Marcel Ozuna (aka…Ozo) has been an enigma to many StL fans. Arriving in the Lou last year with high hopes after a robust year in 2017– .312 average, 37 HR, 124 rbi’s, OPS of .924. He was an All star player, silver slugger and a gold glover, it was thought that he was the “man”. But…..in 2018 he hit .280, 23 HR, 88 ribbies, with an OPS of .748 and at times appeared to be more suited to be playing the outfield in a slow-pitch league. What had happened in one year? Well….we may have seen Marcel in his career year in 2017. Checking his career marks of .277 average, career OPS is .788 and his HR mean is 25 Or…..maybe… Marcel fell into the Batman vs Robin mode. We all know that Batman is the leader, the “real” star who figures out the most difficult of challenges. Robin, while extremely valuable, often provides support and insight to the problems facing the dynamic Duo. Some people relish and thrive on the idea of being the “leader” or the “man”. It drives them harder. Others prefer to be very, very good players in a strong supportive role but don’t want the spotlight on them constantly. In 2017, Giancarlo Stanton garnished most of the headlines in Miami with his 59 HR. Ozo and Yelich were both thought of as the younger, up & coming players in the outfield. Ozuna outhit Yelich by 19 home runs, by 30 batting points in his average and his OPS was .117 higher than Yelich in 2017. But….Stanton was the real star of the team. The Cardinals management expected Ozo to be the “man” in 2018….well….it didn’t work out to their expectations. Maybe…..Ozuna just played to his career numbers or…. maybe…..he doesn’t like the constant spotlight. When the Cards obtained Paul Goldschmidt in the off-season, it was instantly clear that Goldie was the star. Ozuna would be a key player but …not the real “leader”. He is sthriving again in 2019…just like 2017. Possibly, Ozuna prefers to be Robin more than Batman? Nothing wrong with that….it’s great to having TWO strong batters in the crucial part of the lineup. But…..the gold glove part still amazes me…..his fielding has been anywhere from unbelievabley horrible to above average with the mean being on the unbelievable side of things. I’ll never forget his jumping up the wall for a fly….only to see it falling on the warning track close to him. It is ONLY one play….but a play that I’d expect a High School player to make…not a Gold Glover. Btw….I’d like to tip my hat to 101’s Kevin Wheeler who provided me with this Batman/Robin idea.
….Apparently not willing to be a Batman in the division or even a “Robin” ….the Miami Marlins destroyed a good…not great ….but good …2017 team. Look @ some of their everyday players from that year…. the outfield was terrific….Stanton, Yelich, Ozo…behind the plate was Realmuto and the infield was filled by Justin Bour, Dee Gordon, Martin Prado and Derek Dietrich for most of the games. The starting rotation didn’t put any fear into batters but…I’ve seen worse in the MLB… Dan Straily 10-9 , Jose Urena 14-7, Adam Conley 8-8, Edinson Volquez 4-8. Remember….the ace of that staff was scheduled to be in his prime…. Jose Fernandez. Fernandez died suddenly in a boat accident in September 2016. Effectively, Fernandez took the franchise down with him in his death. Instead, Miami dealt themselves out of the superhero business by having a “close out” sale on any players with talen and/or some payroll. Now, they’re probably being chased as nickel-dime robbers by the real Super Heroes for stealing money from the real baseball fans of Miami with a team disguised as Major Leaguers.
….Another suffering from his changing role to Robin after being Batman for a few years in NY is Jeurys Familia . The Mets former closer, Familia was traded to Oakland by the Mets last July but brought back to set up for the new closer, Edwin Diaz in the off-season. Familia signed a $30m, 3 year deal with NY last December to rejoin the team in this new “Robin” capacity. Thus Far, it’s been ugly….6.28ERA, 14 appearances, with 13 walks and he has allowed earned runs in 6 of his last 10 outings. He’s 2-0….only because he’s “blowing the leads” and then the Mets rally to give him the win. Using a tactic employed often in the MLB now … Cards included….Familia was put on the DL after these poor outings. Something had to be wrong….he couldn’t be this bad…so…. off the went to the DL to “heal”.
….for decades, Nebraska has provided NFL teams with plenty of “Robins”(good players …usually lineman who regularly became starters) with an occasional Batman(star). But not this year…for the 1st time since 1962, Nebraska had its 56-year streak snapped with none of its players being selected in the NFL draft. That alone tells you something of the “hard times: that the Cornhuskers are facing. Now…they need a Batman to get back those “Robins”! Another Johnny Rogers would do. (Heisman Trophy winner-1972)
…Anxious to perform as the Robin in NY, Luke Voit (from Lafayette HS) belted his 9th HR this year for the Yankees this year. In his 139 MLB games in 3 years, Voit has 28 round trippers. At that rate, in a full 162 game schedule, he’d hold a 33 HR season! Ahead of Voit in NY is 1B Greg Bird. Bird seems to have a tough time staying healthy. Congrats to Voit and best of luck! Btw….the Yanks recently completed a series in San Francisco…big deal, heh? Well…it’s only the 2nd time since the 1962 World Series that the Bronx Bombers have played in SF since that series!!! The Yanks won that Series in 7 games as Ralph Terry went 9 innings in game 7 to win it 1-0 for NY. Game ended with tying runner on 3b and winning run on 2B for the Yanks!!
