SUMMER TIME SCUTTLEBUTT! An early Thursday delivery due to a packed weekend. So…here we go…
The MLB just passed the midway point of the 2025 season. Now that the All-Star game is history & it’s time to look around at the SUMMER TIME BRIEFS. Naturally, let’s look 1st @ the St Louis Cardinals. Cards started 2025 smartly. On June 7th, StL was 8 games over .500 with a 36-28 record after beating the Dodgers that day. Then the Cardinals lost their next 6 games. 4 days later they went on a 5 game winning streak. Sooo..it’s been HOT & COLD season with multiple streaks (winning & losing) in the 1st half of 2025. The series loss to Colorado(by far worst team in MLB) was a tough pill to swallow.
…SUMMER TIME SCUTTLEBUTT ABOUT CARDS –Most fans could care less about team stats, unless it’s about the Cardinals….sooo…let’s see how the Cards “match up” against the other MLB teams. Take a look first at the team offensive stats(30 teams)… in the Runs Scored Category – Cards are #13 in the MLB; #11 in HITS category; #16 in OPS (on base + slugging %); surprising to me the Cards are #22 in stolen bases in MLB; Cards are 6th in fewest strikeouts; #21 in home runs. It’s about what you’d expect…average in most categories with contact being made (#6 of 30 teams) most of the time with fewer strikeouts. #10 in Home runs is a bit surprising to me. I didn’t expect them to be that high!! The Cards are #22 in team Earned Run Average (ERA) at a 4.18 mark. A concern!….part of the reason—Nolan Arenado’s performance is beneath most pre-season expectations. I list him first because he was viewed as the “leader” of the offense in the off-season. On the other hand, Willson Contreras has been a very pleasant surprise at the plate & at his new position-1B. He’s currently the team leader in Home Runs & RBI’s. In addition, He’s a very animated player which I think the club has lacked in recent years. Further, I think he’s evolved into the LEADER in the Clubhouse. Man…I think he talks even more than I do!! (and that takes some doing 😊)
…MORE SUMMER TIME CARDINAL SCUTTLEBUTT —Currently, All-Star Brendon Donovan leads the team in HITS(103); he’s been the best every-day player—2nd in RUNS SCORED; he puts his bat on the ball the vast majority of times. He’s a real pro…plays every day, makes contact, I haven’t seen any temper tantrums on calls that go against him. Frankly, I expect him to sag a bit as we go deeper into the season as the daily grind takes its toll on the every-day starters across the MLB. It slows down the speed of the bat of most players at some point.
…STL’S BIGGEST SPORT’s SCUTTLEBUTT …. The Cards aren’t OUT OF IT yet but the starting pitching corp has to “STEP UP” and provide some 6 or 7 inning starts! A team can’t pitch 4-5 pitchers every night. A start of 5.2 innings is the average start in 2025 for MLB starters! And..now it seems relief pitchers can’t extend past 1 inning of work?? It puzzles me…these current athletes are bigger, stronger, better prepared for the MLB than pitchers were decades ago. Yet, these starting pitchers seem to be only able to dream about complete 9 inning games, heck maybe even 7 inning games 😊 ! The quick release of Eric Fedde after a very poor performance may indicate a shorter amount of patience by the Cards management.
….HOF SUMMER TIME SCUTTLEBUTT …Maybe you missed, the 2020 Hall of Fame Inductees. It included a well-known Cardinal-Ted Simmons. Simmons played 13 of his 21 MLB years wearing a Cardinal Uniform. Simmons hit .300 or better in 7 MLB seasons. The seasons were in 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1980, and 1983. On his 1st day as Cardinals, he was just 18 years old!!! Most 18 years olds are happy to just “make” their Summer team! In my day, those summer HS teams were the Legion teams. Now, of course, they are the traveling teams. Think of YOUR maturity as an 18 year old (makes me shudder 😊)…and then consider that Simmons was fully into the adult professional world as an 18 year old! WOW! Simmons had some really special qualities. One of them was that he was a switch hitter! Switch hitting, in general, is fading away. A little known fact, For catchers, Ted Simmons is 2nd in lifetime HITS by a catcher. Simmons had 2,472 career hits. The only catcher with more hits is Ivan Rodriguez 2,844. Simmons played 21 years in Major League Baseball!!
