Joe Roderick gives Sunday ST report: Herrera, Stanek, JJ

[Melville]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G88SRhJ2fbc

The report on IH was not glowing. Sounds like even he is not satisfied with his throwing. But early.

I sort of laugh when they talk about Yadi coming in for a day. He ain’t fixing IH in a day.

Or a week.
Or a month.
Or a year.
Or a decade.

Can Gorman or Walker be fixed in that amount of time ?

Herrera can never be an adequate MLB catcher from the perspective of defense.
Not going to happen - pitchers will simply not permit it.
Maybe a DH, or LF, or 1B - if he can prove the brief power surge in September was not a fluke.
Gorman can be "fixed" by hitting 2 more singles in every 100 PA's.
Walker probably needs to be traded to a different organization - the current staff broke his game and is therefore likely incompetent to help him.

Betting on the wrong horse Mel.

I never bet on any player.
Never for any player.
Never against any player.
My analysis is always free of agenda and free of bias.
And is correct over 95% of the time.

[Galatians221jb1]

I believe most of his errors at third last year were throwing errors. He has a cannon for a throwing arm. I believe he improved when told to not rush his throw and concentrate on accuracy. He is no Rolen or Arenado defensively but he’s not a poor defensive player. He was more than adequate at second. If he can hit 30+ homers and drive in 80+ runs we will be fine. He simply has to stop fixating on pulling the ball. Try to hit it up the middle. If he’s early he will pull it if he’s late he will go the other way. He can hit it out anywhere on the field. He needs to become a hitter instead of a slugger.

[Cardinals4Life]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G88SRhJ2fbc

The report on IH was not glowing. Sounds like even he is not satisfied with his throwing. But early.

I sort of laugh when they talk about Yadi coming in for a day. He ain’t fixing IH in a day.

Or a week.
Or a month.
Or a year.
Or a decade.

Can Gorman or Walker be fixed in that amount of time ?

Herrera can never be an adequate MLB catcher from the perspective of defense.
Not going to happen - pitchers will simply not permit it.
Maybe a DH, or LF, or 1B - if he can prove the brief power surge in September was not a fluke.
Gorman can be "fixed" by hitting 2 more singles in every 100 PA's.
Walker probably needs to be traded to a different organization - the current staff broke his game and is therefore likely incompetent to help him.

Mel,

While usually right, you are wrong on Herrera.

[Melville]

I believe most of his errors at third last year were throwing errors. He has a cannon for a throwing arm. I believe he improved when told to not rush his throw and concentrate on accuracy. He is no Rolen or Arenado defensively but he’s not a poor defensive player. He was more than adequate at second. If he can hit 30+ homers and drive in 80+ runs we will be fine. He simply has to stop fixating on pulling the ball. Try to hit it up the middle. If he’s early he will pull it if he’s late he will go the other way. He can hit it out anywhere on the field. He needs to become a hitter instead of a slugger.

Correct.
Gorman's 3b issues were all about the throws - and that was quickly correct after the first couple of weeks.
Guess who had zero glove errors at 3b last year?
Gorman, not N/A.
Guess who was better at turning 3rd-to 2nd-to 1st double plays last year?
Gorman, not N/A.
Obviously, N/A had better range.
But Gorman, who made himself into a solid if unspectacular glove at 2b, is a much better defender than most realize.
Returning to the actual topic at hand, Gorman is certainly more acceptable defensively at 3b than Herrera is at catcher.

[Melville]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G88SRhJ2fbc

The report on IH was not glowing. Sounds like even he is not satisfied with his throwing. But early.

I sort of laugh when they talk about Yadi coming in for a day. He ain’t fixing IH in a day.

Or a week.
Or a month.
Or a year.
Or a decade.

Can Gorman or Walker be fixed in that amount of time ?

