also i am really looking forward to DR vs PR tonight (carlos martinez is starting, hopefully yadi is too)
― Karl Malone, Tuesday, 14 March 2017 17:18 (seven years ago) link
i know i'm falling prey to recency bias because he has been absolutely awful today, but i see wainwright as the 5th best starter in the rotation this year. martinez is clearly better, no need to elaborate. lynn has looked like his old self. wacha has been a pleasant surprise as well. leake will probably keep being average, but that's better than wainwright these days. he made a big deal about his alleged rediscovery of his curveball a few weeks ago, and said that over the offseason he was tossing the ball around with his wife and suddenly realized (after fasting and praying passionately for 40 days and 40 nights) that back during his old tyme excellent curveball days he had employed a ~different grip~. With his redisovery of the blessed grip his curveball would be back to where it once was. the way he talked about was like the prodigal son had returned. he also admitted that he never had a feel for the curveball in 2016.
anyways, it's been painful watching his pitch today, but it's not that much different from watching him pitch last year.
― Karl Malone, Friday, 17 March 2017 18:10 (seven years ago) link
good lord, i typed all that before that grand slam
― Karl Malone, Friday, 17 March 2017 18:12 (seven years ago) link
wainwright: 1.2 innings4 BB0 K10 ER7 H1 HR
game score of -8
honestly it looked way worse than that
― Karl Malone, Friday, 17 March 2017 20:29 (seven years ago) link
bengie has some thoughts on the yadi extension:
"It annoys me how the Cardinals have put some distance with him," Bengie said. "He's not asking for seven years or 10 years or $200 million. He's asking for three years, at least, in his hometown, in the place that he's sweat in that jersey so much. He's given his all for that jersey all his career since the Minor Leagues."Don't you want to have this kid? This is a leader, man. This is a kid who can help your catchers, take care of your catchers. This is a kid who can take care of the pitching and show them so much. Don't you want to let him finish his career, three more years, and whatever he wants? He just wants to be the best-paid catcher."
― Karl Malone, Friday, 17 March 2017 20:32 (seven years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWQACEMW0i4
― Karl Malone, Friday, 17 March 2017 20:33 (seven years ago) link
he had me until the last sentence
― mookieproof, Friday, 17 March 2017 23:25 (seven years ago) link
puuuhscotty. puuuh-scotty. i can't stop saying his name like that, really slow and drawn out, sometimes with a b at the beginning instead of the p
when i was a kid i said it like this too, until i finally realized i was supposed to pronounce it steven spaghetti
― why ruin a good tradition? (Will M.), Sunday, 19 March 2017 06:45 (seven years ago) link
punxsutawney, obvs
― mookieproof, Sunday, 19 March 2017 06:52 (seven years ago) link
@LangoschMLBMatheny hinted that Matt Adams will see his first game action in the outfield later today. Stay tuned.
who said spring training was boring
― mookieproof, Wednesday, 22 March 2017 15:12 (seven years ago) link
Matheny's brain
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/4a/6e/ee/4a6eeee98d87505f483e26ca04955064.gif
― nomar, Wednesday, 22 March 2017 15:33 (seven years ago) link
https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--sDpwVVlr--/blrasaynicot8xuf4moo.jpgand he's still injured from that #Mike
― bnw, Wednesday, 22 March 2017 16:13 (seven years ago) link
one of the rules of america card nation is that we must have a completely inappropriate person ready to play outfield at any moment. if none can be found, matheny will just find someone on the DL (a Grichuk) who can't throw and force them to play there.
― Karl Malone, Thursday, 23 March 2017 05:21 (seven years ago) link
tbf they are not the team that just signed 30-year-old, 250-pound pedro alvarez -- a man who committed 23 errors as a first baseman in 2015 -- with the idea of making him an outfielder
― mookieproof, Thursday, 23 March 2017 15:13 (seven years ago) link
Don't give Matheny ideas! There is a chance he reads ILX
― Karl Malone, Thursday, 23 March 2017 15:15 (seven years ago) link
Give Matheny ideas! There is a chance he reads ILX
― ein Sexmonster (Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved), Thursday, 23 March 2017 16:23 (seven years ago) link
Has anyone experimented with switching the LF/RF with the batter's handedness, so instead of having a "left fielder" and a "right fielder" you have a "good fielder" and a "bad fielder"?
