St Louis Cardinals 2023

Carter Chapley , Lynn Worthy

First pitch is scheduled for 6:45 p.m. at Busch Stadium.

After testing out during batting practice his ability to catch a ball comfortably with an injured thumb, Lars Nootbaar and the team determined that he would not be available for the foreseeable future and made a roster move.
Juan Yepez was on standby.
Up from Class AAA Memphis, Yepez will be eligible for Monday night's opener against Atlanta. Shortly before first pitch, Nootbaar was placed on the 15-day injured list retroactive to Friday.
The Cardinals' outfielder and No. 2 hitter injured the thumb on his right hand sliding into third base on opening day. He has not been available to the team in either game over the weekend, and manager Oliver Marmol said Monday was an important day to determine the length he'll need to recover. Nootbaar has had more soreness catching baseballs than swinging a bat, though the grip strength and thumb dexterity is needed for both.

Woodford with a rough start......Braves lead 6-1 , 2 out in top of the second.....Austin Riley with a 473 ft bomb homer in the top of the 1st..........allowed 2 more homers here top of 2nd........

Braves 6-1 going into bottom of 2nd............................

pruman91 said:

Woodford with a rough start......Braves lead 6-1 , 2 out in top of the second.....Austin Riley with a 473 ft bomb homer in the top of the 1st..........allowed 2 more homers here top of 2nd........

Braves 6-1 going into bottom of 2nd............................

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I have to stop complimenting or predicting good things for our players on here. Last year I predicted big seasons for TON and Bader...both got injured and then of course Bader got traded (and then hit 5 homers in the playoffs!). Today I compliment Woodford and he gets shellacked. Sorry everyone!

still 6-1 braves going to bottom 4th.

6-3 braves , top of fifth...

good to see Walker get a hit after the Morton high and tight pitch.......

Arenado is the GOAT third baseman in my opinion..............

Hicks is another in a long line of Cardinal's hard thrower's , but not a pitcher at all...........no control at all......he has great stuff....has to be more mental than physical...............headscratcher for sure why he doesn't dominate with his stuff........smh

21 men left on base tonight. Thats no bueno.

Derrick Goold
At some point Monday night, probably at the same moment Ronald Acuna Jr.’s three-run homer skimmed over the wall, the game shifted for the Cardinals from wanting to get more innings from Jake Woodford to needing more innings from Jake Woodford.
Acuna’s home run, the third in two innings against the Cardinals’ right-hander, widened Atlanta’s lead to five runs before Woodford had five outs.
He’d have to get more because the rotation, thus far, hasn’t provided enough.
“When you start looking at who you want to use in that game if you’re down five, six runs, Woody has got to be able to keep going, and thankfully he was able to figure something out and give us a couple of more innings there,” manager Oliver Marmol said. “It was important to get a couple more out of Woody.”

In his first start of the season, his first start in the majors out of a spring when he earned a spot in the rotation, Woodford weathered six runs in the first two innings before steadying himself just enough to complete 4 1/3 innings. He sopped up another nine outs after Acuna’s game-breaking homer in Atlanta’s 8-4 victory at Busch Stadium, nine outs that the bullpen did not have to stomach, nine outs that didn’t leave the relievers stretched for the remainder of the series.

Derrick Goold

An early display of force and panache by one of the top lineups in the National League was too much for even the Cardinals’ steady, pesky lineup to keep pace.
Atlanta hammered three home runs in the first two innings to create a gap the Cardinals only threatened to close. The first National League foe to visit St. Louis this season sprinkled in a few runs late to salt an 8-4 victory Monday night at Busch Stadium.
The sunny, successful spring that ushered Jake Woodford into the rotation met the cold shock of the regular season when seven of the first 10 batters he faced reached base with a hit. Atlanta’s Austin Riley homered to a distant concourse for the game’s first run. Two multi-run homers followed in the second inning, including Ronald Acuna Jr.’s three-run shot. Acuna reached base in his first four plate appearances, doubling later off Jordan Hicks for Atlanta’s icing rally in the seventh.

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• a day ago
  Welcome to the first Cardinals Chat at StlToday.com of the regular season. The Cardinals' lineup got going quickly this weekend with a series win against Toronto, a team expected to challenge for the AL East crown. The rotation is still looking for its first quality start -- and Jake Woodford gets his first start of the season Monday night against Atlanta. If Woodford builds on his spring, would not be a shock at all if he authored the first QS of the year.
  
  Alright, we've got a lightning round chat here, all sprint. I do my best to keep filibusters to a minimal, but if you can keep the questions snappy, too, I'll get to more of them. Like the Cardinals' offense ... Let's get started quickly because I have a meeting I cannot miss at 1 p.m. St. Louis time. Thank you for understanding.
  
  Away we go.

