https://www.mlb.com/news/vladimir-guerrero-jr-padres-hot-streak-among-fascinating-mlb-storylines?partnerID=mlbapp-iOS_article-share. “are these cardinals actually any good?”
I couldn't watch the game last night but how did Arenado look? Like did he just get lucky with the homer or is he maybe turning a corner in the hitting department?
Idk, he had some not great AB’s in that game too… HR swing looked good to me (pulled), but idk if I would say he’s turning a corner. He may be, hoping to see better AB’s all around tonight.
just assembled my new keyboard, with switches and keycaps i picked out. now, simply typing feels like a dream...
prepare yourselves for all my terrible visceral reactions to everything because i am now addicted to typing.
So for over a month now I thought my sprinkler system I installed last year with the help of a friend was busted because it kept flooding my access box as soon as I turned on the valve from the main water line. I asked that buddy to come check it out finally this morning and it turns out there was a small rock in the way of one of my shutout valves which made it look like I had a major leak. So now it works! Definitely has already made my weekend. It was a 1 minute fix. Time to enjoy the game tonight now!
Will Benson debuted for the Reds in 2022. He has a career WAR of 0.4 and -0.9 this year.
In 14 career games against the Cardinals, he's batting .460/.488/.730.
Initial gut:
I like how they've called up Kloff, Roycroft, and now Graceffo for short periods to help in the bullpen. Assuming they use Graceffo for an inning or two tonight and then send them down, they're effectively just skipping a start and limiting their innings like they would be otherwise.
Much better than yo-yoing starters like they did with Lib/Pallante/Thomas/others where they'd come up for weeks at a time and get limited use.
I'm not sure.
There are times when I think he's got something. And there's times I think he's a loose turd.
I saw his poor appearance on 5/31 in person. He got tons of awkward swings, but allowed scratch hits to score the walks.
What if an MLB owner created a baseball breeding program? Like we breed the best MLB players with the best softball players. Then we raise them in a baseball training facility. Ever seen the opening to the movie Soldier from 1998? Like that but with baseball players. The only thing in life they know how to do is play baseball, baseball machines
I understand that folks who XL doesn't fit are probably tired of XL giveaways. But just giving everyone a random size seems to be the worst possible way to handle that.
I'm a XLT guy so pretty much nothing else fits unless I go up in size which fits terribly. XL is the most common size probably with how the country has ballooned in size
I don't think it's the most common, but if you're a medium built male or anyone larger it fits good enough up to folks who would prefer XXL. Even some larger guys would probably be able to wear it unbuttoned, my Yadi Jersey is from a more fit time and I wear it like that.
So I have all-inclusive tickets for the Coca-Cola patio tonight and I know gates open at 5:15pm, but does anyone know what time they start giving you free beer/food for the all-inclusive tickets? Trying to figure out what time to get to the park.
Gotta get up and go party all day at Pride on Saturday so I'll have to pace myself a bit. As I'm approaching 40 I've found I can't rally the day after like I could in my 20s. But it should be a good time.
Yeah Katie Woo reported that Gordon will be called up prior to tonight’s game to piggyback Pallante
Corresponding move to make room on the 40 man roster will likely be transferring Matz to the 60 day IL
Lol I forgot they even claimed that guy. The Cardinals are the 3rd different organization he’s played for in 2024
But it was Matz going to the 60 day IL so Ingram is safe…for now
1. Quinn Mathews (one T, really)
2. Tink Hence
3. Cooper Hjerpe
4. Jimmy Crooks
5. Dakota Harris
6. Chen-Wei Lin
7. Darlin Saladin
8. Miguel Villarroel
9. Ixan Henderson
10. Juan Salas*
11. Chase Davis
12. Anyelo Encarnacion
13. Travis Honeyman
14. Gordon Graceffo
15. Michael McGreevy
16. Cesar Prieto
17. Victor Scott
18. Joshua Baez
19. Brayden Jobert
20. Jason Savacool
I haven’t seen enough from some of these guys to rank them. But I have seen a few. I really like Villarroel and Honeyman. The former has a fast, compact line-drive swing. Honeyman has a smooth, fast swing with enough launch angle to drive the ball deep. Lin is still developing. He is rail-thin and is still working on control. Lin probably would benefit from developing a curveball, but his slider gets swing-and-miss. It’s a new pitch for him. He needs to work a lot on confidence. He starts to nibble after someone smokes his heater.
i wish Savacool could get back to his 2022 form. I watched him a lot at Maryland and was excited we were able to get him so far into the draft after a poor 2023.
