Join Cardinals beat writer Derrick Goold for his live Cardinals chat at 11 a.m. Tuesday
Bring your Cards questions and comments to Tuesday’s 11 a.m. live chat.
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The rule is this: To be eligible for the postseason, a player must be in the organization before Sept. 1. So, that does not mean on the roster. Nope. Burleson, Walker, Winn, Hence, and Hjerpe are all eligible for the postseason if the Cardinals want to put them on the 40-man roster in October. They were in the organization before Sept. 1. -
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I haven't heard Helsley brought up as an option to start. He's relieving quite well, even talked about how knowing that's his role has given him a chance to really become durable and built for that role and bring out more than him. I'm not sure of the connection given the commitment that both team and player have made to the role.They'll continue to experiment with pitching and starters and relievers because that's what teams should do in order to find the best use of talent. How would they know about Gorman at second base or Nootbaar at leadoff if they didn't experiment in a new role?
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With so many Red Jacket no-brainers coming up (Pujols, Molina, Waino, just to name three), do you think the Cardinals will put all three of them into the team HOF at the same time or separate? Also, will they wait for a possible Cooperstown nod (for Albert and Yadi), or give them a Red Jacket before their national HOF enshrinement?
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It's not the Cardinals' decision. It's the fans. If they all retire at the same time, they'll all be eligible the same year for the fan vote into the Cardinals' Hall of Fame. That will happen before they're eligible for Cooperstown. So, Molina and Pujols retire this year, then you're talking about the class of 2022 or 2023 (I'll have to check the rules) for them to be eligible. If Wainwright does not retire, he won't be eligible when they are, and he'll get that chance later.Players are eligible for the Cooperstown vote five years after they retire.Cardinals Hall comes first, by design. And modern players are inducted based on the fan vote, straight up.
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Derrick, can you explain in some detail why Carlson is not playing more regularly? Are his splits that bad? He is our best defensive CF and he still hits better than Bader did. He was untradeable at the deadline and now he is riding the bench. Why don’t they let him fight through his troubles, as they do ONeill?
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To be candid, I hope that we've done this in articles that appear online and in print and that we aren't just waiting for someone to ask in a chat for these details. This has been something brewing over the past several weeks, and it was something foretold in the article I'll link to below from Aug. 16. If anything, I hope the coverage and the details provided prepared you for this.Yes, his splits are significant.vs. lefties he's batting .321, .388 OBP, .505 slugging for a strong .893 OPS.vs. right-handers he's batting .209, .288 OBP, .341 slugging for a .629 OPS.That's a gulch in his splits, and while there were solid trends in July for how he was handling right-handed pitchers and what that meant for batting leadoff and starting in center field everyday. Then it was back to the struggles, and you see the numbers that are there now. He has as many strikeouts (57) as hits (57) in 273 at-bats vs. right-handed pitchers.Why don't they let him fight through his troubles? Short answer: It's September. The time to fight through troubles is early in the season, and that's what you see teams let young players do, let veteran players do, and then when the race heats up and the runway is short, so too is the patience. Produce to play. Tony La Russa would often say at some point in the calendar there comes a time when "he who plays best, plays most, not who you want to get time to play better." There you go.I asked about sending Carlson to Class AAA to get the improvement that Woodford did and that Cabrera has and that Hudson will get (he starts tonight for Memphis), and the answer I got was this: Carlson has proved he can excel and he's done it at the major-league level, so it's not something new they're asking, it's for something to return.Here is the aforementioned story:
Cardinals’ recurring carousel of center fielders turns to Dylan Carlson. Can he stick?
STLtoday.comFor 70 years, center field defined continuity for the Cardinals, especially for title teams. Since 2008, it’s been in flux, from Rasmus to Jay to Grichuk to Bader and now -
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Not really, no. I get the question, and it could make sense. We've seen the demands of a position take away from a player's stamina, strength, energy, all of it. But it sure seems like Edman and the Cardinals have a schedule that is helping his durability and longevity, and that's no small thing. It's to be applauded what he's done this season.
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Hey Derrick, I really enjoy these chats…a lot of good insight as to the inner workings of our Cards. My question to you is how much of a “fan” can you be and still adhere to journalistic standards and fair reporting? And by the way, that’s why I enjoy your chats…you seem to tell it like it is. Thx!
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I am a fan of the game. That I don't hide. I enjoy baseball, and it makes this job fulfilling and also part of why I hoped to earn the chance to cover baseball in my career. It was a goal because of my fondness for the game, for its history, for its longstanding relationship and similarity to the daily grind of newspapers, and for the great writing that baseball has inspired from baseball writers through the years. Those are all things that I am a fan of.I am not a fan of an individual team. Count me in the group that realized I would lose that to be able to do this job. That is part of what you accept for the standards readers expect.
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This is probably just my imagination, but it seems as though the posting of the Card’s lineup each day is always an hour behind the other teams. Does Marmol consult with the FO beforehand and/or does he talk to players affected beforehand and that may cause the delay? Or am I just reading into things?
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You're reading into things. Anecdotally, it seems late at times. But then it's also early. And we don't really remember the times it's just the same as always. Late three times will see more prominent than on time 70 times because why remember those? Recent lineups have been delayed by roster moves. That could be part of it, too. But roster moves are necessary.
