Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
No need to whine, cuss and grind your teeth folks. We were thoroughly beat by a better team – a much better team – and will probably be beat twice more before we return home to play the worst team in the division where, if the stars align, we may win two of three. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
MCarp fans: Sooner or later you may have something to crow about but, for now, put a pin in it please.
Helsley performed yeoman duty last night. For his troubles he will have the next three days off. Mejia – he could have the rest of the season off.
Atripleshyofthecycle wrote:
<You don’t follow baseball terribly closely if you think a rehabbing vets stats matter in calling them up from injury. One could even say you’d have to be beyond not following it closely.>
His foot injury was not what warranted a rehab. It was his inability to hit and mental frustration that sent him down. Mo and Shildt even said he went to rehab to ‘find his swing.’ I saw him on a TV game in Springfield and he looked awful in the batters box. He is prone to leaning back and then standing up when the ball is thrown. He was still partially leaning back on the 4 ABs that I saw. He did manage to do his specialty – hit a drive into the shift and also hit a pop fly to left field. PS: I do follow baseball terribly closely and see no reason for you to make such a snarky comment to another poster.
The guy simply seems to refuse to adapt or to try and discourage the shift that teams put on him. If he isn’t lining out to the shift or directly to 1B he is popping out to left field. That launch angle BS is what has killed his game. As for batting leadoff it is his OBP primarily achieved through walks that gave him a measure of success. But he has lost that ability by seemingly trying for a walk anytime he gets two balls. Pitchers have him figured out. Edman is a better defender and is currently and will continue to be a better hitter. Maybe Carp should try switch hitting. That should confuse the shifters…..LOL
Rest assured they will want to give us some payback for that 4 game sweep at Busch. Didn’t seem to have hurt them terribly. Kershaw is usually prime cut for the Cards no matter how bad they are.
Ratsbuddy wrote:
<WTH is this country coming to???>
Last I checked there were over 300 million guns in this country and that is probably a low number. BUT – take away the guns and there are plenty alternatives, some being used today, such as cars, trucks, busses, airplanes, poison, etc. For me the key is to identify the nut jobs and get them out of circulation but that too is no easy task. New Zealand cracked down on guns following a similar event but that was religion oriented. Their crackdown assures their citizens that only the criminals will have guns.
In summary, there is no solution but taking mental illness serious is step one.
Question: If they send Ravelo down when Carp is brought up, who is the backup 1B? It would have to be Carp huh? Surely they won’t send Edman down (there I go again, assuming something over which I have no control).
Here is how you find a YouTube game: https://youtu.be/xVAxI8tqRQ8
Forgot to add: Is it just me or has the strike zone shrunk in size since the AS break? It seems from what I have seen that few borderline calls are being made and many clear strikes are being called balls.
Please do not use Mayers against the Dodgers. I still remember his MLB debut against them. Not pretty.
Stu Schuerwater the HPU last night is living evidence that even an unperfected electronic strike zone is preferable to umps like him. The low strike is the most missed call in baseball. Why, because we don’t have any two foot tall umpires.
Mejia of the 7+era. A lefty at any cost and he came cheap.
Ponce and Hudson are showing their true colors – can’t hit the broadside of a barn. Ponce has paid the price but what is there to replace Hudson. He wears my lucky number and I cringe every time I see it on him.
I relented and unmuted the sound during a McCarver game. That lasted all of 30 seconds when I heard he was once again managing from the booth. I tried once again later but he was still engrossed a conversation about events 40 years ago. Please tell me he is not going to the LA series.
What is it with the MLB team reporters. Evidently Ann Rogers does not travel as others seem to be writing up the road games but all are using the same formula – forget details of the game and concentrate on only one thing about it – either the pitcher, a single player or some odd event. I am actually having to resort to the PD to get some inside scoop.
Stats: Yes, I am the old dog who can’t learn new tricks. Can someone detail for me what a wRC (or something like that) is supposed to tell me.
And with that I bid adieu and say GO CARDS. Our hero MCarp returns to save the season.
I am not a numbers person but looking at the easy ones I see that Wieters has 10 home runs in 47 games whereas Yadi has 4. Wieters OPS is .789 whereas Yadi’s is .654. Wieters OBP is .289 whereas Yadi is .286.
Yadi has started or played in 71 games whereas Wieters has started or played in 47 (24 less). Weak points are that Wieters has struck out 36 times and Yadi 34.In short I like Wieters. Next year Yadi is 38 and in his last season. He is prone to getting hurt (as are all catchers) so a valuable backup is critical and one who can start more often is even more valuable. Give Wieters a nice, higher than normal, contract offer and see what happens. It is a young man’s game but veterans who can still perform at a high level are not to be ignored. I also really like Kinizer but one more year in AAA and as a backup to Wieters if Yadi goes down is not a bad thing.
<I assume Knizer gets the backup job next year but Wieters has been great.>
I like them both but surely Wieters has a lot left in him and a veteran backup who can fill in full time is a definite asset. Extend that man or get him resigned before the rest of MLB is after him.
My most hated man in baseball – John Lester – he of the green goo in his glove in Boston – bites the dust big time and I was loving every minute of it. Thanks to Holland – 2011 WS hero? – for serving up that prime cut to Matt Wieters. SF DFAed the guy but the Cubs were looking for cheap help.
