The Best NL Central Fans in Baseball 2020

https://i.imgur.com/C2wMAFp.png

no fair; the cubs are playing 163 games

I can’t believe the cubs are going into the season with tyler chatwood as their fifth starter

division thread is still bizarre to me

i wonder if addison russell will ever play again

I follow the teams in the NL Central more closely than other teams; I suspect others do as well. Might as well round up the division discussion in here rather than splitting it across 5 lonely threads

some others, of course

there were 500 posts in the nl central thread last year. about as many as in the mets thread, but i don't think any other team threads came close to that many posts

ie 100 posts per team :)

100 posts per team, all by the same person

as much fun as it is to mimic the experience of blogging on your personal website to yourself, i enjoy other people contributing too

For NL Central fans, it's winning the division or bust! I think on the team threads, the same 4-6 people would post anyway.

If you watch your local cable TV channel for your local team, pretty much you are going to get to know the division teams as they play them a ton. I really don't know anything about what is going on in the AL West at all, but I see the Pirates, Cards, Brewers and Cubs play quite a bit.

I could probably count on my hand how many games I have seen Mike Trout play where I have seen Yadier Molina play hundreds of games at this point.

Winning hair.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EQrYseMWsAAddgX?format=jpg&name=900x900

Geno Nick
🤝
crushing
baseballs pic.twitter.com/FjjbohSMXt

— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) February 13, 2020

still pretty pissed we're not getting cubs games on broadcast tv anymore. good opportunity to watch more white sox games i guess. definitely not paying for "marquee" and putting more money in the ricketts' pockets

recently learned that the entire state of iowa is blacked out, on mlb.tv, from the cubs, white sox, brewers, twins, cardinals and royals

hawaii is blacked out from padres, angels, dodgers, giants, a's and mariners

amazing

i love when a band plays its hit songs

Speaking here at Spring Training Media Day, general manager Ben Cherington said he believes once the Pirates improve performance — in several areas — payroll will follow suit.

— Jason Mackey (@JMackeyPG) February 16, 2020

ross is 'committed' to having bryant lead off

hmm, could make sense? he has the second highest projected OBP (.373), behind rizzo and ahead of schwarber and contreras, and is a better baserunner than that group.

yeah, seems reasonable

of course, if bryant slumps to start the season than it is the dumbest move of all time and everyone knows you can't mess with a player's routine

they didn't have a natural leadoff player last year and still don't really. based on the little we saw of nico hoerner last year he could be a good fit possibly.

this thread was a poll last year. any thoughts on who could win the division that are more insightful than mine ("could be anyone but the pirates")?

that's pretty much everyone's take this year, i think. i think it'll just come down to injuries and who is in a position to make a big pickup at the trade deadline

but then again, you can say that about most years.

i don't really get why pecota has the cubs to repeat last year's record when they've lost hamels and lester is a year older. idk, i guess hoerner could be good and kimbrel can't be worse. bullpen seems sketchy?

i assume the cardinals will feature like a dozen mysteriously great young starters but it seems like they've finally run out of outfielders

reds might be real! should be interesting to see how they all fit together

welcome (back) to the division BROCK HOLT

i think the idea the cardinals are running with is that they still have enough outfield depth to rely on the younger guys while letting ozuna walk and dexter fowler gradually play himself into benching/retirement. not everyone agrees on that strategy but i actually think it will work.

harrison bader will start in CF, and is such a good fielder and runner that his floor is around 2 WAR even if his bat disappoints. he'll never be a great hitter because he's like that one guy in major league who can't hit breaking balls (dorne?) , but i think he suffered from some bad BABIP luck (his career worst, including minors) last year.

in LF they'll probably have tyler bro'neill start the year. despite striking out 30-40% of the time he still somehow projects as a plus player due to his insane strength and underrated fielding and running (i think he's in the top ten sprint speed last year?)

in RF fowler will begin the season as a starter and either bounce back to pre-2018 form (unlikely) or cede playing time to lane thomas and tommy edman while waiting for top prospect dylan carlson to arrive sometime in 2020.

obviously i've got my homer lenses on but it wouldn't be shocking to see both bader and o'neill put up 4+ WAR seasons, with carlson gradually entering the mix to add some stability.

randy arozarena was/is most likely a better overall player than bader or o'neill, so it was a bummer to see him go in the trade for liberatore.

BROCK HOLT

Brewers are only 4 starting pitchers away from being serious contenders

yeah forgot about carlson, he's legit. and o'neill will probably be better with regular playing time -- maybe he'll remember how to take a walk instead of trying to kill everything he sees

the obscenely early ZiPS projects provide a slightly different outlook than PECOTA, but still very close all around:

https://i.imgur.com/lzqLqT5.png

ZiPS sees the Cubs as the favorite to win the Central, but only by a small margin, unlike the projections from when they were serious World Series contenders. Something tells me that if the Cubs are out of money, they’d be more out of money winning 85 games than as one of the league’s first-tier contenders, but what do I know? I don’t even own a top hat or a monocle. The Reds are still projected to finish fourth, but only by the slightest margin. One thing that ZiPS can’t really take into consideration is that I expect Cincinnati to be extremely aggressive at the trade deadline if they’re close, more aggressive than the rest of the division and arguably with more interesting trade bait.

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/the-obscenely-early-zips-projected-standings/

genuinely looking forward to a close division battle again this year

liberatore threw a beautiful overhand curve for a strike that had the batter bailing out, but then threw it again on the next pitch and gave up a triple. then he pretty much fell apart

Matthew Liberatores curveball is worthy of a nickname #stlcards pic.twitter.com/cTcfe93t5D

— cardinalsgifs (@cardinalsgifs) February 24, 2020

kolten wong is sporting a pair of yellow/gold cleats, either in homage to mcdonalds or to his gold glove season. either way it's nagl

https://i.imgur.com/WRJbaXm.png

Main takeaways:
1. Dylan Carlson is very likely the Cardinals second-best outfielder right now.
2. Dexter Fowler's best fit is as 4th outfielder. https://t.co/xGsppe5zWk

— Craig Edwards (@craigjedwards) March 3, 2020

carlson looked a little sketchy in the outfield yesterday, but he's supposed to be at least average

it's going to be painful watching fowler keep the starting RF position all the way until early june. i've only seen a limited amount of carlson in the OF but he seems to hold his own. he also made a pretty difficult play up against the wall with gusting wind conditions the other day, and made it look pretty easy.

do all 5 teams have a fan in this thread?

