The Scuffling Cardinals

[gregmag]

Just to throw this out there, I still think the Cardinals are favorites to win the division. They're a deep, solid team with excellent frontline pitching. However, I think we sometimes let Cardinals mojo freak us out too much. They aren't a super team. In terms of present value, I don't think any hitter on their team touches Braun or Gomez. (Molina's in that class as an overall player, but Lucroy isn't far behind him.) No one in their lineup truly scares you. Also, the back of the Brewers' rotation is in much better shape.

 

All that said, we've been insanely lucky. Look at today's game. The Cubs gift-wrapped half of our meager run total, and K-Rod once again had nothing. Only Lohse and the Cubs' defense saved us, and a better lineup wouldn't have let Lohse up off the mat. OTOH, three of our four best hitters were out. We get two of them back tomorrow, which means we shouldn't need this kind of luck. That's good, because we can't rely on it.

[Dead Simmons]

Agree on all points Greg. The thing the Brews (or any first place team) has to avoid is losing streaks. And you know what they say: Beat all the teams you should and play .500 vs. the rest and you make the playoffs.

[PrinceFielderx1]

Agree on all points Greg. The thing the Brews (or any first place team) has to avoid is losing streaks. And you know what they say: Beat all the teams you should and play .500 vs. the rest and you make the playoffs.

 

So basically beat "everybody" in our own division?

[Dead Simmons]

Agree on all points Greg. The thing the Brews (or any first place team) has to avoid is losing streaks. And you know what they say: Beat all the teams you should and play .500 vs. the rest and you make the playoffs.

 

So basically beat "everybody" in our own division?

No, break even with the likes of Atlanta, St. Louis and S.F. and beat the bum teams that you SHOULD beat.

[PrinceFielderx1]

Agree on all points Greg. The thing the Brews (or any first place team) has to avoid is losing streaks. And you know what they say: Beat all the teams you should and play .500 vs. the rest and you make the playoffs.

 

So basically beat "everybody" in our own division?

No, break even with the likes of Atlanta, St. Louis and S.F. and beat the bum teams that you SHOULD beat.

 

So, you are saying we "should" beat "all" the teams in our own pathetic Division and it's playoffs? That's looking like it's more doable every day that goes by. Just sayin just sayin. Your Cards are included btw.. That team played way over their heads last year it looks like. Amazingly enough they are only a half game out in the WC. Something is wrong with baseball this year. Not as many good teams or something, and the Brewers have been without their best hitters for pretty much the whole season! and we are 6th in runs scored!!! I guess my prediction of being 1st in runs scored by the end of the season has a very high probability of happening.

[SoupTown]

Well said. Today was a gift to us. But I counter that we are missing 3 of our top 4 batters. So, on balance, I hope when our luck runs out our talent will be back.

 

re the Cards, I am hoping so much they become the Yankess of the 90s. I think I have my era right. Those 10 years where the Yankees followed their dominance with NOTHIN'. But we need the Cards to realise they are not special. And they don't have a God given right to dominate and have all things 'fall' their way. I think the team and fans still have this good mojo. It will take a strong while to squeeze it out of them.

[dlk9s]

re the Cards, I am hoping so much they become the Yankess of the 90s.

 

80's.

[logan82]

Apparently the Cardinals are more concerned with a couple hundred thousand because of Tavares potential Super Two status than making the playoffs where every game could matter at this point given their start. Good.

I'M not familiar with the term "Super two" What does it mean?

Players have to accumulate 3 years of service time before they are eligible for arbitration. Then they have 3 years of arbitration. A certain percentage of players with 2 years of service but less than 3 receive an extra year of arbitration. They still need 6 full years of service time to reach free agency

[danzig6767]

Just to throw this out there, I still think the Cardinals are favorites to win the division. They're a deep, solid team with excellent frontline pitching. However, I think we sometimes let Cardinals mojo freak us out too much. They aren't a super team. In terms of present value, I don't think any hitter on their team touches Braun or Gomez. (Molina's in that class as an overall player, but Lucroy isn't far behind him.) No one in their lineup truly scares you. Also, the back of the Brewers' rotation is in much better shape.

