Originally Posted by jd1020:
What's sinking him is he can't hit a single pitch right now. He's got a 42% K rate against 4 seam fastballs.
No one is writing him off, but until he actually listens to some approach advice, he won't amount to shit as a 1B/DH that doesnt hit for power.
TJ McFarland, a pile of shit castoff LH Reliever (I know this as he was a Cardinal piece of shit not long ago) came out in relief for Oakland, the only team in baseball that would actually roster him.
And vivisected him. Runners on 1st and 3rd so really nowhere to put him, McFarland comes right at him, gets ahead 1-2 in the count and Walker hits a tapper to SS, as is his custom.
There is no better matchup for Walker that can possibly exist. McFarland throws from a low 3/4 angle so everything comes at Walker. His breaking stuff is cement mixer on a good day. His fastball is nothing of any note. He doesn't even hide the ball all that well. He's a bullet catcher and little else. And Walker couldn't could do a damn thing with him.
And what is truly jarring is that the As knew all this and sent him to the bump anyway. Because NOBODY thinks Walker is going to hit them right now. And of course, he didn't.
Bad luck has nothing to do with Walker's poor performance. He's not a major league ballplayer at the moment. And that's been the case for more of his big league career than it hasn't been. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Pasta Little Brioni:
But also...why is anyone braving that cesspool downtown with a family to see this team? $60 parking to avoid some of it, but then you're paying 60 to park to see this trash team.
Im remember paying $30 to park in that lot right off 3B for the winning game of the 2006 WS. I think most parking was 10 bucks in the garages. That was a helluva lot back then but the area around the stadium wasnt as bad as I hear it is these days. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
The poor line drive rate isn't an accident.
He pulls off everything. So his timing has to be perfect to drive a ball and even then he's not getting his lower half into it so it'll be a struck liner into RC field.
He leaves almost his entire pull potential on the table because his mechanics are a damn trainwreck. His top and bottom half couldn't be any more out of whack if he tried.
No, that's not something you just wait on regression to fix.
He had to be sent down. And they HAVE to take a more direct approach with him. If that means burying his ass in AA until he gives you a 100 PA rolling average with a groundball rate below 35% then so be it. You absolutely cannot bring him back up until he demonstrates fundamental changes in his approach.
This isn't tenable long-term. You can't take a guy with truly top 5% raw power, quick hands and a solid batting eye and say "Well...Casey Kotchman wasn't a bad player...."
They've already missed a window to trade him and let someone else do the spadework. The possibility of dealing him for someone like Kirby was last spring when he gave you the bird the first time you asked him to do it. Now you have no choice but to pull out the paddle, try some tough love and go full on 'Checkers or Wreckers' with him. You develop him into a star or you end up non-tendering him in 4 seasons.
There's no more room for middle ground.
I agree that Walker to had to be sent down, but there's also some development malpractice going on.
For instance, Walker showed some signs of life on Saturday. Look at the MLB.com summary. Walk, flies out sharply to center (102 mph), lineout in three plate appearances.
And what do the Cards do? They bench him on Sunday and Monday. No plate appearances. If they're going to do that, he might as well be in Memphis. That's just terrible decision making. No excuse for that. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Ocotillo:
I agree that Walker to had to be sent down, but there's also some development malpractice going on.
For instance, Walker showed some signs of life on Saturday. Look at the MLB.com summary. Walk, flies out sharply to center (102 mph), lineout in three plate appearances.
And what do the Cards do? They bench him on Sunday and Monday. No plate appearances. If they're going to do that, he might as well be in Memphis. That's just terrible decision making. No excuse for that.
Just SOME!?!?
My god, "Development Malpractice" is the operating mantra this team has worked from over 10 !@#$ing years.
What pisses me off most about Walker is that he's put me in the position of having to defend these assholes, tepid though that defense may be. They TOLD him this was a problem. They demoted him LAST year and told him to work on it. He gave them the bird.
In virtually every other case this organization has fucked up, they're primarily responsible. As it relates to Walker, he's had a hand in his own demise here.
