Cardinals outfielder Marcell Ozuna, who jammed multiple fingers on his right hand, including the middle, which club officials fear may be fractured, in a baserunning incident during last night’s game against San Diego, will be placed on the 10-Day IL shortly, per manager Mike Shildt (h/t to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Derrick Goold). The team is “leaning” toward promoting outfielder Tyler O’Neill to take his place.
Ozuna, 28, has been one of the lone bright spots for a struggling Cardinals offense, slashing .259/.331/.515 (118 wRC+) in regular left-field action for the club.
An aging Cardinal lineup, thought to be driven by the dynamic Matt Carpenter/Paul Goldschmidt duo, has often sputtered in the early going. The club ranks 11th in NL park-adjusted output, with the team’s hitters amassing the fourth-fewest homers in the Senior Circuit despite a hard-hit rate that ranks among the league’s best. Statcast’s xwOBA metric pinpoints both Goldschmidt and Jose Martinez as hard-luck hitters this season, with the latter ranking as one of the league’s unluckiest thus far in 2019.
O’Neill, who’s slumped a bit in both limited big-league action and extended Triple-A time this year (his .261/.312/.528 line is somehow below league-average in the PCL this season), would figure to get the bulk of the action in Ozuna’s absence. The club could also turn full-time to Jose Martinez, though his corner-outfield defensive metrics again paint a rather bleak picture in semi-regular action thus far.
This is why there should be a designated runner for all players. Having professional hitters run the basepaths is too dangerous and adds nothing to the game! /s
This is why you should have a pinch poster. Having you post something adds NOTHING!!
Totally agree with you PopeMarley
LOL!
Huh?
Did people not see the s for sarcasm at the end of his post?
How would that even work?
Get a grip sir
I thought it was funny
Nice work, I enjoyed this obviously sarcastic post
Signing Carp that two year extension was stupid…hopefully O’Neill comes up and proves something…I rarely talk bad about my cardinals…lol ask Clepto my biggest fan…but they had Goldy in Voit and they also had a better version of Bader in Mercado…voit plays for the Yankees and Mercado the Indians…sigh
Love to see things go like this for the Cardinals lol
I know you can’t be referring to the same carpenter in the race for the mvp at the end of 2018? O’Neill is promising, and I am hoping for a strong showing, but unfortunately we have only seen his lack of ability in making contact. Goldschmidt has started slow but if you would rather have Voit, who we wouldn’t have Gallegos, then Goldschmidt then I just have to smh. Mercado was traded because of the depth in the of. The players they acquired for Mercado are really promising prospects. Plus, when comparing Bader and Mercado, they both have their strengths and weaknesses but nothing that says they are that different in terms of overall and what they contribute to their teams. Sometimes you just have to look at the bigger picture.
Smart reply. I wish I could believe that O’Neill could do the job, then, I watch him. Maybe Arozarena? Or even Capel or Carlson, even though it would be rushing either. They need left handed bats. Edman probably plays every day in left, unless a lefty is on the mound. I’m afraid Ozuna is out for a while, hope not but not optimistic.
they need hitters that can hit, right or left. the side of the plate doesn’t matter.
Don’t worry. Carpenter is just about to get hot. Never mind that 50% of the season is over. He will get hot. Been hearing it for 8 weeks now. It’s coming…insert eye roll here for the morons who can’t spot sarcasm.
Are we talking about the same guy here? The Carp I respect for his versatility was very hot for 8 weeks out of a 6 month season. The rest of the time he should not have been playing. His defense was very limited and his hitting was worse. That period that began after the ASG and ended in late August was totally amazing. The 3 month period prior when he was batting under 150 and the final month of the season when he was again nearly as weak were sad to watch. He hit into a defensive shift over and over again that closed down his output. For a player with his eye for the zone to not quit pulling the ball and start making those shifts useless was incomprehensible. But there it was for most of the season and for most of this one. I agree, it was a mistake to extend him.
