- This topic has 19 replies, 11 voices, and was last updated 9 years ago by
.
-
Posts
-
Gyorko had cramping in one of his legs last night so is getting a day off. Voit placed in cleanup spot is telling indication of limited roster options.
Times change. Last season when Diaz was hitting .400 for over a month, he was kept in the #8 spot as the manager did not want to put pressure on the first-time callup. Now, with the Hollidays and Mosses gone and Carpenter uncomfortable there, mid-order choices are limited.
#STLCards vs. Miami (7/4):
Carpenter 2B
Pham CF
Piscotty RF
Voit 1B
Molina C
Grichuk LF
DeJong SS
Garcia 3B
Lynn P— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) July 4, 2017
I think Voit can handle it. I would have rather have Mejia in the lineup at second, and Carpenter at third. Or maybe just put Mejia at third in this one.
Carpenter’s weird “I can only bat lead off” really cramps the options for the batting order. Piscotty should not be hitting third, but almost has to with this group (although Pham would be a good option there). It’s sort of like having a guy that can only play one defensive position.
Grichuk could hit third if he learned to layoff any pitch that is coming in at the knees. If he sees a pitch headed for the knees, he should automatically take, but he rarely holds off on that pitch. That is one thing I am seeing from Pham this year – he has really improved at pitch selection, laying off a lot of those low deliveries. Grichuk has never learned that. Maybry needs to tell Grichuk to watch Pham’s approach and learn from it. Pham swings at more pitches he can square up, and lets go pitches he cannot do much with. Plus he’ll take that outside pitch to right field, which was a major flaw in Diaz’ approach this year. Diaz pulled off everything, even pitches in the left-hand batter’s box. Grichuk is similar, although he does go to right occasionally. Grichuk’s weakness is the pitch down in the zone.
I agree about Carpenter. Either Garcia or Gyorko would be better at second. Why not just put Carpenter back at third instead of having more players not at their optimal positions?
I like Carpenter-Pham in the first two spots. It sets the tone for the lineup as both guys have some on base skills and pop. Piscotty is sort of stuck at #3, although if he comes around he would be a great asset there with his (traditionally) strong RISP hitting.
The Weather Channel radar shows some green stuff west of St. Louis. Probably about an hour away as I type this. Any rain in the forecast for Busch today?
r/Rat
This game went south in a hurry with a rough 6th inning. Marlins take advantage of our weaknesses (pen and defense) to strike for 5 runs and lead 5-2. Plenty of time to come back though, as Voit leads off the 6th with a single.
Bad Pham today. Four strikeouts, and the last one was a backbreaker. Maybe Piscotty will deliver with two outs and runners on the corners in the 7th
Well, we are now 3-2 on this homestand. We need to win 4 of the next 5 to have a good feeling heading into the road trips after the break.
r/Rat
With 12 strikeouts today it seemed like no Card was doing much of anything.How ironic Pham whiffed FOUR times today ( I think Grichuk already has Phams approach copied).While I admire Pham
s tenacity I still think hes a fine 4th OFYep, problem is they were all 4th OFers today, and not so fine at that. Somebody has to pick somebody else up. The OFers were a combined 0 for 11 with 9 Ks I believe. Oh well, good teams don’t do that two days in a row, especially at home against a non-contender. Somebody better produce tomorrow.
Milwaukee’s 6 games over.
Braun has played less than half their games this year.
I think they’ll finish above .500
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.