…While on the StL High School level, there is a Girls lacrosse team with plenty of Batmans AND Robins. The Rockwood Summit team is 12-0 for the season(as I write this section of the blog on Thursday). The Falcons have a bevy of talented players with many contributing offensively. Jr Kaila Larocque tops the team in Goals, Assists and Points with 25-20-45 respectively. Larocque had 3 assists in the Falcons tightest victory of the year against Eureka.Summit won in a thrilling 8-7 match. Jr Lauren Metzler is 2nd on the team in goals with 23. Jr Caroline Hager is 2nd on the team in assists (14) and 2nd in points(33). Other key offensive players are Jr Ronnie Skorcz, who has scored 20 goals and has 8 helpers. Jr Kaylee Smarr has recorded 18 goals with 3 assists. You’ll note that all of these players listed…..and I don’t have access to the strong defenders (which every winning team must possess)…are Juniors. So the Falcons have a bright future.
…The Blues will need to play like Batman on Tuesday in the 7th game of the Dallas series. It’s been a great, entertaining series. Plenty of speed, hitting, shots and yet the defense and the “grinding” by the Blues behind the Stars net has also been key. Thank Goodness Binnington has been playing like Batman in goal. On another note….I can understand that Blues fans of Game 5 were booing the Blues while they were playing poor hockey and all of the fans had paid ‘good” money to watch it LIVE…..but….does anyone think that they really weren’t trying? Do they think that booing will motivate them? They are playing another professional team that…maybe…is better….maybe.. not. We’ll find out on Tuesday. LGB!!! (used 3 ! because we’ll need 3 goals to win  )
…Maybe not the Batman on the mound any longer but both of these pitchers would be great “Robins”. Has anyone else wondered why NOT ONE team has signed Dallas Keuchel and Craig Kimbrel? Well… as usual….it comes down to money. BEFORE the June 3-5th MLB Draft, any team signing either of these players who rejected the $17.9m qualifying offer from their teams, pays a penalty. The signing team loses a high draft pick (#1 picks excluded). The exact pick that would have to be surrendered by each team is determined by a number of factors, including if the team received revenue sharing and the amount of money that the player ultimately signed for with his new club. In addition, most teams would also lose $500,000 from its international bonus pool for the upcoming signing period. Soooo….look for signings by both these players… shortly after the June 5 draft. I think Kimbrel would be a boost to almost any bullpen. I’m not so sure that Keuchel will demand as much money… or years…..as Kimbrel. Both are clearly are past the apex of their careers but still likely to be productive.
….Recently we wrote about modifications to MLB stadiums as a way to cut back on the continual barrage of HR nightly. To no one’s surprise, the MLB provides us with another reason for the increased number of home runs in recent years. According to the MLB, while many factors are contributing to the surge in homers, the most noteworthy is the change in the makeup of the baseball. Separate studies concluded that the ball composition has changed in a meaningful way. In a June 2017 study published at The Ringer, Ben Lindbergh and Mitchel Lichtman concluded that baseballs used after the 2015 All-Star break were different in terms of “bounciness,” as well as lower seam height and circumference. Easy solution…change the ball back to its previous shape and “bounciness”….if the MLB REALLY wants to change the parade of HR’s each night…and I’m not so sure that they want to do that…. they’d change the baseballs….but they want more “Batmans” not just “Robins” in those lineups….
…I use many stats in my blogs…heck, I taught Math….what do you expect. However, I believe that one of the most useless stats is strikeouts. With no one on base, a strikeout is absolutely no different than an out AND it probably takes you more pitches to get that out. Runners on base….strikeouts take away ability for runners to advance so there IS some value for K’s then. Here’s a listing of how starters lost effectiveness each time through the order in 2015:
SP first time through order: .705 OPS SP second time through order: .731 OPS
SP third time through order: .771 OPS RP first time through order: .699 OPS
Some teams break it down in a different way for their pitchers. They use these guidelines… The Goal: 15 pitches per inning; 1 inning at 25 to 30 pitches okay; 2 innings of 25-40 consecutively– done for the day or 1 inning at 35 pitches or more– done for the day.
A stat that you may want to begin watching is the number of pitches that a pitcher makes in a game.
Here’s a different look @ the Cards in 2019…. Pitches per batter…clearly racking up strikeouts will generally add to your pitch count. Ideally…at least in my book…getting a ground out on the 1st/2nd pitch is a better route to follow for starting pitchers.
Thus far in 2019 (thru May 2), here’s the chart– TBF (total batters faced) .NP (# pitches),Pitches/batter
TBF NP P/batter
1 Flaherty, J 130 553 4.25
2 Wainwright, A 136 515 3.78
3 Mikolas, M 145 513 3.53
4 Wacha, M 118 501 4.24
5 Hudson, D 116 447 3.85
6 Gant, J 68 292 4.29
7 Brebbia, J 64 264 4.125
8 Miller, A 56 239 4.26
9 Leone, D 56 224 4.0
10 Hicks, J 46 189 4.11
….final hockey note….why don’t’ the Blues schedule a few minor league games of their minor league affiliate in the Enterprise Center? Lower the prices…..make it dirt cheap for kids….get the kids engaged…and hooked on hockey. This would be one type of “hooking” allowed in Hockey  Hockey is SO MUCH BETTER in person than on the tube.
…read one publication that listed Adam Wainwright as the 4th best pitcher in Cardinal history. Their reasoning: “Waino” had a remarkable run between 2009-14 (he missed 2011 with elbow injury), winning 20 games twice and also 19 games two times, with the 19-win years including his leading the National League in innings pitched. As a reliever in the 2006 postseason, he recorded four saves. Three of those came as the last outs in the divisional round, the NLCS and the World Series. While he’s not the same pitcher any longer….he really has become a master of pitching with “less” stuff. Despite having Robin type stuff….he’s getting Batman results (at least some of the times)