Cardinals chat with Derrick Goold
Bring your Cardinals questions and comments, and talk to Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold in a live chat at 1 p.m. Monday.
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Notice a trend? A lot of talk on Carp both here and hummel’s page. Do you or anyone else at the PD ever step back and think: “wow these fans really want to see Carp out of the lineup, at least some of them must know what they are talking about, right?” Or do you and the cardinals think we are all idiots that don’t know the baseball from cricket? Believe it or not, some of us know the game really well, maybe more than you. Is that possible? If this was a dictatorship this would be a coup. Whose side would you be on?
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Hello, I'm the messenger. Nice to meet you after you've loosed the arrow. I've passed along the Cardinals explanation for the lineup. I have empathized with many of the fans complaints and criticisms and agreed with many of their points. Because every week in this chat readers show an interest and passion and deep knowledge for baseball. Even I'm smart enough to pick up on it now after six or seven years of chatting.Should I storm the manager's office, overturn his desk, and say that "Derek in the Chat" demands accountability now and Carpenter will not be in the lineup, dammit!!!! I don't really think that's my role. Here's the thing: I'm covering the coup and the dictator, and I'm on neither side. That's the role. Candidly, given the parameters you've set for your side, I won't be joining you for any meetings, for sure. Unlike so many other fans in this chat and elsewhere making strong arguments on either side, your "coup" is too much bravado, too little substance.
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Are they still tinkering with the idea of putting a runner on second in extra ending games? I think they are tinkering with the game I love a little to much. I know times change but they played the game a certain way for over 100 years back when men played the game now we don't have player bowling the catcher or taking out the double play and just put up four for intentional passes. If they start putting runners on second I will quit watching that's going to far. What do you think?
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If I knew precisely, I'd be working for a team, I suppose. I think there are two areas worth exploring. First is the uneasy realm of medical/injury and prehab and the team that does that better and identifies how to avoid injuries or bring back players swifter is going to have an edge that concerns me. Second, I wonder if the next edge is in the development business when it comes to, get this, developing baseball players who are athletes from other sports. What skills that a soccer player in Spain has that would translate to baseball, or a cricket bowler in England, or handball somewhere in Europe? Can the raw athletic materials of a player who grew up playing another game be developed into a baseball player -- and how swiftly? That would be an interesting edge, given the wide wide wide and relatively unregulated talent pool.
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Some length is to be expected because he's geared it for power, for showcase, and he's still young and working on that. Pitch selection is key, obviously. A long swing isn't entirely a bad thing until it's late on the fastball. If it's a long swing in the sense that it covers the width of the strike zone -- then it gets him a better chance to hit pitches that are moving on that plane. I'd draw a line between a slow swing -- one that takes a long time to get going -- and a long swing. That's all. Gorman is going to have a catapult swing, and what the Cardinals want him to be able to do is keep up with the fastball and cover more of the strike zone. Again, pitch selection.
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Some of Shildt's decisions (playing Carpenter over Wong, IF-ers in the OF over Thomas/Aroz) smell a lot like those of the previous administration. When he was hired, it seemed to fans like Shildt would be a little more modern with his approach, but he routinely seems to snub analytics in favor of going with his guys with whom he is comfortable. What's your read on this?
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I don't share your view. Shildt has not only relied on analytics when making decisions, he has used those analytics to illustrate his decisions when asked. There have been multiple times this season when he's veered from the traditional left vs. left matchups and so on because the deeper analytics offer him a guide. Look how he's used Gallegos at times this season. What stands out most around the ballpark is whether you like the explanations or not -- and I have gotten an earful all day today about how the chatters do not like the explanations about Carpenter -- is that at least there is an explanation. At no point today, did Shildt question the intelligence of the question about Carpenter or the right of the reporter to ask about Carpenter or the motive of that reporter. That's different.
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I don't know the front office's ranking of the outfielders that you mention. Sorry. I do know that the Cardinals see Carlson as the highest upside of the group. I know that the front office believes in Bader's future with the team as a starting player, and that was one of the reasons they were reluctant to include him in a deal at the deadline. And I know that Thomas has his fans, O'Neill has his fans, and Arozarena has his fans, and they're not all the same fans. Williams is TBD at this point. Garcia is going to go where his production takes him, and that could be as a six-year free agent to another team at some point.
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It tracks with Carlos Martinez's time as a starter, to some degree. His first innings were rocky. He lacks consistent feel for his best pitch at times. That sneaks up on him. He can be a groundball pitcher and those groundballs get through some times for hits, so if he also walks a batter then trouble brews and an inconsistent outing emerges. It's just distilled when he's only got the one inning and a clear lead to work with.
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tl;dr; Count me in the camp wondering about not playing Thomas and Arozarena.
I like Edman but I fear he's a bit of a beneficiary of love for scrappy little guys with good fundamentals. Amplified a bit by a couple well timed homers. He's put up 0.7 WAR in 182 PAs, wRC+ of only 89, (which is reasonable for a guy who was 106-108 in the high minors), and the defensive metrics don't love him outside of 2B, where Wong should play most every day.
He probably *is* a major league starting caliber player, but a real borderline one. -
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Let me clarify, this isn’t me vs you, I legitimately want to know your decision:
Side 1 of coup: Ride Carpenter until there is no more dirt left in the batters box for him to grab before he K’s (yes I know he has tonight’s only hit, I watch the game too)
Side 2 of coup: Storm the FO and seize command, make logical decisions, keep the promises you made to an elite fan base, lose Carpenter on the next road trip -
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I have read it. The Cardinals, once the leaders in many things described in that book when it comes to development, are now lagging behind and having to try to catch up with the advanced technology-assisted development. They're becoming more adroit at it, more proficient. They're probably a full year behind the teams at the leading edge of this trend and a year ahead of the teams lagging behind. It's interesting because they're good at developing pitchers -- and have usually been at the outer edge at using the tech, whether it's Leveque leading them or departed pitching coaches Davis and of course Strom, but they're plans of a pitching lab got delayed until this year and that has slowed the advance of tech like Rapsodo throughout the organization, though it has been utilized more this season.
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I just want us to do all we can to provide the coverage that you expect and do so at a professional level. That means generating revenue. That means keeping and maintaining subscribers. And that means rewarding them with the coverage you expect. That's the circle. And it is only accelerating. So w have to keep up.
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I don't know. I haven't had the chance here to watch as I try to plow through these questions. But with the seventh inning approaching and he's got 90+ pitches, I'm not sure he has the bandwidth to pull of a solo no-no. I'm trying to check in the dugout. Sure looks like his teammates are keeping their distance.Which brings to the reality that I'm going to have to step aside from the chat and get to work on the game coverage. Paul DeJong, the shortstop with Wisconsin roots, has just hit a home run.It's been a lively chat today. I feel like I made a dent in the questions. Didn't get to all of them as hoped, but that's mostly because it became a bit Sisyphean. There were 200 questions in the hopper when I made that goal -- and there are still 200 in there. That's great dedication from you all, and it is much appreciated. Thank you all for being subscribers. Please check out the other chats that we have here all week at StlToday.com. Rick Hummel has the gamer tonight. Yes, that makes it seven in a row for him. I'm back in that hot seat tomorrow.Yes, I'll be asking about the lineup. Always. It's what we do.-30-
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