Join Rick Hummel's weekly Cardinals chat at 11 a.m. Monday
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First, why do they still mark a couches box? I understand that I would not want to get hit with a line drive but there is no one close to the box. Secondly, Jim Edmonds numbers: Hits: 1949, HR: 393, BA: 284, RBI's:1199,OPS: 903. How was it justified that he did not get enough votes to stay on the HOF ballad? Plus one of the best Center Fielders in MLB history, I just don't get it.
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I guess they had coaches in the box so that they could be seen more easily by runners but perhaps more so that it might make it harder for them to steal signs. These days, with the balls flying off the bat, it is much safer that they stay out of the box. As far as Edmonds, I don't know what happened. He will get his day in court when his time to be considered by the veterans' committee comes up, but that won't be for a few years yet. If he had made either 2,000 hits or 400 homers he might have been viewed differently by the voters but somehow he attracted less than five percent of the vote in his first year of eligibility so he got knocked off the writers' ballot.
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Good morning, Mr. Hummel. Thanks for your time and the chat.
I have two questions, if I may, please.
1.) PitchCom seems to have helped speed up games a little. Why doesn't baseball use a similar system for batters, where the hitter receives audible strategy during at-bats directly from the manager in the dugout? The batter would wear the earpiece in the ear away from the pitcher.
2.) It's obvious that Donavan isn't an outfielder, yet. Currently, the Cardinals roster has 8 infielders and 3 outfielders. If DeJong continues his improvement in the minors and gets back to the Cardinals, do you see them packaging Sosa with another player/prospect for a fourth outfielder? Or, would they just bring back Nootbar and use a Sosa plus player/prospect package for a pitcher? I discount Dickerson because I don't think he has a role on this team as a DH anymore and he hasn't been very effective.
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I guess you could have the batters wear earpieces but they have enough going on just trying to hit the pitch without having to worry about whether the signals are being relayed or not. That's why the third-base coach is there--to relay signals from the manager, with no static The Cardinals could use another outfielder who can play defense and that could even be Edman if DeJong was recalled to play shortstop. On Dickerson, I think you are right. I don't see him as a good fit anymore. Nootbaar could be brought back, perhaps, but the organization wants him to work on his stroke before recalling him.
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Well, Molina will be 40 years old next month and his body is beat up. We have seen his best. But he may have to play more if Knizner can't hit. Herrera always is an option but he probably wouldn't be brought up unless one of the two catchers who are here went on the IL.
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I know that Matt Carpenter was a advocate of Alberts hitting, even having him and DeJong etc go to his home and hit. Ever since Jeff started with Cards both he and DeJong trended down. It is frustrating to see him doing well now. Was he just to stubborn when he was here and how was Holliday able to help him now and not the past 2 years. The short porch can’t be the whole reason he is doing better.
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The short porch is a factor, whether you want to admit it or not. And maybe Carp isn't as stubborn as he was about trying to use more of the field. You'll have to deal with it. It wasn't going to work here anymore. It would hard for Holliday to help Carp when he's not around.
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Commish, the Cards lost a run to the ground rule double yesterday. Why not change the rule that if two outs the runner on first scores? The theory being that the runner immediately takes off with two outs when the ball is hit and almost always scores on a double that doesn’t bounce into the stands. I wouldn’t be opposed to changing it no matter the outs. It’s simply a dumb age old rule.
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Good morning Derrick. i have a question many people probably have asked. Why is it so hard to sweep a series? yesterday, hudson is handed a 3 run lead. then an uninspired hanging slider was blooped into right center, ball 8, a hit batsman and the game was over followed by a lot of uninspired play by the rest of the team except for Yepez. Do they take an uninspired 'day off' after winning the series??
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Another question sneaked in here, too, so we'll do two at once. The ball bouncing over the wall for an automatic double, indeed, is an antiquated rule and maybe the umpires should have leeway to allow a runner who already might have been on the run to score on such a hit. But all runners aren't the same speed and they do fall down once in a while. There should be no guarantees.As for sweeping series. . . my answer always has been that the opposing team has big league players, too.
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It was interesting to see Oli Marmol pull Harrison Bader from the game due to lack of hustle yet Pujols and Molina often do not run hard if they think it's an out. Is there a double standard on the club? Do you think that it will cause problems? I'm old enough to have watched Pete Rose play. He ran hard on every play. Guess that's why they called him Charlie Hustle.
