<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Showing off his 50 speed grade. The future is bright. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/stlcards?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#stlcards</a> <a href="https://t.co/o73d68lYfK">https://t.co/o73d68lYfK</a></p>&mdash; Cardinal Metrics (@CardinalMetrics) <a href="https://twitter.com/CardinalMetrics/status/1294755761940201474?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 15, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Reyes with a nice inning. Would be huge to finally get him back.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Alex Reyes bringing the heat. Faces three and strikes out three in season debut. His velo for the strike 3s: 99.5, 98.2, 98.2. That is great to see! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/STLCards?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#STLCards</a></p>&mdash; Cardinals Magazine (@CardsMagazine) <a href="https://twitter.com/CardsMagazine/status/1294759407205720067?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 15, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Proud moment!!! <a href="https://t.co/88rh3ook3g">pic.twitter.com/88rh3ook3g</a></p>&mdash; Jeff Carlson (@ElkGroveBB) <a href="https://twitter.com/ElkGroveBB/status/1294760906690162689?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 15, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Video

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Welcome back! <a href="https://t.co/rdfleVPlRT">https://t.co/rdfleVPlRT</a></p>&mdash; stlCupofJoe (@stlCupofJoe) <a href="https://twitter.com/stlCupofJoe/status/1294792029667549190?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 16, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Reyes was throwing more fluidly than I last saw him especially with the fastball. Still inconsistent with his breaking pitches, but a great first outing back nonetheless.

This guy looks like the real deal.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="und" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/cardscaptions?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#cardscaptions</a> <a href="https://t.co/5HAtOHRh5N">https://t.co/5HAtOHRh5N</a> <a href="https://t.co/asi81epaIo">pic.twitter.com/asi81epaIo</a></p>&mdash; cardinalsgifs (@cardinalsgifs) <a href="https://twitter.com/cardinalsgifs/status/1295068525959102464?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 16, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

He's still late off and dragging his pitching arm.

It'll give him filthy stuff until he breaks down. Again.

Very very few pitchers can physically hold together throwing a ball like that and Reyes has already proved he's not one of them. Frustrates me that they let him start doing that 5 years ago and it frustrates me even more that they didn't take 2 years worth of wasted service time and at least used it to calm that delivery down.

Yeah, he'd lose 3-4 MPH, but he'd get more movement, his curveball would improve and he'd probably be able to actually take the mound (even start games) for a full season.

Reyes just looks like a tragic right-off to me even when he's throwing fire.

Hey DJ and or others in the know, that Seth Elledge looked like he had fantastic stuff. Was it just a good day for the guy or can he pitch like that consistently?

Edit from a tweet:
acquired him in a trade with the @Mariners for Sam Tuivailala.

Elledge averaged greater than 10 K/9 in his time in minors.

Dilly Bar finna hit a walk off HR

I was able to watch a few innings yesterday. I've missed baseball. Just wish I could watch them more without subscribing to MLB.tv.

He was a 40 man acquisition. Tui was out of options, we had a 40 man crunch and Elledge was still a year away from needing to be added to be protected from the Rule 5 when the deal was made. It cleared both a 25 man and 40 man spot for the upcoming offseason.

I felt at the time like the Mariners had unnecessarily slow-played him and he was ready for a jump in competition. Then he was super mediocre in AA and kinda made me look dumb.

I've sorta felt like he can be another Maness/Thompson sort of 7th inning bridge reliever. My guess is, like those guys, he'll get in trouble if he elevates at all. Typical sinker/slider reliever who can get outs if he can keep hitters from being able to spit on his slider (which they'll be able to do if he's elevating his sinker; location will telegraph the pitch).

Every team has a few guys like this and they'll pitch for 5 years, give you two completely confusing really good ones (think Mitchell Boggs in 2012), then one day they'll have a bad outing...then another...then another and that'll be that.

Fine guy to have - they'll probably get some mileage out of him and if he, Gallegos and Hicks can give you 3 years of steady back end relief, you're probably in pretty damn good shape. Especially with guys like Fernandez and the inevitable Alex Reyes: wild-ass reliever carnival ride.

