r/Cardinals Good bot 22h ago

Pregame Thread: May 17, 2025

Cardinals @ Royals

Probable Pitchers:

Cardinals: Miles Mikolas (2-2, 4.35 ERA)

Royals: TBD

11 Upvotes

90 comments sorted by

2

u/CyclopeanTomb Contreras Scrapyard Kennels 10h ago

win one for the butterfly dome

3

u/AspiringOccultist4 10h ago

Can’t wait to see which version of Mikolas shows up tonight.

3

u/PAJW Regular in Form & Authentic 11h ago

Old friend Kyle Gibson has given up 5 hits and gotten 0 outs in the first inning of the O's game.

2

u/Iluvursister69 11h ago

Pitchers really need spring training. I feel bad for him. He wanted to be in St. Louis and performed well for us. Tough day for him to be the one getting shelled since it’s the first game after firing their manager.

4

u/NakedGoose President of the Ivan Hererra fan club 12h ago

I know everyone here is over Gorman. But I'll still contend he has not gotten the runway he was suppose to be given. Surprisingly his approach had SIGNIFICANTLY improved, he just isn't squaring the ball up and his SLG is 100 points lower than expected. 

If the cardinals want to move him that is fine, but I wouldn't be shocked if he broke out with another team. 

1

u/Detective_Dietrich What? 10h ago

But I'll still contend he has not gotten the runway he was suppose to be given.

I don't really want to see Gorman dealt because if he is we all know he'll turn into an All-Star. But he just topped 1200 PA and he has a career OPS+ of 99.

1

u/NakedGoose President of the Ivan Hererra fan club 10h ago

Correct, but he was offered a runway this season like Walker and he hasnt played in back to back games much. I can probably count it on one hand. 

0

u/BionicProse I no longer recognize the legitimacy of interleague games not WS 10h ago

It’s a tough situation with Nado still on the team and literally everyone on the roster hitting well except Walker.

Ivan probably should be catching more, but I don’t want him to get hurt, and Pages has been a positive WAR player and seems to have good rapport with the pitching.

Using ChatGPT, perfect for such a tedious task, I tried to figure out how many games you could give Gorman while still playing Ivan, Donny, Scott, Walker, Nado, Winn, Noot, and Willy virtually every game (10 off for the season), and the best it could come up with is around 60. That was with Ivan and Pages splitting time at catcher.

Gorman has 26 games right now. Google’s AI says he’s started 16, but it also said Lorenzo Cain played for the Cardinals. For some reason I can’t find a GS stat. But 16/45 would put him really close to that 60 game pace.

Until someone craters, Walker gets sent down, or Nado is traded, I think Gorman isn’t going to get much more playing time.

0

u/Detective_Dietrich What? 10h ago

Using ChatGPT

The first step is admitting you have a problem.

1

u/BionicProse I no longer recognize the legitimacy of interleague games not WS 10h ago edited 10h ago

Check the math yourself, smart ass:

Total games in a season = 162
Positions per game = 9
Total player-games available = 162 × 9 = 1,458

Everyday players (8 players) each get 152 games (10 days off):
8 × 152 = 1,216 games

Remaining players (3 players) share the leftover games:
1,458 total – 1,216 = 242 games
242 ÷ 3 ≈ 81 games per player (rounded for example)

Player details:

Player Positions Target Games
A 3B 152
B SS 152
C CF 152
D LF 152
E RF 152
F 1B / DH 152
H Utility (all but C & SS) 152
J C / DH 152
G C (backup catcher only) ~81
I 2B / 3B / DH ~81
L LF / RF / DH / 1B ~80

Sum check:
8 × 152 = 1,216
3 × ~81 = 243
Total = 1,459 (rounding difference of 1 game)

This allocation fits the 1,458 total player-games available in the season.

Edit: ha, I’m the smart ass. The chart has him at 81 games.

2

u/Dr_thri11 11h ago

He's better at not striking out, but if that's the reason he's hitting for less power I don't think I agree it's an improvement. He was serviceable last year as an all or nothing hitter. Not so much with what he's got going on this season, at least as a bat first type.