 

All that said, we've been insanely lucky. Look at today's game. The Cubs gift-wrapped half of our meager run total, and K-Rod once again had nothing. Only Lohse and the Cubs' defense saved us, and a better lineup wouldn't have let Lohse up off the mat. OTOH, three of our four best hitters were out. We get two of them back tomorrow, which means we shouldn't need this kind of luck. That's good, because we can't rely on it.

 

It's true that the Cubs have a weak lineup, but this is the same Lohse we see in nearly every start, regardless of the lineup he's facing. He's yet to give up more than three earned runs in any start so far. For a guy who pretty much tops out at 90mph, his consistency over his last four years is really impressive to me. He's rarely had those type of starts where the starter gets jacked up for say 5-6-7 runs and has to leave the game early. Even with his less than flashy or dominating stuff, i've come to really enjoy watching Lohse pitch because he works fast, doesn't walk hitters much, and usually stays ahead in the count. When he does give up runs or gets in trouble in an inning, he never looks rattled.

 

As for the Cardinals, i certainly worry about them a lot. That said, for as much as you can say that they have guys who eventually will start hitting better, look at the Brewers. The team is 12 games over .500 even with Braun missing a bunch of games, Ramirez having that long slump/now hurt, Davis and Segura struggling most of the year, and Weeks being bad until recently. With some luck on the health of Braun/Ramirez going forward and Aramis hopefully not being to deep in decline via age if healthy, the offense has it's share of room to produce better, even more so if Segura and/or Davis hit better to go with a healthy Braun/Ramirez.

 

Health in sports is so incredibly important, but also often very unpredictable. The Brewers likely are going to need a mostly healthy and productive Braun/Ramirez duo going forward to win the division, but who knows if that will happen.

[DuWayne Steurer]

I guess my prediction of being 1st in runs scored by the end of the season has a very high probability of happening.

 

 

Ain't nobody catching the Rockies in that category. Those guys are going to score 900 runs possibly.

[dlk9s]

I guess my prediction of being 1st in runs scored by the end of the season has a very high probability of happening.

http://i.imgur.com/LTQvO.gif

[Dead Simmons]

Well, the Cards busted out on the Braves tonight. Three straight now, and Carpenter and Craig are beginning to hit. The defense has solidified and the middle relief has been surprising of late.

 

The call in radio shows are ablaze with optimism. I'm not so sure. But it's safe to say that I'm encouraged. I think the Braves (for good reason) dread facing the Cardinals and winning 2 of 3 vs. the Cubbies is no mean feat.

 

The coming week will be very interesting: The Reds, with Bruce and Votto out will not gain any ground. But the Brews will maintain at least a .600 win clip. .700 is not out of the question. The Pirates: I don't know. Seems they should be winning more.

[HiAndTight]

So, you are saying we "should" beat "all" the teams in our own pathetic Division and it's playoffs? That's looking like it's more doable every day that goes by. Just sayin just sayin. Your Cards are included btw.. That team played way over their heads last year it looks like. Amazingly enough they are only a half game out in the WC. Something is wrong with baseball this year. Not as many good teams or something, and the Brewers have been without their best hitters for pretty much the whole season! and we are 6th in runs scored!!! I guess my prediction of being 1st in runs scored by the end of the season has a very high probability of happening.

 

 

You do realize it's still MAY, right? Do you not remember the Brewers teams that jumped out to huge leads only to see them evaporate to the Cubs? This Cardinals team is more talented. And they have depth in the minors unlike the Brewers. They have depth everywhere. They've dealt with injuries as well.

 

 

And the Brewers are 17th in runs scored and 70 runs behind the Rockies right now. I think the chance of the Brewers finishing 1st in runs scored is HIGHLY unlikely. Even if you're just talking about the NL I really doubt they finish ahead of teams like Washington, LAD(obviously Col) among others.

 

Apparently the Cardinals are more concerned with a couple hundred thousand because of Tavares potential Super Two status than making the playoffs where every game could matter at this point given their start. Good.