Herrera can never be an adequate MLB catcher from the perspective of defense.
Not going to happen - pitchers will simply not permit it.
Maybe a DH, or LF, or 1B - if he can prove the brief power surge in September was not a fluke.
Gorman can be "fixed" by hitting 2 more singles in every 100 PA's.
Walker probably needs to be traded to a different organization - the current staff broke his game and is therefore likely incompetent to help him.

Mel,

While usually right, you are wrong on Herrera.

The pitching staff kicked him out from behind the plate each of the past 2 years.
You need not share my perspective.
Simply value theirs.

[Cardinals4Life]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G88SRhJ2fbc

The report on IH was not glowing. Sounds like even he is not satisfied with his throwing. But early.

I sort of laugh when they talk about Yadi coming in for a day. He ain’t fixing IH in a day.

Or a week.
Or a month.
Or a year.
Or a decade.

Can Gorman or Walker be fixed in that amount of time ?

Herrera can never be an adequate MLB catcher from the perspective of defense.
Not going to happen - pitchers will simply not permit it.
Maybe a DH, or LF, or 1B - if he can prove the brief power surge in September was not a fluke.
Gorman can be "fixed" by hitting 2 more singles in every 100 PA's.
Walker probably needs to be traded to a different organization - the current staff broke his game and is therefore likely incompetent to help him.

That would make Gorman arguably serviceable I suppose. But it doesn’t replace even half of Nado circa 2022. And that’s what we need to get back to the playoffs. And Gorman will never begin to replace Nado/Rolens defense.

Power hitting 3B's with elite defense such as N/A and Rolen come along less than once in a generation in all of MLB.
No one should ever lay that expectation on anyone else.
All Gorman needs to do is hit is hit .235-.240 with an .320 OBP (2 more singles per 100 PA's), and with his 25+HR/80+ RBI proven track record, he would be a top 5 MLB 3B, with roughly average defense.
Not that far away.
As for Herrera, the best thing STL can do is get him out from behind the plate and see if he can become more consistent with his power production - which has been nearly non-existent prior to last September.
Reality is, if STL can achieve that with those 2, have Winn and Burleson consistently repeat last year, and have Wetherholt prove to be a breakout star, they will be well on their way to returning to success.
It is not as far away as many think it is.

Also we’ve had two Hall of Fame caliber third base plus one World Series MVP this century. And we’ve had three elite first baseman winning multiple MVPs in the last 30 years.

None of those guys needed just two or three more hits per hundred at bats to raise their average to a respectable level. They had talent, they worked hard, they used it, They got results. No if onlys needed. And Only one of those guys was actually drafted by the Cardinals, however. Maybe we need to raise our expectations at elite critical positions and make the right trades for the right elite talent instead of just wishing the guy we had was good enough. We are the St. Louis Cardinals after all.

Correct. 3B is going to have to be a position we make a trade for from the outside, which is sad because at one time we had "too many" 3Bs in the system (Mendoza, Montero, Walker, Gorman, etc.)

[Cardinals4Life]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G88SRhJ2fbc

The report on IH was not glowing. Sounds like even he is not satisfied with his throwing. But early.

I sort of laugh when they talk about Yadi coming in for a day. He ain’t fixing IH in a day.

Or a week.
Or a month.
Or a year.
Or a decade.

Can Gorman or Walker be fixed in that amount of time ?

Herrera can never be an adequate MLB catcher from the perspective of defense.
Not going to happen - pitchers will simply not permit it.
Maybe a DH, or LF, or 1B - if he can prove the brief power surge in September was not a fluke.
Gorman can be "fixed" by hitting 2 more singles in every 100 PA's.
Walker probably needs to be traded to a different organization - the current staff broke his game and is therefore likely incompetent to help him.

Mel,

While usually right, you are wrong on Herrera.

The pitching staff kicked him out from behind the plate each of the past 2 years.
You need not share my perspective.
Simply value theirs.

Not really factual.

Fact is Libby, McGreevy, Pallante, Leahy, and pretty much the rest of the Pen are used to pitching to him in the minors.

