Cardinals Series.

[Malike]

Kremer (4.07) vs Hudson (4.43)

Wainwright (8.19) vs. Means (-.--)

Rom (7.79) vs. TBD

The Cards have been playing pretty good baseball of late, they are certainly not a cupcake. They are averaging 4.58 runs per game and Baltimore jumped up to 5.13. Team ERA is 25th at 4.75 and Baltimore is still 13 with a 4.04. On paper, it looks to be a favorable matchup, but the Cards have been playing good teams pretty well lately. I like our chances in this series for 2 out of 3 games. Wainwright has been awful as they keep rolling him out there for his 199th win.

[Moose Milligan]

Take 2/3 as per usual.

Definitely keeping an eye on who starts Wednesday, though.  Should be interesting.

[Frobby]

The worst Cardinals team in recent memory rolls into Baltimore to play the best Orioles team in recent memory.   Per ESPN, the pitching matchups are:

Dean Kremer (12-5, 4.07 ERA) vs. Dakota Hudson (6-1, 4.43).  Hudson spent the first part of the year in the minors, pitched some in relief, and has been a starter since around the trade deadline when the Cards traded a couple of starters (including Jack Flaherty).  He’s had some good outings and some bad ones.  He’s never faced the Orioles, and Kremer has never faced the Cardinals.

John Means (first start of the year) vs. Adam Wainwright (3-11, 8.19).  Wainwright, who’s been one of the best pitchers of his generation, has had a miserable year, missing all of April and pitching terribly ever since.  He’s only faced the O’s once in his career, all the way back in 2017, and got bombed that day but it’s not too relevant now.  Means is making his 2023 debut and it will be interesting to see how he looks.

Kyle Gibson (14-8, 5.12) vs. Drew Rom (0-2, 7.79).   (ESPN shows it as Rom but I gather that’s not official.)  Rom, the former Oriole farmhand, debuted in the majors last month and has had 3 rocky starts in 4 appearances, including the last two.  He’s never faced the O’s, but the O’s know a lot about him so we’ll see how that plays.   Gibson faced the Cards twice in 2022, yielding 6 ER in 11 IP and being no-decisioned both times.  

The St. Louis bullpen is subpar, ranking 23rd in the majors in ERA at 4.57 and 25th in save percentage at 54%.   The O’s are at 3.55 ERA with a 61% save rate.  

Offensively, the Cards are slightly below MLB average at 4.58 runs/game, but well above average in OPS+ at 105.   The O’s are at 5.13 runs/game and 108 OPS+.   

Defensively, the Cardinals have one of the best fielding percentages in the majors, but the advanced metrics score them as average to terrible.  So, we’ll see what we get there.  

Overall, this is one of the weaker teams remaining on the Orioles’’ schedule, and hopefully the O’s will take advantage.

Edited September 11, 2023 by Frobby

[SteveA]

The Cardinals have a streak of 15 consecutive winning seasons, and 22 out of 23.

They sit at 80 losses, so if we win 2 games in this series, they will have their first losing season since George W. Bush was president and Gunnar Henderson was 5 years old.

Worth noting, in case you have forgotten, that the Orioles resume their April-May-September schedule, when school is in session, of Monday through Thursday night games starting at 6:35 pm instead of 7:05.   This entire Cardinal series is 6:35 starts.   (Thursday's Tampa game is not, because Fox TV has picked it up for a 7:15 national telecast).

[Oriole1940]

Wainright suffered an arm injury some time ago and has never been effective since.  Do not wish him  more misery with his arm injury but maybe he can recover after they leave town.  Take a pic of their record, because non baseball people and some slightly attuned baseball people   will never believe it a year or two down the road.  