Bader is no where close to Mercado…Mercado offensive numbers are far superior…Bader played better defense but not enough for his shortcomings batting…Mercado isn’t no slouch our in CF
I guess when you base your opinion of “far superior” numbers on batting average you are absolutely correct. Unfortunately, the other plentiful offensive statistics that are available don’t have them as widely separate? War suggests, and I don’t buy into the argument that War is the holy grail, that they are pretty close as the same player.
If you average out the games played his numbers are superior…and i am glad to let this play out
Voit is Goldschmidt? What? Are you drunk?
Voit is not better than Goldy for career batting stats. He is better this year. The evidence is in the records. Goldy is definitely in a slump. Voit is definitely hot.
This team is old and unathletic. Too many bad contracts. Trade Wong while you can.
Same Cards team that whooped the Bums 4 straight earlier this season, outscoring them 24-12. Hard to believe an old unathletic group could dominate so decisively
Who are the Bums? And what does have to do with the fact the Cards offense is stale, and most of their players are just slow and aging? Please answer.
Who are the Bums? How could you not know this!
40-40. The entire NLC is awful. But keep believing StL is good just because they’re 3 back from another average team.
If you would really like to celebrate an early season series in which 3/5 of the rotation, at that point was on the DL, coming off a series in Coors then congratulations you win a prize? I bet any team would love to a see 3 game stretch of Strip, Maeda, and a not stretched out Urias, after a Ryu injury, in an important series. But no triumph a series in early April as though the larger context of the season doesn’t matter.
This is what losers hang onto when their team is bad. They go back to a series in April, that at this point of the season is meaningless, when that team they beat has a FOURTEEN GAME LEAD on you right now.
Your issue is you have no argument, so you act like a 5th grader. Your family must be proud of you.
Your family is likely filled with rednecks and inbred people suffering from the dunning-kruger effect.
That would be Mozeliak and Girsch.
I disagree about Wong…only because who you replacing him with? He is a scapegoat…just like wainwright…They aren’t that bad…the offense is bad…very bad…which Goldy needs to step it up…Mercado was a better version of Bader…just waiting for everyone to play like they did earlier…they have proved they can
Munoz, Edman and Carpenter can all play 2B. Wong is never going to be more than a mediocre offensive player and he’s over rated defensively. But some GMs,like they have with Jon Jay, somehow find Cardinals stiffs to be valuable? I can never understand why?
Carpenter cannot play 2nd base. Wong will win the GG this year, is 14 for 14 in steals this year. Someone who says Wong is overrated is extremely overrated as a Baseball analyst. You have a lot to learn.
He won’t win the GG and stealing bases went out 10 years ago in today’s game. You still have plenty to learn. By the way, what is the Cards record again? What is the Bums record?
GG is the most over rated, subjective award in the game.
Carpenter can’t play 3B either, yet he does. Martinez can’t play the OF, yet he does. Fowler can’t play the OF, yet he does.
Kinda like Schwarber.
What is with the insecurity you all have with the Cards in concern with the Cubs?
Schwarber isn’t all that bad anymore. Plus he’s got a cannon out there
Munoz is horrible on defense as is carpenter…Munoz can hit but carp is hitting worse than Wong…I really like Edman but it’s a little early to say he will be better than Wong…like I said Wong isn’t the problem…Goldy not hitting…carp not hitting…that’s the problem…actually no one hitting but those two are big
When’s the last time the Bums won a world series? Their regular season dominance means NOTHING. They will choke when it truly matters, like they always do.
My point that you keep kidding is, get the insecurity out of here. This isn’t a discussion about the Dodgers. It’s about the terrible team Mo has been putting together these last 4-5 years. If you don’t see that, you are just a blind sheeple.
No one cares about your irrelevant opinion, little boy. You cry more than my 2 year old daughter. Go troll elsewhere….
You obviously do.
Actually, Carpenter has been quite good at third this year, and the defensive metrics back him up.
Carpenter “quite good” at 3B. Metrics back it up? Please just stop posting things you WISH were true. He’s a MINUS 3 defensive runs saved. Next.
