I can't believe I missed it. After all this time, all this waiting, all this frustration. I missed the return to glory of a troubled lefty and the subsequent onslaught of potential reaching colossal heights. We've been hard on him for sure, but we must celebrate a return to what we once knew. That's right; if you haven't guessed it already, Chris Duncan hit a home run.

Yep, 'lil Dunc hit his first home run since May 16th, a homer-less streak lasting 25 games. Hard to believe, I know. Unfortunately, that doesn't hide the fact that his SLG has dropped to a career-worst .357. Braden Looper's at .467. But enough with the negatives, Chris Duncan took a big step towards regaining his power stroke, as did Mark Mulder, who made his first appearance of the year. Mulder was able to consistently stay above 90 mph on his pitches, hitting 92 on Gameday several times. A good start for Marky Mark, but still a long ways to go before we can declare anything a success. Check that, it's a success for him to make it this far, but I'm sure he wants to keep climbing up the ladder. Keep going, Mark... and Chris. One foot in front of the other.

Hot Stove Alert!

Hat tip to bgh on VEB for finding this from the Post-Dispatch, speculating that the Cardinals could be targeting Matt Holliday and Brian Fuentes. A quote:

According to national baseball writer Tracy Ringolsby of the Rocky Mountain News, the Cardinals are among several teams that have expressed interest in pursuing outfielder Matt Holliday and lefthanded reliever Brian Fuentes of the Colorado Rockies.

Colorado (32-51) is last in the National League West, and according to reports out of Denver, the team will decide at the All-Star break whether to put players on the market.

Holliday is a new name to make his way into Cardinals headlines, besides destroying us when we play Colorado. He doesn't fill one of the "need" positions - shortstop and second base - and will be in for a big pay raise after his contract-ending $13.5 million next year. You can't not have interest in Holliday if he's being made available, but I have a hard time seeing the Cardinals' angle on this one. Maybe Mozeliak sees the middle infield market as being shoddy at best and would rather grab a big bat than a minimal upgrade. Whatever the reasoning, Holliday will cost an arm and a leg to get and to sign. Think Bryan Anderson, Jaime Garcia, Jonathan Jay, Chris Duncan (fingers crossed for some more home runs), and $18 million a year for starters, and I'm not sure if that would be enough. At a position where we have a lot of good options to work with? I'd rather get small acquisitions and keep the future in tact.

The interest in Brian Fuentes should definitely be there, as he'd be a more realistic player to target. It's reassuring to get these kinds of reports because it means the Cardinals aren't content sitting pat with good options available. Fuentes had a rough night last night, giving up 5 ER in San Diego. Rough night, but that doesn't change my opinion that he'd be a great addition.

Question of the day: do you think Matt Holliday should be a trade target this year?