St. Louis Cardinals 2022

the juiceman cometh · Apr 8, 2022

wpr said:
I am in favor of not only a hard cap but a minimum floor as well. $80 million should be the bottom amount. Then revenue sharing should be equalized as well. NY or LA should not get a billion $ in revenue from a tv deal while KC or Tampa receives only $30 million. (Not real numbers.)

Edit- I was just looking at Spotrac. Make it $125 million for the minimum team payroll.

The big market teams already subsidize smaller market teams though revenue sharing. Every team provides 48% of local revenue, including local TV deals to the pool, which is split evenly. This means that teams with lucrative local deals and high attendance (like our Cardinals) subsidize teams like the Pirates. Every team gets about $100 million a year from this revenue share. The problem is that the smaller market teams just pocket the money, tank for good draft picks, have a good couple years based on those drsft picks, trade off all their good players before they have to pay them real money, rinse and repeat. And make huge profits all along the way due to revenue sharing.

MLB’s revenue sharing problem, and how to solve it

Shared revenues should be limited to player salaries and restore the incentive to win

www.google.com

I do agree a salary floor is a must.

wpr · Apr 8, 2022

the juiceman cometh said:
The big market teams already subsidize smaller market teams though revenue sharing. Every team provides 48% of local revenue, including local TV deals to the pool, which is split evenly. This means that teams with lucrative local deals and high attendance (like our Cardinals) subsidize teams like the Pirates. Every team gets about $100 million a year from this revenue share. The problem is that the smaller market teams just pocket the money, tank for good draft picks, have a good couple years based on those drsft picks, trade off all their good players before they have to pay them real money, rinse and repeat. And make huge profits all along the way due to revenue sharing.

MLB’s revenue sharing problem, and how to solve it

Shared revenues should be limited to player salaries and restore the incentive to win

www.google.com

I do agree a salary floor is a must.

Yes I am well aware of the revenue sharing package that is now in place. My point is a complete overhaul. Hard cap. Hard floor. As a part of the redoing the system is better/total revenue sharing. According to this site LAD got $239 million in 2020. I don't know if it changed due to COVID. This article was written in April 2020. Miami got $20 million. Even if the Dodgers pass along 48% they are still capable of a $200 million payroll without looking at any of their other sources of revenue. I am also aware of small market teams propensity to trade off their rising stars to keep the expenses down. Thus raising the floor to over $100 million.

MLB Team Estimated Television Contracts

Team	2020 Revenue	Deal	Start	End	Ownership	Info
Dodgers	$239 M	25/$8.35 B	2014	2038	50%	LINK
Angels	$138 M	20/$3 B	2012	2031	25%	LINK
White Sox	$120 M		2020		25%	LINK
Yankees	$115 M	30/$5.7 B	2013	2042	30%	LINK
Red Sox	$104 M		2006		80%	LINK
Cubs	$100 M		2020		Yes	LINK
Mariners	$89 M	18/$1.8 B	2014	2031	71%	LINK
Braves	$86 M		2008	2027	No	LINK
Nationals	$77 M	Arbitration	2006	2028	21%	LINK
Phillies	$70 M	25/$2.5 B	2016	2040	25%	LINK
Astros	$70 M	20/$1.6 B	2013	2032	No	LINK
Rangers	$66 M	20/$1.6 B	2015	2034	10%	LINK
Cardinals	$65 M	15/$1 B	2018	2032	30%	LINK
Tigers	$64 M		2009	2021	No	LINK
Giants	$63 M	25/$1.75 B	2008	2032	30%	LINK
Dbacks	$58 M	20/$1.5 B	2016	2035	Yes	LINK
Mets	$54 M	25/$1.3 B	2006	2030	65%	LINK
Orioles	$54 M		2006	2028	79%	LINK
A’s	$48 M	21/$1 B	2009	2029	No	LINK
Rays	$48 M		2019		No	LINK
Reds	$48 M		2018	2032	Yes	LINK
Indians	$47 M	10/$400 M	2013	2022	No	LINK
Padres	$46 M	20/$1 B	2012	2031	20%	LINK
Pirates	$44 M		2020		No	LINK
Royals	$44 M		2020	2026	No	LINK
Twins	$43 M	12/$480 M	2012	2023	No	LINK
Rockies	$42 M			2020	No	LINK
Brewers	$28 M		2013	2020	No	LINK
Marlins	$20 M	15/$270 M	2006	2020	No	LINK
Blue Jays					100%	LINK

pruman91 · Apr 9, 2022

Scaling the walls: After exploring new dimensions for Busch to spur offense, Cardinals stuck with 'golden' rule

