The Cardinals...

[Bradleyguy10]

Anybody that believes the hitting coach has little impact does not understand the game, Terry Pendleton has been one of the worse hitting coaches for Atlanta that I can remember, McGuire was a long ball hitter that struck out a lot, Don Baylor is one of the best hitting coaches around and the team he coaches always hit for good team averages, just because you played does not qualify you to coach or manage, too many hitting coaches teach the way they did things and you cannot take away the things that made a player successful in making it to the big leagues.

In McGwire's defense he has been on record saying that his approach with pujols is that he'll just sit back and let history happen. Which leads me to believe that this slump from pujols (and likely holliday since he's already adjusted his stance last season) aren't even remotely the fault of McGwire.

That being said I agree the hitting coach is responsible for how the team is hitting but when players just go up thinking they aren't going to get a hit...they likely aren't going to. This team has ZERO confidence in their bats right now and it starts with Pujols and Holliday and who knows..maybe even team chemistry.

[DeltaBrave03]

Anybody that believes the hitting coach has little impact does not understand the game, Terry Pendleton has been one of the worse hitting coaches for Atlanta that I can remember, McGuire was a long ball hitter that struck out a lot, Don Baylor is one of the best hitting coaches around and the team he coaches always hit for good team averages, just because you played does not qualify you to coach or manage, too many hitting coaches teach the way they did things and you cannot take away the things that made a player successful in making it to the big leagues.

Rudy Jaramillo who's supposed to be one of the best hitting coaches in the league has really turned around the cubs offense hasn't he? Players play the game not the coaches. How many runners has Oquendo had thrown out at home in one run games? Let's fire him too.

[Future Walk-On]

Rudy Jaramillo who's supposed to be one of the best hitting coaches in the league has really turned around the cubs offense hasn't he? Players play the game not the coaches. How many runners has Oquendo had thrown out at home in one run games? Let's fire him too.

Did you see how slow John Jay is and Rasmus didn't tell him to slide inside...if that is what you are thinking about...althought it was a hard it ball.

I would prefer to see Oquendo managing the cards if TLR and DD are gone after this year.

[DeltaBrave03]

I wasn't serious about firing him, just showing that you can't blame coaches/managers for everything. Although I thought sending Skip on that play to end the game against the reds was not very smart. Either way I've been holding out hope for the last 3-4 years that TLR and DD leave before another team gets their hands on Jose to manage.

[Future Walk-On]

I wasn't serious about firing him, just showing that you can't blame coaches/managers for everything. Although I thought sending Skip on that play to end the game against the reds was not very smart. Either way I've been holding out hope for the last 3-4 years that TLR and DD leave before another team gets their hands on Jose to manage.

Yeah and who knows if everyone is blowing through signs like AP. They are on a year to year basis?

It makes me wonder, when DD only comes back if TLR does, how dedicated those 2 are right now...

EDIT: More of DD's dedication....but still I don't like Tony having to question himself....but he is the man.

[real fan]

Rudy Jaramillo who's supposed to be one of the best hitting coaches in the league has really turned around the cubs offense hasn't he? Players play the game not the coaches. How many runners has Oquendo had thrown out at home in one run games? Let's fire him too.

Managers and coaches are responsible for what is happening on the field, sometimes the players don"t listen or refuse to make adjustments, it is up to the staff to get these players to do what they are told otherwise there would be no reason to have coaches or managers, Hanley Ramierez paid the price the other night when he was pulled from the game because he failed to hustle after a ball that he kicked into left field , good coaches and managers do make a huge difference in getting their teams better prepared to win games.

[DeltaBrave03]

Managers and coaches are responsible for what is happening on the field, sometimes the players don"t listen or refuse to make adjustments, it is up to the staff to get these players to do what they are told otherwise there would be no reason to have coaches or managers, Hanley Ramierez paid the price the other night when he was pulled from the game because he failed to hustle after a ball that he kicked into left field , good coaches and managers do make a huge difference in getting their teams better prepared to win games.