Lynn Worthy
Momentum seemed ready to swing one way or the other as soon as Cardinals infielder Brendan Donovan’s bat connected with the slider he drove into right field in the bottom of the seventh inning on Tuesday night.
The play ended with Atlanta Braves right fielder Ronald Acuna Jr. having uncorked a one-hop strike from right field to home plate in time to cut down Tyler O’Neill as he attempted to score from second base with two outs.
The Cardinals trailed by three runs at the time, and appeared poised to cut into that deficit and potentially mount a rally. At least, they did until Sean Murphy applied the tag to O’Neill just ahead of home plate.
The out call warranted no dispute. However, Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol privately and publicly questioned the effort O’Neill gave on the play, describing it as "unacceptable." That assertion proved the subject of some dispute.

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I turned the game off after 4 innings as I had a migraine and after listening to Jimmy Buttinski Edmonds for 4 innings and watching the Braves slug a couple of homers I went upstairs and laid down to watch the Blues win 4-2 over the Flyers......

I guess I need to watch a replay or two , but Marmol is really pissed at TON ...

pruman91 said:

Cardinals’ Tyler O’Neill insists he gave full effort despite ‘strong words’ from his manager

Cardinals outfielder Tyler O'Neill and manager Oliver Marmol disagreed on ONeill's effort running the bases on a key play in loss to the Braves.

www.stltoday.com

Lynn Worthy
Momentum seemed ready to swing one way or the other as soon as Cardinals infielder Brendan Donovan’s bat connected with the slider he drove into right field in the bottom of the seventh inning on Tuesday night.
The play ended with Atlanta Braves right fielder Ronald Acuna Jr. having uncorked a one-hop strike from right field to home plate in time to cut down Tyler O’Neill as he attempted to score from second base with two outs.
The Cardinals trailed by three runs at the time, and appeared poised to cut into that deficit and potentially mount a rally. At least, they did until Sean Murphy applied the tag to O’Neill just ahead of home plate.
The out call warranted no dispute. However, Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol privately and publicly questioned the effort O’Neill gave on the play, describing it as "unacceptable." That assertion proved the subject of some dispute.

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I turned the game off after 4 innings as I had a migraine and after listening to Jimmy Buttinski Edmonds for 4 innings and watching the Braves slug a couple of homers I went upstairs and laid down to watch the Blues win 4-2 over the Flyers......

I guess I need to watch a replay or two , but Marmol is really pissed at TON ...

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I watched that play last night and I have to agree with Oli on this one. It seemed like TON was trying to avoid getting hurt both in the slide and the footspeed. It is possible that he didn't get a very good jump from second. I would need to see a different camera angle for that. Regardless, it was a momentum killer.

pruman91 said:

Cardinals’ Tyler O’Neill insists he gave full effort despite ‘strong words’ from his manager

Cardinals outfielder Tyler O'Neill and manager Oliver Marmol disagreed on ONeill's effort running the bases on a key play in loss to the Braves.

www.stltoday.com

Lynn Worthy
Momentum seemed ready to swing one way or the other as soon as Cardinals infielder Brendan Donovan’s bat connected with the slider he drove into right field in the bottom of the seventh inning on Tuesday night.
The play ended with Atlanta Braves right fielder Ronald Acuna Jr. having uncorked a one-hop strike from right field to home plate in time to cut down Tyler O’Neill as he attempted to score from second base with two outs.
The Cardinals trailed by three runs at the time, and appeared poised to cut into that deficit and potentially mount a rally. At least, they did until Sean Murphy applied the tag to O’Neill just ahead of home plate.
The out call warranted no dispute. However, Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol privately and publicly questioned the effort O’Neill gave on the play, describing it as "unacceptable." That assertion proved the subject of some dispute.

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I turned the game off after 4 innings as I had a migraine and after listening to Jimmy Buttinski Edmonds for 4 innings and watching the Braves slug a couple of homers I went upstairs and laid down to watch the Blues win 4-2 over the Flyers......

I guess I need to watch a replay or two , but Marmol is really pissed at TON ...

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Heard that play on the radio and wondered why he couldn’t score from second. He should have gone on contact with 2 outs.

Here is Oli's thoughts and replays of the play ......I have to agree it looks like TON is loafing his way around third base and tries to pick it up as he got closer to home plate....... Be interesting to see how much TON plays the rest of this week ......

pruman91 said:

Watch Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol's comments on Tyler O'Neill's effort and the play in question

Oliver Marmol discusses Tyler O'Neill's baserunning, Steven Matz performance in his start against the Braves and more.

www.stltoday.com

Here is Oli's thoughts and replays of the play ......I have to agree it looks like TON is loafing his way around third base and tries to pick it up as he got closer to home plate....... Be interesting to see how much TON plays the rest of this week ......

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I agree! He was not going full speed rounding third base.

