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I don’t have any problem with aggressive defense so long as good judgement is used. A diving attempt shouldn’t be attempted sometimes, in favor of making sure it doesn’t get past you. I don’t recall Bader and the team getting stung by that so far. Offensively, he is slumping bad this month after a strong July. Season batting line is OK for a top shelf up the middle defender hitting down in the order, at least vs righties. He is hitting .188 vs lefties so a pronounced reverse platoon split, but we don’t have a real good alternative vs. lefties. Not good enough to offset the loss of defense in CF, IMO.
Can’t have guys like Carp, DeJong, and Bader in the lineup and expect to compete against the big boys. The Carp problem was fixed. The DeJong problem is being fixed…finally. It’s now time to address the Bader problem.
If you get to worrying you are not getting enough offense from your SS and CF it normally means you are not getting enough from your corner guys. Upgrade is always good though, and we especially need to upgrade SS.
I do agree we need to substantially upgrade the offense. A new CF or an OF shuffle involving CF should be in play this winter. It just depends on what Mo brings in and the assessment of AAA guys this winter. I don’t think getting rid of Bader should itself be a focus. Upgrading offense should be the focus, by whatever means.
BB – you can’t talk about upgrading the offense without talking about Carpenter, DeJong, and Bader. Carp is gone. Sosa is doing a decent job replacing DeJong. That leaves sliding Carlson or O’Neill over to CF and plugging in a new starting corner outfielder. That could be Nootbaar, Yepez, Burleson, or an addition from outside.
Willie I think if you look back I praised Bader on his hit last game. Just because you don’t get charged with an error on a play doesn’t mean it wasn’t a bad play. Playing a double into a triple by allowing a ball to come off a wall and roll half way back to the infield is the same to me as an error. Poor defense. Bader would be a valuable 5th outfielder. If you can’t get quality in return keep him. Great pinch runner. I think his defense will improve. His bat I don’t see improving. My opinion. Time to move on.
Well since he’s the best defensive player on this team outside maybe goldy at respective positions I’ll just disagree. Far as him staying on team as a role player, no if that’s the case I hope he gets traded. While his bat definitely will never be really consistently good, his hustle and defense will more than make up for it and deserves to play. A good team doesn’t need everyone to hit good but they do need great defensive play so bader should have the chance to find a team and fanbase that deserve him if the cardinals decide he’s not their centerfielder. But yea time to move on.
I think Nootbar has played is way into the outfield mix, and not just as a fourth outfielder. Bader, O’Neill, Carlson, and Nootbar all need a place to play.
BTW, Junior Fernandez threw two or three 99 MPH fastballs last night with 9 to 3 movement. I don’t remember ever seeing a 99 MPH fastball move left to right horizontally like that. It seems like the organization has been pushing him along in spite of his control issues. I guess that’s why.
mud said:
It seems like the organization has been pushing him (Fernandez) along…
Why do you feel that way? He has been in pro ball eight years, since 2014. Reached Springfield in 2018 and Memphis in 2019.
Fernandez is great at times but comes unglued at times and is pretty much done for a while after, that’s my take anyway
Fernandez looked pretty good back in 2018-2019 but pretty bad this year, both in AAA and MLB. At least as far as totals goes. I guess he has good outings amongst the bad ones. Like BW said, they have a lot of development time invested in him, and with the slimmed down minors new guys will be coming along needing the AAA reps. He came along the same time as Alcantara and the wonks have been salivating over the hard throwing International teenagers ever since.
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