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The front office really bungled in signing Vergagen. I know other bullpen folks gave up up runs last night, but Gallegos and Cabrera have been for the most part good to very good. Verhagen is like Cecil, we’re going to keep trotting him out there and lose games, and get our 5.4 mill use out of him thru most of next year. Yet we let Rondon go for nothing. The organization should have never added Rondon if they had no faith in him.
Well, that was brutal.
Need a catcher, a starter (or two), bullpen help, and an outfielder.
4-5 guys whether its players coming back from injury or through trades.
Can / will this FO get it done?
Unfortunately the answer is simple. $$$ I think we should field the best team, period, but my vote doesn’t count.
Jeez man, how many of these games will we give away before we stabilize the middle relief?? Another game where Woodford might have brought it home with 3 innings after Waino went out.
No way to know, but I would venture to guess that management is a net negative so far in games that we either took or gave away.
BikeMike, Woody couldn’t have done any worse. Woodford needs to be up for last nights exact situation. Verhagen needs to go, and they need another closer if Helsley can’t pitch more often.
I don’t recall any games this year where the Cardinals have overcome a 3+ run deficit from the 6th inning on but it seems like the reverse is true….
I agree with most of this article.
Rip away on Marmol if you like. But he is not the one who shook up a bullpen that had been pitching better. He didn’t send out Zack Thompson to make room for activated under-achievers like VerHagen and TJ McFarland. And he does not have the luxury of having guys in his bullpen he can’t ask to pitch.
Rip away on Gallegos, who never shies away from any assignment, if you prefer. But did you want McFarland, the only other available reliever unused at that point, pitching the ninth?
Left unsaid Wednesday was that it sure would have been nice to have Helsley for that spot.
His team needs a little more from him.
if this front office does not get serious about adding a starter capable of winning a playoff game, it probably doesn’t matter.
BenFred: Cardinals need a little more from Ryan Helsley, along with one big save from front office https://t.co/R31DAyaTwE
— STLToday Sports News (@STL_SportsNews) July 14, 2022
I don’t agree with a key part of it.
We don’t have the benefit of being able to read medical reports on players or know how they are feeling each day. Helsley clearly has some limitations. I am sure everyone would like him to pitch as much as he can. But as noted in the story, he wasn’t available Wednesday and it would have been five appearances in seven days if he had pitched.
Frankly, a columnist (or any outsider) asking for Helsley to give “more” seems narrow-minded and ill-informed at best. By his questioning of Marmol, he thinks an unavailable pitcher should be made avaiable during the game if the situation warrants. Bad idea. Taking medical risks on the fly with players increases the chance of injury. If/when Helsley goes down, the new stories will question the manager for overusing/misusing him. Which way is the wind blowing today?
The main problem wasn’t that Helsley wasn’t available. It was that they had no one else to stop the bleeding.
Unfortunately the answer is simple. $$$. I think we should field the best team… period
Exactly right, Cardinals27. In business and in life, one should always avoid compounding mistakes. Examples in sports abound, but let’s take a quick gander at Russell Wilson’s rookie season in Seattle shall we? The Seahawks, in dire need of an efficient signal caller, signed prized backup QB Matt Flynn of the championship rich Green Bay Packers, to a pretty lucrative contract in the off season prior to the draft. The Seahawks then selected Wisconsin QB Russell Wilson in the 3rd round of the draft. In training camp, Wilson outperformed Flynn. Still, many, if not most, GM’s and coaches, would have put the rookie on the bench and started the high priced veteran anyway. But not GM John Schneider and head coach Pete Carroll. Seattle received virtually no productivity from Matt Flynn in his time in Seattle…..but Schneider did not exasperate his mistake in vastly overpaying Flynn, by starting the inferior player to give the appearance that the Flynn signing was not a mistake. Wilson went to the Pro Bowl in his rookie year and hasn’t looked back since. Anyway, Mo needs to do what is beneficial to the team here and DFA both Verhagen and McFarland.
The main problem wasn’t that Helsley wasn’t available. It was that they had no one else to stop the bleeding.
I don’t disagree with that Brian. My initial take was Helsley should have been out there since he didn’t pitch on Monday, however he did pitch on Sunday and Saturday so it makes sense he was unavailable last night.
But it is still true that Marmol’s hands have been tied behind his back all year with many aspects of this roster, especially the bullpen. Poor roster construction.
Agreed. But the lead headline is getting more out of Helsley. That was tried just last year with the big three and after working a while, it eventually failed. I for one am glad they are taking care with Helsley and are not bowing to external pressure to cut corners.
Fix the real problem. Get better pitchers. Not squeeze “more” out of the few good ones you have.
Yes, we have had discussions about previous managers overusing the bullpen. Trotting people out there until their arms fall off. I believe that was part of the discussion the first time Hicks got injured.
McFarland should have been cut weeks ago. These bullpen games where Hicks starts and everybody throws 1-3 innings are nonsense. They tax the entire bullpen.
If we had used a multi-inning reliever like Woodford or Thompson last night, the bullpen likely wouldn’t have imploded. But they are in Memphis, because Mo can’t let every offseason free agent acquisition go…
“Not squeeze “more” out of the few good ones you have.”
We could ride Helsley right into the ground just like we did Reyes, but we shouldn’t.
And tell me Gallegos is the same after 73 games and 80 IP last season. We wore him out too, and the effects are showing up this season.
When you consistently carry 8 pen members and trust only three in back to back seasons, it reeks of roster neglect.
Either Mo is an idiot, or the owners are cheapskates. A blind man could see this glaring need, again.
Guy we all know this team isn’t going to pay the prospects it takes to get a front line starter or get a couple arms via trade for the pen. They didn’t really do it last year. McFarland, Garcia and Leblanc were signed off the scrap heap. Happ was gotten for a walk machine in Gant and Lester we got for Thomas. Who was basically written off by this team. Could be missing someone here.
They’ve said it again and again. They like what they have. Jack might be back in a pen role in August. That’s what they’ll feed the sheep. Matz is like adding solid starter ( jury is still out IMO).
Honestly if they hit any team up if they were serious I’d hit up the White Sox for Lynn or Cueto and Kelly around the deadline. They may fall out, Tony might get canned and they very well might be in a position to retool a bit. I do think they could be better than they’ve been due to injuries but the clueless Chicago media is circling the wagons.
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