Two Birds, One Bat - your 2014 St. Louis Cardinals

pro:

cool, kyle beachy's writing for them! he's an old friend from my chicago days (although he's a stl native) and a good guy. looking forward to reading whatever he writes.

con:

"Which is all to say that the St. Louis Cardinals are objectively the best organization in baseball. By extension, the people who root for them are the best at watching and cheering for baseball. These are facts."

i'm sure that was meant to be tongue in cheek...god please let that be tongue in cheek

rough day at roger dean stadium

i dunno, other than the 7-run 3rd and 8-run 4th they did just fine!

i guess it really isn't so bad, though, when you consider that the murderer's row of stoppelman (who? i don't even know and i sorta follow this team closely!), lyons, and butler gave up 15 of those runs

sorry, forgot fornataro too

wait, who?

lance lynn had 10 strikeouts in four innings today, including eight in a row at one point

yeah, that was nice to see! esp. after his slowish start.

oscar t was sent down to memphis yesterday. only got 6 ABs in before the hamstring. i was hoping that 2014 would be his year, but i'm a little worried. seems like one more leg injury that knocks him out for 6-8 weeks could really kill his momentum.

Bryan Kilpatrick at SBN thinks that might've been premature:

Craig and Bourjos haven't exactly been the poster boys for health, either, so it's quite possible that Taveras will wind up getting his shot sooner rather than later, anyway. But getting him some at-bats against MLB-quality pitching now seems just as crucial as having him rack up plate appearances at a level that he's probably going to dominate anyway. It just doesn't appear that the Cardinals are willing to do that yet.

kolten wong: three hits today, 10 in his last five games, now batting .394 this spring

unless i missed it, this seems to be the first spring training lineup that reflects the expected regular season lineup:

1. Matt Carpenter (L) 3B
2. Kolten Wong (L) 2B
3. Matt Holliday (R) DH
4. Allen Craig (R) RF
5. Yadier Molina (R) C
6. Jhonny Peralta (R) SS
7. Matt Adams (L) 1B
8. Peter Bourjos (R) CF
9. Stephen Piscotty (R) LF

(of course holliday would be in LF and piscotty's spot would be the pitcher during regular season games)

i guess i shouldn't put much stock into it but i'm surprised if they're thinking about batting adams behind peralta

anyone else see diaz yesterday? he managed two hits off of gio in two at bats, and wasn't embarrassing at SS. that last part is the key - he'd likely be a better backup SS than descalso right now, hitting-wise, but if he sucks at SS the whole thing starts to make no sense for this year.

also, here is diaz hitting his first EVER home run, at 8 years old.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_PHk08FZTY

ugh. joe kelly will be the 5th starter. carlos martinez will begin the season as the setup man to rosenthal.

https://twitter.com/dgoold/status/447833280172556288

i'm going to take the optimistic view that martinez isn't starting the season as a SP because he simply hasn't built up his arm to throw 150+IP yet. he's never close to that many in a single season. so maybe they're looking to promote him to rotation sometime midseason as they head (hopefully) toward the playoffs.

but there's something that just SUCKS about joe kelly, out of all people, winning the spot when there's so much talent in the cardinals organization.

Taveras (leg) slipped coming out of the batter's box Monday and will be held out of action Tuesday and possibly longer

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/baseball/professional/taveras-to-be-rested-again/article_3edbb6e8-68e1-5d97-a7f2-07463850b809.html

starting to have a baaaaaaad feeling about oscar. :(

he's no piscotty anyway

if he's ever healthy for more than 3 days straight he's gonna tear it up, mark mah woids

I'm going to take the optimistic view that martinez isn't starting the season as a SP because he simply hasn't built up his arm to throw 150+IP yet. he's never close to that many in a single season. so maybe they're looking to promote him to rotation sometime midseason as they head (hopefully) toward the playoffs.

but there's something that just SUCKS about joe kelly, out of all people, winning the spot when there's so much talent in the cardinals organization.

― love and light (Karl Malone), Sunday, March 23, 2014 9:53 PM (2 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I think most GMs approach is to let the prospects kick the door down and dethrone Kelly.

They could also easily stretch out Martinez once the season is underway and they can replace him in the pen at the deadline.

yeah, i think you're right. also, not to totally jinx everything but it looks like we should be in decent shape to make the playoffs this year. it doesn't make sense for the organization to stretch out Martinez until they need him (heading toward postseason).

meanwhile: New St. Louis Ballpark Village Has A Ridiculous Dress Code

http://i.imgur.com/9tQung9.jpg

i feel like the fact that it mentions sleeveless shirts is progress for the area. finally we are discriminating against all poor people equally!

final real spring training game is today (they play one more against memphis tomorrow). wonder if this is a preview of the starting lineup for the opener:

Carpenter, M, 3B
Peralta, Jh, SS
Holliday, LF
Craig, RF
Adams, M, 1B
Cruz, T, C
Wong, 2B
Bourjos, CF
Wacha, P

with Yadi replacing Cruz in the 6-spot, of course. i like this lineup, and i like bourjos in the 8th spot. hopefully there will be some good opportunities with our speedier guys getting on to start an inning (wong + bourjos), a bunt to move them over from the pitcher, and then carpenter getting some more RBI opportunities

@JosephKellyJr 8m
I feel like I have something to do today

lol

wish the game was a little later so i could watch it!

living outside the lou again is going to hurt me. i am inching closer to the mlb.tv purchase

despite all my whining about it (esp. when the cards are in DC and the game is blacked out on mlb.tv), i am now a 3-year subscriber.

