Tag: kevin siegrist

5 Reasons the 2015 Cardinals are done

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Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports
Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports

It’s over. The 2015 St. Louis Cardinals are done. The Chicago Cubs, via a fiery lineup and surprisingly solid bullpen, knocked out the Birds at Wrigley Field. The Cubs first playoff series win in 12 years happened for many reasons but I’ll toss five at you as the nerves go on ice for the offseason.

I’ll be honest and say it hurts. Seeing another team celebrate in front of your team is an event I can’t say someone should ever get used to. It’s ugly. You can’t say there will be another game tomorrow. You can’t say there’s a chance. It’s over and the dust settles and lockers are cleaned out.

5. Too much power from Chicago. Anthony Rizzo. Kris Bryant. Kyle Schwarber. Javier Baez. Addison Russell. List goes on and on. Schwarber hit a mammoth shot that hasn’t even landed yet. Rizzo wrongly predicted the NL Central winner but his smoked solo blast was the deciding blow in Game 4. While the Cards hit eight home runs, the Cubs made their ten blasts count and had more men on base for a few of them. They are a tough team to play in Wrigley and showed their ability to change a game instantly with the long ball. Cards couldn’t keep up.

4. Mike Matheny’s decisions. Once again, the skipper made some questionable calls, especially at Wrigley. In a tight five game series, every move will be scrutinized. Matheny refused to pitch Tyler Lyons, a guy capable of throwing 2-3 innings, for the entire series. He brought in Kevin Siegrist in the 5th and 6th innings, which didn’t end well. He pulled Seth Maness in the middle of an inning when he needed a double play and brought in Adam Wainwright, who immediately allowed a two run Game 3 deciding home run to Jorge Soler. Matheny wasn’t the main reason, as many on Twitter will point out, the Cards lost but he made some dicey moves that shouldn’t be overlooked. He also started Jaime Garcia with a stomach virus when Lyons was down there. The same Lyons who took over for Carlos Martinez after three batters in a late September game.

3. The plate discipline left the window. The Cardinals tried to impersonate the Cubs and became home run hitters. They struck out over 48 times in the series, averaging 12 per game. They struck out 27 times in their last 54 at bats. They swung at pitches in the dirt or at their chin. Sure, the strike zone was bad for the majority of the series, but that doesn’t excuse the terrible plate discipline by this team. They drew walks but struck out far too often.

3a.-The veterans coming up short. Matt Holliday hit .129 in the series, hitting third. Jhonny Peralta hit .143 and batted fifth. Both unacceptable. 

2. The bullpen got smoked, with the biggest culprit being Siegrist. The guy led the National League in appearances in 2015, threw a lot of pitches and was fatigued but saw himself entering the game midway. He served up a bomb to Rizzo on Monday night.  He entered on Tuesday with the game tied at 4 and promptly hung a pitch for Rizzo to blast into nearly the same spot. Siegrist missed location horribly on both pitches. He finished by serving up a majestic blast to Kyle Schwarber that left the stadium, 418 feet away. In 2013, Siegrist was unhittable until late September and got beat by David Ortiz and the Red Sox in the World Series. Two years later, he failed to pitch well in the playoffs. He wasn’t alone in bullpen blasting but he is the guy who stands out. As a reliever, you have to be efficient with your pitches and keep the game in hand. Siegrist did not and got smoked. Maybe next year don’t make him throw so many pitches. Anyway…

1. The Jaime Garcia implosion. As the Cards faced elimination, I kept wondering how the series would have went if Game 2 went a different way. As in, what if Garcia didn’t start and Lyons did. What if the enigmatic starter known as Jaime didn’t wait until an hour before the game to tell Matheny he was very sick and take the mound again in the playoffs impaired. Or, what if Garcia fields that bunt cleanly and flips to Yadier Molina to nail Austin Jackson at home plate? What if the Cubs don’t score 5 runs that inning? What if the Cards win Game 2 and don’t need to start John Lackey on short rest in Game 4? All these conundrums and so much time to answer them. Starting a sick Jaime Garcia was a costly and stupid move. Most of that fault falls on the player for not admitting sickness earlier, thus putting his own legacy(or need to remake it) in front of team importance.

Yeah, there’s more. Lackey serving up a two out RBI single to Jason Hammel that preceded the Baez home run. Kolten Wong hitting .143 and swinging at everything in the dirt. Mark Reynolds breaking windows in batting practice but whiffing in real games. Yadier Molina playing badly hurt without an ability to hit. There are more things but the five above explain the meat of the reason the Cards aren’t advancing.

It’s over folks. The 2015 Cardinals took us on a ride that we won’t soon forget, for better or worse. It was thrilling, frustrating and ultimately disappointing while being impressive at the same time. Despite injuries, they won 100 games. In the end, the pitching broke down and the bats couldn’t keep up. 2016 holds a lot of questions, mostly fun and interesting. For now, ice the mind and toss the stress in the trash can. There’s plenty of time in the next six months to think about what could have been.

