Why no love for CF Nathan Church

[Absolut]

Excited to get a look at noot batting cleanup today. This should answer some questions.

When he was going better, obp seemed to be his strength. Is cleanup really the place for him?

Detroit is the place for
Him. Or Houston.

[MIDMOBIRDTWO]

I agree, he should be given an opportunity, but you know that it won’t be Noot, that sits, or Burleson. It will be Walker, Scott, and Gorman.

Yes. Those two are the chosen ones.

[2ninr]

Excited to get a look at noot batting cleanup today. This should answer some questions.

When he was going better, obp seemed to be his strength. Is cleanup really the place for him?

Detroit is the place for
Him. Or Houston.

You are right he is just another awkward fit for this particular roster. I hope Bloom shuffles the deck. Nobody should be exempt except maybe Winn.

[ramfandan]

Regarding Church on MLB roster . Reportedly Mo did some internal polling with season ticket holders .
Mo asked on phone survey ... ' Your desire for Church in daily lineup ? Fans overwhelmingly replied : Church ONLY on Sundays !
So that's why Mo has not brought him up .

[Melville]

Need to see what Noot can do first.

It has been well established what Moot cannot do and never will.

[Absolut]

Need to see what Noot can do first.

It has been well established what Moot cannot do and never will.

Man. No blue font and you folks can’t recognize sarcasm.

[60 year Cardinal fan]

Need to see what Noot can do first.

Lol

[riff raff]

Need to see what Noot can do first.

It has been well established what Moot cannot do and never will.

Man. No blue font and you folks can’t recognize sarcasm.

Its moo-ville. He's an anal yst

[StlMike1969]

I do not believe we see Church at all this year. He will get a 2026 ST invite. They are going to ride out what they have the rest of the way and not start anyone's service time until they have to. It is obvious 2026 will be a new looking team but not any big splashes contract wise due to the impending lockout. No one knows how much time that may cost players and teams. At the end of the year when Bloom takes over they will decide what happens to guys that got their shot this year, Walker, Gorman, Nootbar, Scott etc. We can analyze all we want and propose but this is a team ran by a banker they do things by the books.

If he is called up after August 15, it does not impact his service time. The Cards still retain a full 6 years of control. So by the books, they can bring him up...

Nootbar always gets hurt and only has two more years of control. He still has value and should be a guy they try and trade / package in a deal to get a young starting pitcher.

Scott showed improvement this year and I am willing to stick with him. Walker I am on the fence at this point whether he gets more runway or not. Gorman has not looked good at 3B. I think he should be traded as well. He also has some value. Plus with Arenado still on the team and Wetherholdt arriving, there is no position for Gorman, even if they do unload Arenado.

Yes I know all about September call ups and service time. The point is though Moz just stated that Nootbar was a key part of the future. The whole theme this year has been about letting guys prove themselves. Bringing up church tells the other guys your looking to be replaced which goes against Moz's statements. They rarely have ever under Moz's tenure brought guys up in September for a look see. They are going to let the season play out with these core guys thinking they are part of 2026. Only once Bloom takes over and deals are made to ship guys out are they going to talk about open positions and 2026 possibilities. It also gives them leeway that if no deals are made for say walker, Nootbar, Gorman, Scott etc. they can roll into ST and let guys play their way onto the team and off it without added pressure of what happened at the end of 2025.

[Melville]

Need to see what Noot can do first.

It has been well established what Moot cannot do and never will.

Man. No blue font and you folks can’t recognize sarcasm.

50/50 outcome.
Sad thing is many would agree with your initial statement.
Nicely done.

[cardstatman]

Just for context:

.AVG .OBP .SLG .OPS PA 2B 3B HR Player
.345 .412 .525 .937 200 08 3 6 Church (21 SO, 21 BB)
.307 .428 .478 .906 251 20 0 5 Fermin (19 SO, 37 BB)

[cosmo.kramer]

Just for context:

.AVG .OBP .SLG .OPS PA 2B 3B HR Player
.345 .412 .525 .937 200 08 3 6 Church (21 SO, 21 BB)
.307 .428 .478 .906 251 20 0 5 Fermin (19 SO, 37 BB)

Here are career AAA numbers for everyone from the MLB team, with JJ and Church also included:

wRC+/ AVG / OBP / SLG / OPS / Player
177 / .323 / .403 / .708 / 1.110 / Wetherholt
155 / .321 / .410 / .551 / .961 / Contreras
147 / .345 / .412 / .525 / .937 / Church
140 / .360 / .383 / .616 / .999 / Arenado
133 / .296 / .394 / .473 / .867 / Donovan
131 / .288 / .414 / .460 / .874 / Herrera
128 / .283 / .378 / .500 / .878 / Nootbaar
121 / .305 / .356 / .486 / .842 / Burleson
120 / .269 / .388 / .432 / .820 / Fermin
115 / .249 / .344 / .507 / .851 / Baker
110 / .263 / .316 / .505 / .821 / Gorman
109 / .321 / .343 / .545 / .888 / Pozo
108 / .285 / .358 / .480 / .838 / Winn
102 / .312 / .371 / .448 / .819 / Hampson
97 / .264 / .331 / .432 / .763 / Saggese
91 / .257 / .331 / .414 / .745 / Walker
81 / .230 / .333 / .362 / .695 / Siani
75 / .222 / .299 / .368 / .667 / Pages
57 / .210 / .294 / .303 / .597 / Scott II

[cardstatman]

Just for context:

.AVG .OBP .SLG .OPS PA 2B 3B HR Player
.345 .412 .525 .937 200 08 3 6 Church (21 SO, 21 BB)
.307 .428 .478 .906 251 20 0 5 Fermin (19 SO, 37 BB)

Here are career AAA numbers for everyone from the MLB team, with JJ and Church also included:

wRC+/ AVG / OBP / SLG / OPS / Player
177 / .323 / .403 / .708 / 1.110 / Wetherholt
155 / .321 / .410 / .551 / .961 / Contreras
147 / .345 / .412 / .525 / .937 / Church
140 / .360 / .383 / .616 / .999 / Arenado
133 / .296 / .394 / .473 / .867 / Donovan
131 / .288 / .414 / .460 / .874 / Herrera
128 / .283 / .378 / .500 / .878 / Nootbaar
121 / .305 / .356 / .486 / .842 / Burleson
120 / .269 / .388 / .432 / .820 / Fermin
115 / .249 / .344 / .507 / .851 / Baker
110 / .263 / .316 / .505 / .821 / Gorman
109 / .321 / .343 / .545 / .888 / Pozo
108 / .285 / .358 / .480 / .838 / Winn
102 / .312 / .371 / .448 / .819 / Hampson
97 / .264 / .331 / .432 / .763 / Saggese
91 / .257 / .331 / .414 / .745 / Walker
81 / .230 / .333 / .362 / .695 / Siani
75 / .222 / .299 / .368 / .667 / Pages
57 / .210 / .294 / .303 / .597 / Scott II

Interesting that everyone below .875 OPS has been a below average MLB hitter. Burly at .842 is climbing out of his hole but he was awful for his first ~150 career MLB games. If he had stayed in AAA longer instead of stinking up MLB, his AAA OPS would have probably risen above .875.