- This topic has 17 replies, 12 voices, and was last updated 2 years, 1 month ago by
.
-
Posts
-
What’s the latest with these three? I don’t hear much about them anymore. They still with the Cards down in AA or AAA?
And can we expect either of these three to be in St. Louis before long? Or are they the backup plans for Lynn and Gibson in 2025 or 2026?
r/Esteemed Rat
McGreevey got hit hard yesterday and had terrible results. His start before that was maybe his best. I don’t see him replacing anyone in our starting rotation anytime soon.
Graceffo also had a great start 2 starts ago and then was somewhat poor this time around – although not as poor as McGreevey. Graceffo is still a possibility, but I look for him to be more of a spot starter next year. It’s still early though so hard to predict yet.
Hence has been pretty great at AA. He’s pitching more innings and that seems to be causing him some fatigue. He’s had a couple games with poor results, but they’ve mostly been very good. He’s also a possibility to stay in St Louis next year – but more likely it wouldn’t be until mid-season.
I think the team picks up Gibson’s option and the 5th starter is either Thompson, Robberse, or a revolving door of several guys including maybe Pallante. Matz may also move to the pen if others step up.
I think the team should pick up the option on both Gibson and Lynn. I have zero confidence in Matz and even if one of the internal young guys makes it on the rotation we will need 7-10 quality starters to make it through the season.
I have always liked McGreevey, but his stuff is not as dynamic as Hence. Graceffo seems a bit fragile, but who knows. We will see how things look at the end of the year, but as of now Gibson seems a lock to be here next year. Lynn is likely as well. The young guys are not quite ready for prime time. But we still have about 2/3 of the season left so a lot could change.
Hence has pitched very well and is striking out 31.7% of batters while only walking 7.5%. I imagine he will be promoted to AAA soon and then maybe we will see him in STL sometime next summer. Hence looks to have #2 or 3 upside.
Graceffo doesn’t look fully recovered from the shoulder stuff to me as he command is off and his velocity isn’t back where it was pre injury. Shoulder problems take a while to fully recover from so I hope he improves throughout the year and looks much better after another off-season. If he does recover, he looks like a #4/5 type.
I don’t have much hope for McGreevy being anything beyond a depth starter who makes spot starts here and there and may make a few more starts as a #5 for a team desperate for innings.
They have Hence listed at 6-1, 195 lbs. If he tips the scale at 195 lbs. I’d have to say Twiggy weighs in at 250.
This is Hence’s 4th year in the system and he has yet to pitch even 100 innings in a season. He’s gone 6 innings 3 times in 4 years. So we have no idea if he can tolerate a starters workload. Hopefully the development whizbangs will get around to finding out by the end of this year.
Graceffo has a bum shoulder. That almost never pans out, but we can hope and pray. It will probably play out similar to Hudson.
McGreevy is one of the countless players who looked good in The Texas League and then stalled. Like Liberatore, he flashes often enough to keep hope alive, but has not dominated AAA hitters. Presently, his WHIP and ERA are up, his K9 is down, so it doesn’t look great. He will probably get on the 40 man this year anyway.
I would rank the top 4 SP at AA and AAA as:
1. Hence ….highest upside….21 years old
2. Robberse….has had a really good year at Memphis…22 years old
3. Graceffo…would say needs a big second half at Memphis…has been up and down trying to get healthy…24 years old
4.Zack Thompson…has had some recent good starts at Memphis…1.82 ERA but control and mechanical issues…26 years old
McGreevy/Roby/Rajcic are all to inconsistent
The biggest disappointment to me would be Hjerpe he is 23 at A ball in Peoria and not setting the league on fire with a 4.25 ERA and is on like a 4 inning pitch limit
McGreevy, Graceffo, and Bedell were the pitchers discussed on May 22 Wednesdays with Walton & Newberry:
Well that would certainly be hedging your bets by picking up the option on both Lynn and Gibson. However remember that nothing is promised and these guys are 36 and 37 years old and depending on them to repeat the results they’ve show so far can set you and this team up for disappointment. Buyer beware.
Also consider that this is the last season of Matz. The ownership has got to be chomping to see if they can get anything from this guy. He has been a busy and injured more often than not.
Pallante has been thrown a lifeline here. Not saying his underlying numbers scream the solution for the back end but he did ok as a starter in his brief time back in the day. Maybe this is his calling and maybe he gets torched and ends up back in the pen or sent back down.
My best guess if they stay in it or don’t after the deadline. They maybe keep Gibson and see if a guy on the current roster or in AAA is ready to jump to the bigs for the 5 starter. I think the contract plays on Matz.
Hence struck out 9 and walked 1-but gave up a hr and 4 er in 5 innings yesterday. Org loves strikeouts. So they love Hence. I’m skeptical of this player. I liked Graceffo before the shoulder. Mcgreevy always hot and cold. I don’t see anything but aaa pitchers here. Unless Bill wants to buy more pitching at the major league level or trade for pitching its as good as it’s going to get right now.
This next off season at least the laundry list of rotation choices will be different from what it was.
The organization hasn’t produced a front line starter (for us) long term since…CMart? Maybe Lance Lynn? It’s been quite the drought. I don’t have super high hopes for any of the arms we have at the moment. Hence has the best shot.
That said, it’s likely that we have at least a couple of #3-5 starters in the minors now. Hence could possibly be a little more than that. Matthews and Lin could also develop. If the Cards aren’t going to buy another #1-2 this off-season, it’s pretty vital that the farm starts churning out guys to fill the rotation like it’s 2013-15.
it’s likely that we have at least a couple of #3-5 starters in the minors now
We thought that same thing heading toward the 2023 season. We had a whole laundry list of nuthin.
Also consider that this is the last season of Matz.
Only if they are prepared to eat the final year of his contract and trade him for a box of popcorn like they did with Dexter Fowler.
We thought that same thing heading toward the 2023 season. We had a whole laundry list of nuthin.
Did we? Maybe the front office did, but I recall a considerable amount of consternation on here about the rotation depth last year. It was generally accepted that the Cards should expect to be able to back fill one starter going out with injury or ineffectiveness. It was not expected that the farm had enough hands to fill in for the disaster that occurred. It turns out that the upper minors had no #5 or better guys for 2023.
I do think that the pitching is in better shape in the minors now than a year ago. We will see if we have more than 1 or 2 guys who are in the rotation next year or the following.
Let’s see how Pallante does against a team that has a better offense than the Reds. I thought I saw his
‘death ball’ couple of times last night. He was pretty far off the plate with too many of his pitches in his first outing.Also, I’m still holding out hope for Thompson. He worked on his grip for one of his pitches, and he worked on a new pitch during the offseason.
Hence is looking like a sure No. 1 or No. 2. People are concerned about his size, but for what it’s worth, his body type compares to Pedro Martinez.
Robberse gave up 4 runs this evening, all of them on HR’s.
Baseball Reference says that we still owe Matz $12.5M for the 2025 season. This signing is comparable to the Brett Cecil contract.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.