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Group KTE - Cards 6/11-13 @ CitiField

Frayed Knot Jun 10 2013 02:23 PM Edited 2 time(s), most recently on Jun 10 2013 02:31 PM

It looks as if this Cardinals series in unclaimed on the big KTE board so we should tackle it the way we tackle most things around here, haphazardly. Cards beat us 3-of-4 in mid-May out in St Looie and are currently sporting the best record in MLB at 41-22 even if they've slightly fallen behind the pace of the '86 Mets Tuesday 7:10 PM -- Wacha vs Hefner Michael Wacha, who won't turn 22 until July 1st, was the Cardinals' 1st round draft pick (19th overall) out of Texas A&M just last year. He advanced rapidly--just twenty minor league games and only eleven of those were starts--and was StL's top pitching prospect coming into this season. This will be his 3rd ML start; in his first two outings, both losses, [vs KC & ARZ] he's managed the small sample size oddity of giving up a bunch of runs even while not allowing all that many base-runners: 12 hits plus just one walk in 11.2 innings, but seven of those runners scored. In particular it was his second start where he got beat up pretty good by the Snakes, not lasting the 5th inning having served up six earned. Wednesday 7:10 PM -- Miller vs Gee Shelby Miller, 22, was StL's hot pitching prospect heading into last season and all he's doing right now is leading the league in ERA (1.91) while riding a 7-3 record and a sub-1.00 WHiP He started the second of the three losses in StL, leaving the game in the 6th with a 2-0 lead. The Mets tied the game on a Rick Ankiel 2R-HR only to lose it later so Miller did not get the win. Like seemingly most Cardinal pitchers Miller doesn't walk many (2.0 per 9 IP) Thrusday 1:10 PM -- Wainwright vs Harvey Speaking of issuing few walks, Adam Wainwright has issued SEVEN in 98 innings so far this year. That's vs 91 Ks btw, a 13/1 K/BB ratio for those of you scoring at home (or even if you're alone). And even though it seems like he's been around forever, at 31 y/o he's the oldest starter on the Cardinals' staff by over five years even if on the Yanx they'd be yelling at him to get off their lawns. On the other hand, the Mets beat Wainwright for their only victory in the earlier four-game series, forcing him out of the game after six behind 4-1 in a game that would eventually end 5-2 Mets. He represents one of the few hurlers that the Braves let get away who seemingly didn't immediately turn into shit right afterward. The 29th overall pick by the Braves in 2000, he was dealt by Atlanta (with Jason Marquis) before ever reaching the majors for JD Drew plus a couple of scraps, you'd have to say that the Cards got the better of that exchange. Now if only I knew something about that teams' bullpen and hitters

Benjamin Grimm Jun 10 2013 02:29 PM Re: Group KTE - Cards 6/11-13 @ CitiField

Frayed Knot wrote: Now if only I knew something about that teams' bullpen and hitters I would venture to say that they're probably better than ours.

Edgy MD Jun 10 2013 02:45 PM Re: Group KTE - Cards 6/11-13 @ CitiField

The catcher is Yadier Molina. Once upon a time he was defensive gem with puncher's power and not much else on offense. Then he hit a homer against the 2006 Mets, and the batter and opponent have had remarkably divergent fates ever since. He's currently leading the league in batting average (.354) but has hit only four homers and walked only 15 times, but an empty .354 is still .354. Backup Tony Cruz is OPSing at a backupian rate of .615. Molina recently received a suspension of one mere game for throwing his helmet at an ump, so he's CLEARLY juicing it.

Ceetar Jun 10 2013 02:47 PM Re: Group KTE - Cards 6/11-13 @ CitiField

Our next Hall of Famer without Bacne is hitting .305/.339/.523 He's traded a few walks for home runs (14) so far this year, but still very good line. He's actually walking a little less with the Cardinals than he has anywhere else. That's 348 career homers, meaning his 350th could come here where his number will one day be retired after he's inducted. The other outfielders? Our first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is playing Center Field and batting .256/.333/.356. Nothing great there. The resident travel agent in left field is off to a bit of a slower start, leading the lead in GiDP with 14 and hitting a still good .264/.354/.459. his babip is way down, so expect hits to start finding holes more often and those numbers come back up to normal. He's got 10 home runs. (That's Carlos Beltran, Jon Jay, and Matt Holliday from right to left if you couldn't decipher my code)

