Looks like O'Neil is a no go for the first round.
Cardinal's notebook
Cardinal's notebook
St. Louis Cardinals 2022
While it's not known when they'll play, Michael Kay and A-Rod will call the Wild Card Round series involving the Cardinals: https://www.stltoday.com/sports/bas...tent=f9eaa91236962cd453f6cc587e8ba41779510bf9
Phillies at Cardinals set as the Wild Card round series.
pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
Cardinals vs. Phillies: 11 thoughts on a playoff rematch 11 years in the making
Phillies are back in the playoffs for the first time since 2011, and their draw? Facing Cardinals, who famously ousted them in 2011. A look at '22 teams.
Derrick Goold
PITTSBURGH — When last the Philadelphia Phillies appeared in the postseason, the Cardinals were celebrating in the background and there, in the foreground and in obvious pain, was Ryan Howard, the slugger and final out of the 2011 National League Division Series felled by an Achilles’ tendon injury in the final act of that season.
The Cardinals went on to win the World Series that season.
The Phillies haven’t been the same since.
With a third-place finish the NL East, the Phillies earned a playoff berth and late Tuesday night were assured the sixth seed in the league’s playoffs. That brings them to St. Louis for a best-of-three wild card series that will be played entirely at Busch Stadium. Game times are to be announced, likely Wednesday.
In the meantime, from the other side of Pennsylvania, here are 11 quick thoughts on a rematch of the ’11 NLDS 11 years after the Phillies were last in the playoffs.
1. The Phillies won the season series, 4-3. They took two of the three games in the Cardinals’ visit to Philadelphia, and then split a four-game visit to Busch Stadium earlier this season. In those seven games, the Phillies outscored the Cardinals, 22-20. The Cardinals hit nine home runs against the Phillies, and the Phillies hit eight against the Cardinals.
2. In two starts this season against the Cardinals, Philadelphia right-hander Zack Wheeler pitched 14 scoreless innings. He allowed nine hits (all singles) and struck out 10 while leading the Phillies to two wins. Wheeler is the presumptive Game 1 start Friday at Busch. And he could have been a Cardinal. In 2019, the Cardinals and New York Mets had trade talks at the deadline about Wheeler. The Cardinals hesitated at the deal because it would have cost them either Tyler O’Neill or Harrison Bader as the centerpiece. This summer, they traded Bader to the other New York team for a pitcher, lefty Jordan Montgomery.
pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
Quick hits: Cardinals rally to sink Pirates, but gasp when closer Ryan Helsley jams finger
Cardinals use a four-run rally in the seventh to tie game, Juan Yepez's RBI single in the 10th to win, 8-7. Helsley removed as 'precaution' after injuring finger on pitching
Derrick Goold
PITTSBURGH — Whatever happened later in the game to decide who had the more runs, the Cardinals had at least a gulp of concern for who was lost from the game.
All-Star closer Ryan Helsley got five pitches into his scheduled appearance Tuesday night at PNC Park before having to field a ball hit back at him and avoid the shards of a bat he split. He placed his right hand on the ground to keep his balance, and at some point in that series of events appeared to jam a finger on his pitching hand. He was unable to continue, and the Cardinals’ initial diagnosis was a jammed middle finger on his right hand. A team official said Helsley was removed out of a sense of “precaution,” and the right-hander would be reevaluated late Tuesday.
The Cardinals’ plan, after talks with the closer about how he’d like to get ready for the postseason, was to get Helsley one inning of work against the Pirates regardless of the score and then give him the next two days off. That would be his rest ahead of Game 1 of the wild-card series that opens Friday at Busch Stadium.
The score the Cardinals’ had for Helsley was fitting — a tie game.
Rushed in to replace Helsley, rookie Zack Thompson froze the score and bought time for the Cardinals to win in extra innings. Rookie Juan Yepez singled home Ben DeLuzio, the runner spontaneously generated by rule at second to start the 10th inning, to take the Cardinals’ first lead since the third inning. Former Pirate Chris Stratton handled the bottom of the inning and Andrew Knizner handled a crucial tag at the plate to secure an 8-7 victory against Pittsburgh.
