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Jordan Walker as a possible MLB *center* fielder?! Wait a sec. This is breaking news, Bobo. Perusing the Double-A box scores over the final 6-8 weeks, Walker played almost exclusively *right* field -- and apparently acquitted himself with valor, gunning down innumerable baserunners (better than one every three games, incredibly).
I haven't read any quotes from Girsch/Mozeliak about Walker perhaps playing center. Is it Walker himself or Marmol who've indicated the possibility? -
Mozeliak has mentioned this as a possibility and Walker started four games in center field. Considering that he has exclusively played infield until well into this season, it's not surprising that he has mostly played right field after making the change.Will the team take a longer look at him in center as he continues to adjust? We'll see, But he runs well for a big man, so I suppose it's possible. -
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Independent analysts universally rank Walker at or near the top of the MLB-wide prospect list. Are they all wrong? Maybe. But the Cardinals have gained a ton of production from their organizational graduates this season, so the prospect deniers are having a tougher time making their case against the player development model.
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The Blues core group going forward could include Robert Thomas (23), Jordan Kyrou (24), Scott Perunovich (24), Ivan Barbashev (26), Pavel Buchnevich (27), Colton Parayko (29), Jordan Binnington (29) and Brandon Saad (29). If Niko Mikkola (26) can work his way in there, that would help. Obviously the team needs Jake Neighbours and Zachary Bolduc to pan out -- and, yes, they will to rebuild the supply chain of younger talent. But I don't know how painful all that has to be.
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I don't get the bagging on Hudson. He's a 5th starter with quite fine stats for a 5th starter. He has his upsetting aspects, but so would anyone else you'd likely get to be a 5th starter. And he's coming off Tommy John, which is usually a challenge. Sure, if the Cardinals are trying to act like he's a top of the rotation guy, get upset. But he's a perfectly reasonable guy to have in a winning team's starting rotation.
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Bobo, several P-D scribes apparently along with some of the chatters love Hudson. Statistically, he is one of the worst starters in all of baseball, hasn’t been good since his first year. He is a sinker ball pitcher who has no margin for error and shows poor demeanor on the mound in a strike out era. Unless, he can morph into Greg Maddux who never had to throw a strike for a pitch to be called a strike, he will continue to struggle. Just my opinion.
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Hey Bobo, I think we all generally understand that the MLB level is more difficult than AAA, and the Cards have really done well to find diamonds in the rough with some of their less-celebrated prospects. But it does seem like they consistently get underwhelming results from the most highly-regarded guys coming out of their minor-league system, which leads to fans seeing the "next big thing" and wondering if *this* is the time somebody will actually pan out as hoped.
Certainly, injuries (or worse; RIP, OT18) have been a part of this for a few, like Flaherty, Alex Reyes, and O'Neill, but a whole host of others have simply not reached their projected ceilings: An Reyes, Rasmus, T Greene, Piscotty, Weaver, Tsunamy.....so now seeing all four of Carlson, Gorman, Liberatore, and Herrera seem to hit a wall early on in their pro careers, do you think fans are being overly unfair in wondering whether the Cards are currently capable of developing top prospects into All-Stars? Teams like LAD, Atlanta, Houston, and Tampa seem to be able to turn top-20 prospects into ROY and MVP candidates, so just repeating "this game is hard" falls flat after a while. -
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