Kyle wrote:What's so egregious about that statement? A lot of people act like bad teams are just going to roll over and die when we play them. That's obviously not what happens (and that's what La Russa is pointing out).
It's not egregious that the Nats/Buccos are playing hard. It's the statement that the Cardinals can't match their effort that I find, well, horrid.
Which, again, he did not say.
We're going to tie them?
Well, yes. Here's what he's quoted as saying above:
We're not going to beat them in effort or energy.
This is not the same as saying "They will beat us in effort or energy." Sounds to me like all he's saying is that the other team is going to put out as much effort and energy as the Cardinals are. Which doesn't seem like a very controversial or outrageous statement.
Lance Berkman getting a day off in a key game. Unblelievable. I don't care if he's 0 for 90 against this pitcher, he plays. Your stars play in big games, period. End of story. No planned days off.
Maybe in a year you fancy yourself a division contender, and you have one 31 year-old outfielder who has hit the DL twice this season, and a 35 year-old outfielder with a recent history of injury who will need a day or two off in August, and both those guys have been your two best players all year, it's wise to have outfield depth beyond Corey Patterson and Jon Jay and Allen Craig coming fresh off not hitting against major league pitchers for the last two months.
I would guess that Berkman getting a day off had nothing to do with LaRussa being LaRussa and more with Berkman being gassed.
Berkman has been bad vs. lefties too right. Not just Wolf, but bad from right side in general, no?
Yes, I realize Jay and Patterson also started vs. a lefty.
But if you sit Puma at the start, he might get the day off (like he did) and if you get to Wolf early, you may get two AB from Puma hitting on the left side, vs. the Brewers pen.
Just thinking out loud, I'm not married to any of that.
letsgocards89 wrote:ESPN article said Berkman sat because he was 3-30 against Wolf. It wasn't a direct quote from The Tone, but it seemed like something he'd do.
Leach or Goold or somebody said the same thing before the game yesterday.
Faceman wrote:Berkman has been bad vs. lefties too right. Not just Wolf, but bad from right side in general, no?
It's not so much that he's bad, as he's not a star against LHP. For his career he's got a 778 OPS against LHP, 832 against LH starters. If you give a bit of credence to the note cards, then I guess it's possible Berkman is worse than Patterson because of the huge defensive advantage (with a GB machine like Westbrook, that's not supposed to make much of a difference however). And maybe the day off helps Berkman the next couple of days...
But it became a lot harder to trust the manager's judgment when Patterson was put in front of Pujols on the lineup card.
What really got me going was Patterson starting over Jay. It's just inconceivable. If you're so confident in Jay that you're willing to trade Rasmus (all sorts of logic issues in there), then you should be confident enough in him to PLAY HIM!
I'm about done myself with this team for this year. General ineptitude + ugly play + idiotic decision making = too much for more.
