Join baseball writer Derrick Goold for his live Cardinals chat at 11 a.m. Monday
Bring your Cards questions and comments to Monday’s 11 a.m. live chat.
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This question is coming up a lot in the chat. I'm not sure what to do when the chat includes the same question over and over again. It looks like some are coming in after the question has been asked. Any suggestions on what to do here?This was explored earlier in the chat. There is no indication of anything moving or going on at this time for reasons discussed by Montgomery with reporters during spring training. -
Throughout the runup to this season, the overwhelming talking point has been that the Cardinals X-factor was going to be the quality of its starting pitching, especially at the top of the rotation. Don't get me wrong, I still think that's important, and that the emergence or acquisition of true top of the rotation talent would take this team to the next level. But is it possible that this offense could be SO much better than it was last year, that the importance of the rotation recedes a bit compared to past years? -
Not in my view. Pitching is still what determines whether a team has the ability to contend through the length of the season. Innings matter. Filling those innings and not capsizing the bullpen or wearing it thin so it cannot hold leads is vital to a team contending series to series and not winning one series and cratering in the next. An example of this? Think back to 2021 and the series in Los Angeles when the Cardinals saw Jack Flaherty's oblique give out and Carlos Martinez come apart in an inning. What happened? They scrambled to cover innings in that series, did not have the pitching depth to bring any stability to stop the scramble and ... were swept at home in a four-game series by Cincinnati.Pitching is what gives the team ballast in the choppiest waters. And the Cardinals have a schedule with some choppy waters coming.
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Hi Derrick, Thanks as always for the chat! I know players like the Manfred Man on second for extra inning games because games don't drag out. Do you think with the success of the pitch clock there might be some tweek to that runner on second - maybe not until the 10th or 11th inning or something like that?
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Flaherty’s start was a slog just to watch but the end result was positive. What if this is just who he is at this point in his career? He was not the one who refused to go sign a legitimate starter, he was the one though who had possibly unrealistic expectations heaped upon him by a team wanting to save money.
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I disagree. There is nothing wrong with having too much talent. They aren't at risk of losing the talent at Class AAA. Another team cannot pluck it from them if they don't promote the players or protect the players. Talent is good. And the Cardinals, like all 30 teams, have reasons to stockpile it.
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You mentioned a Chapman renaissance, and it seems like Matt Olson may be primed for the same in Atlanta this year. I know Oakland is a tough park for hitters as well, but the way those owners are running the franchise into the ground to justify a move to Vegas, a la Kroenke and the Rams, has to weigh on the players as long as they remain with the team, right? Of course they're all pros and you'd think they always put their best foot forward, but what a relief it must be once you've established yourself as a reliable MLB contributor to get sent to a team whose owners would rather win than lose games (Oakland makes even Pittsburgh's Nutting look almost Steinbrenner- or Cohen-esque).
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There is something definitely to this. Players talk about it all the time. They want to play for a team that has a chance, or they want to play to get noticed by a team that has a chance. The slog is real for teams that are out before the first pitch is thrown. Wishing for breaks is no way to come to work, right?
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The biggest changes are the packaging -- the messaging and how the the goal and approach and scouting and all of that is being presented to players. That started last season with the arrival of Ward and this has been a continuation. There has definitely been a fostering of conversation and discussion that has also continued. Ward has strong relationships with hitters -- in the way that Mark McGwire often described ... being a mechanic, an advance scout, a buddy, a professor, a cheerleader, all of it, and the trick is knowing what hitter needs what from a hitting coach and when. Let's also note that Brandon Allen was added to the staff and he has a strong connection and relationship with the younger hitters coming up through Albert's system and then launching that approach in the minors. It's a strong mix -- and it's what the Cardinals started growing a year ago.
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The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has a baseball writer dedicated to covering the Cardinals' minor-league system. It's a full time beat for the PD and StlToday.com. We are one of the few daily newspapers to have this role, and Daniel Guerrero has helped us grow it into some of the best minor-league coverage you'll find. I'd put the depth and quality of his minor-league coverage against any, and we're the only local STL media outlet with a dedicated, full-time minor-league beat writer.Such a role is only possible because of our subscribers and because of baseball's strong presence in St. Louis. Our subscribers invest in the newspaper and our coverage, and we do our best with that investment to continue to bring expanded, exclusive, and strong baseball coverage that few can match, meeting the expectations of our readers have long had.
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Hello from snowy MN, where I am awaiting our next snowstorm (up to a foot predicted tomorrow). It was great to see the birds playing ball over the weekend. It was an impressive series for the offense. while the pitching lacked for results, but it sure seemed like the Blue Jays didn't hit many balls hard, especially compared to the Cards. Do the numbers (hard hit % and barrels) back that up? Is that a positive take away for the pitching staff? Thanks for the chats!