Pugsley/Addams wrote:
<“Deputy”….sweet! But only if MM3 gives me more than one bullet, Euro. You know, speaking of “bullets”,>EW is right – you can have the whole arsenal. And I can even throw in a couple of Minuteman III missiles if it will help with negotiations. Of course the players will probably want Boras to be their negotiator but we can have Mo representing the owners…..LOL Pugs can be lead for the poor fans.
Years ago I used to love watching the TV show Laugh In. That went away but reading this thread on trade deadline day has been a great substitute. I have never laughed so much. Nuff said.
Carp’s only problem is frustration. If you consider that to be mental health so be it but frustration is curable with liberal doses of success in whatever field one is trying to succeed. I think at times we all have been frustrated. As one small example, just this morning I took apart a small vacuum cleaner to inspect the innards for a problem. I found the problem but could not get the darn thing back together after umpteen tries. I put it aside and gave it some thought. After lunch I went back after it and using the things that I had thought about put it back together on the first try. Carp’s problem is not that simple but it does illustrate that frustration can be overcome by thinking through the problem an applying your thoughts to try and solve it.
You can almost see it on his face when he comes up to the plate. You know how he leans back and then assumes his stance just as the ball is being delivered. I watched him at Springfield this week and he was leaning back alright but several times he looked like he hardly had enough time to come forward before the pitch was delivered. He doesn’t have any permanent mental problems but he is mighty frustrated and in a pre-game interview he was very terse when asked what he was planning to do on his rehab in Springfield. Silly question but his answer was very terse to the effect of something like “Improve my swing” or “Get my swing back.” Good luck Carp but if Gyorko is traded I can see Edman as the new third baseman or, at a minimum, the utility player for the infield.
Notice that the Cubs have four players that were former Cardinals – Heyward, Wick, Descalso and Chisek. But two were only one year with the Cards and one was a minor leaguer. Descalso has paid his dues around MLB but I don’t think the Cubs are that happy with him.
Just noticed that the Aug 7th game has been taken away from FS Midwest and given to YouTube. That is the Dodgers 2:10 pm getaway game. Just happy it is not given to Facebook which has really been cut down on games this season.
Carp at AA last night 0-2 with a walk. BA in minors = .000 0-21. Back to Memphis according to the FS Midwest guys.
<Min3… any thoughts on Fowler’s season last year?>
Yep, I thought he stunk the place up and, actually, things seemed to improve when he went down with the foot injury but he was not working on an extension. He had a contract that was a risk and the risk was not paying off. Same for Cecil who is about the stealthiest pitcher in the Cards system at the present. Fowler has improved to near what was expected of him but Bader’s arrival was what helped us overcome Fowler’s shortcomings. Note that I am not a stat guy at all and cannot even tell what a lot of the metrics stuff is so all I have to go by is the eyeball. Anybody can quote sabrestuff to me all day and all they will get is a blank stare. I am still trying to figure out how a WAR is proven.
<That said, I am with the crowd that hopes Carp stays down in the minors until he gets his swing right. When he does, he should go back to starting.>
How low does he have to go before he ‘gets his swing right’? So far he has tried AAA and AA. Would A be his best bet and when he finally finds the level where he can hit then he should go back to starting in MLB? You can only have so much loyalty. This is a performance oriented business. People post on all forums everyday about how to win, win, win not how to treat all your players with loyalty. I favor loyalty when justified by performance and, at the moment, Carp is not performing.
<Just goes to show the FO decision to resign him before the season was BEYOND stupid…something they are really good at being lately!>
Don’t you think that is a case of 20/20 hindsight on your part. Even I who is not a Matt Carpenter fan would NOT call it stupid based on his 2018 season. In fact a lot of the criticisms on the forum are based on hindsight with only a few attaboys ever seen. I will give them an attaboy on Goldschmidt despite his not getting a good start until recently. He will definitely pay off in the long run. And I think they should extend Ozuna too – that should get some good shots my way…..LOL
I forgot to mention that in Springfields Sunday game, Falgade looked outstanding but the crowd, announcers and I never were told why he was removed with two outs in the 5th inning while leading. Must have been a pitch count situation (at 72) following his return from an injury.
The Springfield catcher, Chinea, took one hard one to the privates that laid him out flat on the ground for a few minutes. Shades of Yadi and his injury came to mind but he eventually got up, shook it off, and played more until he caught one that injured his thumb which caused him to shed the glove immediately and walk straight to the clubhouse with the trainer. That one may be a Yadi type thumb injury.
<Actually Carp went 0-4 tonight, bringing his rehab ‘effort’ to a 0-for-20 with 7 strikeouts>
The box score shows him 0-3 with one SO and one walk so I guess you are counting the walk but he has survived in the bigs by being a milkman milking for those walks anytime he gets two balls. Pitchers are now well aware of that and can safely throw strikes pretty much down the middle as he watches them go by. In my mind, Carp was ruined by the launch angle nonsense which he has never mastered but which has led to his downfall. Learning to hit to the opposite field would have saved him a lot of grief and eliminated the shift allowing him some decent hits to RF. JMHO.
