I watched a lot of the games this weekend. It looked to me that they were all taking better AB's. Being patient and waiting on a pitch they can handle.

Anyone know anything about the new batting coach? Is he good or did they just have a couple of great days at the plate in a 162 game season?

I'm not sure what Donovan was thinking. You have to have better situational awareness there including knowing who is running at third. Maybe you go home with Yadi running, but otherwise you have to take the out. The only time you go home is if it is a walkoff situation.

I agree the AB's for the most part looked better than last year. Really not worried about Contreras, but Winn is carrying his very poor spring right into the regular season. I worried about his search for "more power" as it really should not be something to prioritize for him. The 15 he hit last year is plenty if he can up his OPS through better selection. Hopefully he isn't hearing this "more power" pursuit from coaching (and I doubt it), but who knows. It would be like telling Walker he needs to get more contact on the ground.

It was limited, but Gorman looked less clueless. If Arenado continues to show that considerable uptick in bat speed, we might be able to get something worthwhile back at the trade deadline. Unfortunately, we might just hang around close enough in this shitty division to justify keeping him.

They didn't even have the infield in. They were set up for DP depth and if the ball isn't hit hard enough to turn 2 then it OBVIOUSLY isn't hit hard enough to come home with it at that point if for no other reason than by virtue of where you were positioned defensively.

If you had the IF in there (for some strange reason) then sure - come home with it. But the defensive alignment wasn't even set to come home with that ball.

You don't have to be situationally brilliant -- just play the damn cards as they lay.

(Maybe don't trade away your elite defensive 2b for an aging SP and this kind of stuff won't happen....)

I like Donovan a lot but that was completely braindead.

Winn's issue is the same as it was last year -- he doesn't have any idea what to swing at and what to let go.

More talented players than him have been crippled by god-awful pitch selection. He doesn't have the hands/wrists to be as aggressive as he is. Even when he makes contact on half those balls it's awful quality of contact because he's swinging at a pitchers pitch and made the decision to do so before the pitch was delivered.

He's just WAY too aggressive.

Make him take until he gets a strike or something. Then when they start pumping him first pitch strikes in response, cut him loose. You have to do something to dial back this habit of him getting himself out. He's really doing himself no favors out there.

Noot would be a perfect fit for what the Royals need.

When he's healthy he fits what pretty much any team needs -- that's why the Cardinals can't **** around here and mess up his value.

Bottom line is that I don't think he's part of the next contending Cardinals team, at least not in his prime. And he's 28 this fall. He's under team control for his age 28 and 29 seasons and then he's a tricky extension candidate (I mean he's essentially Brandon Nimmo when he's is healthy and Nimmo got $20 million/season through age 37 which is just insane).

So you probably want to consider trading him. And if you can do so this summer, you're offering 2+ seasons of team control for a guy who's a damn nice fit literally anywhere in MLB.

You HAVE to get a top 20ish prospect for that.

You can't **** off and dick around with him like Tommy Edman, a guy who put up a SIX WAR SEASON before they ****ed around and tried to force him into CF rather than just get a damn CFer.

So of course he gets hurt, of course his value tanks and then of course they trade him for 18 months of an aging #4 starter.

Meanwhile in the 2022 offseason they could've gotten a haul for him. They could've moved him for a scuffling high value young veteran like Duran, for instance. Nah - lets do nothing.

Because that's just what they do. Always.

Hopefully new leadership will change that. They have to rebuild their entire foundation and the way you do that isn't to hang on to guys like Nootbaar like grim death - it's to continue to pump guys like that up and move them for dudes in their early 20s with the potential to be that guy in 3-4 years when you're looking at truly being serious again.

I don't get the Noot hate, but I guess its mainly just PGM who is the most miserable bastard on this site.

I swear to god, I was watching the game and I saw the fielder positions I said they are hoping to get the double play cause everyone's playing back. No chance to get the run at the plate.

If a amateur dumpshit like myself, can figure this out on sight, a starting player on the field should know that too.

Lance Lynn retires today. Question of the day - is he a Cardinals Hall of Famer? Numbers would say so.....

Another ghost town today it seems. Hopefully Dewallet and Mozo are getting the message.

Way to completely destroy any momentum and rapport you might have been reestablishing with the fan base after the 3-0 start.

Wonder how long they'll play .500 or less baseball from here on out?

Last year was the fans sending them a message.

This year they just don't give a shit.

I'll take fan anger over fan apathy 100 times out of 100.

How long until Dewallet 3 is threatening us again?

threating? What did I miss?