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Miles Mikolas remarks:
No inning target set. Wants to be healthy and pitch all season. His bullpen session today was good, ball coming out clean. Taking day by day. Will not overdo early in camp. Expects to be sore tomorrow. Take it easy one day then prepare for next session. Then will be fine.
Innings eaters always hold value. Some teams use “five and dime” approach, taking out starters after five innings. Sometimes it works and sometimes not.
Traditional stats like wins and ERA always paint a good picture, but there are a lot of ways to get there – Ks, ground balls, etc.
As he gets older, his routine changes. Pays more attention to getting loose and warmed up. Could just roll out of bed before and long toss. Now, breakfast, stretch, trainer then let it go. Not a spring chicken anymore.
Pitching depth is what drew him to the Cards in the first place. Guys pushing each other is appealing. Guys got experience last year to come up and take control where needed.
Of new guys he hadn’t seen before, was impressed by Oviedo. Managed pitches and counts well.
Wish Gomber the best in Colorado. Did not follow trade rumors.
On batting in 2021, he took some swings in the off-season when rehab schedule allowed. Likes idea of teams losing DH when starting pitcher is removed. “That way, it’s not the Battle of the Bulge. It’s a still a chess game.” Creative hybrid solution, half traditional, half creative. Union doesn’t love the opener concept.
Is this the place for non Cards news? Didn’t really seem like the trade rumors thread fit it either.
Anyway, JT Realmuto will miss a month thanks to a broken thumb. Not a good start to the Phillies’ big investment.
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/30924464/sources-philadelphia-phillies-jt-realmuto-broken-thumb
Another way of looking at Reyes’ innings and why he will be limited:
2017 – 0 IP
2018 – 23 IP
2019 – 40 1/3 IP
2020 – 19 2/3 IPI would hope they would limit him to no more than 150 IP as a starter. I would prefer a few less than that. As a reliever, he should probably appear in no more than 50 games.
Well sounds like carpenter is being set up as a full in or bench bat. From my perspective, if carpenter is getting lots of playtime, it means bad things for us.
What’s the chances of a 6 man rotation?
-Mo said he liked not being strapped to 13 pitchers and could carry more.
-Mikolas didn’t pitch in 2020, innings limit
– Reyes innings limit
– Wainwright is 39, 40 this August.
– Martinez very few innings last year, always injury concerns with him.
– Could still throw Flaherty every 5th day, KK most of the time every 5th day, occasion giving them an extra day. Work Mikolas, Martinez, Reyes, Wainwright in around them giving extra rest to them, possibly even 2 of them going on the same day limited to 3-4 innings each.
Just a thought with what seems like a lot of innings limits and concerns.“Likes idea of teams losing DH when starting pitcher is removed. “That way, it’s not the Battle of the Bulge. It’s a still a chess game.” Creative hybrid solution, half traditional, half creative. Union doesn’t love the opener concept.”
I guess I’ve not been paying attention to some of these proposals. I don’t like the DH, but I think i could be on board with this idea even as strange as it is. But if “resting” Goldy at DH for the day, then your starter only goes 4 innings, I’d suppose you’d lose Goldy and the pitcher spot be 4th? Or would you be allowed to “double switch” the DH into a position? Pitchers spot automatically becomes the 9th spot and everyone moves up? I’m not sure how that works out.
The game gets more sand lot rules year to year it seems. But yet more high tech. Virtual reality equipped batting cages or whatever it is. But you still have to hit, catch, throw and run. At least for now. Well, actually, you don’t even have to hit or run to get on second base now sometimes. And you don’t have to catch or throw to be in the lineup sometimes.
I would say either have the DH or don’t. This hybrid approach seems silly to me.
Even though I am a long time NL supporter I am to the point where I think the the DH should be universal. It really isn’t used the way it sued to be anyway. Instead of one big aging slugger getting 600 PA’s as DH it is now spread around amongst several players which allows them to get a partial day off. Nelson Cruz is an outlier.
More importantly if I have a pitcher signed to a $100M contract I don’t want him in the batter’s box or running the bases.
More importantly if I have a pitcher signed to a $100M contract I don’t want him in the batter’s box or running the bases.
Cardinals fans of all teams should be all too aware of this reality. Waino’s injury in 2015 cost him whatever outside shot at the Hall of Fame that he had. Would have been a heck of an addition to that 100 win team.
Mike Shildt Friday comments:
Andrew Knizner has positive familiarity with pitching staff. Played well when had opportunities, but they were limited. Had a really productive off-season talking with pitchers and studying tapes with pen catcher Jamie Pogue. Created game-like situations where Knizner had to do his homework to decide how to pitch to the lineups. Got mental reps. Has done everything he could possibly to do win the position.