technically, yes

if i had to guess, the number of people rooting for each team is roughly:

brewers: 2
cubs: 2
cardinals: 2 (now sure if bnw reads this)
reds: 2(?)
pirates: 1.5 (i think we're all sort of rooting for the pirates, in a way)

pretty good! i was gonna pick a team to be a fan of based on one of them having 0 fans but if that is not the case i'll just be a fan of all 5 except the cardinals

sorry km ily

if you don't care about the team winning, the pirates are a great team to root for! otherwise i think everyone (outside of this thread and earlnash) is gonna be rooting for the reds this year

xp cardinals nation will never forget your betrayal Will M! I am putting this on the agenda at the next nation meeting

er, my comment about the reds came out weird - i just meant that obv earlnash will be rooting for the reds, and i'd guess most people would generally cheer on the reds this year as well.

brewers. because i have the hat.

the brewers are a big reason i got back into baseball, so they always have a place in my heart. definitely interested in the reds this year, they look exciting, and votto remains an all-time fave. pirates are loveable hard-luck lozars. the cubs........... are a team as are the cardinals. i suppose i'll cheer for 3/5. cc me the minutes from the cards nation meeting!

yelich, brewers nearing $215m extension

9 years, apparently

Seems rather team friendly

would take him to 37? buys out his last 2 (i think) bargain years he's still under contract for. seems team friendly but at that length there's def some risk.

its significantly less than Trout, Harper, Stanton, and Machado, even though Yelich was MVP last year and would have been this year if not for a fluke injury with 3 weeks to go

obviously buying out the 2 years is a big deal but still, did not think this guy would go for less than 275m

significantly less than Trout, Harper, Stanton, and Machado

and he's far better than the last 3

yeah, brewers just got a decent deal for a franchise player (i think)

he was gonna hit free agency at 31, which is significantly older than those guys were. between that and the risk of injury, getting the guarantee seems wise, even if for less

wow, who knew a 'small market' team could afford such a thing

sometimes i remember when the Cubs turned aside Greg Maddux bc 5 yrs/$28 million was too much, and instead went for (*checks*) Jose Guzman, Dan Plesac, and Candy Maldonado.

yeah we really have the Marlins to thank for this

yairo munoz, mediocre utilityman who was lucky to get the chance to play as much as he did the last 2 seasons, quits cardinals and then gets released

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2020/03/cardinals-release-yairo-munoz.html

The Cardinals announced this morning that they’ve placed infielder Yairo Munoz on unconditional release waivers. The move leaves an opening on the 40-man roster.

In an important detail, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch adds that Munoz “left the team, flew home” without notifying the Cardinals. Manager Mike Shildt told Goold and other reporters that Munoz frequently complained about playing time last season. That’s certainly an interesting twist to the story, and it seems clear that Munoz wasn’t released for any baseball reason, but rather as a result of his own decision to excuse himself from camp.

my partner made an observation that seems right: imagine being a very good baseball player that's just not quite good enough, taking it out on other people

“He’s got that China virus, honey.” @HarrisonCLee pic.twitter.com/5BIun7lqPn

— Richard M. Nixon (@dick_nixon) March 18, 2020

i'm not sure if anyone but bnw remembers mark hamilton, but this is a cool story:

The Major League career of former first baseman/outfielder Mark Hamilton consisted of 47 games with the Cardinals in 2010-11, a brief stint that netted Hamilton a World Series ring for his role in the Cards’ 2011 championship squad. After being released by the Braves in July 2014, Hamilton stuck to his vow to go to medical school if he wasn’t a big league regular by his 30th birthday, and ESPN.com’s Alden Gonzalez writes that Hamilton is set to officially begin his medical career in June at two New York hospitals “at the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic.” Though Hamilton is trained in interventional radiology, the early days of his six-year residency program will inevitably be focused on helping treat coronavirus patients. While the pandemic has “been very eye-opening,” Hamilton said, “I wanted to go into medicine because I really enjoyed caring for people. I enjoy being able to help others when they’re in their darkest hour, when they need somebody to both support them from a medical side and an emotional side. And I’m definitely going to be able to do that in my first year.”

You know following the box scores of the Reds 2020 Strat-O-Matic season is about 60% as good as having them actually play. They play about the same.

https://redlegnation.com/category/2020-reds-season-strat-o-matic-simulation/

Standings following the April 27 games:
NL Central WON LOST PCT GB
Cubs 19 10 .655 0
Cardinals 15 14 .517 4
Brewers 13 15 .464 5.5
Reds 13 15 .464 5.5
Pirates 11 18 .379 8

I had no idea where else to post this, but this is fantastic:

When my dad became upset at the Cubs’ performance he would write other teams, offering to sign a contract as a free agent fan. Some teams wrote back to him. Here are some of their replies. pic.twitter.com/vNDbbBzMS9

— Don Kostelec (@KostelecPlan) April 30, 2020

ha! that's pretty awesome

https://i.imgur.com/n58kaL3.png

there's a schedule?

yeah, good question, i'm not sure how Dan Zips did it. They know 40 out of the 60 games will involve division rivals, so 10 each against those teams. the other 20 will be against the corresponding league's division - so 4 each against those teams?

Stratomat's standings playing out this season are not too different in the NL Central.

LEAGUE STANDINGS FOR 2020 Strat-O-Matic Season

AL East WON LOST PCT GB MAGIC#
2020 Tampa Bay TBA 50 33 .602 ---- 73
2020 New York (AL) NYA 42 40 .512 7.5
2020 Toronto TOA 38 44 .463 11.5
2020 Boston BOA 38 44 .463 11.5
2020 Baltimore BAA 33 49 .402 16.5

AL Central WON LOST PCT GB MAGIC#
2020 Cleveland CLA 51 31 .622 ---- 73
2020 Kansas City KCA 44 39 .530 7.5
2020 Minnesota MNA 42 41 .506 9.5
2020 Chicago (AL) CHA 38 45 .458 13.5
2020 Detroit DEA 32 50 .390 19.0

AL West WON LOST PCT GB MAGIC#
2020 Houston HOA 54 26 .675 ---- 74
2020 Oakland OAA 47 35 .573 8.0
2020 Los Angeles(AL) LAA 41 40 .506 13.5
2020 Texas TEA 32 51 .386 23.5
2020 Seattle SEA 29 54 .349 26.5

NL East WON LOST PCT GB MAGIC#
2020 Washington WAN 50 32 .610 ---- 75
2020 Atlanta ATN 44 38 .537 6.0
2020 Philadelphia PHN 39 42 .481 10.5
2020 New York (NL) NYN 39 43 .476 11.0
2020 Miami MMN 33 49 .402 17.0

