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I believe Mo has said that Matheny makes the lineups. So, if he and Fowler are having all these issues, why has he started in 51 games?
And I mean, if Fowler really told him it wasn’t in his contract, it’s up to Matheny to make an example of Fowler. I wouldn’t let him off the bench the rest of the year.
Maybe Fower will get a hip impingement and get a chance to work it out in AA to clear his head.
Worked so far for Holland.
It may be getting close to the time to play the kids – bring up Schrock, O’Neill, and Mercado. Maybe long toothed Wisdom too. This team needs some players who leave it all on the field every game.
I don’t know who asked him to move to RF. I want to know who is going to ask him to just plain move.
In November, Mo stopped by Las Vegas to assure Fowler that he wasn’t trying to trade him during the off season and to see how open he was to moving from CF to RF.
Taking him out of CF and out of the leadoff spot seems to have had an effect on him. Either that or age has taken over. Would enjoy others’ thoughts.Dexter is obviously struggling, and it is all being magnified by the team’s poor performance. Mike is giving him a lot of ABs hoping something good happens and he gets it going.
He’s certainly not as bad as he has been so far in 2018, but he might be slipping some due to age. But I think it is a combination of him just being a little off, along with the club losing a lot of close ones that is causing him to feel a lot of pressure.
Both Fowler and Wong were pretty good last year, and you would think they would have taken that into this year and continued to be successful. I think both guys might struggle some with Matheny’s style, which is to change lineups and batting orders a lot. Maddon kept Dex in the lead off spot consistently. Players tend to get into a groove and good routine when they are in a stable environment. Matheny tends to go with the “flavor of the day” style of lineup, where a guy has a couple of good games hitting 7th, so he moves him up in the order for the third game. Tough to find consistency in that environment.
It took Fowler 3 months before he finally started to hit and then he was pretty good. I can’t see anything leading me to believe he’ll scrap .200 this year. Guy can’t catch up to fastballs up in the zone or for that matter anywhere.
Wong season was good in 2017. He was injured a good portion of it and only played in 101 games. Kind of like a timeshare. You know what some people have said he needs to be in from day 1. Edmonds last night actually said after he K’d in his 2nd ab. “just throw him breaking balls”.
This team is falling apart. Maybe work something out with Texas and Baltimore and take on some expiring contracts and eat some half the contract of Fowler and Wong. IDK but this is a nightmare were seeing unfold.
The last two seasons, there has been discontent in the locker room, despite Matheny being praised for his leadership abilities.
If you’ve watched the Cardinals play this year, it looks like there is more of the same. We won’t actually know about it until it blows up or it is leaked to the press, but it sure appears that this is a team that is just people showing up rather than people playing together and trying to win.
Two offseasons ago, the Cardinals said they were going to prioritize defense. This year, they are clearly prioritizing offense. You can’t send mix signals. Choose a path and go with it. That’s what leadership is about.
If you’ve read Michael Porter’s “Competitive Strategy,” you know the worst thing you can do is be stuck in the middle. That is exactly where this team is right now. Stuck in the middle between choosing offense or defense. You can’t say you care about defense and keep running Carpenter out at 3rd, JMart at first and Fowler in right.
So, either go with the best bats or the best defenders, but don’t try to mix and match.
Need more players like DeJong, who combines both. Bader, O’Neill, and Mercado all have that potential.
Well, yes, ideally you are composed of players that are above average both offensively and defensively.
But we have Carpenter, who is below average defensively anywhere besides first base, and his production doesn’t really merit being a first baseman.
We have JMart, who is atrocious defensively.
We have Wong, who is offensively challenged and has only had one really good year at the plate.
We have Dexter Fowler, who falls into the atrocious defense category. And seems to bring a lot of other baggage.
Really, what needs to happen is JMart needs to be traded to a team than needs a DH (Toronto, Texas, etc), Wong needs to be traded anywhere but here, Fowler needs to be benched until he decides he wants to EARN his paycheck (because he has no trade value), and Carpenter needs to play 1B until his contract expires (because his trade value is only marginally above Fowler’s).
Make those trades, bring up O’Neil and Schrock, and play it out.
In the offseason, they are going to have to have a reckoning with Fowler.
They need to have a day of reckoning with Fowler, Wong, and perhaps
even Pham. None of them deserve to be holding down regular spots on a Cardinal team.Bernie defends Matheny – sort of.
https://www.101sports.com/2018/06/22/mike-matheny-isnt-the-problem-the-real-problem-are-his-enablers/Some heavy duty stuff there. Bernie is correct… its the FO that has messed up this team by bringing in players that aren’t effective and seemingly don’t give much of a damn. They paid some of these guys plenty of dough-re-mi too… most of it wasted. For the most part, the players making the least amount of money are holding this team together.
Hicks has become the guy to go to in the pen, while the high-priced others are either not pitching well at all or on the disabled list. Flaherty has become the “ace” of the rotation with the prior one doing, well, I don’t even know anymore. DeJong is very much missed in a lineup that doesn’t have one player that you could actually vote for for the All-Star team.(DeJong has missed too many games). Bader is starting to show what he can offer, but instead Fowler is run out there which should never happen at this point.
