, instead of just looking at stats all the time. Bryan Anderson seems to have a more uppercut swing, in a style similar to Will Clark. Colby Rasmus is more balanced, with some movement in the box. Both look like stars in the making.