This Bradley for Zona has really good stuff...wow

Cardinals lose...again

Yeah, Flaherty was out of that inning. That was a clear strike. They want to speed up the game, get more offense in the game, you don't have to change anything, just call the strike zone according to the rule book. Armpits to the top of the knees.

Another new wrinkle I've seen with runners on base is that Yadi sets up outside but the pitch is really going inside or vice versa. It's clearly a strike but because he has to reach for it on the opposite side of the plate, the umpire doesn't give them the strike because traditionally if the pitcher misses location that bad, the umpire doesn't give them the strike.

I saw an interview with Yadi that at the start of every series with a new umpire crew he tells them this happens as a plan. To tell the other members of the crew.

Seems like a stupid plan.

The pitcher "missing location" isn't a reason the umpire wont give the strike, pitchers miss location all the time unintentionally and still get strikes. But when your catcher has to dart his glove from one side of the plate to the other side in the matter of 1 second it gives the illusion that the pitch was further off the plate than it actually was because the catcher is no longer trying to frame the pitch and give a good look to the umpire and instead just trying to prevent a wild pitch.

Who are the Cardinals trying to outsmart with that strategy? How many batters peek back at the catcher to see where he's setting up? Why not just start at the opposite side before the pitch and get into position when the pitch is on its way to receive it where its meant to be like every other team?

Sounds like Yadi just feeding a bunch of bullshit to the umps, imo.

Umps had nothing to do with stupidly pitching to Goldschmidt with a base open and Turdy Pham being the awful player I said he was.

wellll the last time we played Arizona both benches cleared when the manager complained to the ump about Yadi framing pitches and getting the call.

Which was a weird thing to complain about. All catchers frame pitches to get calls. Your complaining to the umpire about the skill level of a player on the other team?

So sure, Yadi works the umps pretty well. Wouldnt surprise me that it’s BS to get calls. As his physical skills diminish with age, it’s something he can still contribute to the team at an elite level.

I guess. But is he working the umps in an elite way?

http://www.statcorner.com/CatcherReport.php

Yadier Molina has the 6th worst zBall%, worse than defensively meh catchers like Contreras and Sanchez.

You have to go back to 2013 for the last time Molina had a RAA above 10. His highest since then was 9.3 in 2016. Last year he was -0.4. This year he's currently at 0.9. These numbers still put him in good standing for catcher rankings but when compared to the best in each year its hard to consider them "elite."

Stats don’t tell the whole story with Catchers.

The Arizona manager thought it was a big enough advantage that he felt he needed to work the umps. Cause a bench clearing incident.

I dont know the whole story behind what happened in Arizona but it was an isolated incident.

A pitch is either a strike or not and the catcher gets the call in his favor or not. Molina hasn't been elite in a long time. Good? Sure. Better than average? Yes. Elite? Not even close.

I didn't know Salas was still pitching

Holland is drunker than i am.

Cut this pos

Rosenthal is reporting that Minnesota is interested in Martinez. What do they have and willing to give up for him?

Jose correct? Why would they want him, they're shit?

yes Jose. Rosenthals info is usually pretty solid.