- This topic has 87 replies, 24 voices, and was last updated 2 years, 3 months ago by
.
-
Posts
-
1:15 p.m.
RHP Miles Mikolas (1-2, 5.82) vs. LHP D.L. Hall (0-1, 7.11)
BSM // KMOX // WIJR
Also BS South and SouthwestWith this run scoring drought and especially after last night, you simply have to juggle the lineup. You cannot keep doing the same thing hoping something changes. Get your guys who are at least hitting a little into the top slots.
The club is slowly sinking in the cellar. Got to at least try to stem the tide before your hopes are dashed in April.
Well, their pitcher has a 7.11 ERA, so there is hope!!!
I think you have to go:
1. Donovan (LF)
2. Winn (SS)
3. Nootbaar (CF)
4. Contreras (C/DH)
5. Arenado (3B)
6. Herrera (DH/C)
7. Gorman (2B)
8. Goldschmidt (1B)
9. Walker (RF)It’s sort of unbelievable that the pieces they have to make a solid offense have come together in such a terrible way. At this point, it seems like it’s mental and who knows if they’ll be able to snap out of it. Hoping for Edman and Carlson to come back and bring their average bats to replace some of the dead weight would have been an odd thought a couple months ago, but here we are.
The Cards are 24th in batting average at
.221, ahead of basically a bunch of teams that aren’t trying, plus the Twins and Mariners.24th with runners on at .219 and 28th with RISP at .209. It’s almost like that magic 2013 season where they set a record with RISP has come home to roost and we’ve gotten the exact opposite result the last few years.
Yeah, it is really a bad offense right now. We have the two heavy weights not doing what you had hoped, and the younger guys with power not getting better. After Walker’s start last year, you had hoped he would come in this year and be a good contributor, maybe an .800 OPS guy. Gorman last year was a 117 OPS+ hitter, and had one of the worst nights anyone can have. The two young guys who have hit some are given days off too often.
Against a lefty I would go this way today:
Donovan, 2b
Winn, ss
Contreras, dh
Arenado, 3b
Herrera,c
Nootbaar, lf
Goldsschmidt, 1b
Walker, rf
Siani, cfI would move Nootbar to CF and stick Burleson in LF. That removes the Siani / Scott auto out.
You still have the G boys to contend with but Scott / Siani and Walker are sitting.
At this point, it seems like it’s mental
I’m not sure how true that really is, though.
In the case of Goldschmidt, he might just be done. Similar to how Carp was done. A spurt here and there is possible, but the bat and reaction has slowed. That is not mental. He is at an age where guys hang it up if they haven’t already.
Arenado has spent the last couple years morphing into a contact, gap power type hitter rather than a middle of the order power bat. He’s well into his 30s now, and that seems to be where he’s at as a hitter. Again, not mental.
Gorman is in his 3rd year, and he is a .230ish all or nothing hitter who gives you a homer a week and nothing much in between, reminiscent of DeJong. He can produce eye popping exit velo when he ties in, but he has not been a good hitter since coming up. That is not mental, he just doesn’t hit MLB pitching as well as he hit MiLB pitching. DeJong’s downward spiral into total futility was probably mental, and we don’t know if Gorman will follow that path. Hopefully not.
Opposing teams found a giant hole in Walker’s swing after he came up last year and he went back down to work on that, to good effect. But opponents had all winter to figure new ways to get him out, and he also seems to have back slid on not pulling off the pitch fading down and away. He seems to be having trouble keeping up with the ML pitching/defensive strategies thrown at him. I am not sure I characterize that as mental so much as we are being out coached there.
I wouldn’t say Scott’s problem is mental. His K rate is not horrible, but his BABiP is something like .140. They are simply knocking the bat out of his hands. We all assume he will eventually be able to hit MLB pitching, but that is far from certain. The same with whether Winn will sustain success or be back where he was like Walker. They are products of the same system after all.