There is a huge difference between disciplining a player for lack of hustle, and saying that a hitting coach makes or breaks how well your offense is. Managers manage, coaches coach, players decide who wins. If coaches were responsible for what happens on the field they would be the ones getting paid $120 million. There's a reason they say the game is decided between the white lines and managers and coaches never cross them.

[Future Walk-On]

Goodbye KL? now that PJ is back?

EDIT: bullpen if he is lucky....

[amckillip]

Yeah I am not worried...everyone should know that this team is good and this is only one month. It needs to get better soon.....

Freese for NL rookie of year?
Gold glove?

Lets not go overboard, he's not even the most likely Cardinal. Jaime's having a way better rookie season. Either way I'd say it's Heyward's to lose (to Strasburg?).

[amckillip]

Fickle???

Go back to last season and take a look at the Cardinals hitting since the all-star break. This is not a knee jerk reaction..it's almost been an entire season now with Holliday and Pujols and those two together seem to make each other as well as others around them worse....

I would not be entirely opposed to trading Albert for two young studs that will fill some holes. I hate to think it and I hope I'm wrong but it looks like baseball's superman has had his injuries finally catch up to him....shouldn't have used bandaid solutions for everything.

You HAVE to be kidding me!! He is batting over .300, on-pace for 30+ HR (only 3 behind the lead), 2nd in OBP, 1st in IBB, 4th in BB/K, 7th in OPS, and he's done? Man, I feel like I live and die with the Cardinals, but this is overreacting to the extreme.

[Bradleyguy10]

Tell me where I used the word done? Dramatic much? It just looks like his injuries have finally caught up to him where they haven't in the past. Don't talk down to me like I'm stupid...thanks. Plenty of other cardinal fans agree with what I've said. If you want to be a Pujols fan before you are a cardinal fan then be my guest but if he's going to be making 30 mill for the next 8 seasons when his contract is done and he's giving us this production that he is currently giving us...then I will have no objections to the front office trading him or letting him walk. Now if he wants holliday money in the order of 17 to 20 mill per year for the next 5 or 6 then yes he can put up this production. But he's looking for one of the largest if not the largest contract in baseball history...gotta give the cardinals more than what he has since the last all star break.

Do not talk down to me.

[Future Walk-On]

Lets not go overboard, he's not even the most likely Cardinal. Jaime's having a way better rookie season. Either way I'd say it's Heyward's to lose (to Strasburg?).

haha I make rash judgements when Freese gets a big hit.

but if they looked at defense he might have a chance.

[amckillip]

Tell me where I used the word done? Dramatic much? It just looks like his injuries have finally caught up to him where they haven't in the past. Don't talk down to me like I'm stupid...thanks. Plenty of other cardinal fans agree with what I've said. If you want to be a Pujols fan before you are a cardinal fan then be my guest but if he's going to be making 30 mill for the next 8 seasons when his contract is done and he's giving us this production that he is currently giving us...then I will have no objections to the front office trading him or letting him walk. Now if he wants holliday money in the order of 17 to 20 mill per year for the next 5 or 6 then yes he can put up this production. But he's looking for one of the largest if not the largest contract in baseball history...gotta give the cardinals more than what he has since the last all star break.

Do not talk down to me.

I won't talk down to you, but I will call you out for saying the Cards should trade easily the best player in the game and a player who looks to go down as quite possibly the greatest player of all time. Being a Pujols fan and Cardinals are on and the same and acting like I'm a fool for being a Pujols fan is every bit and more talking down to me. Just to prove a point, he's not leading the NL in HR's and in a few games looks to have brought his May numbers in to the 'great' range. And please don't try to say he's 'all or nothing' or inconsistent, because those statements just aren't true, he's been the most consistent player over the last decade.