Do you watch the games Nick? I think you do, which is why I’m confused? What has carp really done on third base to make us lose games? I don’t care about stats…just honest opinion…is his defense really the reason for them not being good right now…because I know that one stat has the cardinals infield as one of the best…it’s clearly his offense and the lead off position…not to mention the savior Goldy strikes out way to much and isn’t hitting well..
Carpenter has no range and no arm. I’ve watched Edman play 3 games there this week and saw him make 3 plays that Carpenter wouldn’t have made. When he hits, you can get by with him at 3B, but he’s not hitting. His swing looks slow and long. That extension they gave him is just another in a long line of bad deals Mo has made in the last 4 years. Not to mention, he’s a horrible base runner. So now they have a $20M a year 3Bman that looks like he’s nothing more than a 1 WAR PLAYER
I agree with you about Edman and I think he should get more time over there…and yes carp looks horrible at the plate…one disturbing thing about him
Is it seems even his plate discipline he was once heralded for has gone away..and yes I also agree the extension was just stupid…they had an option year on him but yet give him another year? After last season that definitely was a head scratcher
See nick we can talk and have different opinions without you acting tough and calling people stupid or whatever degrading term you use
Wong is an outstanding defensive guy and base stealing is never out of fashion. Guys like Ricky Henderson made it to the HOF on their legs and would be welcome additions to any modern team. They are far more valuable to the team than a player who has 20K’s for every extra base hit he gets.
Agreed
Bill James made the case for defensive WAR back in the day. Nobody paid much attention to it then. A player can have value even if they aren’t hitting home runs. Wong is not overrated defensively. Far from it.
Except when you are Ozzie Smith.
Prolly since they all discovered you actually a cub fan.
Wainwright and Wong aren’t scapegoats. They’re like 15-20 other guys on this team. They are mediocre players.
almost all the offensive players are underperforming but Wong actually isn’t…that might not be saying much right now but with his defense…once again, he is not the problem…there isn’t many 2nd baseman much better offensively and I’m open up for debate…who is better defensively?
There aren’t Second basemen much better offensively than Wong? Really? Muncy 924 OPS. Moose 917 OPS. Albies 810. Hernandez 768. Wong 696. Those are just off the top of my head. Wong is lucky Baez moved to SS.
Well I did say not that many are that much better…considering his defense he isn’t the problem…put people who actually can hit around him and I think you have a different story with him but that’s just my opinion
I have difficulty watching Carpenter shot put his throws from third
That’s like saying trade Ozzie Smith, so we can get what we can, back in the 80’s.
Wow! You’re comparing Wong to Ozzie? Go back to sleep.
You post a lot on Cardinals stories. Are you a fan of the Cardinals or not. Please answer.
I’m a fan who is sick and tired of what Mozeliak has done with this team.
Comparing Wong to Ozzie at this stage of Wong’s career would be blasphemous.
Trade an exceptional defensive, athletic talent like Wong from today’s team so we can get what we can? This is exactly like saying we need to trade Ozzie in the 80’s for the same reason. Ozzie was a defensive, athletic talent that was always considered light with the bat.
Let me explain the differences between Wong and Ozzie. Ozzie was the elite of the elite defenders. Ozzie became a better offensive force because he utilized his speed to get on base. He slapped the ball all over the field. Wong, meanwhile, still thinks he’s a HR hitter. Swings hard at almost everything. How good was Ozzie as a two way player? He accumulated a 77 WAR in his career. Wong sits at 13. Wong would need about 10 years at 6WAR a year to get there. Ain’t happening. And if you want to compare their careers at age, Wong is 28 going on 29 in October. Ozzie’s 28 year season was 1983. At that stage, he had accumulated 3 all star appearances, 4 gold gloves, 2x received MVP votes,and was coming off a WS title in 1982. Wong…nothing compared so far. Nothing.