The Pirates loss their 100th game for a second consecutive season.
pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
Cardinals lead the pirates 3-1 after 3.............
Edman with a good game so far.....
2 hits
2 runs
1 stolen base
couple good plays in the field
Should try to extend him in the off season.......
Oli has Edman at SS and PDJ at 2nd base.....................no Goldie..............no Albert.................no Yadi..............
Liberatore looks good with a lively FB and a devastating curve ball................
LET'S GO CARDINALS...................
Edman with a good game so far.....
2 hits
2 runs
1 stolen base
couple good plays in the field
Should try to extend him in the off season.......
Oli has Edman at SS and PDJ at 2nd base.....................no Goldie..............no Albert.................no Yadi..............
Liberatore looks good with a lively FB and a devastating curve ball................
LET'S GO CARDINALS...................
IlliniFan85
- Colorado Springs, CO
But Nado is back. And has a RBI.
pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
pirates score 4 in the bottom of the 4th and lead 5-3.................Liberatore struggled mightily giving up a triple ,walk , sac bunt , double and various wild pitches............he still needs some Memphis home cookin before he's ready to cum back up and stick with MLB club.....................
JMHO
I know he's had a rough season, but that hurts. I think the OF is kind of a mess right now. He'd have been an asset. Hopefully he's back for the NLDS.
The MLB must be pretty bummed out that there is literally nothing to play for today, not even seeding. Especially after expanding the playoffs to try to make it more exciting, lol.
dgcrow
- Kelso, WA
Cardinals are going to have their hands full with Wheeler.
Indeed it is. Game 1 is on ABC on Friday.
Game 2 on Saturday is at 7:37 PM and will air on ESPN2.
Game 3, if necessary, is on Sunday and also at 7:37 PM and again on ESPN2 but that start time and channel can be changed if other series end after 2 games.
Interesting stat: DeJong has 2 homers against Wheeler (4 for 9 overall). No other active Cardinal has ever homered against him. Weird stat that I hope has no bearing on roster/lineup decisions.
I think we all wish it to be true, but I have my doubts. I think he's back next year, at least in the beginning.
pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
'Now the fun begins': Cardinals tune up, match up, get Jordan Hicks revved up in Game 162
Loss to Pirates, 5-3, drops Cardinals' road record to 40-41, but the past week spent as division champs has give team chance to get healthy, check options.
Derrick Goold
PITTSBURGH — The meaning found in a single inning toward the end of a game that was meaningless to the standings was more than professional for Cardinals reliever Jordan Hicks and was far more than simply about production.
This he felt personally, deeply.
Hicks came off the injured list Wednesday afternoon, threw 15 pitches in a scoreless inning, touched 100 mph with eight of them and did something in the Cardinals’ regular-season finale he had not done since 2018: finish a season on the active roster. After four years of injuries and surgeries and rehab and concerns, Hicks was healthy and available at the end of the season and ready, thanks in part to that single inning, for a first this weekend — his first postseason.
“Getting out there, finishing healthy, finishing strong,” Hicks said Wednesday at PNC Park. “Even though it would have been in the playoffs, I still wanted to get out there for that Game 162 and finish on the active roster. That was very important to me. Getting tuned up for the playoffs, that’s the goal. That’s the benefit I got out of it.”
For the third time in three days at Pittsburgh’s riverside ballpark, the Cardinals took a lead, lost it and this time never gained it back. A three-run gap vanished under the wake of the Pirates’ rally against rookie Matthew Liberatore and carried Pittsburgh to a 5-3 victory. The Cardinals finished their 131st season in the National League with a 93-69 record, their first losing record on the road since 2017 at 40-41 and a division title that carries them into the postseason as the NL’s No. 3 seed. They’ll host Philadelphia, the sixth seed, for a best-of-three wild-card series that begins Friday afternoon at Busch Stadium.
pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
Cardinals notebook: Matchup with Phillies means shaping bullpen begins with two moves
Dakota Hudson and JoJo Romero were optioned from the major-league roster as Cardinals audition and consider how many lefties they'll take into first round.
