Tag Archives: Randal Grichuk

Cardinals Takeaways 6-4-15

Posted on by
Reply

The Cardinals played a late, late game for fans here in the central time zone as they opened a four game set with the Dodgers in Los Angeles. The bats kept cracking, and Wacha kept rolling as the Cardinals won 7-1.

The Takeaways…

  • Michael Wacha put a rough start (or more accurately, a rough inning) against the Dodgers last weekend behind him with a quality start, 7 innings, 5 strikeouts, and 1 walk with 7 hits. Wacha’s season record now stands at 8-1 as the young gun makes a serious bid for an All-Star selection.
  • The entire lineup chimed in again. Like in Wednesday’s game, the Cardinals lineup contributed top to bottom. Every starter but Molina had a hit, and Molina still got on with a walk. Heyward and Wong both had multi RBI games. Peralta, Reynolds, and Holliday got in on the action and Matt Carpenter hit his 18th double. Depth is how the Cardinals score, and depth is how the Cardinals win.
  • Randal Grichuk has pop. With his pinch hit double, Grichuk now has 9 doubles…in 72 at bats scattered across 25 games. That’s impressive. He also has 2 homers and 2 triples to go with it. That and stellar defense has made Grichuk worth a whopping 1.3 WAR in those 25 games, according to Baseball Reference

On Yonder Horizon…

Carlos Martinez (5-2, 3.13 ERA) and Brett Anderson (2-3, 3.42 ERA) will do battle in a rematch from last series. It’s another midnight oil game, starting at 9:10 central time.

Cardinals Takeaways 6-2-15

Posted on by
Reply

The Cardinals came into this game looking to avenge a 1-0 loss, as Matt Holliday looked to extend his on-base streak to 46 games. One of those two goals was met, as the Cardinals won 1-0.

The Takeaways

  • The streak is dead. Matt Holliday’s on-base streak was ended at 45 games, and his night ended in controversial fashion as he was ejected in the 7th inning for arguing balls and strikes. Was he likely to get another AB? No, not likely, but it’s still sad to see the streak end in controversy. Which leads me to my next point…
  • Of course it was Joe West! No umpire in the big leagues, with the exception of Angel Hernandez, has more of a reputation for injecting himself into game play than “Cowboy” Joe West. If you know an umpire’s name, it’s never for a good reason and nobody exemplifies that idea more than Joe West. Mike Matheny was also tossed after he came out to defend Holliday, who was walking towards the dugout at the time of the ejection. In nearly six years of Holliday suiting up for the Cardinals, that was the angriest I’ve ever seen him.
  • Lance Lynn was fantastic. 7 and 2/3 innings, 5 K’s vs 1 BB and 5 hits. Not too shabby. With close to 120 pitches, Mike Mathey shows again a faith to let Lynn pitch deep. Lynn finished the day with a season record of 4-4 with a 3.03 ERA.
  • The Brewers rode the Cravy train, but it stopped just short. Tyler Cravy gave up two hits to Randal Grichuk, one of which lead to an RBI for Mark Reynolds. Otherwise, Cravy was great in his first big league start, going 7 innings with 1 ER and 6 K’s.

On Yonder Horizon…

John Lackey (3-3, 2.83 ERA) looks to continue being the Cardinal’s veteran horse as he takes on Brewers youngster Jimmy Nelson (2-5, 3.90 ERA). This is the last game of the series with the Brewers, after which the Cardinals have the Dodgers to deal with.

Cardinals Takeaways 5-31-15

Posted on by
Reply

Sunday’s series with the Dodgers finally ended 3-1, as the Cards take 2 out of 3 for the series win. The Redbirds finished the weekend winning 6 of their last 7 games on the back of characteristically strong starting pitching.

Takeaways:

  • Sunday’s game featured a tribute to the late Oscar Tavares, who tragically passed away along with his girlfriend in a car accident in October. The game marked the one-year anniversary of Tavares’ big league debut, in which he homered in his first major league at bat.
  • Carlos Martinez showed the world just what he is made of. On a day with a touching tribute to his close friend, Oscar Tavares, Martinez dominated the Dodgers lineup. He threw seven shutout innings giving up one hit and four walks while striking out eight. To pitch that well on such an emotional day shows what kind a competitor that is Carlos Martinez. It was a fitting tribute for his friend. It also marked his third straight excellent start following a rough start to the month. In fact, Martinez has a 20 1/3 inning scoreless streak at the moment. His season stat line: 5-2 with a 3.13 ERA (3.87 FIP), 9.5 K/9 and 4 BB/9.
  • Jhonny Peralta hit a two-run homer that gave the Cardinals the lead in the first inning. His season batting line: .310/.370/.519 with 8 homers and 30 RBI good for a 2.0 WAR, according to Baseball-Reference. He’s been good. Very, very good.
  • Even sick, Matt Holliday gets on-base. Holliday came out of the game in the fourth inning due to illness, according to Fox Sports. Still, a walk keeps the franchise record on-base streak alive at 44 games and counting. His OBP currently sits at a pristine .434.
  • Injuries and illness have kept Randal Grichuk in the starting lineup, and he has entrenched himself. With the way he’s playing, it would be hard to take him out. Over 66 plate appearances this year, Grichuk has an .874 OPS (one point under Holliday’s .875) along with a string of highlight reel defensive plays (did anyone catch the robbed home run on Saturday…wow). Is Jimmy Ballgame’s number 15 rubbing off on the youngster? Grichuk went 1-4 on Sunday.
  • These takeaways have been all dessert, so here are your veggies. Base running continues to be an issue for the Red Birds. Both Peter Bourjos and Jason Heyward were picked off Sunday. Ponder this; the Cardinals came into the season with three clear threats on the base paths, Bourjos, Heyward, and Kolten Wong. Their steals vs. caught stealing for the year: 13/10. That’s just plain awful. Wong is an even 4/4, Bourjos 4/5. Heyward is the only one with a decent ratio at 5/1. Steal all you want, just quit getting caught.

Out yonder on the horizon…

The Brewers are rolling into town, and boy howdy are they bad. The 17-34 Crew will roll out Mike Fiers (1-5, 4.35 ERA) while the Cards counter with Jaime Garcia (1-1, 3.46 ERA), who is looking to build on his two strong starts since returning from injury. Game time is 7:05.