I don’t think you get it, bruh. Never did I compare the GREATEST shortstop ever to Kolten Wong. I compared the SITUATION to you saying we should trade our current best defensive player because he is worth something now, which by the way you are dismissing in earlier posts that Wong has no bat, so you are agreeing that he has to have above average defensive skills. Which one is it? I have to assume you think he has value in something, otherwise you wouldn’t be saying to trade this skill-less player now? Please though, recite stats to me for a HOF beloved Cardinal who was equally as great a person as he was a player and say that I am comparing him to Kolten Wong. If I didn’t have experience already with your nature, based on previous chats, I would just think you are arguing for argument sake.
BTW, when you use gold gloves as an accolade that you slam in earlier posts, even if you are just reciting stats, it looks bad.
Hey, “bruh”, my point is simply this. No matter what context you put them in, when you have Ozzie and Wong in the same sentence related to baseball, then you lose all credibility with me. Just because a player wins a gold glove doesn’t mean they are great defenders. BUT NOBODY questioned the GG awards Ozzie won.
Cardinals are too unathletic but tou want to trade Wong?
Unfortunately the 2 athletic guys they have, Wong and Bader, can’t hit. So that’s a problem. Funny how Bourjos got ridiculed here for 2 years, yet Bader is the SAME player and fans and media think he’s a god.
Correct!
No, Bader and Bourjos are not the same player.
Bourjos and his sub- 300 obp was far from Bader.
I don’t think Bader is a God? I don’t hear the media referring to him as that either. I did see the Cardinals roll him out more often, as a face, this year?
Yeah, I’m thoroughly impressed with that great. 320 OBP of Bader and .206 avg. What was I thinking comparing these guys?
Using batting average now as a measure for relevance is even beneath you. Next.
So now a .206 average is something to overlook? Tell me what the cutoff is so I know.
Agreed!!! Too many bad contracts!!! Thank you John Mozeliak!!! Yet the DeWitt’s will never fire him!! They’ve fired everyone else around Mozeliak to cover up his failures of not obtaining Quality players. It’s been so obvious where the blame should land on the Cardinals demise!! Yet, Mozeliak is still there. Plus, he and his fo nothing self will bee there for many future year to come.
Can’t wait to see this outfield defensive disaster tonight. Oneill, Fowler, Martinez. Spacious outfield. This should be fun to watch, as Ricky Lollipops Horton says.
That’s actually very funny.
fire shildt, he isn’t the answer to the cardinals woes.
Are you kidding me? Fire Shildt? True, he’s in the same shoe’s as in the latter part of Mike Mathaney and his stint with the Cardinals. He a pawn go Mozeliak. Mozeliak is not or can not construct a formable World Series contending baseball team. LaRussa and his bond withe the owners built the championship teams. Not Mozeliak!!!! Notice….After LaRussa left, Mozeliak has no clue how the hire impact players. He’s the man that needs to be fired. Not Shildt and not Mathaney. However—-Before you see Mozeliak fired, you are correct—Shildt and Girsch will both be fired.
I was thinking the same thing…fire Schildt. And then I realized, he’s tweaking things as much as possible with what he has. Mo HAS TO GO! When will ownership start realizing this?
Jeff Luhnow and walt jocketty had more influence than larussa or ownership
So is playing Matt Carpenter leadoff every day through 4 consecutive months of terrible hitting “tweaking”? Or maybe playing Dexter Fowler every day with his below average OPS+? Or is keeping Jose Martinez on the bench despite desperately needing offense? Is that tweaking?
Oh yeah, it’s actually the opposite. There’s a reason the players support him like they do. They know he will never pull them. He is too close and has too much allegiance and will not do his job. Keep in mind, they didn’t start winning last year when he took over. They started winning when Fowler broke his foot.
This job should have been Clapp’s last year and it should be Clapp’s now. Shildt has had 2 good months to 3 bad, including the most losses in a month since the awful teams of the 70’s. On a team with this much talent that is inexcusable. Clapp prioritizes winning. Shildt simply does not.
