72 Comments

One thing about Hank outside of the stats that's clearly obvious is that he's abandoned his Driveline stance in favor of his original.

Now of course that original stance didn't exactly light up big league pitchers last year either, but you have to give them credit for real, intentional player dev here.

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It looks like he is on the back of his heels and swatting with his arms. Not comfortable at all.

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Call him up already:

https://x.com/i/status/1793329203145744438

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Looks like he didn’t think he got all of it? He’s gonna be fun to root for.

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I meant the announcer.

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Ahhhh ok gotcha. Was watching it on mute.

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You gotta hear this guy, lol

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My goodness. He’s a mixture of raconteur and meditation…difficult to describe.

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lol

Turned into Del McCoury High on a Mountain there for a minute.

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Davis not in line up for today’s game.

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I wonder if it has anything to do with Cade Horton pitching.

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It could be because of Grandal, possibly out of precaution. Koch isn't a legit big league option, but he can sit on the bench one day and hopefully you don't need to use him. Then Davis could return when Grandal goes on the IL.

I think in that situation, Koch joins the team for Alika Williams (or maybe everyone gets their prayers answered and it's Tellez to open a spot). Then tomorrow we see Grandal to the IL, Davis recalled and a pitcher replaces Koch.

We will see if Koch joins the team for a day. I can't imagine him being the only backup for more than a game, so there's probably some transaction chess going on behind the scenes

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If I were Tellez, I would be like "Coach, I can catch."

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Grant Koch looks to be the replacement for grandal

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27 year old Koch is hitting .167 in 54 at bats this year. He is a life-time .202 hitter in the minors. Once Grandal comes back, it is pretty likely Koch will pass through waivers.

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I can't imagine that Koch is a legit option, other than he would fill in today if Grandal went on the IL, then return to Indy for Davis. I can't believe Koch even has a job. He's so low effort on defense, he can't hit, and it seems like he hates catching. I've seen him look so disinterested in playing the game more times than I care to mention. When he was in Bradenton two years ago, he seemed like a detriment to the young pitchers there. I've seen him walk after passed balls and wild pitches numerous times over the years. Not a fan of his play at all.

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I was puzzled that Koch got past class A. He was drafted as a bat-first catcher and never hit at all. Never looked good defensively to me.

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May 22·edited May 22

I figured once he was demoted to Bradenton and still gave zero effort, that he was done. He's about the same situation as John Bormann getting called up, without the whole likability and hustle that made Bormann such a great story.

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I missed Abrahan Gutierrez being injured. I see he hasn't played for a few weeks. I liked what I saw from him at Pirates City and spring training. Do you know his status?

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Hamstring injury almost four weeks ago, they had no return timetable

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Is this being reported? I was scanning MLBTR to see if there were any catchers in DFA limbo, but what I'd like best is if we could deal for Sabol, assuming the Giants would be interested now that Bailey is back.

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He was added to the taxi squad, so he's not on the active roster as yet.

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I think I’d be down for a Tellez and Gorski swap. See if Gorski can continue the hot streak in the majors. They have to see what he has before too long. I’d much rather him playing first than lamb. Lamb is a journeyman and I really don’t care much to see him in the lineup.

I can see the argument of playing Joe almost every night at first and bringing lamb up to start maybe once a week at first against a righty. It may be hard to get Gorski a lot of at bats right now.

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May 22Liked by NolaJeffy(BnP)

Demise of the Cardinals appears to be very real...

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/the-cardinals-look-cooked/

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I think they got fat and happy on their success. Mozeliak and Co started smoking their own product. Plenty of bad decisions led them to this point.

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I think the problem is a hopelessly spoiled fanbase. They had 16 consecutive winning seasons. They made the playoffs 10 times in 17 years. Been in the World Series twice, won once, without ever having a top 5 payroll and usually not in the top 10.

So... they had 1 losing season and the offense was slumping at the beginning of this year, and suddenly they are a trainwreck. Everyone is an idiot. Jeez. Imagine if these whiney snobs were Pirates' fans. Their wails of anguish would be unbearable. BTW... the Cards are a 1/2 game back of the Pirates right now.

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The question isn’t how they are doing now, so much as it is: what could they be doing? They made a series of awful decision starting in the latter of the last decade. Emphasizing pitch to contact guys while de-emphasizing defense is a particularly bad combo. They’ve supplied the rest of the league with quality offensive players: Randy Arozarena, Tyler O’Neill, Adolis Garcia, Tommy Pham. Likewise, acquiring Marcell Ozuna for Zac Gallen and Sandy Alcantara has been a nightmarish trade. Extending Goldy was an awful move. And the move where I absolutely knew the front office was smoking crack: signing Contreras for 5/$87 MM. I get he’s been better this year, but for a team has based its philosophy on defense and fundamentals the signing made absolutely no sense, especially when you are trying to fill Molina's shoes. Regarding the pitching, Mozeliak has stated that they needed to change how they acquired pitchers, in a tacit acknowledgment that the Matz types are not working out, then he went out and signed a bunch of similar pitchers this offseason.

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It’s not worth it with him. He’ll never admit he’s wrong, no matter how wrong he is. Then he’ll just repeat stuff 68 times.

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I’ve had conversations with him in the past where he seems to really like the Missouri teams. Maybe he’s from there or something. When you’re having these discussions, I feel like it’s important to remember these jobs have shelf lives, not all success is attributable to one person, and misery can be sowed in success. Mozeliak ran a lot of good teams out there. But the game has changed so much perhaps it’s passed him by. Regarding the second point: he lost a lot of people to the Astros as I recall. Perhaps those people had a lot to do with his early successes. And to the last point, a lot of the awful decisions were made in success. That’s why I always disagree with those who say “screw it, trade the prospects!!!” There’s usually less destructive ways to win a few extra games than trading Alcantara/Gallen for a couple of years of Marcell Ozuna.