― why ruin a good tradition? (Will M.), Thursday, 23 March 2017 20:28 (seven years ago) link
i'm imagining 2011 lance berkman puking his guts out after running back and forth from LF to RF 3 times in an inning
― Karl Malone, Thursday, 23 March 2017 20:43 (seven years ago) link
So Wong couldn't make it to the opener as the everyday 2b... feels familiar?
― bnw, Sunday, 26 March 2017 04:15 (seven years ago) link
ugh, really? did they announce it?
in similar news, jeremy hazelbaker, oops, i mean jose martinez, made the club, pham down to the minors.
― Karl Malone, Sunday, 26 March 2017 04:20 (seven years ago) link
if that's true about wong, they should trade him. enough fucking around with him. matheny can't handle it, just trade him to a smarter team and at least get something in return
― Karl Malone, Sunday, 26 March 2017 04:22 (seven years ago) link
lots of juicy wong drama here:
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/baseball/professional/cardinal-beat/wong-would-rather-be-traded-than-platoon-at-second-base/article_9d03dd0f-b604-5be7-8a44-0287814094da.html
as i mentioned above, i think they should trade him, but it's nagl for wong to be complaining about playing time when he's not clearly better than gyorko/garcia.
― Karl Malone, Monday, 27 March 2017 15:57 (seven years ago) link
god, i'm watching the espn feed of the mets/cardinal and there was some really sad commentary on the matt adams in LF experiment. paraphrasing: "the first ball hit to matt adams in LF will be the first ball he ever catches in LF during a game. i asked adams how he was feeling about this game and he said 'eduardo...i'm nervous.'"
we are all nervous. goddammit matheny, every year i think i have prepared myself but you keep innovating
― Karl Malone, Tuesday, 28 March 2017 17:12 (seven years ago) link
they sent pham down to the minors and go with the hot hand in the immortal jose martinez. granted, pham was having a crappy spring training, but he's a reliable backup in the field and his bat is usually decent. instead we get jose martinez. it's not hard to imagine a scenario where one of the three starting OFs goes down with an injury, martinez sucks ass for 3 weeks, and then magically you have matt adams as your temporary LF for a while. or they send wong out again to give it a shot. there's going to be a lot of adversity this year.
― Karl Malone, Tuesday, 28 March 2017 17:18 (seven years ago) link
much of Matheny's roster dicking last year was all a cascade effect of when Moss went into a horrible slump but Matheny kept playing him at 1st and would look everywhere else for offense.
I'm pretty sure the recent Wong drama coincided with a 1-0 spring training loss.
His mental process is so obvious and he's usually reacting to his own bad decisions. Like "I should play Wong in LF b/c he needs to get at-bats to get out of his slump!"
― bnw, Wednesday, 29 March 2017 14:29 (seven years ago) link
brisbee predicts 4th place (although he admits that he's trolling and actually thinks it's 3rd place).
It’s been a bad idea to underestimate the Cardinals for, oh, about 20 years or so. But here’s a partial list of what I’m not buying:Kolten Wong’s batThe team finding about 75 homers on the bench againMike Leake’s viability in a homer-happy eraAdam Wainwright’s ability to bounce back at 35Aledmys Diaz being the great hitter he was in the first half, instead of the solid hitter he was when he came back from injuryLance Lynn returning like nothing happenedMichael Wacha putting his miserable 2016 season entirely behind himDexter Fowler repeating his career yearAdd it up, and what do you get? I'm predicting a fourth-place finish, but what we'll actually get are 93 wins and Rookie of the Year votes for Harrison Bader. I’m no dummy. I know exactly how this is going to look stupid by August. But when you spend 7,000 words writing predictions, sometimes you just want to watch the world burn. Of all the would-be contenders, though, the Cardinals have the most obvious worst-case scenario, and it doesn’t take a lot of suspension of disbelief to get there.
Kolten Wong’s batThe team finding about 75 homers on the bench againMike Leake’s viability in a homer-happy eraAdam Wainwright’s ability to bounce back at 35Aledmys Diaz being the great hitter he was in the first half, instead of the solid hitter he was when he came back from injuryLance Lynn returning like nothing happenedMichael Wacha putting his miserable 2016 season entirely behind himDexter Fowler repeating his career year
Add it up, and what do you get? I'm predicting a fourth-place finish, but what we'll actually get are 93 wins and Rookie of the Year votes for Harrison Bader. I’m no dummy. I know exactly how this is going to look stupid by August. But when you spend 7,000 words writing predictions, sometimes you just want to watch the world burn. Of all the would-be contenders, though, the Cardinals have the most obvious worst-case scenario, and it doesn’t take a lot of suspension of disbelief to get there.
http://www.sbnation.com/a/mlb-2017-season-preview/st-louis-cardinals
― Karl Malone, Wednesday, 29 March 2017 15:42 (seven years ago) link
Yadi, 55 millions for 3 year per mlb dot com.
