St Louis Cardinals 2024

IlliniFaninHoosierLand said:

I like the trade. Fedde will slot in the spot of Pallante/Liberatore at this point. Pham gives them a right handed bat they need, especially among the outfielders (Carlson is a switch hitter; the others are all lefties).

Click to expand...

illiniwil said:

Well, i guess Fedde is a good pitcher, but in reality has pitched well for 1/2 of a season.
He's maybe a #2-3 starter at best. Might help us limp into the post season and get
steam rolled by a good pitching staff. We need to start comparing our team the the best
in baseball, not the rest of our division. My guess is we'll get almost nothing for Carlson.
Should have traded him two years ago.

Click to expand...

pruman91 said:

At the buzzer, Cardinals send Dylan Carlson to Tampa Bay for reliever Shawn Armstrong

In exchange for Carlson, the Cardinals acquired right-hander Shawn Armstrong, per a source.

www.stltoday.com

Click to expand...

Erick Fedde

Erick Fedde fits the mold of a Cardinals pitcher to a T. In fact, he has felt like a Cardinals starter all trade season and it really shouldn’t be surprising that this is who the team went after. He’s very much a command/control guy with a deep arsenal who doesn’t miss a ton of bats but does a great job of limiting walks and preventing hard contact.
He’s really tweaked his arsenal in recent years too following a stint in Korea that seems to have worked wonders for his career. He dropped his sinker usage by more than 10% since his last time in the majors while using his changeup and his cutter a lot more and reshaping his curveball into a sweeper.

He’s not the pitcher that he was in Washington.

The pitch that has really made the difference for Fedde this year is his sweeper. He’s throwing it just over 20% of the time and it has held opposing batters to just a .227 wOBA, and that drops to .191 against right-handed batters.

This is a pitch that has really allowed Fedde to have success against same-sided hitters, so much so that he uses it as his primary offerings against righties.

He really knows how to command it too, consistently dropping it down and away where it’s at its best:

That’s pretty much the story with Fedde. He’s a control pitcher. His stuff isn’t outstanding and he doesn’t miss a ton of bats but he’s great at putting the ball where he wants it to go.

You’ll notice the same thing with Fedde’s sinker. He primarily likes to use the pitch against same-handed hitters but he’ll also mix it in against lefties. What’s particularly interesting is the way that Fedde is able to move the pitch around depending on the matchup.

Against lefties, Fedde takes the more traditional route and keeps the pitch down and to the arm side:

But then against righties, Fedde throws the pitch on the other side of the plate:

The pitch has played well in both locations with, allowing a .287 wOBA against righties and a .263 wOBA against lefties, although there has been some good fortune involved as both righties and lefties have hit the pitch hard this year.

Still, that level of command is impressive. Most pitchers can only consistently throw a pitch to the arm side or the glove side. There aren’t very many pitchers who can do what Fedde does and work the pitch to the arm side and the glove side depending on the situation.

His command is a clear plus and even though his raw stuff isn’t tremendous, Fedde uses his pitches in their optimal platoon situations and that, paired with his plus command, has helped him have success this year.

Against righties, Fedde focuses on his sinker and his sweeper, pitches that generally show standard platoon splits, and throws them over 75% of the time. Against lefties, Fedde switches his focus to his cutter and his changeup, two pitches that are typically platoon neutral or show reverse splits.

That may not seem like the most glowing scouting report but let’s remember that pitchers who can command the ball can still be extremely effective. That’s been the case for Fedde as he has posted 2.7 fWAR, which ranks second to only Sonny Gray on the entire Cardinals roster. He is on pace for a 4.1 fWAR season per 32 starts which is right around an all-star level of production.

Click to expand...

Marmol said multiple players have come to him in the last few weeks requesting Tommy Pham as an addition by name. Clubhouse, he says, is fired up to have him back.

Click to expand...

Boomauer said:

Gave up 25 and 29 year old guys for 31, 33 and 36 year old. Don't think Cards are building for the future.

Click to expand...

pruman91 said:

Grand Slam Tommy Pham.............I like Tommy Pham..............I really really do..............

Click to expand...

Se Il Illini said:

That is my take. The record shows that this team is improved over last year. St. Louis is on a pace to win 83 or 84 games. In comparison to 71-91 in 2023, that is good progress in my view. But this team is not World Series Championship caliber. There is much more work to do, and it is going to take some time and not going to happen overnight.

Click to expand...

illiniwil said:

i know i spoke without much optimism, but i think we're 3-5 players from being on par with altanta/philly/LA. BUT those guys won't come cheap.
1. a #1 starter equal to the other #1's,
2. a top set up guy, (nobody in the minors)
3. a young breakout arm to put along side Gray (nobody in the minors)
4. and 5. and two position players (corner outfielders) that can give us .260-70, 80rbi/25-35hr's puts us with the best in the game. someone even
more optimistic than myself would say Walker and Noot could be two of those 5. ( unfortunately, i hear rumors that the birds have Walker so
screwed up he might not be salvageable in our uniform.) im hoping we can get him into the Matt Holiday camp this off season, but the birds
front office would first have to admit their botched role in this.

Click to expand...