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Good game by Hudson, thanks to Ozuna’s five RBIs. We look better when the opposition doesn’t hit five home runs.
Hicks didn’t walk anyone today. He came in after Miller had given up a hit, hit a batter, and walked two.
I was worried about this bullpen after the first couple of games in Milwaukee when they gave up five runs late in two games to surrender Card leads on late home runs. It has become the strength of the team recently. Gant, Brebbia, and Hicks are solid, as solid as I can remember. Leone and Miller have had moments.
We dominated. But, we only won 4-3 because three of their five hits were solo shots. We left that many on third with less than two out. We have to bring those runners in from third, or we lose these games.
I must admit that I have been surprised at Fowler’s resurgence. He has been getting some good at bats, which I hadn’t seen since he came. The bottom of the order seems more consistent than the top.
I think Schild only used this lineup so the announcers would have to say, “due up in the second, Wieters, Wacha, and Wong.”
Frustrates me when we give runs away with HBP or walks. Gave two away and survived it. Stoic effort with limited control.
433,
867 SLG
leads team in runs scored
second in RBIs
tied for second in HR
leads in number of hitsWhat, exactly, do you expect of Wong?
He initiates scoring threats, creates them with speed.
edit: only non-pitcher hitting over 269
We got a year.
We gave up what appeared to be lessening possibilities.
Goldschmidt for a draft choice.
Lindy, Von, and Kerry McDaniel of Arnett, OK were all signed by the Cards for $50,000, each. Lindy had the best career beginning Sept. 2, 1955 for the Cards. He was the league leader in saves in 59 and 60. Had a 12-2, 1.29 ERA mark with 22 saves in 60.
Brother Von pitched a two-hit shutout in his first game, June 21, 1957. After a good rookie year, he had mechanical problems and never could throw strikes again. He tried a comeback as a third baseman, but played his last major league game, May 11, 1958. He died Aug. 20, 1995 in Lawton, OK of a heart attack.
Kerry was a first baseman who did pitch as an amateur. But, he never made it past the low minors.
Lindy is a minister in Lavon, TX.
I suspect that one or two of our potential starters will be traded to parts unknown for parts unknown. I just hope we have six people capable of starting to go with:
the middle
Bader
DeJong
Wong
Molinaand Ozuna.
If someone thinks Carpenter or Gyorko are starters, I wouldn’t mind giving them an opportunity to strike out elsewhere.
It would not bother me to see if anyone in the minors is capable of 3B or OF now. O’Neill would have to improve his production dramatically to justify his Ks.
I find the discussion of Molina’s apparent fears of Kelly to be curious at best. Is that with anyone’s confirmation on anything? Is there anything that really suggests this?
When I look at the WAR numbers, I question the formulae. As a scientist, that is my nature—to question things that don’t look logical. I find in reading about WAR that it is influenced by factors that may not be directly due to the player, like whether shifts are used. Interesting discussions that should cause some reflection. When I look at the formulae that I have seen, it seems that conditions could change the WAR dramatically. Example:
Leadoff double
Strikeout, runner remains on second.
Grounder to third, runner remains at second.
Grounder to deep short, safe at first on infield hit, runner advances from second to third.
StrikeoutNo runs were scored. Now, how is the WAR affected if the second hitter hits a grounder to second, advancing the runner to third? Runner could score on either of the next two plays. How does this affect the WAR for the third and fourth hitters? They lose an opportunity for an easy RBI. Run production decreased by strikeout of #2 hitter.
We had a lot of runners stranded at second by strikeouts. We didn’t seem to get a good jump on hits. A double might result in two singles being required to score. Strikeouts and base-running, one base at a time.
At the end of the year, I really liked Wong and Baden at the end of the lineup. Their speed made them a threat if they led off with a hit. But, we had pitchers who couldn’t bunt, and a leadoff hitter who struck out every time they were on base.
mspaid.
I am quite aware that DesCartes based his philosophy on “I think, therefore I am.” It is quite possible to connect two thoughts or individuals in the same sentence. And, it is still quite appropriate to say, “duh,” although in humor since I do have the greatest admiration for both Plato and DesCartes.
I don’t agree with a lot of points about which people seem to be certain. But, then, I never agreed with Plato either, and I still wonder that you can base a philosophy on “I think, therefore I am.” Well, duh.
I like Martinez. He is the only hitter that the Cards have that is over 280. He strikes out a bit too much. But, he isn’t even in the same range as Carp in Ks. He actually had a higher fielding percentage at 1B than did Carp, and he was 100% in the OF. He may look lost, but the stats don’t make him out to be that bad. Frankly, there are those who look much, much worse. It would take a good offer to get Martinez from me if I were a GM. He is the closest thing I have to a decent hitter.
I’m not big on Gyorko or Carp as fielders. They both demonstrate an inability to make anything other than the routine play, and they don’t always make those. Some INF errors would be saved by a first baseman who could dig a ball out of the dirt or off the hop. Gyorko doesn’t hit well enough to be a starter.. Carp hasn’t average 250 over the past two seasons, and he now averages over 150 Ks. Hits the ball hard when he hits it. Bunting a runner into scoring position makes little sense when he strikes out so much with runners on base.
DeJong is only 25. A lot of young shortstops make errors on routine plays when young. He does make some nice plays. I like having DeJong, Wong, and Bader up the middle with Molina at catcher. We don’t really have a corner outfielder who ranks highly in defense, or, unfortunately, in offense.
