Join columnist Ben Frederickson for a live chat at 11 a.m. Tuesday
Ben Frederickson answers all of your Cardinals, Blues, St. Louis City, Mizzou and SLU questions in Tuesday's 11 a.m. live chat.
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He played 99 innings in left field in the minors between 2016 and 2018.Spent some more time there in his younger years.He's not going to win you a Gold Glove, but his offense might make the gamble worth it.The Cardinals have said they don't like the idea of moving Tyler O'Neill out of left field, so that could complicate the plan some.That was when O'Neill was tearing the cover off the ball in spring.
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Ben sorry for a baseball 101 question but in the baseball lineup who provides who more protection the person hitting third for instance provides more protection for the person who's hitting for us or is it vice versa the person who's hitting Force provides protection for the person hitting third. Thanks and as always agree or disagree I love your columns! you're awesome
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The answer changes depending on the person asked.I've heard it argued both ways.To me, the best way to get a guy better pitches is to put him in front of the hitter you know the pitcher does not want to face.It encourages the pitcher to get that person in front out, so they're not having to face the feared hitter with a man on base.That means strikes.
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Count as a Mo defender but I find it baffling how he continuously ignores the concept of sunk cost. Thankfully, he applied to Dex though a year or two too late. However, there’s a clear pattern of decline and regression with Matt Carpenter. It’s foolish to think it’s plausible that he’ll turn it around after multiple years of futility. His replacement would be cheap and we won’t be wasting bench efficiency on a bottom tier utility player. While it’s better than him not starting, why is there such a blind spot there.
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I can't explain it any better than I have a trillion times.Explaining it doesn't mean I agree with it.But when people ask why, I try to tell them.They care about the contract. They care about the player; it's part of the reason he got the contract. If they had lost all hope he wouldn't be here. They haven't.It's as simple as that.
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Ben, Thank you for the chat today. You and your colleagues are the best in the baseball business. I am deeply concerned about Manfred's decision to move the All-Star Game. I believe it was made hastily, without proper due diligence regarding the new GA Voting Law, and without thought as to how the conservative fan base of baseball would view his decision. At a time when owners are in need of fans in the stands/revenue, it could not have come at a worse time. It was a very poor decision. I learned many years ago when you enter a fray that will potentially alienate 50% or more of your base customers, you lose whether you are right or wrong regarding the issue. If he had read the law prior to making the decision, he would have realized the voting law in New York State (Home of MLB Office) is far more restrictive. If it is restrictive to have voters prove their identity to receive a ballot, it is not then "racist" to force MLB will-call customers to present ID to receive their tickets. Evidently it is not "racist" for Colorado residents to have to present IDs to receive their ballots. Please respond after you have read the GA, NY, and CO Voter laws. I saw the Commish and Gordon praising the Manfred's decision. I would like to believe they had not read the laws either.
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If you think Rob Manfred was doing anything more than trying to read the the tides early and see that baseball was on the right side of it for bottom-line purposes -- or the risk of damages that could have been caused if players boycotted the All-Star game in Atlanta -- than you give him more credit than I do.I'm sure Manfred weighed the risk-reward of alienating some fans who disagree with the message MLB sent.The decision showed he's willing to risk that.Now we will see which way it plays out.
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You’ve covered Cuonzo in the past at Tennessee. It appears that he values character over potentially volatile high-end talent. Has that consistently been the case as he models his mentor, Gene Keady. Or are we seeing a change in philosophy based on the MPJ circus and high profile misses with Love, Ramey and Tilmon?
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You mean Liddell, not Tilmon, right?I don't think Cuonzo is anti five-star, but I do think he has recommitted to trying to recruit guys he thinks fit his style, system and expectations.And yes, I think the MPJ experience made him rethink some things.The reason that team made the tournament was because of a guy like Kassius Robertson, who pulled the team up by its bootstraps after MPJ opted for the back surgery.He is still going to go after high-profile players who he thinks fit, but I think he is increasingly less interested in pursuing players who don't seem like a fit, or seem to want to be recruited more than play for the team.
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Taylor Hall has always seemed to be on the Blue's radar. If they were storming toward the playoffs that would be a win-now kind of move. But with the wheels shooting sparks and risking falling off entirely, could see Armstrong making more forward-thinking moves if he thinks in his heart the playoffs are out of reach.
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Excellent points! Yadi is just unreal. If he does come back, and the team does move Knizner, that means Yadi will have outlasted two promising heirs apparent because he just refused to slow down. Someday I'm going to be that old guy who's always bragging to my son about how I used to see Yadi play in person!
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Hi Ben, I was wondering if the club would ever consider giving Nogowski reps at 2B? I know defensively it would be a rough fit, but with shifting, I feel like it would be a good way to get him into the lineup with Tommy moving to RF until Bader is back. Similarly, do you think maybe they'd consider bringing up Rondon and doing said arrangement with him?
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Rondon would be the better bet than Nogowski for that kind of an approach.Playing Nogowski in right field or moving O'Neill to right and using Nogo in left would make more sense, to me than playing John at second base.If the Cardinals are not scoring runs they will be forced to get more creative.Their first significant change is the one they so desperately want to work: Edman to the outfield and Carpenter at second base.
