Marp leads off the game with a home run.
via Carpenter, Moss, Reynolds homer as Cardinals beat Giants 7-5 – Yahoo Sports.
The Cardinals finish their road trip with a nice win over the Giants. Winning 7 of the last 8. Very Impressive. The game was notable because the Cardinals won a game, where they had to out score the Giants. The Giants 3-4-5 hitters had 10 hits. This is the kind of game the Cardinals had no chance of winning a couple of weeks ago.
Moss hit his second home run as a Cardinal. If Moss can start to contribute, it would make a huge difference. Moss splits match better with Adams. This could be something that Matheny could use in the postseason. If Moss has actually turned the corner.
The bad news from the game. Matheny had Garcia playing short. Peralta has been struggling. Garcia did not look steady. I fear that Garcia will not be able to hold his spot on the roster, when the postseason comes around. Garcia can hit. The club needs him on the bench. I don’t think Matheny will trust him to back up short. Look for Diaz to get a September call-up.
The other bad news from the game. Matheny started Piscotty in centerfield. This is getting ready for the return of Holliday. Not crazy about this move. It means Pham, is not even being considered for the postseason. Piscotty and Grichuk will split time. If Matheny stays with this approach, it will be a disaster.
It is simple. Without the rookies, the Cardinal offense will not be able to score enough runs, to win in the postseason. I firmly believe this. Matheny will muck it all up, if he goes with the veterans first approach.
During the broadcast Dan brought up the fact, that the Cardinals are now last in the league in defensive shifts. This is what I mean that Matheny is too old school and still is not on the same page as the front office. It is a real problem.
Matheny is a natural-born leader. Good communicator and seems to get the most out of his players. That is 70% of being a good manager. However, if he doesn’t get with the program, it will be his downfall.
More bad news from the game. Cishek relieved Garcia in the 7th inning. Threw one pitch, got a double play. Got out of the inning. Why is this bad news? Matheny did not send him back out for the 8th. Matheny is going, way out of his way to protect Cishek. Not good. Matheny is setting it up that Cishek, will get a key role in the postseason. Without earning it. A very risky move.
These are the things I worry about.
The Cardinals got passed the road trip and still have a 4.5 game lead over the Pirates. That is no small accomplishment. The Pirates have been playing very well. However, because the Cardinals were able to score some runs, it all worked out.
The Cardinals can lock up the division with a good home stand. The Nats, Pirates and Cubs, all come to town.
It will be good TV.
Later.
See? No drama whatsoever.
All of the guys pictured above are members of a ballhawking website called MyGameBalls.com. The man in the white t-shirt is named Alan Schuster. He created that site and organized BallhawkFest. In the photo above, he was going over the procedures for our own Home Run Derby.
I spent most of my time at shortstop and in left field, but here’s a brief look I got from the area behind home plate:
In the photo above, the pitcher (former minor leaguer Leon Feingold) and batter (his girlfriend Fukumi) are not members of MyGameBalls.com, but they’re two of my favorite people in New York City, so I invited them.
Here I am taking some swings:
My excuse for looking stiff at the plate and not hitting for much power is that I had a “strained intercostal muscle” on my right side. (No, really. You have to believe me.) It hurt when I laughed. It hurt when I sneezed. It even hurt when I took a deep breath or rolled over in bed. One week earlier, my ribcage was so painful that I’d gotten X-rays, and ever since then, I’d been icing it several times per day. And now here I was swinging a baseball bat because I’m an idiot. What can I say? I couldn’t resist.
The final round of the Derby featured the massive Mark McConville of Suffern, New York, versus the scrawny-by-comparison Alex Kopp of Baltimore, Maryland — and guess who won? That’s right . . . Alex. And he did it in dramatic, tie-breaking fashion. Mark had tremendous home run power, but given the fact that one point was awarded for each batted ball to reach the “outfield grass” on the fly, Alex managed to poke and slash his way to the top.
