Bloom/Oli suspect MLB Roster Choices

[sikeston bulldog2]

1. Herrera Catching

2. Walker starting in RF

3. Pallante SP

4. With Herrera Catching no formidable bat at DH. Who is the DH?

To my knowledge, Oli has never indicated that Herrera will be the primary catcher for 2026. Most think Pages will catch more games than any player on the roster.
Herrera will get starts behind the plate as it allows his bat to play while having a ‘bat’ in the DH spot rather than always having Ivan at DH which means Pages hittin 4 times at catcher, a much weaker bat.

The concern however is if Hererra sustains yet another injury in one of those starts then you lose perhaps your best bat for an extended period.

I understand the theory but you risk losing your best weapon so a lesser bat can sometimes play.

If the idea is a rebuild instead of trying to be competitive now then what is the point.

We have plenty of more expendable and better defensive players who can play the position and one of them will nail it down soon enough without risking injury to a potential MOB and cornerstone player.

It makes no sense.

I agree. Sometimes it makes no sense at all. I feel like a lonely sailor out to sea.

[Goldfan]

1. Herrera Catching

2. Walker starting in RF

3. Pallante SP

4. With Herrera Catching no formidable bat at DH. Who is the DH?

To my knowledge, Oli has never indicated that Herrera will be the primary catcher for 2026. Most think Pages will catch more games than any player on the roster.
Herrera will get starts behind the plate as it allows his bat to play while having a ‘bat’ in the DH spot rather than always having Ivan at DH which means Pages hittin 4 times at catcher, a much weaker bat.

The concern however is if Hererra sustains yet another injury in one of those starts then you lose perhaps your best bat for an extended period.

I understand the theory but you risk losing your best weapon so a lesser bat can sometimes play.

If the idea is a rebuild instead of trying to be competitive now then what is the point.

We have plenty of more expendable and better defensive players who can play the position and one of them will nail it down soon enough without risking injury to a potential MOB and cornerstone player.

It makes no sense.

I agree. Sometimes it makes no sense at all. I feel like a lonely sailor out to sea.

Shine On You Crazy Diamond….

[Talkin' Baseball]

1. Herrera Catching

2. Walker starting in RF

3. Pallante SP

4. With Herrera Catching no formidable bat at DH. Who is the DH?

I think catching is a chore. Herrera will be challenged. Walker is lost. Pallante makes a good number FIVE starter.

Gorman at third. Experiment four.

I’d like to the hear the winning strategy for IH behind the plate and JW in RF. Just don’t get it.

You use two strong words- winning, and strategy. I think you know the winning part, based on this rebuild.

As to strategy many areas could use a face lift.

Herrera had leg issues this Spring. So you take your best power bat and run the high risk of disabling him? Didn’t this same crew just move a poor D Offensive bat from behind home plate to 1B to capitalize on his offense???

Correct. They did/ and the Herrera debate will rage on till injury. It is disappointing that the org sees it this way.

Seems to me it the tail wagging the dog.

There is another thing at play here. As we all know, the Cardinals are rebuilding. We think of that in terms of rebuilding the roster, but more is being re-built than that. They are rebuilding their reputation. Very few will argue (though some knot-head will) that the Cardinals kind of screwed Herrera, Walker, Gorman over in the development process. The same could be said by Liberatore and other pitchers for the way they were developed. The Cardinals are doing the best they can after the fact to acknowledge and address their past shortcomings. Is it too little too late? Perhaps, but players appreciate the acknowledgement and notice the effort. This is also evident in the surgeries that were done last offseason. Herrera's elbow, Nootbaar's heals, and Clarke's shoulder are probably not things that would have been found or addressed in the past. The organization has been proactive and been willing to take short-term setbacks to address player's long-term health.

Hopefully going forward things will be addressed as they come up and we won't be watching a whole backlog of issues to deal with simultaneously.

These things will help the Cardinals in the future to be thought of by players as a good organization to play for.

[ecleme22]

1. Herrera Catching

2. Walker starting in RF

3. Pallante SP

4. With Herrera Catching no formidable bat at DH. Who is the DH?

To my knowledge, Oli has never indicated that Herrera will be the primary catcher for 2026. Most think Pages will catch more games than any player on the roster.
Herrera will get starts behind the plate as it allows his bat to play while having a ‘bat’ in the DH spot rather than always having Ivan at DH which means Pages hittin 4 times at catcher, a much weaker bat.

The concern however is if Hererra sustains yet another injury in one of those starts then you lose perhaps your best bat for an extended period.

