We experience winds of all type in our life. SWIRLING WINDS can change our direction in any-which way. Or…Sometimes, we go practically untouched as they go around us. It works the same way in sports. Sometimes it’s a strong, quick change, or sometimes not so much. Take a look …
…in 2022, the Cardinals went 30-18 in 1 run games–a 62.5% rate. As the curtain went up for 2023, most Cards fans felt good about the bullpen. In 2022, Ryan Helsley was 9-1 with 19 saves,7 holds with 94 K’s in 64 innings and a glittering ERA of 1.25. But the SWIRLING WINDS OF CHANGE blew right into the face of the Cards. It slowed them down & actually changed their course. THESE SWIRLING WINDS really hit Helsley (and the Cards) in a strong way. He has spent much time on the IL (Injured List) in ’23. While he HAS show flashes of high level performance- 33 k’s in 25 inn in his 22 appearances, he has blown 4 of his 11 save opportunities. He holds a 3-4 record with 7 saves. Further, he’s been on the IL for a long stretch. The SWIRLING WINDS OF CHANGE BLOWING here in August don’t make him the same pitcher in ’23 that he was in 2022.
…Also Sparkling in 2022, Giovanny Gallegos posted 14 saves while holding a 3.05 ERA. Even more incredible, Gallegos struck out 73 batters while walking just 18 in the entire season. But the SWIRLING WINDS OF CHANGE blew in on Gallegos also. In his 46 games of ’23, he’s 2-4 with 9 saves but also has 6 blown saves.
… As a result of the SWIRLING WINDS OF CHANGE in the bullpen the Cardinals are 11-26 in 1 run games in 2023!! What a drop from 2022!! Of course, ALL the blame doesn’t fall on the shoulders of these 2 relief hurlers or the bullpen in general, but it must be said, that their performance has been far, far below the expectations for ’23.
…the SWIRLING WINDS OF CHANGE haven’t been limited to the Lou, take a look @ NY. The Yankees went into the season with a starting rotation that seemed the envy of all the other teams. Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodón, Nestor Cortes, Luis Severino and Frankie Montas formed a strong-looking rotation. It included 2 aces, 2 All-Stars and a promising 2022 Trade Deadline acquisition. But, the SWIRLING WINDS OF CHANGE blew into NY also! Some experts (that leaves me out) have thought that the NYY age & athleticism (lack of it) is another reason for their decline. The Yanks only have 2 players under the age of 25! With the new rules emphasizing speed and athleticism, younger players with more speed (generally) are more valuable than in the past. Currently sitting at the bottom of the AL East, NYY holds a 60-61 record, the Yanks may…and it’s a stretch… have a long, remote shot at making a wild-card spot.
…the SWIRLING WINDS OF CHANGE have modified the approach that pitchers take against batters over the decades. Pitching “inside” to a batter was expected throughout the MLB until batters started making 6-figure salaries, now it almost seems extinct. Bob Gibson frequently brushed back batters who were too comfortable about covering the outside of the plate with their swing. This year 1551 batters have been hit by a pitch out of 137,294 plate appearances. That’s a whopping 1.1% Come on pitchers…take charge of the inside of the plate. You don’t have to hit the batter in the head or even hit them at all …an inside pitch, done with some regularity, leaves a message.
…I guess I misread the SWIRLING WINDS OF CHANGE. I thought Marcel Ozuna was done after his 2 years in the Lou. I was most shocked by his ineptitude in the OF. Several times fly balls close to the wall seemed to give Ozuna extreme trouble. His judgment on fly balls seemed so weak that he appeared to need an Air Traffic Controller to help him bring it down 😊 He’s STILL PLAYING…AND PLAYING WELL FOR Atlanta. His average is down but he’s belted 24 HR w/60 RBI’s. I assume that his that the SWIRLING WINDS OF CHANGE have moved on, so his defensive skills must have improved.
….the SWIRLING WINDS OF CHANGE don’t exist in all facets in the MLB. Home Field advantage is still capitalized on by the best teams. The TB Rays & Atlanta(1st place) are both 40-22 in home games as I write this Buzz. Other top teams capitalizing on home turf games are Texas at 42-21 & the Dodgers 40-20(both are in 1st place) Who has the best home record in the NL Central…yep…it’s 1st place Milwaukee with a 33-27. Our Cards are struggling to move against these strong SWIRLING WINDS with a 27-34 record @ Busch this year. The worst record of the division! If a team can’t post a winning record on their home field, it’s a tough year.
…the SWIRLING WINDS OF CHANGE have taken only a very slight move in NCAA Football. 3rd down has always been viewed as a “key down”. You need a play that gets the 1st down or (more than likely), you’ll be punting. As you would expect, the Best teams are very good on 3rd down. Georgia is #5 in 3rd down conversions, LSU is #9, Ole Miss is #15, Arkansas #21 and Alabama is #25. I’m really not surprised (too much 😊) about Bama being lower in this list. Bama doesn’t get too many 3rd downs until the “backups” are in the game. The short passing game employed by Coach Saban with the his speedy, talented receiving corp is geared for the receiver using his speed to race for a 1st down(or more)on most receptions.
…the SWIRLING WINDS OF CHANGE have certainly taken an effect on the approach to batting. Home Runs have pushed aside good Batting averages. Check out the daily box scores…it’s very unusual to find more than 3 or 4 teams in the MLB who put out a lineup with three batters hitting.280 or higher..not hitting.300…but.280! I’ve checked this level on several occasions. .280 doesn’t seem that “special” to me but apparently, it’s beyond most MLB players at this point. As I write this, the Cards have a .284 batter on the IL, and a two other batters over .280 @ .283 & .282. (and that’s after feasting on the Oakland A’s pitching staff)
….If the MLB wants to continue their efforts to improve the game, find ways to reward higher averages. Usually, that means– find more ways to pay them more money to hit .280! We’ve already seen that stolen bases and challenging OF arms while circling the bases has added excitement to the game. Just think, if there were actually MORE runners on base! Of course, you don’t get many batters on base often with the MLB since the league Average is .248.
… SWIRLING WINDS OF CHANGE don’t seem to exist in batting. The top 2 teams in batting average are Atlanta @ .274 and Texas @.271—both 1st place teams. Surprisingly, our Cards are 5th in the MLB in batting avg with a .259 mark. The drawback is that the Cards are 2nd in the MLB in runners left on base. They have stranded 881 runners – 2nd only to Toronto’s 888. Add to the difficulty in “big innings”, the Cards are 6th in the MLB in grounding into double plays with 96!! Ugh!
…MLB Fans demanded that the games were too long in 2021 when the average length of a game was 3 hours,10 minutes! The SWIRLING WINDS OF CHANGE introduced several modifications to speed up the game w/o dramatically changing the game. In 2023, the average length is now 2:38!! That’s shortened the “average” game by 17%!
..Well, the SWIRLING WINDS have just blown into my room. It’s brought me to a complete stop! I hope that you’ll find 1 (or more) of these topics to respond to in an email/on my Facebook page/ or on my website—www.bobryansportsblog.com. Thanks for your read and stay careful with those SWIRLING WINDS!! Bob
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