What is wrong with Carson Kelly and what should be done?

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  • #52223
    gscottar
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    I am no talent evaluator but I have yet to see why he was once rated the number 2 prospect in our system. He looks totally overmatched at the big league level, especially offensively. I don’t know what else to say.

    #52248
    stlcard25
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    You wonder if he’s pushing so hard defensively that he’s sacrificing at the plate. Seems like that’s what his issue was early in his career and maybe time will sort it out.

    #52264
    Onyxgem
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    How many games has he started, this is stupid to start this already utterly STUPID.

    #52303
    gscottar
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    You can call it stupid if you want but the bottom line is this is his big chance to show what he can do and he is failing. Do you think he will get many big league starts when Yadi comes back? Of course not, he will be back in Memphis so it is imperative that he show something now. Not only show something to the Cardinals but to the rest of the league because there is more at stake than being the heir apparent to Yadi. He is now fizzling as a trade prospect. Poor hitting and solid glove catchers are a dime a dozen.

    #52311
    Brian Walton
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    Why in the world would one make a snap judgement about a player who has just 16 MLB at-bats this season?

    We know Molina is going to be out for a month – maybe more. Wouldn’t it be fairer to give Kelly a little bit more time to get re-acclimated before starting a thread saying that he is “failing”?

    My simple read is that he is off to a slow start. So what?

    #52313
    858booyah
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    It’s not going to matter if Kelly or Pena plays. I would play Kelly more because he’s the rated prospect and If he can’t hit he’ll fit right with the 3-4 other clowns who can’t appear to hit and likely fall into obscurity back to the minors.

    #52314
    PadsFS
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    I think GScott makes a good point about how Kelly looks overmatched. That’s not necessarily related to his slow start.

    #52327
    gscottar
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    Brian, I think we have more to go by than 16 at bats. He has 98 career MLB at bats and is hitting .153. He had 77 at bats at Memphis this year and was hitting .234 there.

    Maybe he goes on a tear the next three weeks but the clock is ticking. I think you yourself wrote a piece about how this period of time was very crucial for him.

    #52329
    Brian Walton
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    I readily agree that this next month is very crucial for him. A big reason why is that it is his first extended opportunity to play every day as a big leaguer. He is 16 at-bats into this current trial.

    Where I disagree is with the “failing” tag being used now. Check back in a month and let’s see how it went.

    #52330
    Onyxgem
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    I guess we need what is wrong with O’Neil post also because he is still hit less in his 7 whole AB’s….

    And i disagree he has looked over match he has hit balls right on the screws right at people also.

    #52331
    Brian Walton
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    Here is a bit more of my thinking.

    The title of this thread: “What is wrong with Carson Kelly and what should be done?”

    “What is wrong with Carson Kelly?”: He is a 23-year old rookie trying to find his way. Maybe there is nothing wrong.

    “and what should be done?”: Let him play every day and see what happens. Duh.

    Consider this scenario. Last season, he seems blocked by Molina and fan-favorite Fryer, but keeps working. He gets his chance last July and seems set as St. Louis’ reserve catcher heading into 2018. I am pretty sure we all thought that, including him.

    But he surprisingly loses his job in spring camp (mostly because Matheny did not like his defense is my read). So he unexpectedly has to go back to Memphis. Maybe he is just a little bummed about that.

    Despite the .234 BA, he draws almost as many walks as strikeouts for a decent .334 OBP and .701 OPS with Memphis before Molina is injured. That is down from his 2017 Triple-A marks, accrued over many more at-bats. Point of reference: In April 2017, Kelly batted .235 for Memphis. What was wrong then?

    In conclusion, at this point, is he really “failing” or are some getting too impatient?

    #52339
    Bw52
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    It is really premature to judge Kelly becasuse he has gotten no real extended playing time in Stlouis
    and desrves a real chance.Matheny should just tell Kelly that you are the starter until Molina returns.End of story.Pena was brought in for backup duty and has never proved to be more than that.Cards have a highly rated prospect in Kelly so give him a real chance.

    #52341
    Ratsbuddy
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    Maybe Kelly isn’t doing much now but if he gets a double somewhere down the road people will talk about how valuable he is. Can you say Tyler Greene?

    r/Rat

    #52344
    PugsleyAddams
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    Tyler Greene.

    #52352
    NJ315
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    Yes Tyler Greene

    #52399
    gscottar
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    We will never have another Yadi but I think a lot of us hoped Kelly would at least be another Tom Pagnozzi (Hey at least he as Pags number 19). But so far he has been more like Tom Nieto or Glenn Brummer (Maybe the kid can steal home).

    Yes I know his career is still very young so the sample size police can take a chill pill, however, at what point does he need to start showing the ability to hit at this level before his top 5 prospect status starts to erode? End of this year? End of next year? End of Yadi’s contract?

    Personally I stopped considering him the heir apparent the moment Yadi signed the extension but I hoped he would be a major trade chip. That seems very questionable the further we go along.

    #52475
    gscottar
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    Bernie weighs in on Kelly. He also refers to Matt Knizer, although I assume he meant Andrew.

    https://www.101sports.com/2018/05/15/304339/

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