But truthfully, I was serious when I said I'd consider sending him to Springfield. Hammond Field down there (and the Texas League in general) plays small. You can really be rewarded for lifting the damn ball. Get him in a spot where that benefits him.
I don't think AAA is still using that rocket ball, though if they are - sure, leave him in Memphis. In either event, send him wherever he can get the most positive feedback from getting his legs into a swing and elevating the stupid baseball. Right now he thinks hard grounders are some sort of marker of success. That cannot stand. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Ocotillo:
I agree that Walker to had to be sent down, but there's also some development malpractice going on.
For instance, Walker showed some signs of life on Saturday. Look at the MLB.com summary. Walk, flies out sharply to center (102 mph), lineout in three plate appearances.
And what do the Cards do? They bench him on Sunday and Monday. No plate appearances. If they're going to do that, he might as well be in Memphis. That's just terrible decision making. No excuse for that.
He needs to fix his swing. So much untapped talent. He refused to change anything when he got sent down last year.
A rookie being insubordinate to their employer that's being done for their own benefit. Surely he knows if he doesn't change his swing, he's never going to live up to his raw talent.
He needs some tough love for his own benefit. Until he changes, leave him down, He's 21. Plenty of time to blossom if he elevates the ball. [Reply]
Originally Posted by BigRedChief:
He needs to fix his swing. So much untapped talent. He refused to change anything when he got sent down last year.
A rookie being insubordinate to their employer that's being done for their own benefit. Surely he knows if he doesn't change his swing, he's never going to live up to his raw talent.
It's so similar to what Heyward was doing. Jason Heyward spent his entire prime ruining the immense raw talent he showed as a rookie to the point that watching him swing a bat was physically painful for me.
That guy should've been a set and forget 35 HR, 25 SB player. And instead he appeared to have spent his every waking moment doing fence drills and learning new ways to jam himself to the point that the only thing he could hit with any authority was a pitch down and away that REQUIRED him to extend his arms.
Vlad Jr is doing some of the same stupid stuff.
These guys that just will not use their attributes because they have convinced themselves that they could be Albert Pujols and hit for power without ever striking out are just maddening. Guys - use your tools. Albert Pujols was Albert Pujols and you are not that.
Stop trying to be more than you are because in the process you're making yourself far LESS than you could be. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Ocotillo:
I am in full agreement.
I am still pissed off how they handled Magneuris Sierra.
Alcantara will forever be the best example of Cardinal development malpractice.
They were GOING to hammer him into a bullpen and turn him into a raw thrower with poor command and a 2-pitch arsenal. He'd have never found the feel for his pitches in small doses, he'd have seen some success by throwing hard, but he'd have never had the command for the 9th. So he'd have been an erratic but enticing 7th/8th inning guy.
He'd have been Hicks before Hicks. Or Rosenthal after Rosenthal.
It's hard to get too upset about what he became in Miami because he'd have never been that guy in a million years in St. Louis.
Because this organization just has its head jammed up its ass. Which is gonna happen when you just cannot get enough of the smell of your own farts.
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
It's so similar to what Heyward was doing. Jason Heyward spent his entire prime ruining the immense raw talent he showed as a rookie to the point that watching him swing a bat was physically painful for me.
That guy should've been a set and forget 35 HR, 25 SB player. And instead he appeared to have spent his every waking moment doing fence drills and learning new ways to jam himself to the point that the only thing he could hit with any authority was a pitch down and away that REQUIRED him to extend his arms.
Vlad Jr is doing some of the same stupid stuff.
These guys that just will not use their attributes because they have convinced themselves that they could be Albert Pujols and hit for power without ever striking out are just maddening. Guys - use your tools. Albert Pujols was Albert Pujols and you are not that.
Stop trying to be more than you are because in the process you're making yourself far LESS than you could be.
There was a reason I called him Heyturd.....and to think so many Cardinals fans told me I was wrong when I pointed out that swing wasn't gonna cut it or get fixed at the time he was in Stl. [Reply]