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Liberatore’s problems predate Marmol to when he got beamed up to AAA for 2021 after no game action in 2020. I don’t remember how many A ball innings he had in 2019 but that was about it for his experience. Then in 2022 he got called up not having established that he could dominate AAA hitters. He’s been struggling the whole time. I’ve been calling out the ridiculousness of it the whole time and mostly getting poo pood.
Bob Reed is spot on in his analysis of Marmol’s handling of Liberatore. Building up arm strength and psyches are both vital to starters and Oliver fouled up Liberatore’s season.
I am anticipating great improvement from Liberatore this spring, and I hope it is in a rotation. I can’t imagine Marmol masterfully leading Liberatore to reach his massive potential out of the pen.For awhile, it seemed like every year, there was bad news when camp opened with some starter. I remember Alex Reyes and Carlos Martinez, I think. Maybe even Waino at some point…
I have the data so will hammer out an article about that right now!
Brian – I’d be interested in how often is a starter injured at the start of the season and how often is a reliever (or multiple relievers) injured. I’m guessing there’s almost always at least one reliever down. Starters might be more like 60-70% of the time. Last year we were down Waino to open the season and did a plug and play with Woodford.
It is worse than I thought. I will stop there and we can discuss further on the members board. Maybe I will follow with a relievers article.
Have you ever dreaded news of an injury making a member of the #stlcards' rotation unavailable for Opening Day? If you did, the data from the last 13 years fully supports your concern. ($) https://t.co/iIYV1EmVSS pic.twitter.com/bB5UiiIoKH
— Brian Walton (@B_Walton) February 13, 2024
I am going to agree with the quote from Matz.
To be the pitcher the #STLCards need him to be, Steven Matz knows he has to be durable. That thought led to changes in his offseason to get ready for '24.
“I would say both my years with the Cardinals so far have been disappointing, for me personally."https://t.co/GkGxDhGirw
— John Denton (@JohnDenton555) February 13, 2024
I am going to agree with the quote from Matz.
I remember a similar article on Matz about this time last year. He talked about how he was disappointed in his 2022 season, didn’t earn his pay, and worked hard in the off-season to give himself a good chance of rebounding in 2023. Matz was my not-totally-serious pre-season choice for World Series MVP last last year, haha.
I’ll take him at his word that he’s putting in the work, but then all you can say is we need him to be luckier this year! It goes hand-in-hand with BillyMo’s approach to building a roster that has a “chance” of getting lucky in the post-season. We’re on solid ground.
Cardinals considering a six-man rotation to navigate rigorous start to regular season https://t.co/ZzDMCHJjf5
— Derrick Goold (@dgoold) February 14, 2024
In regards to the Liberatore comments above, he and Thompson both need to start the year in Memphis as starters. With the age of the pitching staff, they are going to need at least 7 starters this year.
However, based on a quick glance, there would be 7 starters lined up for the Memphis rotation and I don’t have a guess as to who they could bump. The depth in the minors is great compared to a year ago but, the quality is a bit concerning other than Roby and Hence.
With all of the BP additions, that shouldn’t be a tough task. Romero, King and Pallante (with his splits) can cover the left handed needs so it’s not a dire situation.
I read a comment that Lynn showed up at Spring Training looking like he lost weight. Don’t remember where I read it. Sorry. It does make sense if he wants to take home that, possibly, last multimillion dollar paycheck in 2025.
Jeff jones tweeted a photo of Lynn. Also mentioned that Lance showed up driving a’Barbie pink Bronco’
“Thin Lance Lynn” isn’t new. It is just cyclical. The following quote is from 11 years ago, spring 2013.
Less than four months after Lynn began his weight-loss journey in October 2012, he says his teammates didn’t even recognize him when he showed up at training camp last year carrying 30 fewer pounds on his 6-foot-5 frame. “They were absolutely shocked—like they saw a new person,” he says. “For teammates to be happy for you that you did everything you could to become a better player, that’s what it’s all about.”
He went on to post a 3.97 ERA that season, which was his highest in 5 1/2 years as a Cardinal. If I recall correctly, he had stamina concerns (but still made 33 starts).
Of course, that was then and this is now…
If the Cardinals go with a six man rotation then I would assume that either Liberatore or Thompson would be in the STL rotation, and maybe both if we have injuries.
“Lance Lynn” and “fit” should not be in the same sentence, lol. Fat people don’t become fit just by losing weight, only to regain it. Good thing is pitching is one of those “athletic” positions that doesn’t require a “fit” body. There are many examples.
Losing weight is usually good for obese people though, but there can be unintended consequences. Seems like I remember not too long ago a pitcher who lost a lot of weight, but then performance went downhill. Can’t remember who at the moment. Mechanics went all to hell without the fat. Probably put his body out of balance and alignment, haha.
I’m not sure that total tonnage hurts a guy like Lynn. He’s always been a big guy who could be described as portly and I sometimes think a naturally thick set guy like him taking off weight can also lose a little strength in the process. He’s listed as carrying 275 lbs. on a 6-5 frame. That’s not so bad. Sabathia was listed as 6-6 and 300 lbs. In any event, I don’t think it’s as important for pitchers to have a sexy and stylish figure as it is for OF’ers or middle IF’ers. If Lynn wants to attack a plate of pork chops along with a large side dish of rice and gravy it won’t bother me too much. You gotta eat…
I think Bob Reed is on to something with Libby. I remember the game he was brought in relief not long after he made an impressive showing in his first start with the big club last year. On the game thread I commented something like “Don’t like bringing Libby in here after he has been groomed as a starter.” He really struggled and it just seemed like he was suddenly thrown into an unfamiliar role.
He is a guy I would give a starter’s role to, and stick with it. He has the look of a solid, mid-rotation lefty which is a valuable commodity.
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