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And I really don’t know what all the excitement is about getting Nootbaar back. He’s a career .240 hitter.
And yes, I know he has a EBA of 2.35 and a FDR of 17.11 and a WOBA+ of 4.35 and he’s so valuable.
Don’t at all know how accurate the article is, but I happened to see that team owners proposed a salary cap as part of the upcoming labor negotiations. Most know what the outcome was the last time that happened. In any case, I find it more than a little amusing that not one of these benevolent team owners proposed a cap on the tremendous profits they rake in…Haha!
And I really don’t know what all the excitement is about getting Nootbaar back.
After this season, Noot has one more year of control, becoming a free agent after the 2027 season. So one reason for excitement about his imminent return is he will have ample time to prove health and productivity leading up to the trade deadline which is August 3rd. He will take playing time from younger guys for a couple months, but hopefully will do well and improve the offense. If he isn’t traded, he and Walker will effectively block young outfielders who don’t play center field. I guess potentially, with his fixed up feet, maybe they could put him in center hoping to increase his value while opening up the corner position, and just leave him there another year if he isn’t traded. Its not as if our hopes will be dashed if our center fielder is not the greatest defender ever.
This is this……sorry that was Robert DeNiro in Deer Hunter. What I meant to say is This is baseball. Even though Rome was not built in one day, in baseball crazy unexpected occurrences are not all that uncommon. It’s possible, but not probable, that the Cardinals “rebuild” is already bearing tremendous fruit, a couple of years ahead of schedule. So much so that reaching the playoffs this year is a doable thing. They seem to be a most resilient bunch. The Cardinals laid an egg in their series earlier this year vs Seattle……and immediately put it behind them and swept Pittsburgh 4 straight in Pennsylvania and then took 2-3 from the Dodgers. I expect them to respond accordingly after just getting swept in Milwaukee. We’ll take 2-3 vs Chicago this weekend.
Bad news this Thursday night in Pittsburgh.
The Cubs lead the Pirates 6-2 in the 8th at Three Rivers Stadium.
Cubs will have won two straight and we have lost four straight.
I hope we don’t get swept.
May batting line split for two of our lineup regulars, who are they?
.214/.279/.304/.582
.205/.314/.284/.598Winn & Wetherholt? Although it could easily be Scott too. Or Pages, but I’m not sure he counts.
It’s been a rough month for our offense all around for anyone not bearing Walker or Torres on their jersey.
For April, 8 of our hitters with at least 30 plate appearances had above league average batting lines. In May, that’s been reduced to only 3 right now: Walker, Burleson, and Herrera (Torres only has 21 PAs). Still 3 days left to change that. We need to pummel the Cubbies.
And I really don’t know what all the excitement is about getting Nootbaar back. He’s a career .240 hitter.
Rat, the reason Noot will enhance the lineup is that he should force Victor Scott out of the lineup (well he will when Church returns and can play CF).
Compared to Victor Scott Noot looks like Ted Williams.
Here’s your weather update for this one:
There is a band of scattered storms and rain just south of the St. Louis area as I am typing this. About 1:30 est. It looks like everything is heading north. Since it’s almost six hours from first pitch it’s hard to tell if this game will be impacted. However, a delay cannot be ruled out.
And din-din today is CCFF! Cardinals Catfish Fiddlers Friday! Some catfish fiddlers, mashed potatoes/gravy, noodles, dressing, baked fish, sweet iced tea, a piece of strawberry pie and some vanilla soft serve ice cream.
r/Esteemed Rat
I think our expectations were low coming into the season. And it must be noted that the Reds walked us off, and the Brewers tallied 2 in the 8th to finish the sweep. We could be 2-2 in the last 4. I am having more fun watching this team than I thought I would. And I believe a .500 or better record would be a good year. Agreed that we need at least a couple starters, and the relief is shaky beyond O’Brien and Romero. Soriano has been pretty good too. And I think we’ve had more injuries to our young pitchers who might have helped our depth. I also like the post about adding Hanson, and cutting Bruihl. Why not try it?
jnevel-
Thanks for that info on Burly splits. I’d not been paying attention. Interestingly, Jordan, though right-handed, has a better OPS vs. righties (.949) than lefties (.854). Perhaps not enough experience hitting lefties yet?
CiF-
I’m pleased with what I am seeing as a rebuild for a few reasons. Some of this has already been mentioned.
1. Walker. He is currently 2nd in the NL in wRC+. Other metrics tell a similar story. He looks like the sort of big bat around which to build.
2. Wetherholt. His slower May tempers enthusiasm somewhat, but he’s on pace for around 27 HRs, which is maybe 10 more than I would have expected, he fields the position very well, and there’s good reason to think that he will be able to make the necessary adjustments.
3. Herrera and Burly rack up more evidence that they are good hitters. Those four guys show me the core of a solid lineup. That the bottom 5 in the lineup are lacking means there’s more work to do, but those guys are an awfully good start. And Baez, Crooks, Bernal, and Jordan are knocking on the door.
4. Signs they can develop players now. I see the changes in folks like Walker and Baez and I get optimistic that what we see in young players will grow over time rather than stay at the plateau. (I’ve heard reports of improved strength and conditioning programs, which seems consistent with my next point on this list.)