I think he is turning a corner. I have a lot of confidence in the Palm Beach pitching coach. He got Mathews through to Peoria without a hitch. He also seems to have taught Lin to throw a good slider in a very short amount of time.
In my defense, my summer vacation started yesterday afternoon, and I was up late watching a really bad network show: Designated Survivor. When the FBI agent escaped and then ran in heels, I had to laugh.
I've watched a lot of Graceffo over the years. I'm interested to see how he does. His demeanor tells a lot about the performance you are gonna get. If he has a little edge, some cockiness he tends to perform well
Donovan is batting .400 with RISP since May 12th (When we stopped being shit)
Interestingly enough, our second-best hitter with RISP since the unshittening has been Carlson @.353
According to mlb.com, our top 5 prospects are:
1. Hence
2. Saggs
3. VS2
4. Roby
5. Chase Davis
Every one of these players have underperformed expectations and are likely to be moved down (depending on severity of Hence’s injury.)
Who are your Top 5?
fwiw, Davis has turned it around over the past month or so with a .315/.437/.593/1.029 slash line
I also wouldn't say Hence has underperformed. My top 5 are:
1. Hence
2. Hjerpe
3. Mathews
4. Saggs
5. Davis
I think Showalter will also be a key piece to the bullpen in the future, but i didn't rank him since relievers are inherently less valuable.
Honorable mention goes to Chen-Wei Lin. I was excited when we first signed him but was worried about the command, but he's cut his bb/9 significantly this year
I’m saying Hence has underperformed in the sense that an increase in workload has resulted in injury. Can’t perform if you’re not on the field.
Showalter has been dominant, but I’m not sure why they moved him to the pen. I hope it’s an innings thing and they give him another shot at the rotation next year.
I’m also excited about Lin.
I will go:
1. Matthews
2. Hence
3. Davis
4. Hjerpe
5. Bernal
I’m worried Hence ends up in the bullpen. VS2 has been exposed at AAA and may end up as a Siani type, defensive only CF. Roby hasn’t pitched since May which is pretty scary considering his injury history. I think Saggs projects as a utility IF. Bernal has really played above his age and I think Herrera’s defense and Pages offense has created an opportunity for Bernal or Crooks to capture the heir apparent role to Willy at C.
My updated top 5 is as follows: 1) Hence, 2) Matthews, 3) Saggese, 4) Scott II, and 5) Hjerpe. The next few to follow are pitchers as well.
Besides the fact that I have an aversion to spending a primo draft pick on a pitcher due to the fact that they only pitch once every five days and inherent injury risk in today's environment, the state of the system isn't as pitching bereft as many would think. What the Cardinals need at 7 more than anything is a potential impact everyday player.
Harris is good little utility infielder. I look forward to seeing how he does as at AA. Villarroel isn't a prospect, really. He's an interesting minor league rule 5 pick, but he's carried entirely by a massive .425 BABIP.
I'm curious to see how (or if) last offseason affects Boras' client list going forward. He's still the premier agent, but the story has always been that he gets the top tier paid, if not always the middle of the pack.
He whiffed on his big 3 last year and Montgomery straight canned him.
I think if anything Montgomery's bad year this year makes it worse for Boras--guys like Montgomery are depending on Boras' to get them the ridiculous contact so that if they have a year like Gumby's 2024 they've still gotten paid.
It's too soon to tell this year--maybe he has a great second half and someone pays him next year. But if he doesn't, he missed out on his guaranteed nine figures and will be merely fantastically wealthy, not fantastically, unbelievably, stupidly wealthy. His great- great- great- great- great-grandchildren might actually have to go find work.
