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I don’t know where the narrative comes from that the Cardinals would dh Walker or Gorman. They would trade them before they dh the them on a regular basis.
It will be great if he can learn to play RF at a competent level.
But based on where his defense is right now, if the club wants to win, he should be DH.
But based on where his defense is right now, if the club wants to win, he should be DH.
That’s a big ‘if’. What if the club wants to ‘be competative’.
LACF said:
But based on where his defense is right now, if the club wants to win, he should be DH.
You are entitled to your opinion, and you have a very strong one, but it is just that, your opinion. We don’t even know who the other RF options will be next year. Nor do we know who will be in the DH mix. Putting aside trades, take last spring. When Albert signed, it made a major change to the lineup that we had assumed all winter long.
On a general basis, there are many factors that may determine the most optimal “winning” lineup.
On a general basis, there are many factors that may determine the most optimal “winning” lineup.
Yes, and defense is one of them.
Right now, Jordan Walker is the equivalent of Nick Castellanos in the outfield. I know you have explicitly stated the Cardinals should not have Nick Castellanos in the outfield.
I don’t recall making any firm assessments of Castellanos, but perhaps others here did.
I will note, however, that the Phillies are in the playoffs again, playing in October in both of Castellanos’ seasons with them. So playing him in RF (which he did in 146 games so far this season) certainly is a part of their “winning” lineup. He was also an all-star this season.
I bet if Walker could do that for the Cards, they would be happy.
It is probably worth mentioning that the Cardinals have not shown an inclination to have the DH be a dedicated role that a particular player fills. They are probably going to continue rotating lineup regulars through DH to get a break from fielding, which also gives bench players a chance to stay sharp. I also think that what can look like harmful or needless churn to us, they think is utilizing the analytics to achieve matchup advantages game by game. I’m not saying its good or bad just that they will probably keep doing it like that.
Agree, bling. Except when Albert was here, that has been the plan pretty much every year in recent times. And with several aging stars, they may want to keep that DH option free going forward.
Of course we don’t know how much better Walker can become defensively in the OF, but it seems pretty certain he’s not a natural out there. It looks like he’s going to have to really rake at the plate to provide net star value to the Cards. With that in mind, how was he viewed potentially as an infield defender before the change? Much better than what he has done in the OF this year?
Just looking ahead to when Goldy/Arenado leave the team. Would that possibly be in the long term plan? That might be why they would be less likely to trade him now, thinking that he’s not going to be a liability on D forever. Again, assuming the projection is he’ll do better at one of the corner IF spots.
With that in mind, how was he viewed potentially as an infield defender before the change? Much better than what he has done in the OF this year?
I posted the numbers in the Sageese thread.
Yepez is four years older than Walker. So, you can compare his 2017 to Walker’s 2021.
The Cardinals moved Yepez off of 3B after one year. They moved Walker off 3B after two years.
And this is what I don’t get. If nobody believes Yepez is a good fielder, why does everyone believe Walker will become a good fielder?
– Does he have better training? They are in the same organization.
– Does he have more desire? They are both professionals.
– Is Walker just a much better athlete? Could be.
– Is everyone just biased because of his prospect ranking? This could also be.Judging only on both players frame and running speed I’d have to conclude that Walker is the better athlete. I’m also convinced he’s by far the better hitter of the two.
Walker does appear to be a much better athlete as 1TD said. Plus he has a terrific arm – a perfect right-field arm in fact. Maybe he won’t come along as an outfielder, but he looks like he can improve a lot.
Yepez kind of looks like Ozuna in the outfield. Walker looks more like a natural first baseman learning to play the outfield. I know he was drafted as a third baseman, but looks like a first baseman.
Walker has looked much better in the OF. While I don’t think he will be one of the best ever in RF, he already looks as good as Ozuna did in the OF. If he really does work at his reads over the winter, he should be at least a league average outfielder next year. He has the potential to be above average with his speed and arm.
The Cardinals can win next year with Walker in RF but only if the front office improves the pitching staff a lot. Also, they need to get rid of some hitters that aren’t pulling their weight.
Regarding the Yepez-Walker comparison… When Walker looks like Yepez did this July, we can reopen the discussion about their comparative athleticism. Until then, it is not apples to apples.
Today's @NobodyTrashesTN clean-up hitter, Juan Yepez! pic.twitter.com/JT8UYARYfV
— Memphis Redbirds (@memphisredbirds) July 16, 2023
That’s funny Brian, and a good point. Nobody could accuse Walker of not putting in the work. My take is that Jordan’s makeup is top shelf.
Do you know if Yepez ever shaped up fitness-wise?
Why is it that my mind keeps telling me a player who makes it through many levels of youth baseball, high school or American Legion, and the whole gamut of professional minor leagues to reach AAA, that he should have achieved at least a competent level of defense at his position and not need to learn the basics in MLB?
Well OF is not his position. He was blocked at 3B/1B, and would probably still be blocked even if they had given him a year at AAA. Plenty of other guys have had to get into MLB that way.
There is a question of whether they should have moved him to OF a year sooner.
That Yepez pic from July looked like he had been sampling too many products from Anheuser-Busch but he looked a little trimmer in STL the last few days of the season. Hopefully someone told him that if he wants to stay in the big leagues he is going to need some self discipline and dedication.
There is a question of whether they should have moved him to OF a year sooner.
In ’22 at Springfield he played 25 games in RF – 2 in left – 4 in CF. The organization could see that he was blocked at 3B at STL and realized that he would be advancing to Busch sooner than later. He should be taking a steady diet of fungos in the off season. He needs to track flies better.
It should be noted that in the 68 games he played at third at AA SPGF he committed 18 errors, so he isn’t any infield whiz either. If I remember correctly many were on throws.
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