Jeff Albert and Stubby Clapp knew Tyler Heineman from the Astros organization.
Ali Sanchez had been scouted by the Cardinals previously. More defensive oriented.
Jordan Hicks had a normal recovery yesterday. Is on an every third day plan to pitch so will throw again tomorrow (Saturday).
Carlos Martinez had a good opportunity to pitch in winter ball. His first side yesterday was “really, really good” per Maddux and the other coaches. Don’t win games based on the first bullpen, but he was very sharp. Expected to be a contributor in the rotation. No inning target. Could oscillate either way.
Carlos and Lane THomas were the two with the most lingering affects of COVID – perhaps greater than they or the team realized.
Thomas is a toolsy guy. Can do a lot of things. Nice stroke, drives ball to all fields, which is what we like to see, simple and nice stroke. Can also run and throw. “Be aggressive and play your game.”
Mike Shildt Friday comments:
Andrew Knizner has positive familiarity with pitching staff. Played well when had opportunities, but they were limited. Had a really productive off-season talking with pitchers and studying tapes with pen catcher Jamie Pogue. Created game-like situations where Knizner had to do his homework to decide how to pitch to the lineups. Got mental reps. Has done everything he could possibly to do win the position.
Jeff Albert and Stubby Clapp knew Tyler Heineman from the Astros organization.
Ali Sanchez had been scouted by the Cardinals previously. More defensive oriented.
Jordan Hicks had a normal recovery yesterday. Is on an every third day plan to pitch so will throw again tomorrow (Saturday).
Carlos Martinez had a good opportunity to pitch in winter ball. His first side yesterday was “really, really good” per Maddux and the other coaches. Don’t win games based on the first bullpen, but he was very sharp. Expected to be a contributor in the rotation. No inning target. Could oscillate either way.
Carlos and Lane Thomas were the two with the most lingering affects of COVID – perhaps greater than they or the team realized.
Thomas is a toolsy guy. Can do a lot of things. Nice stroke, drives ball to all fields, which is what we like to see, simple and nice stroke. Can also run and throw. Told him to “Be aggressive and play your game.”
Asked Mo why Julio Rodriguez is not in camp. He said that the catcher likely will have to have surgery to remove the hamate bone in his hand. Unfortunate, but something he can bounce back from.
— Brian Walton (@B_Walton) February 19, 2021
Mo Friday remarks:
Will meet with media again on Monday.
On schedule, he has been contacted by several teams that may want to play seven inning games the first week. Will share details for fans as soon as possible.
First full squad workout still on target for Monday, 2/22.
Yadi has to undersand where he is at in his own career and their succession plan. Knizner did not get opportunities as envisioned in 2020. Also need to ensure Ivan Herrera is getting experience (at Triple-A). Have to balance Yadi playing time with succession plan. Team has informal playing time expectation, but this is only the third day of camp and it will change. Not sharing publicly.
Reyes was in rarified air as prospect – both in organization and MLB. Looking at 2021 as breakout moment. Teased in 2020 with what we saw. Expecting big things.
Letting Arenado breathe. Not following him like a small puppy. Confident he will want to be here for a long time. Would like to have wiggled out of the opt outs, but deal was complex. Easier to add on a year than take off (the opt outs).
Julio Rodriguez has a wrist injury. Will come in to be evaluated in the next few days. Likely surgery to remove hamate will be required. Unfortunate, but players can bounce back from it.
A #stlcards uniform number update. New additions Ali Sanchez and Matt Szczur have been assigned nos. 41 and 36, respectively. Last worn by Tyler O'Neill (moved to 27) and Austin Gomber (traded). Full 0-99 updated details here. (free) https://t.co/YKC8qXObwk
— Brian Walton (@B_Walton) February 19, 2021
Knizner hit well enough in AA-AAA for a sound defensive catcher who can handle pitchers and keep a lid on the running game. It sounds like he will get a chance this year, but with guys behind him in the system he will have to look good in all aspects of the position. It is not beyond possibility he could step up enough at the plate to get in some DH/PH reps if situations arise. He needs to face big league pitching as much as possible.
Side note re previous Gorman 2B report. I am not sold on Gorman playing an alternative position at big league level, based mostly on what a multitude of prior touted 3B prospect washouts have looked like. I have no familiarity with Gorman himself.
I hope both these guys can raise some eyebrows this spring.
Gorman isn’t a big lug like Holliday. Gorman is 6’1″, 210 lbs. He just happens to pack a lot of power. If Holliday can play LF, Gorman can. plus Gorman’s probably got a better arm.