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As my pal JT wrote last week, the Blues will likely nudge Army in the direction he chooses with their play. He tends to reward or react accordingly based on how the team trends right before the deadline. The players know that, too. The history is there. If you started the clock when the Colorado series started, the record shows three consecutive losses and another one at home. I wouldn't bank on help coming. Army could try to get out in front of things and sell a player or two whose departure won't hurt the team's chances of grabbing an unlikely playoff spot. As far as current guys, it would be nice to see Kyrou get more run because he helped spark them early. And I'm rolling with Binnington now. He's got the contract. Give him a chance to pull them out of this with a few stellar performances.
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I realize the Blues have not played great lately, but just wondering how much of an effect does having no fans in the stadium really play on a team like the Blues? Since the cancellation of sports and the removal of fans we've seen a streaking Blues organization that was at the time last year sitting in first in the standings gone to something that is almost hard to watch on tv. I realize the stoppage last year plays it effects but everybody had to deal with it and it seems like everybody dealt with that fine compared to the Blues. I feel like fans play such a huge part of hockey especially when it comes down to momentum swings and coming into STL and winning which in the past has been proven to be very difficult. Do you believe this is taking a larger tool on guys from STL who are used to playing in front of a packed house every night?
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I wouldn't rule it out, but I'd put the long list of injuries way ahead of it.These guys never really got a chance to find out what they could be before the snowball started turning into an avalanche of health issues.Even when Parayko was playing, he was messed up.I'd like to see the bulk -- not all but most -- of these guys get another shot at it before the calls to blow things up are listened to.I know nobody wants to hear it but sometimes it's just not your year.
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Ben: I'm with you on the transferring. Coaches leave. A significant number of non-athlete freshmen transfer every year. Go where you want to go if they'll take you. And you're right, some will get burned. But, let's drop the hypocrisy.
You said Mizzou is getting better with their new recruits and transfers because of the athleticism. My concern is the shooting, specifically 3pt shooting. I still don't see it, and that's where the game is. Teams are going to shoot an ungodly percentage from mid-range the way UCLA did against Gonzaga, but that's what you have to do if you don't/can't make 3s. How worried are you about that aspect? -
I don't know how this group could possibly be a worse 3-point shooting team than the last group.Dru Smith was a decent 3-point shooter.Mark Smith was a coin flip between great and awful from deep.Xavier Pinson could not shoot, period.The new group should be just as good if not better, simply by default.Don't expect the K-State transfer to shoot threes. He's a slasher and defender. Good piece for this group but that won't be his job.
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i am not averse to asking an accusatory question, brother. I just did not intend that one to read as such. Of course focus has been beaten to death with Carlos. I guess, for me, what was eye opening was in how that was translated to tangible things on the field. "Carlos loses focus" is one thing. "Carlos has been struggling in that, when he is under stress, he tends to become a one or two pitch pitcher with a nasty habit of elevating those pitches" is a bit different, no? I was not questioning the reporting on Carlos in terms of focus. I guess I was questioning the reporting in terms of how it translates.
Another example, if you will, was last night's game. Listening to the Marlin's feed in the first inning. As Yadi walked to the plate the first thing their announcer said was "They have to be very careful here not to give Yadi a first pitch fastball. Yadi normally sees a lot of pitches but he will be looking to jump on that pitch in this situation". First pitch fastball. Two run double. Nice call, but in that same game in Cincy Brantley said something similar about Yadi. Only he gave a lot more detail. He described how Yadi was a lot like Rizzo in that they both change their approach pitch by pitch depending upon the count, and how difficult it is to pitch to them in big situations. And how, in that situation, Yadi would be looking for first pitch damage. Same result. I guess that is what I am questioning. Yadi is clutch, yes. We have all seen that Yadi is clutch. Tell us why! Tell us about how he shifts his approach pitch by pitch, situation by situation. -
Carlos losing his focus -- his description -- manifests in all kinds of ways. He can start to slow his pace. He can start missing his spots. He can veer off into arguments with umpires. Usually a good sign of it is a climbing pitch count and a first inning that balloons.As for Molina, yes, he jumps first pitches. The Cincinnati RBI was signature Molina. Runner on base. Find a way to get him in. He's one of the teams best bits with hit and runs. He is one of the best at knowing how to at the very least get a sac fly when it's needed. And unlike some of his peers -- Carpenter, for example -- he has enough bat control to beat shifts and adjust between a home-run swing and a get-on-base slash. Without having a live call to readers/listeners during the game, it's not easy to say, hey, here's this coming and why. Good broadcasters do that. I hear Dan and Jim do that on games often. Dan works the game like a manager, pointing out potential traps and pending decisions ahead of time. I think Mike Shannon has a more old-school approach, one that a lot of fans love, of course.Since 2019, 200 MLB players have totaled 500 or more at-bats. Only 2 have swung at a higher percentage of first pitches than Molina (46.1) Right behind him is Luke Voit.For kicks, ask DG who called Molina's RBI in Cincinnati. Too bad I wasn't on a broadcast!
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