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Mathews is a 23 year old who stayed at Stanford for all 4 years. He could accelerate through the system if he keeps up what he’s doing. He’s 2 levels below Roby and Hence right now, but he could be closing up that gap this season.
I don’t know if it’s any consolation or not, but Jackson Holiday just got sent back down after batting .056 and striking out 50% of the time – albeit he’s only 20 years old. Victor Scott just turned 23. Hype is pushing these guys faster than their skills can keep up.
Brian, I don’t know, add Scott’s speed factor and Walker’s power potential and Memphis should be formidable. And the Cardinals haven’t exactly been the “Bronx Bombers”, so far.
The main problem with Cards has nothing to do with Walker or Scott. It has to do with Goldy and Arenado needing to lead the offensive charge.
bccran, no doubt about Goldy and Arenado. However, Walker’s overall ineffectiveness was indeed a huge factor in the Cardinals early offensive struggles, too. With Walker out of the lineup, Burleson needs to really pick up his offensive production. Especially, the power. Even if it means striking out more often. Last night was a prime example.
One thing I liked about Mathews performance is that he went 90 pitches. They aren’t babying him and think he can handle the workload.
I will be disappointed if Mathews doesn’t finish the last month in Springfield
For those that listen to Brian’s podcast, one of the things Blake has mentioned twice now is that Mathews is simply dominating the hitters with his fastball, and as he moves up, he will have to utilize his secondaries more.
So, while I don’t think he will be in Palm Beach very long, I am not sure how many promotions he will get this year.
That is not what I saw on GameDay last night. I would say that over 50% of his pitches were off speed and I got the impression that it was his changing speeds that was fooling the opposition.
I hope to see them promote Mathews to Peoria soon. I am thrilled to see the K%, but he is a little old for low A ball and needs some more quality hitters to challenge him to see if he is for real.
I’m not sure what they would do in Palm Peach to open a roster spot. None of the starters there look ready for AA. Although one of the existing starters is likely more suited for the bullpen. Not sure which though.
Mathews has gone from using fast balls to set up his secondary pitches to using secondary pitches to set up his fast balls.
In the videos Brian has included in his minor league highlights, has anyone noticed that the stadiums are almost empty? Is it a general loss of interest in baseball, or just that the kids aren’t out of school yet?
On Saturday, the #stlcards system went 1-3. The Cardinal Nation’s Player of the Day, Palm Beach C Sammy Hernandez, went 4-for-5 and scored twice. Other standouts include Jared Young, R.J. Yeager, Matt Lloyd, Joseph King and Augusto Calderon. (free) https://t.co/BdWup4r048 pic.twitter.com/frQmrdxLXT
— Brian Walton (@B_Walton) April 28, 2024
Inevitably, one of our starters will likely get injured, and that will be Robberse’s chance to join the rotation.
A decision was made to have Thompson and Pallente work in the AAA rotation. But reading between the lines is not straightforward. Are Thompson and Pallente next up, or are they there so that Memphis will still have starters when other guys, like Robberse, get called up? It seems like the former is more likely that the latter, but then, why load up on new guys only to continue using the old guys?
You need multiple options to bring up. Robberse may have just pitched when you find out you need a starter the next day.
It will be difficult for Robberse to push his way past Thompson and Pallante because they both have major league experience. But if Robberse keeps pitching the way he has been so far in 2024, and if Thompson and Pallante keep giving up those BB’s, it could happen.
One thing I liked about Mathews performance is that he went 90 pitches. They aren’t babying him and think he can handle the workload.
Mathews is the guy who made headlines when his coach left him out there for 156 pitches one time his last season at Stanford in 2023. He did regularly go 100+ IP in his starts, 15 out of 18 starts, I believe.
Unfortunately, I can tell you what is likely to happen with Mathews, because this is the Cardinals and for those who have been paying attention, we know how this goes with pitchers. Mathews is a guy who came through college throwing low 90s and getting guys out by keeping them guessing by changing speeds and by keeping his fastball off the middle of the plate. He proved to be both effective and durable. What the Cardinals are not going to do is work with him to refine and perfect that approach. Instead, they will work to “add a few ticks” and get him sitting mid 90s and touching upper 90s. He will have good success until he blows out his arm.
Mathews is a similar pitcher to what Graceffo was and so I think the Cardinals will do Mathews like they did Graceffo. Here is what Baseball America had to say in their scouting report on Graceffo after 2021, his first pro year. “Graceffo started the 2021 season sitting 87-91 mph and touching 93, but by the end of the year his velocity ticked up to sit at 94 mph and was up to 98 in pro ball.” We all know what happened next. He shot up the prospect list, excelled in the AFL, and everyone was lathered up, and then he blew out his arm. Now he’s scuffling with a bum shoulder. That is where we are going with this. Keep an eye on his velo and mark my words. There is a reason the Cardinals can’t develop starters and nothing has changed.
On Sunday, the #STLCards system went 1-3. The Cardinal Nation’s Player of the Day, Palm Beach RHS Chen-Wei Lin, threw seven scoreless innings with seven Ks. Other standouts include Michael McGreevy, Matt Lloyd, Leonardo Bernal and Lizandro Espinoza. (free) https://t.co/HNh7bC2SRS pic.twitter.com/KKWLRRS9N7
— Brian Walton (@B_Walton) April 29, 2024
It’s a fine line in big league pitching and I don’t think the Cardinals are alone in pushing guys to pitch faster once they sign. It’s basically universal. Arms can wear out in all manner of fashion today and pitching faster is only one of them.
It would be great to go back to the days when 90-92 mph was more than sufficient to get big league hitters out, but that’s no longer the case. The number of guys who thrive without at least good velocity is pretty small. Look at the difference it makes for someone like Liberatore, for example.
Some pitchers will fail to develop, to be sure. It doesn’t mean that the Cards need to go back to pitchability guys and play to contact…we saw exactly how that went last year.
Agreed, stlcard25. Without putting the Cardinals into context by comparing pitching injuries with the other 29 systems, it is impossible to know if they are worse (or better) than the norm.
I have seen data that indicates for MLB injuries (all players), the Cards have been lower than average in recent years. However, I haven’t seen comparable minor league data, let alone for pitchers specifically. And even injury days lost would not fully cover a case like Graceffo, to test the theory of diminished results post-injury.
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