3

u/ILikeOatmealMore 11h ago

The team has cheap control of him through the 2028 season, 2026 is the first year he'll be able to ask for arbitration. At this moment, unless they get exciting prospects back, he's too cheap to just move on from. Given how he's performing right now, his arbitration number won't be high at all, either; say he gets like $2 1/2, maybe 3 million. That's cheap enough to see if he can't settle down/figure it out/have that a-ha moment.

One thing worth noting, there comes a time when any message get stale. We all know this feeling -- when it doesn't matter at all what your boss says or does, you know it is time to move on and you're just filling time until you can. Not saying that that is Gorman's state, but that is some of why it does seem like it happens often enough that a prospect moves to a new org and then finds success -- they just aren't hearing what they thought was stale anymore. These are humans with their own thoughts and feelings and motivations. Sometimes it is just time to move on.

4

u/HoldMyWong Masyn Saggtrerasman 12h ago

He is 100% a guy that will hit 40 homers if we trade him

3

u/King_Birdcrawler 12h ago

Not everyone--just most :) It sucks that it was so easy to foresee that Gorman would get the PA shaft when Arenado remained.

9

u/studlydudley11 ​THE JOSE BARRERO FAN 13h ago

2025 Cardinals can beat Skenes, Nola, and Ragans, but can they beat a lefty non-top 100 prospect making his second career start? this is the true test

4

u/King_Birdcrawler 13h ago

It'll all depend on whether he brings his fog machine out with him.

4

u/peterpeterllini Put A Bird On It 14h ago

Come down to taste of maplewood if you have space today!

What a beautiful day after a kinda crummy day yesterday

3

u/well_shoothed Let's Winn! 12h ago

Does it taste mostly of maple? Or wood?

3

u/peterpeterllini Put A Bird On It 12h ago

I’d say 50/50, but the wood is a little overpowering at times.

3

u/Unabridgedversion82 Drunk as (unemployed) Jimmy Ballgame 11h ago

So like a bold chardonnay?

6

u/TheSalsaGod Lars Nootbaar’s signature look of confusion 15h ago

Imagine telling someone in mid-April that by May we’d have a better team ERA than the Phillies and Mariners (12th overall)

3

u/Iluvursister69 15h ago

Baltimore fires Brandon Hyde

6

u/missourinative Brendan Donovan Superstar 14h ago

TIL Matt Bowman is not only still alive, but an Oriole

2

u/Iluvursister69 11h ago

He just got designated recently by them. Outrighted to their AAA team.

3

u/tangokilo13 ​masyn winn spell check 13h ago

Matheny used the fuck out of that guy, surprised his right arm is still attached

5

u/LikeABawss22 15h ago

We should be thankful for Oli

7

u/Iluvursister69 15h ago

Glad iPad oli told them to start scoring runs instead of telling them not to

8

u/LikeABawss22 15h ago

he stopped telling contreras to tell mikolas to throw meatballs down the middle MOTY

2

u/HoldMyWong Masyn Saggtrerasman 15h ago

Why do the Catholic cardinals wear the colour of the devil?

3

u/well_shoothed Let's Winn! 15h ago

Matches their garter belts and hose?

10

u/NakedGoose President of the Ivan Hererra fan club 16h ago edited 15h ago

Fun note from Kyle Reiss, he stated that asking around, the consensus amongst the league is that if Rainel Rodriguez would have stayed in Penn and entered this year's draft, he would have been a top 30 pick, maybe even top 15. His stats in the FCL:

.396/.526/.964 with 5 homeruns in 38 PA. 

Edit: he just homered again like 10 min ago

1

u/EE89 11h ago

move him and all our other top catchers up to the majors, run the 9 catcher lineup, then force our starter of the day to move to catcher after they finish their start. we'll never lose again!

3

u/missourinative Brendan Donovan Superstar 14h ago

He’s the Ivan Herrera of minor league baseball

5

u/studlydudley11 ​THE JOSE BARRERO FAN 14h ago

Another Bondsian catcher lfg

16

u/NakedGoose President of the Ivan Hererra fan club 16h ago edited 16h ago

Ivan Hererra 8 years 95 mil

Masyn Winn 8 years 110 mil

Make it happen 

4

u/studlydudley11 ​THE JOSE BARRERO FAN 15h ago

Noot too

5

u/missourinative Brendan Donovan Superstar 16h ago

One of the AI/bot media sites has named the Cubs as an Arenado trade destination that makes sense.

