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I am not seeing it with Gorman, I think he will make the team out of spring unless he goes 0 for spring….but in his 23 games at Memphis last year he hit .205
He had 365 AB’s at St. Louis and hit .203 last year
You could live with his 2023 performance where he hit 27 HR’s at a .236 AVG, but there was some real regression last year and they really don’t know if he can play 3rd. Hopefully he turns it around, they definitely need him and Walker to produce.
I’d guess Gorman at 2B (and at 3B in games Arenado sits; possibly SS when Winn sits) and Donovan in LF (and 2B when Gorman or Arenado sits). Gorman rather than Koperniak on the 26-man. That gives little time for Saggese, so I’m guessing he’s at Memphis getting regular playing time. Helman gets Saggese’s spot. Mostly he gets late inning defensive time and rides the bench in case someone is hurt. Starting 9 of Donovan, Noot, Walker, Arenado, Winn, Gorman, Contreras, Herrera, Burly. Siani and Pages are the main two backups logging nearly all the starts when someone else rests, Baker for PH against lefties late. Saggese, Koperniak, and Scott are in Memphis awaiting the call if someone gets hurt.
Should StL primarily use Nootbaar in CF as the starter, for the added bat value over Siani?
Or, Sinai’s added D value in CF, to support the handful of pitching trade chips Mo has lined up for the deadline, for the first two-thirds of the season?
TBD.
I hate both options. Siani can’t hit and Nootbaar is just not a center fielder. If Scott steps up some, it could be him. Or like I mentioned above (and Brian and Kyle reiterated today on their podcast), keep an eye on Barrero. He is a long shot now, but by end of spring, you may see him as the answer. Another alternative is to trade Fedde for a CFer which would fit with what I had them doing in my offseason plan. CF is the most obvious hole on the team right now.
Good discussion gents. The CF situation is indeed a dilemma. I think Mo figured he would have Arenado moved out before January then he would have time to pick off a few veterans on one year deals to round out the roster. One being a RH OF and one being a bullpen guy.
Of course Arenado is still here, most of the free agent vets have signed elsewhere, and we are basically stuck with what we have unless they indeed trade Fedde for an OF. That is a possiblity but at this point I think I would rather see what kind of prospects we could get back. Building up the farm system should still be the priority of this rebuild that we have gone very wobbly on.
I think Siani gets the nod in CF and Noot in LF. Gotta think of the future and Noot belongs in a corner. Hopefully Scott turns the corner and can take the position later this year.
We are a couple weeks away. My roster is still similar to where it was except I need to find a home for Gorman.
51 guys remain in MLB camp. Let’s work backwards.
Clear cuts remaining who absolutely are not making the team:
Wetherholt, Church, Yeager, Pozo, Straus, Collins, Sisco, Prieto, Mosquedo, Gomez, Thompson, Rom.
Now 39. Probable cuts that have a very low chance:
Roby, Vilade, Granillo
So 36 still have a solid chance to make it. Only 26 will. I think Fermin and Graceffo could be added to the low chance group too at this point, but they are slightly better chances then the last 3 I named. That would get us to 8 more pending cuts (or trade-aways).
Continuing on, we all know the sure things assuming they aren’t traded. I think we all would agree all the following are virtually guaranteed a spot:
Gray, Mikolas, Fedde, Matz, Helsley, Romero, Liberatore, Fernandez, Herrera, Pages, Contreras, Burleson, Donovan, Winn, Arenado, Walker, Nootbaar, Gorman
That leaves 16 question marks competing for 8 roster spots. Here is who those are by position:
SP: Pallante, McGreevey
RP: King, O’Brien, Leahy, Roycroft, Anderson, Munoz, Loutos
1B/DH: Baker
Utility: Barrero, Saggese, Helman
OF: Siani, Scott, KoperniakKing and Siani are pretty sure bets to be in, but I’m not ready to put them down in black ink yet.
To me the surprise of camp has been Victor Scott. I had him pegged for Memphis but I think he now has a 50/50 shot of going north. Koperniak has had a good camp as well. It really wouldn’t be too shocking to see Siani start the year in Memphis. The next two weeks are big for those three.
Walker better get back soon or He’ll be in Memphis to start the season. Any word on when they will unleash the Wildebeest again?
GSCOTTAR – That’s exactly why I put Siani in the question mark group. I think coming into Spring training, he was almost assured of making the team. But now he has like one hit in 30 at bats and Scott and Koperniak have done well, plus Barrero has emerged.
I don’t think Helman or Loutos make it either. They probably belong with Graceffo and Fermin in the unlikely group. So it’s really 14 competing for 8 spots on the roster.
“To me the surprise has been Victor Scott”
He currently looks like the everyday CF’r. TBD. Oli does like a hot bat.I agree Victor has taken the starting CF role by the horns. Siani should be busting his butt as I don’t know if I would put him on the opening day roster. I think at this point, I would take Koperniak or Barrero and not due to spring stats. Scott and Siani are such similar players, and I prefer my reserve OF’er to have a little different role and also have enough bat to be serviceable for getting starts in the corner OF.