I’ve been saying all season that you can’t get blood from a stone… the players we have just aren’t that good and frankly getting worse.
If it wasn’t for the rise of Flaherty and the surprise we got in Mikolas, (Wacha will be missed going forward) what would this rotation look like? Wainwright was destined to be where he is. Weaver is struggling and Martinez has become a clown act.
Seriously, what can a manager do with some of these misfits? The FO failed to get the right players for the team and are sitting on their hands as the empire crumbles. You can go on blaming Matheny and Mabry but its the players themselves that are failing… and the FO is mainly to blame.
a lineup that doesn’t have one player that you could actually vote for for the All-Star team.
Am I wrong here?
If I am in Cardinal’s management, I give Mike the remainder of the year and assess the situation at that time. It should be clear whether or not he remains at the helm.
Agree on the comments about the defense – supposedly it was a priority, but the offense has not been as good as hoped and so it has been de-emphasized. Yesterday Matheny goes with Gyorko at second against a righty pitcher. The result was one potential double play where Jedd threw the ball away. Fortunately he got Wong back in the nick of time, and Kolten made a couple of good plays late to help seal a win.
The club is in an awkward situation, as they are not good defensively nor offensively. Do you focus on offense, and keep one of your better offensive players in the lineup, which sacrifices defense? Or do you go with defense, and use the offensive-oriented player as a spot starter and pinch-hitter? I would go the latter route, but Mike tends to favor the former.
Well said Mike. I’ve never been a fan of mid season changes. Stick with Matheny the rest of the season and re-evaluate at the end of the year. I also agree that we should choose if we want to go with offense or defense because we don’t have enough good players that can do both. I would go with pitching and defense then try once again in the offseason to address the offense. Pitching and defense won us 100 games in 2015.
As for Matheny, I’ve said this several times but I will say it again. I wouldn’t consider him an elite manager but he is more than capable when given a good roster. He proved that in 2013. Our current roster is a typical Cardinal above average but not good enough for primetime type of roster so I can’t blame Matheny for that. The question is has Matheny “lost the clubhouse”. I don’t know if that has happened nor do I know how you would quantify that. I’m assuming the front office would know or I hope they would.
So who would the potential replacements be? The only external candidates that come to mind are Joe Girardi and John Farrell. Both have won world series. Farrell could be in line for the Reds job if he wants it. Girardi will probably have plenty of jobs to choose from.
Internal candidates would be Mike Schildt and Stubby Clapp. I don’t know enough about these guys to know how well they would do but it might be time to go back to hiring proven managers. One guy I am intrigued about though is Mark Budaska, not as manager but as hitting coach. If this guy is as good as advertised we should promote him before he leaves the organization.
The bottom line is that Matheny is not our biggest problem. Could a managerial change turn things around and jump start the organization? Yes perhaps, but giving our current manager a better roster could accomplish that as well.
From PD’s Goold Q-A:
Appears to me that so many “fans” are so vested with their hate of MM or Mo or DeWitt, that they actually want the team to fail, in order to be proven right. Yes, there are real issues to question and complain about. But so many on the chat boards are just way over the top with their anonymous diatribes.
by Dave S June 25 at 7:48 PMThere does seem to be a small element of hate-fans, like some shows have hate-watchers and some chats have hate-readers.
by Derrick Goold June 25 at 7:49 PMNy, what is your point? “Dave S.” thinks “so many” fans are hate-fans, while Goold believes them to be a “small element” and brushes it off as normal.
I have found the increased usage of social media gives those with a serious bone to pick a more visible platform. That doesn’t necessarily mean there are more of these so-called “hate-fans”.
P.S. FWIW, I do suspect a high percentage of the fan base have made up their minds about the manager. Since he has been in his job for going on seven years, that should not be particularly surprising. I still don’t think most of those against Matheny want the team to lose, but I, like everyone else, have no data to back my feeling up.
Going around the diamond and looking at who’s playing each position (plus who’s playing out of position) doesn’t really sync with our record of 42-37. Should probably be under .500.
Br… I didn’t make a point. I merely copied a fan’s comment and Goold’s reply. What’s your point regarding my posting of it?? I put it up for other readers here to check out. It is a “if the shoe fits, wear it” posting. Is that some sort of infraction?
There are some people who simply don’t like MM. It could have to do with the way he makes out a lineup and/or how he uses the bullpen, but there are some who simply don’t care for him as a person. It could be because of his perceived lack of personality in interviews, his religion, or other traits. Some of these things are hard to quantify.
The facts IMHO opinion are that the Cards (after going to the playoffs 4 years in a row under MM) went to the last day of the season in 2016 with a chance to make the playoffs, even with Matt Holliday (their leader by example) going down. They went to the last week of the season in 2017 with a chance to make the playoffs even after the back of the bullpen issues with Oh and Rosenthal. And this year they are 1 game out of a wild card slot right now, even with the injuries, a jury rigged lineup, and the pathetic performances of Fowler, Wong, and Pham (over the last 2 months).
I would look at Mo rather than MM if a finger is to be pointed. A manager can only play the Cards (so to speak) that he’s dealt.
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