Saggese called up

[blackinkbiz]

No secret with me that I think Oli slurps seeds, but playing Herrera at catcher sometimes allows him to put an offense-first lineup out there. I have no issue with Herrera playing some catcher.

Oli has screwed enough other stuff up, no need to blame this one on him.

I am with you on this and I am an Oli-basher. Once or twice a week behind the plate. Is there any news stating IH hurt the hammy catching? Could have been running the bases too. He has been hitting well again.... Anyone read that is was due to catching?

Cardinals have ONE player, exactly ONE player who hits over .300 with an OPS over .900. That's elite-level bat. Putting him into the most straining and rigorous position on the field when this is your ONLY true middle-of-the-order bat, not overly smart considering he's already had leg issues this season.

[Cusecards]

John Denton
@JohnDenton555
·
1m
#STLCards DH/catcher Iván Herrera said an MRI taken today in St. Louis showed a Grade 2 strain in his left hamstring. He said he has been told he will miss “two to six weeks.”

He was warned that if he continued to play on the strain that it could lead to a season-ending injury.

This makes the decision to have him catch the past few weeks highly questionable.

Agree
Although in fairness we don’t know exactly when he hurt it?
My guess? His catching days for this season and probably beyond could be over.
They’ll be super cautious after he returns in order to keep his bat in the lineup.
Next year you have Crooks and Bernal looming.

[Cusecards]

John Denton
@JohnDenton555
·
1m
#STLCards DH/catcher Iván Herrera said an MRI taken today in St. Louis showed a Grade 2 strain in his left hamstring. He said he has been told he will miss “two to six weeks.”

He was warned that if he continued to play on the strain that it could lead to a season-ending injury.

This makes the decision to have him catch the past few weeks highly questionable.

A young player is that fragile? He'll be fragile running the bases.

Well in fairness Catching is BY FAR the most demanding position physically.

[Cusecards]

Not how I want him being called up.

agree.

I hadn't heard about Herrera.
What is the issue?

hamstring

Should mean Gorman and Burleson are in the lineup most of the time, both have earned it

How can they both play at the same time if Saggese is playing? Donny goes to LF, Noot goes to RF, and Walker/Burleson/Gorman fight over DH.

Unless Noot to CF?

Burleson is hitting 400 in June, he is not fighting for playing time...Right now the sure starters are

Arenado 3B
Pages C
Winn SS
Scott CF
Contreras 1B
Donovan Wherever
Burleson RF or DH

That leaves 2 spots for Nootbar, Walker, Saggese and Gorman each game. Saggese has more flexibility than Herrera so if Mormol wants to sit one of the other 8 players each game, that means each of the remaning 4 guys can play 3 out of 4 games or 120 games per year, which is fine. That gives playing time for everyone.

Pretty fair assessment!
Vs. RH pitching you’ll see more of Gorman and less of Walker.
Vs. LH you can easily sit Gorman and Scott(Noot to CF).
I’d say sit Burly also but he has been killing it lately.
I know many are high on Saggese including myself.
But...I still say his time is next year.
Need to find out what we have(or don’t have?) with Walker and Gorman for the entirety of 2025.
So for this injury stint I’d say Saggese vs LH pitching for Gorman, Scott, etc

[Melville]

Mystery injury for Herrera?

Injured his quad trying to defend himself from those baseballs the pitchers kept aiming at him.

[ClassicO]

John Denton
@JohnDenton555
·
1m
#STLCards DH/catcher Iván Herrera said an MRI taken today in St. Louis showed a Grade 2 strain in his left hamstring. He said he has been told he will miss “two to six weeks.”

He was warned that if he continued to play on the strain that it could lead to a season-ending injury.

This makes the decision to have him catch the past few weeks highly questionable.

Agree
Although in fairness we don’t know exactly when he hurt it?
My guess? His catching days for this season and probably beyond could be over.
They’ll be super cautious after he returns in order to keep his bat in the lineup.
Next year you have Crooks and Bernal looming.

One of Crooks or Bernal need to be catching next year. I think Bernal is better defensively and can switch hit, but he’s technically behind Crooks.

[Cusecards]

John Denton
@JohnDenton555
·
1m
#STLCards DH/catcher Iván Herrera said an MRI taken today in St. Louis showed a Grade 2 strain in his left hamstring. He said he has been told he will miss “two to six weeks.”

He was warned that if he continued to play on the strain that it could lead to a season-ending injury.

This makes the decision to have him catch the past few weeks highly questionable.

Agree
Although in fairness we don’t know exactly when he hurt it?
My guess? His catching days for this season and probably beyond could be over.
They’ll be super cautious after he returns in order to keep his bat in the lineup.
Next year you have Crooks and Bernal looming.

One of Crooks or Bernal need to be catching next year. I think Bernal is better defensively and can switch hit, but he’s technically behind Crooks.

In a way I get that he had Herrera catch one game in an effort to get other guys in the lineup.
And Pages while clutch at times is a #8 or #9 hitter.
I agree that Crooks and Bernal probably represent the future!

[ICCFIM2]

Not how I want him being called up.

agree.

I hadn't heard about Herrera.
What is the issue?

hamstring

Should mean Gorman and Burleson are in the lineup most of the time, both have earned it

How can they both play at the same time if Saggese is playing? Donny goes to LF, Noot goes to RF, and Walker/Burleson/Gorman fight over DH.

Unless Noot to CF?

