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Gscottar – I read that as “If things go well for Dobbins in his next start and not great for Leahy, Dobbins will join the rotation going forward and Leahy will be the new long reliever.”
Gorman does have options Abe (2 of them still), but the Cardinals don’t really have options (at least any options that are likely better) to put at 3B. And they won’t next year either unless they trade for someone or sign a free agent. I guess if Gorman continues to strike out more than 50% of the time like he has lately, there are better internal options than that. But expect internal options to all be below MLB average.
That’s a lot of good news on those transactions. Glad to see Deniel Ortiz coming back. Good to get Moreno back too and have Hjerpe move up. Also nice to see Love promoted, although that is slightly unexpected given his mediocre results.
Victor has been optioned according to multiple reports and sources. I just haven’t seen yet who is replacing him, but I would think it has to be Nathan Church. Church should be an upgrade to Victor Scott. He provides the same if not even better defense in CF, has a better arm, and should hit better. He’s not going to steal as many bases, but Scott was never on base to steal so I’m not sure that part matters. Church is likely to still be a below average hitter, but his defense will make him an overall average MLB Center Fielder.
Thank you Steffen then! I always appreciate these personal insights. Keep them coming if at all possible!
Just 6 hits for the Cardinals this game but we were able to bunch them up and the Reds helped with poor defense in the last inning.
After two hits and a throwing error, we go up 4-3. Need more runs so O’Brien doesn’t have to come in again.
Yeah, it feels like we could have milked McGreevey for one more. I expected him to be back out there. But it could have gone poorly. No one will ever know I guess.
3rd time through and facing a couple guys who had already homered off him. Plus McGreevey tends to lose velocity late. That’s what I’m guessing Albert.
FWIW – Nathan Church just homered late in the game for Memphis to tie it up.
Wetherholt with 2 defensive gems sandwiched around one very poor defensive play by Fermin in the bottom of the 7th. Overall now 3-3 as McClain managed his 2nd homer of the game.
Here’s how the Cardinals rate by position through yesterday in WRC+:
C – 6th
1B – 13th
2B – 5th
SS – 25th
3B – 20th
LF – 23rd
CF – 27th
RF – 2nd
DH – 19thCompared with other teams, CF is our worst position offensively with SS being 2nd worst. Of course there are lots of good hitting Shortstops out there.
He’s almost slipped under .600 OPS as well.
CF and 3B have been real black holes offensively for this team.
After a Nootbaar backwards k, Torres hits a 2-run homer to his pull side that was a home run by about 2 inches. Cards lead 3-2.
We have lots of walks but not a lot of hits. Hopefully the Reds bullpen woes continue and we can start scoring some of the ducks we have been leaving out on the pond.
Burly hears my plea and answers with a double to start the bottom of the 5th.
Then Walker first pitch doubles to left center. The shutout has ended. Keep em coming.
Opportunity squandered in the bottom of the first as Torres hits a weak grounder with the bases juiced.
Torres took some great at bats in his first 2-3 games and has looked far more ho-hum since that point.
CIF asked:
My question is, has the Cardinal brain trust abandoned the idea of an every-day catcher? How long are we going to play musical backstops?
Pretty much every team has abandoned this idea. Almost everyone does a 70/30, 60/40, or 50/50 split. No one else is doing that with 3 catchers though as far as I know.
It’s been a few years and people can change some, but I remember Fermin as a lot better second baseman due to not having a strong arm (call it average ). His range was always around average or just above average. I don’t know that his OPS will be anything better than Gorman, but he will put the ball in play more often. He’s become a smart hitter of late who can find a hole in the defense.
Sounds like we will have at least 2 Cardinals at the All Star game this season as Bob Nightengale reported that Ollie is going to be part of the coaching staff.
An alternative solution that should be considered, although I’m sure it would not be initially popular, is to move Wetherholt to 3B and play Saggese at 2B. Saggese can handle the 2B defense. Offense is the question mark. He would need to be much better offensively than Gorman to consider such a move. He probably isn’t. Fermin or Prieto could play there too but they are a step down defensively. And with our pitch to contact starters, I don’t want that.
Bling, Gorman may be in his last days. The problem is the team doesn’t have another real third baseman. With so many of our starting pitchers being pitch to contact guys, we don’t really want a subpar third baseman. Urias may gain reps when he returns out of default but he is the opposite of the youth movement.
Fermin is not a third baseman. Saggese is not a third baseman. Jordan is not a third baseman. Prieto is not a third baseman. And Torres is not a third baseman. They can all stand there and field balls hit to them, but they either lack the range or the arm or the reps to be Major League playable as a starter. Maybe Ramon Mendoza ends up there? That would be an interesting journey for him. But sometimes it’s a matter of right place at the right time. Jesus Baez or Jalen Flores may be closest for internal options (that could be long term answers) but they are a ways off.
LA – Of course he doesn’t prefer that. But that’s a result, not an intention.
I believe he is playing with pitches and learning from live hitters to get better in the long run. Think about it this way. He had no chance to reach the Majors as a starter early this season unless a bunch of injuries happened because the Cardinals had already acquired Dobbins and Fitts and decided Leahy would be starting. That put him at #8 on the list of 5 starters at best but in this case he’s also kind of behind Mautz because Mautz had to be added to the 40-Man. Any really smart person (and Quinn is a really smart person) would recognize that for what it is and try to prioritize long-term improvements over short term results. Because in this case, short term results would have no impact on him becoming a Major League starter quickly anyway. I’m just reporting what I see to help you guys get an inside view. Feel free to believe as you will.