I understand the theory but you risk losing your best weapon so a lesser bat can sometimes play.

If the idea is a rebuild instead of trying to be competitive now then what is the point.

We have plenty of more expendable and better defensive players who can play the position and one of them will nail it down soon enough without risking injury to a potential MOB and cornerstone player.

It makes no sense.

Well, if the point is to rebuild, then it makes complete sense to give IH one more shot at C.

[Goldfan]

1. Herrera Catching

2. Walker starting in RF

3. Pallante SP

4. With Herrera Catching no formidable bat at DH. Who is the DH?

To my knowledge, Oli has never indicated that Herrera will be the primary catcher for 2026. Most think Pages will catch more games than any player on the roster.
Herrera will get starts behind the plate as it allows his bat to play while having a ‘bat’ in the DH spot rather than always having Ivan at DH which means Pages hittin 4 times at catcher, a much weaker bat.

The concern however is if Hererra sustains yet another injury in one of those starts then you lose perhaps your best bat for an extended period.

I understand the theory but you risk losing your best weapon so a lesser bat can sometimes play.

If the idea is a rebuild instead of trying to be competitive now then what is the point.

We have plenty of more expendable and better defensive players who can play the position and one of them will nail it down soon enough without risking injury to a potential MOB and cornerstone player.

It makes no sense.

Well, if the point is to rebuild, then it makes complete sense to give IH one more shot at C.

So “rebuild” is just a cover or excuse to continue with stupid baseball decisions? IH as extensive history of leg injuries that keep him out of the lineup for long periods, he’s not very good at catching, and he was OUT a week ago with knee inflammation. Have you ever squatted for a couple hours requiring sudden burst of lateral movement? Some has the genetic gift(Yadi) to do this….others don’t. So what’s the upside? Having a C who can’t throw with the great probability that his taken out of lineup??

[ecleme22]

1. Herrera Catching

2. Walker starting in RF

3. Pallante SP

4. With Herrera Catching no formidable bat at DH. Who is the DH?

To my knowledge, Oli has never indicated that Herrera will be the primary catcher for 2026. Most think Pages will catch more games than any player on the roster.
Herrera will get starts behind the plate as it allows his bat to play while having a ‘bat’ in the DH spot rather than always having Ivan at DH which means Pages hittin 4 times at catcher, a much weaker bat.

The concern however is if Hererra sustains yet another injury in one of those starts then you lose perhaps your best bat for an extended period.

I understand the theory but you risk losing your best weapon so a lesser bat can sometimes play.

If the idea is a rebuild instead of trying to be competitive now then what is the point.

We have plenty of more expendable and better defensive players who can play the position and one of them will nail it down soon enough without risking injury to a potential MOB and cornerstone player.

It makes no sense.

Well, if the point is to rebuild, then it makes complete sense to give IH one more shot at C.

So “rebuild” is just a cover or excuse to continue with stupid baseball decisions? IH as extensive history of leg injuries that keep him out of the lineup for long periods, he’s not very good at catching, and he was OUT a week ago with knee inflammation. Have you ever squatted for a couple hours requiring sudden burst of lateral movement? Some has the genetic gift(Yadi) to do this….others don’t. So what’s the upside? Having a C who can’t throw with the great probability that his taken out of lineup??

Yes, I used to catch.

But the ones who know more about it than us are IH and the Cards coaching staff.

Let IH try out catching again. He can always me moved off…

[Goldfan]

1. Herrera Catching

2. Walker starting in RF

3. Pallante SP

4. With Herrera Catching no formidable bat at DH. Who is the DH?

To my knowledge, Oli has never indicated that Herrera will be the primary catcher for 2026. Most think Pages will catch more games than any player on the roster.
Herrera will get starts behind the plate as it allows his bat to play while having a ‘bat’ in the DH spot rather than always having Ivan at DH which means Pages hittin 4 times at catcher, a much weaker bat.

The concern however is if Hererra sustains yet another injury in one of those starts then you lose perhaps your best bat for an extended period.

I understand the theory but you risk losing your best weapon so a lesser bat can sometimes play.

If the idea is a rebuild instead of trying to be competitive now then what is the point.

We have plenty of more expendable and better defensive players who can play the position and one of them will nail it down soon enough without risking injury to a potential MOB and cornerstone player.

It makes no sense.

Well, if the point is to rebuild, then it makes complete sense to give IH one more shot at C.