NL Central WON LOST PCT GB MAGIC#
2020 St. Louis SLN 44 38 .537 ---- 81
2020 Milwaukee MLN 42 38 .525 1.0
2020 Chicago (NL) CHN 43 39 .524 1.0
2020 Cincinnati CIN 40 42 .488 4.0
2020 Pittsburgh PIN 34 47 .420 9.5

NL West WON LOST PCT GB MAGIC#
2020 Los Angeles(NL) LAN 53 29 .646 ---- 73
2020 San Diego SDN 45 37 .549 8.0
2020 Arizona ARN 41 41 .500 12.0
2020 Colorado CON 39 42 .481 13.5
2020 San Francisco SFN 32 50 .390 21.0


AL Wild Card Standings WON LOST PCT GB MAGIC#
2020 Oakland OAA 47 35 .573 ---- 76
2020 Kansas City KCA 44 39 .530 ---- 79
2020 New York (AL) NYA 42 40 .512 1.5
2020 Los Angeles(AL) LAA 41 40 .506 2.0
2020 Minnesota MNA 42 41 .506 2.0
2020 Toronto TOA 38 44 .463 5.5
2020 Boston BOA 38 44 .463 5.5

NL Wild Card Standings WON LOST PCT GB MAGIC#
2020 San Diego SDN 45 37 .549 ---- 80
2020 Atlanta ATN 44 38 .537 ---- 81
2020 Milwaukee MLN 42 38 .525 1.0
2020 Chicago (NL) CHN 43 39 .524 1.0
2020 Arizona ARN 41 41 .500 3.0
2020 Cincinnati CIN 40 42 .488 4.0

If I am wrong, I'm wrong but the last two times MLB had some work stoppage, the Reds were just good enough to get screwed out of playoff spot.

Last ride of the Big Red Machine in 81 in the strike year somehow got the best record in baseball and did not make the playoffs because of the weird split season playoff setup.

In the shortened 94 season, the Reds were freakin' crusin' at 66-49 when the season stopped and then got swept by the Braves in NL Championship '95 when they won it all. First two games of the sweep went into extra innings...oh well.

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/2020-positional-power-rankings-starting-rotation-no-1-15/

I can say without hyperbole that this may be the best rotation the Reds have had since the late 50s or early 60s when they had various combinations of Jim Maloney, Bob Purkey, Joe Nuxhall, and Jim O'Toole.

Reds project to have the best starting pitching in the NL Central (at #8 in MLB), with the brewers/cubs/cardinals clumped together in the middle of all of MLB (#15-17) and the pirates a little bit behind (#23)

the yankees playing literally half their games against the BAL/TOR/BOS pitching staffs could get v. ugly

I honestly just don’t see it with the Reds.

pirates finished their 2020 exhibition slate 3-18

Baseball Prospectus staff #2 choice for NL Cy Young (behind deGrom) is John Flaherty

i don't necessarily think it'll be flaherty or degrom (just because of baseball weirdness), but there's a good chance the Cy winner this year will be some sub-1.50 ERA (or lower) fluke thing

Oddly enough, I almost think the Reds are the hip pick to win the central. A whole lot of people are picking them to win a close division.

I have no idea how this will play out. One thing with such a short season, you get off to a bad start, there is no coming back.

Flaherty looking pretty Cy-like til his 88th pitch, gave up a 2-run single

<3 kyle hendricks despite his cubness

miles mikolas out for the season

damn, that sucks, but if the season manages to go on, they have good starting depth (KK might be as effective as mikolas was in 2018)

https://s.yimg.com/it/api/res/1.2/V_bafTbwvm.rcsqM8ef5tw--~A/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7dz0zMDA7aD0yMDA7cT0xMDA-/https://s.yimg.com/xe/i/us/sp/v/mlb_cutout/players_l/04302020/10050.png

"Business in the front, party in the back."

According to Thom Brennaman, Travis Jankowski has already been mistaken a few times in Cincy for Bronson Arroyo.

Christian Yelich worst player in baseball

pirates 2 hitter is batting .045
5 hitter: .080
6 hitter: .077
8 hitter: .105

Tyler Chatwood is good now

Joey Votto self-reported symptoms this morning, according to a source. He was placed on the IL. There is no positive test, source said. Based on what MLB has done, he'd miss at minimum, two days -- 3 games if they play today's DH.

— C. トレント・ローズクランズ (@ctrent) August 2, 2020

so i see the pirates and cardinals are both still at 2 wins. 10 losses for the bucs, though

haven't the Cardinals only played like 2 games

a total of 5 so far

tyler chatwood is bad again

though now he's giving up home runs instead of walking 2/3rds of the other team

pirates and twins played in mpls monday and tuesday, then flew to pittsburgh to play in a different empty stadium wednesday-thursday. brilliant stuff

eh, I think home field advantage in baseball has more to do with the actual field than it does fans in the stands though. Makes me wonder if anyone has thought about recording devestating player-specific heckles for their artificial fans though.

I think the crowds do subconsciously affect the strike zone

yeah there's an advantage, mostly for outfielders, in knowing the field. i don't think it's enough to warrant sending all those people to an extra location for two days during a pandemic, though -- it's a corner that should have been cut

also lol the marlins and phillies are gonna play a seven-game series over five days in miami in september!

fuckin lmao @ Yelich's homer tonight

was it over the sound of canned boos?

real talk if there were fans they probably would've pushed him back into the field and it only would've been a triple

"yeah there's an advantage,"

Getting laid at home?

I joke, but you know with these fools it's true.

So what is the temp in the room about the 7 innning game?

I'm kinda thinking this...have the 7 inning game during the week like Sunday night games to Thursday. Then on the weekend play 9. Playoffs always play in 9. I'm not a purist though, I think they ought to realign completely by region to make the weekend regional series a travel thing (once past the plague).

maniacs

If the #Reds get their way, it won't just be cardboard cutouts in the stands at games this season. @ctrent reports that the team has formally pitched a plan to the state for fans at GABP in 2020. https://t.co/1xY3vFmdd7

— The Athletic Cincinnati (@TheAthleticCIN) August 10, 2020

#STLCards mamager Mikr Shildt, driving a Yucon to Chicago, says it reminded him of Legion Ball.

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) August 15, 2020

willie mcgee will attempt to remote bench coach, when possible

Cardinals coach Willie McGee will not return to the bench when the team resumes play, Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. He has opted out of the remainder of the campaign.

McGee, an MLB veteran who spent 13 of his 18 playing seasons in St. Louis, has tutored the club’s outfielders since 2018. The 61-year-old will attempt to fulfill some of his duties remotely.

