Wednesday, Jul. 29, 2009

Cards sending Wellemeyer to the bullpen

ST. LOUIS -- Todd Wellemeyer knew a change had to be made. When it finally happened Tuesday, he wasn't surprised.

Wellemeyer, who has the second-highest ERA among active pitchers in the major leagues, was bumped from the St. Louis Cardinals' rotation and sent to the bullpen. He will be replaced in the rotation by Mitchell Boggs.

A right-hander, Wellemeyer has struggled all season with a 7-9 record and 5.79 ERA. Only San Diego's Josh Geer (1-7, 5.96 ERA) has a higher ERA.

"It's a good time to do it and its a good opportunity for me to work on some stuff," Wellemeyer said. "It's fine. We're just switching it up and see if it helps. I'm going to try and do my best out of the bullpen.

"I'm going to make it a good thing for me, that's all there is to it. There's no other option."

The Cardinals finally reached their tipping point with Wellemeyer, who allowed 13 home runs and has a 6.75 ERA in his last 10 starts, a span of 48 innings. On Sunday, he was strafed for five runs on 11 hits in 5 2/3 innings during a 9-2 loss at Philadelphia.

With nine days off the rest of the season, the Cardinals plan on going with a four-man rotation -- Chris Carpenter (9-3, 2.19 ERA), Adam Wainright (11-6, 2.95 ERA), Kyle Lohse (4-6, 4.35 ERA) and Joel Pineiro (9-9, 2.85 ERA) -- as much as possible.

"I'll be in the bullpen for who knows how long and try to make the best of it," Wellemeyer said. "With the way the schedule works, we can keep everybody on their regular schedule. I'll get some good appearances out of there and hopefully, get some zeros up there."

Wellemeyer threw a bullpen session, between 30 and 40 pitches, before the game Tuesday. St. Louis manager Tony La Russa said Wellemeyer will be available to pitch Thursday.

"We don't lack any confidence in what he's capable of doing but he's been struggling," La Russa said. "There's different things you can do when a guy struggles and this is one of them. This will give him a different feel for things."

Wellemeyer said he felt great in his last two starts, losses to Houston and Philadelphia. But there's a definite distinction between feeling good and pitching good.

"I got the feeling good down," he said. "Now, we're going to go after pitching good and try to dominate."

Wellemeyer, who was 13-9 last year with a 3.71 ERA, said he's been able to identify the root of his problems.

"The one thing was I was getting ahead of everybody 0-1, 0-2, 1-2 on everybody and just not putting them away," Wellemeyer said. "I would leave a ball up instead of trying to get them to chase something because I'd be worried about walking them. I had problems this year walking guys and I just need to get that out of my head.

"I feel good now mechanically, and I have to go right at them. Not waste a pitch, just stay aggressive. Don't just leave something over the middle and go right at them."

Boggs will be recalled from Class AAA Memphis on Friday to take Wellemeyer's spot in the rotation. Boggs started four games for the Cardinals this season, going 1-0 with a 3.22 ERA.

Boggs, a right-hander, is 6-4 with a 4.29 ERA in 13 starts at Memphis.

"I think he's pitched effectively down there," La Russa said. "He's a developing pitcher and he's learning all the time."

Boggs has made 10 starts for the Cardinals over the past two years, compiling a career mark of 4-2 with a 5,75 ERA. He has struck out 33 and walked 33 in 56 1/3 innings.