O’Neill needs to man up and own it. Ray Charles could see there was a lack of effort. Does he really expect anyone who saw the play believe otherwise? Don’t insult the fans’ intelligence Tyler.

Nuke Dukem said:

O’Neill needs to man up and own it. Ray Charles could see there was a lack of effort. Does he really expect anyone who saw the play believe otherwise? Don’t insult the fans’ intelligence Tyler.

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He did own it, if you watch the video of his comments it comes across a lot better than what's in print. He should have been running faster, should have gotten a better read, no doubt but they also shouldn't have sent him. I think his past hammy injury may have had him overthinking things.

I don't think it was good form for Oli to air this in public in the first place. Chew him out in private, do what you need to do, but keep it in the locker room. This isn't the first time he's done this I don't know what the point of it is.

BillyBob1 said:

I agree! He was not going full speed rounding third base.

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He also turned to see where the ball was, instead of concentrating on getting to the plate.

the juiceman cometh said:

He did own it, if you watch the video of his comments it comes across a lot better than what's in print. He should have been running faster, should have gotten a better read, no doubt but they also shouldn't have sent him. I think his past hammy injury may have had him overthinking things.

I don't think it was good form for Oli to air this in public in the first place. Chew him out in private, do what you need to do, but keep it in the locker room. This isn't the first time he's done this I don't know what the point of it is.

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If Oli doesn't stop yelling at his players, they're all going to start hitting the portal

IlliniwekKDR said:

If Oli doesn't stop yelling at his players, they're all going to start hitting the portal

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Lol. There's a bit of a difference between yelling at players and running to the media and trashing them. Locker room morale is a thing managers should care about.

the juiceman cometh said:

Lol. There's a bit of a difference between yelling at players and running to the media and trashing them. Locker room morale is a thing managers should care about.

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I agree with you , but there is also a big difference between professional MLB players and the semi-pro status as it is now in college MBB.....

I would offer that TON will be traded this off season if not earlier at the trade deadline..............TON has had one very good year.........
He needs to be a leader by example for all the younger players and what better way to get his attention than to make a statement that the Cardinals are NOT that kind of team with half arse performance being tolerated.............

You called it running to the media ........ok , your opinion and i respect that ....I really really do......

I call it letting ALL the players know , in the majors and the minors , that that kind of effort doesn't cut it...........

I like how Marmol tells it like it is ......Don't sugarcoat it and don't worry about hurt feelings.....He has a job to do and that's to win pennants and World Series..................Wouldn't surprise me if he options TON out to Memphis to regain his effort to perform to highest level he can..........he's being paid more than enough to be expected to bust his butt 100 % all the time ......


Sorry , not trying to ruffle any feathers but it just bewilders me why a MLB player loafs sometimes.........I would trade places anytime and nobody would need to worry about my effort ever......period .....case closed ......file 13......Mark VII ...........................

pruman91 said:

You called it running to the media ........ok , your opinion and i respect that ....I really really do......

I call it letting ALL the players know , in the majors and the minors , that that kind of effort doesn't cut it...........

I like how Marmol tells it like it is ......Don't sugarcoat it and don't worry about hurt feelings.....He has a job to do and that's to win pennants and World Series..................Wouldn't surprise me if he options TON out to Memphis to regain his effort to perform to highest level he can..........he's being paid more than enough to be expected to bust his butt 100 % all the time ......

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If you're going to out your players in public for lack of effort, it should be evenhanded right? I don't think Yadi ran out a single groundball last season. I know there were at least a few Pujols didn't run out. Certainly not at max effort. Crickets from Oli. Bader, who's always been an effort guy, fails to run out one GB and Oli puts him on blast. There's a perception out there that Oli plays favorites and it comes from stuff like this. That kind of perception is dangerous for a locker room.

For the TON stuff, yeah he messed up, and Oli should absolutely handle it in private. I just don't see the point in blasting him publicly when this has never been an issue for him. He's always been a guy who plays hard. I've seen him leg out infield singles and score from 1st plenty of times. There's no pattern of behavior here that leads me to believe TON has been warned and this is an extreme measure. And ok, if you want to say Oli might feel this is the best way to motivate TON that's a possibility. But then you gotta play the guy so he can redeem himself with this extra motivation right? Well he benched him instead.

TON's tools don't grow on trees. His combo of speed and power is rare. I know fans are itching to trade him but at this point he probably brings in a back end starter or halfway decent relief pitcher unless he can show he's back to his 2021 form (in which case we wouldn't trade him). Sending him down or trading him low would be a terrible mistake. It's wild how fans want to give up on a guy based on one instance of bad judgment in a game in April that we lost more because of our god awful rotation than anything TON did.

the juiceman cometh said:

If you're going to out your players in public for lack of effort, it should be evenhanded right? I don't think Yadi ran out a single groundball last season. I know there were at least a few Pujols didn't run out. Certainly not at max effort. Crickets from Oli. Bader, who's always been an effort guy, fails to run out one GB and Oli puts him on blast. There's a perception out there that Oli plays favorites and it comes from stuff like this. That kind of perception is dangerous for a locker room.

