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I remember Bill Virdon, who got traded to us while in the minors, then won the ROY in, what, 1954? The very next year, he slumped at the beginning and was quickly traded to the Pirates, becoming a big part of their World Series win at the end of that decade. We have a few all stars, a lot of really decent players, and a few who are limited to DH by poor defensive skills. Pitching is the key, has always been the key, is the key now, and will always be the key. The problem is, pitchers rarely can be absolutely counted on to get through a season without injury. More now than ever. You just have to be lucky enough to have a lucky year with pitchers, then hope for the best.
Cards problem is not hitting. They are, overall, quite good at scoring runs. Call me Mr. Obvious.
The problem is pitching. Even if the hitters manage to squeak us into the playoffs, facing the opponents best pitchers is not, has not been, the way to advance.Any team having more than adequate pitching will be reluctant to part with any arms. Can’t blame them, as you can easily track one team after another where the staff deteriorated over the course of the season due to injury. you sort of figure that about a third of your contracted pitchers will be recouperating or rehabilitating at any given time.
Most GMs look at the roster and ask themselves if they can count on the team getting into the playoffs with the current roster, then, at deadline, try to tweak to get one or two people who will give them the best shot in the playoffs. You don’t go after a #4 pitcher at deadline, you look for a 1 or 2 man, starter or reliever. If you are really serious, you take on a FA coming up banger or pitcher.
So, how does Moz address the pitching problem? I think he has to look for the hitters to get the team into a position where the playoffs are likely, then make the big adjustment, to get a #1 or 2 starter and another stud reliever.
I saw an article, how well sourced I know not, that said, of all the teams who have started the season at the same abysmal pace as the Cardinals, none finished with a winning record for the total year. I think they were about 10-24 at the time.
I predict, by All Star time, folks will be asking if the Cards will win it all.
There are a few teams still thinking they might compete for a post season slot with whom the Cards could make a mutually beneficial trade. I look for teams who have excellent relief pitchers they could make available, teams whose overall ERA is in the top 10 overall…and who have weak hitting outfielders.
The most obvious one is the Mariners. They are is the weakest part of their batting order and overall they are 27th in batting (OBP + SLG). Their pitching, however, is 4th best in baseball, based on ERA. In their bullpen are several relievers with ERA under 2.00…Topa, Murfee, Gott and Speier.
A simple trade of O’Neill, for one, for any of those arms would benefit both teams
I, too, would never trade Donovan. I also think Edman brings more to the team than the others you might list. Gorman is a keeper, Walker is a keeper. Of the other possibilities, they would not come back to haunt, but salary and control might be advisedly applied.
Minnesota has a weak hitting outfield. It seems to me that adding a strong bat who can play decent OF would help them more than losing one of their many strong relief pitchers, era less than 3. An even trade, money for money, control for control, would help both clubs.
St. Louis is not out of the race, far from it. They are currently only 5 games out of a wild card, 7 games out of the lead in their division.
BTW, it was my first encounter with electronic strike zone challenges. The lady behind the plate didn’t miss any significant call all game. Every challenge proved her correct, including the called strike to end the game, 10-9 for the Redbirds. I think the ability to challenge pretty much eliminates the jawing from the dugout and the posing by the batters when they don’t agree with a call. In other words, technology is wunnerful, we don’t have to go bananas when we don’t like the call, just challenge. If you are wrong thrice, I am told, you can’t challenge any more that game.
I watched Adam W. pitch against the Bulls in Durham Sunday. He looks ready. Walker looks unhappy. Hit two deep right center outs, struck out, struck out… He looks like he’s trying to be cautious, but it sort of comes off as not quite being ‘all in’. But what do I know. He’s not even half the age of Adam W., is he?
I’m surprised the Yankees didn’t jump on his contract, turn him into a 1st baseman cleanup hitter. Is Carp available for our bench?
Moreno from Toronto is a prime pick. They are all set at catcher without Moreno and need another outfielder and a strike throwing pitcher. Cards have a history of dealing away hitters who go on to provide their new team or teams with a few years of power. One more won’t hurt. Yepez, for example. plus, if needed, a mid level relief pitcher with good control. We have a few.
The appropriate time to address the stud starter situation is the trade deadline. we did just fine this year, can do again next. what the team needs is to put together a roster that will win 95-100 games again next year, even with moderately decent pitching. You may have noticed, players are more fragile this century than any time in the past. The cards had the best prepared AAA replacements this year and they performed better in some ways than the men they replaced.
I am very concerned about Goldy. Around Sept 1, something in his hitting turned off. Will he recover? Id so, does he need more time off during the season to stay focused and healthy?
Trout. Philly would love to have him, but they don’t have the young talent to throw at a deal. A three way trade with Cards sending fresh faces to California, Phillies sending a stud pitcher to St. Louis, and California sending Trout to the Phillies…. that would work. Who would Cards let go? Gorman and Knisner and Carlson?
striking out is not something the players want to do, but they certainly have been doing it anyway. As soon as the Cards could look at the standings and realize that Milwaukee had very little chance of catching them, some kind of spark seemed to go out. The less acclaimed the opposing pitcher, the less they seemed to be able to square up on them. When behind going into the last couple of innings, they try to stir up their enthusiasm and often do put up a good show, but…
Perhaps the west coast trip, maybe with 1 or fewer victories, will wake them up.
I respectfully ask that you guys and gals check out Moreno, the AAA catcher for Toronto. He is blocked by the Toronto catcher, but is putting up excellent offensive numbers. AT the AAA level, I think we could make a reasonable deal and have the oopportunity to check Moreno out for a bit, to compete with Knisner and Herrera for the MLB spot.
why not try to fix DeJong’s problems? Are organizations limited in thinking that the only way to get a player back on track is to send them down? Let them “work on it” at a lower level? That didn’t work with Carpenter and it didn’t work with DeJong. Carp signed with Texas, I think, and then started to show some promise. The Yanks almost immediately grabbed him and boy, were they happy they did.
So, apparently there are guys called ‘swing coaches’, not ‘hitting coaches’? I guess at the major level, if a guy does a bit better this year vs. last year, the hitting coach gets credit. Does worse? The Hit coach gets the blame. But, actually, do hitting coaches usually do any good?
Edmund seems to have a real talent for spotting the problems with guy’s approach and also, their stance, their triggers, etc. Why don’t Moz give him a million or two and consider it a blessing if he could get DeJong back on track, get Knisner swinging with authority, etc.
And, don’t teams have psychologists?? If not, they should.
