Seriously? Why is this an article? Just absolutely unnecessary for a low leverage RP. Zero reason this article should have been published by this site.
Also should add. Contreras has never caught more than 96 games in a season and that happened in 2019. He's on pace to smash that number this season. Giving him plenty of off-days is the right call.
Grandal was also on a 1-year deal where we didn't care about keeping him healthy long-term. Way different situation with a young catcher who we have 5 more years of control of.
That's assuming the quality of contact is similar for both teams and it is not. Cardinals xBA is .267 (best in MLB) compared to our .243 (17th in MLB) and their xSLG is .446 (5th in MLB) compared to our .390 (22nd in MLB). Their .347 xwOBA is 4th in the MLB compared to our .318 which is 18th.
His body language right now reminds me of Zavier Warren last season. I went to a Rattlers game Chourio's first week up last year and Warren had a brutal game and was in the midst of a brutal season. His body language was awful. Looked like a guy who was ready to quit. Shortly after that game he got on absolute fire and ended the year in AA and he's off to a respectable start in AA this season.
Just need Brown to have a good day. Drive the ball a couple of times. Get the confidence going and I think he goes on a tear.
Starting to get a bit worried about Brown Jr. He made some big changes to his stance/swing and struggling this significantly can't be great for the confidence.
Rough 2nd inning for Bachman. Walk, HBP, HBP, Walk, Grand Slam, Walk, Walk. Pulled from the game. 26 pitches in the inning. 21 balls. Still zero outs and runners on 1st and 2nd for the next pitcher.
1st inning over. 3 H (with two being super lucky), 3 R, 2 BB, 3 SO.
Zamora was given an error so only 2 hits and 1 ER. 36 pitches though so we not sure if he will come back out for more innings.
Walks are killers but Rodriguez has also just been super unlucky this inning. An infield single and a bloop automatic double that was fair by about 6 inches.
Taylor has supposedly been playing games in Arizona and will be headed on a rehab assignment soon.
Frelick is on the IL currently with a sprained thumb. Would imagine Taylor will be ready before Frelick.
Changeup has always been Small's best pitch. His inability to throw a quality third pitch (it was a slider) is part of the reason he is now in the pen with command issues obviously being the biggest reason.