DReq
Always Illini
- Central Illinois
That wasn't the first word that came to mind for me...
St Louis Cardinals 2023
- Status
3:38 was the time of game with a 12 minute delay. A lot of runs were scored so maybe next year MLB can make a rule that states first team to 10 runs wins, regardless if it’s the home team or visitors. Hey, it’s 21st century baseball. Get with it!
pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
I said in one of my previous posts a while back , the key to the Cardinals pitching staff success is control and damned if Helsley didn't walk the first batter he faces on 4 pitches...
A leadoff walk scores on an average of 50-60 % of the time.....
Hicks wasn't much better and. I sure hope Contreras is ok.....
Jmho.....(×÷=%^&[(^#@*)
As far as Cardinals fans Opening Day overreactions, this one is pretty mellow.
Lol can’t get too worked up this early.
pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
Hochman: Will Willson Contreras be out a while? Cardinals could be in bind
“That's a bad spot to get hit,” backup catcher Andrew Knizner said. “Especially at 103. So hopefully, it's nothing too serious and just a bad bruise.”
Benjamin Hochman
On a day with 34 hits, the most-damaging hit of them all might’ve been a pitch that hit a catcher’s knee.
St. Louis and its Cardinals must anxiously wait for news about Willson Contreras’ right knee contusion.
But in just a matter of hours in the very first game, we witnessed the importance of Contreras in the Cardinals’ lineup … and the dire situation it would be without him.
In the eighth inning of the 10-9 loss to Toronto, a 102.7-mph Jordan Hicks pitch nailed Contreras’ knee. The former All-Star catcher walked gingerly off the field — and into the unknown.
The X-rays were negative. Contreras left to get an MRI and didn’t speak to the media postgame.
“That’s a bad spot to get hit,” backup catcher Andrew Knizner said. “Especially at 103. So hopefully, it’s nothing too serious and just a bad bruise.”
nizner is a nice fellow, a hard worker, a liked teammate and an admirable backup. But he’s just not an offensive threat. Or not yet, anyways. With Contreras’ track record, one can surmise the former Cubs catcher would start probably 110-120 games behind the plate (and other games at designated hitter). So that’s 42-52 games already with Knizner’s bat in your lineup (he has a .579 career OPS). An injury to Contreras could sure mean more.
pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
Tipsheet: Several pitching aces suffer an ugly Opening Day
Miles Mikolas wasn't the only Opening Day starter to have a rough go Thursday. Several aces struggled and Mets star Justin Verlander started the season in the injured list.
Cardinals starting pitcher Miles Mikolas retired 13 batters and allowed 10 hits and five runs Thursday.
So he had an Opening Day to forget. Sure, those Toronto Blue Jays hits were mostly bloopers and bleeders – but Mikolas pitched from behind in the count far too often and his lack of swing-and-miss stuff cost him.
That subpar performance and the subsequent failure of the bullpen left Cardinals fans fretting about their team’s pitching in 2023.
But through misery, Mikolas had much company Thursday.
New York Mets pitcher Justin Verlander and his $43.3 million contract landed on the injured list. Verlander, 40, has a low-grade muscle tear in his back.
“This is not the way I wanted my Mets tenure to start, that is for sure,” Verlander said.
The Mets were already missing former Cardinals pitcher Jose Quintana due to a months-long rib injury. Worse yet, closer Edwin Diaz is out for the season with a blown-out knee.
pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
A bruising loss: Cardinals squander three leads in late innings, fall to Toronto in opener
Catcher Contreras takes a 103-mph fastball to the knee and leaves the game with a bruised knee. Blue Jays rally for two runs in the ninth for 10-9 win.
Derrick Goold
The three leads the Cardinals lost in the late innings on the scoreboard took a backseat to the one loss on the field in the eighth inning.
An exuberant, whipsaw, and even historic opening day took a deflating turn when a fastball struck catcher Willson Contreras in the right knee. He was unable to continue. In his absence, the Cardinals were able to still rally for another lead only to squander it in the ninth. The game’s third and final lead change after the seventh inning came against Cardinals’ All-Star closer Ryan Helsley.
George Springer’s fifth hit of the game tied the score in the top of the ninth, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. followed with a sacrifice fly that sent Toronto to a 10-9 victory Thursday evening at Busch Stadium.
The Blue Jays scored in the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings.
The Cardinals misspent leads in the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings.
Toronto got two runs on two hits and walk off Helsley for the win as the first American League team to visit St. Louis for the regular-season opener. Blue Jays’ closer Jordan Romano retired the side in the ninth with two strikeouts to secure the win.
All those bloop hits are a nice reminder as to why every team in the MLB, except seemingly the Cardinals, places a premium on pitchers with swing-and-miss stuff as opposed to the pitch-to-contact which is our bread and butter.
That being said, this lineup will do some damage this year, so that will be fun.
That being said, this lineup will do some damage this year, so that will be fun.
Dee_4_Three_83
- Mahomet, IL
I heard the average yesterday was about 20 minutes less. Two points I want to make with regard to the time rules.
1. If you miss all the glove adjusting, deep breaths, and rosin bag grabs, please keep complaining about the time clock.
2. Bob Costas recently discussed the time clock rules with regard to BIG game moments from the past that you would think took a little longer. He referenced one of the most famous at bats in World Series history; Oakland vs. LA, Eckersley vs. Gibson. Apparently the entire at bat would have been legal within the current time clock rules.
