Good morning,
Here’s a stream of consciousness on the Derby, the All Star Game and other random bits.
*How about that Home Run Derby? The hour long rain delay only added to the already extremely long running time of the event. You know, there’s a reason batting practice only lasts 35 minutes. It gets boring after a few big swings. This is the struggle every year for me when it comes to this event. You get 10 bats together and let them launch majestic bombs for 2 hours and try to keep things interesting. Chris Berman is literally chewing off your ear drum with each long ball call. The proceedings play out like a bad Michael Bay film. For the first 30-40 minutes, the excitement is there and the home runs are fun to watch. Afterwards, the repetitive nature settles in and boredom strikes. They need to find a way to shorten it up. Make it faster. Make it more interesting. In the end, the event took three hours and had the effect of a extremely long miniseries that won’t allow you to hit the mute button.
*If there is one reason why I watched last night, it was to see hitters like Giancarlo Stanton, Yoenis Cespedes, and Jose Bautista crank 450 foot bombs into the dark blue sky. This has everything to do with unfiltered angry power and dangerous follow through action. Stanton and others give baseballs reasons to fear their existence. Put yourself in the place of that baseball heading towards home plate and I imagine a screaming plea for the mercy of a catcher’s mitt. With no offense to the surprising performance of Todd Frazier, it’s an otherworldly experience to watch Stanton hit a baseball. Think of it as preferring Jason Statham in an action role to Robert Pattinson.
*I am not just tired of the Peter Bourjos versus Jon Jay debate. I have grown sick of hearing about it. It’s not worth a column. It’s not worth 35 tweets or a long conversation. It’s worth the following paragraph.
Last night, a fellow Cardinals writer(no name required) compared the two by measuring their performance in July. That’s all fun and games until you see that the fight here isn’t fair. Bourjos has 11 at bats in July and hasn’t played at all in 5 games. Jay has 38 at bats in July and has only missed 2 games. Why compare the two? It’s useless. Look, Bourjos hasn’t gotten a fair cut of playing time in 2014. My 2 year old son can notice that. He has gotten a start here and there, but has relegated to the bench most nights. Mike Matheny favors Jon Jay’s bat and sacrifices the defensive loss in center field. Still, comparing them is futile. They are both decent platoon players who give you something different in the field and at the plate. Their WARS tells the whole story. Bourjos stands at 0.5 and Jay has a 0.9(ESPN). A WAR of 1-2 is average for the league. Both players are average. Does it matter who starts? Get over it and past it quickly.
*I still get responses telling me I am crazy for advising the Cardinals to send Shelby Miller to Memphis to work on his secondary pitches. This story practically sells itself. Miller has been broken. His swing and miss rate is horrible. His walks are up. His innings are down. You can look at sabermetrics or regular stats and see the pitcher has been broken on the mound and needs fixing. The team has the option and off dates to send him down for 2 weeks. What’s so bad about sending a 23 year old down to find his way? That’s what the minors are for. Rehab of many kinds. He has produced six bad starts in a row. Six.
*I don’t get the angst of some sportswriters over Adam Wainwright getting the start over Clayton Kershaw. Forget about individual stats. If The Dodgers had made it to the World Series, do you think Don Mattingley would have not selected Kershaw? Both pitchers are great and performing brilliantly in 2014. What does it matter who starts and who comes in next? Lighten up wool suited gunmen. The question shouldn’t be who gets to start? It should be is the man starting worthy and Waino most definitely is.
*The most alarming thing about Matt Holliday is his lack of home runs in 2014. He has a fair amount of doubles and gets on base at a healthy rate of .373. His groundball rate is higher this year while his line drive rate is still pretty sharp. His home run drop off is the huge difference outside of his slugging percentage. Last year at this time, Holliday had 13 home runs. This year, Holliday sits at 6 home runs. On a team that has struggled with power all season, Holliday’s missing long ball ability is glaring. This isn’t to say Holliday has ever been a home run king. However, he hit 27 in 2012. At this time in 2012, Holliday had 14 home runs. So let’s review.
July 15, 2012-14 Home runs
July 15, 2013-13 Home runs
July 15, 2013-6 Home Runs
Does that mean fans can sandwich him into their Allen Craig angst? No. Holliday is hitting at a better clip, getting on base, and ranks among the league leaders in hitting with RISP. However, for his 17 million dollar salary, Holliday is experiencing an off year at the plate. If he surges in the second half, the loss of Yadier Molina’s bat at the plate won’t be felt at all. If he doesn’t, 2015 becomes a true concern in what a fan can hope for. I like Holliday and always have respected the contract he signed so this isn’t easy to put into words. He’s a good guy and great in the community but his lack of power in 2014 is a reason to worry.
*Happy Birthday Mike Shannon. 75 years young! Get up, get up, get up! A phrase I will always associate the man with. I got to talk to him a few times when I worked at Old Busch. Very nice cool customer and one that loves his coffee just like I do. Hearing him call a game while I drive through St. Louis is still an incredible experience after all these years. Long after he leaves this rock, Shannon’s name will be synonymous with Cardinals baseball.
Thanks for reading and so long until next time.
-Follow @buffa82 on Twitter.