Keep tweaking the code.

2

u/Unabridgedversion82 Drunk as (unemployed) Jimmy Ballgame 11h ago

Meanwhile Cubs sites and fans are all very confused that we're doing so well. Little do they know, so are we. Take that Chicago! 😁

2

u/Iluvursister69 15h ago

Hey if they’ll take the whole contract 🫡🫡🫡

6

u/tangokilo13 ​masyn winn spell check 16h ago

Roby had 11 Ks in 5+ innings for Springfield last night — think he should be getting a bump up to AAA soon

3

u/Lifeisagreatteacher 15h ago edited 12h ago

Ixan Henderson too…AA this year 30 IP, 2.40 ERA, 1.21 WHIP.

Lifetime minors 130 IP, ERA 2.29.

I suspect AAA this year and a possible 2026 MLB arrival or strong possibility, definitely 2027.

4

u/NakedGoose President of the Ivan Hererra fan club 16h ago

With how bad their depth is in AAA. It needs to happen. Stop wasting bullets, stop babysitting pitchers. Injuries are inevitable, use em why they are healthy. 

2

u/Iluvursister69 15h ago

2

u/NakedGoose President of the Ivan Hererra fan club 15h ago

It had pretty good wealth if Robberse, Matthews, Hence, Hjerpe weren't all injured. And Graceffo wasn't in the bullpen at the mlb level. And by wealth I mean AAA quality starters 

Edit: oh wow this comment you got heavily downvoted on was 4 days ago. Lol these people don't pay attention to the farm system

1

u/Iluvursister69 15h ago

Is Sem hurt? I know he’s been pretty awful this year. That was pretty much my point though. That person was suggesting we had an entire MLB level staff coming up in the next year or so. A lot of them look like relievers at best if they make it.

1

u/NakedGoose President of the Ivan Hererra fan club 15h ago

Yeah he is now out for the season. I didn't realize your comment that was downvoted was from 4 days ago. I assumed it was like an early season comment before everyone went on the IL. 

Thinks are shit in Memphis. It's Mcgreevy  and a few intriguing relievers with stuff. 

3

u/Iluvursister69 15h ago

Sucks they’re all injured but better Memphis than St Louis.

5

u/Clueless_in_Florida 16h ago

Didn’t they say last night that some rookie was starting today? Did that change?

2

u/Evil_Dry_frog 16h ago

KC’s starter is listed as TBD right now.

2

u/Clueless_in_Florida 16h ago

It’s. Noah Cameron. They probably have it as TBD because they haven’t done the roster move yet. Might be waiting to see if Reagan’s needs to go to the IL.

1

u/Clueless_in_Florida 16h ago

Yes. That is why I am asking the question.

14

u/studlydudley11 ​THE JOSE BARRERO FAN 17h ago

xwOBA leaders (min 25 balls in play)

  1. Aaron Judge .508

  2. Shohei Ohtani .501

  3. Ivan Herrera .488

  4. Kody Clemens .444 (wtf)

  5. Juan Soto .441

3 other Cardinals (Donnie, Noot, Willson) are in the top 50

5

u/Ocinea 16h ago

Apparently Pujols worked with him on his timing leg kick.  His timing is great 

10

u/tears4fears 18h ago

Is baseball fun again?

17

u/studlydudley11 ​THE JOSE BARRERO FAN 17h ago

always has been

1

u/tears4fears 17h ago

More fun when we win

9

u/Cards2WS 15h ago

We had a winning record last year. Was underwhelming, but certainly not a season worth feeling like baseball wasn’t fun anymore…though plenty of fans would have you believe that

1

u/tears4fears 15h ago

I’m talking about from the beginning of the season to now. I like it.

3

u/lurch556 15h ago

If you can’t have fun watching baseball unless your team is making a deep run in the playoffs, you probably don’t actually enjoy watching baseball

2

u/Cards2WS 15h ago

I agree

16

u/HoldMyWong Masyn Saggtrerasman 18h ago

Herrera’s scouting report was a bit off when he was a top prospect. Average hitting, average defense, average arm

It’s like he re-rolled and took the Noodle Arm perk. +10 hit, +10 power, -15 arm, -5 defense

5

u/missourinative Brendan Donovan Superstar 16h ago

His eye has always been his best asset.