[Bradleyguy10]

I won't talk down to you, but I will call you out for saying the Cards should trade easily the best player in the game and a player who looks to go down as quite possibly the greatest player of all time. Being a Pujols fan and Cardinals are on and the same and acting like I'm a fool for being a Pujols fan is every bit and more talking down to me. Just to prove a point, he's not leading the NL in HR's and in a few games looks to have brought his May numbers in to the 'great' range. And please don't try to say he's 'all or nothing' or inconsistent, because those statements just aren't true, he's been the most consistent player over the last decade.

I've never said any of that. I said I wouldn't be that upset if the cardinals trade him. No where did I say that I think they should. So again I don't know why you jumped all over me in your previous post. Also I've never said he's all or nothing, but if I wanted to today would be a very good example of that. But I agree for 8 seasons he's been the most consistent hitter of all time but I will not blame the cardinals organization for evaluating what they can get out of him for the next 8. Loyalty in business is gone in today's world and the cardinals don't have that luxury that Boston and New York has. It's not about what you've done in the past but what you've done recently and will continue to do. Pujols has provided for us greatly in the past at a value far above what he makes, but just because that's the truth doesn't mean we ARE OBLIGATED to overpay for his next 8 seasons of production. No where am I saying I think we should trade him or let him walk...I'll leave that up to the organization to determine if he'll be worth his 27 to 30 mill per year for the foreseeable future and if they think it's too much of a risk I will not be upset. The cardinals will move on and will still survive. That's my only point. If they think he's worth the money and the organization can still compete even with his contract and Holliday's and the upcoming ones for molina, wainwright, and many others than more power to them but I for one will be understanding if they can't keep him or if they decide not to.

[Chico]

Fickle???

Go back to last season and take a look at the Cardinals hitting since the all-star break. This is not a knee jerk reaction..it's almost been an entire season now with Holliday and Pujols and those two together seem to make each other as well as others around them worse....

I would not be entirely opposed to trading Albert for two young studs that will fill some holes. I hate to think it and I hope I'm wrong but it looks like baseball's superman has had his injuries finally catch up to him....shouldn't have used bandaid solutions for everything.

read on:

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/columnists.nsf/berniemiklasz/story/F882FC17BD6D9C838625772C00110C89?OpenDocument

here's the important stuff:

"Pujols is more of a mystery. The greatest hitter of his generation is batting .267 and slugging .400 this month. Pujols has one homer in his last 92 at-bats. He has one homer at Busch Stadium this season, that coming during the home opener April 12. Pujols has one homer in 78 Busch at-bats this season. Taking it back to late 2009, Pujols has one homer in his last 131 at-bats at home.

But this isn't just a Busch thing. Since Sept. 11, Pujols has eight homers in 240 at-bats, or one for every 30 ABs. His slugging percentage since last July 18 is .551, which is pretty good, but it just isn't Pujols. Before last July 18, Pujols' career slugging percentage was .631. So we've seen an 80-point drop in his slugging and a fairly dramatic decrease in his home run ratio."

"During Friday night's broadcast on Fox Sports Midwest, Cardinals icon Bob Gibson was asked to analyze Pujols' recent downturn. Gibson opined that Pujols was "pressing" and chasing too many pitches out of the strike zone. Gibby said that if he pitched to Pujols, he wouldn't throw Albert a strike.

But Pujols denies that he's expanded his strike zone, even though data at FanGraphs.com show that 30 percent of his swings this season have come on pitches out of the strike zone.

'I don't know what you're talking about,' Pujols said. 'I don't expand my (zone). Because we have nine guys in our lineup and I'm one of those nine guys. We pick each other up. I think we have too good a lineup for me to expand the strike zone. Yes, sometimes you don't feel comfortable when you don't see the ball, so you swing at a bad pitch here and there. But that doesn't mean you're expanding the strike zone.'

Apparently Gibson and the facts are wrong."

Every player and every team has some kind of slump during the season. My gosh. It isn't even June yet.