 

Perhaps that's the reason. He certainly looks like he's ready to play in the big leagues. But the Cards seem to have a pretty good handle on when to bring guys up and they realize it's a long season. I was also under the impression they wanted him to work on his defense in CF before handing him the job.

 

Piscotty is another very, very talented young OF'er they have ready in AAA.

 

Even AFTER losing Shelby Miller, Michael Wacha, Trevor Rosenthal, Matt Adams, and Carlos Martinez to the majors last year, they have arguably the top overall prospect in the game and a consensus top 5, as well several other very good prospects and the 6th overall rated farm system according to baseball prospectus.

 

 

This is what worries me about the Cards. They have a major league roster full of flame throwers and good hitters, and they have a number of talented young studs they can plug in for guys who struggle and not only not miss a beat, but they might get a big bump.

[Dead Simmons]

In today's game Atlanta appeared flummoxed by bunters and base stealers. (4 bunts for hits by Bourjos and Wong) They looked bad in the outfield as well. They don't look like a Div. leader at all.

 

But the game's not over. (4-1 in the 8th)

[BuckyBrewer61]

dlk9s - the title under your avatar could not be more spot on

[adambr2]

People also tend to mistakenly think that there is automatically a correlation between getting healthy and getting hot. Not true. If you play over your head to get to 30-20, (for example), and get healthier, it doesn't necessarily bear true that your next 50 games will be even better.

 

I remember thinking going into last May, after a so-so April, that adding A-Ram back to the lineup would mean good things in May.

[craigharmann]

I'm very happy the Cards are scuffling. Makes me hope that Dead Simmons will post the rest of the season to help them continue their ways at baseball.

[Dead Simmons]

I'm very happy the Cards are scuffling. Makes me hope that Dead Simmons will post the rest of the season to help them continue their ways at baseball.

Perhaps I will join a Pirates forum. They need my "help" more than the Brews. They were mangled by the Bronx Bombers today. The Cubs may catch 'em this week.

[vegasbrewcrew1993]

You can never count them out. Just when they look like they aren't going to be a contender they go and get red hot. Barring major injuries, the Cards are going to be a pain in the @ss all year long.

[Dead Simmons]

You can never count them out. Just when they look like they aren't going to be a contender they go and get red hot. Barring major injuries, the Cards are going to be a pain in the @ss all year long.

There's going to be PLENTY of ass pains in the NL! The Rockies are awesome and I damn sure don't look forward to facing them at Coors. Ditto the Giants. I think Hunter Pence is some kind of marvelous baseball throwback. Wish we had a couple of guys with his gritty spirit and talent.

Big day for Card fans today as they will be holding their collective breath to see if Garcia is truly back. Jason Motte will also be activated this week. Nobody knows which starter will be sent down or to the pen. My guess would be Miller, but he was lights out yesterday. So who knows?

 

I get to watch you guys on WGN AND the Reds AND the Cards at the same time. My clicker might burn out!

[AdvantageSchneider]

Would someone pin this to the top of the board for the rest of the season, so I don't have to bump it every couple of weeks?

[Dead Simmons]

Come from behind wins may be the biggest mental boost an under achieving team can get, and when it's done under adverse conditions, like key injuries on the team it's more impactful.

 

The Reds and Cards are enjoying that right now. For the moment the heat is off of GM's Jockety and Mozielik, but it will return at the first sign of a slump.

 

The ASG break comes at a good time for teams in a funk, a bad time for teams on a roll. The Brewers and Pirates will rebound. It's just the way of baseball.

[jerichoholicninja]

All the runs given up by the NL so far tonight have been from Cardinals pitchers. I hate the Cardinals and this makes me happy. That is all.

[stoutdude04]

Except Cards fans blamed Lucroy for te early struggles. What a joke.

[PrinceFielderx1]

All the runs given up by the NL so far tonight have been from Cardinals pitchers. I hate the Cardinals and this makes me happy. That is all.

 

Ironically perfect.