orangeroses07
- Centralia, IL
Yadier Molina and Carlos Martinez are back and both starting tonight.
2018 St. Louis Cardinals
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Last guy they got when they picked at 19 was some guy named Michael Wacha. Seems like he's done alright in his career thus far.
That’s freaking amazing. I wouldn’t have blamed him one bit had he - in the immortal words of John Kruk - taken his ball and gone home.
the national
- the Front Range
What a whimper of a game. Really bummed to see so many hits given up by the pen.
At what point do we panic? It just doesn't seem like any relief is in site for the pen. I forget which site stated that Greg Holland was our best option to save the pen.
At what point do we panic? It just doesn't seem like any relief is in site for the pen. I forget which site stated that Greg Holland was our best option to save the pen.
The pen wasn't that bad last night, outside of journeyman Guilmet who probably shouldn't be in the majors, and Gomber who was pitching on short rest considering he'd been starting all year in the minors.
Holland's garbage numbers are weighing the whole reliever staff numbers down, but if you take his stats out there about middle of the pack in the NL. That's obviously not what your strive for, but good enough to win plenty of games when the starting staff is this good.
There's no easy fix, relievers are so volatile it's hard to predict who's going to be good (cough Holland cough). I'm sure they'll make a small trade for a reliever to try to get a reliever tacked onto a bigger trade in late June/ July
orangeroses07
- Centralia, IL
The bullpen is pathetic, which is frustrating because they've invested quite a bit in it over the last few years (Cecil, Gregerson, Leone via trade, Holland). They currently rank 25th in the MLB with a 4.52 ERA, ranking worse than awful teams in Detroit, the South Side of Chicago, and Baltimore. Fortunately the starting pitching has been among the best and is keeping us afloat, but something is going to have to change if this team is going to be legit contenders.
Alex Reyes out for the rest of the season after undergoing surgery on his severely strained right lat. Recovery time is 6 months before he can even resume throwing off a mound.
Cardinals HOFer Red Schoendienst passed away tonight at the age of 95. Mr. Cardinal wore the birds on the bat longer than anyone else in the franchise's history and and was the oldest living HOFer.
Illini_1979
- Oregon
RIP "Red."
orangeroses07
- Centralia, IL
Awful news regarding Red. He lived a great life! RIP Mr. Cardinal 
the national
- the Front Range
What are we gonna do about Dexter? I like him but man, hes making it tough to play him.
Options are:
1) Keep playing him. His BABIP is only .196 and his contact profile isn't that different than it was last year, he should rebound.
2) Bader full time. Fowler still projects as the better hitter moving forward this year, but Bader is the significantly better defender, which makes them about break even players moving forward.
3) Salary dump trade. Fowler has a NTC, but if you tell him he's sitting 80% of the time, you could probably get him to agree to a trade most anywhere. They'd have to eat some of the contract and probably wouldn't get anything great in return, but if you think he's fully done and Bader/ O'Neil are better moving forward, then might as well save some money.
4) Phantom DL, because he has to be hurt to fall off this big of a cliff this quick.
I think my strategy would be play him the lions share of the time (with Bader still getting 3 starts a week subbing all 3 OF spots) and reassess come the All Star Break. If his hitting doesn't start bouncing back (that BABIP luck has to normalize a little), it's time to consider a salary dump trade or just bench bat roll.
orangeroses07
- Centralia, IL
I agree with your strategy here. Bader deserves to play 3 times a week and you help keep the 3 guys (who are all injury prone) healthy while having a bat to use on the bench. On days off for Bader, could be a defensive replacement for Ozuna/Fowler if need be in late innings.
orangeroses07
- Centralia, IL
I hate to see Fowler struggling so much, he's such a great guy and so likable.
It was just unlucky timing. Before the 2017 season, it looked ok, maybe a year too long on the commitment. Pham was just an oft hurt fringe prospect and Bader was nothing special.
But then Tommy Pham is all the sudden a 5 win CF, Bader actually looks like he'll pan out as at least above league average, and Tyler O'Neil fell into their laps with the Marco Gonzales trade.
It's not a bad problem to have. I don't expect Matheny to be able to manage it right and it will lead to the front office having to trade Fowler away because he plays too much, ala Allen Craig, but we're not to that point yet.
orangeroses07
- Centralia, IL
With a win today, the Cardinals will have gone only 5-4 against Miami, Cincinnati, and San Diego. Very frustrating considering it is the most favorable 9 game stretch of the season with 6 of the 9 being at home. Cubs, Phillies, Brewers, Indians and Braves up next.
dgcrow
- Kelso, WA
Right now, the Cardinals simply aren't very good. There's potential there, but I'm beginning to wonder....
orangeroses07
- Centralia, IL
They're only 3 games out of first so I won't jump off of a cliff quite yet, but there was an opportunity to take advantage of some bad teams and they squandered it. Disappointing.
They're on a straight up pace of 90 wins and Fangraphs still has them at 87 wins, which is 1 better than the Brewers and the 1st wild card spot.
That's good.
dgcrow
- Kelso, WA
Well, you're more optimistic than me. And at 36-29 they are only one half game out of a wild card slot and as you say projected to win 90 games at that pace. From that perspective, it IS good and I certainly hope they do at least get a wild card spot. However, my observation after decades of following them is still that RIGHT NOW they are not very good. But perhaps the teams they're competing against for a wild card aren't all that good, either.
I think this is the softest the top of the NL has been since maybe 2009 or 2007. Fangraphs has my Cubs projected for the most wins at 93. That wouldn’t exactly be running away with the division.
I see three team races for the division in the East and Central, and unless the Dogers get real healthy real fast (they currently have 5 starting pitchers on the DL) the West is completely wide open.
The Cardinals certainly have the minor league talent to make a big trade deadline splash to take care of some of their holes. A power bat, a bullpen anchor, and maybe some starting pitching depth. The question is, will they?
I see three team races for the division in the East and Central, and unless the Dogers get real healthy real fast (they currently have 5 starting pitchers on the DL) the West is completely wide open.
The Cardinals certainly have the minor league talent to make a big trade deadline splash to take care of some of their holes. A power bat, a bullpen anchor, and maybe some starting pitching depth. The question is, will they?
orangeroses07
- Centralia, IL
I think the bullpen needs the most help, no doubt. Obviously adding a bat like Machado near the deadline would be a massive upgrade to almost any team at 3B/SS, I just don't see the cardinals forking up what the asking price will be. Give me a load of bullpen arms similar to what they did in 2011 and go after a Machado/Donaldson in Free Agency to bulster up for 2019.
If I were a bargain hunting GM, I’d be very curious about how little KC would need to part with Moustakas.
I’d also pounce on Zach Britten now before he has a chance to post his usual numbers and drive up the O’s asking price. (Assuming the Orioles are at all reasonable, which isn’t a given, I suppose.)
I’d also pounce on Zach Britten now before he has a chance to post his usual numbers and drive up the O’s asking price. (Assuming the Orioles are at all reasonable, which isn’t a given, I suppose.)
The Orioles are not reasonable. They should have already off loaded Machado (or in the off season even) because that's the biggest asset and the price is declining more and more. Britton could then be their big trade deadline piece to deal, ace relievers hold more of their value at the deadline than position players.
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