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<Now, it would be nice if we had a hitting instructor who could teach him how to be a Matty Alou type hitter. >
Well Mark Budaska is the guy he had at Memphis and the current hitting coach is highly regarded in MLB. Both have worked with him but I think he is really frustrated with maybe too much instruction. It appears his main problem is pitch recognition and that is not something easily taught. I sure hope Harrys Son comes around as his defense is superlative. But then we had Pete Kozma with the same problem but his BA was higher than Bader’s and he was shipped out. I hope Bader is easier to correct than Carpenter has been.
The Springfield Cards game was on local TV yesterday so I didn’t have to pay $20 to park (and won’t ever).
Dylan Carlson is the real deal. Matt Carpenter is not. He led off the game with a strikeout. Two other batters in the first inning hit home runs off a Corpus pitcher who did not look too hot. Matt also had a line drive into the RF shift and a grounder to the 2B. Also hit a fly ball to LF for an out. If I have it counted up right he is 0-16 in his rehab at AAA and AA. The announcers were not really sure what he was rehabbing as they mentioned his shin and foot but alluded that it was his head that may be out of wack.I have no idea what is wrong with Carpenter but there has been no improvement yet the local guys said he would be going back to St Louis today to be ready for tomorrows game with the Cubs. Friday it was being said by Mo that Carp may remain in Springfield until Tuesday when they wrap up their home stand. I am not a defender of Matt and never have been but I do think he has caused some problems in his time with the Cards. He was anointed as a team star and given 1B as his prize. He could do no wrong but despite his supposed great eye he found it necessary to whine to umps incessantly about strike calls. He got hot for a couple of months then cooled when needed most. His defense has improved but his arm has never improved with those balloon throws to 1B.
He will probably not be traded or even benched very much because of the money owed. He is this years Dexter Fowler – big ticket/no laundry. I have no idea as to his future but I would not be disappointed to see him with another team.
Millionaire League Baseball strike? You gotta be kidding. The last strike took years to recover from and this one could be even worse. During the last strike the average pay was not 4 MILLION for a MLB ballplayer. Hard to have sympathy for even those at minimum major league pay which is well over one half million per season. Working stiffs support this game and working stiffs have a hard time with tears and whines from multi-millionaires.
Ponce and Hudson seem to be the same style pitchers – start out wild; depend on good defense and double plays to bail them out and then manage to hang in there for 6 innings. Only that 6 inning thing is not proving to be the case with Ponce. If we don’t get an arm in the trades it looks like Wacha may be back as a starter. I wouldn’t judge anything by the games against Houston. They, along with the Yankees, look like this year’s murderers row.
<Where did MLB find this Anne Rogers woman? I had to wade through four paragraphs of salivating over Goldschmidt this morning before discovering that we lost last night. And not another single detail about the GAME.>
That is her modus operandi and has been since she started. She can’t describe a whole game so she just concentrates on one part of it. Notice she must not have even traveled to Pittsburgh because another writer wrote those game summaries. Wonder if she has the same problem as Jen – can’t leave a kid at home to travel. Anyway it seems good MLB writers are gettng to be fewer and fewer.
Don’t think Carp will be back too soon. He is now 0-6 at AA and added to his 0-6 at AAA he is ofer the minors. Maybe Peoria next?
Re: Celebrating the 04 NL Champions who got swept by the Red Sox in the series. Do you think that in 2028 the Cards will be celebrating the 2013 team that won the NL but got beat (but not swept) by the Red Sox in the series. That might involve having to invite Mike Matheny back and saying nice words about the job he did (and he did do a nice job with the talent he was given).
Sorry to say I am doubtful about tonights game. Flaherty did a beautiful job last night but those are some mighty big Astro bats he contained and I am not sure Ponce can deliver the same. He and Hudson seem to start games looking like they are trying to hit the broad side of a barn but the offense steps in and rights the ship to make their records look good. Too bad Jacko could not have that kind of luck.
I have not been a CMart fan but I have to give him some kudos for last nights performance. He actually looked like he was interested. At times in the past I am not sure he could have passed a drug test.
Interesting comments on Ozuna. I look at it this way. What if he had had the exact same season for another team including the latest injury? Would we be interested in trading for him? Yes he would be a rental but despite some of the misgivings I would favor taking him on for the stretch run. I am glad we already have him as he insures we have a decent outfielder and a good batsman. His arm has been much improved this season.
Somebody correct me if I am wrong but I think Altuve is the ONLY Astro that has played against the Cards when the Astros were still in the NL Central Division. And he made us look silly back then too……LOL
Looks like Carp will be trying to regain his swing with AA Springfield for a few days. They are home until next Tuesday. I think maybe he can adapt to AA pitching. You can read Shildt’s comments and if you read between the lines all I see is “Carp we are hot man, you are not man, chill.”
Good test for the Cards for the next four series (Astros, Cubs, A’s, Dodgers). Two at home and two on the road but we also shall see if Mo has any magic in the trade game. Other than Madbum, I don’t see much in the market that we can use.
WAG of the day: Bader and Carlos get traded.
<McLaughlin just said Carp is going to Springfield tonight for team activities and will play in the game Friday.>
I heard that. They will keep dropping him down until they find a league where he can hit. There is still T-Ball you know.
Carlos: I would not be surprised to see CMart with a new home by the end of the month. Gallegos is looking like the best closer material we have at present.