[BrockFloodMaris]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G88SRhJ2fbc

The report on IH was not glowing. Sounds like even he is not satisfied with his throwing. But early.

I sort of laugh when they talk about Yadi coming in for a day. He ain’t fixing IH in a day.

Or a week.
Or a month.
Or a year.
Or a decade.

Can Gorman or Walker be fixed in that amount of time ?

Herrera can never be an adequate MLB catcher from the perspective of defense.
Not going to happen - pitchers will simply not permit it.
Maybe a DH, or LF, or 1B - if he can prove the brief power surge in September was not a fluke.
Gorman can be "fixed" by hitting 2 more singles in every 100 PA's.
Walker probably needs to be traded to a different organization - the current staff broke his game and is therefore likely incompetent to help him.

Mel,

While usually right, you are wrong on Herrera.

Apparently, the Cards have a speed gun on the catchers’ throws in Jupiter this spring. Joe Roderick said that IH’s throws were significantly slower speed than the other catchers. He even asked if the gun was calibrated correctly.

Bloom is giving IH a courtesy look at C this spring. I don’t think it will end with IH starting 80+ games at C this year. He just can’t keep up with a running team.

[Cardinals4Life]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G88SRhJ2fbc

The report on IH was not glowing. Sounds like even he is not satisfied with his throwing. But early.

I sort of laugh when they talk about Yadi coming in for a day. He ain’t fixing IH in a day.

Or a week.
Or a month.
Or a year.
Or a decade.

Can Gorman or Walker be fixed in that amount of time ?

Herrera can never be an adequate MLB catcher from the perspective of defense.
Not going to happen - pitchers will simply not permit it.
Maybe a DH, or LF, or 1B - if he can prove the brief power surge in September was not a fluke.
Gorman can be "fixed" by hitting 2 more singles in every 100 PA's.
Walker probably needs to be traded to a different organization - the current staff broke his game and is therefore likely incompetent to help him.

Betting on the wrong horse Mel.

I never bet on any player.
Never for any player.
Never against any player.
My analysis is always free of agenda and free of bias.
And is correct over 95% of the time.

Mel,

You have bet on Gorman nearly everyday for the past 3 or 4 years. You may not think so, but your bias in your posts speaks otherwise. This is true 100% of the time.

[renostl]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G88SRhJ2fbc

The report on IH was not glowing. Sounds like even he is not satisfied with his throwing. But early.

I sort of laugh when they talk about Yadi coming in for a day. He ain’t fixing IH in a day.

It is interesting as to why that may be. Does he not know what his best ever was or
was the results less compared to his peak?

IH best arm strength as a catcher was 79.1 mph back a couple seasons ago.
Top 20 in the league was 80.7. Pages was one of the catchers to throw 80.7 mph while
85.3 mph was tops by Dingler. Notable catchers-- Kirk, Smith, William Contreras were all in the 79's so
that small part is all acceptable.

So was he throwing 80 mph and surprised or 72 mph and surprised?

Where I do not expect a lot, like a 150 game catcher, there are some pluses
if this guy can catch 60 games.

[Melville]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G88SRhJ2fbc

The report on IH was not glowing. Sounds like even he is not satisfied with his throwing. But early.

I sort of laugh when they talk about Yadi coming in for a day. He ain’t fixing IH in a day.

Or a week.
Or a month.
Or a year.
Or a decade.

Can Gorman or Walker be fixed in that amount of time ?

Herrera can never be an adequate MLB catcher from the perspective of defense.
Not going to happen - pitchers will simply not permit it.
Maybe a DH, or LF, or 1B - if he can prove the brief power surge in September was not a fluke.
Gorman can be "fixed" by hitting 2 more singles in every 100 PA's.
Walker probably needs to be traded to a different organization - the current staff broke his game and is therefore likely incompetent to help him.

Betting on the wrong horse Mel.

I never bet on any player.
Never for any player.
Never against any player.
My analysis is always free of agenda and free of bias.
And is correct over 95% of the time.