I’ve made a few changes – nothing drastic, but of some significance. Two weeks out, I think here’s where we’re at:
Herrera: C
Burleson: 1B RHSP, PH RHRP
Donovan: 2B, backup COF
Winn: SS
Arenado: 3B
Walker: RF
Siani: CF
Nootbaar: LF
Contreras: DH RHSP, 1B LHSP
Pages: backup C
Gorman: DH/2B/Utility Infielder
Baker: DH LHSP, PH LHRP
Barrero: Utility Infielder/OutfielderGray: SP1
Fedde: SP2
Matz: SP3
Mikolas: SP4
McGreevey: SP5Helsley: Closer
Romero: Setup
Fernandez: Setup
O’Brien: Setup
King: Middle Relief
Liberatore: Middle Relief
Leahy: Middle Relief
Roycroft: Middle ReliefThis one is tough. Right now this has Pallante headed to AAA to work out his mechanics. I also have Scott, Koperniak, and Saggese all singing the blues in Memphis as well. I’d rather keep Koperniak and send Gorman to Memphis because Gorman doesn’t really make sense on this team right now unless he really starts hitting. I guess he can play 2B and Donovan can be the super sub, but that worsens the defense and we get no value. Or, Noot can play CF with Donovan in LF and Gorman at 2B, but now you have significantly worse defense at 2 positions. And with Burleson/Contreras/Baker/Herrera already taking DH when they aren’t in the field, there’s no room for Gorman there either. He just doesn’t fit unless he hits a ton. Koperniak would be more useful as a later game pinch hitter for Siani or defensive sub for Walker or a pinch runner for those aforementioned DH guys. But management’s stated goal is to get reps for guys like Gorman and Walker so I left him on here against my better judgement.
The other big change is I put Matz in the rotation. He looks good for now and Pallante doesn’t. Until Andre figures it out, let’s see what Matz can do in his walk year. That’s assuming he isn’t traded to the Yankees.
Booyah – if Pallante can’t get his mechanics right by the time the season starts, then it only makes sense to let him work out the kinks for a few rotation turns in Memphis. Right now, he’s kind of a disaster on the mound. He should get a couple more Spring starts though to see where he’s at.
And yes, Maton takes a spot – either Roycroft’s or O’Brien’s. Probably Roycroft because that’s the better business move given the option structures.
Scroll up and Gags did a good job illustrating the chinese fire drill we will probably be watching all season.
Scott and Koperniak are playing like starters. Walker and Siani down for me, today. The bench as J has above.
I like Koperniaks strike zone. He is making good decisions at the plate.
I don’t see Walker starting in Memphis unless they think he hasn’t received enough AB’s this spring.
I think Contreras will be the everyday 1B with Burly getting a majority of the DH at bats.
Thanks for the shout out, Bling. I typed one thing too quickly in that last post. Gorman at 2B, then at 3B when Arenado rests No way is Gorman at SS and I didn’t mean to type that. I meant Donovan in LF but 2B when Gorman rests or is at 3B and maybe SS when Winn rests.
Now, though it looks like Barrero will be backup SS and will otherwise ride the bench as the emergency player, PR, late defensive sub. I think Scott supplants Siani and gets more starts in CF than Siani would have.
If everyone is healthy and doesn’t get traded (but someone will be hurt and/or traded) figure about like this (but I know it’s off a bit)
150 starts each for Arenado (3B) and Contreras (1B/DH)
140 starts each for Noot (around 60 at CF, 60 in LF, 20 in RF), Walker (RF), Donovan (around 100 in LF 40 at 2B), Winn (SS), Gorman (2B, 3B), Herrera (C, DH)
120 starts for Burly (DH/1B)
100 starts for Scott (CF)
70 starts for Pages (C)
20 starts for Barrero (SS)
0 starts for BakerKoperniak is in Memphis and gets the call if Noot, Walker, Arenado, Gorman, Burleson, Donovan, or Contreras gets hurt. Saggese gets the call if Winn gets hurt. Siani gets the call if Scott gets hurt.
Sounds about right Gags. The algo will have it figured out to optimize everything day to day, inning to inning. Surely they are running sims now. I hope they have a spreadsheet coach to help guys figure out where to stand and what to do.
I believe Koperniak should not only make the team, but has earned a starting spot.
He crushed AAA pitching last season and has crushed MLB pitching this spring.What more does he need to do?
Maybe Walker should start the season in Memphis and prove he can actually hit before just giving him a job?
Albert, I think Koperniak has certainly earned a spot over Walker, but given that Walker has more upside long term, I believe he will be the starting right fielder. Koperniak still has the issue that he is left-handed. If he were right handed, he might take Baker’s spot.
I still have no idea what is going to happen with Gorman. He’s hitting better so he will make the team. He just does not fit though with Arenado at 3B and so many other DH candidates that need at bats. I don’t want to see him as the primary 2B option because that hurts our pitchers – especially Pallante who is a ground ball machine. Maybe we can talk Manfred into allowing a 2nd DH and Gorman bats for Siani/Scott?
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