Cardinals' home has become even less hospitable to hitters and home runs, seeing a plunge in runs per game in 2021. But is it an advantage to build on?

www.stltoday.com

Derrick Goold
Afunny thing happened shortly after the Cardinals paused finalizing a report they commissioned and decided to take a step back from moving the walls in at Busch Stadium.
They got a golden reason (or five) to reconsider.
“As we’re getting close to issuing the report, we win five Gold Gloves,” team president Bill DeWitt III said. “We started to think we may have an edge here with this particular configuration. In theory, a bigger ballpark, more balls in play, a defense that catches anything — why don’t we put this on ice and see how things develop? We have an elite defense and we’re contemplating doing something that might minimize the impact of that defense. Let’s not.”

When the Cardinals opened the 2022 regular season on Thursday afternoon, the 16-year-old downtown ballpark had several new features awaiting a sellout crowd. Freese’s Landing, an area of all-inclusive center-field seating named for David Freese’s October feats, debuted, and there was a redesign of the left-field wall to accommodate the team’s retired numbers and offer space for at least three more. The dimensions of the ballpark remained the same — 335 feet and 336 feet down the lines, 385 feet in the alleys, 400 feet to center — and thus so will the frustrations for hitters.

pruman91 · Apr 9, 2022

Gordo: How Jordan Hicks falls into the 'no other choice' category

In our weekly chat we go beyond Cardinals questions and look at the Blues goalies and Kansas trying to outrun the NCAA.

www.stltoday.com

Q: I understand if the Cardinals want to make Jordan Hicks a starter, but why isn’t he doing it at AAA? As a starter he’ll need better control and his change up. He can’t be throwing 20 plus pitches an inning as he’s prone to do. I would understand if the team had no other choice, but that’s not the case. I don’t get the thought process, and I think it’s setting Hicks up to fail.
A: At the moment, this may fall into the "no other choice" category. Matthew Liberatore is still not ready. Johan Oviedo has not recovered from his 2021 beatings. Drew VerHagen did not finish the spring well. So that seems to leave Jake Woodford and Hicks as the two choices. Woodford would seem to be the surer of two unsure things at this point, but Hicks has massive upside. The team wants to see how his arm reacts to pitching every fifth day to see if this really is his future, as Hicks insists it is. Hicks takes this assignment with a pitch limit and a short leash, so that mitigates the competitive risk.

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Chat article with fans..........questions about Self & KU and others....................good read................

wpr · Apr 9, 2022

pruman91 said:
Gordo: How Jordan Hicks falls into the 'no other choice' category

In our weekly chat we go beyond Cardinals questions and look at the Blues goalies and Kansas trying to outrun the NCAA.

www.stltoday.com

Q: I understand if the Cardinals want to make Jordan Hicks a starter, but why isn’t he doing it at AAA? As a starter he’ll need better control and his change up. He can’t be throwing 20 plus pitches an inning as he’s prone to do. I would understand if the team had no other choice, but that’s not the case. I don’t get the thought process, and I think it’s setting Hicks up to fail.
A: At the moment, this may fall into the "no other choice" category. Matthew Liberatore is still not ready. Johan Oviedo has not recovered from his 2021 beatings. Drew VerHagen did not finish the spring well. So that seems to leave Jake Woodford and Hicks as the two choices. Woodford would seem to be the surer of two unsure things at this point, but Hicks has massive upside. The team wants to see how his arm reacts to pitching every fifth day to see if this really is his future, as Hicks insists it is. Hicks takes this assignment with a pitch limit and a short leash, so that mitigates the competitive risk.

