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5:40 p.m.
LHP Jordan Montgomery (2-6, 4.21) vs. LHP Brandon Williamson (0-0, 1.59)
BSM // KMOX
(and Bally Sports Southeast/Southwest Extra)Hopefully he can improve that record against the Reds. We haven’t scored many runs for him.
Speaking of runs, we now have the 2nd most runs scored in the NL behind only the Dodgers.
Uhhhh, well…….
I am one of those that is not very high on Nootbaar. I’ve often said he’s a career .235 hitter or thereabouts. Earlier in the year I was pleasantly surprised at his batting average which was around the .300 mark for awhile. He is now at .258 and trending towards his norm.
So, we shall stay tuned. I bet he gets the day off in this one against the lefty.
r/Esteemed Rat
I like Nootbaar, as he uses all fields and can crank it up a notch as well. He can also go get the ball. But as anyone knows who sees my posts, I favor athleticism, particularly in the outfield. Noot also brings the passion, which I like.
He is a guy I would keep. But I tell ya, Mercado is showing us something. He may end up putting pressure on some of these guys and if they do not perform, Oscar might just take their place. He has me thinking back to 1985 and Vince Coleman – came up in May and was a spark to a club that was treading water early in the season. Maybe Oscar is the second coming of Vince Coleman.
That .384 OBP thingy Nootbaar has might be worth looking into. It is really good for leadoff guys. Against LHP this season, he has a .286 BA and .419 OBP, both better than his numbers against RHP. So why would they sit him?
There is this thing called a slump. Nootbaar is having one now. Just like every other player on the team has every year at some time.
I have never understood the emphasis on batting average. It is such a weak and puny statistic. All it measures is quantity of hits, with no thought to quality. A bunt single counts the same as a home run. That is just lame.
Now Slugging is good because it measures quality. On base percentage is good because the more a player gets on base the more he can score runs, and runs lead to wins which are the ultimate goal.
Batting average is just “meh” to me.
I’ll never disregard the significance of a nice looking BA, but you’re right, Marilyn…RBI’s and runs scored are what makes the baseball world go around. And although they’re often over-emphasized, everyone absolutely adores the almighty TATER!…Haha!
Noot’s April BA was .240 and May .270, so is he in a slump? The answer is yes, because as a top of the order hitter, his job is getting on base ahead of the big boppers. That means OBP is what matters. His April OBP was .415 and May .361.
The guy whose production has gone off a cliff from last year is Donovan. That guru he worked with over the winter to optimize his approach was the kiss of death. He is doing even worse in May that in April so there is no sign of pulling out of it. His defensive versatility has been keeping him in there a lot, but recently OliMo has been going with Edman instead. With Gorman hitting well and now Mercado, Donovan is going to be fighting for playing time. Hopefully someone will emerge as a reliable top of the order OBP guy so Goldschmidt can slide back down into the middle of the order.
Thought I would point out that Goldschmidt has NOT hit a homerun in two weeks now. The last dongs he slammed were the three on that Sunday afternoon. Maybe Crosley Field can get him going again.
r/Esteemed Rat
Just to reiterate, a .361 “slumping” May OBP is very good. In fact, the only guys with a better OBP on the entire team are Goldy and Gorman. It is not like there is another better leadoff option being passed over. Nootbaar is not a star, but he is doing what is asked of him. As noted, there are others performing far below par. So why continually focus on a stat that is not fully indicative, ignoring explanations as to why, other than to tweak other posters, perhaps?
Goldschmidt has always been notoriously streaky. He has one bad month every season. The good news is that Arenado is out of his slump and Gorman continues to produce. And the team is winning more often than not.
I am hopeful for Mercado, but realistic. 11 plate appearances are not much. He has a long MLB track record (over 950 PAs) so this is around where he may level off to – .240 BA, sub .300 OBP, sub .700 OPS. But as noted, ride him while hot.
Bling’s mention of Donovan’s substantial offensive drop-off this season illustrates my recent thoughts and he’s really scuffled during his last few games in the form of only 3 hits, all of which have been singles, in his last 20 PA’s. It’s not what I’d term a legitimate excuse, but it seems as though many of his trips to the plate this season have been adversely affected by the presence of questionable judgements on the part of the HPU concering ball/strike calls. He seems to be forever battling from behind in the count and unlike last season, he’s losing that battle. I was afforded enough looks at him in ’22 in the form of 468 PA’s to remain convinced that he’ll eventually not only return to the type of hitter that has an outstanding ability to reach base, but also to make enough solid contact to spray the baseball around the playing field and have it fall in for base hits. At any rate, I’m going to continue to find somewhere to place him into the line-up as long as it’s not in the 5 slot…Haha!