Here’s a group photo that we took after the Derby (with everyone’s names and MyGameBalls.com profiles below):
1) Leon Feingold (holding a big bag of popcorn; that’s how former competitive eaters roll)
2) Tim Anderson (wearing some super-stylish shades)
3) Ryan Feuerstein (wearing flip flops for some reason)
4) Alex Kopp (who deserved to be standing in front after his historic performance)
5) Rick Sporcic (who generously provided all the baseballs)
6) Greg Barasch (who doesn’t look all that athletic but is dazzlingly smooth)
7) Emilio (the youngest participant without parental supervision)
8) Leon’s friend (whose name I forget, but I do remember that he played in the IBL)
9) Zack Hample (the first person to wear the official BallhawkFest shirt)
10) Alan Schuster (without whom none of this would’ve happened)
11) Mateo Fischer (who now ballhawks at Target Field since going to college in Minnesota)
12) Ben Weil’s friend Sonny (who displayed some good power during an early round of BP)
13) Ben Weil (aka the one and only “Benny Bang Bang”)
14) Mark McConville (whose longballs nearly smashed a few windshields on 11th Avenue)
15) Gabi Josefson (who traveled here with his father, Avi, all the way from Chicago)
Somehow Jacob Resnick (who helped Alan with some organizational stuff) wasn’t in that photo, but you’ll see him in the next group shot, which was taken at a baseball-themed bar/restaurant in Midtown called Foley’s. Here’s what the place looked like on the outside:
We all felt very welcomed . . .
. . . thanks to Rick Gold, who knows the owner and met us there for lunch. Here’s our group at a long table in the back:
Alan was in the process of organizing a drawing for some baseball-related prizes, which had been donated by a Chicago ballhawk named Rick Crowe.
In the photo above, look for the green shirt hanging at the top. See the portion of the wall directly below it? Those are all signed baseballs in that case. There are thousands more displayed elsewhere at Foley’s. It’s pretty damn cool.
We hung out there until about 3pm and then took another group photo:
That’s Jacob Resnick on the left. Rick Gold is standing behind Ryan, just to the right of Emilio.
After lunch, we walked to the subway at Times Square:
Here are a bunch of us on the No. 7 train:
Then we stood around outside Citi Field and waited:
Some of us had to wait a bit longer than others. That’s because the Mets offer early entry on the weekends to season ticket holders.
Before I headed inside, I got a photo with Gabi who’d brought his copy of my latest book, The Baseball:
You’d think that being inside a stadium half an hour earlier than most other fans would result in a huge day, but (a) I had to compete with Ben, Greg, Rick Gold, Ryan, and a few other folks and (b) Citi Field is a tough place. My first ball of the day was a homer by a Mets righty that I caught on the fly in left field:
Then I headed over to right field, which, at Citi Field, to put it lightly, is not a great place to snag baseballs, but hey, every batter in the Mets’ next group was left-handed, so where the hell else was I supposed to go?
Ben was positioned one section to my left . . .
. . . and his wife, Jen, was standing one section to my right:
See her there above the Honda logo? If you look very closely at that photo, you’ll notice a ball sitting on the grass below her in the gap behind the outfield wall.
Here’s a photo that she took as I attempted to snag it with my glove trick:
That was my second ball of the day.
People often ask me if the glove trick is allowed at Citi Field. The answer is murky. It depends on who’s watching. Some guards tell me it’s not allowed while others don’t seem to notice or care — that is, if their bosses haven’t issued an order THAT DAY over their walkie-talkies telling them to stop me. I’m not joking.
My third ball was tossed up from the left field party deck by a guard, and my fourth ball was thrown by Juan Lagares in left field. Then the Nationals came out:
The following photo doesn’t begin to show how crowded it got:
I wish I had photos of the packed left field seats at the end of BP, but oops, I forgot. I did manage to snag a couple of home runs out there before it got totally insane — one on a bounce and another off the facade of the second deck. I gave two of my six baseballs to kids.
