BrummerStealsHome wrote: ↑06 Aug 2025 10:11 am
The first thing the Cardinals should have done entering this (don't call it a) rebuild is replace the coaching staff. But this organization has gone overboard with loyalty and did not do so. Their hitting approach remains poor and their pitching approach ruins pitchers. Look at Fernandez. He was effective in the minors, came up throwing effectively, then for some friggin' reason decided to change his delivery and he's sucked ever since. Hello?!
I see some Cardinals are hitting okay. Why didn't the Cardinal coaches mess Donovan, Winn, and Herrera up too?
Maybe the problem is Walker?
Two problems with that thining:
1) It does not follow that if they mess up one player, or some players, that they mess up all. They don't have the same approach to everyone. No one does, the good or the bad.
2) Who's to say they haven't messed up these guys anyway? We don't know. Would Winn be a .300 hitter? etc.?
Two good points.
I had thought of the first one, but maybe different coaches would only mess up different hitters and the results, overall, might be the same? Your second point I hadn't though of. Maybe Winn would be an All Star if he had better coaches? Maybe, but I doubt we'll even know the answer.
Absolut wrote: ↑06 Aug 2025 12:04 pm
He went to azfl and did very well.
Next spring he started strong (against low level pitching) and faded.
Cards in need of a bat jumped the gun and brought him up and tried to mess with his swing and approach while he tried to learn to be an everyday mlb hitter and learn a new position.
They mind (bleep) him and set him up to fail.
To bring him up far too soon before he'd proved himself in the minors, then watch him tie or break or whatever it was the rookie record for most consecutive games with a hit to start a career and THEN, less than a month later publicly state Walker's swing needs to be modified for him to stop hitting so many ground balls ... I've literally NEVER heard of such atrocious coaching and management.
And now they've doubled down on their original mistake so many times they refuse to admit error and I guess "waste" his last option by sending him down. Should have NEVER been made public that his swing needed an overhaul. Should have NEVER tried to overhaul that swing at the MLB level. Should have NEVER rushed him back to MLB every time he had a stretch of 5 games where he looked as though he was putting it together.
Should have been left at AAA last season until he started dominating down there like every other prospect.
This organization has become an abomination. Who would have ever thought this franchise could fall so far so fast after the last 20 years.
Worst part is, they did it to themselves and have no one to blame but the reflection in the mirror.
You made a great point ! To this day , I can't figure out the 'his swing needs to be modify for too many ground balls , etc.
Considering all the ground balls , there were 16 'ground balls' that went for HR's his rookie year. That's not too shabby for a rookie player.
Secondly , yes I saw a lot of ground balls .. Many hard smashes got between the infielders for base hits. There must have been quite that got thru as he hit .276 his 1st year. That average was higher than both Goldy and Arenado. The way the organization handled that whole 'needs to improve his launch angle and change things certainly didn't work out . How do you hit 16 HR's your rookie year and then complaints come you need to change your swing. It wasn't like he was hitting . 201 .. the guy hit .276 Cmon !
He’s young enough to have just been drafted. He only spent 2 full seasons in the minors, which was a mistake. In the bigs he has played games equivalent to one and a half seasons and he has right at 900 major league at bats. With his athleticism and potential it would be idiotic to trade him. Which will be what each and every one of the “trade him!” dolts will call the front office when he blossoms somewhere else.
Southern Illinois wrote: ↑07 Aug 2025 16:50 pm
He’s young enough to have just been drafted. He only spent 2 full seasons in the minors, which was a mistake. In the bigs he has played games equivalent to one and a half seasons and he has right at 900 major league at bats. With his athleticism and potential it would be idiotic to trade him. Which will be what each and every one of the “trade him!” dolts will call the front office when he blossoms somewhere else.
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Some say he never proved himself in the minors . Guess they never looked back at his stats . After starting well at Palm Beach 27 games .344, he then went to High A Peoria Hit. .292 with 8 HR's in just 55 games . Then as a 20 year old (2 years behind most guys at that level ), he was at AA Springfield playing in 119 games hitting .306 with 19 HR's . He was voted the Texas League (AA) 2022 Top MLB prospect that year . So he certainly proved himself in the minors.
Some claim he should have not been brought up in 2023 . That he should have played a lot of games or the whole year at AAA Memphis .