I’m in total agreement on Mercado, but I’d continue to play him until he cools off, BW. However, I’m not at all certain I’d term Paul Goldschmidt as notoriously streaky. He’s an across the board elite hitter. Yeah, he’ll occasionally endure a stretch in which he’s not seeing and ripping the baseball as well as he normally does, but in my view, he’s near as a consistently dangerous hitter as there is.
I’ll also say that I’d rather have Paul Goldschmidt situated in the batter’s box with a couple of baseunners aboard and the need for an extra base hit or better than any other player in the entire Big Leagues with the possible exception of Freddie F’n Freeman who absolutely induces in me a sense of extreme panic and hysteria every time he steps in during the aforementioned situation…Haha!
Yes, I am not questioning Goldy’s greatness, but I once did the research and back to his Arizona days, he had one bad stretch at different times each year.
Yeah, BW, it could very well be an annual event with Goldy and I’d have to say the worst I’ve ever seen from him occured at the tail end of the ’22 regular season and unfortunately extended into the 2 post-season games. I can’t recall seeing a hitter of his calibre looking as entirely lost as he was at that time. It’s the primary reason that Freeman impresses me as possibly a slight sliver ahead of Goldy insofar as being the best hitting 1B’man in either league.
Brian, I would tend to disagree that Nootbaar is not a “star”. He is most definitely a star…in Japan. 🙂
Aside from being a good leadoff guy, which he definitely is, he is also a bundle of energy, which is good for this team. Baseball is supposed to be entertainment, and Nootbaar is entertaining.
Well, the Redbirds have seemingly gained control and pulled out of the dismal early season tailspin that had them close to impacting the deck and resulting in what could be termed a fatal crash. At 10 games back on April 29th, and that same deficit extending to May 6th, the Cardinals were without question on the cusp of no return from oblivion, and with 3 upcoming games with CIN I was reminded of the Reds horrendous start to their ’22 season. They lost 23 of their first 25 games and at 10 games back in the NLC on April 30th of ’22, their season was effectively over at that early juncture. Done, finito and finshed before the end of the first month of the season. I’m mentioning this fact only for the reason being that I’m once again reminded to be thankful that I’m a Redbird fan…Haha!
Over his last 6 games Noot is 1 for 24, w/a 2/4 BB/K, so if a fan wants to acknowledge this, that’s fair.
To continue being fair, Noots 6 games before that he was 9 for 24, w/a 5/5 BB/K, needs acknowledging also.
Mlb avg BA is .248 today, Noot is at .258 so he’s above avg at his worst slash line component.
Once we start considering Noots OBP and SLG, he becomes well above avg (111 ops+).
Yep, every player has small peaks and valleys. As I see it, there is nothing about Noot that causes any unusual concern. For whatever reason, the BA gets overmagnified at the expense of the other more favorable aspects of his game.
The Nootz is not only a Big League baseball star, but also qualifies as a thoroughly established headliner sort of star who’s name could appear atop any marquee located in the glitzy bright lights of Las Vegas as the 25 year young and exuberant, “Wayne Nooton”…Simply dress him up in a black tux accompanied with diamond cufflinks, hand him a microphone and about 15 to 20 leggy and glamorous showgirls and no one in the audience would ever be able to discern the difference between the Redbird OF’er and the slick, smooth Vegas performer as The Nootz wowed them into a frenzy by belting out a rousing rendition of “Danke Schoen”…Haha!
All jokes aside, if you want to see an illustration of a genuine doppleganger, key in images for a “Young Wayne Newton”…If he were wearing eye black, it’d be a carbon copy…Haha!
I was aware that the The Nootz had been struggling but not to the degree of the 1 for 24 dive that jj mentioned. That’s pretty bad, but not only do I believe he’ll scuffle through and turn it around, but also that his glove needs to be in the OF. Might want to consider placing him in a different line-up slot for a bit if it continues and let Eddie lead-off while he’s hot, but in my view The Nootz needs to be in the OF everyday.
The Reds have lost four in a row. Hopefully it will be eight in a row by late Thursday afternoon. Realistically we could probably expect to win three of these games. Maybe a split.
Then again, we might lose them all, who knows. I guess that’s why they play the game. The Brewers play Houston for three days so we could gain some ground this week.
r/Esteemed Rat
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