- This topic has 219 replies, 30 voices, and was last updated 2 years, 9 months ago by
.
-
Posts
-
Gorman collected a little over 300 PA’s in 89 games. I would guess that Walker would be optioned to AAA a good deal prior to appearing in that many if he features what could be termed a lackluster performance.
I saw the video where Marmol gave Walker all those BS reasons why he made the team. Bottom line is Walker will either produce or he will get sent down to Memphis.
I tried to tell everyone that Walker will be sent down to Memphis around the Memorial Day timeframe. Looks like I am about right on track.
r/Esteemed Rat
I thought you said Walker would be promoted from Memphis around Memorial Day, Rats? At any rate, Happy Memorial Day…Haha!
A lot is said about how much Walker will play. But is it realistic to expect Burleson, the AAA batting champion to ride the bench most of the time? Who has the AAA batting champion riding the pine? We could be looking at a 5 way OF rotation rather than 4.
Bling…..I assume this is a pivotal year for both Carlson and O’Neill. It will be Carlson’s 4th year and O’Neill’s 6th year. O’Neill has put up one (1) good year, that being 2021. Carlson has had a couple of decent seasons, that being 2021 and 2022. But neither has gotten to where the powers that be hoped they would be.
So, having said that, with Walker and Burleson waiting in the wings I’d say it’s time to produce for both Carlson and O’Neill. And no injuries this year either.
r/Esteemed Rat
I wasn’t overly impressed last season, but in all fairness, Burleson entirely deserves the chance he’s getting by making the 26 man for opening day. Only 53 PA’s in 16 games last season and I’ll bet a dollar that he’s embarrassed that his only tater was ripped while facing a position player. That fact alone may well serve to be the impetus to increase his determination to prove that he belongs in the Big Leagues.
I agree Burleson didn’t do much with his 48 PAs last year. But he hit .331 in AAA. Walker hit .306 in AA, and fewer homers than Burly in more PAs. I don’t think Burly will do more than a fair share of bench sitting, but I don’t know at whose expense.
Well, you pointing out the fact that he hit for that outstanding BA in AAA was the primary reason for my comment, Bling. I have to guess that if he’s capable of sustaining a .331 avg. over the course of an entire season at the AAA level, he can hit at least .250 in the Big Leagues if afforded enough PA’s to get an accurate read on his hitting talent. He was promoted from AAA a week into Sept. last season, so straight out of the proverbial gate it was pretty much a given that he wasn’t going to have a enough time to demonstrate the type of hitter the Redbirds hope he’ll be on the Big League stage. He should get his chance now. At any rate, I’d have to guess that he wishes that the solitary HR he hit in ’22 didn’t even count and that he’s aching to showcase a tater while facing someone like Scherzer. Competitors live and breathe to beat the best.
On paper we can pack a good deal of thumpage into a lineup, but you just never know what’s going to happen until it does. Starting the season off vs the AL East is going to be interesting.
Ever hear of Jose Marmolejos from the Seattle system? Me neither. He was the Triple-A batting champ in 2021. His career MLB BA is .183. He played in Japan last season.
In 2019, when Memphis was in the PCL, the champ was Jake Cronenworth, who is a starter now in San Diego. But his MLB career BA is just .256.
The 2018 PCL batting champ was Jose Fernandez of the Angels, who has played in Korea the last four years.
The 2017 champ was a guy named Nick Buss. Out of baseball now.
etc…Conclusion: Better to be a Triple-A batting champ than not, but there does not seem to be a strong correlation to MLB success.
I was talking more about the liklihood Burleson is a regular in the linup than what his career will ultimatly amount to. You will remember this statement by Mo this past winter:
“When you look at our offense, trying to find something from the left side to try to help bolster our day-to-day lineup is something we think we could benefit from,” he said. “When you think about our club from the left side, we could just use a little extra pop. Some of our better hitters are right-handed, and so we’re just looking for more balance in our lineup.”
You don’t add any balance to your lineup if the left handed hitter you added is sitting on the bench.
In my view, Johnny’s quotes illustrate why Yepez was optioned to Memphis. Now, they have two young guys on the 26 man who hit from the left side to pin their hopes on. It’d be my guess that the one that generates the most production remains and the other guy trades places with Yepez at some point.
I agree TD. Despite the poor spring, Yepez has already shown he can hit MLB pitching, so there is no reason for him to be in the minors unless everyone he could replace is out hitting him. I doubt that will be the case all year.
What a team wants to have and they they really have are two different things. The Mo quote from some months ago is out of context if being applied to Burleson. The Cardinals tried to sign a veteran LHH outfielder as a free agent but their targets did not want to come to StL because of uncertain playing time.
Where they are today, if the choice is adding Jordan Walker or a left-handed bat into the lineup, it is clear why they did what they did. In fact, they are subtracting one if you consider Carlson as a switch hitter. Burleson needs to stay ready for when a starter gets hurt so he might get a chance for regular at-bats. If everyone is healthy, the fifth outfielder here (and on any team) will be challenged for playing time.
Yeah, Yepez didn’t burn through the Big Leagues last season, but he’s genuinely capable of generating some power and is a viable threat with a bat in his hands. And as you mentioned, he’s already demonstrated that he’s not overmatched by Big League pitching. All I ask is that the Redbird field manager emphasize that he’s forbidden from the act of slipping on an oven mitt…Haha!
So, in your view BW, the success or failure of either Burleson or Gorman doesn’t pose a simultaneous threat to either one of them being optioned? I’d guess that other than in the event both of them went on some sort of tear in the form of generating offensive production which would give them no other choice but to keep each of them on the 26 man, that one of their LH’ed bats would at some point during the season be taking rips in Memphis.
The only way Gorman could be exchaned for Yepez is if Motter has been exchanged for DeJong (or Winn eventually). Otherwise we are too thin in middle infield.
In so far as Motter, just looking at his frame on TV, he sure doesn’t strike me as a guy who’d man up at SS.
BW had a good but wrong guess as he predicted Jordan Walker would wear the number 8 on his St. Louis, Cardinal jersey. Turns out Walker will wear number 18 when he saunters on to the field to make his Big League debut. If I had previously known BW’s guess, I would have pointed out that the number 8 is already retired by the Cardinals. It’s the number once worn by St. Louis, Cardinal HOF’er Larry Wilson…
1tough, to your question a few posts above, I think I agree with you. Hitting LH gives Gorman and Burleson a roster boost, but if they don’t hit for a prolonged period, they are certainly not immune from being sent down. I would throw Carlson in there, too.
I am not disturbed about Yepez going down to Memphis for a bit, as this depth is going to come in handy over the course of the year. The current bench is about as strong as it has ever been.
How would you folks feel about these results from the rookie?
ESPN has updated its’ 2023 projections for OF Jordan Walker:
.302/.376/.483 (.860 OPS)
10 HR
39 RBI
13 SB— Ryan (@The_Ryan_Shull) March 26, 2023
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.