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

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by jd1020

Morosi putting his money on the Brewers.

He also said that the Orioles have discussed Keibert Ruiz and Dustin May with the Dodgers but the Dodgers are "unlikely to include Ruiz in a deal for a rental." I find that shit hilarious. The Dodgers have 2 of the best defensive catchers in the game at 28 and 29 years old with Grandal also being one of the better offensive catchers right now but they arent willing to trade Ruiz for a run at a WS.

Posturing.

What would really surprise me is if the Yankees don't go out there and look to bolster that #2 spot in the rotation. They have soooooo muuuuuuch organizational capital. But what they don't have is a genuine #2 starting pitcher.

If they can't get the Mets to deal across town, sure would seem to make sense to give the Rays a call on....TWIST....Blake Snell. I know folks are saying Archer but I would want no part of a do or die game with Archer. You really have to have far too much fantasy stock of his to understand, but Archer is a prototypical 'pitch well enough to lose' guy. No no no, 1000 times no.

But let's say the Rays want Justus Sheffield, Clint Frazier and Miguel Andujar for Blake Snell. That's obviously a ton for the Yankees to give up, right? But why wouldn't they do it?

The obvious concern would be the short term hole they create at 3b with Andujar but that's an easy fix - go get Moustakas for the Loaisiga kid who just had a nice cup of coffee then you throw gobs of money at Machado to play 3b in the offseason.

You line up Severino, Snell and Tanaka in a short series and you have 3 guys with potentially knockout stuff backed by one of the best bulllpens in baseball, all of whom present distinctly different looks so you could scramble your short series opponent and keep their timing off.

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by jd1020

Morosi putting his money on the Brewers.

He also said that the Orioles have discussed Keibert Ruiz and Dustin May with the Dodgers but the Dodgers are "unlikely to include Ruiz in a deal for a rental." I find that shit hilarious. The Dodgers have 2 of the best defensive catchers in the game at 28 and 29 years old with Grandal also being one of the better offensive catchers right now but they arent willing to trade Ruiz for a run at a WS.

I could see the Brewers making a move. They have a history of giving up prime prospects for rentals. This could be their year to win the Central and avoid the wild card. They have a good team already.

If I'm a Brewers fan, I'd like to see them go for it. Its been 30+ years since they went to the NLCS. They are good fans. They deserve to go to the NLCS and WS.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

Come on man, he's not Ozzie or even Dejong but Martinez is an all time bad infielder. Munoz is not anywhere close to all time bad infielders.
Had this conversation before the season and nothing has changed after seeing 1/2 season of baseball. I still don't like Gyrko. He puts up numbers when it doesn't matter. Makes his stats look better. If he was an everyday player, he'd be playing everyday. He doesn't because he gets exposed.

I'm not saying Munoz is an everyday player either. Just that right now, today, he should be starting until he reverts to his norm.

Munoz is absolutely close to an all-time bad fielder.

He's as bad as any infielder presently playing. And while he doesn't do the small 'braindead' things that Martinez does, he doesn't execute relatively simple plays on a routine basis.

Munoz is far far worse than you're giving him credit for. His range is abysmal, he has bad hands and his instincts are poor. Like I said - he isn't quite Martinez bad, but he's not nearly as far away as you're claiming.

And you may not like Gyorko, but there's no reason to like Munoz any more than him. While it's a small sample, your argument that Jedd 'does it when it doesn't matter' simply doesn't hold up - to this point in the season he's been the best high leverage hitter on the team; a 1.059 OPS in high leverage situations.

As for your argument that 'he'd be an everyday player if he was an everyday player' - I hope you understand how ridiculous that was to even type when you're talking about a team with Mike Matheny in charge. Jedd's been worth roughly 6-8 wins over his almost 1200 PAs in a Cardinal uniform. In what universe does that not qualify as an everyday player? Oh wait, the one where Mike Matheny is in charge and refuses to use his players well.

The fact that he's not playing everyday isn't an indictment on him, it's an indictment on Matheny. Moreover, it hardly seems relevant when you're using it to talk him down in favor of another player who isn't a major league starter.

Finally - why should we wait for him to regress when Gyorko is just as hot as him over the last 2 weeks and we KNOW Gyorko is a better defensive player? They've been virtually identical over the last month as well. Offensively there is next to nothing to support the idea that Munoz is a demonstrably better option than Gyorko. Not in the short term, not in the long term.

Defensively it's night and day - Munoz is absolutely as bad as you'll find on the left side of a major league infield right now. He's miserably terrible. He makes Aledmys Diaz look like Rey Ordonez. He's AWFUL with a glove on. Offensively they're a wash.

Gyorko deserves to play.

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

While it's a small sample, your argument that Jedd 'does it when it doesn't matter' simply doesn't hold up - to this point in the season he's been the best high leverage hitter on the team; a 1.059 OPS in high leverage situations.

Molina is for shit this year, as our local cubs fan JD likes to point out, with stats. Molina is going to make the All-Star team. He got robbed for his first year or two because catchers seem to get grandfathered into the All-Star game. So I could see it as payback for the start of his career. But, I digress......

