Good afternoon. After posting a column last night at Sports Rants, I felt compelled to sleep on the Cardinals loss on Monday, digest some coffee this morning and give it another look. Here are my reactions a day later.
The pregame couldn’t have been done any better. Derek Jeter was given a fine sendoff by Cardinal Nation and spent more than half the game with a big smile on his face. The soon to be retired Yankee legend is definitely having a great time. He even scratched out a single in his first at bat. Good for him and kudos to the Cardinals and their fans to give him a proper introduction. Jeter is first class.
I broke out the Tommy Gun Hands on Twitter when Matt Holliday didn’t race out of the box on a long fly ball off the wall in left field that resulted in a double. Upon further review, he may not have made it to third base but I wanted to see him run harder down the line. Holliday is underrated for his hustle and this was unlike him. This was a little bush league. The ball won’t go any further if you watch it, big guy.
(coffee gulp)
Taking the side of my fellow Cardinal writer Corey Rudd, Holliday needs a few more days off. Matheny can mix them around the schedule. A little rest does the body good.  Holliday has played in every single game but one. This is why he breaks down every season. The injuries pile up. He is an older ballplayer lugging around a muscle bound body. He’ll pull a muscle soon if he isn’t rested. I don’t need to see Jon Jay in left field but this is where calling up Randall Grichuk could help. Grichuk can play when Holliday and Allen Craig need rest. Sure, it would be best for the young man to play every day at Memphis but that is only if there ISN’T a need on the big league club. Sorry Shane Robinson. I will take Grichuk as a spot starter/bench threat.
The theory that Holliday disappears in close games is absolutely ludicrous. He leads the team in RBI and has done plenty in close situations. The lengths that Holliday haters go to equals a long cross country job during this time of the season. The big man heats up when the weather heats up.
Mike Matheny did make some peculiar and unwise decisions with his bullpen but the Cards simply got banged around with some misfortune yesterday. Kolten Wong trying to steal third base, Brett Gardner leaping to make an amazing catch in left field in extra innings to rob Yadi Molina and Brian McCann not getting called out on a pitch down the middle in the 12th inning on the Jacoby Ellsbury stolen base. Things just didn’t go the Cards way, and it snowballed on Matheny’s mishandling of the bullpen late.
Matt Adams is a big old hit machine and I’ll take it. He banged out 2 more hits and would have collected a pair of RBI if Wong stays at second and Holliday gets to third on his double. Adams is taking a little off his power to adjust to the infield shift and as long as hits are the result, I am game.
Yadi Molina’s intense fist pump after gunning down a base stealer  before the Ellsbury theft was classic Yadi and a great moment. If you look up awesome sauce in the dictionary, Yadi’s picture stands in front of it. There isn’t a better word out there to describe Molina’s value to this team. He is the MVP and a sure fire Hall of Famer in my book. Anyone who truly thinks Buster Posey or Russell Martin are more important to their respective teams are not crafting logical thoughts.
(more coffee going down the hatch)
Michael Wacha is being treated like Felix Hernandez when it comes to run support in 2014. The kid has been solid and only has 3 wins to show for it. Better luck next time. He gets the Giants this weekend.
This is a tough stretch of games for the Cards. After the Yankees depart, the Giants and Royals come into town before the road trip begins in Toronto against a Blue Jays team playing very well this year. After a two month start full of inner division battles, the Cards are going to be facing a more diverse group of teams that will tell fans exactly where this club stands at the All Star Break.
Five Hopes for tonight’s game-
*Kolten Wong starts at second base. Until the kid doesn’t get a hit or gives Matheny a reason to sit him, he plays every day.
*Matt Holliday hits an absolute bomb to shut up the premature crowd hulking around his small home run total.
*Yadi Molina hits a ball barely out of the park into the Yankees bullpen and Gardner has to watch it sail over his head.
*Sam Freeman is used before Randy Choate. It appears we have another issue with the skipper failing to trust a reliever in his big league bullpen. Let the kid surprise you Mike. If he is on this roster, he needs to be trusted. That’s why they call them big league players.
*Matt Carpenter records 3 hits. He scatters a double, 2 singles with 3 runs scored and knocks in a baserunner. Let’s not jump to conclusions and bat Wong lead off just yet. Carpenter isn’t having as bad of a year as some suspect and is ready to break out(.349 BA in his last 10 games). He gets on base, fits the role and did a stellar job there last year for over 130 games.
That’s all I got. I am out of coffee and fingertip ammo. Thanks for digesting and follow my minute to minute bullets @buffa82 on Twitter.
