An ol’ time expression when something surprised you, in a big way or a small way, was “I’LL BE DARN”. There are plenty of surprises in the sports world right now. Take a look..
…no…..I’m not starting with the Cardinals or the Yankees….but college football. Can you imagine that Notre Dame with a coaching staff of 15ish coaches went blank on Saturday and cost them the game against Ohio State. For TWO, not one, consecutive plays, ND had only 10 players on the field when the Buckeyes were down to the 2 (or 3) yard. Unbelievably, ND stopped them on the 1st play! Yet, with numerous coaches watching from the field level & the press box, the Buckeyes had the entire left side of the line open again for their 2nd try to win the game. The Buckeyes DID score and won 17-14 in the waning seconds of the game! I’LL BE DARN! How could that EVER happen? From HS Frosh football to the highest D-1 collegiate game, the coaches just can’t miss the fact that only 10 players were on the field. I believe that some “heads will fall” after the season. At least, if I was the HC, they would!!
…so many times a “hot shot” running back or receiver moves into the Collegiate level and has a so-so Frosh year. It may mean that he’s not yet made the “jump” to the higher level where things are much, much quicker, stronger, mental decisions during the play are increased dramatically. Or, the competition is stronger in skills than this HS player possesses. In HS, most of these speedy players just ran by the defenders w/o using fakes, or reads of the coverage. When a Frosh player doesn’t make the adjustment in college, Coaches will always say, “he’s still learning”. Sometimes, they are still saying that he’s learning… 3 years later 😊 Luther Burden, the most proclaimed star to attend Mizzou in several years had that type of Freshman year. He had 375 receiving yards throughout all of 2022 with his longest catch being 35 yards. Not real scintillating numbers. But….I’LL BE DARN…he’s made real progress in ’23. Already in 2023, Burden has 644 receiving yards with his longest catch being 56 yards. He’s making the adjustment! Good for Mizzou!!
…Currently in the MLB batting stats Home Runs is the 1st category that most fans (and apparently managers & General Managers) look at to determine if a player had a “good” year. HR are needed but also runners need to be on base for the HR to make them more important. Usually, these “high average” hitters are developed inside the team’s farm system. Seldom, do these type of hitters become the “face” of the team. But, I’LL BE DARN this year, they ARE the face of the team. The NL & AL current batting leaders are both playing for their 1st or 2nd year on their current team.
….Luis Arraez (Miami)- 26 years old, 2nd year MLB, came over from Minnesota last winter. He’s currently batting .353 after flirting with the .400 throughout most of June. He batted .406 in June, .354 in July, dipped in August to .236 but has rebounded in Sept as he holds a .375 average through Sept. He’s 26 years old just in his 2nd year in the MLB…so he wasn’t a “super star” prospect. I’LL BE DARN, Arraez is a pure slap hitter. He probably has more hits to the opposite field than to RF (he’s a left-handed batter) He’s looking for hits not HR! Yet, he here is leading the NL league in batting over much more well known names—#2 –Ronald Acuna@ .335, #3–Fred Freeman-.333, #4–Mookie Betts-.319.
….In the AL, Texas signed Free Agent -Corey Seager in the off season 2 years ago for 10 years & a $325m contract! Sure…he won’t be this good for 10 years( it’s totally unrealistic to think that he would be this good for 10 years), but if he is a league leader for 2-3 or 4 years & helps propel the Rangers to a post-season run, he’s worth it (at least in the eyes of the Texas Rangers). This is his 2nd year with Texas. Seager currently leads the AL in batting average as he holds a .332 average, he’s 4th in OB%, 2nd in Slugging %. Couple him with Marcus Semien and you have a tremendous 1-2 punch.
…In the pre-season, I wrote that I thought the Mizzou Tigers could go 9-3. I thought that I heard the chuckles over the net…but I’LL BE DARN….Tigers are 5-0 after their win over Vanderbilt so that target is possible. I’m not saying that they’ll go 12-0 but they could beat S. Carolina, Tennessee, Florida & Arkansas and finish 9-3. If so, they’d finally get in a bowl after St. Nick’s Day(Dec 6). The Closer the bowl is to New Years Day, the better quality of the teams!
…Clearly, Starting Pitching is a real need for the Cardinals. You either sign a free agent, make a trade or bring a player “up” from the Minors. It seems that the Cards have already shown us their best pitchers who were in the minor leagues in the early part of the season. Let’s take a closer look @ our returning starting pitchers. Some caught our eye, Drew Rom was totally knocked around the box in his 1st start. Then turned around with a quality start. He’s a lefty (an advantage these days), so I’ll assume that he’ll be a starter in the opening ’24 rotation. Soft-throwing LHP, Steven Matz will also likely be in the ‘mix” at the start of ’23. His annual Sore Arm will pop up before July 4th. Yet another LHP, Zach Thompson penciled himself into the rotation with some good innings late in ’23. Miles Mikolas is a #4 & he returns to take that spot. However, he is an expensive #4 starter. Dakota Hudson flashed some good innings but seemingly is fighting injuries off-on throughout the season and a reliability. I would NOT be comfortable with this 4-some as the foundation of our rotation. For one, I’d try to resign Jordan Montgomery. He’s not a #1 (don’t ever expect the Cards to pay the huge money for a #1) but he was/is reliable & durable ( a rare asset on the Cards starting staff). I’LL BE DARN….he’s a good fit that we traded away but NOW we can get him back. Yes…it’ll be at a higher cost than the $10m contract that he signed with the Cards last winter.
…If you decide to sign a free agent. Here’s the entire free agency pitching list of starting pitchers for this off-season: Shohei Ohtani, Clayton Kershaw, Aaron Nola, Blake Snell, Julio Urías, Eduardo Rodriguez (opt-out), Lucas Giolito, Sonny Gray, Marcus Stroman (opt-out), Jordan Montgomery, Jack Flaherty, Lance Lynn (club option), Kenta Maeda, Charlie Morton (club option), Alex Cobb (club option), Kyle Hendricks (club option), Seth Lugo (player option), Rich Hill, Corey Kluber (club option), Hyun Jin Ryu, Luis Severino, Zack Greinke, Johnny Cueto (club option), Carlos Carrasco, Mike Clevinger (mutual option), Germán Márquez (club option), Wade Miley (mutual option), Noah Syndergaard, Michael Wacha (club and player options), Andrew Heaney (opt-out), Tyler Mahle, Sean Manaea (opt-out), Frankie Montas, Jake Odorizzi, Ross Stripling (opt-out), Alex Wood. I’LL BE DARN if I’ll most of these guys. They seem either too old, too expensive or too ordinary for my tastes & the Cardinals management taste.
….Remember age, cost, injury background, current skill level all have to be considered. I’LL BE DARN..If I were zeroing in on 2 pitchers, it’d Sonny Gray (hoping to get 2 years out of him) & Montgomery. Then, I’d turn towards the bullpen where pitchers come & go like they are on a Disney World Ride. Trades are too hard to project. Cardinals DO make trades but usually NOT involving “BIG” names coming our way in the pen. The free-agent pitchers who performed well in ’23 are expecting a big “pay day”. That doesn’t usually work with the Cardinals approach.
…Thanks for your read! YOUR ideas are cordially invited. I’m going to start signing your name on FB. I want YOU to be recognized for your clever, well-thought out ideas. I’LL BE DARN if I don’t thank you for the read ! Bob
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