Got the spot when they put Matt Adams on the DL. Didn't realize he's batting .295 in AAA this year.
Ed Easley called back up
- Thread starter 57stratdawg
- Start date
The cards need help at first
Easley really gives them a couple options. They can take backup catcher Tony Cruz and play him at first, third, probably left in a tight spot,DH, and pinch hit all of which put them in a tight spot when he was the primary backup catcher. I think Matheny will get him in as soon as possible as he really wanted to get him in during his 3 game stint in April. I agree with the other poster, until Yadi regains his power stroke the his greatest asset, his howitzer is a total waste at 1B.
Easley really gives them a couple options. They can take backup catcher Tony Cruz and play him at first, third, probably left in a tight spot,DH, and pinch hit all of which put them in a tight spot when he was the primary backup catcher. I think Matheny will get him in as soon as possible as he really wanted to get him in during his 3 game stint in April. I agree with the other poster, until Yadi regains his power stroke the his greatest asset, his howitzer is a total waste at 1B.
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What I thjnk will happen is you'll see Yadi playing first and Easley and Cruz splitting time behind the dish. Going forward tho, we are about to have a big log jam in the OF. As far as I'm concerned Grichuk has to play. And so does Holliday. That leaves Bourjos, Heyward, and Jay. Don't be surprised if you see someone moved later in the year.
Yadi at first regularly is a bad idea. You're losing his ability to handle the pitchers, his defense behind the plate, he's not giving first base-like production, and Cruz is batting slightly about the Mendoza line. I can understand doing at every now and then but not a lot.
You hit all the points. Why would you ever play one of the best defensive catchers in baseball at 1B other than to give him the occasional day off from behind the plate? As you eluded to, he's a singles hitter at this stage of his career and you can't have that at 1B in the Big Leagues. And I've yet to see in the the 3-4 years that he's been in the Big Leagues how Tony Cruz could ever be more than a backup catcher. It was pretty obvious pretty quick last year when Molina went down that Cruz isn't an every day player.
the Cardinals have two glaring needs now - at 1B and a spot in the rotation. I don't think anybody would be surprised to see Garcia flame out in the next few weeks and Martinez and Wacha can't keep throwing at this pace if you expect them to get to the finish line.
problem is I'm not sure the Cardinals have what it takes to get front line players to fill those slots.
The starting pitching is there. Marco Gonzales. He is just a little banged up. Many people suggest moving holliday to first but you can't do that in the middle of the season and to be honest, Im not sure they re sign holliday anyway. Just bc of the money we will have to pay. I think they should move Piscotty to first and let him play out the year in AAA getting comfortable there. But that's just me. I know one thing though I never count them out. Ever.
The starting pitching may be there today, but that's not the issue. The issue is who will be available for the stretch run in September. Hard to depend on unproven guys like Gonzalez, Garcia, Wacha and Martinez for the innings load that piles up over the course of a season. Which is why I think they make a similar deal to what they made last year at the deadline.
Holiday is under team control until 2017. Given the inconsistency in offense the last couple of years, I don't see anyway they let him walk before his deal is up.
I think the offense will be fine. Adams had a 1.1 WAR and Reynolds is right around 1 so he can easily be placed in and get the same production. We aren't talking about replacing Adrian Gonzalez. Carpenter can play 1st if he needs to spell Reynolds for a game here or there.
I actually see this as an opportunity to upgrade at 1B with a rental player. I've never been real high on Adams, but I understand how he fits in the picture as his salary is easy on the budget.
I'm not sure they have enough to get one, but there always seems to be a few suckers at the trade deadline.
i will be extremely happy for him if so. he has had one of the shittiest situations for a guy that has been hugely consistent throughout his entire minor league career. No matter where he has been, he's been behind some stud catchers that kept him in the minors. Hes made a good career out of it but i will be extremely happy to see him finally get that start.
Hell look at his AAA CAREER slash line in 217 career games. hell his best career numbers are actually in AAA
.304/.375/.450
Thats really really solid. especially at the C position
career .992 fld % and thrown out 30% of those stealing bases in his career
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That 30% caught stealing rate is more impressive than it sounds
Most minor league pitchers are marginal at best when it comes to holding runners on leaving most catchers with only a 40-50% chance at best of catching a runner and that's if everything go's just right.
Most minor league pitchers are marginal at best when it comes to holding runners on leaving most catchers with only a 40-50% chance at best of catching a runner and that's if everything go's just right.
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