This was my view during the game:
Look how crowded it was:
This game had the second-highest attendance (42,996) in the history of Citi Field!
Good for the Mets.
Good for New York City.
Bad if you’re trying to catch a baseball.
Why was the crowd so huge? Because it was a summer Saturday with perfect weather and there was a fireworks show scheduled after the game. Also, the Mets and Nationals were battling it out for 1st place in the NL East, and Jacob deGrom was pitching.
This was the scoreboard in the 4th inning:
A pitcher’s duel? UGH!! I was antsy and had too much energy, so I headed to the upper deck. I hadn’t been there for six years, so it was all pretty much new to me. Check out the huge baseball stitches painted onto the open-air concourse behind home plate:
This was my view from the last row:
I wandered all over the place for the next hour. I wanted ice cream but didn’t bother because the line was too long. I didn’t know what to do with myself, and then something wonderful happened. I found a ticket for Section 126, so I watched the final inning of the game from a decent spot:
The Mets had come back to take a one-run lead, and the crowd was *really* into it:
Mets closer Jeurys Familia retired the side in order in the top of the 9th.
Final score: Mets 3, Nationals 2.
I tried to get a ball from the players walking in from the bullpen . . .
. . . but it was no use. Losing teams usually aren’t generous.
Ten minutes later, I took a photo of — could it be?!?!
Oh no, wait . . . it was just fireworks:
While that was taking place, I rounded up my fellow ballhawks for a group photo:
Here’s the final “box score” from BallhawkFest, which shows who snagged baseballs and how/when/where they got ’em. Props to Gabi for catching the only game-used ball of the night.
On our way out of the stadium, I tried to pose for a photo that would show the four-digit number on the back of my shirt:
That number represents my lifetime total of baseballs, or at least what the total was when the t-shirt orders were placed. Do you remember this group photo of everyone’s shirts/numbers from 2011? Or this one from 2013? I wish we’d gotten a similar photo this time, but we just didn’t get around to it.
This next photo should be called “Straight Outta Flushing”:
That was taken just a half-mile from Citi Field on a cruddy back road near the chop shops. Stupid Alex had left something in Ben’s car (which was parked near that gloomy spot), but rather than meeting him at the subway after he’d retrieved it, the rest of us decided to walk with him. So there we were, hoping not to get lost or die.
On the way, Greg made a snide remark (containing an expletive, of course) about all the stray cats running around, and just then, out of nowhere, a crazy cat lady appeared and defended her furry friends, screaming at us about how they’re homeless and hungry and how we should be helpful and more sensitive. (Greg’s comment, by the way, wasn’t particularly insensitive. He merely asked, “What’s with all these [bleeping] cats?” I thought it was a good, reasonable question, and in fact I had been wondering the same thing.) Her outrage didn’t frighten us or motivate us to join the ASPCA. Instead it made us hysterical — but the funniest moment of the night was yet to come. That took place when all seven of us crammed into Ben’s small-ish car for a ride to the subway. Check it out:
Here are some of the highlights from the short ride:
TIM: “For the record, this is a hundred percent Alex’s fault.”
GREG: “You and your [bleeping] Bobblehead.”
ZACK: “Mateo, your hair is very soft on my thighs.”
MATEO: “I’m glad.”
ZACK: “This is gonna be funny when we all get out. It’s gonna look like a [clown] car.”
GREG: “How many points [on your license] do you have, Benny? Are you up over a hundred yet?”
TIM: “So basically, he’s gonna go to prison if we get caught.”
ZACK: “Benny, are you the one that told me that you once ate pancakes while you were driving?”
BEN: “I ate soup while I was driving.”
TIM: “Can we not coast next to the cop car?”
ZACK: “We’re about to get rear-ended.”
ALEX: “Mateo’s about to get rear-ended, lemme tell you!”
And so on. I have a four-minute audio recording, and it’s basically the funniest thing ever.
The Citi Field portion of the day was difficult for a number of reasons, but I’m glad we finally did BallhawkFest in New York City. The rest of the day sure was fun.
