I've come across a couple of these kinds of questions today. If people don't think playing a professional sport is physically taxing, I'm not going to convince them. It's one of the most confusing opinions I come across. We go out and cut our grass in this heat and feel like we got hit by a bus. Then some wonder why Edman is dragging -- after playing more games than anyone else in the game this season. Yes, baseball has gotten harder. Look at the velocity of the pitches. Look at the athleticism of the players. The strength, the speed. Every sport has gotten more challenging and difficult by the evolution of the modern athlete; why would baseball be any different? And that's just the physical component. Now throw in the mental side. Of playing up to a contract. Or playing up to a fanbase, like this one, that is always hungry for success. No one is playing a tiny violin. It's a great job and most of these guys know they are blessed to get the chance. But is it hard? Hell yes it's hard. If it wasn't, more of us would be doing it -- not cutting our own grass. There's also one more thing to consider. A lot of time, money and attention is now spent on studying what approach gets the best performance out of a player, and increasingly teams are seeing that they are better off factoring some more rest than teams historically did in the past. You can get more out of Paul Goldschmidt by giving him the occasional off day than you can by letting him play 162. The data shows he bounces back with better at-bats after a rare off day. It's about being smart, and being smart doesn't mean not being tough. End rant :)
I'm team MadBum. We should get shirts.
Eh, it's not very independent under this new ownership. It's partnered with the NFL to basically work as a testing ground for rule changes, etc. What could be good for the XFL's staying power won't be great for the narrative that made it popular here -- that it wanted little to do with The Shield. Also: If they are coming back to STL it would probably be good to announce that? Handling of this has been really strange.
If he can't do the job, he won't be around long. Cardinals are almost always going to give a guy a shot to prove he can help post-injury. Not sure why folks are surprised.
I've pointed it out, that the same metrics that were pointed to when the Cardinals were struggling as signs of progress are now lagging severely now. Things like average exit velocity, hard-hit rate, barrel percentage, etc. That should be a concern for the playoffs and the kind of pitching that waits there.
Molina is the best option for 2022. After that, Cards could need to go shopping.
Man, Perron will be missed if he goes. I'd understand it, but he was as good of a competitor in crunch time as this team has had. If Armstrong senses he's going to have a hard time living up to the contract he gets next, though, he won't be emotional. And his non-emotional decisions in these spots before have tended to be the right calls. Yes, defense needs help. That's been clear.
You think the Cardinals are going to trade for Perez in Molina's last season? I don't.
I think Lindgren deserves a shot. Blues could shop for some more proven backup help though.
Time to jet, folks. Thanks for joining today. Same time and place next week. The chat has been spotty a bit this summer but we are locked in now for a long run of regular Tuesdays. You know the time and place. See you next week.