― Van Horn Street, Friday, 31 March 2017 01:12 (seven years ago) link
rosenthal says 55-65 million, and that molina will be the highest paid catcher in the game (per bengie and yadi's wishes, it seems), at least per AAV
― Karl Malone, Friday, 31 March 2017 03:35 (seven years ago) link
in cold baseball terms it's probably an overpay, but the cardinals ownership has had a surplus that they keep threatening to spend the last few years, so if this is how they do it, so be it. it would be great to see him close out his career as a cardinal, and hopefully get a chance at one more championship before replacing matheny as manager.
― Karl Malone, Friday, 31 March 2017 03:38 (seven years ago) link
commenter on mlbtraderumors that wrote that lucroy just popped a bottle of champagne otm
― Karl Malone, Friday, 31 March 2017 03:39 (seven years ago) link
twitter is brutalhttp://i.imgur.com/7M0ZOhN.jpg
― bnw, Friday, 31 March 2017 13:52 (seven years ago) link
in cold baseball terms i'd say it's a ridiculous overpay, but i think it's cool that they did it
― mookieproof, Friday, 31 March 2017 15:05 (seven years ago) link
It could have been worse, they could still owe Pujols 150 million.
― earlnash, Friday, 31 March 2017 15:38 (seven years ago) link
lol, yeah.
i don't know, i think $55 million for 3 years isn't too bad. $8-9/WAR is the going rate for free agents these days, and three years from now that's likely to be around $11 to 12. So assuming a middle ground of $10 million per WAR, they're asking yadi to generate 5.5 WAR over 3 years. i think he'll do that, or at least come close. the effect on fans and attendance is more limited because most games come close to selling out anyway. people will turn out to see yadi's final days but they were probably going to the game anyway.
― Karl Malone, Friday, 31 March 2017 16:39 (seven years ago) link
America's opening day starting lineup:
CF: Dexter FowlerSS: Aledmys Diaz1B: Matt Carpenter3B: Jhonny PeraltaC: Yadier MolinaRF: Stephen Piscotty2B: Jedd GyorkoLF: Randal GrichukSP: Carlos Martinez
― Karl Malone, Sunday, 2 April 2017 22:18 (seven years ago) link
Wong is probably having feelings right now
Peralta batting cleanup was a possible worst-case scenario for this season, but i didn't think it would happen on opening day. hopefully the guy bounces back this year but...probably not.
― Karl Malone, Sunday, 2 April 2017 22:20 (seven years ago) link
plus WAR undervalues catchers, especially their defensive effect of the game.
― Van Horn Street, Sunday, 2 April 2017 22:21 (seven years ago) link
xpost
yep - i think BP's WARP incorporates some additional defensive catcher value that fangraphs and baseball reference don't use, and it boosts yadi's value quite a bit
― Karl Malone, Sunday, 2 April 2017 22:31 (seven years ago) link
Cards fans cheering on Fowler like they just signed Mike Trout.
― Van Horn Street, Monday, 3 April 2017 00:50 (seven years ago) link
He seems like a good guy
― Karl Malone, Monday, 3 April 2017 01:20 (seven years ago) link
He's immediately pretty much the most interesting person on the team, apart from Martinez. Nearly everyone else is very, very boring
― Karl Malone, Monday, 3 April 2017 01:21 (seven years ago) link
writing this as oh is coming in
mike matheny. you are dumb. bad process. you are dumb. i hate you.
― Karl Malone, Monday, 3 April 2017 03:22 (seven years ago) link
i don't care if oh gets the double plays and the save next inning, mike matheny is the woist
schwarber and rizzo, both lefties, coming up, so he brings in the right-haned Oh to get a 5-out save. and never even had a second guy WARMING UP! nope, why would you warm up a lefty and a righty at the same time? no reason to do that. especially on opening day, when no one is tired...at all.
― Karl Malone, Monday, 3 April 2017 03:24 (seven years ago) link
the rain begins
― Karl Malone, Monday, 3 April 2017 03:27 (seven years ago) link
Matheny's thinking process vindicated, back to America.
― Van Horn Street, Monday, 3 April 2017 03:31 (seven years ago) link
And I'm proud to be an American where at least I know I'm free
― Karl Malone, Monday, 3 April 2017 03:41 (seven years ago) link
GET SOMEONE WARMING UP
― Karl Malone, Monday, 3 April 2017 03:49 (seven years ago) link
Too late.