BALLHAWKING STATS:
• 6 baseball at this game (four pictured here because I gave two away)
• 485 balls in 68 games this season = 7.13 balls per game.
• 1,231 lifetime balls in 166 games at Yankee Stadium = 7.42 balls per game.
• 1,121 consecutive games with at least one ball
• 782 consecutive games in New York with at least one ball
• 503 consecutive Mets home games with at least one ball
• 8,291 total balls
CHARITY STATS:
(I’m raising money again this season for Pitch In For Baseball, a non-profit charity that provides baseball equipment to underprivileged kids all over the world. Click here to learn about my fundraiser, and if you donate money, you’ll be eligible to win one of these prizes.)
• 22 donors for my fundraiser
• $156.54 pledged per game home run ball (if you add up all the pledges)
• $150,626.16 raised this season (including a $150,000 donation from the Yankees in exchange for my giving Alex Rodriguez the ball from his 3,000th career hit)
• $190,479.66 raised since I started my fundraiser in 2009
I wasn’t very disappointed at the loss today, even though Duane Kuiper said it was “barfable.” I think a list is in order – why I’m feeling positive even after a loss:
Lots right there to be positive about.
However, with the good comes the bad. First off – starting pitching overall. Besides Bum, Peavy, and Leake, I really don’t have any confidence in the other potential starting pitchers. Sorry, but you gotta be real sometimes. Heston didn’t give us anything to hang our hat on today after coming off the DL and getting some rest, Cain has been a big question mark the entire season, and Vogey has been pretty inconsistent. This is the issue that scares me the most, even more than the injuries. As far as that goes, Pence and Panik still don’t have a definite return date, but Crawford is scheduled to start the Dodger series on Monday, and Pagan and Hudson are scheduled to be activated on Tuesday when rosters expand (As of September 1st, teams are not limited to only 25 active players. Guys on the 40-man roster are also entitled to play. Those dugouts will soon be pretty crowded!).
More bad news this week – Tim Lincecum is still experiencing pain in his hips and back. According to Andrew Baggarly, Lincecum’s hips locked while he was trying to throw off the mound at the Giants’ complex in Arizona last week. Lincecum says he has good and bad days, but, “the bad days are outshining the good ones.” According to Bruce Bochy, when asked about Lincecum’s return to pitching for the Giants, he simply said he’s “not close.” Sigh. I feel so incredibly sorry that this is happening to him. He has contributed so much to the success of this team, and he is loved by so many fans. I’m definitely pulling for the guy, but it’s not looking good, especially since he’ll be a free agent next season. Hang in there, Timmy. We’re all pulling for you. Hoping for a miracle.
In brighter news regarding the Giants pitching staff, Madison Bumgarner was voted the NL Player of the Week on August 17th. This came after an amazing 7-day stretch where Bum pitched two complete games against Houston and Washington, the latter being a shutout. And the guy managed a double and a homerun in the game against Washington. Where would we be without him?? He even pinch hits (and successfully!)! I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up being named Player of the Month.
I mentioned in a previous blog that Brandon Crawford’s wife, Jalynne, is expecting another baby. Well, they recently found out that said baby is a boy! As Brandon put it in his blog, he’s happy that he’ll have “a comrade in our house of girls!” No news on the name yet, but I’ll keep you posted. I’m sure it will be creative.
I’ve got a new spit count for you:
August 29th
Giants:
Cardinals:
Misc.:
Game Spit Master General = Susac at 22
That’s a total of 62 spits during a 3 hour and 10 minute game for an average of 1 spit every 3.1 minutes.