Frayed Knot Jun 10 2013 05:14 PM Re: Group KTE - Cards 6/11-13 @ CitiField

Obviously a big reason the Cards are tops in the NL in RS/G despite seemingly not being stacked in killer talent is that they're at or near the top in league BA (1st), OBA (1st) and SLG (3rd). But an even bigger part is that their overall .276/.312/.365 splits suddenly jump to [u:12e01ikn]a stunning .341/.411/.464[/u:12e01ikn] when runners are in scoring position. Compared to the RiSP prowess (or lack thereof) of the team we watched over the weekend I think we can appreciate how much difference that makes. I even commented a week or so back on some other thread that these Cards seemed to have some of that late-'90s MFY-type voodoo going on where an average number of hits result in a ton of runs because the hits often tend to get stacked all in a row. Sunday night was an example when their game in Cincy was in a 4-4 tie until a five hits + two walk outburst in an eight batter span resulted in a seven run 10th inning and an "easy" extra-inning win.

G-Fafif Jun 10 2013 05:16 PM Re: Group KTE - Cards 6/11-13 @ CitiField

Last time Cards came to town, they lost three of four, shut out twice and no-hit once. What other franchise could ever say that of Flushing?

Fman99 Jun 10 2013 06:16 PM Re: Group KTE - Cards 6/11-13 @ CitiField

Well, Suze, the Cardinals bullpen has stabilized after a shaky start... They've gotten solid set up numbers from Randy Choate (1-0, 3.09 ERA), Trevor Rosenthal (1-0, 1.69, 1.00 WHIP) and a surprising shutdown closer in Edwin Mujica (1.63 ERA, 18 saves). While you wouldn't expect a closer to get a shot at a dinger, I still think this little chestnut is worth testing out on you... IT IS HIGH, IT IS FAR, IT IS GONE! A HOME RUN FOR EDWIN MUJICA! OH, MAMA, THAT IS MUJICA TO MY EARS-I-CA! That's nice, John. Nice, like so nice, like the time that Don Baylor and I spent the afternoon in those Cialis bathtubs. He got hit with more than just fastballs that day! OH MY! A GUSH FOR THE LUSH! A WET SPOT FOR THE DESPOT!

Gwreck Jun 10 2013 06:56 PM Re: Group KTE - Cards 6/11-13 @ CitiField

The best guy on the Cardinals named Carpenter is now Matt Carpenter. .332/.412/.481 is pretty good for a second baseman -- or for anyone, really. His 19 doubles lead the league. (Starting pitcher Chris hasn't played this year, with the nerve problems in his shoulder that also caused him to miss most of last year). Allen Craig is playing first. .310/.353/.444 is not shabby, either, but he probably needs to be hitting a bit more to make up for what he costs the team with his glove. Pete Kozma is the shortstop. His baseball-reference page tells me he had a big hit in the 9th inning of game 5 of the NLDS against the Nationals last year. He can't really hit (.254/.304/.317) but is a good fielder. David Freese is at third. He isn't having quite as good a year as he did last year (3.8 WAR) but .282/.354/.387 still works when the rest of your team is hitting too. He is the only player in this infield that the Cardinals didn't draft; he was acquired (when he was in A-ball) from the Padres when the Cardinals traded away Jim Edmonds. Old friend Ty Wigginton is on the roster as a backup. He and Beltran are the only ex-Mets. [crossout]Rick Ankiel[/crossout] Andrew Brown is the only ex-Cardinal on the Mets, although I will also admit to checking LaTroy Hawkins' Baseball-reference page to make sure.

MFS62 Jun 10 2013 09:45 PM Re: Group KTE - Cards 6/11-13 @ CitiField

Nice job, gang. FK wrote: Michael Wacha, ... he's managed the small sample size oddity of giving up a bunch of runs even while not allowing all that many base-runners: 12 hits plus just one walk in 11.2 innings, but seven of those runners scored. For a young and relatively inexperienced pitcher, it seems that he may have a problem pitching out of a stretch. A lot of the hot shot kids rarely have to face that situation before they turn pro, and his pro experience is limited. Later

