Greetings from Cleveland and a construction-riddled route to the hotel. Now is the time to load up the hopper with questions. A Carpenter update is forthcoming this afternoon. So cue some Randy Newman and burn on big river ... We will be chatting shortly.
Martinez did, slightly. But not like the Cardinals need him to. Lyons did, absolutely. Good enough to hold the role, not seize it. Has to do better and pitch deeper into the game to do that.
I don't share yours. I do think there will be options between the Harang/Hamels spectrum, but I don't see the point of an incremental move not when the certain benefit would be less than the cost.
Too early to tell. His return is not imminent today so lots cab happen. Cardinals considering a move that would send a pitcher down to add a position player ... But Matheny stressed that he didn't feel "hand-tied" with short bench.
Can, not cab. Can. Working off the phone right now because there's an issue with my room. My apologies for the delay here. Should be up and running soon.
MLB Pipeline reported that the Cardinals are the "leader" to sign the Venezuelan right hander. What that means on May 11 when they cannot sign him until July 2 is up to interpretation. There's lots of jockeying and speculation at this point, and there is certainly a fair amount of leaking to drive up the price. Cardinals may be the leader today so that another team takes notice and ups the offer tomorrow. That kind of thing. That said, I think the lesson here is that the Cardinals are wading into some higher-bonus interests this year and likely next year as an international draft appears on the horizon and their access to this kind of talent may slip without a fall in the standings.
Dehydration was one of his issues. But he had symptoms that went beyond dehydration, and that's why the team had him checked for a virus and other concerns.
I do every year, yes. Just one these days. There was a time when I filled out stacks and once went on a crusade to write Paul O'Neill into as many ballots as possible. Drove from Mizzou to St. Louis with a couple hundred of those write-in O'Neill votes just to put them in the box and then return back to campus. Yes, that was before you could vote on the Internet, smart guys.
Lohse makes a lot of sense. He checks a lot of boxes, as the Cardinals like to say. Though there has been no concrete evidence of interest at this time. He just fits the type.
Shelby Miller will be good. He will be a good, solid starting pitcher for many years. Adam Wainwright has been great, a perennial Cy Young Award-caliber starter. Miller may get there a few years, but the longevity of Wainwright's work stands out.
Luke Weaver has been in Jupiter, Fla., building arm strength and throwing. He was kept there toward the end of spring training because the Cardinals did not feel he was strong enough to go out and pitch for a full-season club. This is not unusual. Other, young pitchers have been held back for work especially when, like Weaver, they need repetition more than competition at this point. The risk of injury wasn't worth the push. I know there is some concern here because Weaver will inevitably get compared to Wacha, Martinez who zoomed to the majors. Don't. Stop yourself. Those two are outliers. Weaver is more of the type that will progress ala Ottavino, Cooney, etc. Flaherty did have an arm concern and the Cardinals backed off as a result. The initial diagnosis was dead arm. But this is the same kind of thing. Young pitcher. Heightened caution.
A) That's a lot to give. B) Any deal with Reyes is a lot to give. C) There's a redundancy there. Two outfielders. Both at about the same stage of their careers, one slightly ahead. Try mixing it up.
He told me yesterday -- a couple times, much to his chagrin -- that it happened over time and that there wasn't one traumatic moment when it happened. This has happened to him before. He has had a bruise build up in that area, one that tenderized the thumb and made it tricky to grip the bat.
Absolutely. He is, ahem, running away with playing time. It's a lot like many of us expected him to do last year at this time. The difference? He's healthy. He you can see it in his swing. You can see it in his aggressiveness.
As Mozeliak would say: "No one is untouchable." There are few deals that the Cardinals would make that would include Reyes. He's going to be protected as, say, Martinez was in these recent trade periods.
Bernie Miklasz reported that over the weekend. And, yes, it would limit Michael Wacha's innings and Cy Young voters look at innings. You are way ahead of the conversation here putting Wacha in the race for a Cy Young -- but consider that whether the Cardinals go to a six-man rotation or not Wacha is going to have his innings limited and it would be unlikely that he'd pitch 200 innings in the regular season. At the start of the year, that was a number the Cardinals saw as a reach for him in the regular season.
Grichuk is in Florida set to play in extended spring training games. He's doing that to determine if he even needs a rehab assignment. Mozeliak said he hasn't decided that yet. It would be a way for the Cardinals to get Grichuk some games at a higher level without optioning him to that level. Matheny and Jay both said he should be available to hit on Tuesday with a couple days of rest.
I stand by what I've said in the past: He's more valuable to the Cardinals than he is to other teams, and that usually means a player won't be traded.
The Cardinals have repeatedly said this is a two-day injury, not a two-week injury. He had his had in a wrap, not a cast Sunday.
It would be a fine way to go now while the top two are swinging the bat well, yes.
I doubt Allen Craig has seen the last of the major leagues, just as a I doubt that the Cardinals would swoop in to bring him back as an instructor. He might be a good teacher. He just hasn't been in that role. He's a smart hitter who has some well-developed understanding of what hitters need to accomplish. I bet he could convey that to younger players at some point. I don't see him being interested in doing that now.
Mark Reynolds, unless Carpenter is unavailable, then the picking is slimmer.
