|
 The 2019 St. Louis CardinalsEverybody hates the Cardinals. This is known. The squad going into this year is shaping up to be one of the most fun teams I've watched in 15 years and is really worth paying attention to. The old fuddy duddies are out, and the team is young, dynamic and full of personality. They're mired in a playoff drought that the BFIB are getting pissed about, but they get pissed about everything so gently caress them. The NL Central is a bloodbath and they're going to have to earn it every step of the way. The Manager: Mike Shildt  I love this guy. Everything about him is a complete 180 from what we saw from Mike Matheny. The team loves him, he communicates, and he can handle the bullpen. Part of his philosophy is that positive team chemistry leads to winning, as opposed to Matheny who would regularly put players in the Boo Box for messing up. He earned his extension after coming in post-Matheny and kicking rear end. I'm excited to have him on for a full season. - Starting Rotation - Miles Mikolas  The Lizard King had an incredible breakout year in 2018 and I still can't believe it. After 3 years in Japan he harnessed his control to a crazy level. His stuff won't blow you away but he throws the 4th most strikes for any qualified starter, gets a ton of ground balls and walks almost no one. Also he ate a live lizard to win a bet. Carlos Martinez https://twitter.com/Cardinals/status/1095450749130194945 My favorite player right now, and he should be one of yours too, Carlos brings personality and swag to a Cardinals team that hasn't had that kind of player basically ever. He's a jokester and keeps everybody loose, but is fierce when it's his time to get on the mound. He has ace level stuff, but he can't. Stop. Getting. Hurt. Stop getting hurt Carlos. Please. Note: as of writing this Carlos is currently hurt again. If Michelangelo was your favorite turtle, this is your guy. We're doing several Ninja Turtles references so get ready for that. Jack Flaherty  Despite his young age, Captain Jack is seen as a clubhouse leader and is a very serious, down to business type of guy. He's only 23, and his 8-9 record last year is deceptive. He's nasty, and put up almost 11K/9, leading the team and almost led the team in WHIP behind Mikolas. Grab him in your fantasy leagues. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFdgK2GbHmo Michael Wacha  An extremely solid middle of the rotation starter, Wacha was awesome last year when he was healthy. But then he got hurt and was never seen again. He's ready to go for 2019 and it's the final year of his contract, so he's playing for the money. Adam Wainwright https://twitter.com/whatwouldDOOdo/status/1096931054672375809 A 37 year old veteran, Uncle Charlie is back for another year and he seems to be healthy and ready to go. He's a mentor to the pitching staff and a great guy all around. Signed to a team friendly incentive laden contract for 2019, I assume he starts the year in the rotation and may shift around to the pen, or even as the closer depending on his performance. Easily the Leonardo. Other possibilities The Cardinals have an overwhelming amount of major league quality starters that could find a place outside of AAA. Dakota Hudson - Probably the reason the Cardinals won't resign Wacha. He's young Wacha. Austin Gomber - Lefty with a great curveball and strikeout stuff. Daniel Poncedeleon - An awesome story, Daniel recovered from a terrible comebacker injury and the associated brain damage. Wears goggles. A+ name tool. Alex Reyes - Once one of the best SP prospects in baseball, he can't stay healthy. He'll be in the rotation in 2019 if he can remain alive. The Starters Yadier Molina https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEzmd6mbCbI He's Yadier Molina. People love him or hate him. We've been through this. Has neck tattoos that your grandpa probably doesn't like. Won a gold glove in 2018 somehow, but more deservedly won the Roberto Clemente award for his humanitarian efforts in Puerto Rico. De facto team captain. He's Raphael, if that wasn't obvious. He seems mean but loves his brothers more than anything and is actually the leader. Paul Goldschmidt  The New Guy. Luckily the new guy is one of the best 1st basemen in baseball. The man literally can't stop raising money for children's hospitals and being an all around stand up human being. Also he can swing a baseball bat extremely well. Kolten Wong  Should have won the GG last year at 2B. He's a light hitting 2B with an uncanny ability to hit walkoff dingers when it's least expected. Loves dumping water on people. Matt Carpenter  One of the best pair of eyes in baseball, Carpenter went on a tear in the 2nd half last year that legitimately put him in the MVP conversation. He has a noodle arm and his 3B defense isn't great though. But he'll hit, and hit and hit. Also the salsa thing is over with. Paul DeJong  Resident brainiac science man, he's the Donatello of the group. Paul DeJong is probably one of the nicest most humble guys in baseball. He's a power hitting SS who strikes out a ton. And I mean a TON. Has a ceiling of like, I dunno, JJ Hardy. Marcell Ozuna  Huge pure talent but extremely streaky. He can hit some MAMMOTH home runs, but sometimes hits breaking balls like Cerrano from Major League. He didn't live up to expectations like Yelich did, but he was a solid middle of the order presence. Big Bear is iron tough. Harrison Bader  You're gonna hear a lot of people gushing over Harrison this year. Elite CF defense. Incredible speed. Great instincts. Probably the most fun to watch on the entire team. Dexter Fowler  What a down year for Dex 2018 turned out to be. His first year with the Cardinals he was solid and overperformed expectations, and last year turned it into a situation where people are saying it's one of the worst contracts STL has ever handed out. He can rebound under Shildt. Matheny was an rear end in a top hat to him. Everyone with a heart wants Dex to succeed. Jose Martinez  El Cafecito can rake. He should really be in the AL as a DH because he looks like a trashbag blowing in the wind on defense. He's lanky and weird, has a weird batting stance. But he's gonna hit. But he still might not have an everyday job. If he kills it in ST I figure he splits starts with Dex again. Tyler O'Neill  The Red Hulk. He's a physical specimen who mashes dingers and strikes out a lot. But he can mash some dingers. Extremely Canadian. Powerful bench bat, it's a shame he's not a lefty... Jedd Gyorko  That's Jedd all right. Jedd! Please clap. He can hit some dingers and play ok defense. He's got a handle on the super bench player role right now, and I'm fine with that. Bullpen I won't go over everybody because I have no idea how it's going to look and we still have no closer. Jordan Hicks  You've heard about this kid. He walks a lot of people, and STL doesn't want to use him as the closer because of that. But he has a 105mph sinker. He throws smoke with so much movement he injured catchers like 4 times last year. Famously destroyed Yadi's nuts. Andrew Miller  One of the other significant offseason acquisitions, Miller is one of the best lefties in the game. Or was, and has a chance to return to form in 2019. The 4 years before that he was nigh unhittable. It's a steal of a contract if he can return to dominance. Brett Cecil  priceisrighthorn.wav Mr. Meagles fucked around with this message at 10:51 on Feb 22, 2019 |
#
¿
Feb 21, 2019 01:27
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 20, 2024 01:02 |
|
|
I would blow Dane Cook posted:The best fans in Baseball is meant to be ironic right? If you see someone here referring to best fans in baseball just assume we're talking about the twitter account that showcases and mocks those idiots. None of us genuinely believe that. Pancakes posted:would any White Sox fans be angry with me if I did a Meet the White Sox post? Failing that I'll just make a supplemental post with more stuff, mostly random trivia, about my favorite Cardinals. why not both? baseball posting is good. Mr. Meagles fucked around with this message at 04:02 on Feb 21, 2019 |
|
#
¿
Feb 21, 2019 03:56
|
|