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

[O.city]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

And we're finally getting a little threadbare to boot.

Garcia played a sound defensive ballgame yesterday but nothing exceptional. Munoz is a much better hitter but can't play D over at 2b worth a damn.

I actually like Wisdom but during this run its important not to overlook just how how Jedd has been. He's been a damn good hitter, even against righties, over the last 30 days or so.

Losing Ozuna is frustrating but probably doesn't hurt while TON is hitting. It'll hurt more when O'Neill hits a long cold-spell (his approach says he will) but for right now we can shrug that off.

But both Wong and Gyorko are gonna start hitting us in the standings soon enough. Those are tough losses and even more worrisome is that neither of those guys are natural hitters. They take time to find their form and 10 days off may take another 10 days to get them swinging well again (and Jedd simply may not get hot again; he's notoriously streaky).

It's that time of year - lots of teams get these nagging injuries at this point in the season and the Cardinals depth makes them better situated than most to deal with them. Hell, even if Wisdom isn't the answer, you can put Marp back over at 3b and get Adams some of the reps he could probably use to get his timing back.

But you can only take so many body blows before the combined effect start to sting and we may finally be reaching that tipping point.

That's why I think Donaldson would make sense if they can make it work and if he would actually be healthy.

I don't know that they can afford or would want to. But if you could add him, and have everyone come back healthy, that's having Gyorko and Adams on the bench if/when the playoffs come.

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

And we're finally getting a little threadbare to boot.

Garcia played a sound defensive ballgame yesterday but nothing exceptional. Munoz is a much better hitter but can't play D over at 2b worth a damn.

I actually like Wisdom but during this run its important not to overlook just how how Jedd has been. He's been a damn good hitter, even against righties, over the last 30 days or so.

Losing Ozuna is frustrating but probably doesn't hurt while TON is hitting. It'll hurt more when O'Neill hits a long cold-spell (his approach says he will) but for right now we can shrug that off.

But both Wong and Gyorko are gonna start hitting us in the standings soon enough. Those are tough losses and even more worrisome is that neither of those guys are natural hitters. They take time to find their form and 10 days off may take another 10 days to get them swinging well again (and Jedd simply may not get hot again; he's notoriously streaky).

It's that time of year - lots of teams get these nagging injuries at this point in the season and the Cardinals depth makes them better situated than most to deal with them. Hell, even if Wisdom isn't the answer, you can put Marp back over at 3b and get Adams some of the reps he could probably use to get his timing back.

But you can only take so many body blows before the combined effect start to sting and we may finally be reaching that tipping point.

good thing is that the schedule isn’t as difficult as we just went through. Pirates, Reds, nationals, tigers and Pirates.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by O.city

That's why I think Donaldson would make sense if they can make it work and if he would actually be healthy.

I don't know that they can afford or would want to. But if you could add him, and have everyone come back healthy, that's having Gyorko and Adams on the bench if/when the playoffs come.

He's being held out today with calf/leg soreness.

Donaldson being healthy is about as likely as Jose Fernandez taking the bump.

Folks - 'healthy Donaldson' doesn't exist anymore. It damn sure isn't going to exist again this season and it's more likely than not that it never exists again. His game is too violent and it won't hold up to basic aging.

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

He's being held out today with calf/leg soreness.

Donaldson being healthy is about as likely as Jose Fernandez taking the bump.

Folks - 'healthy Donaldson' doesn't exist anymore. It damn sure isn't going to exist again this season and it's more likely than not that it never exists again. His game is too violent and it won't hold up to basic aging.

thats what is impressive about what Molina is doing. He was a defensive catcher who hit .220 and people were happy with that. He has turned himself into a .280 hitter. He has 11K+ MLB innings caught on those knees and he has improved his hitting this year. He’s never going back to 2010 Molina defensively but he’s still bringing it every day.

[Frazod]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

I have been floored by how lost in the woods the national media has been w/r/t to Matheny and the Cardinals.

They truly had/have no idea the impact he had on the franchise. They genuinely believe he's a good manager and that he got a bum deal.

Blows my mind.

Probably the same idiots who think the Chiefs won't score any points without Alice.

[BigRedChief]

Evaluating pitchers by their W/L records is the most worthless stat I know. Mikolas has an average of 6.1 runs scored with every start. I think your average if not most MLB pitchers will “win” with a 6 run lead.

Just saying

[George Liquor]

Whats wrong with Carp?!?!

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by BDj23

Whats wrong with Carp?!?!

Stomach bug.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Pirates BABIPing like it's 2013.

[BigRedChief]

It’s a known fact..... you can’t win if you don’t score a run.

[Marcellus]

Looking a little flat tonight. Its going to happen.

[VAChief]

Originally Posted by Marco Polo

How much did you pay? I'll be there too. Looking at tickets on StubHub. Saw it might rain though.

49 each plus the service fees.

[Marco Polo]

These nights are going to happen- especially with the injuries we have.

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by Marco Polo

These nights are going to happen- especially with the injuries we have.

Been the last two nights. O'Neill and Martinez ran into ones but the other bats didn't do much. They have looked kind of flat the last two nights. It's to be expected. You can't play the remaining 30+ games like each night is a WC game. You'll burn out.

I think Munoz has been average over at 3B, not so much at 2B. He hits .280, that plays right now in our offense. I dont like Garcia as our utility bench guy anymore. We can get a better player for that role.

Do we have any young talent coming up on Sept.1st that can play 2B or 3B?

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

Been the last two nights. O'Neill and Martinez ran into ones but the other bats didn't do much. They have looked kind of flat the last two nights. It's to be expected. You can't play the remaining 30+ games like each night is a WC game. You'll burn out.

I think Munoz has been average over at 3B, not so much at 2B. He hits .280, that plays right now in our offense. I dont like Garcia as our utility bench guy anymore. We can get a better player for that role.

Do we have any young talent coming up on Sept.1st that can play 2B or 3B?

Every infielder on the 40-man is already up in St. Louis. They are in deep shit. They only have three true OF on the roster: Bader, O'Neill, and Adolis Garcia.