St. Louis Cardinals 2022

pruman91 · Aug 24, 2022

In first start, Jake Woodford hurls himself into Cardinals’ rotation conversation

Up and down from Class AAA, in and out of roles, right-hander seizes on opportunity with 5⅓ strong innings to help Cardinals split doubleheader vs. Cubs.

www.stltoday.com

Derrick Goold

CHICAGO — As they prepped for their start together in the night half of a doubleheader at Wrigley Field, Cardinals right-hander Jake Woodford and catcher Andrew Knizner knew they had a limited number of pitches to work with, but multiple types of pitches Woodford had worked on.
He knew exactly how he wanted that to work together.
“It was going to be ‘challenge hitters,’” Knizner said. “We’re going to go right after guys. We’re not going to play around. We’re going to come straight downhill with our best stuff. We knew we didn’t have a super high pitch count. And we’ve got to get deep in this game. So, let’s go right after them.”
With that mindset, Woodford, in his first start of the season, provided the exact kind of start that thrusts him into the conversation for another start.

Woodford pitched five scoreless innings before allowing one run in the sixth inning as he worked to get the Cardinals a split in Tuesday’s doubleheader at Wrigley Field. Shut out 2-0 by five Cubs pitchers in Game 1, the Cardinals blasted back in the nightcap with three home runs and 16 hits in a 13-3 rout. The offense, elevated by Nolan Arenado’s homer and three hits and highlighted by Corey Dickerson’s four hits and Tommy Edman’s three RBIs, gave the Cardinals what they’ve come to expect in recent weeks
.
Woodford gave them something to think about in the coming weeks.

“We have five starters at the moment,” manager Oliver Marmol said late Tuesday night. “We’ll see where he fits in. … I think we’re at a point where we just have to find out.”
The Cardinals are eager to see how Dakota Hudson does Thursday against the same Cubs club and get a real-time contrast with what Woodford (3-0) did in his 5 1/3 innings on 76 pitches. He came one out shy of tying a career high.

pruman91 · Aug 24, 2022

Quick hits: Before Cardinals pile on Cubs, Jake Woodford leaves impression on DH split

Stymied in Game 1, Cardinals score in bunches to win Game 2, 13-3, and right-hander's 5⅓ strong innings leaves Cardinals with something to consider.

www.stltoday.com

Derrick Goold
CHICAGO — It took awhile Tuesday for the Cardinals’ offense to get a start it wanted, but once it did there was no questioning its impact.
Jake Woodford can relate.
A notable contributor during the September surge a year ago, Woodford has been in and out of various roles, shuttled back and forth to Class AAA Memphis, and overlooked many times this season when the Cardinals had an open start for someone to claim. His start, his first of the season, finally arrived Tuesday night in the second half of a doubleheader at Wrigley Field — and he took it as far as the Cardinals would let him.
Woodford took a shutout into the sixth inning as the Cardinals split a day-night doubleheader against the Cubs. Absent from the 2-0 loss in Game 1 that ended an eight-game winning streak, the offense provided Woodford a five-run inning on the way to a 13-3 victory in Game 2. Nolan Arenado had three hits, including a home run, and Corey Dickerson had four hits in Game 2, including two doubles.

In the midst of the game’s defining rally, Tyler O’Neill struck a two-run bolt to the bleachers. To expand the ninth inning rally that made the night game a rout, Tommy Edman hit a two-run double, adding to a solo homer earlier in game 2.
Before the pent-up offense let loose for a baker’s dozen, there was Woodford (3-0) making the most of the opportunity. The right-hander did not allow a run until the sixth inning. He needed only 76 pitches to get 16 outs, and efficiently retired the Cubs by inviting meek contact. Woodford struck out only one batter, did not get the swings and misses that will capture the Cardinals’ imagination, but he did get outs. He kept a quick pace, and has forced the Cardinals to find a way for him to contribute — not just commute between levels.

pruman91 · Aug 24, 2022

Cardinals notebook: Oliver Marmol tries mix-and-matchups for spark at several positions

As shortstop DeJong searches and rookie Donovan thrives, doubleheader offered a look at manager's lineup shuffling, waiting for production to make decision for him.

www.stltoday.com

Derrick Goold
CHICAGO — The daily decisions Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol has with who plays in the middle infield are not “one for one,” he said. With several of his options struggling offensively and rookie Brendan Donovan swinging for more playing time, Marmol takes more of a mix-and-matchup approach, where the starters have roles that fit that game or that opponent.
The doubleheader Tuesday at Wrigley Field distilled Marmol’s approach. To get his bat in the lineup, Donovan started both games but at two different positions. The Cardinals split the shortstop starts between Paul DeJong and Tommy Edman, with DeJong putting his steady glove behind Game 1 starter Adam Wainwright. Against two right-handed starters, rookie Nolan Gorman handled two games at second base.