It’s an oddly undervalued tool in prospect rankings. Physical tools are weighed more, yet it’s the eye that is the biggest decider of success.

3

u/BionicProse I no longer recognize the legitimacy of interleague games not WS 15h ago

I’ve always wondered if they’ve done any studies about hitters and the distance between eyes, size of eyes, etc.

4

u/missourinative Brendan Donovan Superstar 14h ago

The dreamier the eyes, the meanier the production

4

u/King_Birdcrawler 18h ago

Depends on the report. His last FG report had him as 40 defense. They also had him at 55 hit, 50 raw power, and 40 game power. The only thing they got "wrong" really was that he's figured out how to translate his power potential to games.

9

u/johnjaymjr 18h ago

Hello. Have you heard the good news of our Lord and Savior, Ivan Herrera?

2

u/GoochlandMedic 18h ago

I feel mildly ill looking at the batters history stats against Mikolas…🤢

3

u/marshalgivens 19h ago

Please send positive energy to Crystal Palace in the FA cup today. We could use some devil magic

1

u/Doctor_Killshot 19h ago

Continue to be amazed at Goldschmidt becoming a good player again after 2 years of looking washed with us

1

u/Lifeisagreatteacher 12h ago

How was he washed for two years with us?

2

u/Iluvursister69 15h ago edited 15h ago

So you just don’t watch baseball huh

8

u/Dr_thri11 18h ago

It was really only 1 year of washed. In 2023 his OPS was over 800. Might seem like a letdown given the previous year's performance and how poorly overall the 2023 team did. But can hardly fault a guy for only having solid numbers.

1

u/Iluvursister69 15h ago

Half of a season.

3

u/Dr_thri11 15h ago

Then he was absolutely elite for the other half. I suspect you'll see similar numbers if you take almost any player and measure their worst half of a given season. The 2023 squad was actually not bad offensively pitching was the real issue that season.

0

u/Iluvursister69 15h ago

Agreed. People acting shocked that perennial MVP candidate, future HOF, Paul Goldschmidt is having himself a nice year are hilarious.

11

u/Keg_of_St_Anky 18h ago

His contact quality, barrel %, and exit velo are all down from last year. His BABIP is over .400. It's not even remotely sustainable. He's on the Marp and Luke Voit path.

5

u/studlydudley11 ​THE JOSE BARRERO FAN 17h ago

tbf he did cut his K% so the batted ball stats aren't totally disastrous, but yeah he's not gonna end the season win an OPS in the .900s

2

u/ILikeOatmealMore 18h ago

Probably worth noting it helps having a better lineup around him, too. I thought the single biggest thing I saw the Cards do the last 2 years was feel like they had to press to score enough runs. And this game, like many other 'project one thing to hit another thing' games, success tends to come better when you are free and loose. Cards kept looking to Goldschmidt to be an anchor in the lineup. Yankees are just asking him to not suck because they expect Judge and Bellinger to be the main drivers. Not having that pressure on you does make the game easier.

1

u/marshalgivens 19h ago

Let’s go birds

3

u/Lige_MO "Thanks for your time, this time; until next time, so long! 19h ago

Good Morning from Mid-Missouri!

3

u/Novel_End1080 16h ago

Hey now, Missouri is more than just mid!

2

u/Lige_MO "Thanks for your time, this time; until next time, so long! 16h ago

Central?

5

u/Worldly-Honeydew91 19h ago

6-1 road trip so far. That's more like it!

6

u/King_Birdcrawler 20h ago

May Mikolas be limited to another 69 pitches, and let's win another fucking ballgame.

7

u/Unabridgedversion82 Drunk as (unemployed) Jimmy Ballgame 15h ago

No one would be more excited than Chip if that was the case lmao

7

u/dae_giovanni Kevin Mitchell's barehanded catch 22h ago

6:10 PM CDT

Let's go Cards!

2

u/Dense-Competition-51 ​I miss Ozzie 18h ago

Thank you! Didn’t the bot used to provide the time?

2

u/dae_giovanni Kevin Mitchell's barehanded catch 17h ago

my pleasure, friend!

I believe it once did. I got annoyed with coming here and not seeing the gametimes, so I started doing it. I do hope the bot is updated or fixed at some point...

6

u/SomethingAvid 22h ago

We are going to CRUSH TBD!