OT: OT: Lets Go Cardinals! (All Baseball Talk Here) Part 2

[Davimir Tarablad]

I know it's a small sample size, but the HR derby seems to have rolled back the clock for Pujols, he's looked great at the plate since the break.

 

[AVictoryDive]

I know it's a small sample size, but the HR derby seems to have rolled back the clock for Pujols, he's looked great at the plate since the brea

Must be roiding it up with Tatis Jr haha joke. It looks like he worked hard and cut some significant weight off and just looks more relaxed in a lesser role. Maybe not having the pressure from that gargantuan contract has settled him too.

 

[bleedblue1223]

I know he strikes out a lot, but Moises Gomez is looking like a potential find, he's still hitting at AAA.

 

[Spear]

I know he strikes out a lot, but Moises Gomez is looking like a potential find, he's still hitting at AAA.

Not too bad for their 24th rated prospect.

 

[542365]

Dude Arenado How can anyone possibly get that good at anything? He’s better at playing third base than I am at eating breakfast.

 

[Spear]

Dude Arenado How can anyone possibly get that good at anything? He’s better at playing third base than I am at eating breakfast.

We're spoiled by the Cardinals defensive play.

I was watching the Monday night Seattle vs Angels game. Late in the game the Angels totally botched a run-down between home and third; the catcher ran the runner back toward 3rd base and threw to the 3rd baseman, the catcher proceeded to run past the base runner after making the throw. The baserunner took off for home plate as no one was covering the plate and scored easily!

We had better fundamentals when I played Little League!

 

[bleedblue1223]

And we had Rolen too, just stupid good defensive 3Bs that we've had the chance to watch.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

And we had Rolen too, just stupid good defensive 3Bs that we've had the chance to watch.

We also had Fernando Tatis for a few seasons at 3rd. And there was another who slips my mind.

Polanco is the other one. Just thought of him.

Maybe both of them sucked defensively, but my memories of them are fond.

 

[Spear]

Terry Pendleton was a 2x Gold Glove winner when he was with the Cards.

 

[Bobby Orrtuzzo]

Going way back there’s Ken Boyer. This team has a pretty good history at 3rd

 

[MissouriMook]

"Kenny Reitz has joined the chat..."

Well, he would if he were still alive, but there is a classic story about a conversation he had with Mike Schmidt about how about a half dozen of Reitz's Gold Gloves were sitting on Schmidt's mantel, alluding to the fact that it was Schmidt's superior bat that got him the votes rather than his superior defense. And it was true. Schmidt was good defensively, but I don't believe that there is an argument to be made that he was as good as Reitz.

 

[Bluesnatic27]

So the Cardinals have 6 prospects in both Baseball America’s top-100 and MLB’s top-100 lists with Jordan Walker sitting #6 overall (at least in the MLB list). Wynn, Liberatore, Graceffo, Burelson, and Hence are all in the bottom half of the list, but that should put the Cards as one of the teams with the most top-100 prospects. And this is after the Cards “graduated” Gorman, Yepez, Donovan, and Thompson (he’s the reason for quotations honestly).

Randy Flores has completely changed the scouting department for the better. If nothing else, that is a lot of capital for the Cards to have.

Edit: Forgot Pallante, and I hate myself that I did. I really hope he can make it as a starter.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

PUJOLS GRAND SLAM FOR #690

 

[bluesfan94]

So the Cardinals have 6 prospects in both Baseball America’s top-100 and MLB’s top-100 lists with Jordan Walker sitting #6 overall (at least in the MLB list). Wynn, Liberatore, Graceffo, Burelson, and Hence are all in the bottom half of the list, but that should put the Cards as one of the teams with the most top-100 prospects. And this is after the Cards “graduated” Gorman, Yepez, Donovan, and Thompson (he’s the reason for quotations honestly).

Randy Flores has completely changed the scouting department for the better. If nothing else, that is a lot of capital for the Cards to have.

Edit: Forgot Pallante, and I hate myself that I did. I really hope he can make it as a starter.

#7 in terms of farm BA's farm system rankings.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

Can't wait for the Cards to retire Molina, Pujols, and Waino's numbers.

 

[bluesfan94]

I want Waino to come back

 

[Linkens Mastery]

I want Waino to come back

He definitely still has some left in the tank

 

[Brian39]

PUJOLS GRAND SLAM FOR #690

9 days ago 700 seemed like an absolutely absurd thought. He's hit 4 homeruns since then and suddenly has the presence of vintage Pujols when he comes up to the plate against a lefty.

In his prime, there were times when he walked up to the plate and you just knew that he was going to crush the ball. He was the rare player whose home runs in big moments felt more like an inevitability than a player stepping up with a clutch performance. It felt like he could just decide in advance that he was going to hit a home run and then reliably go out and do it. That could all be hindsight, selection bias, narrative and/or romanticizing sports with no basis in reality. It's at least an exaggeration of the reality that even the best hitters fail way more than they succeed. But that is absolutely the feeling you got when prime Albert walked to the plate in need of a home run.

That feeling is back for me.

I don't know that he has enough games left to hit 10 more, but it sure as hell feels like he has decided that he's going to.

 

[TheDizee]

albert wont get enough PA to hit 10 more hrs in about 45 games

its a shame they have dejong wasting ABs. i'd consider letting wainwright bat on days he starts and use the DH for Dejong.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

Cardinals look kinda fun now!

I love it that they have three starters with an ERA of 3.5 or less.

With a solid team batting average of .255, the Cardinals should keep building a lead on the Brewers.

 

[joe galiba]

and apparently only a couple of off days, so teams with deeper starting staffs will have a chance against the top heavy staffs

 

[Linkens Mastery]

Cardinals look kinda fun now!

I love it that they have three starters with an ERA of 3.5 or less.

With a solid team batting average of .255, the Cardinals should keep building a lead on the Brewers.

What's great is our 4 main starters right now (Mikolas, Waino, Quintana, and Montgomery) all are below 3.5. We just need Flaherty to come back and be the Ace he can be.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

What's great is our 4 main starters right now (Mikolas, Waino, Quintana, and Montgomery) all are below 3.5. We just need Flaherty to come back and be the Ace he can be.

Oh Quintana as well! He must not have enough games started or innings pitched or whatever to qualify in League-wide rankings.

 

[Brian39]

albert wont get enough PA to hit 10 more hrs in about 45 games

its a shame they have dejong wasting ABs. i'd consider letting wainwright bat on days he starts and use the DH for Dejong.

I think the team is going to make a genuine effort to get at bats and he has earned that with his play since the All Star break. Getting him into the game in an early blowout yesterday tells me that the team wants him taking as many at bats as he can in low-pressure situations. I expect him to get lots of at bats vs lefties and probably get into most games that are blowouts in either direction even if it means facing righties.

You're likely right about time/opportunity not being on his side, but I think that there will be a bump in his plate appearances compared to his season-long norm. He probably needs us to increase the gap from the Brewers so that our playoff position gets a little safer.

We're facing lefties in the next two games, so I expect him to get 6-8 at bats. It would be great if he could get the magic number down to 9 this weekend.

 

[bleedblue1223]

Hmm, 6-8 at bats against lefties in the next 2 games, with the way he's hitting them, that's about 10 homeruns right there.