The goal is to find the right blend of bats and gloves.
“You’re trying to balance that,” Marmol said. “If you’re going to go with defense at shortstop, then you find a way for Donovan’s on-base (knack) to be in the lineup somewhere. And then (a place for) Gorman’s power to be in the lineup somewhere. And then you mix and match accordingly.”
At the center of these decisions is DeJong.
Almost a month removed from his return from Class AAA Memphis, DeJong’s production at the plate has sunk to previous struggles, but his play at shortstop remains a reliable (and often needed) presence. After going 0 for 2 in the Cardinals’ 2-0 loss in Game 1 on Tuesday, DeJong took a 2-for-29 stretch into the evening game. He’s struck out 15 of those 29 at-bats. Edman started at shortstop for Game 2.

pruman91 · Aug 24, 2022

Tipsheet: Mistake-prone Moreno ready to sell Angels, bail on baseball

Arte Moreno made some big signings as owner of the Los Angeles Angels, but his overall management of the franchise was awful. Finally he seems ready to sell.

www.stltoday.com

Jeff Gordon
Bumbling Los Angeles Angels owner Arte Moreno seems ready to sell his badly mismanaged franchise.
“Although this difficult decision was entirely our choice and deserved a great deal of thoughtful consideration, my family and I have ultimately come to the conclusion that now is the time,” Moreno said in a statement. “Throughout the process, we will continue to run the franchise in the best interest of our fans, employees, players, and business partners.”
Long-suffering Orange County fans must be thrilled, since Moreno’s stewardship of the franchise got worse over time. He bought the team from Disney in 2003, shortly after it won its only World Championship, and he eventually ran it into the ground.

The Angels are buried in the American League West again, destined to miss the postseason for the 12th time in 13 years. Just as the Angels wasted the latter half of Albert Pujols’ Hall of Fame career with their maddening incompetence, they have been wasting the prime years of superstars Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani.
Despite building large payrolls, the Angels haven’t won a playoff game since 2009.
The Pujols signing didn’t pay off. The Vernon Wells and Josh Hamilton additions were busts, as was the more recent signing of injury-battered Anthony Rendon. The Ohtani signing was epic, but now he could land on the trade block with the team facing a massive rebuild.

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I like the Talkin' Baseball part at the end of this article......Gives a good perspective on baseball's going's on from various area's of the nation.........

pruman91 · Aug 24, 2022

Minor-league report: Top prospect Jordan Walker doubles, homers vs. Northwest Arkansas

Jordan Walker on Tuesday hit his 17th homer and connected on his team-leading 28th double against the Naturals.

stlpinchhits.com

Daniel Guerrero
Coming off a weekend where he hit three homers in the last four games of a homer series against Arkansas, Cardinals’ top prospect Jordan Walker continued his powerful stretch at the plate to begin Class Springfield's road series against Northwest Arkansas.
On Tuesday, the 20-year-old went two-for-five with a double, a homer, two runs scored, and an RBI in Springfield’s 8-7 loss to the Travelers.
Walker, who had homered just once in his first 13 games to begin August, has 17 on the season to go along with a team-leading 28 doubles.

Along with Walker’s performance against Northwest Arkansas, these are some of the notable performances by Cardinals minor-leaguers:

pruman91 · Aug 24, 2022

BenFred chat: Why Andre Pallante deserves rookie of the year consideration

Hot topics from this week's sports chat with columnist Ben Frederickson.

www.stltoday.com

Hot topics from this week's sports chat with columnist Ben Frederickson.

the national · Aug 24, 2022

the national · Aug 24, 2022

He didn’t swing.

BillyBob1 · Aug 24, 2022

What’s up with the smirk on the home plate umpire? And when are some of these Cub players going to pay for all the hit batters yesterday?

pruman91 · Aug 24, 2022

Another day.....another terrible umpire....................

