Who is your favorite St. Louis Cardinals player of the 2010s, one of the more successful decades in the history of one of baseball's most successful franchises? Mine is Jon Jay. Jon Jay was the most ordinary player I can fathom. In six seasons in St. Louis, Jay had a 107 wRC+, making him 7%…
Daniel Poncedeleon, Austin Gomber, and the greatest first starts in Cardinals history
Thirty-three times in St. Louis Cardinals history, a pitcher making his first career start in the Major Leagues posted a Game Score of 65 or better. The third most recent time occurred on May 30, 2013, courtesy of Michael Wacha (if you don't remember this particular game--Wacha was awesome, Mitchell Boggs blew a one-run lead…
Was Mike Shildt right to prioritize winning over memories?
Although I gave glowing reviews to Mike Shildt's first foray into Major League managing, the weekend series against the Chicago Cubs exposed the new St. Louis Cardinals manager as susceptible to the managerial shortcomings which are common, even in the hyper-intellectual environment of 2018 Major League Baseball. Which isn't to say that I think Mike…
How baseball responds to Josh Hader reflects baseball’s larger problems
On Saturday night, Milwaukee Brewers reliever Josh Hader received a rousing ovation from the home crowd at Miller Park. Although Hader has been one of the best relief pitchers in baseball in 2018, the overwhelmingly positive nature of his entrance was a reflection of the events surrounding Hader four nights earlier. Had Tuesday night never…
Matt Carpenter beats the Cubs on a Friday afternoon at Wrigley
This afternoon, because rules, the St. Louis Cardinals played a Friday afternoon game at Wrigley Field against the Chicago Cubs. This is a recap of that game. Here were the lineups. https://twitter.com/Cardinals/status/1020345124285534208 https://twitter.com/Cubs/status/1020314078173179904 Here are the events which transpired. I would first like to dedicate this recap to margaritas, a beverage which I consumed moderate-to-large…
Selling Carlos Martinez
The St. Louis Cardinals aren't too far away from being fully devoted sellers. They are a bad weekend from having such a marginal chance at making the playoffs that retaining certain players just wouldn't have much tangible value for the Cardinals, beyond the entertainment of them being around for a fruitless season. The obvious cases…
The Cardinals ought to steamroll the Cubs this weekend
Since becoming manager of the Chicago Cubs before the 2015 season, Joe Maddon has a regular season winning percentage just a tick above the .600 mark. Over the course of a 162-game schedule, this puts his Cubs teams at a pace of over 97 wins per season, which surely everybody reading this knows is very…
What if the 2018 St. Louis Cardinals had gone all-in? Part 4
This is Part 4 of a series about an alternate timeline in which the St. Louis Cardinals decide to function solely to succeed in 2018, abandoning all interest in long-term player development and instead hoping to win this one title. You can read Part 1, about the first day of trades, which included the acquisitions…
Is Mike Shildt a long-term solution for the Cardinals?
With Saturday's news that the St. Louis Cardinals had fired manager Mike Matheny, most of the attention, unsurprisingly, was on Matheny himself. Matheny, after all, had been the face of the St. Louis Cardinals organization for 6 1/2 seasons as manager and for five seasons as a player in the early 2000s. It was natural…
Buster Posey deserves to make the Hall of Fame
Although he is just 31 years old and is not yet technically eligible for enshrinement in the National Baseball Hall of Fame, San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey has already crafted a more-than-worthy case for enshrinement among Major League Baseball's all-time immortals. The veteran backstop has been among baseball's most valuable players since his rookie…