I think this is a non-issue and will not be a thing to even think about as a fan sooner rather than later.
DReq
Always Illini
- Central Illinois
Hey, that means 161-1 is still in play. Let's go after it.
pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
Nolan Arenado believes Cardinals teammate Brendan Donovan has more to show
In his first game of the season following a powerful spring, Brendan Donovan homered and produced the hardest-hit ball on a line out against Toronto.
Daniel Guerrero
As someone with seven 30-home run seasons in his first 10 years in the majors, Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado knows a thing or two about producing power numbers.
So, when the perennial All-Star looks across the Cardinals clubhouse and sees fellow Gold Glove winner Brendan Donovan, he sees someone who too can find success with the long ball just like the latter did Thursday against Toronto.
“He’s just a stud. He’s going to be a star,” Arenado said Thursday after the Cardinals’ season-opening loss to the Blue Jays. “He’s an old-school player that people don’t really talk about. He plays good D, but he’s not flashy. He’s not a big homer guy, even though he hit a big one today. He’s always willing to get better.
”I’m so happy he’s on our team. This guy, he’s just one of those prospects that nobody talked about, and he’s one of the best players on our team. Really. He’s just getting better and better.”
pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
Cardinals' Willson Contreras listed as day-to-day with right knee injury sustained in opener
Cardinals catcher Willson Contreras was forced out of Thursday's season opener after being his on the right knee with a 103 mph sinker from teammate Jordan Hicks.
Catcher Willson Contreras was listed as day-to-day by the Cardinals on Friday after he underwent tests for a right knee contusion that forced him to exit early from Thursday’s 10-9 opening day Cardinals loss to the Blue Jays.
Making his Cardinals debut after inking a five-year, $87.5-million contract last December, Contreras took a 103 mph sinker off his knee while catching right-handed reliever Jordan Hicks in the eighth inning of the ballgame.
After taking the sinker off the knee, Contreras attempted to chase down the wild pitch, but was in visible pain. He was examined on the field by a team physician and was removed shortly after. Backup catcher Andrew Knizner replaced Contreras, 30, for the remainder of the ballgame.
Before exiting his Cardinals debut early, Contreras went two-for-four with two singles at the plate and threw out Toronto’s Matt Chapman at second base on a stolen base attempt in the top of the seventh inning. Chapman's stolen base attempt was the only one against Contreras.
pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
Flaherty with an odd statline............................
5 IP
0 H
0 ER
7 W
5 SO
W-L
1-0
I fell asleep around 12:30 after another 2 hr sleep night........only available to me through sportsurge and no replays available with that stream source......
THATS A WINNER !!!!!!
pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
Cardinals dodge trouble of their own making, score win vs. Toronto for Jack Flaherty
Flaherty walks a career-high seven but sidesteps any trouble and holds Toronto hitless through his five innings, wins 4-1. Gorman has key two-RBI, two-out hit.
Before they could slip away with their first win of the season, the Cardinals first had to find a way to slip by all the chances they gave Toronto.
The Cardinals sidestepped 10 walks, including seven gifted by starter Jack Flaherty, to gamely snag a 4-1 victory Saturday afternoon at Busch Stadium and their first triumph of the regular season. Despite issuing seven walks in the first four innings, the Cardinals held Toronto hitless and seized on one error to take a lead. Nolan Gorman’s two-out, two-run single widened the Cardinals lead and gave Flaherty the chance for a win his first start of 2023.
Ryan Helsley faced the tying run at the plate in the ninth inning and struck out Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to regain control of the inning.
He finished the ninth for a five-out save.
Two days after the teams combined for 34 hits and 19 runs, the Blue Jays managed 14 baserunners, but only three hits. Toronto went zero-for-11 with runners in scoring position.
Hicks also with a discouraging statline...
.1 IP
0 H
1 ER
3 BB
0 SO
Somehow he earned a HOLD for that performance.
Ryllini
- Lombard
I feel like he is pressing a bit. He made some comments about not getting a fair shake in the rotation. Just settle down big boy and bring it.Hicks also with a discouraging statline...
.1 IP
0 H
1 ER
3 BB
0 SO
Somehow he earned a HOLD for that performance.
So far you're right. That's one.
Yep I love the new adjustments to the shift rule. It will give the better hitters in the game those hits where they can direct them in certain areas and others will be bloop hits.
Not remember the site but there is one where the Cardinals are always ranked lower defensively before the season starts because their pitchers aren't ranked high on swing-and-miss stuff. Luckily we are the exception to the rule and even the guys calculating those stats said that when I heard them on the radio a month or two ago because of how many defensive strong positions we have filled.
pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
Gorman with 2 homers today ......Donovan , Burleson homered also.....Cardinals are LOADED at the plate this year.....gonna boil down to pitching staff and what might be available at the trade deadline...........We still need an ace for the playoffs as we have the Offense and defense to make some major noise this year ......
How aboot WS Championship # 12 this year ........COUNT ME IN !!!!!!!!!!!!!
LETS GO CARDINALS !!!!!!!!
How aboot WS Championship # 12 this year ........COUNT ME IN !!!!!!!!!!!!!
LETS GO CARDINALS !!!!!!!!
- Status