Rinse , repeat............

I'm trippin ,man............that ump is bad ......he really really really really is.........................

BillyBob1 · Aug 24, 2022

Once again, when are Cub hitters going to pay for hit batters?

IlliniFaninHoosierLand · Aug 24, 2022

BillyBob1 said:
Once again, when are Cub hitters going to pay for hit batters?

If Shildt was still manager, they would have done it by now. I like that Oli isn't as old school like that. Besides it's not like the Cubs are gonna be contending the rest of the season so there's nothing to gain by the Cardinals doing it. If this was a team like the Brewers or a team they were going to see in the playoffs, then you could make the argument for it.

BillyBob1 · Aug 24, 2022

IlliniFaninHoosierLand said:
If Shildt was still manager, they would have done it by now. I like that Oli isn't as old school like that. Besides it's not like the Cubs are gonna be contending the rest of the season so there's nothing to gain by the Cardinals doing it. If this was a team like the Brewers or a team they were going to see in the playoffs, then you could make the argument for it.

Disagree. They hit one of your best players with a fastball in his shoulder/upper back after hitting the backup catcher in the same area. Then, you have a fastball that just missed DeJong’s face. The announcers even said it last night on tv it should happen. Even though it was an off speed pitch, Albert got hit too.

You could see Oli was not happy.

IlliniFaninHoosierLand · Aug 24, 2022

BillyBob1 said:
Disagree. They hit one of your best players with a fastball in his shoulder/upper back after hitting the backup catcher in the same area. Then, you have a fastball that just missed DeJong’s face. The announcers even said it last night on tv it should happen. Even though it was an off speed pitch, Albert got hit too.

You could see Oli was not happy.

In defense of the Cubs reliever last night, his fastball control was god awful, not just against Arenado and Knizner.

the national · Aug 24, 2022

IlliniFaninHoosierLand said:
In defense of the Cubs reliever last night, his fastball control was god awful, not just against Arenado and Knizner.

That may be true about last night but Wick is a better pitcher than that. He was throwing them up too. To me that pitch up and in on DeJong was totally uncalled for. Garbage.

IlliniFaninHoosierLand · Aug 24, 2022

the national said:
That may be true about last night but Wick is a better pitcher than that. He was throwing them up too. To me that pitch up and in on DeJong was totally uncalled for. Garbage.

Maybe so. But what benefit would Wick have from attempting to intentionally hit DeJong?

illini0440 · Aug 24, 2022

BillyBob1 said:
Disagree. They hit one of your best players with a fastball in his shoulder/upper back after hitting the backup catcher in the same area. Then, you have a fastball that just missed DeJong’s face. The announcers even said it last night on tv it should happen. Even though it was an off speed pitch, Albert got hit too.

You could see Oli was not happy.

Espenoza had no clue where the ball was going. Didn’t hit Nolan on purpose. They weren’t happy about it but more so that he was in the game when he obviously didn’t have a feel for anything. Position player hit Albert when he had him down 0-2 clearly an accident

the national · Aug 24, 2022

IlliniFaninHoosierLand said:
Maybe so. But what benefit would Wick have from attempting to intentionally hit DeJong?

Maybe I was just a bit sensitive (and frustrated by the cardinals lack of production). My memory can be a bit fuzzy at times but I feel like wick has thrown high to the cardinals in the past.

pruman91 · Aug 25, 2022

Quick hits: Lower third of lineup lead Cubs' win over Cardinals after Arenado's ejection

Cubs score five runs (three earned) off Mikolas to split the first four games of this five-game visit to Wrigley Field.

www.stltoday.com

Derrick Goold
CHICAGO — The Cardinals’ supporting players, who have helped amplify the offense this month, got thrust into the role of carrying it Wednesday at Wrigley Field.
What the Cardinals did not get, the Cubs did.
The bottom third of the Cubs’ lineup provided five RBIs and most of the run-scoring opportunities as the hosts ran away with a 7-1 victory. The Cardinals played most of the game without their twin MVP candidates. Nolan Arenado was ejected from the game in the third inning after arguing a check-swing call with the home-plate umpire. The Cardinals attempted to give Paul Goldschmidt a complete day off amidst four games in five days at Wrigley and a stretch of games without a break for another week.

