Cardinals news and notes: Molina, Holliday, and the Cubs

Good day, sunshine! Today, the St. Louis Cardinals will continue the long and winding road to the conclusion of the 2016 season at Wrigley Field against the Chicago Cubs, while Busch Stadium will play host to a concert by Sir Paul McCartney, Planet Earth’s rock star emeritus. His career has included an unmatched track record of extraordinarily popular and acclaimed hits and it continues even as he grows older: he had a Gold-certified album in both the United Kingdom and the United States (while going Platinum in Russia) with Memory Almost Full when he was sixty-four.

While I have tremendous respect for Sir Paul’s work, not only with The Beatles but with Wings and throughout his solo career, and surely countless St. Louisans have spent years waiting for this moment to arrive, this is a baseball blog and thus I will stick to sports, as the saying goes.

Yadier Molina

I wrote about Yadier Molina’s recent defensive decline, and my relative pessimism that he will get back to his previously elite levels of production behind the plate. However, Yadi’s helter-skelter 2016 has included something of an offensive renaissance. His overall production, measured by Wins Above Replacement, has been up, and while I have my doubts that he will ever be what he once was, maybe I’ll be amazed by him once again.

Carlos Gomez

Yesterday, the Cardinals having a need for additional outfielders seemed so far away, but with news of Matt Holliday’s injury, Craig Edwards examined whether the Cardinals might be interested in Astros castoff Carlos Gomez. While Gomez was somewhat controversial among Cardinals fans after his stint with the Milwaukee Brewers, I have always been a fan, and although his recent inconsistencies mean that the outfield still won’t be as stable as it had been the night before, he could be an intriguing fit. Speaking not as a Cardinals fan but only as a fan of Carlos Gomez, I’d love to see him playing here, there, and everywhere.

Cardinals Care

Lil Scooter implored readers to donate to Cardinals Care, a worthy cause indeed, while also giving a plug for another worthy cause: she is donating $5 both to Cardinals Care and to DVLC Chicago every time Cubs closer Aroldis Chapman records a save. I will be exploring all Cardinals Care-related donation opportunities (I hope to take donations in order to never do a News and Notes like this every again).

Prospects

Ebo handled today’s prospect report, in which he explored which Cardinals minor leaguers could soon find themselves on a jet to St. Louis and which may stay down. Among the top Cardinals prospects were Magneuris Sierra, who stole a base and continues to flash an exciting style of play that we haven’t seen in full force since nineteen hundred and eighty-five.

Cardinals vs. Cubs

Regrettably, the Cardinals had a game and played like junk in a 13-2 to the Chicago Cubs, and As You Van Slyke It recapped it. Good news items were few and far between, but Stephen Piscotty and Jedd Gyorko did hit home runs, and the former seems to have fixed a hole that seemed to have developed recently in his swing.

Luke Weaver goes this afternoon for the Cardinals, so maybe something cool will happen, but anyway, thanks for coming by and saying hello. Goodbye.