I like having Martinez, Wong, DeJong, Bader, and Molina. I’d watch Ozuna this year. I wouldn’t reinvest unless he became a much better hitter. He is a terrible outfielder. No arm, no judgement on fly balls.
Fowler—it almost seemed that we begin to win when he became permanently disabled. We certainly haven’t had anything to justify getting him. I’d give him to the Cubs. Might destroy their team.
I haven’t been that impressed with O’Neill. Strikes out about forty percent of the time which is way too many Ks. Doesn’t look all that good in the field. I liked the kids I saw at Memphis more. I think our next OF is at Memphis. We have a couple in the lower minors that bear watching soon. I like Torres. Lane Thomas may be our third best right now.
I’d keep all starters, Brebbia, Hicks, and C. Martinez. Other than that, let’s rebuild a bullpen. We’ve been needing to do that now for about three or four years. How many times did a 22-year-old starter allow two runs or fewer in six innings, only to lose the game when the relievers allowed seven runs in three innings? I don’t even want to mention the bullpen by names.
Tempers are short? I guess some folks don’t visit college basketball or football boards. Many of them make political wars seem tame. I think I’ve been called a jerk and an idiot in over two hundred recognized languages, some of which don’t even have a written alphabet. They do get the point across.
We are disappointed. If the members of the team aren’t even more disappointed, we don’t need them around. They didn’t have a good year. But, you have to admire with awe and anticipation what the kids did. Generally, you build a team on defense up the middle. With the exception of Molina, we are young up the middle: DeJong, Wong, and Bader. Not a bad group, and we used five starters much of the season who began the year in AAA. They all did pretty well. If we had had one experienced starter come through this year, we would have been playing in October.
The point of 64 was that we had some veterans that made it work. With six games to go, we trailed Philly by two games, and we had to play Philly in Philly three times. We won all three to take the lead by a game with three easy games against the Mets who were like 55-104 or thereabouts. They beat us two straight in St.Louis before we clinched on the last day as Cincy finally lost to Philly, allowing them to tie for second, one game back. Cincy had caught us with one game left.
We beat the leaders in their house. Sadecki won 20, but it was Curt Simmons that kind of saved us. We were heavy into Gibson, Simmons, and Sadecki. Simmons started the clincher with Gibson entering in long relief. After losing 1-0 in the first game of the Met series, Gibson got the win in the clincher in relief. Good teams play well in the clutch. Teams that lose at home in the middle of pennant chases don’t win.
The fact that the older guys did not respond well at the end of the season was the story. If you have good veterans, they step up. Wainwright had a couple of good key starts. Molina did pretty well. The rest of our 28+ crowd fell apart like they didn’t care. No leadership apparent.
If you have a 220 hitting backup infielder, he needs to be a steady vet. Same with a catcher. Need steady leaders.
Anyone remember the last week of 1964?
Of those named, Martinez is the only one that I would want back. I hear the criticism. I’m not buying it yet. Our only 300 hitter.
Fowler is paid too much to trade. We’d have to keep two-thirds of his salary, and the only team that seems to like him is Chicago. Poor on offense and defense. Ozuna is horrible on defense, but he offers some hope if we can get another hitter who is a #3 or #4 type. Free agency? We don’t really have any trade bait other than our pitching. Any more, GMs seem to prefer a good hitter to a good pitcher.
Some teams seem to fear Carp. Maybe a chance to unload to a stadium with a short right field porch. He needs to be where he can be hidden in the lineup, not leadoff. Gyroko? Bench on a decent team.
Musial had two years with more than forty K, his last two. He hit with average and power without striking out. We need a hitting coach who can reduce strikeouts. DeJong, Martinez, Ozuna, Wong, Bader—too many Ks. What’s wrong with going to the opposite field to avoid a K? Need to put in a project to reduce Ks. Fact, the most indicative statistic is that teams that have the most pitching strikeouts win. I haven’t seen the correlation that should be obvious: those that strike out least should also win.
It didn’t occur to me that the Cards would be a candidate for the playoffs. I didn’t see a reliable starting lineup. Our starting pitching was not well-established. Our relief corps has been on the absentee list for about three or four years.
Then, it got worse. Reyes was injured. Wainwright was injured. Weaver was still very hittable, if he threw it near enough to the plate to hit. Our relief corps can apparently only throw strikes to the inflated strike zone that our hitters have. Beyond that, Carp and Wong looked like 200 was a Hall of Fame line.
I was surprised at midseason that we had a 500 record. Get serious. I’d never heard of any of the starters, and I think we buried those relievers in an El Paso graveyard some years ago. The more minor league pitchers we brought up, the more we won. Didn’t have the same good fortune with hitters.
How this became a team that should have won a wild card berth is shocking. No way. Well, I guess there really wasn’t, because we didn’t. But, we did better than I had anticipated, and we did it while playing the most stupid baseball I have ever seen a Cardinal team play.
#1: I’d like someone who would put together a bullpen.
#2: I’d love to have someone who would teach the strike zone—to hitters and pitchers. It’s bad enough that the NL umpires don’t know it. But, at least some of the players should know it.
#3: Fine people for walking batters, striking out, and throwing to the wrong base. Is there a Whitey Herzog clone?
