As the Cardinals are currently in a wild-card spot with the Atlanta Braves--as both the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Los Angeles Dodgers are chasing them for the final spots--the Cardinals are in need of a spark-plug, and many people around Cardinal Nation believe that this could be just that.
Following the news that came out last month that had the Cardinals' ace Chris Carpenter was going to be having season-ending shoulder surgery, the starting rotation took a big hit--or at least that is what most fans and so called "experts" seemed to believe.
In all reality though, while Carpenter isn't exactly a guy that you can just replace and not miss very much, this seasons' starting rotation has turned heads around the league all season--and they are looking to continue doing so from here on out as well.
Many fans may find the current swapping of the two pitchers as a pretty big suprise. Not myself, though. Although Lynn started out looking as a Cy Young award canidate, lately he has been on a slide--and in all honesty, it may have a lot to do with the work-load that he has been given thus far this season.
Lynn has already pitched a career-high in innings with 144 and 1/3, and as many already know, it is his first season ever as a starting pitcher at the major league level. In his twenty-five starts, he has an overall record of 13-5 but hasn't recieved a win since July 27th--which was against the lowly Cubbies. He won all of his first four starts this season--but in his last five starts, he has allowed seventeen runs and the team won just one of them starts.
Kelly on the other hand, who is also a rookie, and a former closer in college, has started twelve games but has also made two appearances out of the bullpen, and has made a name for himself around Cardinal Nation--as well as around the baseball world.
Following his first career start in which he got a no-decision against the Cleveland Indians after giving up just one run on seven hits, he pitched five innings and looked stellar before being taken out. He became only the third Cardinals' starting pitcher to allow three runs or less in each of his first ten starts--joining the likes of Matt Morris and the all-time great Bob Gibson.
The move from the vibe that I had gotten during last night's big win was that this move is a very good one--but only time will really tell the tale. Both are youngsters and both want to solitify there spot on the team, and these could possibly be the teams recipe to making it back into the playoffs.
Nobody is saying that this move will stick around and hold up for the rest of this season, but for the moment, you can only hope that both guys calm down and accept there roles--if they really are serious about making another run at back-to-back world championships.
Normally this type of situation with a pitcher that owns a record of 13-5 would be a disaster for any team at this point and time during the season--but honestly, this problem that the 2011 defending World-Champion Cardinals have could be nothing short of a blessing--but then again, only time will tell.
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