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Chat article with fans..........questions about Self & KU and others....................good read................

There is some long term upside to Hicks as a SP but seeing how things typically fall apart for St Louis pitching I am more than a little skeptical this is going to end well.

pruman91 · Apr 9, 2022

Cardinals vs. Pirates......................first pitch @ 1:15

Albert not in starting lineup

Question for Cardinals fans.........................

Who's more attractive ??

Alexa Datt
Erica Weston

my choice is Alexa , especially with her hair in a ponytail..........yum yum

pruman91 · Apr 10, 2022

Nolan being Nolan: With a nose for RBIs and a new bat to bash, Arenado cracks three doubles in Cardinals' 6-2 win

Starter Mikolas meanders through 41-pitch first inning and 3 2/3 innings as teammates rally twice to tie the game before pulling away against Pittsburgh.

www.stltoday.com

Derrick Goold
With a keystroke on a laptop or a swipe to the latest app on a tablet, hitters can access a galaxy of metrics at their fingertips to gauge their potential for production, from launch angle to a bat’s balance point, exit velocity to expected batting average.
Perpetually searching for ways to improve his swing, Nolan Arenado welcomes all of the latest data, but still cherishes a trusty, analog number from box scores of yore.
It’s one of the few that is certain to appear in the line score.
“I like driving in runs. I like RBIs,” the Cardinals’ third baseman said. “People don’t really talk about that stat anymore. I still talk about it. I still like it. I feel like the best hitters in the game all drive in runs, and that’s what I’m trying to be.”

That’s what he is, say teammates.
Exhibit 2022.2: Saturday.
Arenado tied the game with a double in the first inning, tied the game again with a single in the third, and finished with three doubles and three RBIs to propel the Cardinals to a 6-2 victory against Pittsburgh at a sold out Busch Stadium. Arenado finished the game four-for-four and went three-for-three with runners in scoring position. Going into Sunday’s game, Arenado has hits in his past five at-bats, three of them for extra bases, and four of them delivering RBIs.

pruman91 · Apr 10, 2022

Cardinals' Whitley sent to the showers — and he liked it

Reliever celebrates first major league win as bullpen again excels

www.stltoday.com

Rick Hummel
It is the shower every pitcher wants to have. “But you want it just one time,” said Cardinals reliever Kodi Whitley.
Veteran starter Adam Wainwright has witnessed dozens of them in his career and is quick to reel off the ingredients involved in celebrating a pitcher’s first major league victory.
“Water, Gatorade, yogurt, Diet Coke ... shaving cream ... anything goes,” said Wainwright. “No beer anymore.”
After the Cardinals’ 6-2 win over Pittsburgh at Busch Stadium on Saturday, starter Miles Mikolas, who didn’t make it through the fifth to qualify for the win, asked Whitley, who finished the fourth and also pitched the fifth, if he had ever won in the majors before.

This was the time for the 27-year-old Whitley to tell the truth, even though it would stink for a while.
“He said, ‘Uh-oh, you know what’s coming,’” related Whitley.
“I think they even threw some almond milk in there, too,” said Whitley of the Cardinals’ modest efforts at good nutrition.
The process begins when some of the other pitchers dump the winning pitcher into a laundry cart and wheel him into the showers.
Whitley, relieving Mikolas with a runner at second and two out in a 4-2 game, induced 2021 All-Star Bryan Reynolds to ground out to end the fourth and then pitched a hitless fifth.

pruman91 · Apr 10, 2022

Skipper in a pinch: Schumaker steps in as acting manager with Marmol ill

Cardinals' first-year manager leaves ballpark with the flu, negative for COVID-19, so former leadoff hitter, now bench coach Schumaker runs his first game.

www.stltoday.com

Derrick Goold
Less than an hour before he had to make one of the pivotal decisions of Saturday afternoon’s game, Skip Schumaker learned he would not be game-planning alongside Oliver Marmol but managing the game in Marmol’s absence.
Due to his flu-like symptoms, the team encouraged Marmol to leave the ballpark Saturday and head home shortly before first pitch. Schumaker, the Cardinals’ former leadoff hitter and new bench coach, took over as acting manager, and with pitching coach Mike Maddux made the decision to start warming up a reliever in the first inning as starter Miles Mikolas’ pitch count started to climb. Schumaker stuck with Mikolas, and the right-hander escaping that inning proved vital to the Cardinals’ 6-2 victory against Pittsburgh.