The decision comes as the Cardinals try to make it through a COVID-19 outbreak that has spread to many of the team’s players and coaches. McGee has not tested positive, per the report. He says he’s particularly concerned with contracting the disease since he has high blood pressure.

and unfortunate news for the reds :(

SATURDAY: Games scheduled for today and tomorrow between the Cincinnati Reds and Pittsburgh Pirates has been postponed after a Reds’ player tested positive for COVID-19. There have been no more positive tests beyond the one for the Reds, per MLB Insider Jon Heyman (Twitter links). Given potential exposure during yesterday’s game, there’s more than enough reason to push tonight’s game at the very least.

MLB issued a press release announcing the cancellations, which read: “Following a positive test for COVID-19 by a Cincinnati Reds player, tonight’s scheduled game, as well as tomorrow afternoon’s contest, between the Reds and Pittsburgh Pirates at Great American Ball Park have been postponed to allow for additional testing and to complete the contact tracing process. Major League Baseball will continue to provide updates as they become available.”

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2020/08/reds-player-tests-positive-for-coronavirus.html

What's the next date all 30 teams will play?

I am looking forward to this Cards game so we can see the effects of "rust."

yeah, the next few weeks are going to be a beatdown. the return of the 1997 cardinals

The Redbirds is back!

CIN-PIT postponed today and tomorrow

welp, whatever this 2020 season is for the cardinals, the most important stretch is right now. 5 games against the cubs over 3 days, none of their starting pitchers are at regular season strength, almost all the starting position players were all minor leaguers 2 years ago, and half of the bullpen appearances are MLB debuts

pirates team fWAR:

hitters: 0.0
starters: -0.3
relievers: 0.8

better than the red sox for just a third of the cost = successful season!

pirates more than tripled their playoff chances with a sweep of the brewers this weekend

(from 0.2% to 0.7%)

supposedly josh hader (!) said the brewers are considering not playing tonight (!)

all of the NBA playoff games just got canceled

it is pretty weird to get that news via josh hader though

what would *really* move the needle is if the packers struck as well, but they don't play for two and a half weeks

i'm pretty stunned!

The Brewers have decided not to play tonight’s game.

— Jared Diamond (@jareddiamond) August 26, 2020

Chicago Cubs

Acquired 1B/DH José Martínez from Rays for two players to be named later or cash considerations
Acquired LHP Andrew Chafin from Diamondbacks for a player to be named later
Acquired LHP Josh Osich from Red Sox for a player to be named later
Acquired OF Cameron Maybin from Tigers for INF Zack Short
Cincinnati Reds

Acquired a player to be named later from Astros for LHP Brooks Raley
Acquired OF Mark Payton from Athletics for cash considerations
Acquired RHP Riley O’Brien from Rays for LHP Cody Reed
Acquired OF Brian Goodwin from Angels for LHP Packy Naughton and a player to be named later or cash considerations
Acquired RHP Archie Bradley from Diamondbacks for INF Josh VanMeter and OF Stuart Fairchild
Milwaukee Brewers

Acquired three players to be named later (reportedly RHP Brandon Ramey, RHP Israel Puello and RHP Juan Geraldo) from Phillies for RHP David Phelps
Pittsburgh Pirates

Acquired RHP Tyler Bashlor from Mets for cash considerations
Acquired LHP Austin Davis from Phillies for a player to be named later and cash considerations
Acquired international bonus pool space from White Sox for OF Jarrod Dyson
St. Louis Cardinals

None

i am very glad and sad that the cubs got jose martinez. i love that guy, so i'll enjoy getting to see him play more. cubs fans should be very glad that the DH is in place in the NL, because holy shit, he is even worse at fielding than brad miller

(sorry for crappy formatting of the trade acquisitions above)

cubs are the only team over .500 in the division

i follow a pittsburgh sports history twitter account that mainly concentrates on five- or ten-year anniversaries, and while the 1960 and 1990 pirates weren't bad and most of the other teams still won at least 60 games, it feels like an endless onslaught of X Years Ago Today Pirates Throttled By _______

also all the hopeful sidebars on prospects who obviously never panned out ('john wehner has new approach at plate' etc.)

adam wainwright is unstoppable

i was completely wrong about him, a couple years ago. i just thought he was _done_. for a while, he really was cooked, it was sad to watch. his recent run has been wonderful to watch. who knows how long he can keep it up, how much luck is involved (i'm too afraid to look up his peripherals), or how long it will take before he gets injured for perhaps the final time. but i'm enjoying it now. i never thought i'd be saying this, but he seems like a lock for another year (maybe even 2??) contract and a spot in the rotation in 2021

and i don't think anyone is going to be satisfied unless both yadi and wainwright say their farewells in front of a live audience

i knew that if i waited long enough, my annual prediction of jon lester's demise would eventually come true

you know what team is bad? the pittsburgh pirates

now watch them blow their four-game lead for the top draft pick

was it ever decided how draft order would be determined?

reverse alphabetical by city/state name, i believe (congrats blue jays!)

I really hope the Reds make the post season with a losing record and then turn around and knock the Dodgers out the fxxxin playoffs. That would be hilarous!

Payback for '81...

https://i.imgur.com/cQ8V7sX.png

Thom Brennaman has resigned as a Cincinnati Reds broadcaster, he told WCPO on Friday, one month after he used an anti-gay slur on the air.

fuck off for life brennamans

so, devin williams

small sample size obv, but 1.1 bWAR (1.4fWAR) as a reliever is impressive even for a full season, let alone 60 games, and 18.7K/9 is o_O

he's outperforming his xFIP, which is 1.00

O_o

As now, looks like MLB will actually might get a couple of match ups they would want.

Dodgers/Giants
Marlins/Cubs

Marlins/Cubs isn't a rivalry game, but it is the first time they have met in the playoffs since Bartman, so his shadow will be discussed ad nauseam for the same dudes that pounded beers at the Cubbie Bear before the Freddy Jones Band.

imo it’s not a marlins playoff game without the guy in the shirt who always sits behind home plate

That dude used to show up at a lot of sporting events, he was a camera regular at Heat games when LeBron was there too.

feel like it would be somehow fitting if all four NL central teams lost

JT Riddle has elected free agency, thus ending one of the greatest mysteries in recent Pirates history.

Despite hitting .149/.174/.224 (.398 OPS) and committing four errors, Riddle appeared in 23 of 60 games, playing 3B, SS, 2B, 1B, LF, RF and CF.

