2018 STL Cardinals Thread

[BigRedChief]

Opening day lineup

Fowler RF
Pham CF
Carpenter 3B
Ozuna LF
Martinez 1B
Molina C
Dejong SS
Wong 2B
Pitcher

Edit:
Matheny fired 07/14/2018




Opening Day Roster

Spoiler!

St. Louis has opted to carry 12 position players and 13 pitchers to begin the new season, with a four-man bench and eight-man bullpen.

Outfielders:
Dexter Fowler
Tommy Pham
Marcell Ozuna

Infielders:
Matt Carpenter
Paul DeJong
Kolten Wong

Catchers:
Yadier Molina
Francisco Pena

Utility:
Jose Martinez
Greg Garcia
Yairo Munoz
Jedd Gyrko

Starters:
Carlos Martinez
Michael Wacha
Luke Weaver
Miles Mikolas
Jack Flaherty

Relievers:
Dominic Leone
Tyler Lyons
Bud Norris
Brett Cecil
Sam Tuivailala
Matt Bowman
Jordan Hicks
Mike Mayers

On the DL:
Adam Wainwright
Luke Gregerson

[VAChief]

A couple of the scouting reports on Garcia:

One mentions a comparison to Brian Jordan...that would be nice. Checking his Memphis stats he has 10 steals in 12 attempts. Both articles do mention his speed as an asset. I guess we will get to see soon.

https://www.vivaelbirdos.com/2018/2/...-adolis-garcia

https://247sports.com/mlb/cardinals/...tati-74923213/

[VAChief]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

**** you - I started my post first, you just typed less.

Like you, I'm almost certain Thomas will need to be added and I'd have just gone ahead and called him up.

He is intriguing for sure, and already has been featured on "Top Plays" for a catch in Springfield earlier this year.

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

He'sility they gained through the Mercado trade. They replaced Mercado with 2 guys who didn't need to be on the 40 and it appeared to be planning for the'll definitely get added if so.

I just feel like they put themselves back into a numbers crunch come December when the Rule 5 starts up...

Mo may not be able to judge a FA worth a shit but if anything else, the man overzealously guards his 40 man roster. Holds on to players way beyond the time he should have let them go. I just don’t see Mo leaving anyone of value exposed.

There are more trades coming this off season. I’m assuming we are going to try to bundle players up for a better player. That would take care of any rule 5 or 40 man roster issues.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

Mo may not be able to judge a FA worth a shit but if anything else, the man overzealously guards his 40 man roster. Holds on to players way beyond the time he should have let them go. I just don’t see Mo leaving anyone of value exposed.

There are more trades coming this off season. I’m assuming we are going to try to bundle players up for a better player. That would take care of any rule 5 or 40 man roster issues.

He did it twice in a row with Perdomo and Cordoba. After they lost Cordoba, Moe was sufficiently cowed that he actually acknowledged it and noted that they would be hiring someone to ensure that those sorts of things don't happen in the future.

Seriously - they had to hire someone to make sure Mozeliak stopped ****ing up the 40 man a few years ago.

He's risk averse but he most assuredly isn't savvy with his 40 man.

[Miles]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

He did it twice in a row with Perdomo and Cordoba. After they lost Cordoba, Moe was sufficiently cowed that he actually acknowledged it and noted that they would be hiring someone to ensure that those sorts of things don't happen in the future.

Seriously - they had to hire someone to make sure Mozeliak stopped ****ing up the 40 man a few years ago.

He's risk averse but he most assuredly isn't savvy with his 40 man.

I’d completely forgotten about that one a few years ago. Seems to be a basic part of running a front office.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Miles

I’d completely forgotten about that one a few years ago. Seems to be a basic part of running a front office.

Yeah, he's pissed me off with stuff like that for years. Exposing Diaz to waivers because he wanted Dan Johnson up a day before he ended up clearing the roster spot by putting a guy on the 60 day. Losing Eduardo Sanchez to the Cubs after an outstanding rookie season because he wanted to activate someone the day BEFORE he was scheduled to pitch instead of the day of (again, a 60 day DL spot ended up opening up a place).

I don't care for how he burns through options either; it makes problems for dudes like Tui later on in their development.

There are little things he does with his roster that aren't likely to ever matter a great deal but they're casual and reckless.

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

He did it twice in a row with Perdomo and Cordoba. After they lost Cordoba, Moe was sufficiently cowed that he actually acknowledged it and noted that they would be hiring someone to ensure that those sorts of things don't happen in the future.

