Technically, isn’t any team a 95-win team if everyone performs well? 
Kind of like Carlos Carrasco. His line tonight against the Red Sox: 2 1/3 innings pitched, allowed 10 hits, 2 walks and 5 earned runs.
Time to sell a few veterans for whatever prospects they’ll bring you while eating some salary, and reload after the season’s over.
Aside from the fake quotes, nothing in that article was wrong.
Saturday’s KC/NYY game had a classic example where the broadcasters didn’t really know the rules. There was a bunt ruled fair which was the correct call.. A ball coming to rest or touched between home and first or third is fair if any part of the ball is above any part of the baseline. So the ball can be just under a ball radius away from being on the line and still be over the line. A very close call in this case but correct.
Thanks for sharing this. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen this call before. And, yes, the call was correct.
While I know anyone can say anything on the internet, I’m seeing a lot of Cardinals trade rumours about Wilson Contreras. What a disappointment he’s been for the Cards in a very disappointing year for the team
I’m curious, to what extent, Contreras has been disappointing, other than the fact that he’s being paid a lot of money to be an OK player on a sub-.500 team.
Looking at his stats, his BA, OBP, and SLG are all pretty comparable to what he posted in 2020-22 with the Cubs. His bWAR is tracking lower than it was in '21 and '22, particularly on defense (or so it appears), so maybe that’s part of it?
I think it’s to do with being hired on as their primary catcher and only play at the position 2/3 of the time.
I addressed this upthread.
Allow me to quote from the article I linked to in my first post in this thread:
Thank you; I do remember you sharing that, now that you mention it again.
@Superdude already addressed this, but I’ll add that, as of right now, the Cardinals have 3 catchers on their 30-man roster, which was almost unheard of during the Yadier Molina years, and may be a sign that they’re less than confident in Contreras behind the plate.
This years’ Cardinals aren’t all that different from the team that was doing pretty well during at least the second half of 2022, but they’ve been performing a lot worse, especially pitching-wise, and I can’t help thinking that a major part of the explanation is that they replaced Molina, who was a great game-caller, with Contreras, who… apparently isn’t.
Another sign the Cardinals are jinxed this year. 41-year old Adam Wainwright, who started the year on the injured list, racked up a 7.66 ERA in 11 starts, and went back on the injured list on July 6, was activated yesterday and will be the starting pitcher tonight, despite not having pitched a rehab game, or even a batting practice during his recovery.
The way Viva El Birdos explained it makes sense to me:
But management says Wainwright will be limited to 65 pitches. It’s going to be really hard for someone who hasn’t thrown to a live batter in three weeks to throw five 13-pitch innings to get a win.
This is a bullpen game, no more, no less.
I don’t understand why teams just don’t go with an opener for a situation like that. Burn through the lineup once, then send Waino out there. It sets the team and Wainwright up for success (or at least, a greater chance of success).
Elly De La Cruz is becoming one of my favorite players and definitely a reason to watch the Reds.
It seems like there has been an abundance of monster, 450-feet plus home runs this season. Am I imagining it or is Manfred messing with the balls again?
Well, home runs overall are up a little bit. Maybe eight percent or so.
That was originally the plan, but the Cardinals had to use their long reliever after a rain delay on Saturday. Wainwright said he was healthy enough to pitch, so the team essentially planned to use him as the opener.
It almost worked. Wainwright got as far as two outs in the fifth inning and then seemed to run out of gas. (The team originally planned to hold him to 65 pitches, and he ended up throwing 75.) After a hit and a walk he got the third out, and left the game with the Cardinals leading. Unfortunately the bullpen couldn’t hold the lead, and Wainwright was denied the win.
Maybe next time they’ll be able to open with their long reliever, then send Wainwright out for the middle innings.
If you stop that video at the 3-second mark, you will notice on the big screen in center field with De La Cruz’s picture and stats, the operator also posted this tidbit:
“ALMOST HIT A HOME RUN IN THE FIRST INNING…BUT DIDN’T”
De La Cruz was robbed at the wall in his first at-bat, but made up for it in his second plate appearance. Not a good idea by the video guy.