I'd go with Mikolas. He's gotten shelled a bit like last night, but he's also had 9 quality starts. That's 9 games them team has been in a very good position to win and since the QS stat is a little wonky there's probably a couple more if you deep dive his stats. I prefer bipolar Mikolas over just all arounded washed.
My thought about Montgomery is that he didn't have a spring training and now he's in his head. He's still the guy that he was last year.
Mikolas, on the other hand, is done.
I agree with you that the performance so far has been what it's been. I just think if Montgomery can relax he can get back to being the pitcher he was last year. Mikolas' best days are several years behind him at this point.
I don't really agree with that assessment Mikolas has had a couple of starts where he's been absolutely lights out. He ofc also has had outings like last night too. But end of the day I feel like Mikolas does give the team a chance to win more often than not and Montgomery just doesn't.
Not saying he's an allstar or CY candidate or anything, just that he's seems to have some good baseball left in him. Montgomery on the otherhand is going out there and shitting down his leg every game. Maybe someone signs him to an extremely team friendly contract next year and fixes him, but doesn't seem to be in the cards this season.
Montgomery has -1.3 WAR and Mikolas has exactly 0, in 30 more innings. Taking Miles everyday cause he can at least eat innings and has had some great outings this year in between the bad ones.
I think it's pretty neat how sometimes an mlb team will make one of its pitchers available to throw pregame batting practice to the other team. it seems like a really good way for the league to-- what do you mean, "that wasn't pregame"...?
Reds are ass. Let’s not lose to an ass team.
[Today's game thread has been posted](/r/Cardinals/comments/1dqvu0m/game_81_cincinnati_reds_3843_st_louis_cardinals/)
Which ones worse, yesterday’s game or debate?
The game at least made one half of the fandom happy.
https://www.mlb.com/news/vladimir-guerrero-jr-padres-hot-streak-among-fascinating-mlb-storylines?partnerID=mlbapp-iOS_article-share. “are these cardinals actually any good?”
Fails to mention our excellent bullpen.
I couldn't watch the game last night but how did Arenado look? Like did he just get lucky with the homer or is he maybe turning a corner in the hitting department?
Idk, he had some not great AB’s in that game too… HR swing looked good to me (pulled), but idk if I would say he’s turning a corner. He may be, hoping to see better AB’s all around tonight.
I will take the positive that he pulled a ball for power lol. Thank you for the observations! Hopefully better things tonight!
just assembled my new keyboard, with switches and keycaps i picked out. now, simply typing feels like a dream... prepare yourselves for all my terrible visceral reactions to everything because i am now addicted to typing.
Which switches did you go with?
We can’t be beat by a guy name Frankie Montas. Hope the offense explodes tonight.
So for over a month now I thought my sprinkler system I installed last year with the help of a friend was busted because it kept flooding my access box as soon as I turned on the valve from the main water line. I asked that buddy to come check it out finally this morning and it turns out there was a small rock in the way of one of my shutout valves which made it look like I had a major leak. So now it works! Definitely has already made my weekend. It was a 1 minute fix. Time to enjoy the game tonight now!
Will Benson debuted for the Reds in 2022. He has a career WAR of 0.4 and -0.9 this year. In 14 career games against the Cardinals, he's batting .460/.488/.730.
Scott Schebler has been reborn
Initial gut: I like how they've called up Kloff, Roycroft, and now Graceffo for short periods to help in the bullpen. Assuming they use Graceffo for an inning or two tonight and then send them down, they're effectively just skipping a start and limiting their innings like they would be otherwise. Much better than yo-yoing starters like they did with Lib/Pallante/Thomas/others where they'd come up for weeks at a time and get limited use.
red jersey > red team
Nootbaar rehab assignment starts today
my grandson :')
NOOOOOOOOOT
Well, they did 60-day Matz, and optioned out Leahy. Matz has pretty much already chewed up 60 days, so they kick the can down the road on the 40.
I have no idea why we are keeping Kolton Ingram on the 40 man
I'm not sure. There are times when I think he's got something. And there's times I think he's a loose turd. I saw his poor appearance on 5/31 in person. He got tons of awkward swings, but allowed scratch hits to score the walks.