I don’t think the hope for Gorman is that he ends up a LFer. At his size, if he can play a good 3B (jury is still out), he can probably play an adequate 2B. Look at Mike Moustakas, for example. At 6′ and 225, he’s a similar build and has been able to passably play 2B. That’s not to say you can’t have Gorman play 2B down the road and fill in at 1B, 3B, DH some and be a guy who gets replaced by a better defender late in the game. But there is way more value to be trying that first before immediately moving him to the OF, which is the bottom of the defensive spectrum and easily filled with a bat if you want to.
John Gant comments:
Doesn’t use social media but friends told him about trending “John Gant is good at baseball”. Nice that others said nice things about him. Others would have to answer the question of whether he is good at baseball, but “I really like baseball a lot.”
Would really like chance to get into rotation and make some starts. Did it with 2016 Braves and 2018 Cardinals. Would like to pitch deeper into games – pitch for a couple of hours rather than minutes.
Throws all pitches when relieving so that is not limiting.
Heard a little talk about six or seven man, but concentrating on job and getting in midseason form.
Contract was very straightforward. Deal presented, some back and forth and accepted.
Very slightly different routine this winter. Did not take as long to recuperate as usual, but also less to recuperate from. Started playing catch one month earlier than ever. That is the only change.
From Shilt’s Thurs. briefing:
Alex will get consideration to start, but his innings (limit) could be an issue this season. Gant to also get starting consideration.
Ponce/Oviedo/Liberatore/Thompson to be developed as starters in camp.
I’m sure the team will be having a plan for a potential injury to the top-4 starters. In that case there will be a plan to fill #4 #5 and #6. Ponce can’t go back to Memphis so he’ll be given a priority emergency starter if need be even though he might not be the best option. I keep hoping that we’ll see Oviedo in St. Louis rotation at some time. Gant is still a viable option also I for one have confidence in him when he is on the mound.
Woodford’s name doesn’t come up as often as it had. If he doesn’t impress early he’ll likely go into some sort of limbo.
Tyler Heineman comments:
After he was drafted by Houston in 2014, Stubby Clapp was his first manager (in NY-Penn League). Taught him how to be a pro. Also worked with Jeff Albert for three years when he was hitting coordination in Houston’s system.
Thought Yadi would re-sign with Cardinals when he made his decision. Before he signed, he talked with Stubby, Albert and Mo several times. Yadi was his idol growing up. Also has a good relationship with Jack Flaherty. Plays catch with him during offseason after growing up with him.
Being a good teammate is the best thing. More than happy to provide and receive advice. Tries to learn from kids as well as Yadi. Inherent respect.
Was never on a roster in the spring. Plays with a little bit of a chip on his shoulder. Wants to earn the spot.
Yadi is mentally far and away above everybody. Seeing hoe he is prepared mentally and physically. Mentality and preparation rubs off on people.
Andrew Knizner comments:
Had a bunch of homework assignments. Speed up game management experience. Watched 7-8-9 innings of close games (1 or 2 runs). Watched how catchers on other teams call games. Separated by those with low catcher ERA and high.
Watches first time through game as a fan. Second time, he views as if he was the manager. Think along with each pitch and discuss with Jamie Pogue after. He studied engineering so he likes numbers like hitter hot and cold zones. Have incredible systems that you could use to look up anything – but have to be short and sweet to not be overwhelmed.
Also checked in on how pitchers’ pens were going and has looked at Reds and Marlins in preparation for first two series of the season.
When first called up in 2019, was blown away by the data and video available. Spends hours daily writing up detailed scouting reports on hitters as well as opposing pitchers. Learned from Waino, Yadi, Wieters and sticks to process because of the volume of info.
Don’t get caught in front office stuff (such as trade rumors). They are things I can’t control. Focus on skills and mental preparation.
Learning that late in games, should stick with pitchers’ strengths. Don’t get cute. Attack hitters.
Does he consider back up C job his? Nothing is a guarantee. Everything is earned – Performance, preparation, work hard. Going out everyday to compete for the job and get better.
Far as the teams losing the dh once the starting pitcher comes out. In theory I like it cause I don’t like openers. So if we have the dh, I’m fine with that but I still hate the dh so much, I don’t want it at all. Far as high price pitchers getting hurt cause they have to run the bases, really, are we turning into football now. What comes after that. Oh we pay these guys lots of money to hit, how about we just assign them bases based on where they hit the ball, they don’t even have to run. Or better yet, since they might get hurt by getting hit by a pitched ball, let’s just give them virtual at bats. Well if that maybe we just watch all them playing mlb the show.
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