Mel,

You have bet on Gorman nearly everyday for the past 3 or 4 years. You may not think so, but your bias in your posts speaks otherwise. This is true 100% of the time.

Incorrect.
I have said consistently that if given 600 PA's in a season, Gorman would hit 25 HR and drive in 80+.
I have never been wrong about that.
And I won't be this year either.
And, obviously, I will be right about Herrera.
He is not and will never be an acceptable MLB starting catcher defensively.
He could, however, be a valuable RH bat if moved to another position (as I alone was first to correctly analyze and advise 4 years ago) and if he is able to consistently show more power (September of last year was the only such indication during his career to date).

[Cardinals4Life]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G88SRhJ2fbc

The report on IH was not glowing. Sounds like even he is not satisfied with his throwing. But early.

I sort of laugh when they talk about Yadi coming in for a day. He ain’t fixing IH in a day.

Or a week.
Or a month.
Or a year.
Or a decade.

Can Gorman or Walker be fixed in that amount of time ?

Herrera can never be an adequate MLB catcher from the perspective of defense.
Not going to happen - pitchers will simply not permit it.
Maybe a DH, or LF, or 1B - if he can prove the brief power surge in September was not a fluke.
Gorman can be "fixed" by hitting 2 more singles in every 100 PA's.
Walker probably needs to be traded to a different organization - the current staff broke his game and is therefore likely incompetent to help him.

Betting on the wrong horse Mel.

I never bet on any player.
Never for any player.
Never against any player.
My analysis is always free of agenda and free of bias.
And is correct over 95% of the time.

Mel,

You have bet on Gorman nearly everyday for the past 3 or 4 years. You may not think so, but your bias in your posts speaks otherwise. This is true 100% of the time.

Incorrect.
I have said consistently that if given 600 PA's in a season, Gorman would hit 25 HR and drive in 80+.
I have never been wrong about that.
And I won't be this year either.
And, obviously, I will be right about Herrera.
He is not and will never be an acceptable MLB starting catcher defensively.
He could, however, be a valuable RH bat if moved to another position (as I alone was first to correctly analyze and advise 4 years ago) and if he is able to consistently show more power (September of last year was the only such indication during his career to date).

Unfortunately your posts betray you, Mel.

[renostl]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G88SRhJ2fbc

The report on IH was not glowing. Sounds like even he is not satisfied with his throwing. But early.

I sort of laugh when they talk about Yadi coming in for a day. He ain’t fixing IH in a day.

Or a week.
Or a month.
Or a year.
Or a decade.

Can Gorman or Walker be fixed in that amount of time ?

Herrera can never be an adequate MLB catcher from the perspective of defense.
Not going to happen - pitchers will simply not permit it.
Maybe a DH, or LF, or 1B - if he can prove the brief power surge in September was not a fluke.
Gorman can be "fixed" by hitting 2 more singles in every 100 PA's.
Walker probably needs to be traded to a different organization - the current staff broke his game and is therefore likely incompetent to help him.

Betting on the wrong horse Mel.

I never bet on any player.
Never for any player.
Never against any player.
My analysis is always free of agenda and free of bias.
And is correct over 95% of the time.

Mel,

You have bet on Gorman nearly everyday for the past 3 or 4 years. You may not think so, but your bias in your posts speaks otherwise. This is true 100% of the time.

Incorrect.
I have said consistently that if given 600 PA's in a season, Gorman would hit 25 HR and drive in 80+.
I have never been wrong about that.
And I won't be this year either.
And, obviously, I will be right about Herrera.
He is not and will never be an acceptable MLB starting catcher defensively.
He could, however, be a valuable RH bat if moved to another position (as I alone was first to correctly analyze and advise 4 years ago) and if he is able to consistently show more power (September of last year was the only such indication during his career to date).

He has to produce and play.

In 2023 He misses 32 games due to back, hamstring and foot issues.
In 2024 He was sent down in mid August missing 35 games after having 2 months with an OPS <.550 and looking lost
In 2025 He missed 22 games due to back and hamstring issues.