“I wasn’t thinking when I woke up that I would be managing from inning 1 or pitch 1,” Schumaker said. “But I found out about 45 minutes – maybe – before the game, and here we are.”As San Diego’s bench coach the past few years, Schumaker helmed games after the manager had been ejected, and he once piloted a playoff game to completion. But he had not run a game from its beginning. In the first inning he challenged an out call that was overturned and contributed to the Cardinals’ first run. He credited the video staff.
Considered a rising talent and future manager, Saturday was a first for Schumaker.

NEIlliniFan · Apr 10, 2022

Really pleased for both Kodi and Skip

pruman91 · Apr 10, 2022

Pirates ahead 6-3 in the top of the 4th ....Runners on 1st and 2nd , nobody out and Matz is knocked out..............not an impressive debut for the Cardinal lefty...

Cardinals led 3-0 and now behind 6-3.......C'mon Redbirds..............................

IlliniFan85 · Apr 10, 2022

Such a good start for our big off-season acquisition. Thanks Mo for spending on a good pitcher. Or trading for a good pitcher.

Mikolas went just over 3 yesterday, we have Hicks as number 5, and who is number 4? Oh I forgot about Dakota Hudson, who may or may not be ok. Our downfall will be pitching. Will Flaherty even pitch this year? Will he be good or struggle with his shoulder issue? This is just wonderful.

IlliniFaninHoosierLand · Apr 10, 2022

IlliniFan85 said:
Such a good start for our big off-season acquisition. Thanks Mo for spending on a good pitcher. Or trading for a good pitcher.

It's just one start.

the juiceman cometh · Apr 10, 2022

IlliniFaninHoosierLand said:
It's just one start.

I agree it's too early to judge the guy on one start. I think he'll be a lot better than today indicated.

But I am worried about how many innings we'll get out of starters in general, and my concern with Matz from day one was that his career high in innings pitched was 160. Last season we couldn't get any starting pitcher innings so 160 would've been welcome, but typically that's the kind of number you want to see out of your back end guys only. We had 4 pitchers pitch over 170 innings in 2019, for sake of comparison. So while I'm not judging what Matz will give us on today, it didn't inspire confidence that he could turn into the kind of workhorse pitcher we need, and that he's never been.

DaChief4ever · Apr 10, 2022

Matz? hmmmmmmmmmmm 4 years 44 Million....first appearance gives up a grand slam. 3 innings, 7 runs......9 hits. Any chance of a refund.

Se Il Illini · Apr 10, 2022

The pitching at this point is a real question mark. The Cardinals have multiple pitchers coming off various injuries. Furthermore, Flaherty is rehabbing and unable to pitch. It is hard to predict what is going to transpire with this staff.

IlliniFaninHoosierLand · Apr 10, 2022

DaChief4ever said:
Matz? hmmmmmmmmmmm 4 years 44 Million....first appearance gives up a grand slam. 3 innings, 7 runs......9 hits. Any chance of a refund.

Again, it's just the first start. I wasn't able to watch the entire game as I'm currently out of town but from what it sounded like at the end of the broadcast, Matz was fine the first couple of innings but the wheels came off in the 3rd.

pruman91 · Apr 11, 2022

Cardinals’ newcomer is no Matz for Pirates

Lefthander, after two dominant innings, is pasted in third and fourth as Cardinals suffer first defeat of season, 9-4. Arenado homers again.

www.stltoday.com

Rick Hummel
Because of the shortened spring training, the Cardinals formulated a plan to limit their starters to 80 or so pitches at least the first time through the regular-season rotation.
This worked fine on Thursday when Adam Wainwright blanked Pittsburgh for six innings on 81 pitches. But Miles Mikolas was able to draw only 3 2/3 innings out of 77 pitches, despite allowing just two runs, on Saturday. Then Steven Matz, making his Cardinals debut, was far less efficient on Sunday, retiring only three of the final 12 men he faced while lasting but three innings on 75 pitches.
The Cardinals weren’t able to rescue Matz, who allowed seven runs on nine hits, eight of those hits in the third and fourth innings of a 9-4 loss to the Pirates — who won their first game of three played so far in this season-opening series at Busch Stadium. Some of the hits were soft ones. Others were harder as Matz left some off-speed pitches up.

