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The Braves won, so we remain 7 back for the 3rd WC slot. We still have to catch and pass the Giants, Cubs, Mets and Braves. We have 29 games remaining.
Thanks, Shildt, for not walking Arenado to get to Luken Baker. What a maroon.
Funny thing: It took five months, but at least Chip Carey is now offering something that resembles actual baseball analysis. First, he wondered aloud why not let Masyn Winn try to steal in the 9th inning of a tied game. Then, he wondered whether Shildt should walk Arenado intentionally to get to the “cleanup hitter” Baker.
Chip was right on both counts, obviously. (And I’m sure I wasn’t the only Redbird fan who winced when Victor Scott blooped his single with Masyn still glued to first base on the 4th pitch of Victor’s at-bat. Victor got cheated out of a game-winner.)
Of course, both managers flunked their tests. ‘Cause they got a combined baseball IQ you can count on your fingers & toes.
This thing with Luken Baker hitting 3rd last night, and cleanup today…is Marmol asking to be fired, or merely ridiculed? Maybe Ollie didn’t want Baker on the big club at all, and this asinine batting order placement is his way of sticking it to Mozeliak for sending Baker to the majors? What a dysfunctional mess of a lineup, however you cut it.
Bright side, the Birds have one of the 3 or 4 best groups of minor league pitching prospects — both in quality and quantity. If they get a real manager for 2026, I’m very optimistic about the future.
I’m not sure how you can fault Shildt for not IBB’ing Arenado to advance the winning run to within 90 ft. of HP. Obviously it didn’t work out for the Padres, but you can’t intentionally increase the chances of the winning run scoring via a WP, PB, IF hit or even a balk. Shildt didn’t do anything wrong. Arenado just made contact on a 1-1 count and the baseball skipped past the SD SS and through to the OF for a game winning RBI base hit.
Hmm. Let’s consider the odds, with specifics.
Chance of a balk, or infield hit by Luken Baker — effectively non-existent.
Chance of wild pitch or passed ball? Well, Robert Suarez has faced 500 batters and thrown 3 wild pitches in his career. So that’s roughly 1 in 170. And I’m guessing the chance of a passed ball was equally remote. Thus the total chance of ANY of balk, infield hit, passed ball, or wild pitch…maybe 1.5 to 2%, maximum.So we have a profound difference of opinion, Andujar. The only real risk I can see in walking Arenado, is then you of course must not walk Baker. (Patience at the dish is Baker’s one ability that has actually carried over from the minors to majors so far.) But given that Suarez has issued just 9 (unintentional) free passes this year, across more than 200 plate appearances, that’s a mighty tiny risk.
Examining the question in detail, it ain’t even a gray area decision, I don’t think. The more I look at the odds, the crazier it was to face the future Hall Of Famer instead of the mountainous, sub-mediocre Baker.
If the second/third runners mattered at all, then you don’t do it. Or if there’s only one out in the inning, you obviously don’t do it since you’d be setting up a sac fly. But with two outs, walking Arenado to face Baker was absolutely the correct move. If the distinctly lesser hitter beats you, you tip your cap.
It’s a situation where whatever a manager does, if it works he looks good and if it doesn’t work he looks bad.
Speaking of Mr. Pham, he has settled right in…
Tommy Pham's first 8 games with the #STLCards: .379/.400/.759 with 2 home runs & 9 RBIs
Tommy Pham's last 15 games: .077/.213/.077 with no extra base hits and 13 strikeouts
At this point, waive Pham and give Jordan Walker a full run in the outfield #ForTheLou
— Thomas Gauvain (@thomasgauvain) August 29, 2024
Game Ball to Paul Goldschmidt
Hat-Tip to Andre PallanteLuken Bakers double was our only x-base hit.
I agree on waiving Pham IF we really think it’s a good idea for Walker to come up and flail around.
At this point I say just leave him in Memphis and get a fresh start next year.
Same with Gorman.
Saggasse is hitting under .250 at AAA. Does that scream promotion?
I think there are a couple of pitchers we need to get a look at though. McGreevey and one other I can’t recall the name at the moment.
What I really want to hear is the ‘transition’ plan to phase out Mo and hand the reins over to someone else – but no – they will wait until the off-season of course because THEY are the Cardinals.
Hopefully they will at least have the guts to hold a post season presser – unlike last year when they just ran and hid.
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