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I don't really like the Cards at all. In fact, I kind of hate them, but I do respect them for being so competitive for so long. Like I said, Mozeliak seems too concerned about injuries, especially to high velocity pitchers (or to O'Neil), and seems to think that 3 years of average to below pitching is better than 2 years of high quality pitching followed by a year of recovery from TJS, so he tends to favor mediocre pitchers.

Whatever the case, I guess he is stepping down at the end of the year, so Cards' fans will get their wish. Chances are the new GM will decide that they need to go into the tank for 3-4 years to replenish their minor league system. Then the attendance will fall to the floor, because the fans have no patience for such things. Their payroll will plummet, since it is mostly attendance-based, and there will be no money for free-agents. There is a good probability that they will enter into a Pirates-like death spiral for some time. OK by me.

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Right. Instead of admitting that the game has passed mozaliak by, he blames the fans. Constant deflection tactics…it’s not a real conversation

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Oh dear.

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The magic is gone...

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😈

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May 22Liked by Anthony Murphy

Kiley McDaniels is out with a revised top 50 prospects list. Skenes is now #1. Termarr and Harrington were on the just missed list.

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That is the first list I have seen with Skenes ahead of Jackson Holliday.

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Skenes at 1? Really going out on a limb.

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Tuesday, May 21

23 down. 58 to go.

Pirates win 7-6 over the Giants in dramatic comeback fashion. The Pirates are in third place, one game ahead of the Cardinals and five and a half behind the first place Brewers.

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CARROTS ON THE HOUSE!!!!

@> One juicy orange root for The Renegade who picked up the win with a clean tenth inning. 14 pitches, 11 for strikes and I’m thinkin’ Bednar’s early season command issues are well put to bed.

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@>@> Two weeds with the bushy green top for Nick the Stick, who is finally living up to my nickname for him. He went two for five with a run and the game winning rbi, walking it off in the tenth! One to root for, for sure!

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@>@>@> Three magic caratin bombs for O’Cruz! Dude is raking, with major outlet stories everywhere detailing how hard this guy is hitting the ball… I’m’a tell ya right now, I’ve seen him hit it harder down at Toon Town… Hardest homer I’ve ever seen in my life, and I had the joy of watching Stargell and the Lumber Company, brother.

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Some notes from mlb.com: Since the advent of statcast in 2015, there have been 20 batted balls hit at 120 mph or better, including the two Cruz hit last night. The 9th inning double was also the first time a 100+ mph pitch was turned around at better than 120 mph. Daaaang!

*

Cruz also holds the record for hardest hit ball in the statcast era: 122.4 mph on Aug. 24, 2022.

_____________________________

“Roota! Voota! Zoot!! And observe! A rabbit!”

-Wabbit

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Down in AAA Gorski is going nuts, let’s hope is more than a hot streak.

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so Grandall is going to the dl?

what about adding Bins to the 40 man roster?

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Fan of Bins, but he can’t stay healthy and last I saw he was sent down to AA. Afraid is gonna be Davis, there’s no one else in the 40.

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Henry's last 3 games include 3 homers, 2 doubles, 1 stolen base, 3 walks and 2 hit by pitches.

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Where have his hits been? If he's still sitting dead pull, he hasn't made any changes and will founder miserably again at the MLB level.

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Yes, I’ve been following. I hope the best for him, but skeptical.

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I've seen him locked in before, but he doesn't seem to be locked in yet. I think his misleading stats are a result of bad pitching.

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2 of the homeruns came off a position player.

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Disregarding those 2 homers, that still leaves him with 1 homer, 2 doubles, 1 stolen base, 3 walks and 2 hit by pitches. :)

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spot on the 40 will open when we drop rowday

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It's a shame that management doesn't find winning as much fun as we do, lol.

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I’m ready to trade Rowdy for a bowl of mint jelly. I hear it pairs nicely with Lamb.

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The trade will be Rowdy + Bubba Chandler for mint jelly.

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A quiet observation was our number 9 hitter Ji-Hwan Bae scored 2 of our runs last night.

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Perfect spot in the lineup for him

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Totally agree. I was concerned they would slot him in lead off

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They can't move 22 out of that spot. He's been on fire at the top of the lineup

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On fire or not, he's the epitome of a professional hitter. The rest of these guys need to watch him as much as possible.

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They are winning the Central.

Book it!

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true story

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Look at the top 3 exit velocities for last night. Let the dude catch if he wants.

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Cruz joked that the reason for the exit velocities was that he was angry after making the error. He looked angry; the smile was gone until postgame. So who will take responsibility for making him angry to start each game?

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Jobu came around

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It is beginning to seem as though concerns about his attitude were overblown or were just a kid being a kid in the minors. Still bothers me that he stands in the batters' box so much on flyballs and popups, but Shelton has no problem with these types of behaviors, so it is hard to blame the players.

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parrot

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"You wouldn't like me when I'm angry."

-Bruce Banner

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Nick G showing what he can do. Not a single swing and miss last night, despite seeing plenty of breaking stuff. Sample size is still small, but it's very encouraging.

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SS for sure but 18.6 k % and 93.4 ave exit velo are very good signs.

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His strike out rate is second lowest on the team behind Ke'Bryan Hayes.

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So far he's an amazing story and I couldn't have been happier that he was the one with the game-winner.

I also loved his comment about Cruz's exit velocities being "frustrating"--always great when a player gives an unexpected answer.

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