I prefer Woodford as a long-term asset who's as likely as not to end up in the 'pen and Kodi Whitley as a true jam reliever.

thanks man. He looked so good but it was one damn inning. Reyes looked good too but we know he can go off the rails pretty easily. I figured there was no way Mo pulled off a lopsided trade in our favor. It’s been a long time since he did that.

I guess we are going to get more out of him than Tu.

Why is Weiters catching almost every day? I get Yadi is out but Kitzner looks better and we need to get some young guys ready to go for the future.

They’ve been split pretty evenly, each taking a game in double headers.

Carlson needs a day off. He’s pressing hard.

Even to my layman eyes he doesn't look over matched at all in the slighest. He belongs at this level. But, I agree he's definitely pressing. Those bases loaded AB's made it obvious. First pitch swinging on a pitchers pitch? He can fix that.

That first pitch slider w/ the bases loaded had him looking real green.

I'm betting Carlson never once saw a guy walk the bases loaded in the minors and then throw a first pitch slider at the knees. That was a clear eye-opener for him because he wasn't pressing, he was guessing.

He was sitting heat and that slider dove right under the barrel and ate him alive.

I'm not sure there's anything else for him to learn in AAA, but there are still plenty of rough edges for the guy.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Oviedo is coming, joining <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/stlcards?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#stlcards</a> in next few hours. First to report: <a href="https://twitter.com/CiberCuba?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CiberCuba</a>. <a href="https://t.co/RbCWzVPYFM">https://t.co/RbCWzVPYFM</a></p>&mdash; Derrick S. Goold (@dgoold) <a href="https://twitter.com/dgoold/status/1296117711823667203?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 19, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Perfect year for his on the job training and learning the hard way at this level.

players can travel to and from Cuba now?

Where there’s a will, there is a way.

ST. LOUIS -- When Johan Oviedo went back to his home in Havana, Cuba, during baseball’s shutdown, he wasn’t sure how long he’d be there or if he’d be able to return to the United States because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Oviedo did know he had to stay ready. Using training equipment on the roof of his home, he was able to stay in shape and continue to throw -- thanks to some creativity. Oviedo’s father, Lazaro, helped hang a blanket with a square in the middle to use as a strike zone, and the size of the roof allowed the right-hander to stand about 60 feet, 6 inches away from the blanket. Lazaro used a wooden beam to keep the blanket taut so that Oviedo’s pitches wouldn’t damage the wall behind it. Taking a staircase up to the roof each day, Oviedo threw bullpens and worked on his pitches, specifically his slider to lefties that got away from him when he was promoted to Double-A Springfield last year.

The impression Oviedo made in the spring helped him get to Busch Stadium this summer. The improvements he made on his roof in Cuba could help him stay.

“I knew this is going to be a big year for me,” Oviedo said. “You always expect something more than what you can do in the field sometimes. I was getting ready for this opportunity. In my mind it was always make my debut this year. I don’t know if it will happen, I just want to be ready if they give me the chance.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">No major league regular is seeing fewer fastballs right now than Dylan Carlson. That’s a lot of respect for a player just starting out.</p>&mdash; Eno Sarris (@enosarris) <a href="https://twitter.com/enosarris/status/1296114785365319681?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 19, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

How in the hell did this guy fall all the way down to the #33 Pick?

Question of tools and ceiling. And the vagaries of projecting a 17 yr old kid.

Guys get drafted off their strengths and sometimes simply not having any weaknesses gets overlooked.

The 33th overall pick is pretty high for a high school position player if you ask me.

He was the 10th HS position player taken. Some of the notables that went ahead of him were Alex Kirlloff, Gavin Lux and Carter Kieboom.

Has Harrison Bader seen a fastball in the last 2 seasons?

It only took about 6 tries but finally the Cards took advantage of a bases loaded situation. Marp hit a GS in the 1st.

Like I said:

You get 1st pitch fastballs in AAA.

The advanced scouts noticed how he'd attack them and clearly aren't going to let him ambush their guys.

He needs to get a new plan up there because they're still pitching him backwards and until he can punish them for it, they're not going to stop.