For the TON stuff, yeah he messed up, and Oli should absolutely handle it in private. I just don't see the point in blasting him publicly when this has never been an issue for him. He's always been a guy who plays hard. I've seen him leg out infield singles and score from 1st plenty of times. There's no pattern of behavior here that leads me to believe TON has been warned and this is an extreme measure. And ok, if you want to say Oli might feel this is the best way to motivate TON that's a possibility. But then you gotta play the guy so he can redeem himself with this extra motivation right? Well he benched him instead.

TON's tools don't grow on trees. His combo of speed and power is rare. I know fans are itching to trade him but at this point he probably brings in a back end starter or halfway decent relief pitcher unless he can show he's back to his 2021 form (in which case we wouldn't trade him). Sending him down or trading him low would be a terrible mistake. It's wild how fans want to give up on a guy based on one instance of bad judgment in a game in April that we lost more because of our god awful rotation than anything TON did.

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Hey dude , chill out !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!......................Yeah , TON messed up , but he didn't actually own it either........he talked about Oli said some rough stuff !!.....Really ??.....I mean Really ?????........tough stuff is him not hustling .....period......

as to your other point ......I agree that Yadi and Pujols didn't bust their butt all the time , but get back to me when TON put's up numbers in comparison to Yadi and Albert.....Both of them are or were in their 40's.....TON is in his mid 20's........

BYW , do you know TON ?...If you do then that's great ....If you don't then maybe , just maybe , there's been some stuff behind the scene's that has led Oli to put a blast on ........Does Oli have favorites , probably .........I guarantee you this that TON ain't on that favorites list right now..........I wonder what the FO thinks about this situation ??........I wonder what the other roster players think about it ??......I don't know but I also bet Oli got their attention with his response........

You keep saying he should have done this in private...........Maybe he has done this with TON in private before ......

All I know is they are professional baseball players and make more $$$ in one year than most people make in a lifetime.......

Thanks for discussing this with me .....I like to hear differing opinions.....I do , I really really do.......But I respectfully disagree with your stance .......These pro's should be tough enough to take some tough love.......I still remember TON last year jumping out of the batters box if anything was remotely inside and most of them were called strikes.....

Anyway , have a great day .......the Cardinals lost 5-2 today , but i got to see Walker's first homer and he added a wicked double in the bottom of the ninth........

There is more at play than 2 random posters seeing things differently ......5 outfielders for 3 position's......If TON wants to remain a Cardinal I would advise him to RUN to home plate to take his AT BAT's from here on out ...........

No inside information. However, Bader got sent packing last year after he got called out. Maybe the Cardinals have a similar situation this year.

pruman91 said:

Hey dude , chill out !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!......................Yeah , TON messed up , but he didn't actually own it either........he talked about Oli said some rough stuff !!.....Really ??.....I mean Really ?????........tough stuff is him not hustling .....period......

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I mean, I'm pretty chill just stating my opinion. Did you watch the video of TON's statements? You should if you haven't. It gives a pretty different impression than the way it comes off in print. Here it is so you don't have to try and find it yourself.

pruman91 said:

as to your other point ......I agree that Yadi and Pujols didn't bust their butt all the time , but get back to me when TON put's up numbers in comparison to Yadi and Albert.....Both of them are or were in their 40's.....TON is in his mid 20's........

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But if we're talking about effort, well I don't see why any of that should matter. If you want to show your team we play hard every play and that's our culture that should start with the leaders and superstars, right?

pruman91 said:

BYW , do you know TON ?...If you do then that's great ....If you don't then maybe , just maybe , there's been some stuff behind the scene's that has led Oli to put a blast on ........

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No, but I've watched enough Cardinals baseball to have a pretty solid idea this hasn't been an issue with him. If anyone has any info to the contrary I'd be happy to rethink my opinion.

pruman91 said:

Does Oli have favorites , probably .........I guarantee you this that TON ain't on that favorites list right now..........I wonder what the FO thinks about this situation ??........I wonder what the other roster players think about it ??......I don't know but I also bet Oli got their attention with his response........

You keep saying he should have done this in private...........Maybe he has done this with TON in private before ......

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Look I don't have any info you don't but TON seemed very surprised when the reporters told him what Oli had said publicly. Not the response I'd expect if Oli has been saying this to him all season/spring training.

Like you I want the Cardinals to succeed. I'm concerned about Oli's handing of the locker room, you obviously aren't. I just don't think this vibe is good for the team and it 100% could have been avoided by not going straight to the media with it.