Just 5 Minutes: Skip Schumaker Is Lucky To Have A Second Chance

Skip Schumaker offers very little defensively at second base.  So if Skip
doesn't improve on his .265 avg in 2010, its hard to justify him as an
everyday player for the Cardinals in 2011. 

Skip Schumaker was counting his lucky graces when former Cardinal shortstop was traded to the Seattle Mariners earlier this off-season.

The re-aligned second baseman knows he is lucky he has a job still.

"This off season was a little bit different," Schumaker acknowledged. "As a player, you can only control what you can control, and any moves are out of my hands. I knew something was going to happen in the middle. I wasn't sure if that was me or Brendan or what it was, but the bottom line is I didn't have a good year, the year that I wanted to have. The first half was bad, so I figured something might happen. I'm glad they're giving me another shot."

Skip, you could not of said it any better!

You are lucky to still be here and you are lucky that Tony La Russa worships the ground you walk-on. 

Last year you were pathetic.  You hit just .265 with 5 home runs and 42 RBI's.  You took just 47 walks while stealing only 5 bases. 

And most importantly, as a potential candidate as a leadoff hitter, you scored just 66 runs. 

Not to mention playing possibly the worst second base in the entire league, 2010 was a horrible season.

While Skip is a very likable personality and surely the ladies love his good-looks, I'm tired of his act.

I'm sick of watching Schumaker adjust his batting gloves between every pitch, and keep in mind I haven't seen him take an at-bat since September.

I'm tired of watching him ground out to the right side of the infield.  Sure Skip doesn't strike out much after being punched out just 64 times in 476 at-bats.  But beating the ball into the ground straight at the second baseman twice a game is actually in some instances worst than a strikeout. 

Schumaker has no range defensively, has zero power at the plate, and offers very little in the form of speed on the base paths.

He is practically a zero tool player, especially when his ground balls do not find holes like they did in 2009 when he hit .303.

In my opinion, Schumaker is lucky to still have a job, especially after the team signed new shortstop Ryan Theriot, who would've been just as good an option as an offensive upgrade at second base. 

An infield of Ryan at short and Theriot at second would've been stellar defensively and likely better offensively than 2010, as Theriot also offers an upgrade at the plate over Schumaker, at least by his 2010 stats.

La Russa could have gone with a strong defensive middle infield to support a pitching staff that induces ground balls and pitches to contact. 

Instead, La Russa has stuck his neck out once again for one of his favorites in Schumaker.

Even Schumaker knows it. 

"[Manager Tony La Russa] has confidence in his players, because if you've done it before in the big leagues, he feels like maybe you can figure it out eventually," Schumaker told MLB.com's Matthew Leach.  "But he wouldn't play me if he didn't think I had a chance to win. He's not just going to play his guys just to play them. He's a competitor. He wants to win. So if I wasn't going to do it, they were going to find someone else."

Hopefully Skip can prove the manager a genius once again.

Otherwise, Cardinals fans will be searching for answers.