It's week one of the season, and already Card's fans are calling for the heads of Tony Larussa, McGwire, and after quite a few boos following a walk on Tuesday, Ryan Franklin (although I've argued for Frankie in a previous post and he K'd the next batter). Most either go with one of two arguments 1) its much too small of a sample size to be worried. This is the approach LaRussa followed briefly yesterday before storming out of a presser. 2) This is an old trend and this team is too talented, even in week 1, to not produce. I'm a mixture for both, but the lack of offense isn't the main reason I'm concerned. My biggest concern thus far, is the teams and pitchers we're struggling against.
Tim Stauffer, Clayton Richard, Dustin Moseley, Charlie Morton, James McDonald, and Kevin Correia. There is no Matt Latos in that group and the back end of the Pirate rotation. Not surprisingly, these power arms and aces have literally shut down this Cardinal offense, producing a line of .231/.304/.297 through 6 games. Very understandable against this competition.Now, with the Reds appearing the most suitable opponent in the early season here, they must be getting lucky putting up lines of .339/.404/.531 against lesser quality pitchers in Gallardo, Marcum, and Happ. Obviously, there is some sarcasm here (a lot), but the point is this is a trend from last year. When the Card's owned the Red's last year, they could score almost on command. Hell, Skip hit a grand slam and we all know how frequently he leaves the yard. But when it comes to sub-.500 teams, or lesser competition like almost every other team in the Central, the Card's offense seems to, for lack of a funnier term, "poop the bed".
The combined stats of the first six pitchers this offense has faced roughly come in at a 4.59 ERA and a combined record of 40-46 in '10. Now, Stauffer and Richard actually skew these numbers downward as they were both very respectable last year. With an average ERA over four and one half, it's disturbing this offense hasn't scored more than 3 runs yet. Even without Holliday, disturbing. It's the same old story as last year it seems, and that is why I am concerned one week in: domination by poor pitchers (the Bud Norris Effect), no timely hitting, and poor base-running.
Whose to blame now? First, the blame went to no protection for Albert. I think Holliday quelched that theory as he is perhaps the best LF in baseball. Is it the hitting coach? Well, we fired him and brought in another Big Mac. Is the front office bad enough to hire two hitting coaches that fail in the same areas? I've tried very hard to not place the blame on one guy, and the season is early, but is Tony the new issue? Have his tactics, as Adam suggested yesterday, run their course? There is no denying this team has talent, perhaps more than any team in this division, but it continues to struggle. Things aren't looking good for a quick turn-around either with junk lefty Jonathan Sanchez throwing Friday (another Card weakpoint).
Now, it's literally impossible to guess what the problem is from the outside, so I will not try. I know as well as any Joe Schmo. But, for the second straight year, I'll voice my concern. I don't think my body can handle another season like last. We need to figure this out, because we can't continue to have starters throw 6 innings and 1 earned run, and lose by 3. Could be another long September if we do.
Thanks for reading. Go Cards!
Here's how I sees it.
ReplyDeleteFirst, LaRussa's whiny little statement "It's only the first week people". Then what the hell is Spring Training? Hell most of these guys train before that even. I really don't recall the Padres or Pirates starting weeks earlier? Hmm? they seemed prepared to start playing. Of course they probably actually played their starters in "Spring Training".
So who's to blame - When a long history of problems keep happening, you have to go all the way to the top. It's their job to notice it, address it and make sure it's taken care of by whatever means. That is DeWitt and MO. However, they are royally screwed. If they try and fix the problems and LaRussa doesn't agree, he will pout and make sure that the player or idea fails miserably until they scream "UNCLE". Also, LaRussa has them over a barrel. What are they going to do Fire Him?!(please, please, please) He will be a hall of fame manager. He will most likely go to the hall as a Cardinal since he's been here for 16 years now. I feel DeWitt and MO were REALLY hoping he would move on after last year, but NO, LaRussa came in and said that he would change. He'd be nicer to the media, stop brow beating the players (especially the young ones) and make baseball fun again. Well to quote LaRussa "It's only the first week people" and already he's the same old crabby LaRussa.
Offense - LaRussa being the Homerun Hound he is cannot blame Mac. All he sees is that the players cannot get the ball over the fence. Not Mac's fault.
Pitching - Overall, except for the closer situation, I feel the pitching has been great. However, you always hear "he was doing great, he just made that one "mistake" pitch. Back to Offense - Doesn't the opposing team's pitchers make "mistake" pitches too? It almost looks like the batters are not allowed to swing unless LaRussa gives them the sign (TOTAL CONTROL) of course certain players have the green light on any situation. But they are trying to pull every pitch and launch it onto Washington Ave. Again, to impress the Manager.
Defense - Basically we traded defense for offense. They sold the cow for magic beans. If those beans don't sprout soon it's going to be a big hole to dig out of.
In closing, LaRussa is going to prove to everyone that he can out think, plan, and manage everyone, and if his players don't produce that homerun when he wrote it into the script, it's not his fault.
I'm afraid it's going to be a long year in Saint Louis. When SI, ranked the Cardinals, 4th in the Central I think they took into account the “LaRussa Factor”. I'd suggest adopting the Pirates this year. At least you'll know they will win 9 out of 13 against the Cardinals this year.
Thanks for the post. Agree, we shipped out defense for offense and we've seen that quite a bit in some bonehead plays during week one. My basic argument to Tony would be, you're right, it is week one, so why are you already getting frustrated with the media? If its just rusty hinges, and you're that confident, shouldn't you be able to hold it together after 6 games? I think Tony realizes its a carry over problem and I agree it'll be up to Mo-town to fix it this offseason. Again, thanks for posting.
ReplyDeleteI think it is just a case of the management style being stale with these players. I plan on looking at some data for team performance after a new manager is hired in baseball as well as other sports. These are human beings -- rarely talented human beings -- but there is a psychological aspect to the game. I don't want to simplify it by saying it's just a motivation problem. I do not know what it is, but I think the talent is there for the most part. A new approach is worth a shot, and I doubt we'll get Tony to change the approach he has used throughout his hall of fame career.
ReplyDeleteIsn't the psychological aspect why we brought in Ryan Theriot....
ReplyDelete