May 8, 2008

DENVER, Colo. - By Owen Perkins / Special to MLB.com (5/7/08)

With the Cardinals facing three lefties in a row in their four-game set in Colorado, Ryan Ludwick is getting a good chunk of playing time, making his second consecutive start hitting cleanup Wednesday evening.

Ludwick's sixth big league season is turning into a breakout year for the outfielder. He is hitting .349 (29-for-83) in 28 games with four home runs and 17 RBIs, and though he is hitting .400 against right-handers, manager Tony La Russa likes having him in the middle of the order with a southpaw on the mound.

"He's got an important role, he's hitting fourth against left-handed pitching," La Russa explained. "We're facing a lot of left-handed pitching. If they go to the bullpen and bring in a right-hander, he stays in the game. He hits right-handers really well.

"But [with] a right-hander [starting], you got [Skip Schumaker], you got [Chris] Duncan, you got [Rick] Ankiel. But he'll play some, because one of those guys needs to sit at times if we face a lot of righties. But he's a [heck] of a weapon to have off the bench. He's an outstanding pinch-hitter."

Ludwick has been hitting everyone lately, putting a six-game hitting streak together and hitting .563 (9-for-16) in that span. In the first two games against Colorado, he went 5-for-5, getting a pinch-hit double off right-hander Taylor Buchholz to give the Cardinals the lead in the eighth inning Monday and going 4-for-4 in his Tuesday start. He had a hit and walk against southpaw starter Mark Redman and collected three more hits against right-handed relievers.

"I had one of those days at the plate," Ludwick explained of his Tuesday effort, tying his career high for hits in a game. "I felt relaxed. My timing was on. It felt a lot like early in the year more when I was hitting the ball really well.

"The last week and a half or so, the timing's been a little bit off and I've just been battling to stay above water," Ludwick explained. "Working a hit here, working a hit there. I don't know if it was [Monday's] pinch-hit at-bat, the slider that I stayed back on, stayed inside and drove in the gap. I don't know if that made it click or what, but [Tuesday] I felt like timing-wise I was on everything. It was good day."

Ludwick has been effective off the bench for the Cardinals, posting a .286 average as a pinch-hitter, but he has found a rhythm that works for him lately, and it has translated into ample playing time. He's hitting .355 in 31 cleanup at-bats, and he elevates his game to hit .359 with runners on base.

It's not easy for players to move from the bench to irregular starts and not miss a beat, but Ludwick has been on a roll of late.

"I do a little toe tap to get my rhythm," Ludwick said, explaining how he was able to find his stride after two days out of the lineup. "The best way to put it as a hitter is everything slows down. Everything was slow [Tuesday] and easy, relaxed. I got a couple pitches that I could handle, and I was lucky that they fell in."

He reached base on six consecutive plate appearances against the Rockies, ending the streak with a sacrifice fly in the first inning Wednesday.

"He's definitely earning playing time, but it's the same old deal," La Russa said. "The idea is everybody plays. This is the National League. Everybody gets off the bench at times. You just can't have guys rot there. Some people don't believe in that, but that's the way I was taught, and that's the way I do it."

The depth of La Russa's roster has been a team strength this season, and with a projected start for Brendan Ryan in Thursday's series finale, La Russa will have found starts for all 12 of his position players.

"It makes it good for the team," La Russa said. "I'm not so sure it's all that great for the players. Except I think they're having fun winning games, and they're really dealing with it well. It's really a credit to them. They pull for the guy that's playing. It's not phony. If a guy does something good, these guys are the first ones off the bench to congratulate him. Right now there's some good healthy stuff going on."

Including a healthy helping of claps on the back for the hot-hitting Ludwick.