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Toledo beats Rochester 9-6. Memphis’ magic number is now 1, with 1 game to go, Memphis leading 10-4 in the top of the 7th. Their bullpen got some heavy use yesterday, so it ain’t over yet. Shuster gave up 2 in the 6th and Blewett has given up 1 with 2 out in the top of the 7th, runner on first.
bling–Yup re Mathews and walks. I wasn’t watching pitch by pitch, so dunno what was up, but seems like regression after those two top not starts.
Mathews goes 4 innings, 1 run. His day is done then with 70 pitches. Ryan Fernandez follows with a scoreless top of the 5th. Memphis is up 7-1 in the middle of the 5th. Rochester trails the Mud Hens 9-2 in the bottom of the 8th.
That looks more like it, Cards!
And Memphis jumps out to a 5-0 lead in the bottom of their first (still going). Baez started the scoring with a three run homer. Bullpen day for Nashville.
Rochester narrowed the Mud Hen lead, 5-2 in the top of the 5th. Memphis needs a Mud Hen win.
And Hansen doesn’t seem to have particularly good splits vs. lefties. His WHIP, at least, is 1.50 vs. lefties to 1.42 vs. righties.
Inserting a minor league update….Memphis needs Rochester to lose and Memphis to win today to win the first half and clinch the postseason. After 3, the Mud Hens are beating Rochester 5-0. Mathews is pitching for the Redbirds. He walked the first batter, then set down the next three in order. It’ll be interesting to see how he does in what, for the minors, is a high pressure game.
C27-
The international league went to split seasons in 2023.
Redbirds won last night, a tight game till the bottom of the 8th. Magic number 2 with two days to go. They could clinch today. The earliest they can be eliminated is the last day, tomorrow.
Gameday shows Mautz as pitcher for Memphis tonight, so I’d guess they must think that the guys not used yesterday can handle today, and the ones from yesterday can pitch again Sunday if need be after two days off.
Din-Din was a baked chicken breast, rice, and a salad with a couple miniature chocolate bars for dessert.
Memphis has a magic number of 3 wins/3 Rochester losses to win the first half in the International League. (They also need to win one of the 3 to beat out Nashville.) The Redbirds have won 8 of their last 10, with recently demoted Saggese (OPS 1.033), Scott (.934), Prieto (.988) and Pozo (.822) playing key roles. Winner of the first half plays the winner of the second half for the league champion.
LA-
Could well be. I’ll be curious to see if we learn more at some point about the relative distribution.
Thanks, Brian.
Uncertainty over the labor situation in 2027 makes some sense to me as a reason for caution. But I agree with Albert that the Wetherholt and Walker revelations this year make 2027 a reasonable target for contention, mostly dependent on starting pitching. May would help that possibility a lot.
Ouch. First game of the month that I’ve turned off early. This was mostly on Libby, but I don’t know that the handedness advantage justifies playing both Fermin and Velasquez in the OF at the same time. That is going to be a tired pen by the end of the night. I wonder if they option Graceffo and bring up another arm (Mautz?) for tomorrow.
Memphis’ game is in a rain delay, so don’t know about pitchers used there.
Interesting that it’s Rajcic. I would have expected Gastelum, especially with Rajcic pitching an inning last night and Gastelum sitting. Hopefully Rajcic has a magic moment.
I also figured they’d DFA Prieto before Roycroft. Roycroft has a live arm and seems to me more likely to turn it around. Shows what I know!
Thanks, Brian-
About the “unexpected” part. I should have specified the time frame. The TV drop was clearly unexpected, but I’d think they would have factored it in before the beginning of the season. And discounted tickets don’t bring in as much revenue as full-price. My specific point is that if I were management, I would have planned for the possibility that attendance this year would be much lower than it is. That gap (between attendance expected for the 2026 season and actual attendance) is found money, eve if discounted because of things like the $10 tix. I’d think that management might consider taking some of that found money and funneling it back into payroll, in part to keep attendance back on the upswing.
LA-
DeWitt said that after the 2023 season, when the Cards 40,013, and had been above 40K every non-COVID year from 2005 except, weirdly, the WS year of 2011. I could imagine that when they were drawing 40K, 70% of seats would be sold before the season, but when attendance is much lower (mid-20K), there would be fewer seats sold before the season and more “hey, they’re better than expected, and kinda fun” seats sold, reducing the percentage sold before the season began to a considerable degree.
I’d add Winquest and Cho to that list of Rule 5 eligible players. Cho (like the other Baez) is still in high-A, but I bet he gets to AA this year. Right now I have Cho above Baez (not by much) on my 30-man prospect list.
Ixan Henderson, possibly, too, if he is ever healthy again.
Possibly Chase Davis.Who has not been mentioned who is not protected who will become eligible?
Brian-
Could you say more about the aversion to paying someone $20 mill next year? My read was that part of the ditching high contracts was due to fear that attendance might crater. The drops from 40K per game in 2022 and 2023 to 35K in 2024 to 27K last year suggested a pattern where the next number in the sequence would be, say, the 22K that Cleveland, Washington, and the White Sox have. But instead, we’re averaging a bit over 28K per game. And my sense is that attendance is on the upswing. 4 of the first 12 home games were under 22K, but only 2 of the next 23. Perhaps that’s whether and school being in session, but I’d bet it’s in part because the team is more fun to watch.
I’d guess that ownership would see the unexpectedly high revenue and think about investing some of that in keeping the team attractive. It’s unclear when the farm is going to start producing high end starters, and so signing one fills a need. In contrast, they can field position player without any high salaries.
Pallante is on pace for 18 wins.
And the Cards have clinched winning the season series against San Diego, in case they end up tied at season’s end.
Agreed with Bling here. The options are sell, hold, or buy. They aren’t going to buy this year, except maybe some minor piece that doesn’t fit in the long term plans, like Prieto or Pozo, would land. The question is if they sell or hold, and I’d think if they are still at or near the front of the wild card race they will hold. They could trade Noot in the offseason. He’ll probably have more value then as there will be a longer track record of his playing healthy. May is the other main guy who could bring some interesting prospects, but that would really give their chances this year a hit.
wowza-
Per MLB’s stats this is the 9th complete game of the year, and no one has 2, so May is tied for the lead. Either he should be good trade bait or he should be fun to see pitch for the Cards if they make it to the postseason. Does May remind anyone else of Tormund from Game of Thrones?
jnevel-
I didn’t think that Crooks’ double had that distance either. I was mad when I saw him swing at a pitch that high….
Bah, lost two one run games in a row. Even with missed opportunities, have to like the offense in this one. As jnevel noted, Blaze seems a lot more likely to give you a competitive at bat in a key situation than did Gorman. Crooks 1 of 3 with a walk. Lick ’em tomorrow.
Raniel Rodriguez has his third consecutive multi-hit game with Springfield. He has an OPS of .922 in I believe 41 PA in June.
Graceffo’s xFIP is 5.15. If they decide to make a push for the playoffs, I’m not sure that plays.
And…Stanek gives up another dinger. Could have used a deep fly ball from Herrera. And Buxton is now guaranteed to get another at bat if it goes a full 9 innings.
I’d guess Stanek finishes the 8th, Roycroft the 9th, and then it’s Svanson time.
1td–I’m wondering if Graceffo will ultimately get replaced in the pen. jnevel mentioned some possibilities, and Gastelum has been strong lately, too.
FWIW, I was hoping they would hold Torres on the single. RF arm, and only one out.
After two K’s, Blaze slows himself down, takes a ball, fights on, and gets a single. Good to see him come back there.
