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To change gears for a moment, I was kind of impressed with Zuniga, but apparently those who matter were not. It seems odd that they did not want to look at him another time or two since he was here and had a successful intro.
Frankly, I don’t think Walker’s defense is any worse than that of Burleson or Yepez (hard to be worse than Yepez). Burleson isn’t hitting right now to boot.
The only guys in Memphis who are better defensively are Mercado and Hurst. Neither is on the 40 man, Hurst can’t hit and I think he is injured right now. Mercado is hitting at Memphis, but whether that will play out at the major league level is questionable. He hasn’t worked out at that level yet.
I would be on board with bringing Walker back but they would have to send someone down.
With Burleson and Yepez now blocked at DH I would be in favor or sending them both back to Memphis and bringing Mercado up. Mercado really isn’t a prospect anymore so using him as a late inning defensive replacement makes sense to me. I am not sure about Walker. That probably depends on how well Donovan does in LF and how long O’Neill is on the IL. We have logjams in both the IF and OF and now at DH. This roster needs to be thinned out.
MG, imo, Walkers D is secondary to his inability to work the strike zone (BB/K).
At mlb he was a heavy GB% contact hitter, completely reliant on his BAbip. He needs to stay away from this trainwreck of a team and work on sliders away, being more selective in the strike zone and letting the ball get get deeper without pulling off.
I didn’t expect him to make the opening day roster and am disappointed he got exposed so quickly, but not surprised. He will need a BB% a lot closer to league avg when the BAbip isn’t working in his favor.
His non-existent launch angle should correct itself when he learns to lay off low sliders away and pitchers adjust by challenging him higher in the zone.
Oh, and i may also be completely wrong!I think the brass is done with Burleson/Walker level outfield defense on a day in day out basis, and they don’t want Walker sitting around. The Contreras to full time DH complicates how Walker will be worked in. We hope he gets better defensively, but he may or may not. Brian has enthused about his athleticism and make up, so that increases the odds. He may hit enough to offset shortcomings, and the team as a whole may play well enough to absorb it. But the fact is, there is now a complication they were not counting on.
I agree with what you say about Walker’s hitting issues, jj. I have commented on it as well. I think it was Baez?? we just saw who employs a similar open stance, facing the pitcher. I was paying quite a bit of attention to that, and he did a much better job of being able to keep his shoulder in and not pulling off before the ball gets there. I saw him hit one of those on the outside black that he connected with just beyond the sweet spot, but not too far toward the end like Walker was doing. He didn’t blast it, but got enough on it to get a base hit. Its doable, Walker has to learn how to either lay off or hold back and stay in.
Eating innings effectively is important. Obviously, we have struggled to do that this year. I decided to dive into what could have been.
Jordan Montgomery has 5 Quality Starts and is easily among the league leaders in this category.
All other Cardinals pitchers have zero Quality Starts.
Top Free Agent Pitchers (paid over $15 mil per year) and their # of Quality Starts:
DeGrom – 3
Rodon – 0
Verlander – 0
Senga – 2
Taijuan Walker – 3
Taillion – 0
Bassitt – 5
Eflin – 2
Tyler Anderson – 2
Eovaldi – 4
Wacha – 2
Quintana – 0
Stripling – 0
Manaea – 0
Heaney – 2
Kershaw – 5
Martin Perez – 2Since we weren’t getting Kershaw and we were going to be priced out for DeGrom, really there were only 2 good options available and neither one would have made us very excited. Those 2 are Bassitt and Eovaldi. Bassitt signed for 3 years and $63 mil total as a 34 year old pitcher. Eovaldi signed for $34 mil split over 2 years as a 33 year old pitcher. Both could have been had although the Bassitt contract initially looked expensive.
I believe I missed that Mikolas was credited for 1 QS above. So, Montgomery with 5 and Mikolas with 1. Hopefully Flaherty bounces back to get on this leaderboard today.
Some pitchers for next season, for the sake of comparing:
Ohtani (lol) – 5
Urias (also lol) – 4
Nola (elephant in the room that is wildly underpaid and why I’m commenting) – 5
Snell – 2
Montas – 0
Giolito – 5
Carrasco – 0
Syndergaard – 3
Sonny Gray – 3
Kyle Gibson – 4
Lorenzen – 2Odorizzi and Severino out.
Some pitchers for next season, for the sake of comparing:
Ohtani (lol) – 5
Urias (also lol) – 4
Nola (elephant in the room that is wildly underpaid and why I’m commenting) – 5
Snell – 2
Montas – 0
Giolito – 5
Carrasco – 0
Syndergaard – 3
Sonny Gray – 3
Kyle Gibson – 4
Lorenzen – 2We are in need of a #1 for sure…I’d go with Nola first, or possibly Giolito. We will have to resign one of the free agents we have, either Monty or Flaherty. Then hope Libby and/or another farmhand are able to fill a spot, and then maybe a flier #5 type. It’s going to take a lot of capital.
I think they make a strong push for Nola or Giolito. If they get one, then I don’t think they sign anyone else and rely on internal options. But if they don’t get one of these top folks, then I can see the push to do Montgomery and some other 1 year cheaper option.
Who are the pitchers going to blame after tonight’s disaster of a performance. I guess none of know the art of pitching involves a 12.75 ERA with a .434 BA and 1.214 OPS over the last 3 starts.
Flaherty is done. Not only do I not want him re-signed, I’d prefer we DFA him now and call up Libby. Libby could stink and be better than Flaherty. At least we would be investing in our future pitching.
I feel a stint on the DL is coming for Flaherty. He’s definitely not the same pitcher he was (briefly) but he’s only 27 and his career numbers are still pretty good.
Surely he could be traded for something in July?
BR has payroll at $171M for next year, which is crazy to me. Most of the arb guys look like possible cuts to me, and I doubt Dejong’s option gets picked up, So I’d guess $50-70M to spend. That should let us in on a #1 and a #3 in free agency. Two of Nola, Giolito, Monty and Gray would be my choice.
Bum shoulder guys never come back the same. Some can still be effective for a while and some can’t. Its always been that way.
This is very true. We will never be able to sustain any kind of success as long as the bullpen has to throw as many innings as the rotation.
Abbreviated starts from rotation mean Cardinals' winning streaks will be brief, too https://t.co/9gmlEobdm1
— STL Cardinals News (@STLCardsNews) May 11, 2023
McGreevy only has a handful of AAA starts, but we know the Cardinals do not consider that sort of thing to be an impediment to a call up. His performance is making him a compelling possibility for the MLB rotation. A 40 man slot would be needed. Libby would be first up of course, but we know how that goes. And ultimately, one replacement guy will not be enough.
The more I read about Flaherty, his pissy attitude and who he is as a person the more I think the team and the locker room would be better off without him and his attitude. Seema like one of the California teams might be perfect for a person like him.
Addition by subtraction might actually apply here.
That’s the primary reason I don’t read anything concerning an illustration of his attitude. Reading the simple descriptive numbers that illustrate his work are enough for me.
Here is the ERA of our six starters this year:
Montgomery- 4.11
Mikolas- 5.40
Woodford- 5.40
Matz- 5.70
Flaherty- 6.18
Wainwright- 7.20Willson Contreras will catch Jack Flaherty on Monday. #STLCards
— Katie Woo (@katiejwoo) May 13, 2023
More Flaherty: "Whoever is behind the plate isn’t going to change that. It’s on me to execute. I love having (Contreras) back there & he gives you confidence with that competitiveness he has. I’m looking forward to it, it'll be fun & he & I attacked Milwaukee before."
(2/2)
— John Denton (@JohnDenton555) May 13, 2023
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