APRTW wrote:

forsberg_us wrote:

That sucks. Well I guess we find out if Boggs is mentally tough enough to be a closer.

He didnt do the worst tonight.  The first hit was hit sharp but it was a grounder.  Then Molina really changed the inning by letting that pass ball get through.  Boggs cost himself by not fielding the bunt cleanly but that wasnt any fault of his pitching.  Even the game winning hit was a weak grounder.

I'll admit this is 100 percent hindsight, really unfair and against La Russa's first bullpen comandment, but if I've got a pen and a notebook in my hand, I'm at least asking TLR if he thought about sending Motte out for the ninth, considering the way he mowed down the Astros in the eighth.

Last edited by artie_fufkin (4/26/2011 10:49 pm)

forsberg_us wrote:

APRTW wrote:

artie_fufkin wrote:

Ball in the dirt is always a WP, Max. But you have a point. Molina hasn't been blocking the ball as much as he has in the past. The proper play is to get low, wide and slightly forward to keep the ball in front of you. He's been trying to stab at low pitches with his glove more often than he should.

He doesnt look like a fat toad like he has in the past but as we said he seems to be taking the lazy way out.

I can't argue that a lot of Molina's game has gotten lazy. But I can't blame him for that wild pitch.

And god I hate those fucking neck tattoos.

I dont even know what those tattoos are.  Any idea?

APRTW wrote:

forsberg_us wrote:

APRTW wrote:

He doesnt look like a fat toad like he has in the past but as we said he seems to be taking the lazy way out.

I can't argue that a lot of Molina's game has gotten lazy. But I can't blame him for that wild pitch.

And god I hate those fucking neck tattoos.

I dont even know what those tattoos are.  Any idea?

Fishing lures?

APRTW wrote:

Max wrote:

forsberg_us wrote:

I want to get this on record right now.

Obviously Hamilton is first to go when either Craig or Schumaker come back, but if Descalso goes down when the second one comes back, I'm flipping a double bird toward Dewitt and the stadium. I might even drop my pants and shake my dick at him just on principle.

i'd be really surprised if descalso is sent down anytime soon.  greene has earned his trip back to memphis, and jay, were it not for one really good month last year would be high in contention for a trip back to AAA as well.

if it becomes really uncomfortable, from a personnel management standpoint, they'll manufacture some injury.  but i think there's almost no chance descalso gets sent back the way he's been playing D at 3b and 2B.

As soon as Tallet comes off the DL Batista needs DFAed.

Salas goes back. If they send Sanchez down, I'm making Fors' double bird a quadruple.

"besides the passed balls, i've seen one or more steals that weren't close."

I'm not defending Molina's defense thus far this season, which I think we all agree has been below his standards, but there have been a couple of those steals that weren't his fault. Brock always says he stole off the pitcher, not the catcher. Gomes swiped second on Friday night because McClellan didn't even bother to look over, and it looked bad for Yadi because the throw was so late.
One of the things to look for to determine diminished skills is not just catcher's percentage of throwing out runners, but how many guys try to run on him. I'd wager without looking that fewer runners have even tried to run on the Cardinals in the past decade, mostly because of the arms of Matheny and Molina, and the way La Russa/Duncan stress holding runners on base to their pitchers. Carpenter is the best I've ever seen at holding a runner, and Wainwright is very good at it, too.
Conversely, McClellan is in an unfamiliar role as a starter, so there's some adjustment there, and Garcia isn't particularly good at holding runners on. Yadi's arm can cover a pitcher with a bad move, but he's not going to throw out everyone.
As was mentioned by AP (see, I knew you wrote it first), I don't think Yadi's skills are diminishing, what we're seeing a combination of pitchers who aren't as good holding on runners and his own laziness. I would hope after last night the latter is something that he addresses on his own.
BTW, he's thrown out 33 percent of runners so far this season, which is still pretty darn good. We're just used to seeing him in the 40-50 percent range, which is phenomenal.

Well, last night was an excellent occurrence, though it doesn't seem like it. Silver lining? It's as Fors said, the mental makeup of a closer involves being able to trust your stuff even after taking one on the chin. We'll see if Boggs has what it takes to come back from this and get people out.

Motte looked great last night. Molina should have done some better work behind the plate, but I'm not willing to say it's laziness, he's been hustling (damn near stole a base against the Reds, shocked the hell out of me). He did "throw out" the runner at 1st in the 8th inning last night, although replays showed that call was suspect. Just a collection of "shit gone wrong" which was sad, because it really spoiled Berkmans 9th inning heroics.

We'll see how the team responds, our starting pitching is a serious plus for the team right now, everyone is putting out some very winning lines. Carp/Garcia/McClelland/Lohse are all throwing good enough to great. Westbrook got it together his last time out there.

Imagine if we had Wainright this season... goddamn.... Anyway, things look up to me. We've blown 5 saves as a team, and are still in 1st place. That's a great sign honestly. I think Boggs/Motte/Sanchez will eventually assert themselves as a decent closer, and we won't drop a ton more saves.

These are hopes, but not completely dumb dreams, I think things are going okay.

APRTW wrote:

As soon as they get Pujols signed I would trade Yadi.  He is one of the most over rated players in the league.

I wouldn't go that far, AP. Between Yadi, Matheny, and going back to Tony Pena, Darrell Porter and even as far back as McCarver, we've been spoiled with some pretty good defensive catchers. If you have a plumber back there, your team is in constant chaos. Watch Ryan Doumit for a week and you'll see what I mean.

APRTW wrote:

As soon as they get Pujols signed I would trade Yadi.  He is one of the most over rated players in the league.

i am not with you here.  i am big fan of yadi's as should be clear in most of my posts.  he had a late inning pick off to first within the past couple days that was much better than the one against boogerville (which kinda looked like the runner was safe anyway).  mind is cloudy and i can't remember details, but it think it killed a rally or something.

i was surprised by the stolen bases, which as artie points out might have been the pitcher's fault.

also, seeing the ball bounce off the fat part of his glove is very un-yadi-like.  his chest should be up there, blocking anything that ricochets off the glove.

yadi has had some timely hits over the years and will always be a hero in my mind for his action as a rookie in the '04 WS, standing up and challenging manny in his path to the batter's box.  that was epic.

artie_fufkin wrote:

He may be masking an injury, I don't know. He's caught a ton of games in the past five years. It may be starting to take a toll on him.

it would almost be better if it was the injury, because if it is the latter, he might have a short career arc.

Max wrote:

wondering when fors will acknowledge that there is a chance he might turn out to have bo hart like career trajectory.

There's a chance that the sun doesn't rise tomorrow.

By your own statement, Jay plays decent enough defense to justify his spot on the team which Bo Hart never did.

Please, go back and compare their career numbers, both major and minor league, and find anything that supports your comparison.  It's a stupid comparison, and no matter how many times you say it doesn't make it so.

Theriot has "high rib soarness".  I dont know what that is but it likely meas seeing Punto at SS more.  IDK if that is good or bad yet.

"i think salas has looked almost as good in his last few outings."

He has, but as you suggest Batista will have to explode and leave nothing behind but a little green globule before La Russa picks Salas over him.
It was good to see Punto come up with a big hit last night, if only for his own sake. It wouldn't have been too much longer before the natives would have started to get restless.