2018-05-29: Cardinals (Wacha) at Brewers (Davies) 6:40 PM CDT [Brewers lose, 6-1]

[TooLiveBrew]

 

[pre]Cardinals Lineup Brewers Lineup

 

1. Matt Carpenter (L) 1B 1. Lorenzo Cain ® CF

2. Jedd Gyorko ® 3B 2. Christian Yelich (L) RF

3. Tommy Pham ® CF 3. Jesús Aguilar ® 1B

4. Marcell Ozuna ® LF 4. Travis Shaw (L) 3B

5. Harrison Bader (L) RF 5. Ryan Braun ® LF

6. Yairo Muñoz ® SS 6. Hernán Pérez ® 2B

7. Kolten Wong (L) 2B 7. Manny Piña ® C

8. Francisco Peña ® C 8. Tyler Saladino ® SS

9. Michael Wacha ® P 9. Zach Davies ® P[/pre]

[MoreTrife]

Crazy that Wacha is only 26. Thought he was washed up but I guess just the development roller coaster (and injuries).

[TURBO]

Need to keep this one close. Hader is all rested up and ready to go!!!

[Dead Simmons]

Won't be hard to do. Wacha is a 5 inning pitcher nowadays and the pen sucks. As a matter of fact the hitting sucks, especially with RISP.

 

You guys have the pundits (and myself) scratching their heads. The Nats, Cubs and Dodgers were supposed to be the cream of the NL this season!

[RobDeer 45]

Won't be hard to do. Wacha is a 5 inning pitcher nowadays and the pen sucks. As a matter of fact the hitting sucks, especially with RISP.

 

You guys have the pundits (and myself) scratching their heads. The Nats, Cubs and Dodgers were supposed to be the cream of the NL this season!

 

Still a lot of time for everything to change. That said, I like what we are doing so far. I just hope we can keep up an above average pace as the season goes on.

[Dead Simmons]

Won't be hard to do. Wacha is a 5 inning pitcher nowadays and the pen sucks. As a matter of fact the hitting sucks, especially with RISP.

 

You guys have the pundits (and myself) scratching their heads. The Nats, Cubs and Dodgers were supposed to be the cream of the NL this season!

 

Still a lot of time for everything to change. That said, I like what we are doing so far. I just hope we can keep up an above average pace as the season goes on.

 

True that, but 2 months of mashing is no fluke. Seems like every night on the highlights I see your guys hitting bombs...it's scary. The Cubs have some thump too, but you're thumpier.

[TooLiveBrew]

Won't be hard to do. Wacha is a 5 inning pitcher nowadays and the pen sucks. As a matter of fact the hitting sucks, especially with RISP.

 

You guys have the pundits (and myself) scratching their heads. The Nats, Cubs and Dodgers were supposed to be the cream of the NL this season!

 

Still a lot of time for everything to change. That said, I like what we are doing so far. I just hope we can keep up an above average pace as the season goes on.

 

True that, but 2 months of mashing is no fluke. Seems like every night on the highlights I see your guys hitting bombs...it's scary. The Cubs have some thump too, but you're thumpier.

Funny what perspective can do. I hadn't even noticed that the Brewers are 2nd in the NL in homers.

[topper09er]

Entering the game the Cards and Crew lead MLB in triple futility, StL only has 2 all season and the Brewers have 3 (2 from Yelich). There are 26 players with more triples than the Cardinals as a team.

 

Looks like the all-time (at least modern era) record was set last year by the Blue Jays, who only hit 5 triples the entire season! StL is in contention, on pace for only 6. The only other team (again not counting partial NA seasons from the 1880s) to ever have single digits 3B for entire season was the 2016 Orioles, who only had 6. This is also counting the strike shortened seasons.

[TooLiveBrew]

This is the MBL.tv Free Game Of The Day -- link here: https://www.mlb.com/live-stream-games

[Dead Simmons]

This is the MBL.tv Free Game Of The Day -- link here: https://www.mlb.com/live-stream-games

Thank you for the link! BTW: What's become of Arcia? Haven't seen him on the highlights for weeks or in the game last night.