— Jason Mackey (@JMackeyPG) October 6, 2020

he slept with the owner

https://www.vivaelbirdos.com/2020/10/21/21524717/the-cardinals-have-not-won-a-trade-since-2016

the worst division in baseball, in 2021

the only division to ever produce four playoff teams, and yet

it's weird what one acquisition will do, but with the arenado addition it seems like the cardinals will have an excellent defense in 2021. this is someone else's breakdown:

Elite: Arenado, Bader
Great, but a step below: Goldschmidt, DeJong, O’Neill
Really good and maybe better: Edman, Carlson
Old/unclear: Yadi/Knizner

i love how this just assumes that yadi's coming back. but yeah, he is.

i'd edit that to:

Elite: Arenado, Bader
Great, but a step below: DeJong, O’Neill
Really good: Goldschmidt, Edman, Carlson
They still don't run on him, so: Yadi
Why is this baseball man on the field: Fowler

when stevie nicks released 'edge of seventeen' i thought it ruled and also i thought she was referencing a certain four-time batting champion

Sometimes to be near you
Is to be unable to hear you
I'm a few years older than you
(I'm a few years older than you) my love MADLOCK

this is only of note for big pirates fans (hi mookie!), but 1B john nogowski was traded to the pirates for cash considerations after being DFA'd by the cardinals.

nogowski had no position on the cardinals (Goldschmidt at 1B, a logjam of mediocre 4th outfielders, where nogowski was attempting to fit in as well)

he's a really interesting player - very little power but excellent contact and walk skills. and i think he walked more than struck out and put up above-average production in pretty much every level of the minors, too. also fun to watch and seemingly a good dude. he had the very best spring training this year and played his way onto the team. then he got almost zero playing time in the majors.

he probably won't pull a luke voit or a randy arozarena or a tommy pham or an adolis garcia, but it also wouldn't be surprising if he turned into a solid everyday player for the bucs, and at almost no cost - probably the kind of player that would eventually lead them back to contention.

i'm sorry but i deeply distrust players who bat right and throw left

except for rickey henderson

i 100% understand

but give john nogowksi and his mustache a chance. i want to see what he could do with consistent playing time

my (step)dad batted and threw left (and shot right in hockey). and he totally knew that batting left was an advantage, but supposedly when i first picked up a bat i did so righty and he either forgot or didn't feel like he could 'correct' me. also in minor league (8-10yos) he'd give me a quarter or something every time i pulled the ball. he was understandably trying to develop power but ultimately i was completely incapable of going the other way unless i was overpowered.

except this one single pristine time in high school when i waited on a curve and hit it to right. once.

these facts ended up featuring in his obituary because i'd have *totally* had a mark grace-like career had he coached me suitably

anyway my uncle dick hits right and throws left, and he was always an asshole when i was a kid because despite being a STEP-nephew i was better than his kids at sports

so you need to wow me, nogowski. mustache is probably a good first step

also at my (step)dad's memorial i mentioned that he was he was easily the smartest/brightest person i'd ever known and (hits right, throws left) uncle dick made a big scene of clearing his throat for joeks and i should have fucking *buried* him but wasn't prepared so i let it slide

christ what a (bats right throws left) asshole

andy k just in case you hit righty, don't tell me, because i want to continue to love you

i knew this one kid from wichita. he was in the same school as me, early on. i was the shortest kid in school and bullied by aaron, the school's known kickball king. well, this kid from wichita murdered aaron. and then i was the best at kickball after that. that was 1989. he was right-handed but kicked lefty

fuck aaron

Exactly. And not only that, but Aaron was also against switch thrower/batters. It was fucked up

who in history ever more deserved to die

ooh, i'm moses's half-brother, i can make a magical asp weakly kick a ball. fuck you; sign on the mantle or no, you're the eldest son and yr fuckin weak

john nogowksi may be the lovely dust through which GOD works his purpose

yes! this is exactly what i see in nogowski. his OBP will surprise you, as will god's plan for the bucs

All John Nogowski needed was to go to a good organization.

— Sen. Lemon Gogurt (R - MS) (@Ugarles) July 7, 2021

NOGOWSKIMENTUM

John Nogowski 2021 wRC+ on July 4th: -30

John Nogowski 2021 wRC+ on July 9th: 122

— 🥇 (@SteeloCity) July 10, 2021

#nogowski

he's good! he's not exceptional, i don't thin, unless he pulls a luke voit.

but he's pretty good! will always root or nogowski

Finally gave in and have been watching and listening to the Reds a bit on radio the last month or so, including a couple of the games against the Brewers this weekend.

Got to say the Brewers catcher Omar Navarez really reminds me a bunch of John Kruk when he is batting.

not only is nogowski now hitting .452/.489/.548 with the pirates, he's also wearing the number 69. a cult hero in the making

for some reason, seven of the 15 major leaguers ever to wear 69 did so with pittsburgh

i'm telling you, this nogowski is the answer

Got to love the Reds once AGAIN showing signs of being decent then coming out of the Allstar break fumbling and stumbling.

Their bullpen is trash.

reds are suddenly only two behind the padres for the second wild card and still have nine games remaining vs the pirates

who they have done pretty well against...80 something to 20 something runs this season so far?

reds are "sneaky good"

Reds bullpen gave away a boodle of games early on (I think at least 7-10 games in the last couple innings). The additions via trade and getting Lorenzen healthy seems to have bolstered that part of the club.

They have a very deep lineup and bench. They really have to find a place for Moustakas to play since Farmer and India have played so well. Going to have to find a place for Senzel too who is starting to rehab in Louisville this week.

Their starters are also clicking right now.

jon lester OUTDUELS brandon woodruff

it's been a pretty fun game.

LARS NOOTBAAR

god, i hate jon lester

even if he was doing better...i just hate how he walks around

btw, speaking of how to walk around and be cool, if you want to window into the homerism-view of yadier molina from a cardinals fan perspective, this is what i think of as yadi walking around and being cool:

We love these guys! Good luck to our friends @yadimolina04, @UncleCharlie50 and the @Cardinals on #OpeningDaySTL! Go Cards!! #TimeToFly pic.twitter.com/oSWNFgjPJB

— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) April 5, 2019

come on, that's cute

come on, that's cute!

pirates dfa gregory polanco

sometimes he seemed on the verge of figuring it out . . . but even that was a long time ago

After his leadoff HR today, Lane Thomas is hitting .333/.411/.587 in his first 73 PA since the Cardinals traded him to the Nats.