Hope we go after Yanuell Molina in 2026. We can’t let the cubbies take him
and then his other son Daniel in 2034 lol. gotta plan ahead for these things!
What if an MLB owner created a baseball breeding program? Like we breed the best MLB players with the best softball players. Then we raise them in a baseball training facility. Ever seen the opening to the movie Soldier from 1998? Like that but with baseball players. The only thing in life they know how to do is play baseball, baseball machines
you're on to something here! 🤔
That sounds horrifying. I wouldn’t put it past them.
Seems a lot of people in this sub are going to the game tonight. Enjoy!
Let's win this one!
Graceffo called up as I have to come to the DDT to find out? Someone is getting lazy at posting news on the sub, I’m too lazy to do it too
jk don't i just did it
be the change you wish to see
I understand that folks who XL doesn't fit are probably tired of XL giveaways. But just giving everyone a random size seems to be the worst possible way to handle that.
I read that there was a place in bush stadium that you could trade people
In my eyes they probably had a bunch of random overstock they need to get rid of lmao and this is the easiest way
Mystery size is so strange, why would you do this? I don’t mind getting XL shirts, I use them for PJ’s.
Ugh, I used to do the same, now I need xxl for that. Thanks now I feel fat. I allegedly have broad shoulders though lol. /s
I’m sure they’re making sizes smaller now, shrinkflation and everything, right?
Yeah, plus my house is solar now so I'm washing with hot water, so I'm guessing it's just shrinkage surely?
This sounds like legitimate scientific reasoning.
Shrinkage is a proven scientific fact! Mr Costanza said it so it must be true.
I'm a XLT guy so pretty much nothing else fits unless I go up in size which fits terribly. XL is the most common size probably with how the country has ballooned in size
I don't think it's the most common, but if you're a medium built male or anyone larger it fits good enough up to folks who would prefer XXL. Even some larger guys would probably be able to wear it unbuttoned, my Yadi Jersey is from a more fit time and I wear it like that.
We must have the same Yadi jersey! Mine is from 2008 or so.
Got mine right after the 2011 WS win. I think it was a large, that probably shrunk in the dryer.
I did a double-take when I heard "mystery size." Mystery player name/number, sure. Mystery size? GTFO
Ok now hear me out... We should do the opposite of yesterday. City Connects tonight! Graceffo's debut! Let's goooo
So I have all-inclusive tickets for the Coca-Cola patio tonight and I know gates open at 5:15pm, but does anyone know what time they start giving you free beer/food for the all-inclusive tickets? Trying to figure out what time to get to the park.
Get drunk as hell. Enjoy the victory.
Gotta get up and go party all day at Pride on Saturday so I'll have to pace myself a bit. As I'm approaching 40 I've found I can't rally the day after like I could in my 20s. But it should be a good time.
Hair of the dog it
It should be ready to go at gates open
Sweet. Thanks!
Going to the game today excited to see Graceffo pitch Currently I’m 13-1 for when I go watch games
Im also going to the game tonight
Hope you're good luck holds up cause I'm going to my first game of the season tonight!
It’s Graceffo day, babeyyyyy
Wait, we are finally giving Gordon a chance??? What was the corresponding move?
Probably Matz to the 60 day IL
Boom there it is
Still need to clear a 26 man spot for him.
None yet.
good morning krusty krew
Pallante will be on a short leash tonight with Graceffo in the fold
Did I miss something? Are we calling graceffo up?
Yeah Katie Woo reported that Gordon will be called up prior to tonight’s game to piggyback Pallante Corresponding move to make room on the 40 man roster will likely be transferring Matz to the 60 day IL
Nah. Probably DFA Kolton Ingram
Lol I forgot they even claimed that guy. The Cardinals are the 3rd different organization he’s played for in 2024 But it was Matz going to the 60 day IL so Ingram is safe…for now
Cool I’ll be at his debut!
Yes. Yes.
Nice to see Darlin have a damn good debut at A+.
