Cardinals right-hander Carlos Martinez has been a highly capable starter for most of tenure with the club, which dates back to 2013. But the Cardinals moved the then-injured Martinez to their bullpen in late April, and that’s where he’s going to stay for the time being, per manager Mike Shildt (via Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch). Shildt suggested the Cardinals don’t have time to build up Martinez, who opened the season on the injured list with shoulder problems. “To put him back in that cycle again doesn’t make a lot of sense when he’s in a spot where he’s had success and he’s recovering,” Shildt said of Martinez, who has totaled 12 appearances and 13 1/3 innings with a 3.38 ERA/3.47 FIP, 8.1 K/9, 2.7 BB/9 and a 58.3 percent groundball rate since he made his season debut May 18. Even though Martinez has posted good numbers as a reliever, the Cardinals’ rotation has missed the 27-year-old. Their starting staff has been mediocre or worse this season.
Here’s more from around the majors…
- The Rangers were planning on giving left-hander Joe Palumbo a chance to audition for a role in their thin rotation, but that may not be the case anymore, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News writes. The 22-year-old Palumbo has started twice, including in Wednesday’s 10-4 drubbing at the hands of the Indians. The Tribe lit up Palumbo for seven earned runs on six hits (two home runs) in two innings. Reliever Jesse Chavez came in after Palumbo and tossed five innings of one-run ball. Although Chavez, 35, hasn’t started extensively since 2017, the Rangers are so hard up for stability in the back of their rotation that they’ll “consider” shifting him there, manager Chris Woodward said.
- Orioles righty Dan Straily’s place on the team’s roster may be in jeopardy, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com suggests. The low-risk flier the club took on Straily on April 5, a little over a week after the Marlins released him, hasn’t worked out to this point. Straily, 30, was coming off a multiyear run as a useful starter when he joined Baltimore, yet he has worked to a hideous 9.82 ERA/9.30 FIP in 47 2/3 innings since then. While Straily began 2019 as a starter, his struggles convinced the O’s to demote him to their bullpen nearly a month ago. Straily has fared even worse in that role.
- Injured Tigers shortstop Jordy Mercer is nearing a rehab assignment and could return to the majors by the first week of July, according to manager Ron Gardenhire (via Chris McCosky of the Detroit News). Mercer, out since April 14 with a right quad strain, already began a rehab stint once. However, he suffered a setback three weeks ago and hasn’t returned to game action yet. When the rebuilding Tigers signed the soon-to-be 33-year-old Mercer to a $5.25MM guarantee in the offseason, they were likely hoping he’d perform well enough to emerge as a summer trade chip. Instead, the former Pirate got off to a brutal start – .206/.275/.317 (55 wRC+) in 69 plate appearances – and hasn’t played since.
Calling Cards rotation mediocre is an understatement. Only Hudson is treanding up. Everyone else has under performed horribly.
Reyes isnt close to being ready to fill in either.
No, no, no. Wainwright has been better than expected and fabulous. Haven’t you received the memo from Mozeliak and the media? 🙂 besides, Wainwright is a master at “teasing hitters” then throwing the perfect pitch. He’s teasing them right into 33 walks and just 58 Ks. Not to mention the 1.401 WHIP and ERA of 4.46.
Waino in rotation is a part of the problem.. One good game vs Cubs doesnt mean anything.
Mo has done his job, there is enough talent to compete. Players & fans cant blame this season on MM. Even though MM was a terrible manager
My Wainwright comment was sarcasm, and I have to disagree on Mozeliak doing his job. This group of players are boring and one dimensional. He has handed out horrible contracts and extensions. Every player thinks he’s a HR hitter. It’s comical. Jose Martinez in RF is a joke. Carpenter at leadoff is a joke. Wong thinks he’s Babe Ruth. Bader is now following the footsteps of arrogance he learned from Carpenter, Wong and Molina. He’s just a slightly better version of Peter Bourjos. The pitching has been overhyped now for years. Gant and Brebbia won’t have arms come August. And lastly, Schildt is nothing more than another puppet Mo has hired so nobody pushes back on him. Other than that, this team is awesome. They are kicking the shiite out of Miami and the Mets. 86 wins could win this division and don’t expect a WC to come from it either. Goldschmidt may already be regretting signing that contract.
I have to strongly disagree that these players are “one-dimensional.” The Cardinals lead the league in steals and have finally started playing really good defense again. How in the world is that one-dimensional? I count three dimensions if you include your claim that they are power-oriented.
How many of the Dodgers wins have come against bad teams? A win is a win, no matter who it comes against. Being only a couple of games out of first after playing a very bad month of May is a great place to be in, every teams go through ups and downs every year and they are going to gain some ground as soon as they hit an up.
Dodgers have 50 wins and a run differential of +126. I think they are doing just fine. I never said the Cards had power. I said every player thinks they are a HR hitter. You win. Their one dimension is stealing bases. Defense? Carpenter at 3rd, with Fowler or Martinez in RF, Ozuna in LF, and a washed up Molina behind the plate? Great defense? Just stop. This team is bad. The division is bad. Baseball in general has become bad.
