A look at the last 6 losses

by SuperSeve on Jun 26, 2006 4:53 AM EDT

Bad pitching? Not clutch hitting? What I noticed is that we were outhit 70 to 58, a 20% difference. But we were outscored 63 to 29, a 117% difference!!

From this I believe that we can point out 2 problems: we do not capitalize on the hitting, also because we displayed not-so-high XBH power, and we tend to fall to big innings.

If we could fix at least the "big inning" illness, I believe that we can compete vs everyone, but a nice XBH man would be a really nice addition too...

GO CARDS!!!

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Umm Craig Wilson anyone...

At least we could agree that he would be an upgrade over Timo Perez...

He seems like a very cost effective option and as has been pointed out elsewhere...he catches from time to time too.

by azruavatar on Jun 26, 2006 8:13 AM EDT 0 recs

supposedly the angels

are going after him, and their farm system is much richer than the cardinals. i think wilson makes a ton of sense but i don't know if walt will be able/willing to top what the angels can offer.

by lboros on Jun 26, 2006 8:27 AM EDT 0 recs

I really believe that Eckstein leadoff is not good, even if he has such a great OBP, due to the lack of XBH both from him and from other guys. I do not have the answer, but I really would do something like putting a faster player leadoff, and move Eck to the #2 spot, despite his lack of power, there he would hurt with his very good OBP. Something like this:

Juan Pierre (or someone similar with better OBP)
Eckstein
Pujols
Rolen
Edmonds
Encarnacion
Molina
Luna
Pitcher

Another idea would be to put Rolen in the #2 spot, and to buy Wilson. I know that Rolen is a great cleanup hitter, but he has the XBH capability more than any other player in our lineup.

GO CARDS!!!!

by SuperSeve on Jun 26, 2006 9:00 AM EDT up 0 recs

If you acquired Wilson

you could potentially move Jed to the #2 spot. I agree with you on Eckstein though...he's a huge part of this team and a real steal financially but his lack of power makes that high OBP misleading.

My only concern is that its much easier to find a mediocre to good outfielder (i.e. Wilson) than it is to find a doubles hitting leadoff guy and Pierre has simply fallen off the map this year and last. He's a risky proposition at this point.

I still think our primary needs are the rotation/bullpen. We may lack a number #2 man in the rotation and short of wainwright our bullpen has been average to bad. Pujols, Rolen, a healthy Edmonds and Encarnacion (who has been producing well lately) make for a healthy middle of the order. I'd love to acquire Wilson b/c I think he'd be cheap but I also wouldn't mind getting Marte from the Pirates as well.

by azruavatar on Jun 26, 2006 9:17 AM EDT up 0 recs

there is no "the answer"

for the cardinals this year, because they have such a multitude of questions.

but wilson (or a similar guy) would meet one obvious need --- lack of power. the cards are tied for 11th in the league in home runs this year and have been outhomered 70-87, which is the kind of ratio you would expect from a .450 team. if they have any hope at all of making a playoff run, they need to change that. wilson would help.

by lboros on Jun 26, 2006 9:39 AM EDT up 0 recs

Juan Pierre's OBP

is around .0000000007 these days. If you want to acquire him, you could get him for, say, a picture of Carp.

by sdrone on Jun 27, 2006 11:14 AM EDT up 0 recs

JED really should move to the #2 spot....

....anyways. Eckstein getting on base is all I care about, doesn't really matter which base he gets to. Albert is the best HR/2B hitter in baseball, so either of those is going to move David across the plate.

The lineup should be:
Eck
JED
El Hombre
Rolen
Contented Cows
Molina
2B (interchangable)
RF (interchangable)
P

Molina has shown lately that he can get a hit in a 2 out situation. Put him in a Ryan Howard spot in the lineup, someone that can clear the bases after all your OBP guys get on.

I've got a mancrush on Craig Wilson because he just seems like a Cardinals type player, and since I've seen him play over 40 times here in Pittsburgh..he's just a fave.