― Andy K, Monday, 3 April 2017 03:53 (seven years ago) link
http://deadspin.com/cardinals-rudely-presume-feral-cat-that-ran-on-field-is-1797920735
i know this is coming from a known anti-cardinals publication but jesus fuck i hope this cat is not allowed to be adopted by the fucking cardinals, this is absolutely gross
― qualx, Thursday, 17 August 2017 05:54 (six years ago) link
It is now up to St. Louis Feral Cat Outreach to determine whether living in a ballpark with Mike Matheny as caretaker qualifies as a “happy and healthy life.”
loooooool
― Karl Malone, Thursday, 17 August 2017 05:57 (six years ago) link
St. Louis Cat Nonprofit To Cards: Bullying Us Over Rally Cat Is "Inconsistent With The Cardinals Way"
― mookieproof, Friday, 18 August 2017 02:59 (six years ago) link
it's actually consistent with the Cardinal Way. It's in there near the end. They added it in after LaRussa left. I've been trying to tell people about this for years but everyone has blinders on
― Karl Malone, Friday, 18 August 2017 03:16 (six years ago) link
http://i.imgur.com/QON7ugb.png
Adam Wainwright is on his way back to St. Louis to have his arm examined by Cardinals team physicians, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes. Wainwright allowed five runs in three innings yesterday and has been plagued by persistent pain in his elbow when pitching. MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch notes that Wainwright hasn’t reached 90 mph in either of his past two starts and has yielded nine runs on 15 hits and nine walks with just one strikeout in his past 11 innings (Twitter link). Wainwright recently spent a bit more than two weeks on the disabled list due to a back injury.
― Karl Malone, Friday, 18 August 2017 18:20 (six years ago) link
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DIH3g_YU0AAeHje.jpg
timely
― mookieproof, Saturday, 26 August 2017 02:48 (six years ago) link
America
― Karl Malone, Saturday, 26 August 2017 03:13 (six years ago) link
Jack Flaherty, 21 (Harvard-Westlake HS), tonight becomes youngest starting pitcher to debut for Cardinals since Rick Ankiel in 1999.— Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) September 1, 2017
― mookieproof, Friday, 1 September 2017 20:37 (six years ago) link
now 2 behind the Rockies for WC2
― ice cream social justice (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 7 September 2017 11:49 (six years ago) link
lance lynn is outperforming his FIP at a historical level (ERA of 2.99, FIP of 4.71)
https://www.vivaelbirdos.com/st-louis-cardinals-sabermetrics-analysis/2017/9/7/16248452/cardinals-lance-lynn-earned-run-average-fielding-independent-pitching-luck-peripherals
my condolences to whoever wins the Lance Lynn free agent sweepstakes
― Karl Malone, Thursday, 7 September 2017 16:56 (six years ago) link
(to be clear, i think he'll be a solid #3 in someone's rotation for a few more years at least. but i can also imagine a team overpaying for that shiny sub-3.00 ERA)
― Karl Malone, Thursday, 7 September 2017 17:00 (six years ago) link
pham picked up both his 20th SB and 20th HR today
― Karl Malone, Thursday, 14 September 2017 19:17 (six years ago) link
it's been about a minute since he hit the HR, and somehow the broadcasting team has not made a reference to 20/20 vision. i don't understand why it's taking them so long since they talk about his vision every single game
― Karl Malone, Thursday, 14 September 2017 19:18 (six years ago) link
tommy pham, despite missing the first month because mike matheny thought it was a better move to play matt adams in left field, is 10th in the NL by fWAR. and by fWAR/600, he's second, just ahead of harper and behind only rendon. definitely a bright spot in an otherwise frustrating year
― Karl Malone, Wednesday, 20 September 2017 16:21 (six years ago) link
http://mediadownloads.mlb.com/mlbam/2016/06/16/images/mlbf_818435583_th_45.jpg
look you don't know any better, Matheny gets up close views of his players in action, he knows their strengths
― nomar, Wednesday, 20 September 2017 16:32 (six years ago) link
Juan Nicasio batted with two runners on in the 9th inning of a pennant race. WITH A 40 MAN ROSTER. https://t.co/edzYDcRjPf— stlCupofJoe (@stlCupofJoe) September 23, 2017
of course it worked out because the pirates WAIVED A DECENT RELIEVER LEST HE BE CLAIMED BY A DIVISION RIVAL
FOR WHOM THE PHILLIES AT LEAST GOT SOME SHITTY PROSPECT
jfc
― mookieproof, Saturday, 23 September 2017 03:38 (six years ago) link
man i know Bryant is hot right now but Matheny just IBB'd him to load the bases with 1 out and Rizzo and Zobrist on deck
― na (NA), Thursday, 28 September 2017 00:55 (six years ago) link
ha and it paid off of course
― na (NA), Thursday, 28 September 2017 00:56 (six years ago) link
bad process / passable results is the matheny way
congrats to the cubs btw
― Karl Malone, Thursday, 28 September 2017 01:52 (six years ago) link
Players with at least 23 HR, 23 SB, .410 OBP since 1987:AltuveTroutTOMMY PHAMA-RodD WrightAbreuChipperBagwellL WalkerRickey— viva el birdos (@vivaelbirdos) September 28, 2017
― Karl Malone, Thursday, 28 September 2017 22:35 (six years ago) link
arb eligible at 31, free agency at 34 ;_;
― mookieproof, Thursday, 28 September 2017 23:23 (six years ago) link
RIP 2017 cardinals, and america
that final play was a perfectly agonizing, fitting end to the season
― Karl Malone, Friday, 29 September 2017 03:15 (six years ago) link
will they be *spoilers*, like America?
