Zach Duke done for 2017

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Joe Shlabotnik
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Re: Zach Duke done for 2017

Post by Joe Shlabotnik »

Freed Roger wrote:Watching last night, I couldn't figure out why he was in that game and on this roster?

It's like a wreck you see on the road, you can't help but watch. Apparently Matheny has the same issue.
http://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/ins ... ife-2.html

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Farewell Friends
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Re: Zach Duke done for 2017

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Ben Fred asks why the Cardinals ignored their looming pitching problems: http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/ ... f82c9.html

Except for Rosenthal, the entire bullpen has been having issues since the first game of the season. The Cardinals neglected to fix it over the winter and again at the deadline.

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Joe Shlabotnik
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Re: Zach Duke done for 2017

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And, seriously, Mike Matheny continues to Dusty Baker his favorites. It's a bad habit he has not learned to break. And it costs the team several wins a year IMO.

Freed Roger
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Re: Zach Duke done for 2017

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Joe Shlabotnik wrote:And, seriously, Mike Matheny continues to Dusty Baker his favorites. It's a bad habit he has not learned to break. And it costs the team several wins a year IMO.
Last night was the worst. What that does to the entire team. When he promptly airmailed one to backstop, Yadi's reaction seemed same as what I was thinking. game over.

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Farewell Friends
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Re: Zach Duke done for 2017

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As for Duke, he shouldn’t be on the field right now. Why? Because he had Tommy John surgery, which typically carries with it a twelve- to fifteen-month recovery period, ten months and nine days ago as of this morning. And it isn’t as if he just got on the field. In 2017, Duke has appeared in eleven games. He’s thrown exactly eight innings. And in those eight innings, he has an 11.4% strikeout rate, a 14.3% walk rate, has allowed 40% of the fly balls hit against him to leave the park, and is sporting a nifty ERA/FIP combo of 6.75 and 8.01. You think maybe he rushed back just a little?

The question, really, is why he rushed back. Was the organisation pushing him to come back faster? Was his field staff pushing him because they thought they needed him? Was Duke himself convinced he needed to get back on the field in order to reestablish some value before he hits free agency this offseason? All three seem like plausible reasons, and all three carry with them some very dark and unpleasant implications as to how and why things within this organisation have gone the way they have this season. I won’t speculate as to which reason I find the most plausible, but no matter which of the three you believe, the fact Zach Duke is pitching for a supposed contending team, basically having pushed his TJ recovery into the nine-month time frame, is utterly ridiculous.
Did you know that Sean Gilmartin is still on the 40 man roster? Yes, that’s right. An organisation with huge needs in the bullpen and 35 lefty relievers already on the roster is still holding Sean Gilmartin for some reason. We couldn’t possibly use Mark Montgomery, or Jack Flaherty. Sean Gilmartin needs that roster spot. Or, hell, even without moving the roster around we could have seen John Gant up at the big league level to help soak up some innings as a reliever capable of stretching out for more than three outs.
Adam Wainwright is on his last legs, and yet has been allowed to take the mound in an obviously compromised physical capacity. I get that it’s hard to see your long-time ace coming to the end of the road, but believing Adam could continue to just beguile hitters with mid-80s slop and an eephus is faith-healer level [expletive]. Mike Leake is desperately thin, lacks stamina, and actually admitted to still feeling weak from fighting shingles last year. Yet there’s been no attempt to mitigate his workload, and he’s told the press he has his own heath and workout program. Guess what? His program isn’t working. How in the hell does this organisation not monitor the health of their 80 million dollar investment more closely than this?
https://www.vivaelbirdos.com/2017/8/23/ ... -zach-duke

When it comes to identifying pitchers and developing them, I don't think another organization does it as well as the Cardinals. But their moves with regards to the bullpen the last two years have been extremely odd and perplexing. I forgot they are saving a 40-man spot for Sean Gilmartin.

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Jocephus
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Re: Zach Duke done for 2017

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the benfred articles mentions bowman has the most appearances in baseball and he is tied for 1st with 62. i looked at the top 10 and cecil is tied for 4th with 60 appearances.

mil and pit also have 2 relievers in the top 10. one is mil's closer though. maybe thats a reason why all 3 teams are bunched in mediocrity....or not.

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Jocephus
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Re: Zach Duke done for 2017

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With the Cardinals Pitching Staff Reeling, Front-Office Inactivity is Inexcusable
By Bernie Miklasz August 22, 2017 10:34 am
https://www.101sports.com/2017/08/22/ca ... excusable/

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Swirls
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Re: Zach Duke done for 2017

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Who the [expletive] is Sean Gilmartin?

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MrCrowesGarden
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Re: Zach Duke done for 2017

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Swirls wrote:Who the [expletive] is Sean Gilmartin?
A terrible pitcher who's in a relationship with a Trump mouthpiece.

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Re: Zach Duke done for 2017

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Farewell Friends wrote:Ben Fred asks why the Cardinals ignored their looming pitching problems: http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/ ... f82c9.html

Except for Rosenthal, the entire bullpen has been having issues since the first game of the season. The Cardinals neglected to fix it over the winter and again at the deadline.
Ever since Molina's extension, the front office acts as if it doesn't have one extra dime to spend.

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