— Andrew Simon (@AndrewSimonMLB) September 5, 2021

He seems really good...what happened to him in STL?

always buried behind too many outfielders, and also mike shildt continually choosing to play infielders in the outfield over his actual outfielders.

this year, for example, the preferred OF configuration has been tyler o'neill in LF, harrison bader in CF, dylan carlson in RF. injuries messed that up for a while, but the 4th OF hierarchy went something like this:

tommy edman (a brilliant infielder, and decent outfielder given that he just wings it out there)
justin williams
austin dean
lars nootbaar (who rules)

before that, back to 2019, it was a similar situation except that dexter fowler was in RF and ozuna was in LF, and lane thomas has to battle with randy arozarena and tyler o'neill for 5th OF, as shildt bizarrely played jose martinez as the 4th OF. jose martinez is one of the most entertaining players in baseball history, both just in the dugout and on the field. but that was a hilarious disaster for martinez, who is also one of the worst outfielders i've ever seen

anyway, lane thomas - always the 4th or 5th guy, even as the cardinals found room to trade away other outfielders like arozarena and adolis garcia, both of whom are battling for ROY in the AL right now

i'll probably be wrong on this, but i don't think lane thomas is actually good. he's not quite pete kozma, but i don't think his hot streak will continue into next year. then again, that's what i thought about luke voit when they traded him away. oops!

ultimately i think thomas' best spot is still as a 4th OF. he plays an average CF, which is useful (although i don't know what the situation is with Robles and whoever's playing left), and he's kind of an average hitting/speed/tools kind of guy, someone who doesn't hurt you in any obvious way.

He might be temporarily rejuvenated being on a new team, getting regular playing time. But he is looking good with the bat. Nogowski was also briefly on fire after the cardinals traded him.

ts: jose martinez in the outfield vs matt adams in the outfield

i think it depends on your sense of fielding humor

matt adams in the outfield was kind of your classic beer-league softball slugger who is actually pretty athletic, and he just doesn't belong in the OF and it shows.

jose martinez played the OF like no person has ever played outfield before. he would take the craziest routes every time, he'd be yelling at himself and the world as he ran toward it, he would leap way too early or way too late and then do a comic book routine crash and somersault off the wall. he was 6'6" and the most awkward

this is a+ NL Central analysis

Jesse Winker got hurt and pretty much the Reds lineup has fell apart. Too many strikeouts and not enough OBP.

i don't think lane thomas is actually good.

- me, last week.

he's still been pretty good! since joining the nats, he's .293/.383/.515, wRC+ 138

i still think ultimately he's not actually good. but there is the factor of a player like thomas finally getting a chance to play every day in the big leagues and being pumped as hell to do it.

also does anyone care about this WC2 chase? could be fun

Does it mean much to a Cardinals' fan to be chasing a wild-card spot? It's such a big deal in Toronto (and I know there are franchises even worse off).

it does to me, that's for sure. the cardinals have had a long enough stretch of above .500 that there's been enough time for this topic to be debated for years - are we fans happy, satisfied, or dissatisfied with the cardinals being consistently "pretty good" instead of "the best team in baseball good", where the latter would more likely to win it all of course.

actually, here: https://www.vivaelbirdos.com/2021/9/4/22656590/saturday-stream-of-consciousness-can-this-season-be-successful

a very recent take on that, and you can read through the comments. there are smart ones and dumb ones, they run the gamut.

i remember the 2006 (83-78) and 2011 (90-72) WS teams, and they were so much worse than the 2005, 2004, 2015, and 2014 teams. but none of those teams won, while the lesser teams did, and in the 2011 case did it in the most spectacularly joyful and unexpected way imaginable (at the time - there have been some very good WS since in terms of entertainment value).

anyway, even a lesser team can easily have a good 20-25 game stretch where everything comes together as planned, for once, and everyone's jumping and high-fiving all the time. for that reason, it means a lot that the cardinals are consistently in a position to make that possible nearly every year.

for example, very nice to be looking forward to the game tonight, dreading woodford's start, knowing that this is make or break time and they still have a shot

I mean that's the beauty of baseball, if you're lucky enough to make October the one month where you run hot you can make history. see also those two Royals World Series teams. as a Brewer fan I'm not really sure how to approach this postseason, this may actually be the single greatest Brewer team of my life but it's totally within the realm of possibility that they lose a 5-game series.

fwiw I find it hard to root for the Cardinals (sorry, you understand) but watching them take out that Philly team with the megastacked rotation was pretty fun

i would never root for the cardinals if i didn't grow up there, i get it. i mean, that run of braves teams in the 90s and 00s, holy shit. every fucking year. and the yankees around the same time. it's like change the channel

There is a baseball player named Lars Nootbaar.

That is all.

You got that right

I really don't mind if the Reds don't get the chance to get beat by the Dodgers in the playoffs, but f'k the Cardinals eternally. That said, the Cards do get IN the playoffs they can embarrass the Dodgers as I hate those dudes more (really more the Garvey ones but they all bleed blue).

Brewers have never won it all, so I would be A-OK cool with them doing so. Love Tony Gwynn but Machado is such a choad, I never want him to win anything more in his life in baseball - so cannot go for the Padres.

Indifferent to the Braves but like that is going to happen. Not a chance unless they face the Indians again in the WS.

Giants I am kinda neutral on overall, but it would roil Dodgers fans for them to win ANOTHER one - so that I could probably be ok with happening.

What are the “Garvey ones”?

Hahaha, I’m intrigued by that as well!

My NL non-cardinals “win it all tiers” are:

pirates
Brewers
Padres
Mets
Reds

Dbacks
Rockies
Marlins
Nats

Cubs
Giants
Phillies
Dodgers

https://images.fineartamerica.com/images/artworkimages/mediumlarge/2/los-angeles-dodgers-steve-garvey-april-12-1982-sports-illustrated-cover.jpg

I hated that popeye armed dude.

That said, I liked Ron Cey with the Cubs and any dude that looks that awkward and is actually good at their sport is ok. Turner definitely has some Penguin vibes with the current Dodgers.

Ever since the Reds brought Junior 'back home to Cincy' - it has not been all that much fun to follow the team.

That said, I grew up a Bears, Reds & IU Hoops fan...it's not been all that good a run for ANY of them for a couple decades plus - I'm a bit embittered.