Seriously - they had to hire someone to make sure Mozeliak stopped ****ing up the 40 man a few years ago.

He's risk averse but he most assuredly isn't savvy with his 40 man.

yeah that was my point. I doubt we are going to have 40 man or rule 5 issues. Not because of Mo’s talents but, Mo being a frozen in fear turd.

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

He's not a reliever. A 31 yr old JAG in the 5th spot in the rotation is kinda exactly what we need. Gant's just not a starter, IMO. He's too prone to getting waxed early.

I think Ross can give you 5-6 largely forgettable innings from the back of your rotation right now. That's something the squad needs with Martinez and Wacha down, especially with the bullpen needed the innings from guys like PDL and Hudson.

He's 90% of what you get from Mike Leake with no financial outlay. It's a solid addition and something we could really use right now.

Ross to the bullpen.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

Ross to the bullpen.

Hmmm....that's probably the best way to get genuine performance out of him. The spin rate on his fastball is still elite so if it adds some velocity it could play well up in the zone. Get him back to 94-95 mph in short stints and maybe that also puts some tilt back in his slider.

Worse gambles to take...

[jd1020]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Hmmm....that's probably the best way to get genuine performance out of him. The spin rate on his fastball is still elite so if it adds some velocity it could play well up in the zone. Get him back to 94-95 mph in short stints and maybe that also puts some tilt back in his slider.

Worse gambles to take...

He's been horrible for a bit as a starter. You look at his season numbers and you wonder why a team would simply let him walk away, but then you look at his K/9 slip to 6.8 in June and then 5.8 in July with a near 9 ERA and then it starts to make sense.

Probably the best you'll get out of him is in the bullpen if there's anything left.

[Prison Bitch]

Washington Nationals

1B Matt Adams 257pa 18hr 900ops 138wRC+
OF Bryce Harper 476pa 26hr 875ops 130wRC+

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by Prison Bitch

Washington Nationals

1B Matt Adams 257pa 18hr 900ops 138wRC+
OF Bryce Harper 476pa 26hr 875ops 130wRC+

I’d be comfortable giving Bryce a long term deal. He has enough history. Maybe because of the down year, he may consider St.Louis?

[Prison Bitch]

I suspect Bryce cost himself $100M with his dogshit year. Now, maybe a 10/300


Nats won't even retain him, since they have younger cheaper and, date we say, better options (Soto, Robles)

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by Prison Bitch

I suspect Bryce cost himself $100M with his dogshit year. Now, maybe a 10/300


Nats won't even retain him, since they have younger cheaper and, date we say, better options (Soto, Robles)

I’d be happy to give him 10/300 as a fan. No way this is his new normal.

[Marcellus]

Here is a section on Carpenter in an article on the Athletic.

I figured I would post it as penance and part of my meal of crow.

A JOB FOR A CARPENTER

It’s always been a stupendous idea to have the home-run champ and a great leadoff hitter on the same team. Just usually, they’re not the same person.

But then Matt Carpenter came along.

The Cardinals’ sweet-swinging No. 1 man surged into a tie with Nolan Arenado for the NL lead in homers over the weekend with 29. And that got us to wondering:

Has any leadoff man in modern history ever won a home-run title?

Guess what? That answer, shockingly, is: Nope!

Rickey Henderson never did it. Alfonso Soriano never did it. Charlie Blackmon never did it. Pete Rose and Ichiro never did it. In fact, almost no one has even come close.

The most games started in the leadoff hole by any home run champ since 1900? That would be a whopping 22 games, by Dwight Evans in 1981, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. And Carpenter is going to lead off in well over 100 games if he stays healthy (and at the top of the order).

Meanwhile, if you’re looking for close calls, that won’t take long, either. Once you get past the dead-ball era almost a century ago, exactly one player has even finished second in his league in home runs while leading off in at least half his team’s games. That would be Brady Anderson in 1996, the year he stunned America (and himself) by hitting 50.

But Mark McGwire whomped 52 homers that year. And now we’re especially glad he did, because it means that, unbeknownst to most of civilization, Carpenter has put himself in perfect position to do something no one has ever done. And he’s primed to pull this off.

He leads the National League in homers since May 1, since June 1 and since July 1. So what about this feels fluky?

The correct answer is: None of this. So eat your heart out, Rickey!