He was brought up and his rookie year , he hit .276 with 16 HR's Pretty impressive for a 21 year old rookie.
Other teams have promoted guys with very little AAA background too. Look at Brewers Jackson Chourio .. At age 19 , the Brewers moved him 3 levels in just that year 2022 A, A+, and AA Most of that year was A & HighA with 6 games at AA . then in 2023, he started in AA played 122 games that year. He played jut 6 games at AAA Nashville.
So with practically no AAA under his belt (6 games )in 2023 , the Brewers brought him up to The Show on March 29, 2004 just 18 days after his 20th birthday . Chourio hit .275 (1 pt. less than Walker ) had 21 HR's (5 more than Walker but in 148 games ..Walker's 16 HR's were in 117 games )
So fairly comparable rookie seasons , yet don't remember fans saying he was rushed to the majors, that he should have played many more games at AAA Nashville 'to prove himself', etc.
For some reason , the Cardinals decided to make major ? changes to Walker's hitting while it seems the Brewers let Chourio evolve and learn as he played more games.
If a youngster comes up and then falters in his 2nd year like Walker did , then he is labeled as 'he was rushed ' . Guess you are only rushed if you fall off after having a good rookie year. Two young guys coming up with very little to no AAA experience, guess they were both rushed !
For those using 'the rushed' , then the Brewers should have played Chourio last year at AAA Nashville for most all the year .
11WSChamps wrote: ↑08 Aug 2025 06:33 am
I said this at the time when he was brought up.
This is what happens after years of not having a productive corner OF bat.
Thet threw him into that role and it failed miserably.
And this incompetent ownership still doesn't have one.
+1...Mo-ran's legacy will be this roster and the inability to recognize the many holes in the lineup. And Walker may just be as good as everyone hoped...
I see him as a high contact, but low power, hitter. He’ll disappoint on that latter point, similar to how Jason Hayward disappointed many who expected more.
He’ll become, like Hayward, a journeyman outfielder. Highest potential may be a couple of years achieving a .270 average, 20 HRs, 70 rbis. That wouldn’t be too bad.
The Nard wrote: ↑08 Aug 2025 06:55 am
I see him as a high contact, but low power, hitter. He’ll disappoint on that latter point, similar to how Jason Hayward disappointed many who expected more.
He’ll become, like Hayward, a journeyman outfielder. Highest potential may be a couple of years achieving a .270 average, 20 HRs, 70 rbis. That wouldn’t be too bad.
I've made the comparison between JW and Jason Hayward myself. That would be an ok career arc for Walker, but I'd really like to see him connect with his swing of a few years ago. We would all love for him to mature into a MOTO thumper.
In his last 123 PAs, he's hitting .284/.325/.397/.722. If that is the true measure of his ability, then he basically been hitting like Garry Maddox did for his career --.285/.320/.413/.733. Maddox, of course, was a perennial gold glove centerfielder and a fairly proficient base stealer. If the last 123 PAs represents Walker's skills, then even that is pretty ho-hum, demonstrating less power than Maddox who was by no stretch a power hitter.
nighthawk wrote: ↑08 Aug 2025 07:58 am
In his last 123 PAs, he's hitting .284/.325/.397/.722. If that is the true measure of his ability, then he basically been hitting like Garry Maddox did for his career --.285/.320/.413/.733. Maddox, of course, was a perennial gold glove centerfielder and a fairly proficient base stealer. If the last 123 PAs represents Walker's skills, then even that is pretty ho-hum, demonstrating less power than Maddox who was by no stretch a power hitter.
Sarge was a good player I recall. Isn’t this a reasonable good expectation.
timoevans wrote: ↑06 Aug 2025 09:58 am
He looks like a great guy. It is terrible that we do not have anyone that can teach him to hit the right way? Another wasted talent. Carlson #2
Why did you have to remind me of the horrid Carlson during my morning coffee?
If I had to watch him flail in his LH ABs one more time... I still see teams are allowing him to hit LH even though it has been an abysmal failure in his pathetic 6 year career.
But back to Walker, I have no clue what it's going to take to get him going. Maybe he will never get going for an extended period of time. He's only 23 but seems like he's been around for a long time, and not in a good way.
