The Cardinals rotation took a couple hits this week. St. Louis placed both Garrett Stephenson and Andy Benes on the DL on Thursday. Stephenson was forced to leave his last start due to back spasms. Andy Benes is suffering from an arthritic knee.

St. Louis did not originally think that the Stephenson's injury was serious enough to warrant a trip to the DL. Unfortunately, back spasms prevented him from completing a throwing session on Thursday, which led to his trip to the disabled list. The Cardinals hope that he will be able to return as soon as he is eligible to come off the DL. His back problem appears to be muscle-based rather than a disc problem, so he should be able to recover fairly quickly. However considering that the doctors have not yet found a successful treatment, the length of his stay is uncertain.

Benes has started 3 games this year. In his first game he managed to make it through the fourth inning, but he was pulled after only 3 IP in both of his most recent starts. He's allowed 17 H, 3 HR, and 12 ER this season with 12 BB and only 5 K in just 10 IP.

After a fairly successful career, Benes appears to have gone downhill in the last two seasons to the point where he is no longer capable of pitching in the majors. He blames his decline on the arthritis in his knee and is considering retirement. Whatever his future, it won't likely be with the Cardinals. He reportedly said goodbye to his teammates on Wednesday and will probably negotiate his release if he does not retire. I don't expect the Cardinals to activate him from the DL.

Benes never should have been in the rotation this season. This spring, St. Louis basically decided that since Benes didn't have much time left in his career, he should be given the opportunity to get back on his feet. The Cardinals' decision kept promising young pitcher Bud Smith from starting the season in the majors.

Smith started 14 games for the Cardinals last season as a rookie. He pitched well during that time and certainly deserved to be in the rotation when St. Louis broke camp. At this point in the two players' careers, Smith is a much better pitcher than Andy Benes. Punishing him for being young makes no sense.

Smith would have been the logical call-up for at least one of these pitchers, but he joined the rotation on April 11th following Woody Williams trip to the DL. Now the Cardinals need to find two additional starters. RHP Josh Pearce and RHP Mike Crudale were called up from AAA when Stephenson and Benes were placed on the DL.

The 24-year-old Pearce split last season between AA and AAA. He doesn't strike a lot of batters out and tends to struggle a little with promotion to a new level. Pearce probably needs at least another half season in AAA and would likely benefit from a half year stint in the major league bullpen before moving into the rotation. However, he is scheduled to start for the Cardinals today. I think he should be able to pitch well enough to get the team through at least a few innings each start before turning the game over to St. Louis' capable pen. Depending on his success tonight and in future starts, he will probably be their #4 starter until Stephenson returns, and then fill in whenever they need a #5 until Williams comes back.

Crudale, a 25-year-old relief prospect, spent last season in AA. In 62 IP, he had a 85:22 K:BB while allowing 76 hits. He needs to work on allowing fewer hits, but his strikeout numbers are impressive. While he could probably use at least a half season at AAA, he'll probably be able to handle a handful of innings while the Cardinals are crunched for pitchers.

Travis Smith was called up for Gene Stechschulte on Monday in order to bring a fresh arm into the bullpen. The 29-year-old Smith is no longer a prospect and was moving away from starting and into relief in the minors. His minor league strikeouts are low and he hasn't had much time above AA. However, he has started in the recent past and may be a potential candidate for an emergency start.

Stephenson was placed on the DL retroactive to Monday, so he will be eligible to return April 30th. Williams is not expected to return until the end of May. Last night they had to use Mike Timlin, who hadn't started since 1991.

Timlin pitched 4.1 innings last night, allowing no runs in the first 4 IP before giving up 4 runs in the 5th. As long as the Cardinals pull him earlier in the future, he should be able to provide them with more spot starts if needed. LHP Mike Matthews, currently in the bullpen, started 10 games for the Cardinals last season, so they also could use him again.

One interesting note from last night's Cardinals/Brewers game: Although Mike DeJean was put in for the save on Thursday, Luis Vizcaino earned the save last night.