Derrick Goold
PITTSBURGH — For the Cardinals to get off to the postseason start they want Friday against the Philadelphia Phillies, they’ll have to do what they could not during the regular season.
The Phillies’ planned starter for Game 1 of the wild-card series at Busch Stadium, right-hander Zack Wheeler, did not allow a run in 14 innings pitched against the Cardinals, and all nine of the Cardinals’ hits off Wheeler were singles. Wheeler went 2-0 against the Cardinals, claiming half of the Phillies’ wins in their seven games vs. the Cardinals. The lineup Wheeler will face Friday is different than the one the Cardinals sported when they played the Phillies, and manager Oliver Marmol said his decisions won’t be guided by such limited innings, regardless of his team’s limited production in them.
“I usually think of these games as a clean slate,” the manager said. “I don’t go into it (thinking) we’ve been really good against this guy or this guy has been really good against us. I think it’s a very high-stakes environment and we’ll see how it goes. I don’t (think), man, this guy. Obviously, we’ll dive deep into what he does, how he does it, how he does it against us — that type of stuff. How he’s done against us in the past on a Tuesday in Philly at 1 p.m.?
“Yeah, I put little stock in that.”
A day after the Phillies were confirmed as their opponent the best-of-three wild-card series, the Cardinals began their moves for the postseason Wednesday afternoon — two overtly and two more subtly.
pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
Game times set for Cardinals' first-round MLB playoff series against Phillies
MLB has announced the start times for each of the Cardinals' first three playoff games against the Philadelphia Phillies.
Major League Baseball has released the start times for each of the Cardinals' MLB playoff games against the Philadelphia Phillies this weekend.
Game one will take place Friday, at 1:07 p.m. local time and will broadcast on ABC.
Game two will come a day later on Saturday, with first pitch scheduled for 7:37 p.m. on ESPN2.
A third game, if necessary, will be on Sunday 7:37 p.m. also on ESPN2.
pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
Hochman: A look at who the Cardinals should use vs. Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper
The two lefty sluggers present problems, especially with another slugger — righty Rhys Hoskins — in between them.
Benjamin Hochman
The last time Bryce Harper faced the Cardinals in the playoffs, he couldn’t legally drink Champagne.
It was October of 2012, a decade ago, when the Cardinals knocked off the Nationals. Since then, the phenom became a phoenix and, now, a Philly. And until the Cardinals’ Paul Goldschmidt gets the hardware this winter, Harper is the reigning MVP in the National League.
Still, since returning from the injured list on Aug. 26, Harper has a .676 OPS and only three homers (incidentally, Goldschmidt has gone from slugging to struggling, too — he has only two homers since the same Aug. 26 date).
But there’s still some Bryce Harper somewhere in Bryce Harper.
Which leads us to the Cardinals’ test beginning Friday in the three-game series against Philadelphia. While the Phillies don’t have a lot of lefties in the lineup, they have two in their top-three spots — leadoff hitter Kyle Schwarber and then Harper hitting third.
If the Cardinals can handcuff these two, it’s safe to say the Cards will hand the Phillies two losses.
For St. Louis, both righty starter Miles Mikolas and southpaw starter Jose Quintana have fared well against lefty hitters this season. Encouraging, sure. But which Cardinals reliever or relievers could — and should — face Schwarber and Harper?
A Cardinals playoff game and an important Illini football game being played at the same time? I'm not sure we've ever had to worry about this problem, at least not that I can remember.
Hopefully the Illini have the Hawkeyes buried by the time the baseball game starts, lol.
Hopefully the Illini have the Hawkeyes buried by the time the baseball game starts, lol.
Ransom Stoddard
Ordained Dudeist Priest
- Bloomington, IL
I have a memory of this from 85 and 87. That doesn't mean it happened, just that I have a memory of it. Things from back then are a little hazy.
I know but one can always hope.
Very true. I for one am rooting for an intelligent space amoeba (one that sees the value in eating DeJong's remaining salary via DFA and signing a decent FA SS to back up Edman) to attach itself to DeWitt's brain and take control of his higher function.
IlliniFan85
- Colorado Springs, CO
This is some BS man. I can't believe the MLB did this to us. Those ....