When Matheny played people based on performance he didn’t have the allegiance of his core group. I feel this had something to do with his firing. That, and a crossing with Molina that never was settled. Schildt likely has the inmates running the asylum style that the players are happier with. I think I like Schildt’s bullpen management better but other than that, and Schildt being a better interview, it’s hard to say the managers are much different?
Different in terms of outcomes that is….
Mo has a team that is currently 3 games behind Theo Epstein’s team. Oh, and Mo’s team has a much better farm system and has spent 40 million less this year for being those 3 games behind.
If I’m Mo’s boss, I’m just fine with the job he’s doing.
What happened from 2015-2018? And even now they are still ahead of STL. You need to wake up! You just can’t sit here and bring up money and farm systems. This current situation has been stagnant for years now.
I think it’s tough when you pull 4 random years and when you do you might not include a 100 win season and a 2nd place finish? Not every year is going to be winner. Even if you are the best team in baseball you don’t always win? Most teams struggle a lot more than St. Louis Cardinals.
Why can’t I bring up money and farm systems? Baseball is a business and Mo has run his business better than most. Even if the outcomes aren’t what I or other Cards fans want if you look at it from the business side it’s a pretty solid platform.
I can’t disagree with the stagnant part. I just don’t think mass firings are the answer to the stagnation? I think players need to start playing better. History tells me they will. If not this year I am pretty confident we won’t have to wait over 100 years for another championship.
The only important years that matter are recent, current and future. I look at 5 year windows. I don’t care how many WS the Cards won in the 40s. 60s, 80s our 00s. That’s old news. The main guys from the 2011 WS team are gone. Even 2013 guys are mostly gone. I care about what is happening now and possibly in the next couple years. I don’t see much. Prospects are just that until they perform here. I don’t want mass firings. I want Mo gone. 13 years is a long time to run a team. He’s made poor decisions a lot these last 4 years.
Leave out the games behind crap. 41-41 is all you need to look at. 4 consecutive seasons of not making playoffs is a problem. So just because other teams suck in the division, that means it’s ok for the Cards to suck too? Great logic.
You are a moron if you want him gone. He has put so much talent into this system it’s insane. But that talent is not being used well and not performing. They have marquis names on this team and nothing changed. Seems to me that somewhere something else is wrong. How can you add a ton of good players, not get better, and then blame the GM? This is coaching and players not getting their jobs done.
Give me one thing Mo should have done this offseason to improve other than getting the best lefty and the best 1B.
Then I’m one of many “morons” who think Mo should be moving on. Who are these ton of good players he brought in the last 4 years other than Goldschmidt? Miller is past his prime with injury history. Fowler is a bust. J. Martinez belongs in the AL. Oneill is not a ML player. Cecil? Leone? Gregerson? Molina, Wainwright and Carpenter are all past prime and barely holding a WAR above 0. Overpaid Mikolas. Bader has proven nothing. I can keep going on. Who are these “marquis” names? Don’t give marquis players if they are 35 years or older. Goldschmidt is a name. That is it. And I have yet to see these young pitchers do much. They do get hurt though. So keep calling me a moron. I’m watching a team whose lone all star selection is a guy who currently hasn’t hit for about 6 weeks.
Leave out facts? Sorry if you can’t handle the truth. Just because mlb the show PlayStation gaming has the Cardinals winning every year doesn’t mean it happens in real life? Those kind of playoff runs don’t happen for a big portion of teams in baseball but I guess when the expectations are super unrealistic it doesn’t really matter? I still remember the year McGuire hit all of his home runs. Cards were bad but that was a fun year. You must have been complaining then as well.
It has been a tough playoff drought. If we do make the playoffs this year will you still be calling for Mo’s head?
He’s made good decisions too. Goldschmidt trade was great and his extension was really great in terms of years/dollars. Acquiring Mikolas last year, early this year says not so much on his extension this year, wainwright’s signing this year, Martinez extension this year. How about Paul DeJong extension signing and Kolten Wong extension signing?