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There has been some rumblings about the Cards pursuing possibly pursuing Wilson Contreras during the offseason. At the trade deadline this season, several teams were cautious with his ability to learn and handle a new pitching staff if trading for him. Does that give the Cardinals a reason to pause on those thoughts after seeing how Molina's handling of the staff in August impacted the team or is just overblown trade talk hype in your opinion?
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Rumblings need to take into account the priority that the Cardinals place on catching and handling a pitching staff. Contreras is a superb hitter and a standout hitter for that position. The Cardinals have, currently, other things in mind for that position, and they recognize that it might take shopping outside of the organization to find that option, but they'll prioritize defense for the player who replaces Molina. That's what I was told recently.
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I've long wondered why switch hitters continue to hit from their weaker side of the plate when it's evident that they can no longer do so. I remember it with Dexter Fowler and even with Lance Berkman much later in his career. Seems that perhaps Dylan Carlson should stick to the right side.
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It could be because they don't think they'll do as well, or because that's how they've trained for so long. I've talked with both Edman and Carlson about stopping as switch-hitters, and you may recall that Edman did stop in some situations a year ago. He explored it again during spring and opted to continue with the straight platoon switch-hit, not modifying based on the style of pitcher. There has been no discussion of having Carlson stop as a switch hitter, according to Marmol. That hasn't been brought up he said. With Fowler, he had different profiles at times as a switch-hitter, and there was the power side and the OBP side, and when he put them together he was at his best, but not by abandoning switch-hitting, rather thriving because of the advantage it gave him, despite the differences.
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Sure, it depends on other production. It also just depends on the options the Cardinals find in the marketplace and what conversations they have. There are a lot of ways they could go, and having Edman at shortstop is one of them. Having someone new at shortstop is also one of them. Having a rotation at shortstop is also one of them. What they do will depend a lot on what the price point is for those various options. They know they have the last option already in place, under control, and that gives them a place to start from, without needing to scramble to fill a hole.
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The World Series could run into the 2nd week of November---obviously cold weather is not one of the top considerations for MLB--yet there is talk of further post season expansion. A Colorado-Detroit WS (possible some day?!!) might be a real cold one. Your thoughts on a World series game 7 in 30 degree weather?
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What is parking payroll dollars? And why not? He's been one of the best pitchers when it comes to quality innings in the game -- not of his age, but in the game. Period. He's been reliable. He's been the rotation's leader. And that kind of performance got Charlie Morton a $20 million salary. So, why not rinse repeat? You could still argue they're getting a bargain.
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Not what it once was. Thinner than they need. Better than last year. There's some good upside there. Hence is really intriguing with what he's done and could be the next top-tier pitcher. Paniagua stands out to me, at this point. Eager to see what the Cardinals do with him. He's Rule 5 eligible. Sure he's at Class A, but he does many of the things that are going to allow him to move swiftly. Hjerpe is legit. He's going to move fast through the system when he gets the chance. He could lead the Class of 2022 Draft to fill in the gaps in promise and performance for the pitching staff.
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Montgomery wasn't broken. He was a key part of the best team in baseball's rotation before the trade deadline, and all he's done since coming here is flip the use of his fastballs and rely on a far better defense. That's one of the biggest changes. The Cardinals are a better defense than the Yankees, and he's taking advantage of that.
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I know Tre Fletcher was a “high risk, high reward” type draft pick, and having just looked up his stats this year, it seems he is having a very hard time making contact as he attempts to move up the professional ranks. What is the Cardinals approach with Tre or other high draft picks who are struggling? Is it any different than for a middle-to-low round pick?
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High round, high dollar talents who are viewed as projects coming into the organization will get a longer look, more time, and more of a chance to return on the investment than other players. That's the nature of the business. Delvin Perez is another example. The Cardinals thought he had high upside at shortstop and would grow and fill out into the strength to be a solid hitter to go with an elite fielder. His development hasn't been as expected, though he's an exceptional fielder. But they took a lot of time to find out. Daryl Jones from several season ago was another example, and so was Plummer. There have been examples of players who have a standout trait (athleticism, power, a specific pitch) you get a longer look despite struggles, and that fits a pitcher like Roberts. Recent picks Winn and Hence are performing, but they too would get the patience given how young they are with clear talents and potential.
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Huge Wainwright fan here, believe me. But I do worry sometimes that certain teams are overly familiar with him and tend to hit him hard. I know he is excellent at adjusting in-game, and from game to game, but it still seems like the familiarity factor comes into play sometimes. Can I be a fan and still hope they win it all so he can go out on top and be able to spend time with his family?
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Being a fan means rooting for something, and you're doing that. There are teams that know him well, hitters that know him well. Andrew McCutchen has seen Wainwright's curveball more often than any other active player in the game, and if Wainwright executes it McCutchen cannot hit it. So, that gives Wainwright the edge, no matter what. Unless, evidently, he's playing in Cincinnati. That ballpark gives him trouble. Or maybe it's all those left-handed hitters the Reds had for so many years -- Bruce, Votto, Dunn, Winker ...
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