Out of the box thought with Walker: Play him at 1st base?

[ecleme22]

He by far has the best throwing arm of any of the Cardinal outfielders. He has speed to track balls, and this should be the season he starts excelling with the bat (if they leave him alone). Why even consider moving him 1st base? Burleson will be fine at first and will hit around 20 long ones and hit around .285. To me it will be catcher and LF that will be a concern.

Why? Well the OP theorizes that 1b could increase JW’s comfort level, which would bleed to his hitting, hopefully.

But unlike you, I didn’t get the memo that 2026 is the year JW starts excelling. I’m just going by his .584 ops last year.

[OldRed]

He by far has the best throwing arm of any of the Cardinal outfielders. He has speed to track balls, and this should be the season he starts excelling with the bat (if they leave him alone). Why even consider moving him 1st base? Burleson will be fine at first and will hit around 20 long ones and hit around .285. To me it will be catcher and LF that will be a concern.

Why? Well the OP theorizes that 1b could increase JW’s comfort level, which would bleed to his hitting, hopefully.

But unlike you, I didn’t get the memo that 2026 is the year JW starts excelling. I’m just going by his .584 ops last year.

They just need to leave him alone. They already have a first baseman with Burleson. I remember when you didn't want them to trade Contreras. It seems you move as the wind blows.

[JuanAgosto]

Walker should be in LF. Most MLB teams put weakest defender there. If the outfield remains unchanged, it should be Walker, Scott, Nootbaar.

That is so depressing.

Hahaha. Didn't say it was great. But a real possibility.

[ecleme22]

He by far has the best throwing arm of any of the Cardinal outfielders. He has speed to track balls, and this should be the season he starts excelling with the bat (if they leave him alone). Why even consider moving him 1st base? Burleson will be fine at first and will hit around 20 long ones and hit around .285. To me it will be catcher and LF that will be a concern.

Why? Well the OP theorizes that 1b could increase JW’s comfort level, which would bleed to his hitting, hopefully.

But unlike you, I didn’t get the memo that 2026 is the year JW starts excelling. I’m just going by his .584 ops last year.

They just need to leave him alone. They already have a first baseman with Burleson. I remember when you didn't want them to trade Contreras. It seems you move as the wind blows.

I was never against trading Conteras.

Just because I liked WC a lot and defended him against your petty criticisms, didn’t mean I was against trading him.

[OldRed]

He by far has the best throwing arm of any of the Cardinal outfielders. He has speed to track balls, and this should be the season he starts excelling with the bat (if they leave him alone). Why even consider moving him 1st base? Burleson will be fine at first and will hit around 20 long ones and hit around .285. To me it will be catcher and LF that will be a concern.

Why? Well the OP theorizes that 1b could increase JW’s comfort level, which would bleed to his hitting, hopefully.

But unlike you, I didn’t get the memo that 2026 is the year JW starts excelling. I’m just going by his .584 ops last year.

They just need to leave him alone. They already have a first baseman with Burleson. I remember when you didn't want them to trade Contreras. It seems you move as the wind blows.

I was never against trading Conteras.

Just because I liked WC a lot and defended him against your petty criticisms, didn’t mean I was against trading him.

Counter diction of thoughts. Your tone in commenting has really gone down the crapper. I used to enjoy your comments, now you are a know it all or want to be a know it all.

[Bushiro]

We have a first baseman.
Burleson

For a good offer, I'd trade him in a heartbeat, but that's just me.

Yep if you find a gm out there who thinks he's as good as Shady does...and will improve like shady thinks he will...then you trade him

[rockondlouie]

I like the 1st base idea, I remember his rookie season posting multiple times he'd be our 1st baseman of the future.

6'6" (big target) and former 3rd baseman told me he could field a ground ball.

But now it's all about the bat, either he hits or his position won't matter since he won't have one.....at least not in St. Louis.

[Bushiro]

Play the tall guy at 1B.
I would leave him alone.

"I would leave him alone."
Too bad they were too stupid to understand that concerning his swing.

Exactly...can see why Bloom wanted to change the player development system....because he's had the swing the whole time...came up to mlb and played one full season in the bigs with that swing...still never said a word...then it's time to send you down to work on elevating the ball...then why was that not addressed already in the minors if they didn't like it and knew it was a problem...never made sense....

[ClassicO]

We have a first baseman.
Burleson

If only Burly could play the position.
No range; only 600+ innings of experience. Tied with Arenado for the slowest guy on the team - a tad slower than Pages!

Speed is inconsequential for 1B defense.

It’s much more important in the OF.

Burleson’s offense has improved each of his last two seasons. I would like to see him get a shot at 1B, at least against all RHP.

