2018 Reg Seas Game #1 – at Mets – Thu 3/29

Way too early to start a baseball season. They are still having snow storms in the northeast.

But this is a sign of the times. Start in March, and end in November. Do all you can to make sure revenues are higher than last year. Cross your fingers that the weather cooperates.

MLB did that for a couple of years as I recall. Quite a few years back, they scheduled the early season games in warm weather sites, but then went away from it.

It’s rare these days that MLB does anything that makes sense to me. All decisions are based on short-term revenues, with little-to-no value ever given to the big picture, legacy, tradition or fan considerations.

But they are not alone in that way of thinking. It’s pretty much a universal thought across most industries. I think it gets magnified in professional and big-time collegiate athletics because there is so much public interest in sports.

Any predictions for the Cardinals this season? I do not see us as a serious contender this year, although the late Spring success is good see. But I think the starting pitching is too thin to hold up over the long haul, and am not a big fan of this bullpen shuffle approach they plan to take.

So I will go on record as seeing us finish in the low 80s for wins, say 82-80 or 83-79.

The plan to move relievers back and forth between Memphis and St. Louis does not bode well in my opinion. They say they are going to do it to keep fresh arms available at all times. So what is Stubby supposed to do when he has one of the “shuffled” players, not use him? Plus we are dealing with people, not robots or player cards from a table top game. I would think all of the moving around and changes in roles, locations, levels of play etc would make it tough for a guy to get into a groove.

Hopefully I am wrong and the club “goes crazy” and wins 97 games or so. With some better fundamentals than last year, they could add a couple of wins right there. But it just seems like they are running the show in the way Matheny always does things, which is micro-manage. You cannot do that and expect players to get the most from their talent.

Well hopefully the weather stays away and I get an early birthday gift of a Cards win…

I am looking forward to it. If nothing else, I believe this will be a transition year where we start to get a feel for what our next core will look like. We’ve got a lot of young talent, particularly on the pitching side, that should begin to appear on the MLB roster this year and hopefully will start to flash promise that we could be a legit challenger to the Cubs and Brewers for the next 5 years.

Interesting to see JMart starting instead of Jedd.

I hope I was wrong about MIkolas. Including his last appearance the 4 starters not named Martinez have this line:
12 2/3 IP, 6 hits, 1 run, 2 walks, 20 strikeouts

My only concern is that their endurance was not built up any more. With all the time allotted for spring training, no one pitched more than 5 innings one stint. It is one thing to have an 8 man bullpen because your starters aren’t going very deep into games later in the season, but it is another situation you are planning for lower pitch counts and higher relief usage for opening day and beyond, when you cannot stop after 9 innings and call it a tie.

P.S. If they have ties in Spring Training, shouldn’t it get you a point like in the old NHL days. Ha Ha

Why the hell is Molina hitting 6th.Dejong 7th? WTF is Matheny smoking?Is everybody high there? First paying 14 million for a iffy closer and losing a high draft pick.Damn Damn Damn.

Way WAY to easy first for Noah.

no complaining when stating FACTS

Molina!!! gets 2 back on a 2 run HR