St. Louis Cardinals 2022

#651      

pruman91

pruman91
Paducah, Ky
pruman91
www.stltoday.com

Cardinals Quick Hits: Sosa, Carlson key Cardinals' rally to reel in Marlins, 5-3

Sosa's triple in the fifth inning starts a four-run binge that brings the Cardinals back from a 3-0 deficit, makes a winner of Hudson.
www.stltoday.com www.stltoday.com

Derrick Goold
When the Cardinals have talked and talked and talked some more about the potential length of their lineup — and how that will help them maintain a top offense without thunderous power — they sometimes extend that definition to reach the bench.
That’s where the rally began Tuesday.
Edmundo Sosa, back in the lineup after going two weeks between starts, keyed a four-run fifth inning to reel in the Marlins and overtake them. Sosa’s triple drove in the first run in a burst that carried the Cardinals to a 5-3 victory at Busch Stadium. Dylan Carlson drove in two runs and added a ground-rule double in the fifth inning to give the Cardinals a lead they would not relinquish.

Three of the four runs in the rally came with two outs, and during the fifth inning, the Cardinals got a base hit from six different batters. Sprinkled around Sosa’s triple and Carlson’s double that hopped the wall in right field were singles from batters such as the NL’s leading hitter Paul Goldschmidt and rookie Brendan Donovan. That is the kind of length and sustained rallies the Cardinals have lacked in recent seasons, suppressing the offense, and it’s one of the reasons they’ve risen into the top five for runs scored this year.
They apply pressure, not always power.
The timing of the rally made a winner of starter Dakota Hudson (6-4), but it took the relief work of Junior Fernandez and late-inning stalwarts Giovanny Gallegos and Ryan Helsley to secure the lead provided by the lineup. After Gallegos retired three consecutive batters who could have been the tying run, Helsley struck out the side in the ninth for his sixth save.
 
#652      

pruman91

pruman91
Paducah, Ky
pruman91
www.stltoday.com

Tipsheet: Woodruff returns to surging Brewers as NL Central race heats up

The Milwaukee Brewers just got pitcher Brandon Woodruff and second baseman Kolten Wong back from the injured list -- and they were already gathering momentum.
www.stltoday.com www.stltoday.com

Jeff Gordon
The Milwaukee Brewers were already building momentum. Then they got key starter Brandon Woodruff in their rotation Tuesday, giving them an additional boost.
Woodruff had been sidelined for a month by a circulatory problem in his pitching hand, a problem that arose while he was recovering from an ankle injury.
He returned to active duty Tuesday with a 5-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays.
“He looked amazing,’’ Brewers outfielder Andrew McCutchen said. “He didn’t miss a beat. He looked just as strong as he did when he went on the IL. He was fast and efficient, doing what he does best.”

Woodruff struck out 10 batters and walked nobody in five innings as the Brewers won for the eighth time in 11 games. He breezed through his 76-pitch outing.
“He pitched wonderfully,’’ Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “The fastball was very, very good -- overpowering for most of the game. It was fun to watch. The no walks was certainly impressive, for sure. But he had a great fastball. There’s a reason why hitters talk about his fastball. We saw it tonight.”
His return proved to be far smoother than Jack Flaherty’s attempted comeback from shoulder issues for the Cardinals. Woodruff took his time with the rehab process.

“You never want to miss time, but when I came to start throwing again, I knew that every pitch counts,” he said. “It’s the old cliche, ‘Take it one pitch at a time.’
 
#655      

the juiceman cometh

T
the juiceman cometh
To wash the taste of last night's loss out of your mouths, here is a really great profile of Goldy on the Athletic($):

theathletic.com

Paul Goldschmidt: Man, machine, MVP? ‘This guy’s a robot’

Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado calls Goldschmidt “the smartest player I’ve ever seen.”
theathletic.com theathletic.com

My favorite anectode from the article:

"Former Cardinal Matt Carpenter recalls Goldschmidt taking every bat he planned to use for the season, 50 or 60 perhaps, and measuring the exit velocity off each one. A team employee developed a chart to show him which bats produced the best results. Goldschmidt then divided the bats according to the quality of wood, separating ones he would use in batting practice from ones he would use in games."
 
#656      

wpr

wpr
wpr
the juiceman cometh said:
To wash the taste of last night's loss out of your mouths, here is a really great profile of Goldy on the Athletic($):

theathletic.com

Paul Goldschmidt: Man, machine, MVP? ‘This guy’s a robot’

Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado calls Goldschmidt “the smartest player I’ve ever seen.”
theathletic.com theathletic.com

My favorite anectode from the article:

"Former Cardinal Matt Carpenter recalls Goldschmidt taking every bat he planned to use for the season, 50 or 60 perhaps, and measuring the exit velocity off each one. A team employee developed a chart to show him which bats produced the best results. Goldschmidt then divided the bats according to the quality of wood, separating ones he would use in batting practice from ones he would use in games."
Click to expand...
consummate professional
 
#663      

Boomauer

Boomauer
Boomauer
Cardinals had 7 hits tonight....Arenado and Goldschmidt had 6 of them. Rest of team had 1 hit. Lot of outs in the lineup right now.
 
#666      

pruman91

pruman91
Paducah, Ky
pruman91
www.stltoday.com

Arenado caps two big days with game-winning HR as Cardinals hit record four in succession

Helsley closes down 7-6 win over Phillies after Cardinals squander 5-0 lead in first.
www.stltoday.com www.stltoday.com

Rick Hummel
PHILADELPHIA — In the aftermath of his hitting for the cycle on Friday night, Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado had mused he almost would have been happier if his first-inning triple had had a couple of more feet of elevation and turned into one of two homers he could have hit for the night.
“I’d rather have two homers than a cycle,” he had said.
He, smilingly amended that on Saturday after he, indeed, had hit two home runs in the Cardinals’ grinding 7-6 win over the Philadelphia Phillies. “Four hits with two homers (on Friday) would have been a little better (than the cycle),” he said.
“But ... whatever wins the ball game.”