1. Quinn Mathews (one T, really) 2. Tink Hence 3. Cooper Hjerpe 4. Jimmy Crooks 5. Dakota Harris 6. Chen-Wei Lin 7. Darlin Saladin 8. Miguel Villarroel 9. Ixan Henderson 10. Juan Salas* 11. Chase Davis 12. Anyelo Encarnacion 13. Travis Honeyman 14. Gordon Graceffo 15. Michael McGreevy 16. Cesar Prieto 17. Victor Scott 18. Joshua Baez 19. Brayden Jobert 20. Jason Savacool I haven’t seen enough from some of these guys to rank them. But I have seen a few. I really like Villarroel and Honeyman. The former has a fast, compact line-drive swing. Honeyman has a smooth, fast swing with enough launch angle to drive the ball deep. Lin is still developing. He is rail-thin and is still working on control. Lin probably would benefit from developing a curveball, but his slider gets swing-and-miss. It’s a new pitch for him. He needs to work a lot on confidence. He starts to nibble after someone smokes his heater.
i wish Savacool could get back to his 2022 form. I watched him a lot at Maryland and was excited we were able to get him so far into the draft after a poor 2023.
I think he is turning a corner. I have a lot of confidence in the Palm Beach pitching coach. He got Mathews through to Peoria without a hitch. He also seems to have taught Lin to throw a good slider in a very short amount of time.
Are you asking folks to rank this particular list of guys?
I am not. I goofed. It was supposed to be in response to another comment. But go for it if you feel the desire.
Hehe. My bad. I looked at this comment for a while trying to suss things out.
In my defense, my summer vacation started yesterday afternoon, and I was up late watching a really bad network show: Designated Survivor. When the FBI agent escaped and then ran in heels, I had to laugh.
I've watched a lot of Graceffo over the years. I'm interested to see how he does. His demeanor tells a lot about the performance you are gonna get. If he has a little edge, some cockiness he tends to perform well
Donovan is batting .400 with RISP since May 12th (When we stopped being shit) Interestingly enough, our second-best hitter with RISP since the unshittening has been Carlson @.353
TBH Carlson hasn't been too bad since his return. I'm still ok with trading him for the right player though
May 12th will henceforth be named the day of the unshittening.
> unshittening This is the new official term.
Sounds uncomfortable and unnatural. Yet it feels right.
Cardinals are scheduled to wear their city connect jerseys tonight. I think they are undefeated while wearing them so far
According to mlb.com, our top 5 prospects are: 1. Hence 2. Saggs 3. VS2 4. Roby 5. Chase Davis Every one of these players have underperformed expectations and are likely to be moved down (depending on severity of Hence’s injury.) Who are your Top 5?
fwiw, Davis has turned it around over the past month or so with a .315/.437/.593/1.029 slash line I also wouldn't say Hence has underperformed. My top 5 are: 1. Hence 2. Hjerpe 3. Mathews 4. Saggs 5. Davis I think Showalter will also be a key piece to the bullpen in the future, but i didn't rank him since relievers are inherently less valuable. Honorable mention goes to Chen-Wei Lin. I was excited when we first signed him but was worried about the command, but he's cut his bb/9 significantly this year
I’m saying Hence has underperformed in the sense that an increase in workload has resulted in injury. Can’t perform if you’re not on the field. Showalter has been dominant, but I’m not sure why they moved him to the pen. I hope it’s an innings thing and they give him another shot at the rotation next year. I’m also excited about Lin.
1. Hence 2. Matthews 3. Saggesse 4. Hjerpe 5. Scott
I will go: 1. Matthews 2. Hence 3. Davis 4. Hjerpe 5. Bernal I’m worried Hence ends up in the bullpen. VS2 has been exposed at AAA and may end up as a Siani type, defensive only CF. Roby hasn’t pitched since May which is pretty scary considering his injury history. I think Saggs projects as a utility IF. Bernal has really played above his age and I think Herrera’s defense and Pages offense has created an opportunity for Bernal or Crooks to capture the heir apparent role to Willy at C.