[Malike]

22 minutes ago, Frobby said:

The worst Cardinals team in recent memory rolls into Baltimore to play the best Orioles team in recent memory.   Per ESPN, the pitching matchups are:

Dean Kremer (12-5, 4.07 ERA) vs. Dakota Hudson (6-1, 4.43).  Hudson spent the first part of the year in the minors, pitched some in relief, and has been a starter since around the trade deadline when the Cards traded a couple of starters (including Jack Flaherty).  He’s had some good outings and some bad ones.  He’s never faced the Orioles, and Kremer has never faced the Cardinals.

John Means (first start of the year) vs. Adam Wainwright (3-11, 8.19).  Wainwright, who’s been one of the best pitchers of his generation, has had a miserable year, missing all of April and pitching terribly ever since.  He’s only faced the O’s once in his career, all the way back in 2017, and got bombed that day but it’s not too relevant now.  Means is making his 2023 debut and it will be interesting to see how he looks.

Kyle Gibson (14-8, 5.12) vs. Drew Rom (0-2, 7.79).   (ESPN shows it as Rom but I gather that’s not official.)  Rom, the former Oriole farmhand, debuted in the majors last month and has had 3 rocky starts in 4 appearances, including the last two.  He’s never faced the O’s, but the O’s know a lot about him so we’ll see how that plays.   Gibson faced the Cards twice in 2022, yielding 6 ER in 11 IP and being no-decisioned both times.  

The St. Louis bullpen is subpar, ranking 23rd in the majors in ERA at 4.57 and 25th in save percentage at 54%.   The O’s are at 3.55 ERA with a 61% save rate.  

Offensively, the Cards are slightly below MLB average at 4.58 runs/game, but well above average in OPS+ at 105.   The O’s are at 5.13 runs/game and 108 OPS+.   

Defensively, the Cardinals have one of the best fielding percentages in the majors, but the advanced metrics score them as average to terrible.  So, we’ll see what we get there.  

Overall, this is one of the weaker teams remaining on the Orioles’’ schedule, and hopefully the O’s will take advantage.

Frobby, my eyes are too old to read 1pt fonts!

[Sports Guy]

Get out the brooms 

[Number5]

13 minutes ago, SteveA said:

They sit at 80 losses, so if we win 2 games in this series, they will have their first losing season since George W. Bush was president and Gunnar Henderson was 5 years old.

These are kinder, gentler Cardinals.

[MurphDogg]

Take care of business and win 2 out of 3. I will be at all 3 games (heading over at 7, when my 21-month-old goes down to bed). I will try not to salivate thinking of how much better the atmosphere will be when Tampa comes to town on Thursday.

[jabba72]

Facing off against Rom in game 3. Who predicted that happening back in July? 

 

Hopefully the O's rock him.

[7Mo]

Interesting to me and maybe no one else but it certainly appeared that once upon a time, Bill DeWitt felt like he had to make a choice between 2 highly thought of executives, one being John Mozeliak and the other being Jeff Luhnow. 

It appeared that the easier choice was Mozeliak because Luhnow may have been more difficult to get along with (i.e., control) so Luhnow, Elias and Mejdal left St Louis for Houston. 

Meanwhile, Mozeliak has made one poor decision after another leading the Cards from an extremely well run team to it's current trainwreck status. 

[Getz]

This feels like a trap series, we moved our rotation around and hopefully it doesn't backfire at us because the Cardinals can hit the ball.

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

Cardinals are 25-28 in the second half and it will be Means' first start plus TBD on Wednesday. The Cards aren't just going to rollover, but if the pitching rebounds from a rough weekend at Fenway then 2 out of 3 should happen.

 

Edited September 11, 2023 by OsFanSinceThe80s

[Spy Fox]

They have a good offense. Walltimore may prove helpful against Goldschmidt & Arenado, though both are having down seasons compared to their usual. 

[maybenxtyr]

44 minutes ago, Getz said:

This feels like a trap series, we moved our rotation around and hopefully it doesn't backfire at us because the Cardinals can hit the ball.

You figure if people say "trap series" enough, it might actually come true. 

 

Win 2/3 and keep it moving. The O's are a better team and should expect to be up for any and all games remaining.