Mathews up, Svanson down, Hence DFA

[Cusecards]

Too bad for Hence of course. I’ll always remember someone saying “the human arm was not meant to throw a baseball”.
As for Svanson? He may be the biggest enigma of 2026 as he was SO good in 2025!
I’m sure he has options beyond 2026? It’ll be interesting to see how long his leash is???

[moose-and-squirrel]

Too bad for Hence of course. I’ll always remember someone saying “the human arm was not meant to throw a baseball”.
As for Svanson? He may be the biggest enigma of 2026 as he was SO good in 2025!
I’m sure he has options beyond 2026? It’ll be interesting to see how long his leash is???

indeed, not meant to be thrown overhand.. shoulders don't like that

[cosmo.kramer]

About time on Svanson.

Though curious to see if this means Liberatore is finally going to the bullpen

But I thought Hence was one of the premium young talents in the Cards organization? What happened? He was going to be with the mythical juggernaut that they're going to build from cost controlled minor league players. Just shows the whole lose, draft, lose, draft blah blah is untenable. Some young players here and there can really fit in and help but they shouldn't be the only focus when competing. You build a team with known talent and fill in the gaps with young talent. You don't build a team with young talent and fill in the gaps with veterans, especially waiver wire veterans. Then when a young star transcends, you open a spot for him by trading someone blocking him. I know it might seem like semantics but one way gives you the chance to compete year in and year out, the other way involves tons of losing.

Hurt his shoulder

Exactly. That's why you can't count on the ascension of young players to elevate your club alone. You have to buy premium talent when you can. You don't have to spend Dodger money, but you do have to spend money. Not gut payroll.

That's the risk with pitchers at any age

[Cusecards]

Too bad for Hence of course. I’ll always remember someone saying “the human arm was not meant to throw a baseball”.
As for Svanson? He may be the biggest enigma of 2026 as he was SO good in 2025!
I’m sure he has options beyond 2026? It’ll be interesting to see how long his leash is???

indeed, not meant to be thrown overhand.. shoulders don't like that

Interesting point which made me think:
How many girls softball pitchers hurt their arms??

[rockondlouie]

He'll only get the proverbial "bag of balls" for him but I'd expect Hence gets dealt.

[moose-and-squirrel]

He'll only get the proverbial "bag of balls" for him but I'd expect Hence gets dealt.

maybe an add on in another trade

[craviduce]

Hence lost 8 to 9mph on his fastball and other pitches.

He's toast, done...there's nothing he can do but try and recover with rest for a long time. He'll likely get some of to mph back, but it'll take a while, and we already wasted a 40man on him this season. We lost pitcher after pitcher to DFA in May, June and July b/c we had NO room on the 40 man. The cut should've come before this season...kudos on the PR side for Cards Org, sticking with a player. It looks good going forward with free agents.

Real shame, b/c he had the best stuff in the minors between 2021 and 2024...best we had seen in a LONG TIME. His body couldn't handle how he threw

[okcardfan]

Thus a team may prefer to draft pitchers out of college and who have some height and bulk to them, in general.

[CorneliusWolfe]

About time on Svanson.

Though curious to see if this means Liberatore is finally going to the bullpen

But I thought Hence was one of the premium young talents in the Cards organization? What happened? He was going to be with the mythical juggernaut that they're going to build from cost controlled minor league players. Just shows the whole lose, draft, lose, draft blah blah is untenable. Some young players here and there can really fit in and help but they shouldn't be the only focus when competing. You build a team with known talent and fill in the gaps with young talent. You don't build a team with young talent and fill in the gaps with veterans, especially waiver wire veterans. Then when a young star transcends, you open a spot for him by trading someone blocking him. I know it might seem like semantics but one way gives you the chance to compete year in and year out, the other way involves tons of losing.

Save your breath, or should I say thumbs. The hyperventilating prospect geek fraternity will ALWAYS find a new hero on the horizon to justify losing just a few more years before magically turning from losers to champs overnight. You just wait…it will be glorious!

[Ozziesfan41]

About time on Svanson.

Though curious to see if this means Liberatore is finally going to the bullpen

But I thought Hence was one of the premium young talents in the Cards organization? What happened? He was going to be with the mythical juggernaut that they're going to build from cost controlled minor league players. Just shows the whole lose, draft, lose, draft blah blah is untenable. Some young players here and there can really fit in and help but they shouldn't be the only focus when competing. You build a team with known talent and fill in the gaps with young talent. You don't build a team with young talent and fill in the gaps with veterans, especially waiver wire veterans. Then when a young star transcends, you open a spot for him by trading someone blocking him. I know it might seem like semantics but one way gives you the chance to compete year in and year out, the other way involves tons of losing.

Your way is the losing way. The correct way is to build A young core and then bring in the veterans to fill the needs. The cubs did it won a World Series astros did it won the World Series Red Sox did it won the World Series. Royals did it won the World Series. The only team you talk about that is successful doing it your way is the dodgers and they have the best drafting and development system around. The others who do it your way are the padres angels and Mets and they haven’t won anything but I guess they are trying lol I mean you think a .713 ops guy would be a savior for the cardinals just because he’s making 35 million a year

[icon]

What a flop Hence turned out to be.

I hate fastball/changeup pitchers. Gastelum is the latest.

[RunSup]

Hence lost 8 to 9mph on his fastball and other pitches.

