This here is a recap for the Cardinals losing to the Cubs 8-0
Well damn, guys… I picked the wrong game to recap on the schedule. I’m glad I wrote about hitting so many home runs earlier. And how the offense was on the up and up…
No. No I am not glad. It felt good at the time, but I have apparently jinxed it. I was worried they would lose the next two games. And here we are. I got too excited about the offense converting into a power based offense. The last 15 days have been a bit different than what we have seen. Well, whatever they were doing during that time has fallen flat on its face and the Cardinals offense is back to having to figure things out again.
It’s too early to say if they need an adjustment, or just had an off night disturbed by ugly weather, roster moves, whatever upset their roll. It was bound to slow down though, swinging for the fences too much won’t usually work. I missed this game because I was working, ironically enough. So, I just skimmed through whatever this depressing mess was:
Erick Fedde is rarely if ever a very exciting pitcher, but he usually can get the job done. When he cannot, it gets ugly, fast. Tonight was totally like that, apparently.
That is just historically bad, won’t be forgetting how bad he was against the Cubs today, just hearing it. VEB complained about Fedde, and with good reason. Not only is he boring to watch, he was just completely awful. Awfully bad. Go get ‘em next time, I guess?
Is it time to talk about John King? His 4.66 ERA was actually improved from 4.73 after tonight; a 4.47 FIP became 4.25. But he gave up 3 hits and a run in 2.1 IP. He ate some innings tonight but he doesn’t ever inspire any confidence, even when he’s good.
On the bright side, the up and coming bullpen guy Svanson was really good with 2 IP while only giving up 1 hit. That’s really good. And position player pitcher Hampson pitched three pitches and recorded three outs! Extremely rare pitching performance made even more bizarre by pitches that were sub-50 mph.
Most games are the fault of more than one player but Erick Fedde wears the dunce cap for this loss because his -.361 WPA is just far more weighty than any other player’s effect on this game. Happ, Tucker, and McGuire hit home runs for the Cubs and gave them a big WPA boost.
Winn, Fermin, Gorman, and Pozo were the only Cardinals with any hits and they each only had one hit during this game. I am thankful I missed this. Lucky that all I got to see were the Hampson elite level pitching performance, a good swing and hit by Fermin, and Svanson retiring the Cubs.
The umpire would’ve just annoyed me anyway, with more constricted zone action:
The tight strikezone has been a theme of my recaps this year. There are at the minimum 8 balls that should have been called strikes there. More like 10+
The Cardinals offense ran out of gas… did they look tired or not as focsed tonight? Or did Cubs pitching just outdo them in this game?
Tune in for an afternoon game tomorrow that may make someone vomit, whether it’s a player on the field or a fan not enjoying the game. The first two games would’ve made a diehard Cubs fan puke; and tonight’s results leave me feeling a bit nauseous.