Isn't it great talking about a stud rookie hitter and watching the growth? We didn't get this opportunity with Oscar.

Well, I mean, we got EXACTLY this much opportunity with Oscar...

{knocks on all the wood}

Cards bats are booming game 1 today so I predict a shut out in game 2.

I've learned something in this series.

The Cubs, record be damned....kinda suck. They have on reliable pitcher, all those young guys like Almora and Happ and Schwarber are pretty shitty. Bryant seems to openly loathe the entire organization. Their pitching staff got really damn old really damn fast.

Over 162 games they'd win maybe 75 games. That is NOT a good baseball team.

I wouldn't argue that, they have feasted on bad teams as well. If not for damn implosion in game 2 Monday we would be taking 3 of 5 minimum from these guys and maybe 4 of 5.

I just kinda missed it happening.

Last year seemed like a weird one-off or something. But it wasn't - this is maybe the 7th or 8th most talented team in the NL.

In no particular order I'd take the Braves, Phillies, Gnats, Dodgers, D-Backs and Padres over them without hesitation. I could be talked into the Reds and Rockies pretty easily. If Carlson develops, I'd take the Cardinals as well due to their supply of arms.

The Cubs are gonna be a middling or worse team for the next few years.

League has passed them up.

It's the Red Sox v2 for Theo. He knows how to build them. He doesn't know how to sustain it. It's been 3 years now of "time to judge performance and not potential." And its been 3 years of hedging on potential.

Last years offseason move was to trade La Stella because he couldn't play SS and cost too much money. To fix the problem that La Stella was the cause of they signed Daniel Descalso who equally cant play SS and has managed a whopping career WAR of 1 and paying him MORE than La Stella.

After failing to make the playoffs again, it was "things are going to change." I really cant think of a single name off the top of my head that actually changed besides losing guys like Strop. The lineup outside of Rizzo and Hoerner, who is like a poor version of a young Starlin Castro, is the same hitter... all or nothing.

I regret to inform you that Hoerner is probably going to be a slightly better version of Darwin Barney when he grows up.

I remember watching that draft (the Royals Kowar/Singer draft and our Gorman draft) and by the time the draft was done I think the Cubs had failed to take a single player inside baseball america's top 150. I've never just looked at a draft and been so completely unable to understand it.

It was so bizarre that it made me question if I was the idiot.

And yet to this point, most of the guys I thought would be good look pretty good and Nico Heorner has never looked like anything more than the 5th best player on a playoff team.

He's a complementary player through and through and near as I can tell he's easily the crown jewel of the Cubs farm system.

That's...not great. I mean from a defensive versatility standpoint he's more useful than a guy like Max Schrock (who can't play anywhere but 2b) but guys like that are pretty fungible guys.

Dont think Hoerner was ever touted as a star. He was drafted because he can put bat to ball with gap power and mediocre defense. That's legitimately Starlin Castro while sacrificing a little power for more speed on the bases. He swings at the same garbage that Castro did simply because he can hit it resulting in a lot of soft contact and easy outs.

My buddy the Cubs fan, who was certain that Almora was going to be Kenny Loftin 2.0, has Hoerner as the next Jeter.

IMO, best case he's the all star version of Jean Segura. Only problem is he plays for the Cubs who dont believe in stealing bases so his speed wont ever be utilized.

You guys hear Jimmy and Dan talking about the Cardinals not wanting to start the Service time clock with Oviedo. Didn’t want to call him up.

Does he have that much upside that we should be concerned about him wanting a $150 million contract in 6 years? Or was that just the homer hype coming out of the front office?

Yikes

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Pitching is terrifying <a href="https://t.co/aUIUK0c4BC">pic.twitter.com/aUIUK0c4BC</a></p>&mdash; Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) <a href="https://twitter.com/barstoolsports/status/1296230998523478021?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 19, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The Cards AAA team gave them all them can handle over 6 games, so yea they are overrated.

My understanding is one day on the roster is technically a full year this season. So in that regard I guess it gets him one step closer to arbitration, etc...