5. A strategy of getting interesting pitching prospects. An article from early May shows their K rate on the farm has climbed from 18th in 2024 to 5th this year. That’s progress.
6. The acquisition or development of some minor league pitchers I could see becoming the sort of front of the rotation guys we need–Doyle, Franklin, Cintje, Clarke, Roby, Fajardo, Odle. Most won’t pan out, but if two do, that will go a long way, and we have more of these lottery tickets now than I can remember in a long long while.So I’m feeling better about this year than last, even if last year we won one more of the first 54 games, and if this year we fold due to the weak bottom of the lineup, thin bullpen, and bunch of pitchers who are 5-6 innings “keep us in the game” sorts of guys.
I also like the post about adding Hanson, and cutting Bruihl. Why not try it?
They probably are trying to develop starters so they probably will leave starters in that role. It would complicate the 40 man situation having to add him with Noot soon coming off the 60 day.
I think we are limited to guys in the Memphis pen, preferably already on the 40 man.
Bloom treats the 40 man roster like a stack of silver coins. He hoards them and doesn’t make changes unless he absolutely has to. I think even the Memphis shuttle for the offense wont come until much later in the season. I am hopeful the September call ups will feature Baez and Blaze Jordan. I would also like to see Gastulum for the pen. Until September, I believe this is the lineup and pen we are stuck with, barring major injuries. It stinks, but this is a rebuild, Gotta take our lumps this season unfortunately.
Well it is the day for Crooks! Called up with Pozo being optioned. I’m very curious to see if Crooks takes Pages’ role with Pages sliding to Pozo’s.
And Velasquez called up with Prieto sent down. Prieto is 1 for 23 as a big leaguer.
Velasquez has crushed the ball in May, OPS of 1.018, albeit with 23 K’s in around 76 PAs. Righty PH and platoon partner with Torres?
This means someone will be dropped from the 40-man to make room for Noot next week. Prieto, Pozo, or Roycroft?
Very excited about Crooks getting the shot. I guess Chain read my post and soon will be calling up Hansen to take Bruihl’s spot.
I do hope in reality that Crooks takes the majority of the PA that Pages was getting. Pages is a fine baseball player, but his ideal role is a back up C for his skills
Velasquez in the lineup as DH against lefty Imanaga, batting cleanup. Fermin in LF rather than Torres. Bench of Gorman, Pages, Saggese, and Torres.
I didn’t expect the Valazquez move. But I do like they are sending down a middle infielder for an actual OF
Abe, I am not sure if you know the September roster rules are much more restrictive than in the old days. Instead of the entire 40-man roster being eligible for promotion, only two more players can be added for the final month (from 26 to 28). More often than not, the two extra players are major leaguers coming off the IL, not prospects. The days of seeing a bunch of new, fresh faces in September are over.
As usual, it was all about money.
A scoreboard watching game for
me as I will be working the Rockies-Giants tilt. This means no din-din, but a bowl of Raisin Bran and an English muffin around 11-11:30pm.Hope to see good news, and will watch the condensed game tomorrow if the good guys in the red hats are victorious.
Walker will effectively block young outfielders who don’t play center field.
If a player batting .300 with a .944 OPS and 15 HRs in 226 PAs is “blocking” someone, I want to see that player that is being blocked. When we get to that point, we will have achieved success on the rebuild and probably become the team to beat in all of the majors leagues.
Some expectations and biases have become a little ridiculous.
Everyone has their opinions and I have mine. To this point I’ve been entertained and expect that to continue. They don’t have to win. I was highly entertained Wednesday by May’s performance. We don’t see near enough of that anymore-a masterful pitching performance lasting into the late innings. And I’m entertained usually by our defense and believe Walker and Wetherholt are for real. Sure we have a ways to go. But it’s a long way from the depressive team we’ve seen these last several years. If their pitching developes and next year brings a couple more pieces (Baez, Jordan) I may go ahead and retire so I can travel and watch them.
I am enjoying this season. It is progressing a little more than I expected but I said to a lot of my friends that I expect the Cardinals to be above .500 this year. I truly believed that before the first pitch of the season was thrown. I expected the starting pitching to be better than last year. I thought the hitting would be about a wash and the defense to be good. I had concerns about the bullpen.
Do I wish the Cardinals were in the world series every year? Yes. I knew they needed to correct the mess they had created and it looks like they did that. It will be a long process to reach the end goal but they can compete in the short term, as well. I just don’t expect they will be in the world series this year. I am still open to next year, though.
Now let’s get back to beating the Cubs this year and things will be good.
I get Crooks for Pozo. I didn’t necessarily expect it quite yet, but that should help the offense a little. I would expect Herrera to still catch his pitchers and Crooks to get 2 of the 3 that Pages catches.
The Velasquez move totally surprised me though. I figured with Nootbaar getting close to returning, they’d keep his 40-man spot open. However, Velasquez has had a very good month and more importantly, he’s right-handed. And, he’s a ex-Cub so maybe he can exact revenge tonight. That allows us to go almost all right-handed vs Imanaga tonight. It’s possible Velasquez gets DFA when Noot is ready to return, but that seems unlikely. More realistically, Prieto will be let go or traded if possible.
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