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Well Rats, what do you have to say for yourself?
2-1 winner is the final. I’m not sure I’d classify this one as a pitching duel. Some bad breaks for the Cards offense. Good pitching from us though aside from some wildness early by Matthews. That all made for a pretty boring game.
He’s overthrowing everything trying to pile up strikeouts to make a good impression. The Reds started off swinging at everything and have learned to watch it go by for a ball.
For what it’s worth, an article at Viva El Birdos today highlights how much better Burleson might be if he didn’t have to hit at Busch. Then, Kyle Reis reposted something showing Burleson would have had 30 home runs now if he was at Dodger Stadium or 29 in Cincinnati vs 19 at Busch. Busch can be tough on left handed hitters (which is good for our pitchers!) compared to most other ballparks.
It doesn’t really matter because he’s playing half his games at Busch. But he might be worth even more to another team than he is to the Cardinals. I’m not at all wanting to trade Burleson. I love having him on our team. I just would always listen if someone is willing to pay more than he’s worth.
Wainwright and Molina getting the record for number of starts as battery mates was a fun honor for both.
And of course Coleman setting the Rookie record mark for steals was incredible.
Oquendo playing every position in a season!
Not a record, but I had a lot of fun watching both Albert and Yadi each take a turn at pitching. And watching Pages play 2B, was hilarious.
Albert, I’m really big on Fajardo too as you can see by the list I published awhile back. That guy already pitches at an advanced level and he’s still so young. I love his composure. I’m not as big of a Molina fan, but he has been impressive most of the time.
I’m not sure how our rotation develops, but that’s a good problem to have. I see Franklin, Fajardo, and Matthews in it. But we have at least 3 pretty good ones there now. Plus Doyle is a probable. I really like what they are doing with him. That’s a lot of average to better than average starters. There are lots of other possibles beyond that too like Molina. It’s a fun position to be in.
Urias will need to come back soon unless he just gets released (seems unlikely). Torres and Jordan are the only options to be sent down. If it’s Jordan going down, Gorman is already playing 3B at AAA so I don’t know if that makes sense. He could play 1B I guess. Then whichever hits better gets called up in September?
I wouldn’t be surprised if Prieto gets released (or traded for a sack of baseballs) this offseason. No reason to keep him on the 40-man. Even with Urias likely gone, Prieto just doesn’t have a place. He’s a solid hitter who has improved defensively, but it just hasn’t panned out for him.
“25”, I concur on Clarke. I’ll also say Odle is getting overrated here. And probably Xavier Cruz. Probably Cho too, but I don’t feel quite as strongly about those last 2.
I don’t see hardly anyone who I think is grossly underrated. I feel like Maniscalco may be one, but he’s completely unproven yet. Mitchell does feel a bit low. And I’m big on Gurevitch so maybe him some too. But none of them is a big omission.
Adding the pitching element to the above completes the picture.
SP: 13th, 9.2 (2.1 to 13.1)
RP: 25th, .1 (-3.7 to 6.8)Again, this all suggests we should be about a 76ish win team at the end of the season. We’re on pace to be about a 81-win team instead.
Looking out to the future, that’s still a lot of improvements that need to be made to make this a true contender. Ideally, we would need to get to top 15 in basically every one of those categories (or all but 1 or 2 maybe). Today, we only get there in 4 of the 12 listed (2B, RF, DH, and SP).
I find that looking at FWAR by position compared to league is a good indicator of how good a team is and how many wins they should have. In this case, I’d expect the Cardinals to be just a little under .500 as a team, so we’ve probably been just a touch “lucky”. I think most of us would agree with that assessment. Here are the numbers as of today (position ranking, FWAR, then lowest team FWAR to highest team FWAR for that position):
C: 19th, 1.4, (-.8 to 6.0)
1B: 17th, 1.8, (-1.3 to 3.9)
2B: 2nd, 4.4 (-.2 to 4.5)
SS: 19th, 1.5, (-.9 to 5.7)
3B: 27th, -.1, (-1.2 to 4.1)
RF: 9th, 2.4, (-2.2 to 4.8)
CF: 29th, -.2, (-.4 to 8.1)
LF: 24th, .4, (-.9 to 3.5)
DH: 11th, .7 (-2.2 to 4.2)
PH: 23rd, -.2 (-.6 to .7)Basically, we are elite at 2B, good in RF, average-ish at DH, 1B, C, and SS and bad at 3B, LF, CF, and relatively bad at pinch hitting. No real surprises there for me other than we’ve fallen off at C quite a bit from last season.
Quinn was a bit wild tonight. It looked like he was trying to over-execute most everything. The end result was more fine than bad as he only gave up one run through 4. Just 68 pitches. I was a bit surprised he wasn’t out there for the 5th but it’s fine. It’s hot. Keep him rested for a big league stint.
O’Brien with a quick 9th. Nice work. That was a fun win at the end. A little boring for the first 6.
He’s a lot better than Velasquez anyway. Velasquez was terrible in the field and typically took some bad approaches in at bats. He had power and was right handed. Pereira improves our defense. If he can hit at all as a CFer, that’s an upgrade over what we have now.
Pereira homers to CF! What a waiver pickup! This guy has been incredible thus far – especially on D.
Pallante comes back dressed as Stanek, just as I suggested. He gets the double play grounder and a fly out to hold the Phillies scoreless. Incredible.
Winn definitely looks better as of late. Nice hit to drive in Walker after Walker worked his namesake and then stole a base.
Could our bullpen hold a one-run lead? Probably not. Let’s get more.
Pallante with another excellent start. Goes 6 vs a good Phillies lineup and gives up zero. They had several singles but most got erased on twin killings.
Santos had been pretty decent throughout his rehab and since returning to Memphis so that one is a bit surprising. Ramirez has never been decent, so far less surprising. With Santos, the decision likely came down to him being a free agent after this season and them deciding he isn’t going to be major league caliber by then. Might as well play someone else if that’s the case.
I’d like to see Jordan keep playing 3B most days as well. I don’t think he’s the answer long-term at 3B, but I do think he’s a talented hitter who is adjusting. He’s playing good enough defense as well. No reason to watch Urias there. Urias is not a long-term guy.