He has to put both of those issues to rest in order to ever sniff 600 PA's.
No Cardinal did that in 2025. Lars led with 583.

[Melville]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G88SRhJ2fbc

The report on IH was not glowing. Sounds like even he is not satisfied with his throwing. But early.

I sort of laugh when they talk about Yadi coming in for a day. He ain’t fixing IH in a day.

Or a week.
Or a month.
Or a year.
Or a decade.

Can Gorman or Walker be fixed in that amount of time ?

Herrera can never be an adequate MLB catcher from the perspective of defense.
Not going to happen - pitchers will simply not permit it.
Maybe a DH, or LF, or 1B - if he can prove the brief power surge in September was not a fluke.
Gorman can be "fixed" by hitting 2 more singles in every 100 PA's.
Walker probably needs to be traded to a different organization - the current staff broke his game and is therefore likely incompetent to help him.

Betting on the wrong horse Mel.

I never bet on any player.
Never for any player.
Never against any player.
My analysis is always free of agenda and free of bias.
And is correct over 95% of the time.

Mel,

You have bet on Gorman nearly everyday for the past 3 or 4 years. You may not think so, but your bias in your posts speaks otherwise. This is true 100% of the time.

Incorrect.
I have said consistently that if given 600 PA's in a season, Gorman would hit 25 HR and drive in 80+.
I have never been wrong about that.
And I won't be this year either.
And, obviously, I will be right about Herrera.
He is not and will never be an acceptable MLB starting catcher defensively.
He could, however, be a valuable RH bat if moved to another position (as I alone was first to correctly analyze and advise 4 years ago) and if he is able to consistently show more power (September of last year was the only such indication during his career to date).

He has to produce and play.

In 2023 He misses 32 games due to back, hamstring and foot issues.
In 2024 He was sent down in mid August missing 35 games after having 2 months with an OPS <.550 and looking lost
In 2025 He missed 22 games due to back and hamstring issues.

He has to put both of those issues to rest in order to ever sniff 600 PA's.
No Cardinal did that in 2025. Lars led with 583.

All true.
The manager needs to let them play and the players need to stay on the field.

[brock118]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G88SRhJ2fbc

The report on IH was not glowing. Sounds like even he is not satisfied with his throwing. But early.

I sort of laugh when they talk about Yadi coming in for a day. He ain’t fixing IH in a day.

Or a week.
Or a month.
Or a year.
Or a decade.

Can Gorman or Walker be fixed in that amount of time ?

Herrera can never be an adequate MLB catcher from the perspective of defense.
Not going to happen - pitchers will simply not permit it.
Maybe a DH, or LF, or 1B - if he can prove the brief power surge in September was not a fluke.
Gorman can be "fixed" by hitting 2 more singles in every 100 PA's.
Walker probably needs to be traded to a different organization - the current staff broke his game and is therefore likely incompetent to help him.

Betting on the wrong horse Mel.

I never bet on any player.
Never for any player.
Never against any player.
My analysis is always free of agenda and free of bias.
And is correct over 95% of the time.

Mel,

You have bet on Gorman nearly everyday for the past 3 or 4 years. You may not think so, but your bias in your posts speaks otherwise. This is true 100% of the time.

Incorrect.
I have said consistently that if given 600 PA's in a season, Gorman would hit 25 HR and drive in 80+.
I have never been wrong about that.
And I won't be this year either.
And, obviously, I will be right about Herrera.
He is not and will never be an acceptable MLB starting catcher defensively.
He could, however, be a valuable RH bat if moved to another position (as I alone was first to correctly analyze and advise 4 years ago) and if he is able to consistently show more power (September of last year was the only such indication during his career to date).

You have to hit your weight to get 600 PA....and you know, actually make contact with the ball.

[Cardinals1964]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G88SRhJ2fbc

What’s he say? Not going to watch YouTube