Ben Frederickson Live
Bring your Cardinals, Blues, Mizzou and STL sports questions, and talk to Post-Dispatch columnist Ben Frederickson in a live chat from Jupiter, Fla., starting at 11 a.m. Tuesday.
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Presumably you've been following baseball for quite some time, so can you please help me understand why looking at team batting averages, etc. for spring training (which includes guys what will not even put on a big league jersey this year) is even worth looking at, let alone becoming concerned with? were you just trying to fill empty space in the paper or do you really believe that has value?
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Confused, I hope you read more than the headline of the column you referenced. Because in that column, I wrote -- and I quote -- "I'm not going to worry about this Cardinals offense — yet." And I provided reasons to look beyond the numbers as well. I wrote it and asked Matheny about it because I fielded questions from fans about the offense; would it come to life? Same questions I see in these chats.
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Wainwright will be in the rotation all year? Given how awful he was last year, and that his downward trend has been going on for two and a half years, what have you seen this spring that leads you to this conclusion? Do you think that there won't be better candidates for the rotation, or that Wainwright will actually improve his performance? If it's the latter, you must admit that the evidence is against you.
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That wasn't the question, though! I was asked if he's more like to be the starter or the closer at the end of the season. So I picked starter, because I think that's more realistic. If Wainwright pitches like he did last year, the Cardinals will have a hard time keeping him in the rotation -- if they care about competing. They're going to give him a chance to show he's healthy and capable of winning games. He has not done anything this spring to hurt that chance.
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I do not. I picked Mizzou to beat Florida State and lose to Xavier. But, MPJ is a relative unknown. If he hits the shot he missed against Georgia, who knows. Just think Xavier is a better, more complete team at this moment. That opens the door for a plug. You should all join the P-D bracket challenge. You can take advantage of my terrible picks and win big money:
St. Louis Post-Dispatch Bracketball 2018
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That was a snarky comment hitting at BenFred not being knowledgeable about baseball because he referenced a team batting average in an article. I get the game has changed, but it hasn't changed that much. I don't know about you, but the team that scores the most runs has the best offense to me. That would be the Astros who had the highest team batting average (Astros). On the other end, the team with the lowest runs scored, also had the lowest team batting average (Padres). Yes, I have evolved and I'm well-versed in advanced metrics, but let's not overthink the room. Batting average still matters.
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I don't worry much about average anymore. But I know a lot of fans care about it, so I referenced it, along with OBP and slugging percentage and OPS in yesterday's blog post. Stat-shaming isn't really my thing. Some of the new-age baseball thinkers are as intolerant as the old-timers as they claim the old-timers are to the new-age thinkers. We can all learn from each other. And the last thing we should do is tell the people with the most intimate knowledge of the game and experience that their firsthand knowledge is no longer of use.
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That could turn into a concern at some point, yes.Perhaps Francisco Pena spends some time in STL to let Carson get more at-bats in Memphis.But, the Cardinals have been pretty clear they don't think Kelly has much use in Memphis. A change in that philosophy would be interesting.Kelly's challenge is to turn himself into a hitter who is a desirable bat off the bench. That would lead to more action, more meaningful cuts in games.How the Molina-Kelly share works out remains one of the big unanswered questions for the fast-approaching season. And Pena has played well.
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Ben -- You hit on something in an earlier response that troubles me. Maybe the Cardinals are making competitive offers to some of these guys. Maybe they're offering more money. If so, that is really troubling. It tells you this is not a destination location to play anymore. We got a hint of that with Jason Heyward, but I am concerned it's pretty widespread now. Your thoughts?
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Analyzing why a player did or did not come is risky business. Reasons can be so different. That said, the Cardinals have always been big on using their impressive history as a recruiting tool. That's a what-have-you-done-lately situation, though. Telling Stanton about World Series success lacks shine when the last World Series came in 2011, and the postseason absence continues to grow.The Cardinals would probably laugh at this idea, but here's what I would do.I would go to Alabama or another college football powerhouse and poach a recruiting director. I would want someone on the cutting edge of what young players want to see in and from a team. You have to court recruits. The best recruits turn into free agents. I'd want someone who could think outside of the box and freshen up a pitch that might be a bit yellowed.
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I got here Sunday and Monday was an off day. This is the second game, and my head's mostly buried in the chat. I'd be lying if I claimed to see something in a game and 1.5 innings since my Jupiter arrival.I can tell you what I expect.I expect fewer outs trying to take an extra base. Fewer times picked off. I expect more steals from the guys who care capable, and smarter decisions by the not-so-fast Cardinals. Smarter. Not more aggressive. More opportunistic.That's what I expect.