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1:15 p.m.
RHP Adam Wainwright (11-7, 3.26) vs. LHP Steven Brault (0-1, 1.84)
BSM // KMOX // WIJR
Also BSSW+ in Oklahoma and Arkansas and BSSO in TN, KY and MSFeels more like “season”. Reds have tied Padres for second wild card while the Cardinals are languishing. The Padres are in a free fall, with Cincy the new team to chase. Six head to head in the next 20. Reds lead season series 8-5.
Individual players seem to have some talent but collectively they are stuck in first gear. It’s as if they are leaderless. Or maybe they have turned the page on this season already.
Two teams to catch is significantly more difficult than one.
I keep waiting for this team to ‘throw the switch’ but there is just something off with them.
The pitching issues are easy to diagnose – Injuries to starters messed it all up.
The batting order is what I cannot decipher – the OBP isn’t good enough and we’ve been searching for a leadoff hitter since before the Fowler debacle and have really never found one….but, it feels like the offense has been lacking for years now.
Need a good leadoff man. Bader would be the the natural one. But his August line of .164/.253/.164/.418 wouldn’t have worked. At least at present.
ZTR said:
…we’ve been searching for a leadoff hitter since before the Fowler debacle and have really never found one…
I see it differently. Wong grew into the job nicely, but after he got good at leading off, he became too expensive for the Cardinals’ budget.
Yep we had a good leadoff player but the Cardinals didn’t feel that was a priority so they let him walk away.
Unless someone else comes onboard in 2022 then Edman is our leadoff hitter for pretty much the foreseeable future.
Din-din today will be a couple of center cut rib chops in the air fryer, some Bush’s baked beans with onions, a glass of water, and some homemade ice cream. Trying a new recipe. Meal will start around the time of the first pitch of the Marlins/Reds game. Then after din-din it will be time for a cigar or two whilst me and Whitey Herdog are on the couch, watching the Pirates game.
r/Esteemed Rat
#stlcards have updated their lineup, with a notable change:
Edman 4
Goldschmidt 3
O’Neill 7
Arenado 5
Molina 2
Nootbaar 9
Sosa 6
Bader 8
Wainwright 1— Jeff Jones (@jmjones) August 22, 2021
#stlcards have activated Kwang Hyun Kim and optioned Junior Fernández. KK goes to the bullpen.
— Jeff Jones (@jmjones) August 22, 2021
What is the fascination that Shildt has for hitting Goldschmidt 2nd?????
There is NWIH that he should be hitting 2nd.
Have not yet seen Daniel Ponce de Leon yet this morning.
— Jeff Jones (@jmjones) August 22, 2021
Maybe Edman will grow into becoming an effective lead off hitter at about the time escapes team control.
Full disclosure, I wasn’t nearly as concerned about letting Wong’s bat go as I was top-tier up-the-middle defense.
What is the fascination that Shildt has for hitting Goldschmidt 2nd?????
I think it’s pretty clear that Shildt has a fascination for the things Mo and the boys upstairs tell him they’d like to see a lot of.
It isn’t that uncommon to see power bats hit 2nd these days. I have seen Rizzo and Votto hit second. LaRussa hit Larry Walker second.
Wong went to a smaller market team that obviously thought he was worth the money. I think it is more along the lines we thought we had cheaper alternatives with the talent to step into the role. Unsurprisingly we were wrong and Milwaukee was right. What’s more, there is no one on the roster or elsewhere in the system looking like a candidate for lead off hitter next year. To the wonks maybe, but not in real life.
As to the lineup, putting a T.O. poster boy third makes sense for a team that has trouble putting hits together or otherwise manufacturing runs. Whomever has the best platoon split OBP should be in the two slots above.
Whomever has the best platoon split OBP should be in the two slots above
Yes, and Edman’s OBP of around .300 simply will not work….
I see it differently. Wong grew into the job nicely, but after he got good at leading off, he became too expensive for the Cardinals’ budget
Brian, You are right. I checked his stats for ’19-’21 and he’s at .350-.360 OBP.
If Wong is a Cardinal this year he’s leading off and playing 2nd at GG level. Edman would be the utility guy. Him at the top of the lineup probably stabilizes the whole thing and gives the offense a BIG bump…
In hindsight, letting him walk was the worst FO decision since the Carpenter extension. It is made even worse by the fact that he went to a division rival and is doing for them what he could be doing for us.
Even worse, he’s only 30 and so probably has 3-4 more solid years left.
Ugh…..
Indeed, letting Wong go was clearly a mistake. But the miscue is greatly enhanced with Wong playing for one of 2021’s best teams…..and a divisional rival to boot. Put Wong in a Seattle Mariners uniform and we’d be giving Wong about as much attention as we do Women’s professional basketball…….no offense to our fairer sex Cardinal Nationers.
As expected, Cy Peters baffled Cardinal batters last night. Can Cy Brault do likewise today?
Din-din. I awoke this morning saying to myself “You know what…. I’m going to have exactly what Rat has for din-din today”. My lesser half said all was doable except the homemade ice cream request. So my lovely wife is baking a Dutch apple pie to which we will be slapping some Breuer’s vanilla ice cream to it’s top. I already have the two enlarged cigars to match Rat’s’ and I also have my own canine version to Rat’s Whitey Herdog, to accompany me on my couch. The only difference is that my dog is a 138 lb. white German Shepherd, compared to Rat’s 8 lb little guy….which I am sure is a fantastic pooch…..God love all dogs as they are the finest species on the planet. Go Birds!
We are waiting on an Amtrac train that is two hours late. Travel connections and logistics out the window. I am eyeing a tuna on white in the vending machine for did din.
Letting Wong walk was a mistake from the get-go. Having him sign with a division rival intensified the mistake.
If the Rockies are dumb enough to fire Bud Black after the season, he is a guy I would love to see manage our ball club. He is one of those guys that gets the most from what he has to work with, and is terrific at using his pitching staff.
But I doubt the Rox will do that. They make some questionable decisions, but I think there are enough baseball people are the organization that would let them know what they have.
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