Anyways, with him in the lineup:
Eck
JED
El Hombre
Rolen
Craigers
Contented Cows
Molina
2B
P

That's a lineup, win or lose, I'd feel confident throwing out there every night.

by Hardcore Legend on Jun 26, 2006 11:38 AM EDT 0 recs

The blame for getting outscored so lopsided

has to rest on the shoulders of TLR to some degree. More specifically, it has to rest on his screwy batting lineups, where Miles, Bennett, Molina, Perez, and the like, come up to often with men in scoring position.

by rob is back on Jun 27, 2006 3:22 AM EDT 0 recs

You're partially right..

... and with partially I mean that you're right but things are not going the way TLR & Walt thought them to go.

I strongly believe that the Cards management wanted to build this team around pitching + the MVThree + solid defense, planning this way to have a lot of 2 or 3 run differential games. The big problem with this is that, if the pitching is not keeping its promises, the complete domino falls apart, because the various Miles/Bennet/Molina/etc can't save the day 9 times out of 10. We can survive a bad game from our hitting only if our pitching is of high quality.

In this situation, even though it is true that the Cards need more XBH (and specifically from JED mainly, then from Eck and Molina), I believe that it should be more productive (because more "aligned" with the strategy) to go for another pitcher, a big caliber pitcher, we'll have to spend for pitching next year anyway.

So, who can we pick? Well, a lefty would be better than a righty, so Dontrelle Willis come to mind. I'm not so sure I would pick him, we'll have to spend a ton to buy him, so, spending for spending, maybe it would be better to spend for Kazmir.

GO CARDS

by SuperSeve on Jun 29, 2006 5:04 AM EDT up 0 recs

Well, I don't disagree

but that's not really what I was talking about. I meant that I don't like the way TLR fills out his batting lineup -- by that I mean who he bats when and where he bats them in the lineup. This is obviously very debateable, but I don't think TLR gets the most run production as possible out of his lineups.

I agree with everything you said though. I've been arguing for another pitcher since the start of the year, because I strongly believe that to succeed in the playoffs you need two strong pitchers that you can count on. Other than Carp and Mulder, our staff pitched above it's capabilities last year and Mulder hasn't looked strong enough to be that second pitcher since he arrived in St. Louis. However, I think we now have hope that Reyes can become that guy or that Mulder will, by returning to his pre-2004 form, since his recently diagnosed injury may have something to do with his declining numbers since 2004.

I've since changed my mind though. At this point, I think I'd rather go after a bat than a pitcher, since we now have hope in Reyes and Mulder, and Wainwright is slated to move into the rotation next season. I also don't see any great possibilities with pitchers. I really like Willis, but his k/9 rate is less than desireable and his market value is probably higher than it should be because of it. I don't know very much about Kazmir, but he looks very promising and might benefit from Duncan's tutelage. Unfortunately, I doubt that St. Louis could afford him if he were to become available.

by rob is back on Jun 29, 2006 8:59 AM EDT up 0 recs

Sorry for misunderstanding you

Now I got it and I can agree with you, the lineup can be adjusted to produce some more runs, TLR is very "conventional" in his approach to the batting order.

Regarding the bat vs the pitcher, even though I've always been a Mulder fan (dunno why, but it's the way it is), I believe that, if we really want to give a shot at it this year, we need to add something solid to the rotation. If we're looking to next year, I'd agree with you 100%. Unfortunately there are not so many available "big" pitchers out there in non-contending teams, maybe we can ask Smolz to the Braves or Zambrano to the Cubs.. Naa, forget Zambrano!!!

GO CARDS!!!

by SuperSeve on Jun 29, 2006 11:13 AM EDT up 0 recs

I certainly won't complain if we add a pitcher

but I hope we don't give up any good prospects for one that's 39 years old, like Smoltz. I would for Zambrano in a split second, but I doubt that's going to happen. Mulder and Reyes may be our only hope and Mulder needs to prove his value before next season, so maybe he'll surprise us all and pitch outstanding for the rest of the season after he returns.

by rob is back on Jun 29, 2006 1:25 PM EDT up 0 recs