So it makes him a little more expensive a little faster. But no, he doesn't have that much upside. He has 2 pitches to speak of and the breaking ball is something in between a slider and a curve that isn't really good at being either of them.

Fastball command is better than it was yesterday but by no means stellar.

Honestly, he's probably a reliever when all is said and done.

What they could have meant had more to do with options than anything. He wasn't on the 40 man, IIRC, and by adding him to the 40, they now have to use one of his option years if they want to send him back down. Additionally, as is Mozeliak's custom, he added Oviedo to the 40 man a year before he really needed to be on there.

He's not ready to be a big league starter and probably wouldn't have been next year either. So the Cardinals could've kept him off the 40 man altogether and he wouldn't have been exposed to the Rule 5. Then you pitch him in AAA in 2021 and maybe add him to the 40 next August if he shows he's ready. Call him up in September.

Then in 2022 you have him in his age 24 season with 3 full years worth of options and 6 years of service time.

Instead you've added him to the 40 in 2020, you'll need to option him next year in all likelihood (probably not this year) and you'll burn this year's service time. So instead in 2022 you have him with 2 option years and 5 years of service time.

Probably nothing critical, but there is some asset value wasted there. And obviously the worst case scenario is what happened with Reyes - a major injury that costs him 2 years when he's actually burning through big-league service time but not pitching, whereas had he been hurt in the minors, that's not big league time used up.

The Reyes thing was such a cluster****.

Schwarber was more rattled than Oviedo.

I'd imagine it all happened so fast for him that he didn't really understand it until it was over. Meanwhile Schwarber was pretty sure he'd just killed a guy for a second there...

So we burned a year of Carlson this year? I thought we would still have 6 years of control left after this year?

I hate it when they do that stupid hand wringing, he's such a talent, we cant put him on the field. Thats a Mo thing. The brilliant player sitting on the shelf is way better than actually playing on the field. We cant trade him, he's too valuable. Later he doesn't pan out. And we got shit to show for Mo's Faberge eggs.

Cubs fan here.

Reality bites sometimes.

Bryant sucks. He had one good year. I'd trade his ass but doubt you would get much of anything.

They made a huge mistake not keeping Castellanos, he and Baez are the two guys I would actually build around. I like Contreras, but he should be a full time DH.

Schwarber, Almora, and Nico, are just dudes. Rizzo is a nice player, but I don't think he is a super star.

As for the pitching staff, Theo has botched it from day one. I'm fine with Lester. He did what he was supposed to do. Hendricks has never bothered me either. But signing Darvish, Chatwood, and trading for this Quintana were train wrecks. I'd feel better about the Cubs if Eloy Jiménez was playing the outfield for them.

What in the actual **** did I just read?

Bryant sucks? Build around Baez who has literally only had 1 good year, unlike Bryant. Contreras a full time DH? Rizzo is just nice, not one of the top 3 or 4 1B in the league who consistently reaches 30/100?

The Cubs are individually really talented. The pieces just dont work as a whole. There is virtually nothing to compliment on this team and its been that way since the start of 2017.

Bryant's first three seasons were great, but his last three seasons are nothing to write home about, especially in the RBI category. One those same last three years, Baez has had a better batting average, more RBIs, and has become the heart and soul of the Cubs team.

Rizzo is the one guy who shows up year in and year out. I have no complaints with him.

Baez is a fan favorite. He also has a career league average batting line. If the Cubs choose to build around a guy who's single season fluke push for "MVP", which fell miles behind Yelich, instead of a guy who's 4th best in WAR since he entered the league, then the Cubs deserve every ****ing bit of the shitstorm coming their way.

Nearly ever damn tier 1 SS is going to be a FA at the same time as Baez and I already know the one in Cleveland isn't sticking around for another contract. There's absolutely no ****ing way I would take Baez over Lindor.

Baez is a likeable dude and he plays the game the way its supposed to be played. He's just not as good as the hype. His ZiPS line for 2020 is a whopping 92 wRC+. He has all the tools in the world to go with a 5 year old batting eye who's in the backyard with his dad throwing lob pitches with softballs and using a bat thats way too heavy and swinging at absolutely everything.

