CINCINNATI 鈥 When it comes to assuring playing time during this current promotion for prized prospect Jordan Walker, the Cardinals aren鈥檛 promising as much as they usually would, looking instead to at-bats they need in the present rather than at-bats he may need for his future.
The Cardinals鈥 struggles against left-handed pitching and an opening on the active roster have combined to bring Walker back to the majors for what appears to be specific 鈥減latoon鈥 assignment, even if there are only a few lefties on the horizon.
鈥淭he big league team has a need, and it鈥檚 a right-handed bat,鈥 manager Oliver Marmol said. 鈥淪o that鈥檚 the simplest way to look at it. It鈥檚 not May. It鈥檚 the end of the year. You have a limited amount of games left, and our biggest struggle has been against left-handed pitchers.
鈥淲e have a need, and it has to be someone who can play an outfield position.鈥
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For the second time since his Monday return to the majors, Walker was not in the lineup against Cincinnati on Tuesday. If onrushing opponents Los Angeles and Milwaukee maintain their current pitching rotations, the Cardinals have a stretch where they鈥檒l face one left-handed starter in eight games. That鈥檚 a lot of idle time for a top prospect the front office has often said would play when he returned.
John Mozeliak, president of baseball operations, said at the trade deadline that 鈥測ou鈥檙e not going to bring somebody up just to bring somebody up. He鈥檚 young. If he comes up, he鈥檚 got to play.鈥
Walker, 22, hit his way into consideration for the promotion with a strong August at Class AAA Memphis. When the Cardinals had a streak of games against lefty starters, they did not promote Walker because they wanted to see 鈥渕ore consistency鈥 from him, and they could not guarantee starts.They acquired Tommy Pham at the trade deadline for those starts.
An injury to Matt Carpenter (back) altered the look of the roster and gave the Cardinals a spot on the roster for Walker.
A spot in the lineup is a different conversation.
鈥淭here are also left-handed relievers,鈥 Marmol reminded.
In several ways, Marmol geared Wednesday鈥檚 lineup with a few spots to use Walker or trap the choices Cincinnati could make. The Reds used an opener in right-hander Emilio Pagan. When the Reds started the parade of relievers in the third inning with lefty Sam Moll to face left-handed hitter Lars Nootbaar, the Cardinals lineup had right-handed Tommy Pham on deck to assure a look at Moll. Marmol wanted to set up the lineup so that later in the game, depending on the direction manager David Bell went with his bullpen, the Cardinals would have Walker to face those aforementioned left-handed relievers and Nolan Gorman to hit against a right-hander.
In his career, Walker has reverse splits 鈥 uncommon for a platoon choice. This season at Triple-A and the majors combined, he鈥檚 hit .246 vs. right-handers and .228 against lefties with a .368 slug and .670 on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) vs. lefties. Against right-handed pitchers, he slugs .410 and has a .721 OPS. He had similar reverse splits in his rookie year with the Cardinals when he slugged .465 vs. right-handed pitchers with a .823 OPS and had a .389 slug and .683 OPS vs. lefties. The Cardinals are comparing his numbers against other hitters available, and where he offers an uptick is vs. lefties, not replacing one of the left-handed bats vs. a right-handed pitcher.
As a team, the Cardinals are near the bottom in both slugging and OPS against lefties this season, and it has contributed to their offensive struggles and their search for how to generate runs as the calendar runs out. The club鈥檚 preference to add a player who can play an outfielder position is why they have not brought up slugging Luken Baker, the team explained. A first baseman and designated hitter, Baker has hit 31 homers for the Triple-A Redbirds, and this season, he鈥檚 slugging .403 with a .711 OPS vs. lefties in Class AAA.
Fedde鈥檚 cut above
An otherwise steady start by the right-hander Erick Fedde got out of reach Tuesday night for the Cardinals when he allowed a two-run homer on a cut fastball that doubled the Reds lead. In the clubhouse after the game, Fedde said he would rethink the use of the cut fastball Jeimer Candelario hit for a home run.
It wasn鈥檛 the quality of the pitch but the quantity.
鈥淥verexposed it today,鈥 he said of his cutter.
One of the shifts Fedde made in his return the majors from a dynamic season in the KBO was an increased use of his cutter to play off a sweeping slider and new change-up. This season, which he started with the White Sox before the July trade to the Cardinals, Fedde pocketed his four-seam fastball in favor of the cutter, which he throws 32% of the time. About 40% of his pitches in 16 innings as a Cardinal have been cutters.
In his Cardinals debut, he talked about how the pitch wasn鈥檛 sharp but he still had to trust it, trust that it would tighten on the go. He leans on the pitch when there are runners on base, just as he did three times against Candelario.
In their first at-bat against each other, Fedde threw him five consecutive cutters. Candelario flew out on the first one he saw in his second at-bat, and when Fedde went back to it twice in the sixth inning, Candelario hammered the second one. Of the 11 pitches Candelario saw from Fedde while going 1 for 3, eight were cutters.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 part of my game and one of my biggest pitches,鈥 Fedde said.
In three starts for the Cardinals, Fedde is 1-2 with a 5.63 ERA and four homers allowed. He completed six innings for the first time for the Cardinals on Tuesday, but the homer kept that outing from being a quality start.
鈥淓very time I go out there, I鈥檓 looking to dominate, honestly,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 haven鈥檛 been as sharp in all three of the outings. It鈥檚 my job to not let that pile up and not think about it going into a start. First impressions are important. I want to keep getting better.鈥
Pitching roulette, etc.
With a day off Thursday and a series against Milwaukee looming, the Cardinals have the option of adjusting their rotation to gear it toward that series. Or they could just delay revealing their starters vs. the sometimes cagey Dodgers. Both teams currently have TBA listed as their probable pitchers for the weekend series. In recent turns, the Cardinals have preferred to score their starters an added day off when possible to avoid late-season fatigue.
- Lance Lynn (knee) will throw a bullpen session Friday afternoon at Busch before determining if his next session is higher intensity and geared toward having him move into a start.
- Steven Matz (back) remains on track to start Friday for Class AAA Memphis and push his pitch count toward 80 and his innings to five.