2008 St. Louis Cardinals season

2008 St. Louis Cardinals
File:Saint Louis Cardinals Logo.png
Division	Central Division
Ballpark	Busch Stadium
City	St. Louis, Missouri
Owners	William DeWitt, Jr., Fred Hanser
Managers	Tony La Russa
Television	FSN Midwest KSDK
Radio	KTRS
Stats	ESPN.com BB-reference
Seasons

The St. Louis Cardinals' 2008 season will be the 127th season for the franchise in St. Louis, Missouri and the 117th season in the National League. The Cardinals will begin their season at home against the NL Champion Colorado Rockies on March 31. They will have a new General Manager with formerly Assistant GM John Mozeliak, and a new Assistant GM John Abbamondi, hired December 3rd, who was senior director of labor economics working for Major League Baseball in New York.

The Cardinals are coming off a 78-84 season, their worst since finishing 75-86 in 1999 and only the second time since that 1999 season that they missed the playoffs. Concerns include bolstering a starting rotation that finished 14th out of 16 teams in the NL in ERA, finding a leadoff hitter after the departure of David Eckstein, and finding a permanent right fielder after Juan Encarnacion's severe eye injury, suffered when he was hit by a foul ball on August 31, 2007.

Offseason departures and acquistions

Walt Jocketty, GM of the Cardinals for twelve years, was fired after the disappointing 2007 season. Tony La Russa, however, signed a contract to return to manage the Cardinals for his 13th and 14th seasons. John Mozeliak took Jocketty's place as GM.

Center fielder Jim Edmonds, the senior Cardinal on the roster (having been with the team since the 2000 season) was traded to the San Diego Padres for single-A third baseman David Freese and cash considerations on December 14, 2007.

So Taguchi, backup outfielder and the only Japanese player in franchise history, was released by the Cardinals in December after six seasons with the organization. The Cardinals declined to offer arbitration to shorstop David Eckstein and acquired Cesar Izturis as a possible replacement. Starting pitcher Kip Wells, who posted a 5.70 ERA in 2007, departed via free agency. St. Louis acquired Jason LaRue to be the backup catcher, replacing Gary Bennett. The Cardinals took outfielder Brian Barton from Cleveland on December 6 in the Rule 5 draft.

The new year opened on January 3 with St. Louis signing starting pitcher Matt Clement, a former All-Star who missed the entire 2007 season after undergoing shoulder surgery.

A major offseason story for the Cardinals was the hostile relationship between manager Tony LaRussa and third baseman Scott Rolen. LaRussa publicly criticized Rolen on December 5,, and Rolen requested a trade, but the team was unable to find a suitable offer at the winter meetings. On January 12, the Cardinals reached a tentative agreement with the Toronto Blue Jays to trade Rolen for their third baseman, Troy Glaus, and the trade was finalized on January 14.

In spring training, LaRussa confirmed that he would continue to bat the pitcher eighth; the Cardinals adopted that unconventional lineup for the last two months of the 2007 season.

Utility player Scott Spiezio was released by the Cardinals on Feb. 27 after California authorities issued a warrant for his arrest on charges that included hit-and-run, drunk driving and assault. Spiezio had previously missed a month of the 2007 season to go to rehab for drug abuse problems.

Spring Training games

The Cardinals are officially 6-9-1 in The Grapefruit League (29 games).

This tentative 2008 Spring Training game schedule was released December 11, 2007.

