Ben Frederickson Live
Bring your Cardinals, Blues, Mizzou and STL sports questions, and talk to Post-Dispatch columnist Ben Frederickson in a live chat starting at 11 a.m. Tuesday
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Don't take Jayhawk-bashing from me. It's one of the few Big 12 ties I have left. A tip of the cap to another great season, no matter how it ends. And this was supposed to be a down year. Argh.As for the coaches, I think they will help. Maddux, Oquendo and Willie were very hands-on this spring. Maddux seems to have struck a chord with his guys. And, to his credit, Matheny is letting them do their thing. Now, let's see how it meshes on the fly when the games begin to count .
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I think we talk about it a lot more than the Cardinals do.But I think Matheny received a message loud and clear when his coaching staff was churned last season, and some heavy hitters were brought in before this season.Teams that are running smoothly don't do coaching maintenance on the fly.
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Tough job.And the one in New York is notoriously tough.It just comes down to expectations, and do you feel like you have the right guy in the seat to achieve those expectations.That, more than what have you done for me lately, seems to be the way the trend is moving.That was my point, that managerial records are no longer the only way managers are hired and fired.
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I think a hybrid DH could be interesting and a way to make both leagues the same. The hybrid DH would be tied to the starting pitcher. As long as the starter is in, the DH hits for him. If the starter has to leave due to injury before the 5th inning, the DH is tied to his replacement. Otherwise, the DH must leave the game when the starter leaves, or replace an existing position player in the field. This leaves late game pinch-hitting strategy intact but keeps the starting pitchers from having to hit. Rosters could be expanded by 1 for the extra hitter. Thoughts? -
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Why don't the Cardinals start the season with a 5th bench player and wait until they need a fifth starter to call him up. I know it isn't a lot of games but in 4 games that extra player might come in handy and they could still keep 8 pitchers in the bullpen. Am I missing something?
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Ben,
If the Cards have so much pitching, as they say they do and the PD and others have written about. I’m having a hard time justifying the Gregerson/Norris deals. PD writers keep saying Norris he closed for Angels. Well yeah. But it wasn’t great and nobody in MLB thinks of him as a closer except apparently Cards FO. Just seems a little to nieve if your stance is a play off team. Thoughts? -
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Norris has more saves in his career -- 19 last season -- than anyone else currently in the bullpen. If he's not referred to as a closer candidate, no one can be. Still think Leone and Lyons are better options at first.The Cardinals need a closer to emerge, unless they are truly going to go matchups all the way through. That worked in Memphis last year.
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So you said since CArles Martinez has given the Cardinals three seasons of 20 quality starts is the bar?
How about three straight season of 20 wins?
When did quality starts replace victories?
My opinion. Carlos Martinez has been a JUG. Just a guy.
Nothing more. Nothing less. -
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Just trolling, more than anything.But anyone tied to the NCAA/FBI mess should think long and hard about jumping if they have a good place to land.Could get ugly, based on the reporting that has been done on the subject.And coach's don't skate with the I-didn't-know approach anymore. At least they are not supposed to.
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Why are people treating Hicks ascension like a given? Pump the brakes here, he's only pitched at A and at a 7.3 K/9 it's not like he blew threw the league. Plus it's the same argument as Holland if Hicks comes up, or for that matter if Helsley or Hudson come up, someones gotta go.
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Scroll down. We hit on it earlier.Another thing to add: There were at-bats Pham has this spring when he was intentionally working on getting deep into counts. Not every spring at-bat is the same.That said he didn't have the results he wanted when he tried to start getting season-ready. He had a positive last game in the back field, then a positive last Grapefruit League game. He seemed to be putting it together at bit as the team left Jupiter.
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How about this for a DH solution: every team (regardless of league) gets three DH at-bats per game. These can be used at any time to have a non-defensive player take the place of an offensive player without having to make a defensive substitution (AL rules). Once those three DH at-bats are used, normal defensive substitutions must be used (NL rules). This would preserve the value of the DH position and keep the rules between the leagues uniform without completely eliminating the usefulness of a pitcher that can hit. And, if anything, more strategy would be introduced. Sounds kind of silly, but I've heard much weirder ideas introduced in the "Manfred-era".
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