Birds at Bat

Today, July 30th, at 3 PM Central Time - trade deadline. Will the Cardinals address the holes on the team? After going on a stretch of 7-3 in a 10 game span, I see the front office standing pat believing they are finally seeing the results of the team they projected it would be.  I hope they prove me wrong.

There have been a flurry of moves made already. The Nationals have completely gutted their roster. The Dodgers and Yankees have muscled up for the stretch run and the Brewers have added a versatile All Star, which should make them even more challenging to catch.

The Cardinals have shown signs of improvement. Goldy and Bader have been as hot as you could ask for. Flaherty and Mikolas are nearing a return. However, time is short and will they have enough in the tank to catch Milwaukee? It's an uphill climb!

It will be interesting to see how deadline day closes out.

First, and most importantly, Nolan Arenado has publicly stated that he has zero intention of opting out of his contract at the end of the 2021 season. 

The July 30th trade deadline is quickly approaching. Will the Cardinals find upgrades for the second half run? Only time will tell. 

The Cardinals are coming off of a historically bad month of June. However, July has shown signs of a rebound opportunity. The Cardinals took 3 of 4 from the Chicago Cubs, which should have been a 4 game sweep. 

The offense, under hitting coach Jeff Albert, has ranked 26th out of 30 teams since he took over in 2019. Is it time to move on from Albert?

Through the first 90 games of the season, Cardinals pitching allowed 458 free passes between walks and hit by pitch.  Approximately 30% of the runs scored against St. Louis was due to these free passes. Obviously something that has to be cleaned up.

The Cardinals have an uphill climb, but they have the potential to make a 2nd half run. Lets go Cardinals!

10 injuries on the MLB roster, 8 of which came during the 17 straight games played.  Perhaps the biggest of them all is Jack Flaherty. Flaherty, who was leading the league with 8 wins, went down with a grade 2 oblique injury and will miss significant time. 

Cardinals went 6-11 over those 17 games and have been losers of 6 straight and 7 of their last 8 games. 

As before, WAY TOO MANY FREE BASES! The Cardinals continue to lead MLB in walks and hit by pitch. A staggering 32% of those walks and hbp have scored. This obviously cannot continue. 

“You're one of the greatest to ever play this game. I hope you get to go out the right way. I'm a huge fan. You're my favorite player." - Quote from Nolan Arenado about the great Albert Pujols.

We compare the statistics from Pujols as a Cardinal compared to the Angels. St. Louis obviously got his best years. Pujols will be a first ballot Hall of Famer when he decides to hang up his cleats. Until then, we will wish him luck with the Dodgers.

Walks! Walks! Walks! - Did I mention Walks? The Cardinals lead all of Major League Baseball in walks allowed. This has to be addressed and cleaned up. If not, it will be a long season.

The Cardinals were embarrassed by the San Diego Padres in a 3 game sweep. Isn't it sad that infielder Matt Carpenter was the best pitcher for the Cardinals in that series and the only pitcher who didn't allow a walk?

The Cardinals started the season at 4-2. Since then, they have gone 3-6

Are we seeing more of the same with offensive production or just a fluke and simply haven't got it going yet?

I haven't been able to figure out why Oviedo was optioned out. I say insert him into your top 5 and see what happens. What is there to lose?

Opening day never disappoints. The welcome back for Wong and the first of many big Cardinal moments for Arenado, which led to his first curtain call. 

Molina made his 2,000th start at catcher for one team, the only player in history to accomplish that, 

However, the numbers are real. Starting pitching and offensive production haven't consistently been there through the first 15 games.

It's opening day. A tradition like no other. Fans are back in the stands. The Clydesdales will trot around the track, the players will arrive in the back of Ford F150's, and Here Comes the King will continuously play on the organ. Many of the the red jackets will be on the field.

Though things will look a little different this year without legendary icons Bob Gibson and Lou Brock being there to greet the current Cardinals, there is still no better tradition, or celebration, than opening day in St. Louis.

The Cardinals are off to a 4 and 2 start moving into opening day. Outfield offensive production continues to be an issue. Yes, it's early in the season, but we can't keep doing the same things year after year expecting a different result.

The bullpen is looking sharp! Should we be concerned with the injury to Goldschmidt? 

Recorded this on the eve of the start of the 2021 baseball season. Game 1 of 162 opens up in Cincinnati. Excitement is in the air. It has been two years since baseball was played in April.

The roster is set, for now anyway, and there are plenty of question marks. The good news, is there will be baseball!

birdsatbat.com 

Go Crazy Folks! Legendary Jack Buck famously made the call. It's been a while since St. Louis could go crazy over a mega star. Arenado will fill that void. Mo committed a theft in Colorado. 

We discuss why we think the Lindor and Betts trades are bad for baseball. We also throw out a little double standard as to why the Arenado trade is different. 

There are some pitching depth concerns, especially with the injuries this spring. What's going on with Matt Carpenter? 

Birds at Bat gives you the everyday lineup as we see it and is it possible that we may see the new MV3? 

Looking forward to Cardinal baseball in 2021!

Just a few hours after we recorded this episode, we learned the Cardinals had acquired Nolan Arenado in a blockbuster trade with Colorado. This will give us plenty to talk about in future episodes. In our "News Around the League" segment, we discuss the Cardinals potentially allowing 28% fan capacity. We then move on to our "GM for the Day" and talk about the current payroll obligations and the flexibility given with roughly 60 million coming off of the books after 2021. In our "9 for 9," we talk about the outfield logjam. Out of seven candidates, who's on the roster and who is not. In the "Droppin' the Uncle Charlie" prediction segment, we make several predictions including how the division will finish and who is the starting five. We finish with "Bringin' the High Heat." We look at the numbers and discuss whether or not Scott Rolen gets inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2022. birdsatbat.com   

Welcome to Birds at Bat! Hosts Tim Jarvis and Dylan Sollers discuss the 2021 roster as it is currently constructed.  At the time of this recording, the St. Louis Cardinals are the only team in Major League Baseball that has not added to the roster via trade or free agency. Some might say Cardinal fans are spoiled. Those of us in Cardinal Nation will say that it is the culture the organization has created. It's the competitive winning mentality that we have grown to know and expect. For five straight years, the Cardinals have needed an offensive upgrade. Are we wasting the Goldschmidt era by not protecting him in the lineup with another bat? All of this and more in this episode. birdsatbat.com