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It means almost nothing but our new position player draftees have really struggled thus far.
Williamson – .122 Avg, .411 OPS
Ferraro – .162 Avg, .481 OPS
Kennedy – .098 Avg, .367 OPS
Camacho – .238 Avg, .652 OPS
Lobliner – .185 Avg, .586 OPS
Henne – .190 Avg, .700 OPS
Condon – .444, 1.000 OPS (only 9ABs)Gagliano – I was really listing the possibles to be taken. If it were me choosing today, I’d only protect Baez, Odle, and Winquest. Maybe one or both of Rincon and Clemente to keep them leaving in free agency. I’d take the risk on leaving Cho, Davis, Lin, and Ledbetter unprotected. Those 4 are low risk, although Ledbetter has really come on lately so it’s a good thing we don’t have to decide yet.
I’m fairly certain the Cardinals would prefer not to have a Rule 5 Draft and only have to choose what they want to do with Clemente & Rincon.
Jack Ralston got called up today for the Marlins. For years, Ralston was always one of my favorite underrated prospects. Unfortunately, injuries sidelined him several times. I always thought he and Granillo could end up as fixtures in our bullpen (note that Granillo has been terrible this season – not sure what’s going on as I haven’t watched him at all).
The only player the new player development system has drafted or traded for so far to reach MLB is Blaze Jordan (unless you count Ferguson, which you probably shouldn’t). Time is needed to get everyone ready.
They could push Doyle or Franklin up now to fill innings and they might be ok. But that wouldn’t give us the best version yet of who they can be or maximize their 6 years of MLB time. The message all year is we are rebuilding. The players have outperformed expectations. Bloom has tried to support them with players who were nearly ready, but he’s not willing to fill clear holes with players who aren’t ready. That takes a certain amount of courage given the pressure from fans.
But you are right. The system does not have ready prospects to fill all its holes . . . yet.
It definitely wasn’t batting practice Bling. At least not vs Matthews. Lots of balls that just eluded our fielders off awkward swings. Didn’t get much help from the D either. Blaze let one dribble by he probably should have had. Church let one drop in front of him. Baez let one drop in front of him. And Weatherholt missed a grounder going to his right that Winn would have likely gotten. I thought Matthews was far better than last game. But them’s the breaks kid. As several have said, welcome to the big leagues.
I actually think Matthews is pitching just fine. He was trying to be a bit too fine early and has wasted a few pitches but otherwise good. Just bad results. Sometimes that happens. It’s not like he can’t throw strikes or is out there throwing pitches down the middle. Baseball is the only sport where you can do well and still be terrible. It’s weird.
I’m not really a fan of that move but I guess it’s possible it could work out.
The team is going to have to figure out this catcher logjam. If it were me, and I’m probably in the extreme minority, I’d try to trade Crooks this offseason and consider dealing Herrera too if the offer is right. I’m ok keeping Herrera until the next deadline as well. Bernal should get 70% of the starts, with Pages and Herrera splitting the leftovers. At some point, we should try to get to Bernal & Rodriguez as the only 2 catchers on the roster with Rodriguez also playing a lot of DH. I’m not sour on Crooks. I just think Bernal is the better player all around.
Brian, I thought hard about Clemente. I maybe should have put him in the next group up. Good points.
I believe Mendoza, Clemente, Saladin, Davila, and Rincon are all set to be Minor League free agents if they aren’t added to the 40-man roster. That may be enough reason to add Rincon and Clemente.
I should have added Sammy Hernandez, Yordalin Pena, and Jose Davila into that last group as well. None of those will be taken but they are interesting prospects at least and eligible to be taken.
The team has added most players that needed to be added already. Assuming there is a Rule 5 draft, here’s where I have everyone in descending order of likelihood they are taken:
Needs to be added (will be taken otherwise): Jesus Baez
Should consider being added (10-60% chance of being taken): Jacob Odle, Cade Winquest, Won bin Cho, Chase Davis, Chen Wei Lin, Ixan Henderson, Hancel Rincon, Colton Ledbetter
Almost Certainly Safe (<10% chance of being taken): Pete Hansen, Randal Clemente, Tre Richardson, Ramon Mendoza, Austin Love
Other Prospects of Note that become/are Eligible: Noah Mendlinger, Travis Honeyman, Zach Levenson, Jose Suarez, Skyler Hales, Darlin Saladin, Ancelo Encarnacion
I would bet that the Rule 5 draft gets cancelled. I still think we may see Winquest and/or Rincon get added before season’s end to help the bullpen.
Yeah, I’m not sure if he just gets fatigued and starts grooving lots of pitches down the middle or what. He threw about 4 of them there that last inning.
Libby looks fantastic tonight albeit against the Reds offense. Still, his pitches are breaking nicely and his control seems good.
I fully enjoyed this one. I like most all of them but this one in particular. Kyle and Brian are becoming something like listening to two old friends of yours chatting in the background. I appreciate both of them more and more as time goes on for the perspective they bring on the team and game I love to follow.
Rotation and Bullpen by July 2027 (barring injuries or offseason acquisitions):
Matthews
McGreevey
Leahy
Pallante
FittsDobbins
Gastellum
Graceffo
Rajcic
O’Brien
Roby
Mautz
LiberatoreAlso on the bullpen shuttle:
Rincon
Winquest
Svanson
Henderson6/7/8 Starters:
Hjerpe
Cijntje
DoyleOther 3 Memphis Starters getting close:
Franklin
Fajardo
EaganThat should make for some interesting decisions around the trade deadline. It’s kind of like our position with catchers where we almost have to trade one . . . or two.