Burleson is hitting 400 in June, he is not fighting for playing time...Right now the sure starters are

Arenado 3B
Pages C
Winn SS
Scott CF
Contreras 1B
Donovan Wherever
Burleson RF or DH

That leaves 2 spots for Nootbar, Walker, Saggese and Gorman each game. Saggese has more flexibility than Herrera so if Mormol wants to sit one of the other 8 players each game, that means each of the remaning 4 guys can play 3 out of 4 games or 120 games per year, which is fine. That gives playing time for everyone.

Pretty fair assessment!
Vs. RH pitching you’ll see more of Gorman and less of Walker.
Vs. LH you can easily sit Gorman and Scott(Noot to CF).
I’d say sit Burly also but he has been killing it lately.
I know many are high on Saggese including myself.
But...I still say his time is next year.
Need to find out what we have(or don’t have?) with Walker and Gorman for the entirety of 2025.
So for this injury stint I’d say Saggese vs LH pitching for Gorman, Scott, etc

That is more or less what I had in mind. The real issue this team has it is missing a true back-up SS/CF that hits RH. Replace Barrero on this roster with Tommy Edman, who hits well RH and this is a really good team from top to bottom. If you do face a lefty and sit Scott, you probably need to have Donovan in LF and Walker in RF to protect Noot in CF. That puts Saggese at 2B for a LH.

If Granillo and and O'Brien are the answers in the pen, MO should stand pat at the trade deadline and just drop Barrero from the roster and let Saggese stay when Herrera returns. If they want to trade a SP, i.e. Fedde because the return is so good and let McGreevy finish the year in the rotation, that is fine. They then essentially have a full roster of starting type players they can mix and match. The only real weaknesses are a legitimate HR guy and no true back-up in CF or SS, with Saggese covering SS and Noot CF.

I am not saying it is a championship roster. I do think it is a playoff caliber starting 9 with depth, albeit, that depth gives up defense. But its not terrible. If Wetherholdt is as good as we hope next year, the team is really just missing another TOR starter to be really competitive. A MOTOB would be great too. But, they are not going to sign one.

[Cusecards]

Not how I want him being called up.

agree.

I hadn't heard about Herrera.
What is the issue?

hamstring

Should mean Gorman and Burleson are in the lineup most of the time, both have earned it

How can they both play at the same time if Saggese is playing? Donny goes to LF, Noot goes to RF, and Walker/Burleson/Gorman fight over DH.

Unless Noot to CF?

Burleson is hitting 400 in June, he is not fighting for playing time...Right now the sure starters are

Arenado 3B
Pages C
Winn SS
Scott CF
Contreras 1B
Donovan Wherever
Burleson RF or DH

That leaves 2 spots for Nootbar, Walker, Saggese and Gorman each game. Saggese has more flexibility than Herrera so if Mormol wants to sit one of the other 8 players each game, that means each of the remaning 4 guys can play 3 out of 4 games or 120 games per year, which is fine. That gives playing time for everyone.

Pretty fair assessment!
Vs. RH pitching you’ll see more of Gorman and less of Walker.
Vs. LH you can easily sit Gorman and Scott(Noot to CF).
I’d say sit Burly also but he has been killing it lately.
I know many are high on Saggese including myself.
But...I still say his time is next year.
Need to find out what we have(or don’t have?) with Walker and Gorman for the entirety of 2025.
So for this injury stint I’d say Saggese vs LH pitching for Gorman, Scott, etc

That is more or less what I had in mind. The real issue this team has it is missing a true back-up SS/CF that hits RH. Replace Barrero on this roster with Tommy Edman, who hits well RH and this is a really good team from top to bottom. If you do face a lefty and sit Scott, you probably need to have Donovan in LF and Walker in RF to protect Noot in CF. That puts Saggese at 2B for a LH.

If Granillo and and O'Brien are the answers in the pen, MO should stand pat at the trade deadline and just drop Barrero from the roster and let Saggese stay when Herrera returns. If they want to trade a SP, i.e. Fedde because the return is so good and let McGreevy finish the year in the rotation, that is fine. They then essentially have a full roster of starting type players they can mix and match. The only real weaknesses are a legitimate HR guy and no true back-up in CF or SS, with Saggese covering SS and Noot CF.

I am not saying it is a championship roster. I do think it is a playoff caliber starting 9 with depth, albeit, that depth gives up defense. But its not terrible. If Wetherholdt is as good as we hope next year, the team is really just missing another TOR starter to be really competitive. A MOTOB would be great too. But, they are not going to sign one.

Good thoughts.
The deadline could get interesting obviously depending on where they are in the standings.
Pending FA’s always have the potential to be moved especially if the FO knows they won’t be resigned.
And of course Arenado will become a hot topic again!
Barrero to me is a placeholder and 26th man.
Saggese is the better player but it doesn’t make sense having him sit in St.Louis when he can get much needed AB’s in AAA.
I like Pages but I think Pozo is decent behind the plate and I like his bat!

[Carp4Cy]

John Denton
@JohnDenton555
The #STLCards announced that catcher/DH Ivan Herrera was placed on the 10-day Injured List with a left hamstring strain.

Infielder Thomas Saggese (#25) has been recalled from Memphis (AAA) and will be active tonight vs. the #Reds.

Why are they catching him? Poor catcher, leg issue earlier in seasons, need bat.
Please Oli explain your thought process here. Got Pages and POZO……

Pages defense last night was poor too. Maybe they were auditioning Herrera for an everyday upgrade?