[Dragonbait]

He was sent down over the weekend.

[Dead Simmons]

He was sent down over the weekend.

OK. I assume he was slumping.

[MrTPlush]

Before our offensive explosion we were one of the worst offenses in the NL...only better than the Reds in our division. The last week has really turned the script though. We now are #4 in the NL in runs scored. The Cubs nearly lead before categories (RS RA).

 

Getting rid of Arcia and improvements from Villar/Pina have really made the offense a force. To be honest I hope Arcia stays far far away from this team for awhile. I hope it is well more than 10 days.

[badger3034]

Getting rid of Arcia and improvements from Villar/Pina have really made the offense a force. To be honest I hope Arcia stays far far away from this team for awhile. I hope it is well more than 10 days.

 

Ehhhh, I don't think I'm hoping to see him gone for long. The majority of players in baseball go through slumps here and there and hopefully this is just something temporary. He was so good last year consistently and maybe he just isn't seeing the ball very good right now. I'd like to see him back once he rights his ship and send Sogard to wherever he needs to go.

[YelichPosse]

lineup looks good minus Villar missing. Villar is a better lefthanded hitter than right isn't he?

[pacopete4]

Villar hit a bomb yesterday but enjoy the off day buddy. Perez isn’t even hitting well so why are we forcing him in the lineup?

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

More and more I think the Brewers overall philosophy is that they have 13 guys who can play and hit in the big leagues. Except at positions where there is a clearly superior option (CF, Yelich, 3B), this means we're getting a constant shuffle. This looks weird to me a lot, but I am getting to the point where I see the logic. If the org believes Perez is about as good as Villar, you split starts and hope both players stay fresh longer, which leads to max production long-term.

 

Depth is the innovative thing this roster is doing. It really seems to be our Moneyball. Maybe it isn't the best approach, but I am starting to enjoy the attempt...

[FVBrewerFan]

Before our offensive explosion we were one of the worst offenses in the NL...only better than the Reds in our division. The last week has really turned the script though. We now are #4 in the NL in runs scored. The Cubs nearly lead before categories (RS RA).

 

Getting rid of Arcia and improvements from Villar/Pina have really made the offense a force. To be honest I hope Arcia stays far far away from this team for awhile. I hope it is well more than 10 days.

 

Replacing Arcia with Sogard or even Saladino has had almost no impact on scoring more runs. Sogard has done nothing since coming up again. Saladino had a couple big games and hasn't really done anything since.

[topper09er]

Wow, they IBB Braun to get to Villar yesterday and he hits a dinger in response..and then rides the pine against a righty pitcher with Perez getting the start.

[TURBO]

CC seems to look for any reason/excuse/notion to bench Villar. I wonder how long it takes for him to start showing discontent?

 

It's just a stupid thing to do to a guy who seems to be coming around, just never provoding him a chance to get in a groove.

 

It really irritates me.

[YelichPosse]

I am trying to remain positive. But if we want sustainable growth and success ... like with Villar... gotta keep him playing! Pérez start instead of Sogard sure , but not vs a righty ! Come on CC!

[long ball]

Re: Villar not getting the start

 

Right handed hitters are historically much better against Wacha than lefties. That may be why Perez got the nod at second tonight.

 

Career

Vs L: .229/.298/.337

Vs R: .265/.323/.427

 

2018

Vs L: .200/.263/.222

Vs R: .255/.342/.434

[Outlander]

Villar hit a bomb yesterday but enjoy the off day buddy. Perez isn’t even hitting well so why are we forcing him in the lineup?

They are pretty much equal during the month of May. Put them both in the best position to succeed and that has happened thus far this month.

[markedman5]

Perez hasn't started for awhile......CC is going to play everybody to keep them sharp.....Villar will in all likelihood be back in there tomorrow.

 

Relax

[brewerswinNLcentral]

perez hits RHP .at a .284 clip and is hitting everybody at .327 for the month of may.

I love that villar has improved this year but perez is no slouch in this instance

For whatever reason CC has made mysterious decisions all year but this doesnt seem like a horrible idea