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The numbers absolutely back that up. Off the top of my head, I recall that five of the 10 hits the Jays got on Mikolas were at 77 mph or less off the bat. Not hard hit at all. There were flares. There were at least two broken-bat hits in there. All were singles. That contrasts with the 14 hard-hit balls (at least) that the Cardinals had Sunday, for example.Tried to call up the numbers for the entire team and it was taking too long, but here's an example of what you saw over the weekend, and a metric that supports it.The Blue Jays had one player (Guerrero) average 95.0 mph on exit velocity.The Cardinals had three:Alec Burleson (99.2 mph)Paul Goldschmidt (95.9 mph)Willson Contreras (95.0 mph)Jays had five players at 90.0 mph on average, and the Cardinals had six, and one of those six was not Nolan Arenado ... Brendan Donovan was (90.4 mph).
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Dylan Carlson is 24.5 years old. When he was coming up, he was hyped to be a borderline all star. He has 1000 AB's in the majors and is a 105 OPS+ player over his career. Is he destined to be a 3rd/4th outfielder/PH, or is there still reason to think he still has room to improve?
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There is still reason to think he'll improve. And he has improved. And, also, 105 OPS+ by definition, is above average production. Is it enough above average for a corner outfield spot? Or does he need to play center for that to work? That's a fair question. It's fair to suggest that he needs to be more than that -- but already he had a career high .780 OPS as recently as 2021, and that's nearly 100 points higher than the league average for center field this past season. Potential remains.
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The Mikolas extension makes a lot of sense and to have he and Matz locking down the 3/4 spots in your rotation for $30m seems like a bargain. That said, he can't be your Opening Day starter in '24. He is a good pitcher but he is not even a #2 when the conversation includes the Phillies, Mets, Padres, and Braves' top 2 pitchers.
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I asked around about that and didn't get a sense that was the case. It's worth watching. I was intrigued by how Chapman's error on Saturday opened up an inning for the Cardinals -- and he has had to change his positioning right, because he usually is far, far back and even on the grass at times. Not so now. I didn't see many of those bloop hits that are suddenly hits because the fielders could not reach them. Not too often would they start in a spot to track those down.To be honest, we may not see another game this season with that many bloop hits.
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Lars Nootbar has become a sensation in Japan, and formed a lot of good relationships with some of Japan's best players. Twitter takes about Shohei Ohtani's impending Nootbar bromance induced arrival to St. Louis now abound. I know that's not how free agency works, but it does raise a bigger picture question for me. Nootbar's new stardom in Japan feels like a longer-term opportunity for the Cardinals to attract new international fans and establish themselves as an attractive destination for future Japanese players. Are there things the team can do to capitalize on this opportunity? Can they sign up for a game in Japan like they're doing in London this year? I would love to see the Cardinals more actively compete for the next stars that come to the MLB from Japan, and just expand Cardinals nation generally.
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Wrote an article that explores all of those questions and how the Cardinals could be headed to Asia to play a series in the near future, right here:
How Lars Nootbaar's popularity helps expand the Cardinals brand in Japan: Cardinals Extra
STLtoday.comAfter WBC, Lars Nootbaar's higher profile meshes with Cardinals' hiring of a full-time scout in Japan and interest in playing a series in Asia. -
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I cannot think of one of the top of my head. Sure, genetics/genes play a part. So do opportunity. And that's something that Major League Baseball needs to be aware of. If the showcase circuit is so costly that it takes a big leaguer (or high income) to afford it, then you're limiting the talent that can participate. Major League Baseball needs to be aware of that. And is.
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He works with the pitchers and pitching coaches to put together exactly that -- the game plan. He is a conduit between the analytics department and all of the data provided on opposing hitters and Cardinals pitchers and how they match up metrically, and he synthesizes that for how players and coaches like to use it. If a player has a question about a scouting report or a metric or some hole they see in their approach, Packy is there to help. He is the bridge between the data crunchers and the clubhouse.
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Coming to the chat late and don't know if this has been asked already. Is there much concern from the club regarding Flaherty's dip in velocity? It seemed like his buildup this spring was very slow, and was still searching for feel even in his final start before the season. Has there been a sense from either Flaherty or the club that he can start hitting upper-90's consistently again?
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This was discussed earlier and detailed in a story on Sunday's newspaper. We can look for the details in the next start. But there was a reason why he downshifted this past weekend in that start, and you can look at the box score (career-high seven walks) or check out the answer earlier in the chat complete with a link to a more detailed article that does touch on that topic.
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Alright, I'm about 90 seconds away from a meeting that I must attend. It's vital for the newspaper. And I'm eager to hear what we can do to improve the baseball coverage and what we bring day in and day out and all day to our readers.No one can match the amount of words we type -- and we hope no one can match the quality of those words, too.Coverage will continue from the ballpark this afternoon.Enjoy the Cardinals's first matchup of the season with one of the NL powers and big spenders.