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Pujols actually is running balls out better now that he can't run. Molina always has been exempt because he is a catcher and often has had bad knees. I agree this is something of a double standard. But the Cardinals are helped more by an energized Bader running harder than they are by two players who can't run anyway. The other two have done quite a lot here.
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Thanks for the chats. I know the narrative is we don't have enough reliable starting pitching but it seems we have plenty of options to address that problem and I think the offense is about to start generating runs again while the defense will resume preventing them. I am wondering though if we have enough good options to staff the bullpen. It looks to me there are just three reliable relievers in Helsley, Gallegos and Cabrera with the rest suspect and other than converting starters from Memphis into relievers, I don't see the prospects for improvement. I think the story of the summer could well be that we lose too many leads due to a shaky bullpen. To me the trade deadline should focus less on starters and more on shut down relief pitching. How do you see it?
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You're welcome. Hard to knock the front office here for making the playoffs virtually every year. It is fair to criticize that the FO hasn't pulled off any significant late July deals for a while or signed a free-agent pitcher who has amounted to anything.other than Mikolas being signed a few years ago. You would have to say, though, that the Goldschmidt and Arenado deals have worked out swimmingly. They gave up virtually nothing for Goldschmidt and not that much for Arenado.
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Paul DeJong reminds me a bit of JJ Hardy, who not that long ago was the fan base's dream SS with some power to go with a Gold Glove reputation. I know the game (and the Gold Glove voting process) has changed in the last 7-8 years, but I find it ironic that we seem to have the SS we wanted once upon a time. Would you agree?
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I'm not sure what to make of the DeJong situation other than to say the Cardinals' defense is better all-round when he's playing and let's see if he can hit anymore. This chapter should not be finished yet even if DeJong is brought up to play just part-time until he earns his job back. .
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Is it now fair enough to believe Matt Carp especially coming off yesterday's impressive 2 home run-7 RBI game he still has little something "left" in his bat (pun intended) especially whenever his current team is home and faces a right handed starter? And can you imagine him contributing in post season with those damn Yankees who are poised currently for a deep postseason run? P.S. And even if the Yankees cut him loose would you not predict it is very likely another "contending" team will gobble him up, especially one with more favorable short right field dimensions like Yankee Stadium?
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Color me surprised that Andre Pallante has not only managed to stay in the big leagues all season, but has overall pitched very well regardless of the situation. Is there any reason he can't be the mid-rotation guy we were hoping to get with Hicks, Woodford, VerHagen, et al?
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I’m far from a Matheny or Shildt apologist, they both had their glaring blind spots, but have we ever considered that this ownership and front office burn out their managers? When they were hired, both Mikes came in as uber-grateful and willing foot soldiers embracing the Cardinal Way. Yet both left on sour notes. For all his good points, Mo is incredibly stubborn, and very slow to admit mistakes. Worse yet, he often doubles and triples down on them, which results in a lot of underperforming players getting further overexposed. Having to juggle these players, along with getting zero help at the deadline for the last 7 seasons, clearly changed the obedient tune both Matheny and Shildt came in whistling. Do the resources match the ask when it comes to expectations from the top?
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Not quite sure what is meant by "the resources matching the ask," but the Cardinals haven't been to the World Series in the past eight seasons but they have been in the playoffs five times since their last World Series appearance in 2013. Those both are bottom-line goals, one more attainable and one more significant.
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For a team that uprooted their dugout to install a manager who fully embraced analytics, they sure do love to ignore those same analytics. Does Pujols need to lower his average below .100 before they stop playing him against righties? And if we are using analytics, now that Carlson is healthy, Bader and his .175 BA/.442 OPS shouldn’t start vs lefties either. Mo and Oli talk the talk but it seems to be all lip service.
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Sometimes, you have to go with what you see. Pujols had three strong at-bats against a very tough right-handed rookie on Sunday. He deserved to stay in but I wouldn't start him against too many right-handers. Those numbers are too daunting and have been for a couple of seasons.
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While I’m not arguing Kiz is taking good AB’s, I find it weird Marmol decided to call him out specifically when prompted about offense from the catchers. Yadi is taking some of the worst at bats on the team, often ending on the first pitch. Singling out anyone seemed unwarranted.
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