― ice cream social justice (Dr Morbius), Friday, 29 September 2017 15:18 (six years ago) link
i think they'll be half spoilers. wild (card) prediction: i think they'll take 1 of 3 from the brewers, and the rockies will manage to pick up at least one from the dodgers. even if matheny plays his B squad all weekend, that's still a pretty decent team, capable of winning at least one from the brewers.
"high floor, low ceiling" will be the epitaph of the 2016-17 cardinals
― Karl Malone, Friday, 29 September 2017 15:28 (six years ago) link
― Karl Malone, Friday, September 29, 2017 4:15 AM (thirteen hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
there's always next year! as a Cubs fan, watching Matheny and the Cards dugout was "good times", i'm sorry to admit...
https://media.giphy.com/media/8TNHNwBEhhc4g/giphy.gif
― nomar, Friday, 29 September 2017 16:32 (six years ago) link
ICYMI
https://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2017/9/29/16388812/busch-stadium-cardinals-protest-stockley-verdict
― ice cream social justice (Dr Morbius), Saturday, 30 September 2017 11:26 (six years ago) link
fuck yeah, they're bringing oquendo back to 3rd base coach and giving willie mcgee some sort of job
― Currently (Karl Malone), Monday, 23 October 2017 20:02 (six years ago) link
happy willie mcgee's birthday
― mookieproof, Thursday, 2 November 2017 15:53 (six years ago) link
https://i.imgur.com/jEG0gNL.jpg
cardinals figurative boner is getting impossibly hard this offseason
― Karl Malone, Sunday, 10 December 2017 19:06 (six years ago) link
Cardinals "Bitter" After Being Turned Down by Giancarlo Stanton
― omar little, Sunday, 10 December 2017 19:09 (six years ago) link
wow guess he wasn't ready for the cardinal way(TM)
― k3vin k., Sunday, 10 December 2017 19:10 (six years ago) link
https://i.imgur.com/oDYy5Hy.jpghttps://i.imgur.com/H2uBVJo.jpg
luke gregerson, 2 years/$11 million
i think i like this deal? all of his troubles last year seem to come from a huge spike in FB% + HR/FB, plus a jump in BABIP. the rest of his peripherals seem to be in line with the rest of his career, so he seems like a good bounceback guy
― Karl Malone, Sunday, 10 December 2017 23:31 (six years ago) link
I'd think the only thing would be a second year on a reliever at age 33. He was always good with the Padres.
― earlnash, Monday, 11 December 2017 00:01 (six years ago) link
also he can tell the cardinals all of jeff luhnow's secrets
― mookieproof, Monday, 11 December 2017 00:05 (six years ago) link
yeah, ideally all relievers could all be signed for a single year given how volatile they are, but that's the risk you run i guess...
encouraging to see that 3 of his HRs last year were of the minute maid bullshit variety (http://www.hittrackeronline.com/detail.php?id=2017_6059&type=pitcher) and a 4th wouldn't have been a HR in almost half of MLB stadiums.
― Karl Malone, Monday, 11 December 2017 00:06 (six years ago) link
cardinals/astros and yankees/marlins should hold a secret-sharing slumber party
― Karl Malone, Monday, 11 December 2017 00:07 (six years ago) link