- This topic has 36 replies, 16 voices, and was last updated 8 years, 2 months ago by
.
-
Posts
-
This is a series where the Cardinals really need to win at least three or four. Coming off the clunker with Minnesota, getting the ship righted on the road in San Diego would be a nice start. With Mikolas on the mound, I would expect them to win but the offense needs to score some runs.
Despite the last two days I still see reasons to be optimistic about this team.
1. Pham coming back should ignite the offense.
2. Norris should be back this weekend to help stabilize the bullpen.
3. Reyes coming back around the the first of June should be exciting.
4. Yadi should be back in early June.
5. Hopefully we get another big bat before the trade deadline to bolster the offense even more.I will say that Carp and Fowler should not be everyday players for now. Carp should platoon with either Gyroko or JMart. Fowler should platoon with Bader. Will MM get over his stubbornness to do it?
I think we get at “best” one of Fowler or Carp out of the lineup a night…
the only way we make a run at the playoffs and beyond is if we get Fowler and Carp going…so we need to find a way to get them back to not even their norms but their slightly below norms woudl be fine…only wya to get that is through playingI like Bader a lot but let’s not act like he doesnt have issues too
I am more concerned about the catcher position…i like Pena a lot as a backup but i dont want a time split platoon here… Kelly offers a good glove and potential of a good bat…i like that more than just a good glove of Pena… Kelly needs to play every day…otherwise send him back down and find a way for BAron to come up…but Kelly needs to play every day somewhere
I’m almost positive that when I read the initial reports, it said Yadi will be out AT LEAST a month, but all subsequent reports said about a month. I’m taking the long-view on that one.
Yes, Kelly needs to play everyday. I totally agree. Why bring him up to be a timeshare when we need to finally see what he can do on an everyday basis? We will never have a better opportunity to find out the next 2 1/2 years unless Yadi gets hurt again.
As for Bader, he is the fastest player on the team and he is the best defensive OF on the team. He at least needs to start against LH pitchers. Fowler is hitting .034 as a RH batter.
At a minimum Carp and Fowler should be moved to the bottom of the order until they start to hit. I would implement a platoon though.
One thing we have not mentioned is that Ozuna has not done much either. In fact his OPS is basically the same as Carpenter’s (.605 to Carp’s .601). Carpenter is actually getting on base at a better clip, .305 to .277, but obviously Marcel is hitting with more authority.
Still most of us feel Ozuna will get hot at some point, given his past two seasons are an upward trend. Carpenter is on a downward trend for awhile now. Then you have Dexter, who has the worst numbers of the primary starters. But then Bader has not exactly set the world on fire. But he brings strong defense.
The guy who should definitely be playing every day is Gyorko at third. Then you can more-or-less spot start Carpenter occasionally at first, and work between Fowler and Bader until someone steps up and separates himself.
I would also play Kelly every day, and run Pena out there once a week or so. In this Padres series, I would start Pena on Sunday, and play Kelly these next three.
PS…I would not start Carpenter at second under any circumstances. Wong, although not hitting all that much, is still outhitting Carpenter and is much better defensively.
Plus I get the sense Wong will hit pretty well with playing time, but Matt is not the hitter he once was. The only reason he is playing now is the goodwill he has built up from past success.
I am not totally onboard with the Wong-love I’m sensing of late. We’ve seen this act before out of our 2nd baseman. He strings a few decent games together and we all get excited that he’s finally figuring things out. The model of positive consistency he’s not. Hope I’m wrong. But right now I just want to pluck Schrock right out of our Memphis nest and get him up here where he belongs. There’s no shame in admitting you made a mistake on the Wong contact, Mo………it happens.
Pham and Molina injuries’ have hurt the offense. Maybe somehow get O’Neill back up. Maybe look into a trade?
As Brian pointed out recently, Bader is among the leaders in defense while Fowler is among the worst. So, even if they are hitting roughly the same, the Cardinals should be giving more playing time to Bader…
As for Wong, I am with Pugs. I would rather have Schrock at this point.
I am still onboard with Wong. As the manager, I play him every day this season and see where we end up. If he does not cut it, then next Spring it’s a battle for the starting job.
It’s a little bit a Pham re-do for me. I would have played Pham a lot more in ’16 to see what he could do. Those “toolsy” guys I put out there when the situation is right for them, and let ’em get after it. But Mike does not do that with some of those players. He looks at how a guy did against this pitcher or that, and how he has done the last few times out, and makes his decision.
Wong got it going last year, and I believe he can be a 4-5 WAR player with a full season of playing time, with plus numbers on both offense and defense.
I’m still on board with Wong also. I know his hitting can be inconsistent but I think that is partially due to irregular playing time. His defense is top notch which can’t be underestimated considering how many defensive weak links we have. I think Wong is close to being the best defensive 2B in the NL.
Schrock is intriguing because he seems to be a hitting machine but we don’t know yet how they will translate at the MLB level and I have no idea how good he is defensively. This team has much bigger problems than Wong.
From Ben Hochman of the Post-Dispatch:
Look, if Dexter Fowler keeps making outs, the Cards can perhaps combat that by playing Harrison Bader more against lefties. If Matt Carpenter can’t get batted balls to evade the shift, the Cards can slide in Jedd Gyorko. But if Marcell Ozuna can’t get going, then your offense can’t get going. The whole point of the acquisition was to fill a hole at the cleanup spot. Well, 32 games into Ozuna’s Cards career, the hole has somehow gotten bigger. And it’s more conspicuous than the past couple of seasons. Heading into a four-game series at San Diego’s pitcher-friendly Petco Park, Ozuna has two home runs, a batting average of .246 and a slugging percentage of .328.
This is a great short piece to read.
https://www.yardbarker.com/mlb/articles/cardinals_buy_ballistic_cups_for_use_after_molina_injury/s1_127_26390033Talk about closing the barn door when the horse is already down the road.
Love the late night west coast early-middle of the week games. But dang it, both the Cardinals and Reds are out west the rest of this week. The Reds are in Los Angeles to play the Dodgers while we are in San Diego. I cant watch them both. So, I guess i’ll have to record the Reds/Dodgers game for my Hot Stove action this coming winter.
Problem solved…….
r/Rat
#stlcards lineup, per @DannyMacTV:
Pham 8
Carpenter 5
Martínez 3
Ozuna 7
Fowler 9
DeJong 6
Wong 4
Kelly 2
Mikolas 1— Jeff Jones (@jmjones) May 10, 2018
Everybody does realize there is a game on, right?
Cardinals lead 1-0 in the 4th, just wasted a 1st & 3rd with one out when Wong hit into a DP
This is tough to watch, especially the situational hitting. Wong just needed to get the ball to the outfield, but instead hits into a DP. Looks like he’s swinging for The rafters with every swing. And Fowler looks to me like he’s only half interested in what he’s doing out there. Thank heaven for Pham and Mikolas at this point.
Carpenter 0-3 with 3 k’s. Can we start playing Gyorko yet?
A. No, we can’t, for the same reason that we didn’t bench Craig in 2014 and we kept hitting Holliday fourth in 2016. This is simply a logical continuation of the Mike Matheny era.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.