Mr. Garrett Stephenson.

Widely considered to be a throw-in in the 1999 off-season trade in which the Redbirds acquired Ricky Bottalico (in exchange for Ron Gant, Jeff Brantley, Cliff Politte & cash), Garrett Stephenson has exceeded the expectations of most observers in and out of baseball, many who labelled him as soft.

Recall that Stephenson's name was bandied about throughout spring training as the guy most likely to be banished to the bullpen if and when one or more of the Cardinals injured starters returned to form.

But Stephenson threw cold water on all that as he was the Cardinals best pitcher during the vitally important month of August (4-0 in five starts, 37.1 innings pitched, 2.65 ERA).

Cards manager Tony La Russa is fond of saying that he doesn't have a number one starter, that his number one guy is starting that day's game.

But Garrett Stephenson's performance down the stretch has impressed La Russa to the point where Stephenson will be in the playoff rotation as a starter...probably right behind Daryl Kile.

Stephenson's pitching effort in 2000's regular season also affords La Russa the luxury of a much-discussed option: moving lefty Rick Ankiel to the bullpen for the post-season.

Tonight Stephenson faces the Mets' Bobby Jones. With Kile and Ankiel following Stephenson (vs. Mike Hampton and Glendon Rusch, respectively)...the future looks bright at Busch: it's been awhile since the Cardinals had a leg up on the Mets, as far as starting pitching match-ups were concerned.