He's toast, done...there's nothing he can do but try and recover with rest for a long time. He'll likely get some of to mph back, but it'll take a while, and we already wasted a 40man on him this season. We lost pitcher after pitcher to DFA in May, June and July b/c we had NO room on the 40 man. The cut should've come before this season...kudos on the PR side for Cards Org, sticking with a player. It looks good going forward with free agents.

Real shame, b/c he had the best stuff in the minors between 2021 and 2024...best we had seen in a LONG TIME. His body couldn't handle how he threw

Disappointing and I feel bad for Tink.

I thought he was going to pivot well into a high leverage reliever. The Cardinals obviously need multiple of those type of arms.

Part of me thinks they will pull him back off waivers after they open a couple of spots at the trading deadline. But I am in the Bargaining stage of grief.

[CCard]

About time on Svanson.

Though curious to see if this means Liberatore is finally going to the bullpen

But I thought Hence was one of the premium young talents in the Cards organization? What happened? He was going to be with the mythical juggernaut that they're going to build from cost controlled minor league players. Just shows the whole lose, draft, lose, draft blah blah is untenable. Some young players here and there can really fit in and help but they shouldn't be the only focus when competing. You build a team with known talent and fill in the gaps with young talent. You don't build a team with young talent and fill in the gaps with veterans, especially waiver wire veterans. Then when a young star transcends, you open a spot for him by trading someone blocking him. I know it might seem like semantics but one way gives you the chance to compete year in and year out, the other way involves tons of losing.

Your way is the losing way. The correct way is to build A young core and then bring in the veterans to fill the needs. The cubs did it won a World Series astros did it won the World Series Red Sox did it won the World Series. Royals did it won the World Series. The only team you talk about that is successful doing it your way is the dodgers and they have the best drafting and development system around. The others who do it your way are the padres angels and Mets and they haven’t won anything but I guess they are trying lol I mean you think a .713 ops guy would be a savior for the cardinals just because he’s making 35 million a year

You might want to check the history of a little team called the New York Yankees my bud. I'll stack up the championships with my teams against your teams any day. I would dare to say that the Red Sox won because they bought premium players. How long did that Cubs "dynasty" last? They were lucky to get that championship too. Many believe the Astro's won by cheating also. Of course one guy wouldn't be a savior for the team. But $100 million dollars worth of premium players would go a long way toward it.

[CCard]

About time on Svanson.

Though curious to see if this means Liberatore is finally going to the bullpen

But I thought Hence was one of the premium young talents in the Cards organization? What happened? He was going to be with the mythical juggernaut that they're going to build from cost controlled minor league players. Just shows the whole lose, draft, lose, draft blah blah is untenable. Some young players here and there can really fit in and help but they shouldn't be the only focus when competing. You build a team with known talent and fill in the gaps with young talent. You don't build a team with young talent and fill in the gaps with veterans, especially waiver wire veterans. Then when a young star transcends, you open a spot for him by trading someone blocking him. I know it might seem like semantics but one way gives you the chance to compete year in and year out, the other way involves tons of losing.

Save your breath, or should I say thumbs. The hyperventilating prospect geek fraternity will ALWAYS find a new hero on the horizon to justify losing just a few more years before magically turning from losers to champs overnight. You just wait…it will be glorious!

Indeed. They must protect that billionaire money. Keep that powder dry and grab that low hanging fruit. One day they'll magically transform into a dynasty.

[CCard]

About time on Svanson.

Though curious to see if this means Liberatore is finally going to the bullpen

But I thought Hence was one of the premium young talents in the Cards organization? What happened? He was going to be with the mythical juggernaut that they're going to build from cost controlled minor league players. Just shows the whole lose, draft, lose, draft blah blah is untenable. Some young players here and there can really fit in and help but they shouldn't be the only focus when competing. You build a team with known talent and fill in the gaps with young talent. You don't build a team with young talent and fill in the gaps with veterans, especially waiver wire veterans. Then when a young star transcends, you open a spot for him by trading someone blocking him. I know it might seem like semantics but one way gives you the chance to compete year in and year out, the other way involves tons of losing.

Hurt his shoulder

Exactly. That's why you can't count on the ascension of young players to elevate your club alone. You have to buy premium talent when you can. You don't have to spend Dodger money, but you do have to spend money. Not gut payroll.

That's the risk with pitchers at any age

Yep, but not just pitchers. Any player could take a misstep and never recover from it.

[CCard]

About time on Svanson.

Though curious to see if this means Liberatore is finally going to the bullpen

But I thought Hence was one of the premium young talents in the Cards organization? What happened? He was going to be with the mythical juggernaut that they're going to build from cost controlled minor league players. Just shows the whole lose, draft, lose, draft blah blah is untenable. Some young players here and there can really fit in and help but they shouldn't be the only focus when competing. You build a team with known talent and fill in the gaps with young talent. You don't build a team with young talent and fill in the gaps with veterans, especially waiver wire veterans. Then when a young star transcends, you open a spot for him by trading someone blocking him. I know it might seem like semantics but one way gives you the chance to compete year in and year out, the other way involves tons of losing.

Hence has been in the system six years. Long before the real emphasis on draft/develop.

His downfall was on a busted shoulder more than anything. Shoulders are tricky with pitchers. Sometimes you can fix them, sometimes it's pretty much the end.

Hence is far from the only pitcher to fail from the minor leagues. In fact a lot of major league pitchers fail also. That's why you go out and get solid free agents. Because development alone takes years and most don't pan out.