Everybody and I mean Everybody (even you Mel) were wrong about this team

[Bully4you]

How did we all get it so wrong?
Is Marmol actually a baseball genius?
Not one person or pundit predicted this.
Including me. I have to admit that.
But I am happy to have been wrong.
Others not so much.
They'd rather be correct and have the team suffer.
WOW
GO CARDS GO!!!

MARMOL 2026 and beyond!!!

[CorneliusWolfe]

I don’t see why expectations were so bad. They won 84 last year with a worse and less experienced team and we have Fedde for the whole year. I thought 90 wins was attainable. Maybe 95 is overly optimistic, but I guess we can at least dream a little. “Marmol a baseball genius”….let’s slow it down now.

[Ike Hammett]

How did we all get it so wrong?
Is Marmol actually a baseball genius?
Not one person or pundit predicted this.
Including me. I have to admit that.
But I am happy to have been wrong.
Others not so much.
They'd rather be correct and have the team suffer.
WOW
GO CARDS GO!!!

MARMOL 2026 and beyond!!!

That's false, I strongly remember writing on this site that the Cards were the best Longshot value pick ever to win the World Series. Vegas had them at like 60+ to 1 on the odds and that was way undervalued. It's the national league central where anyone can win. This team won 83 games last season and Goldy didn't have a great year, Willson Contreras could match those numbers easy, other than that it's pretty much the same club with a full year of Fedde along with Mikolas and Matz in contract years pitching for their careers. Add in it is the last season for Mr. Mo who probably wants to go with a solid season this team could win 90 games+. Everyone knows if you can just make the playoffs anything can happen. This is a good young team with some high priced veterans.

[mattmitchl44]

The bottom line is that, to this point, the Cardinals have a number of players who are:

1) exceeding rather modest expectations, or
2) confirming that they can meet some pretty high expectations.

Donovan, Winn, Nootbaar, Herrera, Scott, Saggese, Pozo, Liberatore, Matz, etc. are all probably in one of those two categories.

This year has been about wanting to see that development show on the field from a lot of the younger players, and so far that are seeing that. But they hope to see more of it out of Walker and Gorman as well.

[Monsieur De Treville]

How did we all get it so wrong?
Is Marmol actually a baseball genius?
Not one person or pundit predicted this.
Including me. I have to admit that.
But I am happy to have been wrong.
Others not so much.
They'd rather be correct and have the team suffer.
WOW
GO CARDS GO!!!

MARMOL 2026 and beyond!!!

1. It's May 17. Plenty of time for this team to flourish or tank. Wouldn't plan a victory parade just yet.

2. Pitching is much, much better than anyone could've predicted.

[WLTFE]

Wrong...I predicted this in 2017...keep reading, keep learning.
Easy
Obvious
Correct

[Jatalk]

I admit team is better so far than I expected. Offense is much better. So is pitching.

But there is much to stil be concerned about:

Walker and Gorman are still underperforming. Walker is biggest concern as I don’t see an adequate replacement.

Ownership is unwilling so far to spend and has basically told us they are not making serious moves to improve team this season.

I’m not sure about farm system. Some exciting prospects but some obvious voids in talent.

Oli???? I still have doubts. But he may be proving me wrong.

Mo is still there and can screw this up.

But I am much more excited than I thought I would be and admit I have been wrong about a lot of things

[Cranny]

How did we all get it so wrong?
Is Marmol actually a baseball genius?
Not one person or pundit predicted this.
Including me. I have to admit that.
But I am happy to have been wrong.
Others not so much.
They'd rather be correct and have the team suffer.
WOW
GO CARDS GO!!!

MARMOL 2026 and beyond!!!

Not all posters, Bully. Some were actually fairly positive about the possibilities for this team.

[Web7]

We have not played a single game against the NL west ….. the best division in baseball… there is still a long way to go

[mattmitchl44]

Once again, it will be interesting to see how the Cardinals' pitching holds up over the remainder of the season.

Right now, they are 29th in K/9, 7th in BB/9, and 2nd in HR/9.

So they've allowed balls in play (and have had one of the best, if not the best, team defenses so far) while avoiding getting hurt by HRs.

That is the recipe they have seemingly tried for many years, with limited success.

[scoutyjones2]

Wrong...I predicted this in 2017...keep reading, keep learning.
Easy
Obvious
Correct

Well done

[Voldemort]

How did we all get it so wrong?
Is Marmol actually a baseball genius?
Not one person or pundit predicted this.
Including me. I have to admit that.
But I am happy to have been wrong.
Others not so much.
They'd rather be correct and have the team suffer.
WOW
GO CARDS GO!!!

