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Winn won’t be ready until the end of ’23? I had no idea he was that far off. Well, it’s a good thing we still have DeJong to bail us out if Eddie’s teeth somehow end up on George Scott’s necklace…Oh, the horror!
bccran…For all I know, DeJong may be the opening day SS in ’23 with Eddie shuttling back over to the right side on the IF. They’ll say Paulie got straightened out over the off-season just like they did for the past couple of years and that they project big things from him in ’23…Haha!
Probably Lindor defensively. I’ve always been a huge Trea Turner fan, but that’s more of an overall SS ranking.
The Cardinals have a real luxury. Two shortstops with
GG potential. If they want both to be in the lineup at the same time, because of their offensive contributions, one of them is going to have to change positions. It’s natural for one of them to move to 2B. But that would displace Donovan, who’s also up for a GG as a utility player. Quite a quandary.jjcfstl…Turner never overly impressed me with the glove, but I wouldn’t mind at all having him on my side. I know this sounds crazy because he’s getting long in the tooth, but Brandon Crawford has always impressed me both with the glove and the ability to come through with the big base hit. He had a down year in ’22, but I’ll bet he rebounds next season and I think he’s got 2 or 3 good years left in him. At any rate, Crawford’s been one of my favorite non-Cardinal players for a while.
bccran…The quandry concerning Donovan is that he needs to be in the line-up every day. And NOT in the 5 slot…
So if Donovan is in the lineup every day, it’s probably going to be at 2B. Which keeps Edman at SS. And puts Winn, when he’s ready, in CF? Right?
bccran…I’d say so, but don’t be too surprised if they place Donovan at 3B or 1B and place him in the 5 slot or at cleanup in the batting order. It’s happened before…Then they place the GG 1B’man or GG 3B’man in the DH slot. Makes perfect sense, right?
Piscotty, Grichuk, Diaz, Pham…even Edman and Bader…have shown us that you can’t really count on anyone coming out of relative nowhere and being an “every day” bat long term. It’s probably equally likely that Donovan is not a must play bat as that he is as good a hitter as his 2022 suggests.
stlcard25…Well, that may be true, but Donovan’s proven that he belongs in the line-up every day until he demonstrates that he doesn’t. And he hasn’t done that yet. I say play him until he falters.
At least until any other moves occur, the DH position looks to be shared among players like Gorman, Donovan and Yepez. Good to keep in mind that it can provide another outlet to give guys at-bats.
stlcard25…Well, that may be true, but Donovan’s proven that he belongs in the line-up every day until he demonstrates that he doesn’t. And he hasn’t done that yet. I say play him until he falters.
I agree that the best course of action is to play someone until they show they need to stop playing. I said what I did simply to say that one less than full year isn’t so much a reason to move other players around the field, as it could well be a mirage.
bc, just 2 years ago you were saying we needed veteran OF leadership “between the lines”, not on the bench. Now, we can start 3 OFs with little to no experience, ever, in the OF. Before, the discussion centered around 3 OFs who had spent their whole pro careers in the OF. I am confused as to why Gorman, Winn and Walker (none of whom are proven in the majors, BTW) is an enticing starting OF in 2024 or 2025. Especially, since 2 of those 3 have not spent more than a single inning in the OF as a pro.
stlCard25…You’re absolutely right that it could be a mirage. Only the greatest hitters step into a batter’s box without a weakness. Eventually, opposing pitchers will work to a weakness in Donovan’s swing and if he doesn’t adjust to how they work him, he’ll be a mirage. What I’m driving at, is that with the performance he featured in ’22, I think it would be silly to brush aside an all out attempt to see that he gets at least 500 PA’s in ’23.
Donovan can play almost everyday without being tied down to one position, ala Ben Zobrist. Gorman is going to get every possible chance to be the everyday 2B. I am not saying he should but that he will.
Donovan had an OBP of .394. He walked 60 times in 468 plate appearances. Sure, the pitchers can learn his weaknesses, but he had excellent plate discipline and that can’t be taken away. He’s an ideal top of the lineup guy, and plays good defense. In 264.1 innings at 2B in 2022, he had exactly 0 errors.
The Cardinals need to get Gorman into the lineup now, and eventually Winn. I’ve merely come up with some ideas. That’s all they are.
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