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<How about a trade of minor league outfielders, O’Neill for the Astros Tucker?>
I second that nomination.
Well they could do with him what they always do – make him a catcher…..just kidding of course. I would not be heartbroken to see ONeil traded as, last heard, his strikeout rate hasn’t improved much even against AAA pitching.
BTW: I am one of those saying that Ozuna will extend and will deserve to be extended.
How are they going to keep Carlson at AA for much longer. Yeah, it’s only two months but the guy is showing that he is more than an AA player and with Memphis sorry record (Springfield is no better) he deserves a chance to play at a higher level this season. He leads AA nationwide in 3 categories and that is impressive. I have just got to drag my sorry butt down to Hammonds field to see him before he is shipped out.
While I really liked the 4 game win streak I am worried about the continued lack of offense. Most of those games have been low scoring affairs and our batters seemed to have some anemic BAs in the past few weeks.
June has started off well and it could be a good month for recovery but starting today the boys will need to have their big boy pants on because they will not see another off day until they have played 20 more games. That means that starting pitching will have to be effective or the bullpen will be worn down to a nub by the end of that streak.
One good thing is that the streak will consist of Miami for 6 games, Cincy for 4, the Mets for 4, the Cubs for 3 and the return of the defecting hero AP with his gang for 3 games at the end of the run.
GO CARDS
Whatever. Sometime when things are boring take a close look at those boxes and see how well they match up with the batters actual position. Jose Martinez is a prime example where the top of the box frequently aligns with his belt and the bottom darn near with his ankle. So if Laz missed a call it would not be the first but in this day of legalized sports betting it would be one way for HPUs to make a extra bit of cash. One pitch in a crucial situation is all it would take. Been known to happen in basketball and football and I hated to see sports betting legalized by SCOTUS as it will only encourage that kind of thing. Sorry for the vent.
Just finished watching the end of the replay game on FS1 at 6:45 am on Sunday. I had TIVO set to record until 2 am on big FOX but I guess the ‘foxed’ me out.
<The pitch to Bader was CLEARLY a strike. >
Several folks say this but I wonder how they determined that with such conviction? The outline of the white strike box had been removed from the FSMW screen since the 5th inning. The CF camera in use was off to the right side of the plate. I guess all I am saying is that sitting in front of a 46 inch TV 250 miles from the play I had no clue as to what that pitch actually was. But I will admit that umpires are not perfect and those little white outlined boxes are proving that more and more every day. Just sayin.
Brian wrote:
<I noticed Bernie ripped Edmonds the other day, calling him ‘a management-paid, management-planted “analyst”’. Well yes, that is pretty much what they all are. Expecting something else is not realistic.>Management planted or not, Jimmy Ballgame is about the only one in that booth that has enough common sense to inform the fan of why something is being done or what a batter is not hitting, etc and he says it as he sees it and is right a lot more than the two motormouth ex-pitchers. I played ball for years and he still adds a lot of knowledge to the game for me. I sound like McCarver who constantly says “I didn’t know that.”……….lol
Don’t know why they are whining. The white outlined strike box went out in the 5th and never came back so they are just pulling it out as their opinion and we all know that opinions are like a-holes and all stink.
I thought that, overall, Laz Diaz did one of the better HPU jobs I have seen this season.Nice and very much needed victory. IIRC, Carps hit was the first hit from a leadoff batter since Carp was moved out of the leadoff position. I don’t remember Fowler or Wong getting any leadoff hits.
Trivia: Noticed that the little white box disappeared about the 5th inning. Was Fox MW fooling with us or did they have a breakdown?
More trivia: Also have noticed that ESPN now uses the old FOX MW center field camera position directed over the pitcher – great shot of plate and the pitchers head DOES NOT interfere with the box. Now FOX MW is using the position that ESPN formerly used to the right of the pitcher. Wonder which Big Fox will use tonight.
And once again…..motormouth Horton has been told that it is a sin to have a moment of silence in a baseball announcers booth. Thompson is much worse but Horton seems to be vying for the title. My kingdom for Jimmy Ballgame full time.
An interesting if only temporary lineup. Resting for the Cubs and giving some a mental break is a likely reason but Yadi and Carp do have bo-bos. Fowler’s bo bo may be between his ears as his return to #1 has not gone well at all. Maybe Wong can do some damage but his drop in BA recently has not helped his Gold Glove bid (I know, GG is defense but it seems that decent offense is important too).
After reading those Twitter replies to the above post I know why I don’t do social media. Sound more like a bunch of whiners who vow to never watch again………then they post the next day……and the next.
