Reds righty Michael Lorenzen’s August 19 home run soon after the death of his father Clif was the most notable highlight of the team’s season. But Lorenzen’s father was troubled by substance abuse, and their relationship was complex, as the Cincinnati Enquirer’s Zach Buchanan writes in a long piece about what that home run meant. After Lorenzen’s father left when he was 12, Lorenzen began getting into trouble himself, and his older brother, Jonathan, had his own pro baseball career derailed when the Dodgers released him after he allegedly had sexual intercourse with a 15-year-old girl at their Spring Training site. Michael Lorenzen cites finding faith as a teenager as a turning point in his life. Now, Lorenzen looks back at his home run — which came in the seventh inning of a 9-2 win against the Dodgers — as evidence that his father’s death had a purpose, as he frequently receives messages from fans telling him that moment was an inspiration to them. Here’s more from the NL Central.
- The Pirates expect that third baseman Jung Ho Kang will not attempt to move his February 22 court date in South Korea and will therefore miss the beginning of Spring Training, Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review writes. The Bucs’ acquisition of fellow infielder Phil Gosselin from the Diamondbacks on Friday was made with the expectation that Kang would be out indefinitely as he faces trial for driving drunk and leaving the scene of a DUI crash. Kang’s arrest in early December was his third DUI arrest in South Korea. The Gosselin trade “does serve as insurance (for Kang’s absence) if needed,” says Pirates GM Neal Huntington. “But we also have been looking for an extra right-handed hitter, and Gosselin is a guy who can play multiple positions.”
- Cardinals manager Mike Matheny is unimpressed by Baseball Prospectus’ recent PECOTA projection that his team would finish a disappointing 76-86 this season, Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes. “That’s unbelievable. Yeah, I saw it. I hope the guys saw it, too,” Matheny says. “I just want to make sure our guys take a good look around and see what we really are and what we have. We’ve got guys who are motivated. Guys have an edge as to how it finished last year. We’ve got the makings of a fun, fun season.” Matheny says his team will pay increased attention to defensive coaching in Spring Training this year, and it seems part of his plan for improving in 2017 will be getting better defensive performances from his infielders. He notes that many of his infielders (such as Aledmys Diaz and Kolten Wong) enter the upcoming season with what could be valuable extra years of experience, and points out that other players, such as Jedd Gyorko and Randal Grichuk, played positions last season at which they had limited big-league experience. Gyorko could return to a roving role this year. The offseason signing of Dexter Fowler will bump Grichuk back to a corner outfield spot.
- Cardinals lefty Marco Gonzales threw from a mound on Friday for the first time in almost a year, Hummel also notes. Gonzales had Tommy John surgery in April and also missed much of the 2015 season due to injury. The former first-round draft pick hopes to pitch in game action by May. That timeline (which presumably would include a rehab assignment) would have him back on an active roster (whether that’s in Triple-A Memphis or in St. Louis) by early summer.
The Cards have to have some major injuries to drop another 12 wins via runs with the same roster plus Fowler this year.
Yeah, Pecota is pretty much useless garbage. I think they had KC as a sub-.500 team in 2015 (WS title).
Kang’s a good hitter pirates need him. if it’s his 3rd conviction he’s looking at a year in the clink at least if South Korea’s penalties are similar to U.S.
3rd DUI plus leaving the scene of an accident? He’d be lucky with a year. Of course, he’s a rich celeb, soooo…
Actually a year is standard. Knew a guy who had 7 before he went to jail. And he wasn’t a rich celeb, soooo…
Lorenzen’s story is remarkable. It’s an inspirational account that Zach Buchanan wrote well. I highly recommend it.
Cards will come in 3rd in the central this year, fire matheny, then slide to last in ’18.
Lol
I’m printing your post plem24 and putting the paper in an envelope. I will need your address so I can mail it to you at the end of the season. Looking forward to hearing you eat those words. Lol
Yup. You’re an idiot
One could only hope.
Lmao
Braves could probably send Sean Rodriguez back to the Buccos for a prospect. Do N Ever Ask Us
I think the Cardinals could take the Cubs in the division. NOW WAIT, yes u there, do not freak out. Let me explain. The cardinals rotation may be as good *WHEN HEALTHY* as the Cubs.(considering wacha returns to form and Waino steps it up). I know that’s a lot to ask, but it’s very possible. The cards have a good lineup and, if Wong steps it up, the team will head in the right direction
If the Cubs are healthy, they will win the division.
But that’s okay! I don’t know why so many people think there’s no point in trying if they’re not as good as the Cubs. Hopefully they can compete all year. If not, there’s plenty to be excited about with young players and the farm system. There’s way too much panic about the Cardinals.
Well said stl
And remember what happened when a healthy Mets played a healthy Cubs in 2015 postseason: sweep!
Even if their rotation is as good, how do you make up for the difference in positional players? The cubs are better than stl at pretty much every position. For example, the projections have the cubs’ position players as 10 wins better thank stl’s. You can disagree with projections if you wish, but I still think you’d be hard pressed to make a legit argument for the cards position players being equal or better than the cubs.
The Cards still have better overall players at C, CF, and RF; and if Diaz’s defense improves perhaps SS as well.
