Gold Standard ~ St. Louis Cardinals (MLB22)

[saintrules]

Gold Standard

A St. Louis Cardinals Dynasty

The Cardinals are a team I respect, plain and simple. Even as a true Cubs fan, it's hard to openly admit there's not a ton of admiration when it comes to how they run their ballclub. Between great defense, homegrown talent, consistency in the pennant race, and never seemingly a part of "bad contracts", the Cards always find a way to stay near the top. The NL Central is & always will be my division, so it will be fun to try and bring home a title to a division that is near and dear.

Where will this begin?

I am going to simulate up to today in July and go from there. I don't want to sim, but I also do not want to begin at Opening Day and play every game...that will take forever. Plus, this at least gives me a challenge depending on where the Cards land in the standings.

How will my thread be constructed?

I will use the template for every game and write things third person. I want to use the perspective of some sort of Cardinals online writer...someone with a lot of team knowledge, but still on the outside of actual decisions.

House Rules & Sliders

Shotout to mgthomas in the vault...he does a really good job with rosters. I will use his as of the last update on the 5th and my own custom slider set with injuries turned off. I have never & will never like the way injuries are handled in sports games. I plan on Hall of Fame for hitting and pitching.


Trade season is upon us...

[saintrules]

reserved for team hq

[saintrules]

reserved for league hq

[saintrules]

Good to go... I will be simming up to today's game and will detail where all 30 clubs are at in the next post.

I will use the slider at 10 for trade season & begin that on July 15th... until then the slider will be at 3.

[saintrules]

Mid-July Statistics

The first half of baseball is completed and we have entered the All-Star break. Up to this point, I have simulated the league with injuries and trades turned off. I will turn trades back on to let the madness begin, but injuries will remain off. At this point, our Cards are playing extremely well. Hitting is our bread and butter, but we have room for improvement in the rotation. We currently sit at 59-40 atop the NL Central and have a solid eleven game cushion to the second place Cubs. The Brewers would be our normal competition, but have struggled and are sitting at 46-52 in third place. I will highlight one player from the lineup, rotation, and bullpen to chat about. Let's get into it...

Starting Lineup
1. SS Tommy Edman (.279/16 HR/39 RBI/.831 OPS)
2. RF Dylan Carlson (.261/5 HR/26 RBI/.688 OPS)
3. 1B Paul Goldschmidt (.305/22 HR/52 RBI/.961 OPS)
4. 3B Nolan Arenado (.311/11 HR/58 RBI/.861 OPS)
5. DH Corey Dickerson (.283/18 HR/61 RBI/.812 OPS)
6. 2B Nolan Gorman (.282/10 HR/43 RBI/.785 OPS)
7. CF Harrison Bader (.254/5 HR/32 RBI/.699 OPS)
8. LF Tyler O'Neill (.205/13 HR/36 RBI/.670 OPS)
9. C Yadier Molina (.196/2 HR/21 RBI/.479 OPS)

Player Spotlight: Paul Goldschmidt... Our veteran first baseman has consistently been one of the best players in baseball since 2013. It's often overlooked, but Goldschmidt came second in the MVP race twice between 2013/2015 & third back in 2017. He's a six-time All-Star and has four Gold Gloves to his name. Honestly, there aren't many players at his position that can challenge him for consistency over a nine year span. After a solid 36 HR season last year, Goldschmidt is back at it in 2022 with a solid slash line of .305/.393/.568, good for an NL best OPS of .961 through the break. As the dog days of summer continue, it'll be important we keep Goldschmidt rolling and give him the time off he needs. Part of me likes the idea of bringing in another first baseman who can DH and put Dickerson in Left Field as Tyler O'Neill is struggling. This would let Pujols DH when Dickerson is in LF and gives one more option if Goldschmidt needs a day off. We'll see, but as for now, Goldschmidt is on fire.

Bench
2B Brendan Donovan (164 AB/.256/3 HR/17 RBI/.736 OPS)
C Austin Romine (143 AB/.252/5 HR/16 RBI/.673 OPS)
1B Albert Pujols (125 AB/.256/6 HR/22 RBI/.789 OPS)
SS Edmundo Sosa (85 AB/.212/5 HR/10 RBI/.687 OPS)
CF Justin Toerner (33 AB/242/0 HR/0 RBI/.537 OPS)

Player Spotlight: Edmundo Sosa... The reason why I have chosen to spotlight Edmundo Sosa is not for the value he brings to us, but what he can offer other teams. With the deadline around the corner, I need to begin thinking about who I can put on the block. With Masyn Winn (#89 MLB Prospect) waiting on the farm, there's a strong likelihood that Sosa never gets a full opportunity at short. Arenado will be sticking around at third, plus we have Jordan Walker (#7 MLB Prospect), and Tommy Edman will likely head back to 2B one day. Basically, there's a pretty big logjam and Sosa is the odd man out. He's still 26 and can absolutely provide value to a rebuilding team who needs an MLB ready shortstop, so I will see what we can get.

Starting Rotation
1. Miles Mikolas (8-7/140.0 IP/2.76 ERA/89 K)
2. Adam Wainwright (11-4/124.1 IP/4.13 ERA/72 K)
3. Dakota Hudson (9-7/110.2 IP/4.72 ERA/74 K)
4. Jordan Hicks (5-4/99.1 IP/5.16 ERA/78 K)
5. Matthew Liberatore (3-8/94.1 IP/5.53 ERA/74 K)

Player Spotlight: Miles Mikolas... Up to this point, Miles Mikolas is our saving grace in the rotation. The ten-year veteran has kept us afloat with a 2.76 ERA through 140 innings pitched. His ability to strike batters out is not fantastic, but thankfully we have a plethora of Gold Glove talents behind him. All you have to do is look south of his ERA to understand how important he has been to our lead in the NL Central, but he is going to need some help. Jack Flaherty is not returning any time soon, so the deadline is a vital place for us to sure up the rotation. Matthew Liberatore would be the first man out if we bring in some relief as I would like him to keep getting better on the farm. He's a surefire top of the line guy one day, but everything takes time.

Bullpen
RP Jake Woodford (8-4/99.1 IP/3.99 ERA/58 K)
RP Genesis Cabrera (5-3/58.0 IP/2.79 ERA/46 K)
RP T.J. McFarland (2-1/24.1 IP/3.33 ERA/13 K)
RP Zack Thompson (0-0/5.1 IP/1.69 ERA/6 K)
RP Kodi Whitley (0-0/7.2 IP/1.17 ERA/7 K)
SU Giovanny Gallegos (2-0/27.1 IP/3.29 ERA/25 K)
CP Ryan Helsley (1-1/41.0 IP/1.10 ERA/51 K)

Player Spotlight: Ryan Helsley... Just like in the real world, Ryan Helsley is absolutely dominating at the Cardinals closer. Our bullpen, led by Helsley, has been pretty good so far and there are multiple guys that I think can be important pieces for us down the stretch. You can never have enough pitching, but at the moment we are operating with a pretty solid group of guys who aren't in danger of losing their role. If I had to improve an area, I would probably put Jordan Hicks into the Long Relief role and slot Jake Woodford into the rotation. It seems like the team plays a little better with him on the mound and Hicks gives up more runs. We shall see, however, especially considering I know we need to bring someone into the rotation.