I have to give kudos to the Cardinals for keeping the spit numbers way down. Vogey’s number was up, and I think it’s because he wasn’t chewing gum during this game. Byrd logged his first spits today. I’m disappointed not only because he got caught for the first time but because of the telltale bulge in his cheek while he was doing it. Sigh. And our friend Andrew Susac was his usual, spitting self today behind the plate. Also, I’m pretty sure Yusmeiro Petit launched a snot rocket during this game. He turned his head to the side at one point, and I notice a stream of liquid emanating from his nose area in the opposite direction. Picking up bad habits from Bum. And Brandon Crawford – I’m just so disappointed. I thought so much better of you. Also typing the name Tuivailala reminded me of how much fun the announcers had pronouncing his name yesterday. They’re just so silly.
Even though I didn’t do a spit count during the game today, I did make an interesting spit observation. As if to rub salt into the wound from the loss, Mark Reynolds of the Cardinals expelled the contents of his mouth at the end of the game (an obvious wad of tobacco), then topped that off with a spit. Jerk.
The boys are off to Los Angeles to start a 3-game series against the dreaded Dodgers. At least our top 3 pitchers (Peavy, Bum, and Leake) are scheduled to pitch down there. The Dodgers haven’t announced who they’ll start yet, but you know Kershaw and Grenke will somehow make it in there. Just keep your fingers crossed that Nori can hit so many foul balls that the starters will be out early and we can have a field day with their relievers. Their relief staff sucks! (Just checked – Dodgers are still losing 2-0 in the 7th! Maybe we’ll only be 3.5 behind tonight! Plus it’s a no hitter in the 7th!! HA HA!!). My boys always seem to rise to the occasion when it comes to opposing the Dodgers, so I’m staying positive. Really looking forward to these games. Until next time, GO GIANTS! BEAT LA! BEAT LA! BEAT LA!
I am pretty sure when Alec Asher pictured his major league debut, this was not what he had in mind. Asher was not awful, but allowed 4 runs in 5 2/3 innings on 8 hits and a walk. Three of those runs were due to home runs by Matt Kemp and Justin Upton. On the plus side, Asher’s father was able to announce his first at-bat over the PA system. Apparently, he used to be the announcer for the Lakeland Tiger’s Class A team.
The rest of the team did little to help Asher’s cause. Of course, Cameron Rupp, who is on a home run tear, smacked another one that was very impressive. Odubel Hererra had 4 hits, but got thrown out stealing once and leaning too far off first another time. Beyond that, not much positive was happening.
In fact, the bullpen was flat out horrendous. Hector Neris gave up a home run in one inning of work. And Adam Loewen allowed 4 runs without ever recording an out. And just not to be left out, Justin DeFratus allowed yet another run to score in the 9th inning. All 3 guys have ERA’s near or above 5, with Loewen’s 9.00 being the worst. It is really too bad because he has such great hair. I was rooting for the hair ;)
So the Phillies are off to New York to face the dreaded Mets again. And with this bullpen, the prospects are bleak. Cross your fingers…
Here is the Photo Album from the game.
The post Rookie Ketel Marte a pleasant surprise for Mariners appeared first on BBST.
]]>The Seattle Mariners don’t have a recent history of choosing/signing young players either in the draft or as amateur free agents. When I was beginning to write this the jury out on whether or not this is the fault of general manager Jack Zduriencik or the fault of the Mariners’ minor league staff in charge of helping these players develop. It could be a bit of both, but Zduriencik was recently relieved of his duties as general manager, so it appears the team’s ownership decided it was Zduriencik’s responsibility.
Regardless of how or why the prospects in the Mariners’ farm system can’t make it in the Majors, it is something that has become a very noticeable trend. Prospects who were supposed to move up to the Majors and become cornerstone players for the organization just have not done so. Dustin Ackley, Mike Zunino and Danny Hultzen, all first round draft picks, top the list but the list continues on with name like Nick Franklin, Taijuan Walker, Brad Miller, Chris Taylor and Brandon Maurer – among others.
So when rookie Ketel Marte was called up this season it’s safe to say that most fans weren’t enthused and the media barley noticed. He definitely was not the first call-up this season, and not one of the others gave anyone anything to be excited about. However, Marte has certainly gotten himself noticed and has been a pleasant surprise for the Mariners.