Thanks for the answer Brian. I suspected that was the reason but you could sure see a lot of sadness in that DR group in the stands. The kid did better than I expected and I would vote to give him another start. If they were trying to avoid him and Harper again, Wacha took care of that worry. I too wonder what in the heck has happened to Wacha. Reminds me of the downfall of Jaime Garcia a bit. One bright spot for sure is Wieters. I was a Francisco Pena fan figuring Wieters to be over the hill but I was wrong on that. Yadi is great but Wieters can fill that spot on any given day but they would never break the umbilical between Wainwright and Yadi unless Yadi had another family jewel problem like in 2018.
I guess things could get worse. The 2nd place Tampa Bay Rays drew a home attendance yesterday of 6166. I assume they must be counting the ushers and ground crew judging from looking at the stands. But they won on a 9th inning walkoff and my nonfavorite player, Tommy (aka Fabulous) Pham is batting .299 and went 3 for 5. It must be the pits for a winning team to play in that s–thole of a stadium.
I am still trying to figure out why Cabrera was removed at 3 2/3 innings with two outs and one on base. I am beginning to think that Shildty is outfoxing himself. Wacha’s performance is probably the worst by a Cardinal pitcher that I have witnessed in my memory. Consider that I have only been a Cards fan since 2003 when I moved from North Dakota and my beloved Minnesota Twins (WS champs 87 and 91).
If any team is demoralized at this time it is the Cardinals. The Royals, Orioles and Marlins know they stink and live with it but the Cards are starting to smell their own odor.
Solutions:………………………None from me….those are above my pay grade. But a team that excelled in April and stunk in May surely must have the ability to make a recovery. GO CARDS.
Brian wrote:
“Many of the ideas I am reading here on this board on what to do instead have a common theme to try the younger players.”
Some of those ideas Brian also say to trade the current players when we try the younger ones as long as we trade for all winners. You know – Trout, Bumgarner, Scherzer, etc, etc. I am somewhat surprised to see the team that was doing so well go into a near complete slump involving on various days the offense, starters and bull pen. So far the defense has held the fort as best they can. I would have a hard time watching ONeil whiff , whiff, whiff, base hit, whiff, whiff, home run, whiff, whiff – etc, etc. But then some day this team has to come alive. What will it be that brings that about – Sauce, Cafe?ita (coffee), great walkoff, late comebacks? What I do not want to see is sinking to the bottom of the division.
Philly weather is awful for the next two days including tornado warning until this evening. The rain last night was none too light at times either.
Dex is zero at leadoff. Time to shuffle the deck again? I don’t recall anytime in the most recent past when the whole team was in an offensive funk. Wong has dropped over 100 points in BA. Martinez is 0-16. Dex looks pathetic. Ozuna looks like Ozuna and Goldy appears to making an effort. Carp is just Carp – a lot of talk about he is close but close to what? Pivetta was the perfect pitcher to tee off on last night and it didn’t happen. Yes the HPU had a strike zone that was dugout to dugout but even with him being consistent the players could not adjust to that. Frustration is apparent among fans and players. Maybe June will bring showers and flowers cause April and May sure didn’t. Cincy is sniffing 4th place and you know who will be the cellar dwellers if they move up but I still say that the NLC is the toughest division in baseball this season.
As one who is relatively uninformed on the minors, what is holding Dylan Carlson back from being promoted to AAA Memphis? He leads Springfield in practically every category of stat – BA, R, HR, RBI and SB. So I guess there is someone at Memphis who is better. Removing him from Springfield would probably make it look like a total T-ball team anyway.
Offense, offense, my kingdom for somebody that can hit the d–n ball — especially against a guy throwing trash to a strike zone that is dugout to dugout wide. Without exception the whole team is on a downhill offensive slide. BUT……I just saw the sun come up and hopefully one or more contractors will show up to work on our tornado damaged home today – they are usually no-notice people. So baseball is a frustrating form of entertainment but it beats these darn rains, floods and tornadoes.
One of these days Dex will actually get a hit at leadoff. I am beginning to think that position is jinxed as Dex only gets strikeouts or HBPs.
One less Philly to fool with for Mr Hicks. Odubel Herrera is in jail for assault on his girlfriend. Doubt he will be available for the next 50-80 games if MLB stays to form.
<To his credit, after the trade, he started to hit much better again after four rough months with the Cardinals last season, during which he was below MLB average (99 wRC+). I wish him well, but don’t really miss him.>
Amen Brian. Pham was a supporter of Team Tommy and none other unless it satisfied his leanings. His public utterances to the media showed a total disrespect of the many many chances the Cardinals had given him. Nice to see him do well but I had no thought of him ever doing that here. He has already unloaded on the nonexistent Rays fan base as if they needed his utterances.
I have to smile as I look at some of the BAs for this team. It reminds me of the Kozma days when there was always an uproar because Kozma was batting .230-.235. Now that doesn’t draw a peep.
