Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Aside from being the most entertaining player on the team (which in these times is sorely needed) he has a very good eye for the strike zone and he has the highest walk percentage on the team by a large margin. In other words, he gets on base. Have to get on base to score runs.
We could use more Lars Nootbaars
So I have heard. I have no reason to question what he says he has been told.
The whole thing answers some questions in my mind. Pitching used to be a strength some time ago but it clearly is not now and hasn’t been for a while. Some of that is a draft issue of course, but I have often wondered if our development staff are asleep at the wheel.
I saw that earlier. Some people were questioning the veracity of it. I don’t know Schwendel, but Sarris is a straight shooter.
If that is the case, it sounds like that kind of disconnect needs to be addressed. If the Cardinals are going to rely on the minor league system for pitching on the major league team, and all signs point in that direction, everyone needs to be on the same page. Pitching has been and still is the glaring weakness.
Yeah, Lars is the best of our current outfielders. Carlson can’t hit RHP so he has limited usefulness. O’Neill isn’t being the good O’Neill, and Burleson is the worst defender of the bunch.
We don’t do anything but wait for the offense to play better.
The rotation is mediocre, that isn’t changing. Maybe Flaherty figures it out and gets better. The rest are what you see now. They can play at the margins, like bring up Liberatore and send down Woodford, but with Waino coming back I don’t see the need for him unless someone gets hurt. Matz isn’t going anywhere.
The bullpen is the only place for movement and that generally happens anyway in a good year.
Too early for trades, so just wait it out.
Making Marmol a sacrificial lamb accomplishes nothing.
Bader still doing his thing.
Harrison Bader makes the grab: pic.twitter.com/d93CjNtBD2
— Bryan Hoch ⚾️ (@BryanHoch) May 3, 2023
Well of course it could have been moved. They didn’t want to because why would they? It’s not like fans won’t still come to games and that is the only thing they give a bleep about.
“Turning baseball players into billboards is repulsive.”
We agree on that observation.
‘The team is in last place, but look, we give you a corporate advertisement to ease your worries and give you hope for the future”
The obtuse insensitivity is off the charts.
#stlcards will reveal an advertisement on their jersey sleeve this afternoon (4 p.m.) at Busch Stadium. The company will look familiar.
It's the same one who appears on #stlblues jerseys.
St. Louis-based wealth management company Stifel will be featured on jerseys, per source.
— Derrick Goold (@dgoold) May 2, 2023
Investment Bankers. Yeah, that will get your juices flowing.
The tone deafness is staggering.
The press conference room is set up at Busch with torso mannequins which appear as though they could shortly be adorned with, say, a jersey with a new patch.
— Jeff Jones (@jmjones) May 2, 2023
Looks like uniform related, probably corporate sponsor patch.
Something for which all fans were waiting breathlessly.
Talk about being unable to read the room.
My background is in law and my credo is that if you are going to make an assertion, have facts to back it up. Speculation in a court of law will get you smacked down faster than Jordan Hicks’ fastball.
Given that, I prefer to listen to what comes out of the horse’s mouth as fact.
Any more thoughts on how the first month of the season played out?
“I think our record tells us how April went,” Nolan Arenado said flatly. “Just collectively, not
very good baseball.”Arenado paused, contemplating any other possible explanation for the Cardinals’ woes. If
there was, he couldn’t find one.From Katie Woo’s article https://theathletic.com/4471927/2023/05/01/cardinals-nolan-arenado-tough-start/
Any more thoughts on how the first month of the season played out?
“I think our record tells us how April went,” Nolan Arenado said flatly. “Just collectively, not very good baseball.”
Arenado paused, contemplating any other possible explanation for the Cardinals’ woes. If there was, he couldn’t find one.
“Yeah, that’s about it,” he confirmed. “Collectively, really bad baseball.”
“It’s pretty obvious we haven’t played good enough to win,” Paul Goldschmidt said following Sunday’s loss. “We have got to play better, individually and as a group if we’re going to win games and be where we want to be.”
It is that simple, even the players agree.
“So what is the manager supposed to do when 26 players are playing badly?”
Do what is in his power to help them, and wait for them to play better.
The manager’s duty is to put the players in the best position to succeed. After that the players must execute. There is a limit to what a manager can do.
The players have to execute. Up to now they haven’t.
“So, do we conclude from all the above that perhaps it is, in the end, all the manager’s fault?”
No.
Not really. Some of them play badly in one game and not another but the combination of all them playing badly at various times is the problem.
The common denominator is that they are not playing like a team is supposed to play.
Remember they didn’t all play together for a full spring training. A big chunk of them played in the WBC.
Personally, I don’t think the problem is analytics, lineup construction or any other kind of tweaking around the margins.
I think it is that radical concept of 26 players just playing badly. The solution is for them to stop playing badly, imo.
Now whether there is an optimal combination of 26 players is a problem for another day.
Thanks for the info on Walker’s outfield defense. Though I don’t think him being better than Yepez and Burleson is necessarily a ringing endorsement. :>;
I’ve seen a minimal amount of him playing in the OF. I do know he has a fantastic arm. He also appears to have some speed for as big as he is. It’s clear the OF is likely the only place for him while Arenado is on the team.
Another year in the minors would probably be best though.
Hmmm, Matt Holliday is an interesting choice for bench coach. No major league coaching experience at all. I heard talk he was being considered for hitting coach, but not for bench coach. I thought the favorite there was Stubby Clapp.
I don’t have anything against former Cardinal players on the coaching staff but going straight to the #2 guy first? At least Skip had major league coaching experience.
Not sure how I feel about this even though I am a big fan of Holliday.
I am happy to see Connor Thomas pitching well. I hope it continues. Lefty pitchers are a scarce resource and the Cardinals can use all the effective lefties they can get their hands on.
It doesn’t appear the Cardinals are going to re-sign Quintana and Montgomery has only one year of control remaining. I know Liberatore still exists, but he hasn’t impressed me. I would like to always have at least one lefty in the rotation if possible. Thompson looks more like a bullpen arm to me, but perhaps the Cardinals are still eyeing him as a starter.
I rarely have an issue with the Cardinals protecting pitching regardless of level. Pitching has been the team’s weak area for the last several years. The days of having a bonanza of pitching are over.
I wonder about Gomez though. Is he for real or just a single season flash in the pan?
In any event, players put on the 40 man for protection can always be taken off if they don’t work out and a need arises. I don’t worry too much about Rule 5 moves.