To learn more about the Mariners’ rookie, Ketel Marte, check out my full post on Today’s Knuckleball using the link below:
Brought to you by FanRag Sports and Oakland A’s Socks Girl
Find us on Twitter @FanRagSports, @myknuckleballs,
The post Rookie Ketel Marte a pleasant surprise for Mariners appeared first on BBST.
]]>Justin Verlander/MLB Photo
The top performances in Major League Baseball this week were by Edwin Encarnacion of the Toronto Blue Jays and Justin Verlander of the Detroit Tigers.
Encarnacion blasted three homers and knocked in nine runs as the Blue Jays won 15-1 over the Tigers at the Rogers Centre on Saturday, Aug. 29. The designated hitter also scored four times.
In the first inning, the 32-year old hit a three-run shot. In the sixth, he drilled a two-run long ball. He finished with a grand slam in the next frame.
This season, Encarnacion has 30 homers with 91 RBI, while posting a .272 batting average.
Verlander hasn’t had a typical season for the former American League Most Valuable Player and Cy Young Award winner. The six-time all-star is currently 2-6 with a 3.45 ERA.
On Wednesday, Aug. 26, Verlander returned to form as he tossed a one-hitter in a Detroit 5-0 victory over the Los Angeles Angels. The 32-year old right-hander lost his no-hitter when Chris Iannetta doubled to begin the ninth inning.
Saturday was an early game; it started at 6:10 which is a strange start time anyway. I was prepared for the heat. I think I might be getting used to it because it didn’t seem so bad.
I was surprised to see Clayton throwing the ball so close to the stands considering there were fans yelling at him for autographs, etc. He seemed oblivious to it all.
He just continued on with his practice.
He was only about 5 feet away.
He went to the bullpen from there without even turning around. I would be annoyed if I was trying to practice and people wouldn’t leave me alone. He must have taken the underground passage across the field to get to the dugout because I saw him on the other end of the field. I don’t blame him. The fans are ridiculous.
Here he is on the other side of the field
Zack solves that problem by not even getting close. No ponytail today. I wonder if he reads my blog.
I just like to watch them practice.
I think by now they know I take hundreds of pictures.
And I think they are looking at me. Do you get that feeling?
Justin and his ball balancing trick
Kike came out to the field alone.
Carl was hoping to shag a few balls.
Donnie was offering a few tips
Then practice was over and they all ran into the cool dugout
Kike did smile our direction
Jose Peraza was in a hurry
Alex Wood looked our way and stopped
to take a picture or two. He has this crazy smile.
Andre always stops for the fans to sign or take pictures
I’ve never seen him too busy to make a fan happy. Is that the cheesiest smile???
Tommy Lasorda was on the field.
By that time I was ready to go up to the club. The salads were delicious.
The broccolini pasta was tasty as was the turkey medallions.
The tacos were do-it-yourself
When I went back out, I saw that Kenley was getting prepped for an interview.
AJ was walking down the field with his stuff
Matt Latos came out of the bullpen. He must have taken the underground tunnel to avoid the fans.
He worked out a bit
and tossed a few practice pitches
I was happy to see Ryan and his dad Robert. Ryan is back in school. He’s been busy with football practice.
Jack and his friends were hoping to get an autograph. Do they look a little bored?
Jose Peraza stopped to sign my friend’s picture and take one with me. Thank you Jose.
Kike saw some friends and came to them to chat and take pictures.
Clayton was having a few laughs with the guys
Joc
Brett Anderson always seems so cold. Either that or he loves his hoodie.
Maybe Clayton is telling him it’s kinda hot to be wearing his jacket.
Scotty waved to us and signed a few autographs
Carl also signed.
Latos and AJ. Why does Latos look like he’s going to slaughter?
First pitch.
It started in the top of the second inning. Kris Bryant scored on a sacrifice fly. 0-1. I was already feeling uneasy.
Kike singled scoring Jose Peraza who had a great game. 1-1.