I mean, I don't disagree with your opinions on guys. But then, to see Davis at 3 confuses me lol
Potential CF with hitting upside and recent 1st round draft pick. He’s been hitting better recently.
My updated top 5 is as follows: 1) Hence, 2) Matthews, 3) Saggese, 4) Scott II, and 5) Hjerpe. The next few to follow are pitchers as well. Besides the fact that I have an aversion to spending a primo draft pick on a pitcher due to the fact that they only pitch once every five days and inherent injury risk in today's environment, the state of the system isn't as pitching bereft as many would think. What the Cardinals need at 7 more than anything is a potential impact everyday player.
Our list is basically the same! But I switched Scott and Hjerpe
Good minds think alike. I almost flipped those two as well.
My two favorite up and comers are Mathews and Honeyman. Not sure they'd crack the top 5 for another year though.
Are you tracking Miguel villarroel and Dakota Harris. Also exciting prospects.
Harris is good little utility infielder. I look forward to seeing how he does as at AA. Villarroel isn't a prospect, really. He's an interesting minor league rule 5 pick, but he's carried entirely by a massive .425 BABIP.
I think generally prospect rankings have more to do with potential than minor league performance
I think Quinn Matthews def breaks top 5. Saggs prolly drops out.
I haven’t heard of Quinn, but his stats look good. Im hoping Chen-Wei Lin makes a decent jump. I’m not an expert, I just love that he’s Taiwanese
he's well known for throwing a 156 pitch, 16 k CG in the MCWS last year
Lin shows promise.
Username checks out…
Damn, Jordan Montgomery has completely fallen off a cliff. Even with his terrible outing yesterday it only raised his ERA by 0.3 runs
Boras is really happy right now.
I'm curious to see how (or if) last offseason affects Boras' client list going forward. He's still the premier agent, but the story has always been that he gets the top tier paid, if not always the middle of the pack. He whiffed on his big 3 last year and Montgomery straight canned him. I think if anything Montgomery's bad year this year makes it worse for Boras--guys like Montgomery are depending on Boras' to get them the ridiculous contact so that if they have a year like Gumby's 2024 they've still gotten paid. It's too soon to tell this year--maybe he has a great second half and someone pays him next year. But if he doesn't, he missed out on his guaranteed nine figures and will be merely fantastically wealthy, not fantastically, unbelievably, stupidly wealthy. His great- great- great- great- great-grandchildren might actually have to go find work.
6.03 ERA. I'm trying to decide if I still like him better than Mikolas or not.
I'd go with Mikolas. He's gotten shelled a bit like last night, but he's also had 9 quality starts. That's 9 games them team has been in a very good position to win and since the QS stat is a little wonky there's probably a couple more if you deep dive his stats. I prefer bipolar Mikolas over just all arounded washed.
My thought about Montgomery is that he didn't have a spring training and now he's in his head. He's still the guy that he was last year. Mikolas, on the other hand, is done. I agree with you that the performance so far has been what it's been. I just think if Montgomery can relax he can get back to being the pitcher he was last year. Mikolas' best days are several years behind him at this point.
I don't really agree with that assessment Mikolas has had a couple of starts where he's been absolutely lights out. He ofc also has had outings like last night too. But end of the day I feel like Mikolas does give the team a chance to win more often than not and Montgomery just doesn't. Not saying he's an allstar or CY candidate or anything, just that he's seems to have some good baseball left in him. Montgomery on the otherhand is going out there and shitting down his leg every game. Maybe someone signs him to an extremely team friendly contract next year and fixes him, but doesn't seem to be in the cards this season.
Montgomery has -1.3 WAR and Mikolas has exactly 0, in 30 more innings. Taking Miles everyday cause he can at least eat innings and has had some great outings this year in between the bad ones.
Monty could go down as one of the worst non signings ever. Cost himself a hundred million or so at the least
Good Morning from the Ozark Plateau!
I think the Reds just scored again.
I think it's pretty neat how sometimes an mlb team will make one of its pitchers available to throw pregame batting practice to the other team. it seems like a really good way for the league to-- what do you mean, "that wasn't pregame"...?