But, early, the Cardinals seemed headed for a third consecutive win.
Dylan Carlson opened for the Cardinals by hitting safely for the third successive time in the first inning and scoring every time. Nolan Arenado trumped that by ripping a two-run homer to left to cap a three-run first off Pittsburgh’s Bryse Wilson.
That was the sixth consecutive hit over three games by Arenado, with two of them homers and three more of them doubles.

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I agree it's only one start , but given a 3-0 lead in his debut at home , he was less than impressive after the first 2 innings........I expected more from the ground ball % being touted by him and the cardinals announcers , Edmonds and Danny Mac , both saw he was opening up his front shoulder too soon and everything was high in the strike zone.......

JMHO.......seems like $ 11 million a year doesn't buy what it used to a while back............

pruman91 · Apr 11, 2022

Hochman: It was just one start, but Cardinals’ Matz made mistakes that blew a lead and game

Location, location, location — that was the problem with pitches by Matz … they were in the wrong location. And at the wrong time.

www.stltoday.com

Benjamin Hochman
This was a curveball. Didn’t expect Steven Matz to allow seven runs in his first Cardinals start, especially against pitiful Pittsburgh. But then again, did you see the curveball?
Michael Chavis saw it. He smacked that thing to the Old Courthouse.
“A little curveball in the top of the zone — if that’s just down, maybe I get them to hit a ground ball,” Matz said Sunday after the Cardinals’ 9-4 loss.
Location, location, location — that was the sales pitch to Matz. Come here to St. Louis and induce grounders to dudes with Gold Gloves all over the field.
Location, location, location — that was the problem with pitches by Matz … they were in the wrong location. And at the wrong time.

Chavis’ home run wasn’t just a home run — it was a grand slam and the key reason why St. Louis’ marquee signee lost his first Cardinals game. The pitch location to Chavis, from his standpoint, was insatiable. The pitch location to Chavis, from Matz’s standpoint, unmistakably was a mistake.Matz is 0-1 and 0 for 1 in endearing himself to Cardinals Nation. This is not to write off Steven Matz — instead, it’s simply to write about how the Cards had a perfect chance to clinch a series win in their season’s first series … and didn’t.

pruman91 · Apr 11, 2022

Cardinals notebook: Hurler Hudson is ready to go full tilt

Right-hander made just one start last season after recovering from Tommy John elbow surgery.

www.stltoday.com

Rick Hummel
Dakota Hudson is slated to make his first Cardinals start on Monday in which he is not considered fragile since the end of the 2020 season.
Hudson, who had Tommy John elbow surgery in September 2020, started once for the Cardinals last year, on Oct. 1, and worked five scoreless innings in a 4-3 win over the Chicago Cubs here. But there was a governor on him then and not so much now, if any.
The right-hander got his pitch count up to 90 during a back-fields spring-training session last week in Jupiter, Florida, and said Sunday he is full-bore for whatever will be needed on Monday.
“It’s good getting back to normal, well, I am back to normal. And I’m able to take on a role with the team that can allow me to help them win the best I can and get a ring at the end of the year,” Hudson, 27, said. “I don’t think I was ever damaged goods. But I’m not fragile.”

