Welcome to the semifinals of the Jason Romano Commemorative NLC’s hottest baller contest. 15 of the best-looking players on NLC (plus the newest ex-Mariner) face off in a single-elimination tournament.

Two rounds of fierce competition have made the players glisten with effort and anxious to take it all home. In my imagination anyway. In real life, they almost certainly don’t know they’re even in the NLC’s Hottest Baller tournament, but that’s OK. My imagination is very good.

Jason LaRue, backing up the plate in St. Louis, may not be the top catcher these days, but he’s still the hottest backstop in town. He took down Rick Ankiel in the second round to advance to the semifinals.

Brandon Phillips, enjoying a long-term contract in the Queen City has the moves to go with the smile. He’s already hot this spring, and not just on the field.

Jason LaRue
ht: 5-11 wt: 205 dob: 03/19/1974

Brandon Phillips
ht: 6-0 wt: 195 dob: 6/28/1981

[poll=24]

I intended to do provide an NL Central injury report on a semi-weekly basis, but work and traveling to Sarasota got in the way. Of course, players keep getting injured, so there’s no real way to be “late” on this. Well, except I didn’t get to write about outfielder Felix Pie’s testicle first.

Other than Pie, the poster boy for the unluckiness that comes from being a Cub, both third baseman Aramis Ramirez and outfielder Alfonso Soriano suffered and returned from injuries. Ramirez came back Friday from shoulder tightness, springing into midseason form by sporting an 0-fer. Soriano played his first game today, seeming to have healed his broken finger magically quickly. His hamstrings, however, still need work.

For the Reds, both catcher David Ross and shortstop Alex Gonzalez are missing games. Ross’ injury is far less serious, or at least it is upon first glance. But anytime “back spasms” are a problem with a full-time catcher on the wrong side of 30, eyebrows have to be raised. Or in Javier Valentin‘s case, mustaches. If Ross doesn’t return by Opening Day, Valentin will be the starting catcher. And I don’t have a problem with that.

Gonzalez’ injury is far more serious as he’s suffering from a fractured left knee. After all his trauma with his sick son preventing him from playing last year, it doesn’t look good for the shortstop this year. He’ll be reevaluated in two weeks, so who knows when he’ll be able to play baseball again. I expect he’ll be starting the season on the DL.

In St. Louis, the Cardinals have lost one of their leading left-handed relievers through the start of the season. Tyler Johnson has been diagnosed with tendinitis and a rotator cuff sprain. No surgery is needed for recovery, just time. Which is great news for Ron Villone, who’s competing for a left-handed bullpen spot.

Also, the right elbow of Albert Pujols is apparently attached with nothing more than grit, stubbornness, and lies about his age. Pujols has a torn ligament, bone spurs, and arthritis. Season-ending surgery is required, but the Cardinals are holding it off because they obviously want Pujols to save his DL year for when they’re going to be in contention.

And lastly, Houston Astros second baseman Kaz Matsui is experiencing a spot of discomfort. He had to miss one game at the end of February and is returning from Spring Training to Houston to see a hemorrhoids specialist, hoping to speed up the healing. I guess they don’t make cushions for second base.

Tonight on the podcast we talk to a Red Hot Mama favorite, Bellyscratcher (aka Rebecca). Tonight it wasn’t about the smack talk, though, just some friendly discussion of how the St. Louis team is looking for 2008. On this episode we discuss:

• The antics of Tony LaRussa, Scott Spezio, and Rick Ankiel
• The future of the outfield without Jim Edmonds and So Taguchi
• The impact of injuries. Will anyone really notice Chris Carpenter being out?

You’ll have to listen to find out.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

According to STLToday, the Cardinals will be giving one Sidney Ponson an audience this week:

JUPITER, Fla. — The Cardinals will lend former pitcher Sidney Ponson a place and a mound to throw for scouts Thursday at lunchtime.

Ponson, who made 13 starts for the Cardinals in 2006, is said to have slimmed down to 245 pounds and cranked up his fastball to 91 mph.

Because he’ll be on their spring-training campus, the Cardinals will have scouts in attendance, and they are interested is seeing what he has. “Just keep an open mind,” manager Tony La Russa said.

To think that the Cardinals would overlook Kyle Lohse, Ramón Ortíz, even Eric Milton to let Ponson have a chance…this is really something special.

It’s a challenge to write a blog buzz about the Cardinals. Many of the tried-and-true Card blogs folded up after the World Series win. I can also assume that the writers have ascended to a higher plane of existence.

Viva El Birdos is still around, though, where Houston Cardinal is talking about Albert Pujols’ year last year. While impressive in a vacuum, it wasn’t exactly the height of his career, and Houston Cardinal considers the wisdom of trading the big guy before his value drops.

Consider the following:

* Albert’s OPS of .997 was the 2nd lowest of his career and his lowest since 2002
* his .336 EQA was his lowest since 2002, 3rd lowest of his career
* his VORP of 72.1 was the 2nd lowest of his career and his lowest since 2002
* his isolated power of .241 was the lowest of his career
* his RC/27 was the 2nd lowest of his career
* his 27 GIDP was the highest of his career
* his PA’s were the 2nd lowest of his career
* he hit the fewest homers, had the fewest RBI and runs scored of his career
…
If he demands a trade before the 2010 season b/c the team has been horrible in 2008 and 2009, the team will have to seriously consider granting it in order to get maximum value in return. Right now, the Cards can’t get from another team what Pujols is worth but that may not be true in 2 years and this may be an option the team has to consider if the next 2 years are as bad as they might be.

I also dug around a little to find Mike on the Cards, a newish blog that started after the post-World Series delirium. Mike is wrapping games. Yesterday, the Cardinals lost to the Marlins 3-2 and Tyler Johnson didn’t get to pitch after he reported tightness in his shoulder. Prior to that, the Cardinals had won three straight.