When was the shifting point when the Cardinals decided power didn’t matter ?

[ZouMiz2424]

It’s mind boggling watching mlb highlights, looking at leader board power numbers, and realizing that the Cardinals arent playing the same sport as everyone else.

[Wattage]

It’s mind boggling watching mlb highlights, looking at leader board power numbers, and realizing that the Cardinals arent playing the same sport as everyone else.

I honestly dont think its intentional. Arenados piwer just declined with his overall hitting skills.

Gorman and walker were suppposed to have power but just frankly couldnt hit the ball enough to stay in the lineup. Contreras is still primarily a power hitter who just had a slow start.

[Cusecards]

It’s mind boggling watching mlb highlights, looking at leader board power numbers, and realizing that the Cardinals arent playing the same sport as everyone else.

Ok

[blackinkbiz]

It’s mind boggling watching mlb highlights, looking at leader board power numbers, and realizing that the Cardinals arent playing the same sport as everyone else.

Seriously? It's the new hitting coach Brant Brown. They said his quote about 50 times during games in the first month of the season.

"There's a time to slug and there's a time to hit."

His predecessor had one of the most idiotic approaches I've ever heard of, which led to prolonged droughts in scoring. Players repeated it ad nauseam over the past few years. "I just look for my pitch and hit it as hard as I can."

It was great if you're getting center-cut fastballs every at bat, but when pitchers figured that out, it led to the disastrous results of 23-24.

[golfindude]

I'm sure it was after the FO read my post about going with more speed players and moving fences back. This would have cost money plus made for fewer seats available.

[JuanAgosto]

There was no intentional plan to stop slugging. As someone pointed out, Arenado's power has declined. Contreras is a 20-25 hrs guy. Gorman has no consistency and Walker is lost at the plate. Guys like Nootbaar, Burleson, Donovan, and Winn are realistically 15-20 hr players.

Im not bashing the organization, coaching staff, or players here. Its just reality. And i commend Brown for seeing it and changing the philosophy. Its more fun than watching guys flail away.

[11WSChamps]

When they realized they didn't have any.

[JDW]

Well, I expect Contreras to hit +20, same with Herrera if he could stay healthy.
Moving forward I'd expect the combo of Crooks/Bernal to hit more HR's than a Pages/Pozo tandem.
Wetherholt as a 2B should be a plus power guy for the position.
But, yes, the Cards lack a legit 30 HR guy year in/year out.
Baez shows plus power potential, but being able to do that at the show is never easy to project.
That said, if a team has multiple guys around the 15-20 HR's a year, that can work if combined with other plusses like defense and pitching.
The Cards offense has been a pleasant surprise so far, to me anyway, but yes, always striving on ways to improve should be a goal.
You might be talking a FA addition if you see this as a critical need for the team moving forward. I currently don't.

Scott CF 5-15 HR's a year eventually
Winn SS 10-20 HR's most years
Donovan 3B 10-15 HR's most years
Contreras 1B 15-25 HR's predictable
Wetherholt 2B 15-20 HR's guessing/projecting
Herrera DH 15-25 HR's maybe/maybe not
Noot LF 10-20 HR's predictable
Baez RF 20-60 HR's dreaming, lol
Bernal/Crooks combo with 10-20 annually, why not?

[RunSup]

When they realized they didn't have any.

^this^

[12xu]

The Cardinals do not need to prioritize big power hitters in their lineup. Their home ballpark does not favor these types of hitters. They should try to develop more players who are fast, have enough power to hit a lot of doubles in the gaps, will be selective at the plate, and do not strike out over 150 times per season. Wetherholt seems to be this kind of batter. That being said:

Gorman is still a work in progress, compare his 2nd season (2022) in the show with Cal Raleigh:

Gorman: 27 HR, 76 RBI, 148 K, .236/.328/.478/.805
Raleigh: 27 HR, 63 RBI, 122 K, .211/284/.489/.774

Gorman was only 23 that year, Raleigh was 25. Gorman has declined significantly since his soph season, while Raleigh has blossomed into one of MLB best power hitters. Can someone help Gorman overcome his obvious weaknesses and find success in the future?

Walker is just a mess. He also needs a competent instructor who can get him to alter his approach and give him confidence. He is still young enough to improve on his weaknesses. He probably needs to spend the rest of the season in Memphis, and some intense training during the offseason.

[Absolut]

It’s mind boggling watching mlb highlights, looking at leader board power numbers, and realizing that the Cardinals arent playing the same sport as everyone else.

I honestly dont think its intentional. Arenados piwer just declined with his overall hitting skills.

Gorman and walker were suppposed to have power but just frankly couldnt hit the ball enough to stay in the lineup. Contreras is still primarily a power hitter who just had a slow start.

Agree. If Walker kept progressing after his rookie season and Gorman was eating the right popcorn it’s a different offense.

[ScotchMIrish]

League cracking down on roids was the shifting point. McGwire's Cardinals season record will stand for a long time.

[Cranny]

When I was on the back fields at Spring Training, there was a crowd behind the left field fence when Walker took BP. I had never seen that before for any player.

When Gorman was in high school, he won almost every national home run hitting contest for high school kids.

[Futuregm2]

League cracking down on roids was the shifting point. McGwire's Cardinals season record will stand for a long time.

You don’t say?

[rockondlouie]

It’s mind boggling watching mlb highlights, looking at leader board power numbers, and realizing that the Cardinals arent playing the same sport as everyone else.

You nailed it ZouMiz, from Oli:

“Our [offensive] production has actually been higher at Busch than on the road. I think part of it is that we have the mentality of collecting hits. It doesn’t mean that we won’t hit homers or doubles, but we do have to play to our strengths, and we have guys who can hit.

“So, selling out for one thing and being vulnerable to other parts of the game has hurt us at times, but that hasn’t been the case this year.”



So the "strength" is hitting singles?

[Adam2]

When I was on the back fields at Spring Training, there was a crowd behind the left field fence when Walker took BP. I had never seen that before for any player.

When Gorman was in high school, he won almost every national home run hitting contest for high school kids.

and so far hasn't come close to translating to this level. BP homers are cool