You will never ever EVER undo the Chapman trade. He was on fumes in those last few games but the Cubs needed every inning he threw him for that title.

But man - you have to believe Russell would've gotten it done ahead of Gleybar at the time the deal was made. The Cubs just didn't want to shuffle Baez over to SS in the middle of a pennant run. So they took the path of least resistance.

The problem isn't the trades they made - it's who they kept.

At the time, Schwarber had more value than Eloy. Russell had more value than Torres. And the cubs had the roster depth to absorb the loss of both of them while waiting for Torres and Jimenez to arrive. Soler for Davis was a give-up, IMO - they didn't need to make that deal, they just didn't value Soler anymore. They could've gotten their closer in FA, but again - path of least resistance was to trade someone that had fallen out of favor for a rental closer.

Theo just mis-fired on his evaluation of several key guys. I think he expected Schwarber to develop more against lefties and be a more sound hitter (rather than pure slugger) against righties. Obviously he didn't expect Heyward to blow. I think he thought Happ and Almora were going to be better than they are (though Happ's finally playing pretty well).

Hell, you guys could probably really use Cease right now and he was effectively a throw-in in the Quintana deal.

For two years they've needed bullpen help and instead of getting high-quality arms in setup roles and building one from the ground up (guys like Ottavino), they dumped money on a dude in Kimbrel who was aging pretty fast because he was 'an established closer'...

And one of the worst mistakes they made is somewhat offset by the fact it created one of the Cardinals worst mistakes. By letting Fowler walk away, they lost a leadoff hitter who they've been trying to replace with guys ill-suited for the leadoff role ever since. Fowler was happy and comfortable in Chicago and would've likely still been a quality leadoff option for them even as his defense declined (though he still wouldn't be any worse than Schwarber out there).

Theo's made a quite a few mistakes and many of them, much like Mozeliak, were unforced errors.

Bryant hurt that front shoulder in 2018 and I'm not convinced it's ever fully recovered.

Rolen did the same thing to his shoulder in 2004 and he just never recovered. The shoulder never got its strength back and he never hit for plus power again. He remained a valuable player, but he had to alter his approach. Bryant hasn't seemed able to find a new approach and apart from a white-hot May last season (that he attributed to that 'ax handled bat') he's just not been the same guy since his shoulder came up lame.

Pretty sure he doesn't even use the axe handle anymore.

And to say 2019 was carried by a single month is pretty ignorant. Was May an insane month for him? Yes. He had a 190 wRC+ in May. But, April and August were his only months under 130 wRC+.

Bryant goes into really bad slumps where he literally can't hit a meatball right over the plate and he stays in them for weeks. But he's generally a premier hitter in the league.

But apart from that May, he was a fairly middling power hitter.

That May was the only month he had power similar to his salad days. In other words, "apart from a white-hot May...he's just not been the same guy"

I didn't say he was wholly ineffective (though he was a real hollow offense sort of player over the 2nd half last year), I said he wasn't the power bat he'd been before the shoulder.

He was so good in that May that I was looking to buy one of those damn bats if they hadn't been sold out. I was sold on 'em, man. I don't roll my wrists worth a damn and his testimonials had me convinced that it would force better extension and follow through for me.

Seems like he may not have even believed the hype if he's not using them anymore. Glad I saved my $300...

He's also pretty openly admitted that he isn't comfortable hitting 1/2, but Cubs...

Just need to ride this Ian Happ hot streak and hit him #1 until he ultimately goes back to being Ian Happ.

Like I said - letting Fowler go hurt them almost as much as signing him hurt us. I mean even Schwarber's been kinda screwed up since the leadoff experiment.

I could have seen Rizzo thriving in the role because he's not a guy who feels like he needs to hit for power to be productive. He's a bit like Votto in that sometimes he's maybe even a little too patient for his own good.

I can see a world where Rizzo's a pretty damn good leadoff hitter.

But for some reason he's the guy they don't seem inclined to give much run there. I'm sure they've tried it, but I can't recall it.

They were doing it at the end of last year, IIRC.