Yes, I do consider Piscotty to be a better overall player than Heyward, even if Heyward’s bat returns to its usual level. They’re both pretty good contact hitters who get on base at a good clip (with a slight advantage to Heyward), but Piscotty has a lot more power and is still young and inexperienced enough that he could easily get even better. Heyward’s RF defense is unmatched, but Piscotty is also a well above-average defender with a great arm. I don’t see Heyward’s defensive advantage as being enough to offset Piscotty’s advantage with the bat.
Molina has been declining, would not be at all surprised if the cubs’ catchers outproduce stl and they are projected to be equal to them (3.0 cards vs 3.1 cubs). You can think what you want about piscotty, gonna disagree though, and if Diaz’s defense improves you can revisit the performance of the players, but with how it stands, he’s not better than russell until he shows he can be.
Even using your arguments, that’s still only 3 of 8 positions and they are still going to be out produced as an overall lineup by the cubs’.
lol. well 3 of 8 is only one player shy of half. wording and subjectivity are a wonderful thing, are they not?
Lot of ifs in that statement
The Cards are a big bag of suck. They had several players perform well above themselves last year and still finished 20 games out. They will cling to second and miss the playoffs by a healthy margin. Culture can only cover up so much mediocrity.
Who besides a couple of the bench players and perhaps Diaz played above themselves last year? Meanwhile, they were riddled with injuries, and Grichuk, Wong, Peralta, Wainwright, Leake, and Rosenthal all played below themselves.
Yes, I to want to know who over played their talent? Diaz, sure. Outside of him though?
And Diaz is probably what he was after may 1 (.275/.350/.465)
Like your comments
I too read the story about Michael Lorenzen. It is very inspirational and well worth finding out why he plays baseball- and it has nothing to do with the money. I am very impressed with this young man and wish him well in the future.
Absolutely sickening that Pittsburgh has not released Kang. What would it take- killing someone in a drunken crash? That easily could have been the case last time. Every day that goes by & he’s still on their roster continues to show the moral ground that their front office and ownership stands on.
Full disclosure: I am a Pirates fan, and a big fan of Jung Ho Kang the player (not so much the immature person he apparently is):
First off, Kang pretty obviously needs to grow up. I’m just as concerned, if not more so, about the pending sexual assault case against him…. which seems to be taking forever to investigate. The little I have read about that case made it seem extremely fishy and possibly a whole lot of nothing, but regardless Kang is putting himself into a lot of stupid situations and not handling them well at all.
Second, let’s be honest here: between Kang’s talent and the money that the Bucs invested in him, they are going to let the legal system run its course and give Kang every opportunity to be cleared. It’s the nature of the business that a starter is going to get more rope than a minor-leaguer.
Third, remember that Frank Coonelly, Pirates president, got embarrassed and could have lost his job by being arrested for a DUI a few years ago. He was very public about appreciating his chance to redeem to himself and get another chance.. Obviously, Kang has had more than one DUI, but I think Coonelly also had more than one before this most recent one, his first in his current job… though I could be wrong.
All in all, I have nothing against your reaction, otto, and if the Pirates released or traded Kang I would understand and support it. But I hope instead that Kang finally gets it, is absolved of anything he should be innocent of, is punished for what he should be, and goes on to stay out of trouble and continue to succeed as a Pirate.
The Patriots would just sign him.
Hahaha. Nice. And true.
Don’t worry once he gets out of jail he’ll end up on the Rangers roster.
Yeah, that is a pretty ridiculous projection for the Cardinals. Even if they’re hit with a similar number of injuries as the last two years, they should still finish above .500 for the 10th straight season.
I mean, I know that they don’t have the firepower that the Cubs have, but a losing record? I’d be shocked if that happened
i don’t expect the cubs to repeat last years almost injury free year or the cardinals to be decimated by injuries. that will even up the standings. that’s why they play the games on the field and not on paper.
Agree, and can’t wait to watch!
Cardinals will be battling it out with the Pirates and the Brewers for 2nd. All 3 of those teams will be 20 games behind the Cubs.
Um, I like the Crew as much as the next guy (have family up there), but battling for second? I would be pretty shocked.
Brewers fighting for second is nonsense. Nice try tho
Cards have basically same horrible pitching and defense of last year plus the departures of Holiday and Moss and only adding Fowler and now force feeding Wong at second who stinks how are we gonna be better than last year let alone catch the Cubs?? DeCheap just signed a 1.1 billion dollar tv deal and did practically nothing to help his club. But the 40k sheep will keep crossing the gates every night because he knows they will still feed the pot of gold. Wake up and boycott the stadium. That’s only way DeCheap will open his pockets. Playing second fiddle to the Cubs is unbearable!!
“Cardinals Nonplussed By Underwhelming 2017 Projection”
Since you’re journalists: “In standard use, nonplussed means ‘surprised and confused’: the hostility of the new neighbor’s refusal left Mrs. Walker nonplussed. In North American English, a new use has developed in recent years, meaning ‘unperturbed’—more or less the opposite of its traditional meaning: hoping to disguise his confusion, he tried to appear nonplussed. This new use probably arose on the assumption that non- was the normal negative prefix and must therefore have a negative meaning. It is not considered part of standard English.”
I think those cubs fans who have all the big predictions about what the talking heads are saying probably think that no one should play the games. I think those fans should act like they have only won one World Series in many years. Repeat and then we will listen.