We’ve all heard the expression, “Actions Speak Louder Than Words”. Also True in the sports world.
…First of all, we heard the talk about the Blues goal-keeping and tough Minn Wild team. Coach Craig Berube rode both keepers as they won the series over the Wild 4-2. Yes the goal keeping was better but the soring of the offense was something else. The Blues led the NHL in 5-on-4 goals with 63. Goaltending improved as Binnington regained his confidence & aggressive positioning as the keeper. Also contributing outside the net, Binnington stymied part of the Wild offense. Minnesota would “dump it in”, get on the defenders, pin them up and continue their offense. Binnington stymied the approach by handling himself these long “deep” passes and sending in a different direction—often to a Blues defender who could lead the “counter” attack.
….The Cards had a tough decision this year with Paul DeJong. His batting skills had fallen off…way off. While all the talk all winter was about Nolan Gorman coming up & moving Edman to 2B, the Cards actions tell us a DIFFERENT Thing. Yet, for the 1+ months into the’22 season, we have brought up not 1 but 2 players ahead of Gorman. Brendan Donovan & Kramer Robertson are middle-infielders now on the Cards bench. Rumors about “moving” Gorman are beginning to surface.
…Filling SS with platoon or in/out players is usually not a recipe to winning championships. Top level teams almost always have every-day SS. Look @ the Cards…in 1964, Dick Groat played 161 games. In 1982,85,87, Ozzie played in 140-158-158 games respectively. 1996 was a transition year from Ozzie to Royce Clayton. In 2000-01-02-03-04, SS Edgar Rentera played in 150-140-152-157-149 games. In 2005, David Eckstein played in 158 games in 2006 played in 117 games in 2003. 2011 saw Ryan Theriot played 132 games as the Shortstop. In 2012 Rafael Furcal was the SS for 121 games. Pete Kozma was the everyday SS in 2013 for 143 games. As you can easily see, most of these SS were not relied upon as key batters but rather steady, sure handed SS who had durability and stability in the field as well as the confidence of the manager.
…Most of the winter, the Cards talked the talk about upgrading their full-time DH spot that’s now in the NL. Corey Dickerson was acquired to fill the DH from the left side & Albert to be the DH against left handed pitchers. After all that talk, actions showed us something different. Upon his arrival was RHB Juan Yepez was immediately inserted as the DH. Yepez was acquired for Matt Adams from Atlanta in 2017 at 19 years of age. He’s described as a “pure hitter”. When that’s said, it often implies that his fielding skills are “average”… at best! Yepez got off to a roaring start at the plate- Batting .400 , 3 doubles, 2 HR in 30 official AB and the highest OPS on the team at 1.155. Since his defense so-so, he’s a “made to order” to DH. Watch the Cards actions related to DH…Dickerson getting moved? just where does this put Gorman? Is he being squeezed out? No one has talked about the possibility of “moving” Gorman for a top level pitcher…maybe on his final year of his contract.
…If they DO go that route without saying anything until it happens, Which starting pitchers are in their final year of the contract? The list has some “big” names in the final year of their contract and could be a 2-3 month rental. Musgrove, SD Padres – 2023 free agent; Carlos Rodón, SF Giants – $22.5m player option; Luis Severino, NY Yankees – $15 million club option are some of my favorites.
…btw…. Nolan Arenado has the right to opt out of his contract after this year. We haven’t heard anything talk about that by Arenado or the Cards. We need to see some action soon!
….Much of the off-season talk @ Mizzou hinted at changing QB’s. MU coach Eli Drinkwitz chased a plethora of QB around the country. Generally, Drinkwitz is lauded for his recruiting. But, his recruiting @ QB,1 of the most important positions, has been all TALK with little.. to no…action on signing QB’s. Only 1 QB has signed with the Tigers this year—Sam Horn. Horn’s best sport isn’t football—its Baseball. Soooo…that puts the 2 returning QB for 2022 back on the shoulders of the 2021 QB’s. Out of East St Louis, Tyler Macon, was labelled the “running QB” who could throw “some”. Brady Cook from Chaminade was the throwing QB who could run “some”😊 Cook led the Tigers in their bowl game loss to Army. Just looking at the actions and ..…and what’s not being said… I don’t think that Coach Drink really wants either of these 2 to be his regular QB in 2023 or even 2022 for that matter. Sooo, the talk about successful recruiting for Coach Drink must be reviewed with actions that are weak at 1 of the most important places on a NCAA-F team.
..As always, Thanks for the read! If you’ve missed some recent blogs or blogs from years ago, you can find them on http://www.bobryansportsblog.com. I’d love to read YOUR ideas on this blog. Either post on my Facebook page (Bob Ryan) or send to me & I”ll post them there for you. (name or initials). Have a super week! Bob