Maddon put Rizzo leadoff multiple times when he was struggling and he was hitting leadoff homers left and right to the point where it became a meme that he was the greatest leadoff hitter in history. He just clogs the bases and started acting like he was Baez and began making really stupid outs.

Yeah, thats the way my layman's eyes see it too. Good as individuals but together, shit as a team. Thats got to be on Theo.

Hmmm....maybe just take the good with the bad there?

I mean the Cubs ain't exactly Whitey's rugburners out there. 'Clogging the bases' is the kind of thing that Dusty Baker would say when he's busy putting a dude with a .285 OBP at the top of the order.

At some point you just need to stop setting guys up to fail. If Rizzo can get on base, especially now that the NL has the DH, let him do it. His OBP skills and ability to bat himself into scoring position w/ XBHs sets them up pretty nicely, especially if Happ continues to be a decent run producer.

Eh - whatever. They're like 10 games over .500 with a roster that looks like it would struggle to win 80, so someone's doing something right I guess. Just seems like they're getting in their own way.

Other than 2 games against the Indians they really havent played any truly good teams.

There's just really not been a legitimate option to fix the leadoff spot. The teams realistic openings were CF and 2B. Off the top of my head I can't think of a single leadoff type hitter that was readily available for trade at either position.

I thought maybe a trade with the Phillies when they were down on Cesar Hernandez could have worked and it wouldn't have cost much to get him, but he's nothing to write home about. He was simply a guy that got on base, had a little speed, and didn't strike out at the typical Cubs rate.

Had a few discussions on Cubs boards about who they could look at for leadoff this last offseason and looking around at the league I could really only think of taking a shot on Manuel Margot who ultimately got traded to the Rays, but even he was more of a fingers crossed that he takes a few more walks and gets on base more.

The only big splash I could see would have been a trade with the Braves with Bryant or Baez going to Atlanta and one of their CF prospects coming back plus a couple more pieces.

The Braves CF prospects don't project to be plus hitters that I can recall. Pache is more than likely going to be very similar to the guy he's going to replace in Inciarte.

I've always felt like Mallex Smith would thrive in the right home. His 2018 season was a really nice baseline for a modern leadoff hitter. You give me an OBP above .360 w/ some doubles thump and the ability to steal 30+ bases, I'll give you a heck of a lot of rope to hang yourself with.

I don't feel like there are as few of those kinds of guys as we are led to believe, I just don't feel like they're valued at all. Smith's been traded a half-dozen times and for marginal returns each time. And he's always had plus speed, a solid approach and good bat control.

But nobody seems to care that much because he's not going to hit 10 bombs.

Drew Waters has plus power and speed grades, iirc.

I would have targeted him over Pache because it doesn't feel like you are getting that much more with Pache who grades higher, 60 FV vs 55.

Thought if you trade Bryant or Baez to the Braves you could have easily got Waters and either Riley/Swanson back in the deal to replace the guy you gave up and a reliever.

Is that the 5th time Carlson has been up with the bases loaded this week? And he fails to get the run in. Again.

Kid is getting eviscerated. These pitchers are just toying with him and he’s completely out of sorts.

No days off either. I get it’s a weird year. Games don’t seem to really count. Why not give him a day off though?

I’m assuming there’s a lesson learned going on here. Playing the long game. Maybe he’s had success at every level he’s been at. Labeled best prospect since Pujols. Show him it’s different here? Adjustments need to be made all the time?
Must be some kind Jedi mind trick to get him to take quality AB’s by the start of next year when hopefully some kind of normalcy returns.

The hell of it was that he ran into a perfect storm of suck.

The league adjusted to him FAST. He was getting pitches to hit early and it took maybe 3 games for teams to stop doing that.

And the worst part of it was that during those first few games when he was getting pitches to hit, he was hitting into awful luck. He was roping lasers right at guys and had an obvious bomb killed by the wind.

Most young hitters come up, get 15-20 games of 'rookie' pitching where they get to feast on fastballs, pitchers adjust and they have a tough little adjustment period where they have to come up with a new plan. The good news is in that first 15-20 games they padded their stats so they look at the scoreboard and don't get down on themselves because things look fine on their statline.