"Is Steve Garvey Really Too Good to Be True?"--wait a few years, Sports Illustrated.

is yelich hurt? or his arm, at least?

congrats to the pittsburgh pirates, on the anniversary of roberto clemente's 3000th and final hit, for achieving their 100th loss for the fourth time in my life

also congrats to me for having watched absolutely none of their games this year, because why on earth would i

Congratulations, Karl Malone!

https://www.mlb.com/news/adam-wainwright-cardinals-agree-to-extension

thank you. remember, i'm the guy who was begging wainwright to retire after 2019 (and 2018). what can i say, i know a gamer when i see one!

just had a look at all-time pitching stats for the cardinals, and at some point very recently Wainwright passed Dizzy Dean for 2nd place all time pitcher WAR. kind of surprising considering how long the franchise has been around.

has there been an investigation of how he's doing it? i mean, he has That Curveball, but how has he rebounded/scoffed at mortality?

there's been a fangraphs article, that's about the best i know of

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/the-incomparable-adam-wainwright/

my own thoughts,

watching (every single - seriously) his games this season, it is very much that terrible cliche "pitching instead of throwing" thing. his command is as good as i've ever seen it, his curveball seems to be as good as ever. his arm slot and all that shit is pretty much identical from pitch to pitch, and he has the best defense (arguably) in baseball behind him. so even though his pitches are slow as shit, the relative difference between them is still stark, the arm slot's still the same, and lots of balls get put into play and turned into outs. he's been relatively "lucky" with HRs this year (11%/FB) but i credit that to the weak contact that he tends to induce.

i don't even know what the league average HR/FB % is. maybe 11% is high, who knows. regardless, he doesn't walk many so when he gives up a HR it often seems to be a solo HR in the 7th inning variety.

also went way into games repeatedly this season, almost as a matter of habit. he will get downvote cy young votes this year and totally deserves them. it's hard to quantify "veteran leadership" kind of stuff but in the dark ages of this summer for the cardinals, when they were walking people with the bases loaded a record number of times and hitting batters a record number of times, he was the only one who seemed like a normal baseball man, every 5th game.

thank you! <3

are there any other questions about cardinals baseball, because that is totally up my alley

it's going to be awesome in 2022 when yadi does his farewell tour and every opposing team/stadium gets a chance to really let him know how they feel

:-o

i can talk about mike shannon. it's his 50th anniversary on radio, and he actually died on air earlier tonight, of alcohol poisoning

tyler o'neill hit a HR and he forgot to get excited. it was so matter of fact, like "and there's, uh, ....there's O'Neill and it's a long one and it's gone, a Cardinals HR. that makes it 2-1."

it was amazing, to be honest

but not so bad it's good, more like, so bad it's just mostly bad and i don't recommend you look into it, mike shannon has had many beers at this point and is ready to retirement

stl cardinalsc vicory

Too bad his career WAR is relatively low, because, depending upon what happens next year, he'd have some markers that would give him an outside chance at the HOF in this era: ~200 wins, solid career ERA, Cy Young support through the years (24th all-time, though he never won), good postseason box.

yeah, he is a perfect Cardinals Hall of Fame candidate

if/when yadi (current hall of famer, 100% been voted in already, according to the home team announcers) gets in later, that's great. but he and yadi WILL go in together in the same year in the team hall of fame, and that will be a must see game, i can't wait

on a team level he's somewhere between dizzy dean and bob gibson, (somewhere far below gibson, to be clear!), just an all-time legend in terms of STL pitchers. other players that get talked about were usually people like Tudor or Forsch, and when mccarver was still calling games, early Carlton

i think fans of so many pitchers could tell versions of this story, but wainwright's career, as successful as its been, was ruined by injuries in his 30s. it always seemed like he was amazing until just before an injury, than coming back from, his entire career. his age 29 season was wiped out entirely, even though he got a world series ring (2011). and especially 2015 and afterward. that was brutal to watch. it was all about the command. a slow/command pitcher that loses command is horrible to see

to see him come back and rule is actually kind of awesome, one of the better parts of life right now

Is that what it’s called when the Cardinals retire a number - “Cardinals Hall of Fame”?

They formally made it a thing a few years ago, and now they hold fan votes every year to add new members. Keith Hernandez was added this year! He seemed genuinely pumped. Tommy Herr, as well!

The numbers on the wall, and retired numbers, are separate, I think. It’s getting complicated in STL

schildt out. seems a bit odd

Yeah, I don't get it.

i just saw the news. no idea. as a strategist, he didn't seem notably bad or good. he had another year left on his contract, too!

also...i mean, everyone hated matheny but schildt seemed to be well-liked

Nobody's going to let "philosophical differences" go, so the story will surely come out soon.

the only explanation is they're gonna make Yadi the manager

oh god

i mean, that might be right though

but actually i think not

but it could be

xpost

i don't know, in the st louis media, they actually might let that go. mozeliak is pretty tight-lipped about everything

also, i think the true good pick would be jose oquendo

it's gonna be really funny when some other midwestern team taps shildt though

Re:Yadi, Mozeliak did say that they have many internal managerial candidates ...

This reminds me of Girardi getting to within a game of the WS and not being brought back to manage the Yankees. The Cards decided midseason that they're going in a different direction no matter what.

reading more about this makes it even weirder

no one, including schildt himself, had any clue it was coming. they’d already committed to bringing back the rest of the coaching staff. and it was so important to fire him now that they asked MLB for permission to announce it on a playoff gameday (when there were no games just the day before)

https://www.baseballrumors.me/2021/10/blindsided-disagreement-over-analytics.html

Schildt wanted to use fWAR; front office, bWAR.

lol

bench coach oliver marmol to take over in st louis, it seems

hmm, well, ok!

it's funny, i know next to nothing about marmol (or stubby clapp or pop warner) because the announcers rarely talk about them, and if they do it's just generic things like "well-respected" and "knows the minor leaguers well". i think 95% of the time marmol has been on the camera the last 3 years is when he on the phone with some mystery person to determine whether or not the replay challenge should be used

they kept the rest of the coaching staff though, except for shildt, and i think they added a hitting coach position this week. the general sense seems to be that they're moving toward the sf giants model of having more than a dozen coaches, more of an egalitarian approach? i don't know.

Notable picks for the #Cardinals in 2007, by round:

1st -- Pete Kozma
1st -- Clayton Mortensen
3rd -- Daniel Descalso
6th -- Oliver Marmol
24th -- Sam Freeman
26th -- Tony Cruz
38th -- Adron Chambershttps://t.co/tgxc8rUqqP #MLBDraft #MLB #stlcards

— Derrick S. Goold (@dgoold) October 25, 2021

pirates are ten games up on the cardinals for the first time since the end of the 1992 season

can't not cheer for the pirates

cardinals really having a tough one this year, lol. i've observed it all from more of a distance than normal. i watched or listened to every game last year, i think, and the vast majority of the games the last few years. i've missed almost all of them so far this year, for good reasons (just busy). it's been ugly.

if you think it's bad normally, cardinals fans are a fucking handful when the team is losing, and they haven't lost so much in a very long time. the fans freaking out is to be expected, but what's been unusual is to see the panic in the front office. they've made a series of baffling moves recently, strange in how they appear to be short-sighted in the near-term but also in the long-term.