Hudson will be facing the Pittsburgh Pirates, against whom he was pitching when he left the game on Sept 17, 2000 with the dreaded right elbow strain.
He will not be batting anymore, which he said he would miss. But he also allowed that he felt as if he was “swinging a pool noodle” at times, which his .077 career batting average might reflect.
“I will enjoy the advantage of having one of our hitters in there,” he said. “We’ve got a pretty good lineup going.”

pruman91 · Apr 11, 2022

Cardinals vs. Pirates has been postponed due to inclement weather......rescheduled as part of a split doubleheader June 14th......yuck..............

wpr · Apr 11, 2022

pruman91 said:
Cardinals vs. Pirates has been postponed due to inclement weather......rescheduled as part of a split doubleheader June 14th......yuck..............

Don't you love it when a rescheduled game is rescheduled yet again?

IlliniFaninHoosierLand · Apr 11, 2022

wpr said:
Don't you love it when a rescheduled game is rescheduled yet again?

Today's game wasn't supposed to be a rescheduled game. The 3 games they were supposed to play in Pittsburgh at the start of the season got tacked on to the end of the season.

One thing the rainout has done is pushed Hicks' first start back. He was originally supposed to start Tuesday vs. the Royals but with the rain-out on Monday, Dakota Hudson's start got pushed to back to Tuesday instead with Hicks being used out of the 'pen behind Hudson. They could have started Hicks on Wednesday but didn't want to disrupt Waino's throwing schedule. Hicks' first start will now be this weekend in Milwaukee.

pruman91 · Apr 12, 2022

Rainout delays Hicks' first start for Cardinals until the weekend in Milwaukee

Hudson pushed back to face Royals on Tuesday, with Wainwright to oppose Kansas City on Wednesday, rather than pitch against Brewers.

www.stltoday.com

Rick Hummel
Jordan Hicks, on the eve of what he thought would be his first major-league start on Tuesday night, told his mother, Jennifer, to stay away. Not because he didn’t want her here but there was something more pressing.
Her daughter and Hicks’ sister, Avery, was about to deliver a baby — which would be Jennifer’s third grandchild — and Hicks said, “You have to be there for the kid. You’ve seen me pitch in the big leagues. You don’t have to be here for this specific game.
“I said, ‘Mom, this kid is bigger than baseball.’”
Hicks’ father also had planned on coming to St. Louis. But the 25-year-old Houstonian will be in the bullpen Tuesday night backing up Dakota Hudson, whose scheduled start Monday against Pittsburgh was rolled over into an outing Tuesday against Kansas City because of Monday’s rainout at Busch Stadium.

Manager Oliver Marmol talked to Hicks after the rainout and told him about the adjustment in plans and that Hicks still will be starting, now on Saturday in Milwaukee.
Adam Wainwright, whose career record against Milwaukee is a rousing 20-12 with a 2.60 earned-run average, is not pitching against the Brewers.
“I’d love to have ‘Waino’ throw Game 1 there (on Thursday),” said Marmol, “but having a full, healthy (bull)pen going into that four-game set also made sense.”

pruman91 · Apr 12, 2022

Minor-league report: Walker hits first Class AA homer; McGreevy has scoreless outing in 2022 debut

Masyn Winn went 4-for-10 and stole two bases on opening weekend with Class High-A

stlpinchhits.com

Daniel Guerrero
All four of the Cardinals’ minor-league affiliates were in action on Saturday and Sunday as the MiLB season got into full swing.
From Class AAA to Low-A, here are some of the notable performances over the weekend by Cardinals minor-leaguers:
Hits

Third baseman Jordan Walker: Since going hitless on Friday during his debut at the Double-A level, Walker has gone 3-for-8, driven in six runs, walked three times and connected on a two-run homer that had a 109 mph exit velocity. He also has struck out just once in his three games with Springfield. The 19-year-old’s first Double=A home run came on Sunday during Springfield’s 10-5 win over Northwest Arkansas. Walker sent the first pitch he saw from Northwest Arkansas lefty Angel Zerpa to left-center field to give the S-Cards an early lead.

Shortstop Masyn Winn: Winn has gone 4-for-7 in his last two games after he too went hitless in Class High-A Peoria’s season-opening game on Saturday. The speedy infielder singled four times in doubleheader action on Sunday and came around to score once. He is coming off a season where he hit .209 in 48 games with Peoria in 2021.