I’ve watched 2 Cards games all year. The defense is definitely shaky. Cannot believe Ozuna won a gold glove. Then again, the gold glove has been rendered meaningless thanks to the many stiffs that have won one.
They’d almost be candidates to do a soft rebuild. Problem is they extended Carpenter and they’d have to take a bad contract in-return if they traded him. The only thing saving the Cards is their minor league development, otherwise they’d be on the brink of disaster.
Just how good is their minor league development? Judging by who they keep bringing, as far as position players go, I haven’t seen anyone any good. Agree on Gold Glove comment. This town is foaming at the mouth about Wong’s defense. He still looks like Timmy Lupus on the average play sometimes. The Carpenter, Molina, Mikolas, Fowler, Wainwright, Miller signings/extensions limit this team on what they can do. And Schildt has shown me he’s no smarter than Meathead.
How I judge the development is based on the late-round picks that have made a better contribution than expected based on draft position. They’ve also somehow found diamond in the rough-type guys. Some teams have 1st rounders that make an impact, St Louis has some nice 1st rounders (Wong, Wacha, Flaherty, Hudson). I’d say their impact players over the last 20 years aren’t the first round picks. Add some of the contributors over the years and that says development.
Also, Cards may have unlocked potential in Lane Thomas. He was about to be out of baseball or Korea-bound had he stayed in the Blue Jays system. Cards have given him hope which is a lot better than the alternative.
Kolten Wong has all the tools to be a perennial all-star at 2B. He is a headcase.
You hit the nail on the head with Wong. You can also add both Martinezes and Ozuna to that list. This team must get younger and more athletic in order to win, score runs and prevent runs.
That I agree. They don’t have Chris Carpenter, an unnamed unsung hero SP or Albert Pujols to bail them out.
Who hurt you
Apparently the entire city of St. Louis and all of its inhabitants. And definitely it’s members of the radio industry
Your fairly accurate
YOU’RE fairly illiterate, and the other clown, Cards81, is fairly a cat who snuggles up to Mozeliak’s every word.
Internet tough guy nick strikes again….
Was this message approved by Themed or Cards81? Negativity or reality of any kind is not tolerated by these two. It MUST be sunshine and Cardinal rainbows or it will be met with disdain.
Please, follow the process next time, or you may be banned. Thank you for your continued support of the best organization in the world.
This is so true. I’m guessing those two work as board operators for one of the local STL so called “sports” radio stations. One works for Sylvester Karraker and the other for Flip Miklasz. Either that, or they fetch coffee for Eddie Bauer Mozeliak.
Those two define the meaning of bias. All statements in favor of Cards are fact. All statement opposed are fiction. Can you imagine a general conversation with these two???
No. Most Cardinals fans can’t think for themselves. They listen to middle aged men on the radio who have no clue other than regurgitating memos sent to them from Mozeliak. The broadcasts are equally as bad. My favorite is the once a week comment that has been going on for 8 weeks now. “Carpenter looks like he’s ready to go on a tear and carry this club.”
I’m with you on the peddlers on everyone but Miklasz. He is pretty balanced when it comes to them. He doesn’t buy their PR propaganda.
Flip Miklasz? You mean the guy who praised Matheny for years but now rips him every chance he can now that he’s gone? That guy? Miklasz will kiss anyone’s azz. He’s been doing it for years. He and that girl have the 4th worst radio show in town. The top 3 are Stalter, Wheeler and Karraker shows. McKernan and Cusumano round out the worst 6.
First off I live in Idaho and never ever have listened to local St. Louis radio. So, as is so often the case you are incorrect. Second, no matter how many times you proport that someone on this site has said Waino has pitched fabulously in 2019, no one has. The depth of your dishonesty increases daily. Neither I nor you have any idea if Carpenter will go on a second half tear like last year. The same can be said for Goldschmidt. And contrary to your absurd assessment that DeJong is a yawn, he is becoming a NL star. He currently sports either the 3rd or 4th highest WAR in the NL. Again your judgement fails. I have no idea what you are saying about about arrogance and Carpenter, probably just a cheap shot. Carpenter continues to grade out as an above average third baseman, and Wong, DeJong, and Goldschmidt will all vie for Gold Gloves. And to disparage Molina’s defense just shows your ignorance. Do the Cards have outfield defense issues, yes, save Bader if course. And while it doesn’t fit your narrative, the Cards lead the NL in steals, and their percentage of success is awesome. Do the Red Birds have issues. Yep, and the Red Bird hitters approach at times are lousy. The bull pen has been a real strength. Perhaps another lefty would help, but no one cannot argue with their success. The starting pitching hasn’t been as good as hoped. Neither Mikolas nor Flaherty have matched their 2018 numbers. They simply haven’t pitched as well. The stuff is there, the location hasn’t been. Hudson, after a slow start has posted numbers over the past 6 weeks that are among the league’s best. And Waino has been fine as a number 5, better than I expected. Of course Wacha has been disappointing. The plan was to have Gant, Martinez, Reyes, Ponce de Leon, and Gomber step in if Wacha or Waino faltered. Maybe one will become the answer, or maybe the Cards choose to go after a lefty starter like Boyd. I don’t know if St. Louis will gain traction. They and their fans have plenty of reasons for optimism. Whether the optimism turns to reality is certainly open for discussion, but they do have more viable options than the Cubs or Brewers. And as we all know, well maybe not you Nick, the post season is a crap shoot. Odd things do happen, like the Cards’ 4 game sweep of the Dodgers, earlier this year
This was too long. Needed proper spacing. Could’ve been a great read.
