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I think it really comes down to two things.

1.) He's always had velocity on his fastball and, like others said, he's been able to maintain that velocity over a large amount of pitches. But he also added the cut fastball he has which helps him with the biggest flaw he's had with his fastball: it's straight as a beam. So now he's able to give two looks: A high velocity fastball without much movement that he's been able to spot where he wants it, and a cut fastball with more movement that causes hitters to swing and miss.

2.) He's had a lot more movement on his splitter. I really don't remember him using it all that much last year, he seemed to throw mostly fastballs. But now he's got more pitches for more looks that keep hitters off balance. I personally think that he if can maintain the command that he's shown then he will be successful throughout the season and be able to finish his career as a starter.

The two things I always thought he lacked as a reliever were movement on his fastball and an out pitch. The cutter and splitter have solved both of those issues.

TheoSqua wrote:I think it really comes down to two things.

1.) He's always had velocity on his fastball and, like others said, he's been able to maintain that velocity over a large amount of pitches. But he also added the cut fastball he has which helps him with the biggest flaw he's had with his fastball: it's straight as a beam. So now he's able to give two looks: A high velocity fastball without much movement that he's been able to spot where he wants it, and a cut fastball with more movement that causes hitters to swing and miss.

2.) He's had a lot more movement on his splitter. I really don't remember him using it all that much last year, he seemed to throw mostly fastballs. But now he's got more pitches for more looks that keep hitters off balance. I personally think that he if can maintain the command that he's shown then he will be successful throughout the season and be able to finish his career as a starter.

The two things I always thought he lacked as a reliever were movement on his fastball and an out pitch. The cutter and splitter have solved both of those issues.

That's pretty spot on to my analysis of him as well. That cutter complements his fastball perfectly. The pitches he has, along with his ability to locate them down in the zone, makes him perfect for the game plan Duncan likes to execute. He kind of reminds me of Chuck Finley when we had him for that second part of the season a few years ago. Everything located well, down in the strike zone.

Voodoo

wart57 wrote:Voodoo

Who do?

We've seen that Looper can be effective against good-hitting teams in the month of April, but are we sure he's going to be effective when it's August 5th and he's already thrown nearly double his average amount of innings? Or maybe in October when he's put on 170-180 innings?

In my opinion, that's a very valid question. I obviously don't have an answer, except to say that he's a big guy, a veteran, who's learned what kind of conditioning a MLB season requires.

In the Cardinals opinion, they would say that he only needs to hold up until July when Mulder comes back.


I still maintain that the rotation we have now is the rotation we'll need to count on. Here's hoping that Looper can maintain his endurance and remain effective into August.

Fat Strat wrote:

We've seen that Looper can be effective against good-hitting teams in the month of April, but are we sure he's going to be effective when it's August 5th and he's already thrown nearly double his average amount of innings? Or maybe in October when he's put on 170-180 innings?

In my opinion, that's a very valid question. I obviously don't have an answer, except to say that he's a big guy, a veteran, who's learned what kind of conditioning a MLB season requires.

In the Cardinals opinion, they would say that he only needs to hold up until July when Mulder comes back.


I still maintain that the rotation we have now is the rotation we'll need to count on. Here's hoping that Looper can maintain his endurance and remain effective into August.

I would say "if" Mulder comes back. I don't think it's necessarily 100%, slam dunk guarantee that he will.

jim wrote:

Fat Strat wrote:

We've seen that Looper can be effective against good-hitting teams in the month of April, but are we sure he's going to be effective when it's August 5th and he's already thrown nearly double his average amount of innings? Or maybe in October when he's put on 170-180 innings?

In my opinion, that's a very valid question. I obviously don't have an answer, except to say that he's a big guy, a veteran, who's learned what kind of conditioning a MLB season requires.

In the Cardinals opinion, they would say that he only needs to hold up until July when Mulder comes back.


I still maintain that the rotation we have now is the rotation we'll need to count on. Here's hoping that Looper can maintain his endurance and remain effective into August.

I would say "if" Mulder comes back. I don't think it's necessarily 100%, slam dunk guarantee that he will.

If Looper keeps this pace up, Mulder and Carp comes back by July, it will be very interesting who will be send down.

jim wrote:

Fat Strat wrote:

We've seen that Looper can be effective against good-hitting teams in the month of April, but are we sure he's going to be effective when it's August 5th and he's already thrown nearly double his average amount of innings? Or maybe in October when he's put on 170-180 innings?

In my opinion, that's a very valid question. I obviously don't have an answer, except to say that he's a big guy, a veteran, who's learned what kind of conditioning a MLB season requires.

In the Cardinals opinion, they would say that he only needs to hold up until July when Mulder comes back.


I still maintain that the rotation we have now is the rotation we'll need to count on. Here's hoping that Looper can maintain his endurance and remain effective into August.

I would say "if" Mulder comes back. I don't think it's necessarily 100%, slam dunk guarantee that he will.

It's a huge IF about Mulder. The track record of pitchers recovering from surgery for torn rotator cuffs is terrible.

Hungary Jack wrote:
It's a huge IF about Mulder. The track record of pitchers recovering from surgery for torn rotator cuffs is terrible.

It certainly is. I'm slightly encouraged by seeing Bartolo Colon come back so effectively thus far(yeah I know he's only thrown 2 starts but still). Did the extent of Mulder's injury compare to the extent of Colon's?

I don't recall Mulder's rotator cuff being severly torn, but Colon is still throwing well over 90.