2021-05-12: Cardinals (Gant) at Brewers (Woodruff) [Brewers win, 4-1 -- Woodruff outstanding once again; Vogelbach reaching on a 2-out strikeout sparks rally; Garcia hits massive 442ft bomb]

[Eye Black]

 

 

Brandon Woodruff: Batter (Cardinals) vs Pitching Stats

 

John Gant: Batter (Brewers) vs Pitching Stats

 

 

Statcast Game Preview for Cardinals-Brewers

 

Statcast Game Feed for Cardinals-Brewers

[Greenleaf1]

Yesterday was my first game at the ballpark since August 2019. Disappointing loss but I'm not going to blame the offense when they were hitting the ball hard all day with nothing to show for it. Peralta looked pretty stellar, and in the 9th inning with the game on the line, the bottom of our order absolutely scalded 3 balls in a row right at guys for outs. That Cardinals devil magic didn't die with the old name of the ballpark apparently...

 

Back at it today, glad we have Woodruff/Burnes going, I think we have a good shot to still take the series.

[wibadgers23]

Woodruff and Burnes going today and tomorrow but can the offense score any runs? I don't have much faith.

[igor67]

I was even thinking of Reyes actually getting the green light earlier in the game a 3-0 and just missing going deep. Over the years I think I've seen more guys swing at 3-0 and get nothing but Reyes was really close and obviously in that situation with the pitcher due up in made a ton of sense.

[treego14]

Woodruff and Burnes going today and tomorrow but can the offense score any runs? I don't have much faith.

 

I don't either. Haines is giving me pains.

 

Too many guys swinging for the fences and flying out if they are not striking out.

 

How about some contact hitting ... protecting the plate with two strikes, choking up if necessary to do that.

 

Teach the guys how to bunt and hit behind runners to move baserunners over ... too much swing and miss offense or popups/flyouts.

 

Too many dead pull hitters ... guys don't know how to use the whole field ... is there truly any learning/instruction at the major league level?

[Jopal78]

Woodruff and Burnes going today and tomorrow but can the offense score any runs? I don't have much faith.

 

I don't either. Haines is giving me pains.

 

Too many guys swinging for the fences and flying out if they are not striking out.

 

How about some contact hitting ... protecting the plate with two strikes, choking up if necessary to do that.

 

Teach the guys how to bunt and hit behind runners to move baserunners over ... too much swing and miss offense or popups/flyouts.

 

Too many dead pull hitters ... guys don't know how to use the whole field ... is there truly any learning/instruction at the major league level?

 

 

Coaches are hired to be fired, but hitting coaches don’t tell players to “swing for the fences”.

 

Further, a coach can preach choking up with two strikes until they’re blue in the face, but there has to be a hitter receptive to the instruction. Nobody knows what goes on in the dugout and clubhouse but the players, but after playing thousands of games since they were kids, I’d surmise most players are going to do what they’re most comfortable with during an at bat.

 

As for bunting, it’s dead in today’s game. The Sabremetricians convinced all the teams that giving up an out to move a runner along is a poor exchange.

 

In addition to the fact that players don’t get paid for being a great bunter or racking up sacrifices, so they don’t want to do it in the first place.

[BruisedCrew]

Woodruff and Burnes going today and tomorrow but can the offense score any runs? I don't have much faith.

 

Tonight is the best opportunity for a win. Woodruff needs to hold the Cards to no more than a run and hope that the offense can get a couple of runs off of Gant, who has been a little shaky.

 

Tomorrow will be tougher to score with Flaherty on the mound, and it’s hard to know what to expect from Burnes after two weeks off and coming off a shaky outing in his last start.

[treego14]

Passive approach at the plate is killing the Brewers offense:

 

https://www.brewcrewball.com/2021/5/12/22432549/a-passive-approach-at-the-plate-is-a-major-problem-for-the-milwaukee-brewers

[BruisedCrew]

Passive approach at the plate is killing the Brewers offense:

 

https://www.brewcrewball.com/2021/5/12/22432549/a-passive-approach-at-the-plate-is-a-major-problem-for-the-milwaukee-brewers

 

That’s an interesting analysis. It’s consistent with my general observation that Brewers hitters often take a good, hittable pitch for strike one and then swing at a pitch out of the zone to put themselves in an immediate 0-2 hole.

 

It would be interesting to know if this is a philosophy coming from the hitting coach.

[Jopal78]

Passive approach at the plate is killing the Brewers offense:

 

https://www.brewcrewball.com/2021/5/12/22432549/a-passive-approach-at-the-plate-is-a-major-problem-for-the-milwaukee-brewers

 

Or maybe they’re getting consistently fooled by breaking balls that look like balls out of the hand but hit the mitt in the zone??

[nate82]

Passive approach at the plate is killing the Brewers offense:

 

https://www.brewcrewball.com/2021/5/12/22432549/a-passive-approach-at-the-plate-is-a-major-problem-for-the-milwaukee-brewers

 

That’s an interesting analysis. It’s consistent with my general observation that Brewers hitters often take a good, hittable pitch for strike one and then swing at a pitch out of the zone to put themselves in an immediate 0-2 hole.

 

It would be interesting to know if this is a philosophy coming from the hitting coach.

 

[sarcasm]BUT if you swing at the first pitch in the strike zone how can you work the count and make the pitcher work?[/sarcasm]

[xisxisxis]

As for bunting, it’s dead in today’s game. The Sabremetricians convinced all the teams that giving up an out to move a runner along is a poor exchange.

It would be interesting to see how data from the current environment (Elevated K%, reduced Hits/Runs) would change the calculations. Most of the previous analysis is relying on data from 2010-2015. Especially with the new rules for extra innings starting with a runner on 2B. Is there now statistical evidence that bunting that runner to 3B for the first hitter leads to a higher likelihood of scoring a run than leaving him at 2B and having the batters swing away. I believe it was last night that a successful bunt by the 1st batter would have lead to a 2-1 Brewer win in the 10th instead of a 6-1 kick in the ghoulies.

[NYChez]

That might be the end of the Vogelbach experience.

[Underachiever]

I know bunting is dead/dying, but I wonder if the new extra-inning rule might bring it back a little. Especially for home teams in a tie game

[owbc]

It's fun to watch JBJ actively try to avoid drawing walks. With a .175 batting average it's probably not the best strategy in the world.

[folly412]

Gant either misses by a mile or throws meatballs that get plenty of the plate, yet our hitters can't handle it. Cue CC talking about facing tough pitching after they can't score again tonight.

[ThisIsMyCrew]

Trying to soak in the Woody/Burnes/Peralta show. Much better than the Doug Davis days.

[homer]

O'Neill looks like the guy at the YMCA that screams really loudly on his last rep of curls.

[wallus]

Lo still has great speed

[trwi7]

Is Chris Singleton blind? He might be legitimately blind if he thought that was a strike.

[brooks_quichenick]

gotta laugh at that reaction from Gant. pitch wasn't even close lol

[trwi7]

Surprised Levering didn't tell us how Shaw was robbed of a hit there.

[ThisIsMyCrew]

That’s the swing you’re going with Shaw? 2-0 and back to back walks. Wow.

[adambr2]

If Woodruff goes 9 hitless and loses the game in the 10th, Stearns owes him a personal apology for this offense.

[homer]

there's a fan sitting behind the right handed hitters whose head looks way too big for his body