I didnt read it. Too whiny. Plus I dont care about his opinion anyway.
Next!
Sorry you suffer from reading ADD.
BIGG YAWN
I could resort to terse snarky, meaningless insults, but I will leave that up to you.
Its not ADD. Its that I dont value your opinion at all, as in zero.
I gave you good advice to help you. You resorted to the low hanging fruit. Spud, I’m sure you had a good take. I sincerely was trying to help.
How ironic, considering almost ALL of your comments are WHINY….
Your obsession with them is borderline creepy, my friend.
Couldn’t agree more. Every article that mentions someone from the Cardinals I see these two mental midgets blabbing the same BS over and over.
Yep. Willie and Spud are mental midgets. I agree.
I love just sitting back and watching people like this show their true colors and I laugh…sorry for being optimistic about my team…I guess I just like to live in a positive spectrum…meanwhile you have the others that just want to come on here and be tough guys and telling you how stupid you are while they are right…lol…I’m glad that I have fans…I get mentioned because I think optimistically while it’s so pessimistic for others
Well said spud…that’s really exactly how I feel
Ponce De Leon is pretty good, I’d take him on my team anyday.
Flaherty is okay
You can’t trust pitcher WAR on Fangraphs, since they base it primarily on FIP. The Cardinals’ starting pitching has been decent (#14) when you sort by ERA.
With all these teams desperate for innings from SP it is an absolute travesty that no one has brought back Bartolo!!!
Ha! Sad but true! Also hard to believe that Dallas didn’t have more suitors. Would be a perfect fit for the Rangers right now
No thanks on bartolo
I know the O’s are in a rebuild, but big sexy should be in the orioles rotation. He couldn’t be any worse than anyone they’ve trotted out there outside of Means and Bundy.
another “dumpster fire” signing by the Tigers! its brutal watching them these days.need the young players on the farm(s) to develop & get up to the big club as soon as possible.
Yeah maybe they’ve gotten better at ripping bases and playing defense but now the offense and starting pitching have taken over where those 2 have failed the last couple of seasons. They could really use Martinez in the rotation. Too bad he didn’t take his offseason rehab seriously.
Team needs to be tweaked in the field and in the rotation but you know motie will do nothing. I don’t think they can secure a division or a wc with this erratic offense (6 hits in 58 ab going into the 9th last night) and Daniel Poncedeleon serving as the savior for starting staff when it needs a hero.
Cardinals need to go out and make a couple moves big moves. Look at mad bum, Boyd and stromatolites to start and then an impact reliever like smith, Giles, Greene etc. and then look into a young bat. The cardinals have pleanty if prospects. At all cost I would keep Gorman and kinizer
I agree moves need to be made. Boyd, Smith, and/ or Dickerson should be considered.
boyd would be a good get.im hoping AA can cash boyd in to get a young impact bat.watching this group flail away every at bat is making my eye twitch
Giles is on the IL with elbow discomfort. Red flag.
The only reliever this team could use is a better lefty than Webb, if Martinez is staying in the bullpen then their bullpen is really good from the right side. A good lefty starter would be the better bet to get the most improvement from one player.
Hard to have a better impact closer than Hicks. The Red Bird bull pen could use another lefty like Smith, but they have zero need for a righty. The rotation however could use a lefty like Boyd. Except for a left-handed corner outfielder with thump, the Cards are pretty much stuck with their lineup. One can argue they won’t get it done in 2019, and they certainly haven’t lately, but significant changes just can’t be expected this year. Boyd, Smith, and/or a guy like Dickerson are all the moves they can make.
Mercer Mercer me…things ain’t what the used to be, oh no no
Didn’t think Straily would work out given his career fly ball rates, but I didn’t imagine he would be this bad. The balls are juiced and the Orioles need to rip out 5 rows of seats and move the fences back. Also, fast forwarding to 2022 when the SPs in A-ball will be ready would also be helpful.
How long are they going to keep Carpenter in the Lead off spot? He has been batting around 200 for the past 3 months. He needs to be a 7th or 8th hitter. The Cardinals need someone who can get on base at a higher percentage to get the offense going!