the biggest wtf is how they're handling willson contreras. they just signed him to a 5-year deal to replace yadi. so far, he's been great. he's been one of the best hitters on the team, and although he's not yadi behind the plate - not prime yadi, but also not even better than molina in his beat-up final years - that expected. i'm not sure anyone thought he would be more than average-to-below-average, defensively. yet, 33 games into his 5 year contract, the team has decided to move contreras to DH and have even said he'll get time in the OF (where he's apparently played a couple hundred innings earlier in his career). backup catcher andrew knizner, who is the worst hitter the cardinals have had since pete kozma, and is a mediocre defender compared to kozma's well above average SS work, is now the starting catcher. an even worse catcher than knizner is now the backup catcher. contreras playing DH means that nolan gorman and juan yepez, the most natural DHs on the team, will either get less playing time and be forced onto the field more often. contreras playing OF makes a crowded talented OF situation even more crowded. why is contreras on this team if he's not playing catcher? he's a very expensive DH that prevents playing time for very talented pre-arbitration DHs.

anyway, it's kind of how this year has gone. i think they'll play + .500 the rest of the year, they might run off a winning streak and come back to near contention in the NL central, which has the best fans in baseball, but there's a good chance they'll be selling at the trade deadline for the first time that i can remember

Seeing as the Cards are 24th/30 in RA, it's most likely a reaction from the SPs and pitching coaches to get a better game caller/receiver behind the plate.

BRef* has his dWAR as exactly replacement level which echoes exactly how Cards management handled it, kept his bat in the lineup and got an above replacement level backstop and hopefully a better caller/receiver behind the plate. If Knizner nets out a lower ERA for the SP staff in spite of his weak bat, that could lead to more wins.

*https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/contrwi01.shtml

Posnanski had a column about the Cardinals and Yankees both being in last place the other day:

"OK, can we freeze the world for a moment here? I’m writing this on Cinco de Mayo, the morning of May 5, 2023, and as of this moment, the New York Yankees AND the St. Louis Cardinals are in last place in their respective divisions.

The last time this happened was never.

Don’t look it up. I didn’t. I’m just telling you, the last time this happened was never. The Yankees and Cardinals have never been in last place at the same time, not ever, I will not look at the comments, I will not let facts dissuade me, this is the first time it has ever happened, and it’s glorious."

There's a part of me that always roots for the Cardinals out of (admittedly long-distance, from-another-division) admiration. So I can't say I'm enjoying it.

what is up with arenado’s (lack of) hitting?

cardinals front office has a great track record, but this willson thing is a colossal fuckup

apparently they think his framing sucks? statcast has him in the 35th percentile for framing, but also says that it's cost st. louis . . . zero runs. (knizner is somewhat better -- he's saved a run! -- although it's offset by his abysmal 32 wRC+.) fangraphs actually has contreras as a positive defender!

in any case, none of this should come as a surprise to the club, against whom contreras has played 95 games in his career. if he can't frame, why did you give him $85m? he's certainly not worth that much at any other position

kinda feel like this is the cardinals pitching staff throwing a tantrum because it lost its binkie yadi. pitchers and teams have been successful with far worse catchers than willson; maybe just pitch better instead of scapegoating the new guy

cubs won a World Series with willson

Athletic says:

The Cardinals — in what is being deemed a long-term strategy to improve both inefficiency behind the plate and an underperforming starting pitching staff — have moved Contreras to the designated hitter role, revoking his starting catching duties for the time being. Their initial plan included Contreras playing some in the outfield to keep his bat in the lineup. However, as of Sunday, the Cardinals have slightly reversed course.

“Obviously the Cardinals were used to one guy behind the plate for close to two decades,” Mozeliak said. “The nuances of that position, maybe very subtle, are what a lot of our pitchers were used to. What we were seeing was a lack of confidence. Normally, you would say, why didn’t you address this in spring training? But in spring training, it’s so different in terms of what people are trying to work on. Pitchers are going a couple of innings. It doesn’t really count.

“With this, we’ve noticed a lot of puzzling trends we know we need to fix. We know we need to address it. … We just decided to do it head on, put it out there. Do we think we’ve seen Willson catch his last game? No. But this is going to take a little time to get him to where we feel he understands the expectations of what this role is for us.”

last six games: rays/jays 37, pirates 7

Poor diplomacy from the Cards throwing Contreras under the bus. What has happened to these pirates?

Poor diplomacy from the Cards throwing Contreras under the bus. What has happened to these pirates?

Normally, you would say, why didn’t you address this in spring training? But in spring training, it’s so different in terms of what people are trying to work on. Pitchers are going a couple of innings. It doesn’t really count.

lol

it's nice to see it confirmed that six weeks of spring training is *so useless* that it can't even get pitchers and catchers 'on the same page'

xp the pirates are not actually good, that's all. but then neither is the rest of the NL Central

Reds don’t care, why should I care?

nl central should donate an extra playoff spot to the other 2 NL divisions

potentially we are just goofing this year

That is a very Cards excuse for sucking…Yadi’s gone like a neck tatted Yoda…hence we lose the force.

Cubs have just gone back to ‘we make far stacks whether we win or lose’.

...backup catcher andrew knizner, who is the worst hitter the cardinals have had since pete kozma...

Since getting the full-time job : 1.118 OPS/200 wRC+

totally sustainable right?

for a second, we all believed in pete kozma

i used to be a big knizner fan - he was projected as average defensively, an asset offensively. it was tough on his development to be a backup to yadi for 3 years. he spent a lot of that time in AAA playing everyday, though, and his projected + offense has always been very negative, and his defense isn't carson kelly level. ivan herrera is next in line, i expect him to take over the primary catcher position by 2024, maybe even later this year.

the contreras signing is a bad misstep if they don't keep him at catcher. the only possible way moving him off of catcher makes sense is if he truly is awful at gamecalling, and if that's the case, the cardinals need to keep up with the rest of mlb and figure out different ways to call the game. the rest of his defense is middling, which is fine -- they signed him to be average to below-average defensively, and well above average (for a catcher) offensively. that's exactly what he's done, so i don't understand destroying his value by making him a dh (blocking several equally good alternatives) and replacing his bat in the lineup with kozma

congrats to the pirates for reaching .500

usually this is a good thing! but instead they're on a 6-18 streak

nevertheless they're still only a game and a half back in the NL central! which is so bad yet notably better than the AL central

Reds are really trying pretty hard to get me to give a damn again.

Matt McLain looks like a goofball, but the dude is off to a nice start in the bigs.

I hate to say anything, as being a Reds fan has been like having a festering wound that won't heal right and itches like fxxx.

it isn't easy to start 20-8 and be under .500 on memorial day

Cubs 5 run lead over the cards in sunny London is just so gotdamn beautiful on Fox this afternoon, cheers!

wainwright is washed

Has been for a while, was only covered by that hot streak they had where they won a few games iirc