Cardinals news and notes: Martinezes, minors, and the Pirates

There’s something deeply exciting about September. We focus so much on October, and sure, a game in September means as much as a game in April, but the tension is there and the sense of dread in checking the out-of-town scoreboard fills our hearts. For all intents and purposes, the Cardinals are already in the playoffs.

But it’d still be cool if they made the actual playoffs, and what’s going on in baseball will, of course, be pivotal in assuring that happens. Here is what happened on Viva El Birdos over the weekend.

• Ben Markham took a look at Jose Martinez’s pitch selectivity and how this is helping him to become a pleasant surprise for the 2017 Cardinals.
• The red baron wrote about the total weirdness that is Carlos Martinez in 2017. He’s had a good season, even though it occasionally hasn’t seemed as such.
• Some Cardinals minor league affiliates are already in the playoffs, and Josey Curtis wrote about the latest happenings in these postseason runs.
• The Cardinals played the Pittsburgh Pirates over the weekend, winning a nailbiter on Saturday by a 4-3 score, in a game recapped by IHeartBoog. Sunday’s game was recapped by Jon Snowzeliak.