He is looking to add a Top 9 forward. Alexandrov figures to make the team next season, but he is a No. 4 center. Armstrong sees Schenn as a third-liner next year. Zach Bolduc appears to be better suited for the wing instead of center. So unless the coaches really believe Buchnevich is an answer in the middle, adding a center seems like the call.
Both his arm strength and foot speed grade out as elite-elite. He will be fun to watch when he gets here.
Oliver came into the news conference hot. It took no goading to get him to go there.
Pitch command is important for every hurler, of course, but Miles Mikolas walks a finer line that many. He has to have all of his pitches and he has hit spots. The same goes for Wainwright. I believe Montgomery and Flaherty will have stretches, anyway, where they can really get the upper hand on hitters. Woodford was a mess in his first start, but we need to see a lot more to make an assessment. Hicks has been wild -- and when he is in the zone, he has surprising difficulty putting hitters away with his velocity. VerHagen has opened the year with some swing-and-miss stuff and I like Thompson's tool kit in relief. His fastball has a bit more jump and he is landing his curveball with more confidence.
This was a rough week for the Cardinals. But it's a bit early to write off his managerial career.
After six games they are in last place. But this is a roster that experts and projection models saw at playoff-contending quality. So it might be premature to insist the team is doomed.
The Cardinals have developed high-end pitching, so there is no reason to question that. But, yes, they have traded away the best of the players they developed. And during his healthy stretches, Flaherty has pitched at that level as well.
As I noted earlier, Tony La Russa was pretty savvy about that. You knew when he was unhappy with somebody, but he didn't make a production out of his displeasure.
Liberatore has pitched 10 shutout innings at Memphis. He might be gaining the sort of traction he never gained last year. He was good and bad, good and bad in 2022. I imagine the team wants him to gain as much confidence as possible before his next chance, but the hope is that Woodford pulls himself together in his next start.
The schedule will be somewhat harder, yes. We'll see if Matz and Flaherty reestablish full healthy and full strength. We'll see if Mikolas sharpens up and what Wainwright has when he returns. We'll see if Montgomery makes his case for the really big money. Much to be determined. There have been some good early signs in the bullpen and with Liberatore -- and this team has lots of chips to trade once management sees how the pitching shakes out (or doesn't) .
Mizzou pushed hard to get him, but Juwan Howard won him over. Michigan is coming off a bad year and it suffered big portal hits, so Caleb will get to be The Guy there.
There is no place for context or perspective in this chat.
Ask Jose Quintana about that. Fans were outraged that the Cardinals let him walk. It might be months before he pitches.
I would imagine so, yes. I can't believe Marmol wants to extend this story line.
I imagine this staff ERA will be much better than the Pirates' staff ERA by the end of the season.
He is looking to add a Top 9 forward. Alexandrov figures to make the team next season, but he is a No. 4 center. Armstrong sees Schenn as a third-liner next year. Zach Bolduc appears to be better suited for the wing instead of center. So unless the coaches really believe Buchnevich is an answer in the middle, adding a center seems like the call.