</This run has been great and we’ve done it without Carp and Ozuna.>
And Molina. And we have one catcher with speed and another with a power bat. Am I right in thinking that Wieters is a one year contract? Things could get interesting in that area during the next off season.<The Pirates radio announcers are discussing Munoz and his steals last night again. I guess the Pirates catcher was upset. Perhaps he should have cared more to prevent Munoz from getting such easy bases.>
Agree. It was only the 4th inning and you can’t stop playing the game because the other team is lousy. Diaz made no effort to stop the steals so he has only himself to blame. Their position player pitchers looked better than the regulars.
stlcard25 – Are you sure your real identity is not John Mozeliak? Mo is counting up that 40 million and perhaps Mr Dewitt is telling him that money doesn’t sit on a bench – and I have no doubt that they will play him. But the name of the game is win and that is exactly what is happening. In my view, what Carp provides he has only provided for about two months in 2018. To term any of these players as ‘mediocre at the other stuff’ is way off the mark but, as I have been told many times, everybody here is entitled to their opinion. Yours is interesting to say the least but I am not one who says you have to have veterans to win at anything. For example I hate to see’veterans’ just ambling down to first base on a ball they assume is an automatic out. Several of our non-veterans have beat out double plays many times this season. We have the speed and we have the youth so I hope that the powers that be will see fit to use it. Yes, we need veterans but they still have to prove their ability to excel and outplay their competition.
<If we get into a one run lead in the 9th situation, they can’t still be thinking about handing the ball to C-Mart, can they? I would go with Miller until he has a bad outing or two.>
Even with a 3 run lead I hope they will no longer hand it to Carlos but, in my view, our closer at this time should be Gallegos who does well against both lefties and righties. Miller is a good lead in with Carlos maybe in the 7th if Helsley is not around.
Strange game for giveaways. Seems as though the Cards are having a rainbow shirt giveaway for Pride Night if you have a special ‘Theme’ ticket. But 30K will get one of several free jerseys if you just have any ticket. Why on earth do the Cards think they have to get involved in a sexual preference observation?
Along those same lines, I love Kolten Wong but he needs to shed that shirt with the protest message on the arm. He makes enough money to just buy an ad if he feels that strongly but if every player wanted to air their protest against something the uniform would no longer be ‘uniform.’ For those who don’t know, his protest is against a super telescope being built on the Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii. The natives call it ‘sacred land’ but there are already 13 telescopes up there. The new one is supposedly light years ahead of the others. I have no dog in that hunt but just don’t want to see the game degraded with protest garbage on player uniforms.
I would like to know how the TCN population feels about starting MCarp Friday? I say play the hot hand and Edman/Munoz are defintely the hot hands. No hits for Carp on day one of rehab. How did he do last night?
Hmmmm, no Molina, no MCarp, no Ozuna, late comer Bader, young guns firing, Edman the Great, hellzapoppin. Do ya think? Oh wait, it was only a dream. Molina, Carp and Ozuna will soon return to their places of honor and 3rd place in the NLC. Maybe we will be facing better opposition in the next few games but if you don’t win those you should it would not matter how you do against the ‘big boys.’
Hudson and Ponce both give me the shakes when they start. They look like they can’t hit the broadside of a barn and stay that way. Thankfully the defense saves them and they get enough offense to overcome their shortcomings. But a win is a win and I will take it every time.
This umpiring crew must be one of the weakest in MLB. So far, the first two HPUs haven’t shown much talent on the location of the strike zone. I hate to admit it but Angel Hernandez has called some pretty good games as HPU lately.
<This could be the best defensive play Jose Martinez has ever made. Which is why naturally it’s under review. lmao!>
If you recall, earlier this season he threw out a runner at 3B from RF and received heaps of praise. A few games back he attempted the same feat without success and the booth experts roundly condemned him repeatedly (as they are prone to do). JMart is one of my favorites but he, like many others, is having a dip in production but I like the fact that Shildt still plays him and gets rewarded with singles, outs that move the baserunners and when desperately needed 3 run bombs. He will never be an OF all-star but he matches up with Matt Holliday quite well.
I have been away for a while and have not yet read through this thread but am I wrong in thinking that Carlos Martinez is a reincarnation of Trevor Rosenthal? He has blown one save and came razor thin close to blowing at least three or four others. The guy just manages to look totally out of it when he is on the mound. He says the heat got him one time and that may be but it is getting to be a happy day for the opposition when he checks in. Maybe a real closer at trade time would be in order.
<I am sure our moderators will remind you that this isn’t a political board.>
Wasn’t meant as a political statement. Just something that everybody could understand. Lots of accusations without facts – about JMart.
<Although I’d be in the “trade Jmart” camp. I like the guy but his bat isn’t that great to overcome his poor defense.>
His bat has been better than most others on the team. He is not anything more than an average defender but has improved with the extra help from Edmonds and Magee. I have seen one error on him when he dropped a base hit allowing the runner to take 2B. In the end it didn’t matter because the inning ended with no damage. Bader let a ball get by him last night which ONeil picked up and Fowler has had his moments too. The constant calls about JMarts poor defense remind me of folks saying Trump is a racist.
<Should Tyler O’Neill play everyday? Asking for a friend.>
Well I think he is playing every day now but with Bader approaching Mendoza I see TO starting in CF when Ozuna comes back – but that may still be several weeks as they say his swelling in the hand is not down yet. In any case, if Tyler can stay away from that 40+% strikeout figure, he could find himself with a starting position. He sure made a nice backup of Bader’s missed ball last night.