@Jhoanmanuel23 6m
Lineup #Cardinals:

Carpenter 5
Wong 4
Holliday 7
Craig 9
Molina 2
Adams 3
Peralta 6
Bourjos 8
Wainwright 1

that's deep baby :)

my dream lineup for the end of the season is something like

Carpenter 5
Taveras 9
Holliday 7
Adams or Craig 3
Molina 2
Peralta 6
Wong 4
Bourjos 8
Wainwright 1

with either craig or adams being traded midseason to make way for incoming legend oscar taveras

it'd be nice to see wong or ourobourjos push carpenter out of leadoff. but not until OBP justifies it.

don't think bourjos ever will tbh. his obp is probably going to land at around .310 or so, unless john mabry can teach him a thing or two this year. wong might have a chance some day!

that 1st inning catch by bourjos just made me smile

he played deep, but was able to cover so much territory that it was just an ankle high catch, gracefully made. jon jay would have started by running backward, reversing course, then diving at the last second straightforward. every once in a while he would actually make the catch and everyone would be like "god jon jay is great at diving catches" but it's so much more satisfying to have someone who just sprints in and catches it without too much fanfare.

♫ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9bfBJG_OCE ♫

St. Louis Cardinals ‏@Cardinals 10m
Estimated start time of tonight's game is 8:50 p.m. Central Time.

wooO!

where da bats

delayed start, apparently at 4:15 EST

and yeah, they seem like they left the bats back in jupiter.

oh my fucking GOD cardinals outfielders, call for it #@$(@#$

i'm blaming this on jon jay even though even though holliday isn't exactly brooks robinson either

yikes, jon jay, yikes. he redeemed himself by driving in a run with a double, and then got thrown out trying to steal 3rd, for no reason, with lance lynn batting and 1 out. it made no sense to steal there. it's almost like he's subconsciously trying to compensate for his inadequecies as compared to bourjos (he fucked up in the field, and so he tries to steal a base)

So, Matt Adams...

has that fan made it out of the hospital yet?

the NL central has some crazy good young pitchers. cingrani to cole in a 3 game span :[

matt adams otm

woooooooo

― mookieproof, Sunday, April 28, 2013 6:32 PM (11 months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I am going to save my counter-woooooo until the day the bucs inevitably fall below .500 in mid-august

― your holiness, we have an official energy drink (Z S), Sunday, April 28, 2013 7:26 PM (11 months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

otm

― mookieproof, Sunday, April 28, 2013 7:30 PM (11 months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

lol

Jeezus what happened. When I left the house to go the obscure band Kraftwerk's show, it was 3-2!

adam wainwright vs edinson volquez seems a little . . . lopsided

you'd think so, but barnes, martin, mccutchen, tabata, and walker have all MURDERED wainwright in the past (see the "hot batter matchups section" in http://www.rotowire.com/baseball/showArticle.htm?id=20068)

oh man, the mlb.tv audio is fucked up so that the announcers are muted but you can still hear the ballpark sounds. this is AMAZING. i wish this was an audio option for every game, i fucking hate listening to al hrabosky

1) billy hamilton just stretched a routine single into a double, and it wasn't even close. !!

2) with billy hamilton on second and no outs, the reds just had brandon phillips bunt him to third. ??

3) watching billy hamilton in a hotbox situation is amazingly tense. !!

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/shelby-miller-looks-broken

"In the nine starts he’s made since August 30th of last year, he’s thrown 110 breaking balls; hitters have swung and missed at two of them. Same thing with his off-speed stuff; 60 pitches thrown, two swings and misses."

:-O

i never thought i'd be saying it, but if he keeps disappointing for another month maybe he needs trade places with Carlos Martinez for a while.

brutal game last night, eh

what are allen craig and jhonny peralta doing on base at the same time?!!??

JFC

http://i.imgur.com/tNYeXHf.jpg

released today!

http://mikematheny.com/book-matheny-manifesto

with an afterword by Bob Costas.

*fart noise*

i vote to wait a few days, start a new cardinals 2015 thread, and pretend the matheny book never, ever happened

Matheny’s tough-love philosophy contained his throwback beliefs that authority should be respected, discipline and hard work rewarded, spiritual faith cultivated, family prioritized, and humility considered a virtue. In The Matheny Manifesto, he builds on his original letter by diagnosing the problem at the heart of youth sports—Hint: it starts with parents and coaches—and offering a hopeful path forward. Along the way, he uses stories from his smalltown childhood, as well as his career as a player, coach, and manager, to explore eight keys to success: Leadership, Confidence, Teamwork, Faith, Class, Character, Toughness, and Humility.

we can't bring him in, tie-game situation. we're on the road.

we can't bring him in, tie-game situation. we're on the road.

should have been the title of the book

The Matheny Manifesto is co-written with Jerry B. Jenkins, author of the Left Behind series

LEFT BEHIND

http://www4.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Trevor+Rosenthal+World+Series+Media+Day+rxjqmwwNBhdl.jpg

i vote to wait a few days, start a new cardinals 2015 thread, and pretend the matheny book never, ever happened

― ♪♫_\o/_♫♪ (Karl Malone), Tuesday, 3 February 2015 16:00 (2 days ago) Permalink

Amen, preparing for the rapture of a new thread.

You know I'm going to post about that book right at the top of the 2015 thread once you start it, right? Nothing personal; it's just a Cards thing

^^^

From “The Coach Is Always Right, Even When He’s Wrong” to “Let Your Catcher Call the Game,” Matheny’s old-school advice might not always be popular or politically correct, but it works.

Take that, PC police!

"Carlos is going to be the recipient of baseball talk."

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/109429988/with-new-role-cardinals-right-hander-carlos-martinez-gets-new-locker-near-catcher-yadier-molina