WEEKEND AT BERNIE’S
Hello again. It was a sleepy Saturday morning for me, which I needed. But after drinking an extra coffee, and watching a little college football, I’m ready to write.
SCOREBOARD: CARDINALS 6, TWINS 1
Let’s review …
THE BASICS: Friday’s victory gave the Cardinals their third straight win for the first time since taking four in a row from June 20-24 … the Cardinals pulled themselves up to .500 (64-64) and hadn’t been there since Aug. 13 … the Cardinals still trail first-place Milwaukee by 10 games in the NL Central and remained five games behind the Braves and the No. 3 wild-card chair. The Cardinals have made some progress. They’re now even with the Giants (64-64) in the wild-card standings. The only team between the Cardinals and the No. 3 pod are the Mets, who lead St. Louis by 2 and a ½ games. That said, FanGraphs gives the Cardinals a slim 4 percent chance of making the playoffs.
WHAT I LIKED ABOUT FRIDAY’S WIN
1. Starting pitcher Andre Pallante allowed five singles, two walks and a run in seven innings. Pallante struck out five. He induced 14 ground balls overall, 10 that were converted into outs. Pallante allowed seven runners in the first two innings but escaped the trap by getting a double-play grounder in the first, and a ground-ball force out at home in the second inning. His poised pitching limited the Twins to one early run. And over Pallante’s final five innings the Twins went 1 for 16 against him, and he retired 13 in a row to finish his start. Pallante has the team’s best starting-pitcher ERA (3.52) in 14 starts since moving into the rotation on May 29. Pallante has a superb 1.83 ERA over 19.2 innings in his last three starters.
2. The trend of improved starting pitching. Pallante’s performance continued a positive upturn by STL starting pitchers. In their last six games, Cards starters have combined for a 2.25 ERA and haven’t given up more than two runs in an assignment. This is an important development. In the first 14 games in August, STL starters had a 6.10 ERA and the team went 4-10. But with the starters coming through with that 2.25 ERA in the last six games, the Cardinals are 4-2.
3. The Cardinals kept busy and put pressure on the Twins. The Redbirds pecked away Friday with nine hits, nine walks and four stolen bases. The visitors were ambitious in running the bases, and the daring personality featured Willson Contreras stretching a single into a double in the fourth inning and teaming up with Brendan Donovan for a double steal later in the frame. Both men scored on a two-run double by Lars Nootbaar for a 3-1 lead.
I appreciated the resourcefulness displayed by the Cardinals on Friday. The Redbirds tied the score 1-1 after Victor Scott swiped second base and scored on a single by Masyn Winn. Later, in the eighth, the Cardinals extended their lead to 5-1 on a bases-loaded walk by Scott and a sac fly by Winn.
4. Lars Nootbaar stepped up with an impact night. Though he had been drawing some walks – always a good indicator – Noot went into Friday’s game with a .205 average and .282 slugging percentage in August. And he had delivered only two total RBIs in 40 at-bats. But Nootbaar was paramount in Friday’s win. He went 2 for 5 with that key two-run double. He singled and scored on a sac fly in the eighth. The Cardinals have been waiting patiently for Nootbaar to get going, and with one swing of the bat in Friday’s fourth inning, Noot plated as many RBIs (2) as he’d produced in his previous 18 games.
5. The Cardinals had contributions from many hitters. Brendan Donovan had a solo homer, two walks and two runs scored … Willson Contreras was 3 for 5 with a big run scored … Masyn had two hits and two RBIs … Victor Scott has a walk, steal and sac fly … six different Cardinals walked, including three by Luken Baker after he came into the game as a pinch-hitter for Matt Carpenter in the fourth.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE
1. Still stranding too many teammates. I was happy to praise the Cardinals for what they did well offensively in winning the series opener. But a familiar problem resurfaced: the Cardinals went 2 for 12 with runners in scoring position and left 10 runners on base. This season only four MLB teams have stranded more runners than St. Louis. Only 29 percent of the Cardinals baserunners have scored this season, which is tied for sixth worst in the majors. Friday, only two of the nine Cards who walked came around to score.
2. Paul Goldschmidt’s harsh recession continued. He went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts against the Twins, but did walk and steal a base. Goldy is batting .179 this month with four ground-ball double plays and has reached base on only 26 percent of his plate appearances.
When hitting with runners in scoring position this month, Goldschmidt is 2 for 21 (.091) with 10 strikeouts. For the season, Goldschmidt is batting .164 with a .224 slug with RISP and has struck out 31 percent of his plate appearances have been terminated by a strikeout.
Let’s look at where Goldschmidt stands in 2024 compared to his body of work from 2011 through 2023:
Batting average: .226 now … .293, first 13 years
Onbase pct: .286 now … .388, first 13 years
Slugging pct: .383 now … .519, first 13 years
OPS: .669 now … .908, first 13 years
From 2011 through 2023, Goldschmidt performed 42 percent above league average offensively per wRC+. But in 2024, he’s 12 percent below league average in wRC+. That’s a drop of 54 percent from Goldschmidt’s established body of work through his first 13 major-league seasons. Goldchmidt’s St. Louis contract expires after the season. He turns 37 on Sept. 10.
NEXT ON THE SKED
The Cardinals will go for their fourth consecutive win Saturday night, with Sonny Gray opposing Minnesota starter Pablo Lopez. After a poor three-plus months that left him with a 5.18 ERA through his first 18 starts of the season, Lopez has straightened out for a 2.79 ERA in his last eight assignments.
Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy the rest of the weekend …
–Bernie
A 2023 inductee into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, Bernie has provided informed opinions and perspective on St. Louis sports through his columns, radio shows and podcasts since 1985.
Please check out the new Bernie Show channel on YouTube. And thank you for subscribing. Here’s the link:
Please follow Bernie on X @b_miklasz and Threads @miklaszb
Stats used in my baseball columns are sourced from FanGraphs, Baseball Reference, Statcast, StatHead, Baseball Savant, Baseball Prospectus, Brooks Baseball Net, and Sports Info Solutions unless otherwise noted.
For the last 36 years Bernie Miklasz has entertained, enlightened, and connected with generations of St. Louis sports fans.
While best known for his voice as the lead sports columnist at the Post-Dispatch for 26 years, Bernie has also written for The Athletic, Dallas Morning News and Baltimore News American. A 2023 inductee into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, Bernie has hosted radio shows in St. Louis, Dallas, Baltimore and Washington D.C.
Bernie, his wife Kirsten and their cats reside in the Skinker-DeBaliviere neighborhood of St. Louis.