Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
I have never felt since Marmol has been here that he has a good understanding of his bullpen. With both how to use it and personnel. Not sure Svanson is a guy I would want in the 9th b/c of the # of people he lets on base by hit or walk, don’t care if it is a 4 to 6 run lead.
Stanek is going to give fans a heart attack with his pitching unless the 1st 2 games are an aberration.
Got to think Roycroft, Bruhil and now Svanson are on a short leash, as I think those 3 are easily replaced with (Gastelum/Raquet/Graceffo) from Memphis
Big hit by Weatherholt to win it and overcome an awful bullpen outing.
Tough break for McGreevy … no hits allowed thru 6 is strong as he faced a lot of lefty hitters.
Some quick thoughts from yesterday
Liberatore not too bad, it looked like he was clearly running on fumes before they pulled him….7 hits and 2 walks is a little to much traffic on the bases though.
Bullpen
I would think Roycroft and Bruihl need a couple of good showings or Graceffo, Raquet or others may be up soon from Memphis. Svanson has at least a better track record so maybe a longer leash.
Stanek has good stuff but needs to get some control (3 walks in an inning will put the whole forum in the psych ward)…may just be opening day jitters
O’Brien… thought he looked pretty solid
Hitting
Only 3 strikeouts but zero walks.
Winn in the 4 spot is something I didn’t think to see….
really think it’s important Gorman/Walker/Scott get off to decent starts.
3 hits for Scott and Church is good to see.Good to see some base stealing from Scott as well…going to need more of that from more players
Church with a really nice catch at the wall.
Matthew’s spring performance has been pretty encouraging after injuries and performance issues last year
This team is going to struggle to hit, small sample size or not, it is not like this should be a surprise with what they are putting out there…the opening day OF could possibly be the worst hitting OF in team history.
Cardinals may have found something in Ledbetter…may not be this year and he may be doing it against guys that will be in AAA but his approach at the plate is good
Not sure how much I would put into spring training but thus far the pitching has been pretty decent both starting and relief that will likely make the team…that could change as the starters pitch more innings.
That being said, the offense has been and looks pretty woeful…a lot of strikeouts, not enough guys on base, and little power. I guess you don’t steal bases in spring training but Marmol needs to address this deficiency in his management in the regular season. He does not have enough high average/power type hitters to keep playing station to station like he has done the past few years.
If I were guessing they may be able to win a few more games than I originally thought just on Pitching and hopefully a decent defense (jury still out on defense) but I can’t see them getting over 75 wins with the Offense that we have seen up to this point in spring.
Be interesting to see if Chase Davis can kind of replicate what Josh Baez did last year in the minors with the new emphasis on player development….Davis has had a pretty good spring in limited action in the main spring games.
Mautz is 6 1/3, 5 hits and 5 walks, 2 earned runs this spring…he has pitched multiple innings and every 5 days so he may be a starter in AAA or AA
Raquet might be the leader for the #2 bullpen lefty….that role seems unsettled
you could make an argument that Mautz has been the 2nd best lefty reliever this spring, but it is a real concern the # of guys he lets on base
Just looking at the Catcher hitting #’s thru 11 games of spring for the presumed major league roster contenders.
Pages is 1-10 with 1 RBI, 0 HR
Pozo is 4-11 with 4 RBI, 1 HR
Herrera is 0-2 no RBI in at bats as a Catcher, had 2 AB’s at DH
Crooks is 4-9 with 4 RBI, 1 HRMautz has looked pretty good outside the walks so far
Not wild about Marmol’s catcher rotation…Crooks starts hitting and then doesn’t play last 2 games
Yellow Ledbetter may be their best OF bat this spring….3 hits in last 4 including walkoff today
Cijinte with a decent 2 innings, 2K’s 1 hit 1 walk
Yellow Ledbetter with 2 hits
Gastelum has looked pretty good in his 2 appearancesI hope the Offense isn’t in mid-season form, I have the possible starters at something like 3-26 in the first 4 games with 1 extra base hit by Church. it is still early and all that but pretty anemic start to spring.
Pretty lackluster game to open spring with the Nats
Liberatore a decent 2 innings with 4 K’s
Church with the HR was about the only offense to speak ofSkylar Hales striking out the side in his inning was a bit surprising
May mean Gorman has some competition at 3rd…Urias can actually hit and had 78 games at 3rd last year
Rumblings Cardinals are close to signing Ramon Urias to a deal…right handed bat…utility infielder
2025 stats on urias hit .241. 11 HR 44 RBI. 384 SLG. 675 OPS. 2.1 war
Can play 2nd/3rd and SS
Winn, Weatherholt, Burleson, Herrera could develop into a pretty good foursome in the batting order….it is a little murky after that.
I don’t have much hope in Gorman developing into more than what he has been, I would think a good start to gain some confidence is critical for him.
Nootbar I don’t see him ever staying healthy enough to be counted on, he can do some things you like to see if he can stay healthy….he should be living in a yoga room and a hyperbaric chamber.
Still have some fading hope for Walker being that he is 23 and a taller player can develop more slowly.
Scott needs to get on base more (Bunt/Walks) and steal more bases, as does the whole team on stealing more bases.
Catcher….I see Herrera as the DH, can Crooks take Pages spot, or are they waiting on Bernal or Rodriguez.
There is some potential, but not a lot of power….they have guys that can steal bases but to me Marmol seems more like a station to station type manager….89 team stolen bases in 2025 was way under what it should be. You cannot be 29th in Home runs and 20th in stolen bases.
More focusing on Player development this year at Major and Minor league level, as I expect them to win around 70 games.
I also think this is a big year for Marmol …he needs to do a better job with the younger players on the roster….I don’t think that has been one of his better areas for several years.