After Arenado’s ejection, that left the lineup with Albert Pujols as its leader with the .277 average and 14 home runs, seven of which have come this month. Leadoff hitter Lars Nootbaar contributed the lone run with a solo homer in the fifth inning that chased Cubs right-hander Luke Farrell from his first big-league start of the year.
The Cardinals did not get the same offensive traction that the Cubs did. Twice in the first four innings, the Cardinals stranded runners in scoring position. They finished 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position, and four of those at-bats came from the bottom of the lineup. That was where the Cubs generated their offense to take a 3-0 lead early and inflate to 5-1 by the time the Cardinals’ starter departed.

GoodePodzMelendez · Aug 25, 2022

the national said:
He didn’t swing.

Actually, as a former umpire, the bat went too far across the plate so yes, by the ump's viewpoint, it was a swing. The fallacy most observers believe is that the wrists must break but they do not. When I called games, its where the barrel of the bat is and it was close enough to the front of the plate to be a strike. The ump cannot ask for help on a called strike but only for a called ball. Aranado was rightly tossed for his actions. The announcers were wrong on their opinion.

the national · Aug 25, 2022

GoodePodzMelendez said:
Actually, as a former umpire, the bat went too far across the plate so yes, by the ump's viewpoint, it was a swing. The fallacy most observers believe is that the wrists must break but they do not. When I called games, its where the barrel of the bat is and it was close enough to the front of the plate to be a strike. The ump cannot ask for help on a called strike but only for a called ball. Aranado was rightly tossed for his actions. The announcers were wrong on their opinion.

Agree to disagree. The ump called the game pretty fairly and thought he did a good job overall. However, in my years of watching and playing baseball, I’ve seen the break-of-the-wrist standard used. With many things, including the perceived strike zone, it really depends on human interpretation. It is what it is - Nolan should have kept his cool but that smirk by the ump was a bit much. That was a TV-Ted type of move by the ump.

GoodePodzMelendez · Aug 25, 2022

the national said:
Agree to disagree. The ump called the game pretty fairly and thought he did a good job overall. However, in my years of watching and playing baseball, I’ve seen the break-of-the-wrist standard used. With many things, including the perceived strike zone, it really depends on human interpretation. It is what it is - Nolan should have kept his cool but that smirk by the ump was a bit much. That was a TV-Ted type of move by the ump.View attachment 19361

I did not have an issue with the smirk. I think he was responding to Nolan going nuts on him. Shoot, I have been on both sides of this as a player and an ump. Many an umpire made a Are You A Moron look when I argued with them. This does not meet the level of TV Ted. I do not believe the ump had any grandstanding since this began and ended quickly. If the ump wanted to do a TV Ted, he would have made a showtime toss sign. But any reference to TV Ted is greatness as he was fun to watch.

pruman91 · Aug 25, 2022

Arenado flying back to STL for the birth of his baby..
Helsley will rejoin team tomorrow in STL ...
Win this game and series then beat the braves in the friendly confines of
Busch III

GO CARDINALS.......

champaignchris · Aug 25, 2022

GoodePodzMelendez said:
I did not have an issue with the smirk. I think he was responding to Nolan going nuts on him. Shoot, I have been on both sides of this as a player and an ump. Many an umpire made a Are You A Moron look when I argued with them. This does not meet the level of TV Ted. I do not believe the ump had any grandstanding since this began and ended quickly. If the ump wanted to do a TV Ted, he would have made a showtime toss sign. But any reference to TV Ted is greatness as he was fun to watch.

I’ve watched the replay a couple times. Arenado says, “No, no, no,” and slams his bat down. That’ll get you ejected every time no matter what. The ump isn’t posturing at that point.

The mic doesn’t pick up anything Arenado is saying after the ejection, but he’s talking animatedly and pointing off to first base, surely saying that the ump should have appealed. Arenado was certainly excited, but pretty composed at this point.

I think people are discounting the possibility Arenado said something funny and the ump was trying not to laugh.

pruman91 · Aug 25, 2022

Cardinals up 3-0 over the cubbies going into the top of the second inning...........

Even better news is Dakota Hudson with ZERO walks in his first inning...................refreshing to say the least........it really really is..............

St. Louis Cardinals 2022

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