G-Fafif Jun 11 2013 08:04 AM Re: Group KTE - Cards 6/11-13 @ CitiField

Yadier Molina still inspiring rhapsodic praise, from the likes of Tom Verducci: St. Louis closer Edward Mujica has two personal stories to tell about the importance of catcher Yadier Molina to the Cardinals. The first one occurred when Mujica joined the Cardinals in Colorado after St. Louis acquired him in a trade from Miami last July 31. Mujica had not pitched against the Rockies since May, and he was not yet with St. Louis when the pitchers held their review of the Colorado hitters at the start of the series in Denver. Mujica approached one of the coaches about how to get information on the Rockies to get up to speed. "Don't worry about it," he was told. "You don't need it. Just follow Yadi." The second story occurred in a National League Division Series game against Washington last year. At a taut moment in the game, Molina visited Mujica on the mound for what seemed a typical session about developing a pitch sequence to the next hitter. Instead, Molina told Mujica, "Whatever you want to throw, just go ahead and throw it. Whatever it is, I'll catch it." "I never heard of anything like that before," Mujica said. "He went back behind the plate. No sign. I threw a changeup. And he caught it." Once a quietly efficient catch-and-throw backstop, a good player whose five-year, $75 million contract extension signed in 2012 raised some eyebrows (he was a career .274 hitter at the time with a .707 OPS), Molina is emerging as one of the most indispensable players in the game -- right there with Buster Posey of the Giants. He is an even stronger Most Valuable Player candidate this year after finishing fourth last year. He is the league's leading hitter (.354) on baseball's undisputed best team (41-22). Since signing that extension he has hit .327 with an .878 OPS. Oh, by the way, his team has allowed the fewest stolen bases in the league and he has caught the highest percentage of his team's innings of any catcher in baseball. What really raises Molina's profile is the expert play of this Cardinals team. St. Louis began this week with the best starting rotation in baseball, the best clutch-hitting offense in baseball, the best run-differential in baseball and, in Mujica, a lockdown closer who turned the one question about the team into a definitive answer. Though the Cardinals have used eight pitchers who never pitched in the big leagues before, the team just keeps rolling on. It has not lost a series since April -- winning 10 and splitting three. Molina, as Mujica's stories suggest, is the backbone of this team. Ben Reiter loves him, too: To Yadier Molina's long list of accomplishments -- five Gold Gloves, four All-Star selections, two World Series championships -- we can add this: He is a fine actor. His specialty is playing dumb. The nuances of being a catcher are among the most difficult to understand, and the statistical impact of the position remains among the most difficult to quantify, of virtually any in sports. Most lesser catchers -- and all of them are lesser catchers compared to the 30-year-old Cardinal -- embrace every opportunity to discuss the intricacies of their position. Molina does not. "I've been told that if you keep the ball down, you're going to have close games," he says. "If you keep the ball up, you're going to allow more home runs. So I like pitchers who keep the ball down." Anything else? "I'm not a pitching coach," he says. "I'm just trying to call a good game." Then he shrugs. The conversation is over. Molina's ruse is betrayed by his pitchers and coaches, who are eager to take us behind the mask, to speak about his unique talent in a way that Molina himself is not. They talk about his physical gifts: his ability to frame and block pitches, his throwing arm (since 2005, he has gunned down 44.4% of would be base stealers, the best rate among catchers facing at least 100 runners). More than that, they talk about his analytical mind, how he can use his knowledge of hitters -- he can, they say, accurately recall precise pitch sequences from years ago -- and his understanding of his own pitchers' arsenals and abilities to produce the best possible outcomes. Aaron Heilman won't be pitching for the Mets in this series.

Frayed Knot Jun 11 2013 09:21 AM Re: Group KTE - Cards 6/11-13 @ CitiField

Whether it's Yadier or not (conventional wisdom used to give a lion's share of the credit to pitching coach Dave Duncan), the Cardinals lose their previous closer--one who was a converted catcher--to injury and never lose a beat by plugging in Mujica who was a decent, though hardly dominating, middle reliever with Miami but has more or less halved his ERA & WHiP since last year's trade to StL. In fact, the Cards are en route to having a fourth different saves leader in the last four seasons. 2010 = Ryan Franklin 2011 = Fernando Salas 2012 = Jason Motte 2013 = Edward Mujica Franklin & Motte have essentially not pitched at all since being replaced, Salas only sparingly. It's like they've got a box of spare parts somewhere and, whenever needed, they simply dispose of the old piece before breaking into the box where the new part works perfectly as soon as its plugged in.