So “rebuild” is just a cover or excuse to continue with stupid baseball decisions? IH as extensive history of leg injuries that keep him out of the lineup for long periods, he’s not very good at catching, and he was OUT a week ago with knee inflammation. Have you ever squatted for a couple hours requiring sudden burst of lateral movement? Some has the genetic gift(Yadi) to do this….others don’t. So what’s the upside? Having a C who can’t throw with the great probability that his taken out of lineup??

Yes, I used to catch.

But the ones who know more about it than us are IH and the Cards coaching staff.

Let IH try out catching again. He can always me moved off…

This experiment has run before……we’ve seen it

[ecleme22]

1. Herrera Catching

2. Walker starting in RF

3. Pallante SP

4. With Herrera Catching no formidable bat at DH. Who is the DH?

To my knowledge, Oli has never indicated that Herrera will be the primary catcher for 2026. Most think Pages will catch more games than any player on the roster.
Herrera will get starts behind the plate as it allows his bat to play while having a ‘bat’ in the DH spot rather than always having Ivan at DH which means Pages hittin 4 times at catcher, a much weaker bat.

The concern however is if Hererra sustains yet another injury in one of those starts then you lose perhaps your best bat for an extended period.

I understand the theory but you risk losing your best weapon so a lesser bat can sometimes play.

If the idea is a rebuild instead of trying to be competitive now then what is the point.

We have plenty of more expendable and better defensive players who can play the position and one of them will nail it down soon enough without risking injury to a potential MOB and cornerstone player.

It makes no sense.

Well, if the point is to rebuild, then it makes complete sense to give IH one more shot at C.

So “rebuild” is just a cover or excuse to continue with stupid baseball decisions? IH as extensive history of leg injuries that keep him out of the lineup for long periods, he’s not very good at catching, and he was OUT a week ago with knee inflammation. Have you ever squatted for a couple hours requiring sudden burst of lateral movement? Some has the genetic gift(Yadi) to do this….others don’t. So what’s the upside? Having a C who can’t throw with the great probability that his taken out of lineup??

Yes, I used to catch.

But the ones who know more about it than us are IH and the Cards coaching staff.

Let IH try out catching again. He can always me moved off…

This experiment has run before……we’ve seen it

Well, not really. Molina and Contreras prevented a long look. And IH was quickly taken off of C last year.

Do I think IH is a good catcher? No, not what I’ve seen so far. But if he wants to try it again, why not? This is the type of year where you do it.

[Cusecards]

I agree that Herrera is not the future at Catching.
If I had to bet it would lean Bernal/Rodriguez neither of whom is in the picture at the moment.
I personally would DH Herrera to prevent injury.
Possibly also try LF.

[11WSChamps]

1. Herrera Catching

2. Walker starting in RF

3. Pallante SP

4. With Herrera Catching no formidable bat at DH. Who is the DH?

To my knowledge, Oli has never indicated that Herrera will be the primary catcher for 2026. Most think Pages will catch more games than any player on the roster.
Herrera will get starts behind the plate as it allows his bat to play while having a ‘bat’ in the DH spot rather than always having Ivan at DH which means Pages hittin 4 times at catcher, a much weaker bat.

The concern however is if Hererra sustains yet another injury in one of those starts then you lose perhaps your best bat for an extended period.

I understand the theory but you risk losing your best weapon so a lesser bat can sometimes play.

If the idea is a rebuild instead of trying to be competitive now then what is the point.

We have plenty of more expendable and better defensive players who can play the position and one of them will nail it down soon enough without risking injury to a potential MOB and cornerstone player.

It makes no sense.

Well, if the point is to rebuild, then it makes complete sense to give IH one more shot at C.

No it doesn't.

How many middle order bats are in the pipeline?

Right now..none.

Please don't show your lack of knowledge and say Baez who hasn't even played AAA or Rodriguez who
Is probably at least two years away.

[dugoutrex]

we are in tank mode and are going to lose 90+ games - why does it matter?

[rockondlouie]

Oli has very little impact on roster construction. Again, Oli is a decision IMPLEMENTER. Decision on rosters, lineups, pitching rotations, in-game strategy, are made by a cooperative management committee. Oli has a voice on that committee, but THE voice belongs to the committee. Oli’s role is to implement those decisions and face the media.

Is that the norm across the league or just in STL.

Bernie shot this down a couple months ago, he said Oli has told him personally that Oli and Oli alone makes out the lineup card, he and Dusty the pitching rotation.

The "committee" may provide the stats but Oli makes out the lineup card.

Given Oli's stupid lineup constructions we've seen since his hire I wish the "committee" was making out the lineup.