There is more to this game than WAR and stats. I have eyeballs. I watch every game. Maybe not the whole game, every inning. I skip ahead, get distracted with other things etc. But, he just doesn't impress me. I know its anecdotal and my opinion. Your responding with stats that I don't understand like yourself. I'm not the only one. I would wager that the majority of Cardinal fans are not impressed with Gyroko.

[jd1020]

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

Molina is for shit this year, as our local cubs fan JD likes to point out, with stats. Molina is going to make the All-Star team. He got robbed for his first year or two because catchers seem to get grandfathered into the All-Star game. So I could see it as payback for the start of his career. But, I digress......

Never said Molina is shit. He's been about as average as average can get for a few years now, but you still talk about him like its 2012 and he's pushing for MVP honors.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

Molina is for shit this year, as our local cubs fan JD likes to point out, with stats. Molina is going to make the All-Star team. He got robbed for his first year or two because catchers seem to get grandfathered into the All-Star game. So I could see it as payback for the start of his career. But, I digress......

There is more to this game than WAR and stats. I have eyeballs. I watch every game. Maybe not the whole game, every inning. I skip ahead, get distracted with other things etc. But, he just doesn't impress me. I know its anecdotal and my opinion. Your responding with stats that I don't understand like yourself. I'm not the only one. I would wager that the majority of Cardinal fans are not impressed with Gyroko.

I gave you one stat that's a damn benign one; I intentionally stayed away from stats for that very reason - didn't figure I'd need to parry something as simple as OPS in high leverage spots.

Your eye is lying to you. And if a majority of Cardinals fans are not impressed by a guy who has shown over the last 2 seasons to possess both GG caliber defense AND 30 homerun power, I'm disinclined to attempt to educate them because they're simply not paying attention. Most of those same fans probably thought spending $20 million/season on Hosmer was a good idea and that Fowler's dreamy smile made him worth a 5 year deal.

Jedd's a good ballplayer and if you hadn't already convinced yourself otherwise your eyes would support that notion.

[raybec 4]

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

Molina is for shit this year, as our local cubs fan JD likes to point out, with stats. Molina is going to make the All-Star team. He got robbed for his first year or two because catchers seem to get grandfathered into the All-Star game. So I could see it as payback for the start of his career. But, I digress......

There is more to this game than WAR and stats. I have eyeballs. I watch every game. Maybe not the whole game, every inning. I skip ahead, get distracted with other things etc. But, he just doesn't impress me. I know its anecdotal and my opinion. Your responding with stats that I don't understand like yourself. I'm not the only one. I would wager that the majority of Cardinal fans are not impressed with Gyroko.

Gyorko has a chance to be our best infielder defensively and offensively. The fact that he's got less than 200 ABs on the season is a fireable offense for Meathead.

[rydogg58]

https://deadspin.com/i-can-t-get-eno...wit-1827443647

Damn. This guy hates us.

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

I gave you one stat that's a damn benign one; I intentionally stayed away from stats for that very reason - didn't figure I'd need to parry something as simple as OPS in high leverage spots.

Your eye is lying to you. And if a majority of Cardinals fans are not impressed by a guy who has shown over the last 2 seasons to possess both GG caliber defense AND 30 homerun power, I'm disinclined to attempt to educate them because they're simply not paying attention. Most of those same fans probably thought spending $20 million/season on Hosmer was a good idea and that Fowler's dreamy smile made him worth a 5 year deal.

Jedd's a good ballplayer and if you hadn't already convinced yourself otherwise your eyes would support that notion.

You have had your own players that you hate, just allow me my own.

[Miles]

Originally Posted by rydogg58

https://deadspin.com/i-can-t-get-eno...wit-1827443647

Damn. This guy hates us.

I think he might be a Cubs fan but usually trolls Cards fans in the past and they take the bait.

[Frazod]

Originally Posted by Miles

I think he might be a Cubs fan but usually trolls Cards fans in the past and they take the bait.

Either that or a butthurt Mets fans still pissed about 2006.

[raybec 4]

Originally Posted by Miles

I think he might be a Cubs fan but usually trolls Cards fans in the past and they take the bait.

This is funny though:

That’s fantastic. Imagine your boss emailing you a ****ing fortune cookie slogan every night before you go to bed. “Dave, I want those TPS reports on my desk by 10 a.m. sharp. Also, character is not forged in the mountaintop but in the valley.” What a complete ****ing pud. I would purposely strike out in every at-bat just to own him.

[Marcellus]

Anyway, this is just the kind of bold leadership I want from my general manager. I want him actively listening to a bunch of racist troglodyte fans and publicly agreeing with them.

Its just awesome that we have to interject race into every single ****ing facet of life.

Yea Fowler is unpopular in Stl because of his race. Just like Gibson, Magee, Brock, Ozzy, etc.....

[bdj23]

Originally Posted by Marcellus

Its just awesome that we have to interject race into every single ****ing facet of life.

Yea Fowler is unpopular in Stl because of his race. Just like Gibson, Magee, Brock, Ozzy, etc.....

Deadspin is the Buzzfeed of sports journalism.

[BigRedChief]

Posey out of All-Star game with sore hip. Yadi in.

Before JD comes in with some kind of trash Yadi talk......

Posey: 285/367/412/780 with 5 bombs and 27 RBI in 313 PA
Yadi: 278/320/495/816 with 13 bombs and 38 RBI in 231 PA.