I guess when you always looking for the bad in stuff you are bound to find it eventually?
Mikolas extension was a joke. Dejong, Wong and Martinez? They’re low level contracts that any 1 or 2 year players take. Everyone is making those deals. Wainwright same thing. Low cost. Once again, all these guys are mediocre. What exactly again are you excited about with this team? All these players are consistently inconsistent. But hey, I guess you have red, fog proof sunglasses? That’s always nice, Randy.
Mo needs to go.
Except Holliday, Miller, Ozuna, Goldschmidt, Heyward, Mikolas, Freese, Lackey, etc. Or that time he constructed a World Series winning team and then 2 years later a pennant winning team. (Before you give me the “inherited” nonsense, he drafted Pujols and Molina and a bunch of those guys, so he made that team too).
It’s easy to blame him because you don’t see him. But this team has more talent than any other team in the central and they are not performing. Eventually, the ball has to hit wood and leather, and he can’t do anything about that.
So you HONESTLY think the Cards have more talent than the Cubs? That is truly asinine. The Cubs are the most under achieving team in baseball. All of baseball.
With Darvish/Morrow/Chatwood, I will give you that the Cubs do probably have more talent on their major league roster. But I’ve written off the last two as bad/injury prone players. And from an organizational standpoint, the Cardinals have more talent up and down the system.
The depth is there for the Cardinals but for some reason we keep on trotting out Fowler/Carp/Goldy as if nothing is changed. The Cubs don’t have that far to go to get replacements when their guys falter. We do but refuse to do it. And that’s the most frustrating part.
Then who is at fault for trotting out the same players if the Cards have so much depth?
Bunsel, you seem to have answered every comment of mine except this one? Why is that?
i’ll take that one. shildt’s. only reason carpenter sat on the bench 4 games was mo had orders for shildt to bench him. that way, mo makes shildt look like he’s the manager, when we all know, mo is. stand up to mo, shildt.
Gepetto Mozeliak must go. He will never hire a manager with experience. That would mean he couldn’t pull the strings on his Pinocchio down in the dugout. By the way, has anyone seen Girsch since he left to pick up Mo’s coffee and dry cleaning? That was 6 months ago.
Go back to your 1 championship in 111 years home. You and your loser franchise should get over the Lou Brock thing. We made that good in recent years with driving up the price for you on Heyward. If Heyward isn’t enough, Dirty D Descalso should fill in just fine for your domestic abusing infielder. You just get on here and get true Cards fans riled up. Unfortunately, you play as if you are a Cardinals fan. Having difficulty deciding on what your true identity is?
The only puppet GM (Hoyer) you should be frustrated with is your own. The last time I checked he has spent 40 million more than the Cardinals this year and has a much weaker farm system to boot. All for a very similar record at this years mid point. I’m sure that stings a little. Darvish, Heyward, Lester, Chatwood, Quintana, Morrow, the list of bad contracts goes on and on. Do you really think it’s as if Hoyer actually calls the shots? Hoyer can’t even wipe without Epstein’s permission. Oh, and your current manager, extremely overrated, did everything he could to try and not give your Cubbies their only title in 111 years. I thought I was watching a captain literally trying to sink a ship. Thank goodness the talent on your team at the time exceeded his ridiculous in game management. Your fan base misery just called and it wants its Nick back.
Bruh.
Not a Cubs fan, and BTW, Dirty D Descalso sucks. 554 OPS.
And your continued inferiority complex is funny. Keep it up, bruh.
Your response cuts deep into my soul. It hurts and I feel real sad.
By the way, the Dirty D was an obvious joke, just like you pretending to be a Cardinals fan
I challenge you to give 5 nice compliments to the St. Louis Cardinals and their organization.
Fredbird is great. Tommy Edman looks like a nice utility player. Stadium site views are good. Love the Clydesdales on Opening Day. Only 1 more year of Molina.
I stand corrected.
Your obvious genuine love for the Cardinals organization just flows out of you.
It did until 2012.