I ate the baseline special
In the 5th inning, Latos balked. Donnie went out to argue which was truly pointless. 1-2.
The guys took a break
That was it for Latos after 4 2/3 innings which consisted of 85 pitches, 4 hits, 2 runs. It was his second straight game that he could not make it past 5 innings which brings out the bull pen. It was his first start since 8/13. He thought he did ok. I thought he was mediocre.
That left 4 1/3 innings for the bullpen.
Luis Avilan came out in relief.
I went up to the club to get my ice cream
I was certain the Dodgers would lose
In the bottom of the 7th inning, Carl started it off with a single.
I think the big difference in the last couple of games is Ron Roenicke, 3rd base coach, who encourages aggressive base running. He photo bombed many of my pictures.
Jose doubled, scoring Carl
Andre who is always the clutch player singled AJ and Peraza in. 4-2.
I was in shock. We had come from behind. Jon Lester never admitted he had a problem even after 4 straight hits in the 7th. He said the balls were finding holes. Okay!! He ended his game with 8 hits, 5 runs.
Johnson did give us a scare when he loaded the bases in the 8th inning with 1 walk and 2 hits. The inning ended in a huge double play with Jimmy throwing to Jose at 2nd.
This is the 4th loss in a row for the Cubs. The Dodgers are now 3 1/2 games out since the Giants lost.
The guys are back to the body bumps after a victory. I love it!
Sunday will be a difficult game. Jake Arrieta will take the mound for the Cubs. He has had 14 quality starts with a 10-1 record and a 1.17 ERA. He will face our Alex Wood.
Thanks for stopping by. GO DODGERS! Let’s go for the sweep!
via So….Randy Flores, Huh? – Viva El Birdos.
This is the first article I’ve seen trying to figure out the Randy Flores hire. It is worth the read.
However, this hire turns out. It is definitely, an out of the box hire. For that reason alone. I like it. For the Cardinals to stay competitive, they cannot just do the same thing everyone else is doing and hope to finish first. The Cardinals need to find an area that the can exploit, to give them an edge. At least for a few years. Until the rest of the league copies it.
The Jeff Luhnow hire was like that. It resulted in the legendary 2009 draft. The draft that changed everything for the organization. Since Luhnow left. The Kantrovitz drafts have been notable due to the huge success of the first round picks. But, the jury is still out on how the Kantrovitz drafts will grade out. It may be a couple more years, to find out if any of the lower round picks will have an impact at the major league level.
After Kantrovitz left for Oakland, it was Chris Correa’s turn. I really liked his first draft. I liked the fact that the Cardinals focused in on potential game changing, high school players. With the Cardinals always drafting at the end of the first round. They will never get a game changing position player, taking a college player. It just doesn’t works that way.
The Cardinals need to do more of this. The one area that the Cardinals can exploit, is that they have a competitive major league club, for the next few years. This buys them time. Taking high school players is a luxury that most clubs can’t afford. Due to the fact, that they need more immediate help.
I really liked the fact that Correa had the guts to make the picks. High School players come with more risk. You can have more bust. Due to the fact, they have not matured and faced college level competition.
It’s a shame Correa had the hacking issue. I may be in the minority. I don’t believe Correa, hacked to steal information from Luhnow. I really believe that Correa hacked in order to prove, that Luhnow had been using Cardinal software illegally. Yes, there was probably some bad blood in the mix and Correa showed poor judgement. I just find it very interesting, that the Feds have not filed any charges.
I think the Astros wants this to go away. I think when Luhnow called the FBI, he thought he was going to catch a reporter in a hacking scandal. I believe the last thing, Luhnow wants to do is, go to court and Correa the defense team saying it was not hacking, because it was Cardinal property.
Which bring us back to the Randy Flores hire. Flores does have 8 years of major league experience, 5 with the Cards. So Flores does have the Cardinal way experience. Coached a little at USC when he was completing his Masters. What seems to have clinched the deal, is that Flores has a digital analysis company. That 11 major league organizations are currently using. I’m guessing that this is what Mozeliak is looking to exploit.