In a city where some considerable political history was made some 246 years ago this month, the Cardinals affixed a resounding John Hancock to their own history in the first inning.
For the first time in club annals, the Cardinals hit four consecutive home runs. With two out in the first, former Mizzou star Kyle Gibson was nailed for back-to-back-to-back-to-back home runs by Arenado, Nolan Gorman, Juan Yepez and Dylan Carlson. Arenado’s homer was a two-run shot, scoring Paul Goldschmidt.
“It was really cool,” said Arenado. “And when they tied the game, it wasn’t that cool. But, looking back, since we won, it was pretty cool.”
But after they made history, the Cardinals also were trying not to repeat recent history. It was this past Sunday they had a 5-0 lead over Chicago after three innings. But the Cubs rallied and won the game in 10 innings.
 
#669      

IlliniFan85

IlliniFan85
Colorado Springs, CO
IlliniFan85
the juiceman cometh said:
Something happen that I missed, or just a general statement on how little he's done to help the club win games?
Click to expand...
Just how little he has provided on Offense. And the fact that we pitch hit him for Gorman, and then he grounded out weakly to 3rd. Then he got another at bat to end the game with the bases loaded, and hit the ball a whopping 39 mph.
 
#670      

the juiceman cometh

T
the juiceman cometh
IlliniFan85 said:
Just how little he has provided on Offense. And the fact that we pitch hit him for Gorman, and then he grounded out weakly to 3rd. Then he got another at bat to end the game with the bases loaded, and hit the ball a whopping 39 mph.
Click to expand...
Yeah he's playing like a 42 year old. I didn't expect him to actually contribute much to winning games, but it's been rougher than I expected. These retirement tours are like that often. Yankees missed the playoffs the year of Jeter's.
 
#671      

IlliniFan85

IlliniFan85
Colorado Springs, CO
IlliniFan85
the juiceman cometh said:
Yeah he's playing like a 42 year old. I didn't expect him to actually contribute much to winning games, but it's been rougher than I expected. These retirement tours are like that often. Yankees missed the playoffs the year of Jeter's.
Click to expand...
It was understood that he wasn't going to offer much. But of course we were starting him against righties for some reason up until last month. And then last night, we took Gorman out because its a lefty pitching and Pujols didn't do anything. And then he got another at bat again, and still failed. Hell, Gorman could have done that. And it would have at least helped with his development. He is still a rookie. It was just frustrating.
 
#672      

jmwillini

J
Tolono, IL
jmwillini
I enjoy seeing Albert as a Cardinal, but wonder what kind of promises were made. Why do they have him hitting against right handed pitching so much. For an analytically driven team, it is amazingly stupid.

1657071004121.png
 
#673      

the juiceman cometh

T
the juiceman cometh
jmwillini said:
I enjoy seeing Albert as a Cardinal, but wonder what kind of promises were made. Why do they have him hitting against right handed pitching so much. For an analytically driven team, it is amazingly stupid.

View attachment 18787
Click to expand...
I said this when we signed him, there just aren't enough PAs against LHP to get him enough PAs, so we're going to see him way more than we'd like against RHP. For one, lefties are not as common. 2nd, our lineup doesn't have many left handed batters which means we disproportionately face right handed relief pitchers. I believe last season we had the fewest LHP PAs in the majors. From a purely baseball perspective, it really made no sense to spend money on a batter to platoon against LHP. I'm still fine with signing him for the retirement tour but I do think it comes at a cost in terms of wins.
 
#674      

the juiceman cometh

T
the juiceman cometh
Relevant tweet to this recent discussion:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1544041763748429831

Also, anyone else think it's odd that Yadi left the country to recuperate in his last season? I get he needs time to get right, and he doesn't "owe" us anything, but you'd think he'd want to stick around and rehab with the team, help mentor some of the younger players, and just kinda do some fan interaction or something. I mean, it's his last season!
 
#675      

pruman91

pruman91
Paducah, Ky
pruman91
www.stltoday.com

Quick hits: Cardinals offense, rotation sputter, wheeze, fall again in 7-1 loss to Braves

Braves thump starter Pallante for five runs in first inning and run away with second game of four-game series.
www.stltoday.com www.stltoday.com

Derrick Goold
ATLANTA — The engine trouble the Cardinals have had generating offense thus far in this series would be more glaring with its stalls and misfires if not for the fact they won’t be going all that far with the deflated tires of a rotation growing threadbare.
The concern the Cardinals saw coming has arrived, and its starting to cost them game to game, not just within games.
For the second time in as many games against Atlanta, the Cardinals’ starter allowed at least six runs and pitched fewer than five innings. The hard math of that unsustainable model is the strain it puts on the relievers day to day, let alone the obstacle it asks the offense to overcome. The Braves pounced on rookie right-hander Andre Pallante for five runs in the first inning and seven runs total on their way to a 7-1 victory Tuesday at Truist Park.

In two games in Atlanta, the Cardinals’ two starters have allowed 13 runs and 19 hits in 7²/³ innings.
But the issue is hardly centered in Cobb County.
In the previous 13 games, the Cardinals rotation has a 5.97 ERA, and including the 10 hits Pallante allowed Tuesday, the starters have given up 84 hits in 63¹/³ innings. Since Yadier Molina went on the injured list with knee inflammation, it’s the rotation that has experienced a swelling ERA. The staff has allowed 57 earned runs in his previous 92²/³ innings.