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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Gossip time!Here's the blow-by-blow for the rest of the group.Dan Bettlach of ESPN101 reported, citing sources he did not name, that there is a Steen-Petro divide in the dressing room.Kelly Chase very publicly squashed that.Ah, Twitter.I can't confirm any Steen-Petro factions.That said, you don't have to be a Blues insider to understand why the team would not be in the highest of spirits at the moment. They're getting their tails kicked. Six-game losing streak and some embarrassing efforts before that.Mike Yeo has had to treat these guys like high school kids.He punishes them by making them skate lines in practice. He forces them to sit in front of their lockers and talk to the media after terrible losses. He called them in and sent them home, leaving the impression that they needed to get right before being on the ice.I don't know what else you want him to do. At some point it's about personal pride. And I do think it's fair to question Petro and the player leadership in place for having a role in the downward trend of this team as the season has progressed.
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Mikolas was quoted after his poor start stating that he usually likes to work down in the zone. Maddux has talked about working up in the zone. Was Mikolas attempting to work up in the zone and was shelled for it or was it just an overall poor outing? (I know its only his first start and its February)
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Mikolas said he left too many pitches up in the zone, and lacked command on his breaking pitches. The Maddux-encouraged technique of going up in the zone is about climbing the ladder for a strikeout pitch on a pitch that would not be called a strike, but the batter chases. I don't think that's what Mikolas was referring to. He just wasn't sharp.
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Same thing he dealt with last year. Until it's clearly a bigger concern than that, I'll trust Carpenter to be ready for the start of the season.Here's his latest quote on the matter:
“I’m not concerned at all. Last year, when I took the time off not to go to the World Baseball Classic. . . I could have played in it but it wasn’t smart.
“Very similar to how I feel right now. I could go out and grind through spring training games. But is that smart? Last year, I was able to take some time off and I had no issues through the season with it. That’s kind of the same game plan we’re using.”
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Doesn't it seem strange that teams workout in the mornings all Spring and play afternoon games and then come the regular season games don't start until 7 and players never report before 12? You would think with internal body clock research teams would realize this and rework their Springs.
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Hey, cut that out.It helps the journalists to have things wrap up as early as possible.No, your point is valid. And it's something that is discussed. It's why you see some night games toward the end of ST. As teams become more and more in-tune with sleep schedules and biological factors' impact on players, you might see some changes.
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In a recent article ranking MLB rotations in 2022, the Cardinals ranked 3rd with the projected rotation being Martinez, Reyes, Weaver, Wacha, Flaherty. The future of our pitching is certainly bright but its hard to say the same with position players. I know the young outfield looks promising and maybe Perez can mature to be the SS of the future, but it doesnt seem like theres much else coming up the pipeline. Is this a legitimate concern that would change the Cardinals draft mindset or will they just count on signing free agents and making trades with their plethora of young pitching?
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The best way to draft sure-thing, position-playing stars is draft high. I don't think the Cardinals are going to tank to get those kind of picks, so they will have to keep trying to catch players other teams missed -- which is increasingly hard to do it seems -- and develop while they can with an eye on trades/free agency for what they don't. Trading for Ozuna was an example of that.
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No love for the NCAA? At least the other people get paid. The amateurism argument is going to have a hard time not looking silly during this FBI sting on college hoops corruption. When something makes money, business will exist. Pretend it's not a business, and the business will operate in the shadows. Always.
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I’ve really appreciated the coverage you and Derrick are providing, and specifically the details you are giving us about how Mike Maddux is shifting the Cardinals pitching approach as a team. You guys have specifically covered how Maddux is using spin rate data to encourage more Cardinals pitchers to pitch fastballs up in the zone. The other pitching revolution that has been on the rise across baseball recently has been the curveball revolution. Pitchers like Lance McCullers, for example, have been leading with their breaking balls and using fastballs as a supporting pitch, in a break from baseball orthodoxy, which maintains that the fastball must be established to set up breaking balls. Is this an approach that Maddux also is considering for certain pitchers on the staff? I could see Wainwright in particular as being a candidate for making his curveball his most used pitch, since it is his best.
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Aaron, I'll pass along your compliment to the crew. Looking forward to getting down to Jupiter soon to help out. And I'll take your question with me.Peter, as of now, no. The Cardinals are standing by what they have said for some time now. They're comfortable and confident in what they have rotation-wise.Sorry for the double answer. Accidentally approved two.
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I think it's about variety. If you only go low in the zone, hitters learn that. Also: It's about taking advantage of the fly-ball trend. Everyone wants to hit the ball in the air. Everyone is a little more willing to chase a pitch that might produce that result. So, if you have the gas to blaze it by, and turn a ball into a swing and miss, you can use the hitter's desire against him. Just make sure you get it high enough and hard enough that you're not serving up a home run.
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What type of Blues team do you expect to see tonight? A) A pissed off team that just saw a very well liked teammate shipped off b/c of their recent lousy play or B) a team even further demoralized/divided (whatever you want to call their issues) who will fade down the stretch.