Commish’s Offerings 4-17-2023
Rick Hummel is presented by:
Fast Eddie’s Bon Air
in Alton, Illinois
Options in the Outfield
St Louis-
Sixteen games played by the Cardinals. Fourteen different outfield combinations from one day to the next.
For only the second time Sunday, manager Oliver Marmol ran out the three same outfielders in the same three positions in back-to-back games. Chances are that that could change Monday after left fielder Alec Burleson had to leave in the game in the fifth after fouling a ball off his right shin,
They finished a 5-4, 10-inning comeback win over the Pittsburgh Pirates with Dylan Carlson, Nootbaar and Jordan Walker in the outfield. Nootbaar's start was just his second since he jammed his left thumb sliding into third base in the opener.
He had six walks, two intentional, and two strikeouts in eight of his nine plate appearances on Saturday and Sunday. But the only time he put a ball in play was when he ripped a two-game, game-tying homer in the sixth inning.
This homer put some juice into a frozen Busch Stadium crowd, reminiscent of what the left-handed hitter did last season when he seized a regular outfield job from July 24-Aug. 30 by knocking in 16 runs in 34 games, of which the Cardinals won 24.
Whether he starts in center field or more likely left field, with Burleson out and either Carlson or Tyler O'Neill in center, Nootbaar figures to be in the lineup against Arizona right-hander Merrill Kelly on Monday night at Busch Stadium. And against most other right-handers, too.
The hit was only his second of the season—the other was a single on opening day. But Nootbaar has eight walks, tied for second on the club, in just three games. The Pirates had seen enough of him with a man at second base in the sixth Sunday. They walked him intentionally with runners in scoring position in both the eighth and 10th.
Pittsburgh survived the first instance but not the second as Tommy Edman grounded the game-deciding hit up the middle with the bases loaded and two out.
One small step. But the Cardinals, still under .500 at 7-9, managed to play two, consecutive, non-losing series this past week. They won two out of three at Denver with a little help from the Colorado defense and managed to scrounge two of four from the pesky Buccaneers.
And no Cardinals starter out of the four allowed more than two earned runs over the last few days here while pitching at least into the sixth inning.
“It could be a turning point for us,” said Nootbaar.
Before Walker turned heads in spring training and Burleson, the replacement for an injured Nootbaar, would run off a 10-game hitting streak (which ended Sunday), the Cardinals outfield, in some configuation, likely would have consisted of O'Neill, Carlson and Nootbaar. That one hasn't started together yet but you never know. Monday night could be the night.
Arizona comes to town atop the National League Western Division, but with only a 9-7 record and will face Cardinals right-hander Jack Flaherty, who allowed just one earned run in 5 1/3 innings in his previous start in Denver.
After this three-game set, the Cardinals will take their most demanding trip to Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles, encompassing 10 games in 10 days.