But Carlson got no padding in his 'rookie' period and his rookie period was SUPER short. So his line looks like ass, pitchers are pitching to him like he's an 8 year vet and things are just wearing on him.

I'm really not sure what you can do about it because you don't have an Albert Pujols in the lineup to put him in front of and ensure he gets fastballs like the old days. There's just not a truly scary bat here that can take pressure of him and get him pitches to hit.

When all you have to do once you get past him is pick on Fowler, Weiters, Carpenter, Bader, etc.... you realize that there's just no reason to let him beat you. The guys behind him aren't gonna if you pitch him tough and lose him.

Move him to the 2 hole for a few games and see what happens I guess. He has the speed to hit 2nd and some pop.

I watched him track down a ball in the gap and run the bases a couple of times full speed. He looked pretty fast for a 6'3" guy.

I still believe he's a RFer.

Yeah, he can probably play CF for a few years, but he's simply 'big guy' athletic rather than strictly athletic.

It's not as bad as Tavares, who people said could play CF in the minors and when he got to the show he was positively cringeworthy even in the corners. But all the "CF OTF" truthers aren't being completely honest with themselves here either.

You put him in CF and it's only because you have two other bad defensive OFers who's bats demand they be in the lineup. I can't imagine a world where he's much more than average out there over any appreciable timeline.

Anyone see Molinas tweet? What a piece of shit

I mean technically the dude's already had it so there's really no harm, no foul here.

But when your squad is the face of COVID outbreaks in professional sports, maybe tap the brakes a little there, sporto.

For those who havent seen it. FTR its Instagram. WTF was he thinking? Your the damn sad sack example of players not following covid rules and costing you games. Maybe its a culture thing?

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EgNCsP1U...jpg&name=large

Anyone know when that pic was taken?
He looks awfully small in that pic compared to how he looks in a lot of other recent pictures and of course at bat during the games.

It’s a recent pic. He went on to explain in a different post that it’s family members, his house keeper, and a Cardinals staffer. People he comes into contact with daily anyway.

I thought that too. Maybe those dudes are all big but Yadi never has looked like a small guy on the field.

Yadi has gotten scrawnier for the last 2-3 years.

I can't agree with you at all - he looks TINY on the field these days. Hardly any muscle mass at all.

Pudgy Yadi hasn't been a thing for a few years now.

I read Goold said in his chat that Liberatore and Gorman could be here in 2021. Gorman starting 3B. Is this just more front office pumping out propaganda to a friendly “journalist”? Or are they progressing a year ahead of schedule?

Carlson, Gorman, and Liberatore- some good young talent that could be cornerstones for the future. Let's hope they develop.

If you think watching Dylan Carlson adjust to advance major league pitching is painful, wait until you see the kid who CLEARLY struggled with the step from A to A+ try to do it after taking a year off.

Nolan Gorman would get eviscerated at this level. I mean just abused. Dude would bat .200 w/ 215 strikeouts and 15 homeruns he hit in blowouts off mopup relievers.

I honestly think he's at least 2 more years away and potentially 3 after losing this season of development. Maybe they're seeing something in these camps that's changed, but based on anything we've seen thus far, he's a mistake hitter with massive holes in his swing (with solid pitch recognition but against really raw arms).

Liberatore, OTOH, I could see starting games for us at some point next season. He'd also have to explode through the system but w/ the leverage he can get on his pitches and the life he has on his fastball, he's the kind of guy that can move quickly if his mechanics lock in and his body matures. If he's suddenly working at 96 and has developed enough consistency to really stay on top of his breaking pitches, he could rocket through the system and w/ an injury or two, end up making that jump from AA to the majors that you'll see with some really polished prospects.

When are they going to fire "BT"? Games are simply unlistenable with him and drunk Dan

Someone else noticed it?

Friday night with Horton he was OBVIOUSLY hammered. Kept telling the Holliday/Hayes story and doing a god-awful impression of...something.

I've been listening to the Royals broadcast this week because Dan's obviously back on the sauce. And with Edmonds on, I can tolerate drunk Dan. But when it's Dan up there with Horton or worse, Butters, it's just intolerable.