…STILL MORE SUMMER TIME SCUTTLEBUTT ON TED SIMMONS…. 1975 was Simmons’ best offensive year. He hit 18 home runs along with 100 RBIs and posted a career-high .332 batting average, finishing second in the National League behind Bill Madlock and banged out 193 hits during that terrific season!! I think that Simmons never received the “royal” treatment often given to Cardinal favorites. Maybe, it was due to his defense. He seemed to be a bit out-spoken. Which was totally unacceptable in those days. He wasn’t a highly skilled as a catcher behind the plate or at throwing out base stealers. Maybe that’s what prompted Whitey’s request to him to move to 1b. (I mean when your boss gives you a request… when you say “NO” to them, what do you expect in return ??). Then, Simmons challenged the MLB “reserve” clause by not signing a contract (but he still played the full season). That was another incident that probably made it easier for the Cardinals to “move him along”.
…DYING TREND IN MLB SPORTS SCUTTLEBUTT …speaking of switch hitting in 2025, there are 62 MLB players who have had plate appearances from both sides of the plate. However, only 15 of them have enough plate appearances to be considered qualified switch hitters, according to Just Baseball. This is a decrease when compared to previous seasons had 9.35% of players being switch hitters, down from 12.5% in 2022. Going even further, our St. Louis Cardinals have yet to have a single switch-hitter get an at-bat this year. Some other former Cardinals switch hitters are Red Schoendienst, Frankie Frisch, Tom Herr. Notice most are middle-infielders who didn’t carry huge HR totals like Simmons. Simmons finished with 248 Home Runs!
…STAYING UP WITH MORE MLB SPORTS SCUTTLEBUTT …Taking a look at the MLB stats as we’re around the ½ mark of the season. There are some “new” names next to some of the familiar names. Aarron Judge continues to have a spectacular season. He’s #1 in the entire MLB in batting average with a .345 mark. The 2nd place batter is Will Smith (Dodgers @ .323! The Most HR’s in MLB is led by Cal Raleigh (Seattle) with 39 (Judge has 36). The Most Runs-Batted Leader-is Eugenio Suarez (AZ)with 86. Raleigh is #2 & Judge is #3! Most stolen bases in MLB at this moment is Jose Caballero(TB) & O’Neil Cruz (Pitt) are tied with 33 stolen bases. IT’S always good to see fresh names on the leader board.
…HOCKEY’S SUMMER TIME SCUTTLEBUTT– NHL Roster formation takes a big step forward for most teams during these summer months. The Blues signed defenseman Nick Bjugstad to a 2-year, $3.5 million contract. The 32-year-old forward had 19 points (8 goals, 11 assists) in 66 games for Utah last season. It should be no surprise to any Blues fans since the Blues waived 2 Defensemen –Nick Leddy & Ryan Suter. Fr Time caught up with 32 year old- Brandon Saad & 31 year old forward, Radek Faksa, who were also released as the Blues seek a younger, hopefully speedier team, with a lower payroll as they “freshen” up their roster. Hockey really is a “young man’s game. Think of it.. they skate as hard as they can for their shift—45sec-1:30min…they rest about 3-6 minutes…and do it again…and again and again throughout the match. According to NHL stats, the “starters” get about 22 shifts in a game!
…COLLEGE SUMMER SPORTS SCUTTLEBUTT FROM MU!…speaking of talent…Mizzou QB & baseball player, Sam Horn, has decided to play football this fall with the intentions of playing baseball in the spring! WOW! What a talented sports athlete!!! At some point, he’ll have to make a choice. This fall may lead him to the decision—one way or the other.