All games, times (CT), and teams subject to change

2008 Spring Training Game Log
February # Date Opponent Location-Time Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 1 February 27 StL University Jupiter, 12:05pm 15 - 2 Walters (1-0) Zielinski 2,639 1-0 2 February 28 Mets Jupiter, 12:05pm 7 - 0 Reyes (1-0) Maine (0-1) 5,496 2-0 3 February 29 @ Mets Port St. Lucie, 12:10pm 5 - 4 Parisi (1-0) Sanchez (0-1) Flores (1) 5,038 3-0
March # Date Opponent Location-Time Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 4 March 1 @ Marlins Jupiter, 12:05pm 3 - 2 Lindstrom (1-0) Herron (0-1) 4,665 3-1 5 March 2 Marlins Jupiter, 12:05pm 5 - 4 Olsen (1-0) Hawksworth (0-1) Waechter (1) 5,914 3-2 6 March 3 @ Nationals Viera, 12:05pm 3 - 2 Redding (0-1) Looper (0-1) Rivera (1) 2,792 3-3 7 March 4 @ Orioles Ft. Lauderdale, 12:05pm 10 - 2 Loewen (1-1) Reyes (1-1) 4,399 3-4 8 March 5 Nationals Jupiter, 12:05pm 6 - 5 Lannan (1-0) Parisi (1-1) Schroder (1) 3,674 3-5 9 March 5 @ Marlins Jupiter, 6:05pm 5 - 4 Garcia (1-0) De La Cruz (0-1) Jimenez (1) 3,258 4-5 10 March 6 Marlins Jupiter, 12:05pm 5 - 2 Isringhausen (1-0) Gregg (0-1) Franklin (1) 4,584 5-5 11 March 7 @ Dodgers Vero Beach, 12:05pm 6 - 4 Pineiro (1-0) Billingsley (0-1) Motte (1) 6,789 6-5 12 March 8 Dodgers Jupiter, 12:05pm 20-6 Kuroda (1-0) Looper (0-2) 7,227 6-6 13 March 9 @ Braves Orlando, 12:05pm 12 - 5 Hudson (2-0) Mortensen (0-1) 11,259 6-7 14 March 10 @ Braves Orlando, 12:05pm (FSN-tv) 3 - 1 Jurrjens (2-0) Wainwright (0-1) Campillo (1) 8,903 6-8 15 March 11 Orioles Jupiter, 12:05pm 2 - 2 10 inn. 5,271 6-8-1 16 March 12 @ Marlins Jupiter, 12:05pm 13 - 7 Volstad (2-0) Franklin (0-1) 4,052 6-9-1 17 March 13 Mets Jupiter, 12:05pm 6 - 5 10 inn. Motte (1-0) Diaz (0-1) 7,183 7-9-1 18 March 14 @ Dodgers Vero Beach, 12:05pm 19 March 15 @ Mets Port St. Lucie, 12:15pm 20 March 16 Braves Jupiter, 12:05pm (KSDK-tv5) 21 March 17 Braves Jupiter, 12:05pm 22 March 19 @ Orioles Ft. Lauderdale, 12:05pm 23 March 20 Marlins Jupiter, 12:05pm 24 March 21 Orioles Jupiter, 12:05pm 25 March 22 Twins Jupiter, 12:05pm (FSN-tv) 26 March 23 @ Mets Port St. Lucie, 12:10pm (KSDK-tv5) 27 March 24 @ Twins Ft. Myers, 12:05pm 28 March 25 Nationals Jupiter, 12:05pm 29 March 26 Orioles Jupiter, 12:05pm (FSN-tv) 30 March 27 @ Marlins Jupiter, 12:05pm 31 March 28 @ Spr. Cardinals (AA) Springfield, Missouri, 7:10pm 32 March 29 @ Spr. Cardinals (AA) Springfield, Missouri, 1:10pm

Regular season

Season standings

NL Central	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Chicago Cubs	97	64	0.602	—	55–26	42–38
Milwaukee Brewers	90	72	0.556	7½	49–32	41–40
Houston Astros	86	75	0.534	11	47–33	39–42
St. Louis Cardinals	86	76	0.531	11½	46–35	40–41
Cincinnati Reds	74	88	0.457	23½	43–38	31–50
Pittsburgh Pirates	67	95	0.414	30½	39–42	28–53

Game log

(background color, bgcolor="bbffbb" WIN, bgcolor="ffbbbb" LOSS, bgcolor="bbbbbb" PPD.)

Current roster

See also: St. Louis Cardinals all-time roster and List of St. Louis Cardinals coaches

St. Louis Cardinals roster
Active roster				Inactive roster		Coaches/Other
Pitchers Starting rotation 44 Kyle Gibson 54 Sonny Gray 52 Matthew Liberatore 31 Lance Lynn 39 Miles Mikolas Bullpen 64 Ryan Fernandez 47 John King 27 Andrew Kittredge 62 Kyle Leahy 29 Nick Robertson 59 JoJo Romero 58 Chris Roycroft Closer(s) 56 Ryan Helsley		Catchers 40 Willson Contreras 48 Iván Herrera Infielders 28 Nolan Arenado 35 Brandon Crawford 15 José Fermín 46 Paul Goldschmidt 16 Nolan Gorman  0 Masyn Winn Outfielders 41 Alec Burleson  3 Dylan Carlson 33 Brendan Donovan 21 Lars Nootbaar 63 Michael Siani		Pitchers 65 Giovanny Gallegos 66 Adam Kloffenstein 32 Steven Matz 93 Keynan Middleton 55 Riley O'Brien 53 Andre Pallante 61 Sem Robberse 57 Zack Thompson Catchers 43 Pedro Pagés Infielders 26 Luken Baker 22 Alfonso Rivas III Outfielders 11 Victor Scott II 18 Jordan Walker Designated hitters 13 Matt Carpenter		Manager 37 Oliver Marmol Coaches 87 Brandon Allen (assistant hitting) 90 Dusty Blake (pitching) 82 Stubby Clapp (first base) 34 Daniel Descalso (bench) 88 Packy Elkins (game planning) 89 Dean Kiekhefer (assistant pitching) 51 Willie McGee (assistant coach) 94 Jamie Pogue (assistant coach/bullpen) 74 Julio Rangel (assistant pitching/bullpen) 76 Kleininger Teran (bullpen catcher) 49 Turner Ward (hitting) 75 Ron 'Pop' Warner (third base) 60-day injured list 19 Tommy Edman 38 Drew Rom 26 active, 14 inactive 7-, 10-, or 15-day injured list # Personal leave Roster and coaches updated May 6, 2024 Transactions • Depth chart → All MLB rosters

Player stats

Batting

Note: G = Games played; AB = At Bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting Average; HR = Home Runs; RBI = Runs Batted In

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI

Starting pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO

Relief pitchers

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO

References

• 2008 St. Louis Cardinals season at Baseball Reference