My first note was range. That does count. Statcast shows he's a career 69% success rate (out of 112 balls at 1b), putting him at #30 among players with his minimum of chances. Vlad = 75%; Willy = 73%. Those he doesn't field are hits.
And most heavy, very slow guys also aren't the most agile, which also counts.
Why do people think a 1st baseman's defense is not very important? If you've played the game, you know otherwise.

[ecleme22]

He by far has the best throwing arm of any of the Cardinal outfielders. He has speed to track balls, and this should be the season he starts excelling with the bat (if they leave him alone). Why even consider moving him 1st base? Burleson will be fine at first and will hit around 20 long ones and hit around .285. To me it will be catcher and LF that will be a concern.

Why? Well the OP theorizes that 1b could increase JW’s comfort level, which would bleed to his hitting, hopefully.

But unlike you, I didn’t get the memo that 2026 is the year JW starts excelling. I’m just going by his .584 ops last year.

They just need to leave him alone. They already have a first baseman with Burleson. I remember when you didn't want them to trade Contreras. It seems you move as the wind blows.

I was never against trading Conteras.

Just because I liked WC a lot and defended him against your petty criticisms, didn’t mean I was against trading him.

Counter diction of thoughts. Your tone in commenting has really gone down the crapper. I used to enjoy your comments, now you are a know it all or want to be a know it all.

Oh, my bad. I wasn’t aware that defending myself was not allowed.

Do some research. Show me where I said I didn’t want to trade WC.

[60 year Cardinal fan]

Well, we know for certain that Brant Brown can't fix him. Remember all last offseason when we were told he was working wonders with Walker and Gorman. Now I know what "wonders" means. As in, I and many others wonder what happened when the season started.

How this manager and his disposable staff are still here is a wonder of the baseball world.

I’m obviously not on the ground, so the OP is just me theorizing.

But what you said I can’t argue with.

Bloom knows more than we do, so all I can think is it’s not an Oli/BB problem.

What I don't get is why Bloom/Dewitt would keep a hitting coach and manager who didn't seem to do much for the young hitters they have (Walker, Gorman, Winn, Scott, Noot) with JJ on the way. And 29th in HRs. An upgrade would seem to be in order.

I still wonder how much, if at all, Dewitt interferes in on field personnel decisions. I would have thought a clean sweep of MO’s choices would have been the call.

[rockondlouie]

We have a first baseman.
Burleson

If only Burly could play the position.
No range; only 600+ innings of experience. Tied with Arenado for the slowest guy on the team - a tad slower than Pages!

Speed is inconsequential for 1B defense.

It’s much more important in the OF.

Burleson’s offense has improved each of his last two seasons. I would like to see him get a shot at 1B, at least against all RHP.

My first note was range. That does count. Statcast shows he's a career 69% success rate (out of 112 balls at 1b), putting him at #30 among players with his minimum of chances. Vlad = 75%; Willy = 73%. Those he doesn't field are hits.
And most heavy, very slow guys also aren't the most agile, which also counts.
Why do people think a 1st baseman's defense is not very important? If you've played the game, you know otherwise.

+1

Re:
Goldy

Who saved our infielders multiple throwing errors

(Bumbles is going to struggle, he's just not the most nibble guy around the bag)

[renostl]

We have a first baseman.
Burleson

If only Burly could play the position.
No range; only 600+ innings of experience. Tied with Arenado for the slowest guy on the team - a tad slower than Pages!

Speed is inconsequential for 1B defense.

It’s much more important in the OF.

Burleson’s offense has improved each of his last two seasons. I would like to see him get a shot at 1B, at least against all RHP.

My first note was range. That does count. Statcast shows he's a career 69% success rate (out of 112 balls at 1b), putting him at #30 among players with his minimum of chances. Vlad = 75%; Willy = 73%. Those he doesn't field are hits.
And most heavy, very slow guys also aren't the most agile, which also counts.
Why do people think a 1st baseman's defense is not very important? If you've played the game, you know otherwise.

1B defense is very important IMO.

Measuring it can be discussed for it becomes less black and white.
WC did field a few balls that he had to eat with his range, pitcher couldn't beat
the fast runner and the 2B would have fielded it.

But lets throw away my subjective opinion.

WC vs AB with the same percentages going forward on 200 chances.
138 made vs 146. 8 balls in 26 weeks that might still get fielded depending
on 2B positioning. Not all hits turn into runs.

IMO range at 1B means less than anywhere else. They're
tethered to the bag some. I sometimes picture Lynn on the mound
subtracting my range numbers as a 1B.

[11WSChamps]

By all means lets give this guy who doesn't have enough to work on a new position to learn.

Where do you guys come from?

[ecleme22]

By all means lets give this guy who doesn't have enough to work on a new position to learn.

Where do you guys come from?

Where did Walker originally play before his move to the OF?

[11WSChamps]

By all means lets give this guy who doesn't have enough to work on a new position to learn.

Where do you guys come from?

Where did Walker originally play before his move to the OF?

What does that have to do with anything?