The lineup came up on my phone. Similar to the one I suggested but of course Marmol still has Goldschmidt second, then he has Winn at 6.
Goldy does look like he might be done. He just does not look good and is not hitting the ball with authority when he does make contract.
Walker is kind of mechanical. He does not appear to adjust to pitches real well. He is more of an “arm” hitter and does not keep the bat back and use his wrists like he could. And again with Scott, he needs to bunt now and then – be the sort of slash-and-burn player that we used to see in guys like Maury Wills and Matty Alou. If he beat out a couple of bunts, the defense would have to play in a bit and it would open up the field more for him. Because he never utilizes his main weapon, defenses can lay back and pick everything he places in the field.
I don’t know what to think of Gorman. He was good last year, and had some pitches to hit last night and plain out missed them. I think he will come around. He will always strike out a lot, but I think he will hit at this level.
2B B. Donovan L
1B P. Goldschmidt R
DH W. Contreras R
3B N. Arenado R
C Ivan Herrera R
SS Masyn Winn R
LF L. Nootbaar L
RF J. Walker R
CF Mike Siani LWith Goldschmidt still at 2, you wonder what the manager has been watching. Like we used to tell the umpire who missed a call back when I was playing vintage baseball, “You’re missing a good game, ump.”
I might try something like this vs lhp.
Winn
Donovan
Herrera
Contreras
Arenado
Nootbaar
Goldschmidt
Walker
Siani/ScottMay I ask what Nootbaar has ever – EVER – done to warrant him being considered an absolute regular in the outfield??? And why do you folks keep putting him 3rd in your lineups like he’s the 2nd Coming???
Or are people just infatuated with his name?
The name has nothing to do with it…The infatuation exists only because he looks just like a young Wayne Nooton.
Rat, the answer is that Noot’s been one of the three best outfielders we’ve got, so he’s a regular. He features up in the lineup because he’s among the two or three best we’ve got for up in the lineup. Reasonable OBP and K rate. I don’t think he bats third when there is a compelling alternative, which there presently is not. He’s as good as whatever else you want to put there.
Din-din today will be a Hungry Man’s Turkey TV dinner. Along with an ice cold slushy Mt. Dew. Then a big bowl of Turkey Hill Vanilla Bean ice cream and some strawberries with extra glaze on top.
Me and Whitey Herdog will be on the couch, tuning in. Along with a couple of 7×50 Palma Real Presidente cigars.
r/Esteemed Rat
Gorman has now struck out 30 times in 79 plate appearances. That’s a 38% K rate. Something needs to be done. This is his 3rd year in St. Louis and he’s still striking out all the time. At this rate he is going to strikeout close to 250 times this year.
Anybody have any idea what to do about Gorman and his strikeouts?
May I ask what Nootbaar has ever – EVER – done to warrant him being considered an absolute regular in the outfield??? And why do you folks keep putting him 3rd in your lineups like he’s the 2nd Coming???
Noot is sixth in my lineup versus a lefty, but as Bling pointed out he is our best outfielder right now. He has a 137 OPS+, easily best among the outfielders and third on the club behind Contreras and Winn. He is getting on base at over a .400 clip.
Given the lack of an alternative, he is one of our best hitters so far.
NOOTBAAR IS HITTING .227???????
Oh, yeah, I keep forgetting. His BAKGI is .438 and his WCR+ is 2.3 and his FDBLR is 16.38 and his fGOP is 4.4. He’s been so good this year. We should sign him to a 10 year/$400M contract.
May I ask what Nootbaar has ever – EVER – done to warrant him being considered an absolute regular in the outfield???
So far, for his career, he has a .353 OBP. You know what that is, right Rat?
And he has a career .782 OPS.
For the year, he is hitting .227/.414/.409/.823. Granted, small sample since he missed the first two weeks.
But a lot of people around here seem to like RBI’s as a metric, and for people to get RBI’s, there have to be people on the bases for them to drive in.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.