What will be interesting, is with Flores limited background, can he make it all work. Will he have enough credibility, with the scouting and development staff, to earn the time, to go through his learning curve. And how many mistakes, will be made along the way.
The Red Sox have started to lose key members of their development staff, with the firing of Ben Cherington. They have a good one. Lets hope the Cardinals can avoid this. I’m sure, some of the Cardinals staff, is not happy. With this out of the box hire.
But, I like that Mozeliak took the gamble. If the Cardinals are going to remain a World Series competitor, they can’t do the same thing that the Cubs and Dodgers are doing. Those organizations, now have good front offices and way more resources, to field potential World Series winners.
The Cardinals, if they are going to keep up, have to find a way to do it better and differently. Maybe, this will accomplish that.
Later.
2/21/15 – New York Yankees pitcher Luis Severino, throwing in the bullpen during practice at George M. Steinbrenner Field, in Tampa, Florida.
The Yankees beat the Atlanta Braves 3-1 on Saturday night for their second consecutive win at Turner Field. They will try for the sweep against the Braves, who have scored the fewest runs in all of baseball, at 1:35 p.m. EST this afternoon. The Yankees are still 1.5 games behind the Toronto Blue Jays in the AL East because the Blue Jays have also won their last two games.
Luis Severino, who didn’t allow a run in six innings pitched, threw his fifth consecutive quality start since being called up from Triple-A Scranton. He has only allowed more than two earned runs in a start once and the six shutout innings that he threw lowered his ERA from 2.74 to 2.17.
“It doesn’t seem to overwhelm him, the situation here,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said.
Severino, who has a plus changeup, slider and fastball, allowed four hits and three walks in his six innings pitched and struck out Braves catcher Christian Bethancourt with runners on first and second on a 96 mph fastball to end the fourth inning. He was able to get former Yankee Nick Swisher to hit into a double play with runners on first and second to end the first, got Jace Peterson to ground out to Stephen Drew at second with runners on first and second in the sixth and retired the side in order in the third and fifth innings.
The rookie is only the second Yankees pitcher 21 or younger to throw six scoreless innings in a start since 1970. Brian Cashman definitely made the right decision in not trading him and he will be an integral part in the team’s push to get to the playoffs.
The Yankees scored for the first time in the first inning when Jacoby Ellsbury scored on Matt Wisler’s wild pitch with Chase Headley at the plate. Headley would strike out with Brian McCann on third and Greg Bird at second to end the frame. In the seventh inning, Didi Gregorius‘s double to right that scored Headley gave the Yankees all the runs that the would need. Gregorius has a three-game hitting streak and has driven in one or more runs in all three of those games.
In the bottom of the seventh, Bethancourt scored the Braves only run of the game after an error by relief pitcher Justin Wilson. Dellin Betances came in and recorded his 20th hold of the season and added two more strikeouts to push his season total to 106, which is 21 more than Twins starter Phil Hughes who has thrown 77 more innings, and then Andrew Miller pitched the ninth inning and saved his 28th game of the season in his first season as a closer.
The Yankees added an insurance run in the eighth inning when Brian McCann hit a double to deep right that scored Chris Young, who had pinch run for Carlos Beltran. McCann has gone 2-5 with five RBIs in his first two games back at Turner Field after playing his home games at Turner Field for the first nine years of his career.
The Yankees will send out the same lineup in the series finale that they did on Saturday. On August 28 it was reported that Mark Teixeira, who has missed nine of the past 11 games with a deep bone bruise, still couldn’t run and the doctor said that he shouldn’t do so for a few days.
Nathan Eovaldi will get the start in the series finale. Eovaldi’s 13 wins are the most on the team and his 4.00 ERA is the lowest it has been since it was 3.97 on May 7. He had his best start of his season in his previous start as he pitched eight inning, didn’t allow a run and recorded seven strikeouts.