MARMOL 2026 and beyond!!!

... and October came so fast.

[rockondlouie]

The bottom line is that, to this point, the Cardinals have a number of players who are:

1) exceeding rather modest expectations, or
2) confirming that they can meet some pretty high expectations.

Donovan, Winn, Nootbaar, Herrera, Scott, Saggese, Pozo, Liberatore, Matz, etc. are all probably in one of those two categories.

This year has been about wanting to see that development show on the field from a lot of the younger players, and so far that are seeing that. But they hope to see more of it out of Walker and Gorman as well.

Aren't you glad now they didn't sell off everyone like you wanted matt?

Of course they till will mis season if they fall too far behind the scrubbies and they'll get some prospects who may or may not amount to anything.

But for now I'm glad they didn't go with your total tear down and I hope you're enjoying this team.

And no OP, NOT "everybody" was down on this team:

by rockondlouie » 25 Feb 2025 10:29 am

With NADO + Helsley + Fedde all season:

86 - 76



Still contingent though on keeping all three.

[mattmitchl44]

The bottom line is that, to this point, the Cardinals have a number of players who are:

1) exceeding rather modest expectations, or
2) confirming that they can meet some pretty high expectations.

Donovan, Winn, Nootbaar, Herrera, Scott, Saggese, Pozo, Liberatore, Matz, etc. are all probably in one of those two categories.

This year has been about wanting to see that development show on the field from a lot of the younger players, and so far that are seeing that. But they hope to see more of it out of Walker and Gorman as well.

Aren't you glad now they didn't sell off everyone like you wanted matt?

Not necessarily. I still don't expect them to be a serious NL pennant or WS contender by the time the season ends. But I'm encouraged for the future.

I don't think of win 86 games or sneak into the playoffs as the last WC as "success."

[rockondlouie]

The bottom line is that, to this point, the Cardinals have a number of players who are:

1) exceeding rather modest expectations, or
2) confirming that they can meet some pretty high expectations.

Donovan, Winn, Nootbaar, Herrera, Scott, Saggese, Pozo, Liberatore, Matz, etc. are all probably in one of those two categories.

This year has been about wanting to see that development show on the field from a lot of the younger players, and so far that are seeing that. But they hope to see more of it out of Walker and Gorman as well.

Aren't you glad now they didn't sell off everyone like you wanted matt?

Not necessarily. I still don't expect them to be a serious NL pennant or WS contender by the time the season ends. But I'm encouraged for the future.

I'm not saying they will either matt but we have to acknowledge they're playing well both against teams above .500 (playoff teams) and on the road meaning "you never know".

Still think they'll look to deal NADO mid season if he wants to go as BDWJr wants to shed that big salalry.

Helsey I'm now not so sure, especially if they're still in contention. The fan base would really revolt if he's dealt when they're contending given there's no solid replacement.

Fedde, he could be replaced by McGreevy so he may be dealt.

Fun season thus far, hope it last.

[mattmitchl44]

The bottom line is that, to this point, the Cardinals have a number of players who are:

1) exceeding rather modest expectations, or
2) confirming that they can meet some pretty high expectations.

Donovan, Winn, Nootbaar, Herrera, Scott, Saggese, Pozo, Liberatore, Matz, etc. are all probably in one of those two categories.

This year has been about wanting to see that development show on the field from a lot of the younger players, and so far that are seeing that. But they hope to see more of it out of Walker and Gorman as well.

Aren't you glad now they didn't sell off everyone like you wanted matt?

Not necessarily. I still don't expect them to be a serious NL pennant or WS contender by the time the season ends. But I'm encouraged for the future.

I'm not saying they will either matt but we have to acknowledge they're playing well both against teams above .500 (playoff teams) and on the road meaning "you never know".

Still think they'll look to deal NADO mid season if he wants to go as BDWJr wants to shed that big salalry.

Helsey I'm now not so sure, especially if they're still in contention. The fan base would really revolt if he's dealt when they're contending given there's no solid replacement.

Fedde, he could be replaced by McGreevy so he may be dealt.

Fun season thus far, hope it last.

I would simply say that, by waiting to trade certain players, if they end up trading them mid-season - I don't think Arenado, Gray, Fedde, or Helsley have increased their value. Maybe Matz and/or Mikolas has, but probably only marginally. And they still have to dodge significant injuries to any of them if they are going to hold their value.