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12:15 p.m. RHP Daniel Ponce de Leon (1-0, 1.99) vs. RHP Chris Archer (3-6, 5.42) FOX Sports Midwest // KMOX // WIJR
The Doppler radar shows all clear in the St. Louis area so I guess this one will get played. Then again, it also shows all clear here in SW Indiana but we still have a light rain.
And I think this game falls into the Must Win category. Cant afford to lose two of three at home to the Pirates. Especially when you consider we have eight straight road games coming up with Cincinnati and Pittsburgh. This will be a tough stretch.
r/Esteemed Rat
p.s. anybody want to bet that Paul DeJong doesn’t even hit .240 this year?
p.s. anybody want to bet that Paul DeJong doesn’t even hit .240 this year?
How can you say that Rat? He was an “all star” remember?
Why are you folks down on DeJong? His career BA is .259 and he is at .251 this season. No one suggested he is going to win a batting title. His defense has also been very, very good with Wong up the middle.
Of all the underachieving Cardinals position players this season, he would be far down my list to criticize.
I’m not down on DeJong, but the guy batting in the top 3 still, now that we see his April was just a hot streak, is a bit of a mystery to me. I understand why you give Goldschmidt and, to a lesser extent, Carpenter the benefit of the doubt for a long time (the whole season for Goldschmidt and maybe all of it for Carp), but I don’t get it with DeJong. Not that we have a ton of great options, but DeJong has been pretty brutal since April, and could probably be helped by a move down in the order.
While we are on the subject of places in the batting order, I think the batting order positions of O’Neill and Fowler lead to a bit of a logical mystery (if you are assuming that the person making the lineup wants to maximize winning). It seems that every time O’Neill is in the lineup, he hits ahead of Fowler. That leads me to believe that Schildt thinks he is the better hitter (and, probably, rightfully so). And a recent amazing play aside, Fowler is not superior to O’Neill on the defensive side of the ball. He’s looked a bit better this year, but really it is marginal, and over a lot of playing time, I think O’Neill is the better choice defensively. With that being the case, why is it that Fowler is automatically in the lineup over O’Neill when everyone is healthy? I understand the contract situation, but it is still odd and frustrating.
Other than April DeJong is having a rough year at the plate. Bader is taking a lot of heat now and deservedly so. So it’s not surprising to me that PDJ is too, probably more deservedly when you consider where he bats in the lineup. I like him and his defense, but Bader’s defense is even better according to most advance fielding metrics I’ve seen.
OPS by month for the two players (it’s hard to tell much difference)
Apr / May / June / July / OPS Since Apr
1.053 / .693 / .655 / .428 / .637
.872 / .711 / .598 / .539 / .632Our all star finally gets dropped in the lineup.
We're going for the series win!
⚾️ https://t.co/ssIxpCtUn7 pic.twitter.com/SzQo0aThVE
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) July 17, 2019
Glad to see Knizner get a start. I would have started him last time PDL started, especially since we were facing a lefty that day.
The matter of whether DeJong should bat in the top three is a different question. That problem as I see it is that no one deserves it.
Not the strongest lineup today but also not much weaker than the regular one. Hopefully Knizner gets his first hit.
Hopefully Knizner gets his first hit.
That he did, doubling to put runners at 2nd and 3rd in a 1-1 game in the bottom of the second. Ponce strikes out and now it’s Edman.
The sacks are full for Jmart who is overdue for a hit. He doesn’t get the base knock but he does get one to the OF for a 2-1 lead.
O’Neill Ks on a very iffy high slider to end the inning. Breathing room is just not a luxury this team has had lately.
Ponce playing with fire again as Cabrera singles and advances to scoring position on a no out wild pitch. The offense needs to hit the very hittable Archer for 3 more runs at least, IMO.
Single by Archer and a slow jump on a fly to Fowler means Ponce de Leon is pulled with two on and Cards down by two with two out in the top of the fourth. Leone takes over.
It seems to be the story since early May…the Cards can’t get the big hit and the opponents do. That must change and soon, but the team may be psyched out at this point.
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