***Official 2020 STL Cardinals Thread***

[Marcellus]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Eh.

O'Neill is capable of giving us anything Ozuna gave us, provided he stays healthy.

Ozuna just isn't the guy he was in that peak season in Miami. He's a fine power bat but he's not the professional hitter he appeared to be in 2017. Whether it was the shoulder or simple regression - Ozuna's...fine. He's a quality major league player. But he's not a difference maker and he's not someone that a deep system shouldn't be able to replace pretty easily.

He is hitting .278 with 2 HR and 4 RBI with a 1.072 OPS so far to start the season. So yea, having 2 Tyler Oneal's and 1 less Fowler would be beneficial. Put Carlson at CF and production doesn't look too shabby.

Or 1 less Carpenter and Ozuna at DH.

Hell I dont know, anything but the shit we have seen the last 2 games.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Marcellus

He is hitting .278 with 2 HR and 4 RBI with a 1.072 OPS so far to start the season. So yea, having 2 Tyler Oneal's and 1 less Fowler would be beneficial. Put Carlson at CF and production doesn't look too shabby.

Or 1 less Carpenter and Ozuna at DH.

Hell I dont know, anything but the shit we have seen the last 2 games.

But you didn't 'replace Ozuna with nothing' as you have claimed. You replaced him with O'Neill. Who has also had a very good start to the season.

Your issue is that we didn't move on from Fowler but you're beating a dead horse there. This team ain't moving on from Fowler. They simply refuse to acknowledge the sunk costs.

But the Ozuna decision was made independently of the Fowler one. Would I rather have Ozuna than Fowler? Of course. I'd rather have YOU than Fowler. But Fowler didn't ultimately enter into the calculus on the Ozuna decision. He's there. He's getting his starts. Full stop.

So it came down to Ozuna vs. O'Neill and really you're probably talking about a wash there.

It's been amazing to me how we've heard for 15 years how the Cardinals always have "Too many outfielders...."

And yet their outfields always suck. Going all the way back to the Rasmus vs. Jay days, we just "don't have enough innings for all these outfielders in MLB and AAA...." and yet we always get below average production from the outfield writ large.

It constantly goes back to Moe's fascination with his Faberge eggs and his inability to separate real from imagined. The guy just cannot seem to identify who's a JAG and who isn't.

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

But the Ozuna decision was made independently of the Fowler one. Would I rather have Ozuna than Fowler? Of course. I'd rather have YOU than Fowler. But Fowler didn't ultimately enter into the calculus on the Ozuna decision. He's there. He's getting his starts. Full stop.

Fowler needs to go but, that aint happening. Dead horse indeed.

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

So it came down to Ozuna vs. O'Neill and really you're probably talking about a wash there.
.

O'Neill has looked a lot better. I've seen all of his AB's. He has for the most part, been laying off the slider in the dirt or outside that he was a sucker for last year. It still happens but at an acceptable rate. He could be a 25-30 homer guy this year. You don't sit those players on the bench.

Bader is still swinging at those sliders that are so far outside that they are in the opposite batting box. The dude has speed but no arm and if he cant lay off that slider, he's not an everyday MLB player.

Looks like the opening in the outfield is going to be CF. Can Carlson play CF?

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

Fowler needs to go but, that aint happening. Dead horse indeed. O'Neill has looked a lot better. I've seen all of his AB's. He's laying off the slider in the dirt or outside that he was a sucker for last year. It still happens but at an acceptable rate. He could be a 25-30 homer guy this year. You don't sit those players on the bench.

Bader is still swinging at those sliders that are so far outside that they are in the opposite batting box. The dude has speed but no arm and if he cant lay off that slider, he's not an everyday MLB player.

Looks like the opening in the outfield is going to be CF. Can Carlson play CF?

Bader is a PURE guess hitter right now. I mean it's clear as day.

Throw him a hanging breaker down the middle and he may just take it for a strike. Bury the next one in the dirt and he'll swing through it. And he's not just guessing pitch-type, he's guessing location as well. Throw him a first pitch fastball that's down and in and he'll swing over it because he was expecting it up.

He looks like Grichuk looked for a bit there when he was completely lost. He's not seeing anything, he's not recognizing anything and I'll be completely honest, I'm not sure he's even trying to.

I think he's going up there and before every pitch is delivered he's thinking "Okay, he's gonna throw me a ball, so I'm gonna take..." or "Okay, this is going to be a slider in, so I'm gonna swing" and if he manages to defy the odds and guess both pitch and location, he'll hit it.

He's a MFing mess at the plate. I mean if nothing else, just decide you're a fastball hitter. Go up there hunting fastballs and the very damn instant you see one in the zone, take a hack at it. But he's taken a little over half the fastballs in the zone he's seen for strikes thus far. He's caught in a rocking chair for every single pitch.

He needs to sit. His attitude regarding his hitting has been dogshit for 2 years. He refuses to utilize advanced approaches, he's been unreceptive to coaching and bristles at criticism. That guy got himself a fan club and believed he'd 'arrived' and didn't need to develop anymore. He believed he was better than he was, his development cratered and now he's an offensive liability because of his own piss-poor attitude.

Lane Thomas has earned an opportunity to take that job from Bader. Succeed or fail, he's earned the shot.

[VAChief]

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

Bader is still swinging at those sliders that are so far outside that they are in the opposite batting box. The dude has speed but no arm and if he cant lay off that slider, he's not an everyday MLB player.

Looks like the opening in the outfield is going to be CF. Can Carlson play CF?

Shildt should tell Bader the next time I want you to hit the ball either up the middle or the other way. Every time you don’t do that I’m going to pull you until you get it through your head.

The other day the entire infield other than first base was on the short stop side of second base with runners in scoring position. The hole was gigantic and he still was pulling off the ball even though the Pirate pitcher was throwing pitches on the outer third tailor made to take it the other way. At this point it just seems like he is either too stubborn or stupid to change. One way to find out would be immediate behavior modification.

He is what you want out there defensively. Thomas might be okay, I don’t see Carlson as an everyday CF, but that is with limited observation.

Bader has plenty strong enough arm for center field.

https://www.mlb.com/cardinals/video/...95-1-mph-throw