Jay made some good plays in the field last night.  I am not sure if Skip is a downgrade though.  I would trade them out tonight.

According to McCarver, Jay's problems at the plate are because he moves his hands too much. I wonder if anyone has ever noticed that before.

artie_fufkin wrote:

According to McCarver, Jay's problems at the plate are because he moves his hands too much. I wonder if anyone has ever noticed that before.

I understand what McCarver is saying but I think he is seeing it wrong.  He also noted Gary Sheffield's batting stance as saying that they cause their swing to be longer by moving there hands.  I never saw it as that.  They come to the same set position as most batters.  The hand movement is just something they do before they become set.  I dont see it as making their swings longer.

artie_fufkin wrote:

According to McCarver, Jay's problems at the plate are because he moves his hands too much. I wonder if anyone has ever noticed that before.

I think every commentator who has watched Jay has made that comment, going back to his rookie year.  The gist of it is the irony that a .300 hitter has such an approach that is so unorthodox and so contrary to everything that is taught these days.

APRTW wrote:

forsberg_us wrote:

"Not sure what the mental dilemma for La Russa is."

Jay's a superior defensive player in terms of covering more ground, and Schumaker is a week and a half removed from an oblique injury.

Skip has a much much better arm then Jay and I wouldnt give Jay that much of an edge in covering more ground.  Jay is hitless this series and a .157 hitter this post season.  Skip is also hitless this series with only a few PA.  He is hitting over .500 this post season with 11 AB.  I know, small sample size but Skip has 6 hits and Jay has 8.  They would lose much in the field and Jay is sucking bad.  I would roll with Skip tonight.

The arm strength may be dependent upon the health of Skip's oblique.  I don't have any inside information, and I'm not advocating Jay over Skip, but it also wouldn't shock me to learn that Skip isn't healthy enough to do much more than take one at-bat per game and play an inning of defense.  I just remember oblique injuries taking a long time to heal.  Skip sat out a week and a half.

Andy Van Slyke was on the radio earlier today and said he thinks Jay moves around too much in the box.

Considering that he has a shown a real ability to hit major league pitching over a whole season, I don't think that's the problem. It's more likely that he's a) out of gas or b) in a bad funk. And it just goes to show how nobody was really paying attention that closely when Rasmus was here, since Jay has been up-and-down since he arrived in the majors. I guess when you're like Van Slyke and have an over-the-top, irrational hatred for someone, you're blind to everything else going on.

Like Van Slyke did? I agree.

Not that I expect him to be the difference in the game, but let's see what Schu can do.

I think my assessment of his defensive skills are closer to that of AP than Fors.  The one little shot we saw of him tracking down a fly in short center, making a play so difficult that the ump blew the call, and then hussling up and firing a rocket to first for what should have been an assist and DP, convinced me that our best defensive CF masquerades as a back-up second basement.

I also think Punto is noticeably better than Theriot at 2B, even while acknowledging that Theriot is MUCH better at 2B than he is is at SS.

So, I am kind of excited about this line-up, because I think it is the best defensive line-up we can use, short of starting Descalso over Freese and Chambers over Berkman or Holliday.

Last edited by Max (10/24/2011 4:45 pm)

If Wilson uses the same approach that Holland used (set up inside and throw off-speed and breaking pitches away; mix up the velocity and eye-line) we're going to see another struggle. Holland did the same thing Wolf did, albeit with a harder fastball, but it's a concern that the Cardinals are not able to make in-game adjustments. Especially when they just saw that same approach 10 days earlier.

Wow, brutal sequence there from Murphy. That was bad.

Why was Murphy playing Punto like he was Pujols? Weird.

Allen Craig can't put the ball in play there? Give me a fucking break.