…MORE MIZZOU SUMMER TIME FOOTBALL SCUTTLEBUTT , the Tigers were seeded 12th in the SEC 2025 pre-season football poll. With the addition of Texas & Oklahoma, there are 16 teams in the SEC (Southeastern Conference). That’s disappointing to many fans! Some very early pre-season talk by HC Eli Drinkwitz was much more positive. The loss of QB Brady Cook & WR Luther Burden to the NFL takes their 2024 offensive leaders away. Burden was drafted in the 2nd round by the Chicago Bears-39th pick of the draft. Brady Cook was not drafted at all! Much to my surprise! He was signed by the NY Jets after the draft. It’ll be a significant change next year @ QB for MU. Penn State transfer quarterback Beau Pribula, who has been basically been named the ’25 QB is more of a runner, than a passer. But, I feel like…In the SEC, in order to win…you have to be able to pass the ball…period. Running by the QB is a bonus. It’s rare, these days, for a premier team to have a running QB. One important factor…can they withstand the “hits” of the defenders! Maybe…some younger MU QB will pop up and win the job with their passing…!!
… SPORTS SCUTTLEBUTT ABOUT DRAFTS-NFL APPROACH v MLB APPROACH….Unlike NFL football draft that has tremendous amount of coverage. You have to dig deep to find out about the draft in MLB baseball. The transition in baseball receives only minimal coverage. I guess since the vast majority of the drafted baseball players won’t play immediately (or at all) on the Major League teams, the draft comes & go’s w/o a great deal of fan-fare. But…the Cardinals drafted as #5 pick of the draft in the 1st round was a LHP– Liam Doyle, a left-handed pitcher is an exciting draft pick. Doyle finished his collegiate career @ Univ of Tennessee. That was his 3rd college. He played earlier for Coastal Carolina & Ole Miss. I think that he took a “step up” in each transfer. I’m thinking that we could see him in the ’27 season.
…SPORTS SCUTTLEBUTT ABOUT PROFESSIONAL ROSTERS..Clearly professional sports rosters are getting younger, more athletic players with excellent training in the fundamentals in Football, Baseball, Basketball. Why doesn’t the some MLB team hire a college Coach? It’s been done in the NFL & NBA (See below). Univ of Tennesse HC Baseball Coach is Tony Vitello is a tremendous candidate for the MLB. I wrote about him and his Dad, Greg Vitello, in the Buzz a few months ago. Under Coach Tony Vitello, the Tennessee baseball program has seen 52 players drafted into the major leagues since 2018. This averages out to just over 6.5 players drafted per year. There have been at least 7 players drafted each of the last five seasons from Tennessee. Sooo…Vitello has developed MLB players. Why not give him a shot in the MLB? A young, knowledgeable HC probably could relate easier with the young 20ish players. This is especially true With teams in a “reset” mode (like the Cardinals).
…COLLEGE COACHES SPORTS SCUTTLEBUTT …..The NFL & NBA have already hired several college coaches. In the NFL— Jim Harbaugh–Michigan to Los Angeles Chargers (NFL); Pete Carroll: USC to Las Vegas Raiders (NFL); Chip Kelly: Oregon, UCLA (college) to Philadelphia Eagles, San Francisco 49ers (NFL); Steve Spurrier: Florida, South Carolina (college) to Washington Commanders (NFL): Jimmy Johnson: University of Miami to Dallas Cowboys (NFL); Tom Coughlin: Boston College (college) to Jacksonville Jaguars, New York Giants (NFL). Some were successful, some not so much….really not much difference from hiring former NFL Head Coaches or current NFL assistant coaches.
…Several basketball coaches have successfully transitioned from leading college teams to coaching in the NBA. Some notable examples include Billy Donovan, Fred Hoiberg, Brad Stevens, John Calipari, Rick Pitino, and Larry Brown.
…Thanks for taking your time for the read & response! Please send me your SCUTTLEBUTT! On any of the topics! If you don’t already do it, each response is found on my Facebook page. Most are very interesting. There up there for you to read them! I should be back on “schedule with the Saturday delivery next week. Bob
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