Cards get last laugh with mad Wrigley escape

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(In case you missed it on KSDK Sports this morning)

The game of baseball will smack you around many times throughout the 162 game season. Heartache follows the brutal losses and mad elation follows the thrilling wins. After engaging in a unintentional vigilante bean ball war brought to you folks by Tony Soprano over the first two games at Wrigley Field, the Cardinals stole the finale on Sunday and gave fans a sense of calm. Well, sort of.

The pitching was good for the most part. Carlos Martinez quieted the mighty bats of the Cubs down over 6.2 innings, allowing just two runs and striking out six batters in a frenzied environment. Right when you think this 24 year has impressed us to the tilt, he blows you away again. After a shaky stretch of starts that started midway through August, Martinez has fired off a pair of brilliant starts in a row on the road against division opponents.

The bullpen bent but didn’t break. Kevin Siegrist put out a fire and started another. Jonathan Broxton walked a couple guys, evoking painful memories of Chris Perez from years ago. Seth Maness came on and got the most unlikely double play before Trevor Rosenthal threw 6+ pitches at 100 mph or more for his 46th save. After a walk heavy season where K/BB ratio was 2-1, in 2015 Rosenthal has improved that ratio to 4 to 1. Impressive for a guy with a newborn at home. Can you imagine his daughter when she grows up? “When I was born, my dad was throwing 100 mph fastballs.”

The lineup did just enough. Young guns Tommy Pham and Stephen Piscotty provided all the offense the Birds would need with a pair of early two run home runs before Cubs pitcher Jon Lester settled down. Pham’s was a true shot, flying high out of Wrigley. It was the rookie’s fourth home run on the road trip.

The defensive came in the form of Jason Heyward and Tony Cruz. Maness induced a flyball with the bases loaded in the 8th inning and Heyward caught it in shallow right center field and fired a strike to Yadier Molina at homeplate to nail Anthony Rizzo and keep the game in the Cardinals favor. Heyward, according to Fangraphs, has saved 19 runs above average in right field this season and is arguably the defensive rightfielder in the game. He also leads the team in batting averages and stolen bases. Worth every penny. He will only get better as the years go by.

With the win, the Cards slipped out of Wrigley with a little dignity and kept the hard charging Cubs in check. The lead over Chicago is now six games and the Pirates are still four games out with 13 games left in the regular season. The final homestand includes three games with the Cincinnati Reds and four games with the Milwaukee Brewers before the Pirates get one final three game shot and then the Birds finish in Atlanta.

The Cards have clinched a wildcard game spot at the very least, but now aim to seal their lock on the division this week at Busch Stadium. If the Cards go at least 7-6(finishing with 100 wins), the Pirates would have to go 11-2 to tie them. That’s just one of the scenarios. Time is on the Cards side as the final stretch of 2015 unfolds. It may not have seemed like it(wait, it really did), but Sunday’s was huge to come home on a high note and to get the last laugh in Wrigley during the regular season.

What do you think the Cards’ record will be after the action on October 4th wraps up?

Kevin Siegrist: The Comeback Kid of the Cardinals Pen

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I had a problem during Sunday’s game. Kevin Siegrist was in to pitch the 8th inning against the Milwaukee Brewers, and the Cardinals had a 4-3 lead. He allowed a hit, got the next hitter out on a sacrifice, and then Mike Matheny pulled Siegrist for Jonathan Broxton before Khris Davis took his swing. This infuriated me. One reason? Kevin Siegrist shuts righthanded hitters down, better than anyone on the team, including Broxton. Why was Matheny doing this?

The tale didn’t end well. Brox threw a first pitch fastball and Davis planted it in center field. Brewers win. Questioning the move got me some heat because it’s apparently illegal in the Midwest to question a 71-40 team. It just didn’t sit well with me. It also showed something that some mainstream writers have been missing. The brilliant comeback season of Siegrist.

Remember 2013? Siegrist couldn’t be touched. He struck out 50 in 39.1 innings. His WHIP(average walks/hits allowed per inning) was a scintillating 0.88. Siegrist was the bridge of chaos before hitters the ring of fire in the 9th. He was another reason that the Cardinals were revered. Along with Trevor Rosenthal, the bullpen was stacked. After a decent 2013 postseason where Siegrist seemed to finally wear down a bit and the roller coaster started to slip off the rails, it fell off in 2014.

The lefty was stricken with a forearm injury that never went away and sucked up months of his season. He was out of action from May 23rd to July 25th and when he came the results weren’t pretty. Siegrist allowed 15 earned runs in 10.1 innings the rest of the season, striking out 10 but walking 8. His fastball was flat and his breaking pitches sat on a tee. He had lost it and going into the 2015 season, nobody knew if he had it back. He was healthy but was the sizzle from his fastball forever lost.

Siegrist answered quickly. He was firing heat past wooden bats again. The contact was gone. Hitters had no clue, having studied that 2014 tape too much and forgetting what the kid could do. In May and June, Siegrist struck out 17 batters in 12 and 12.1 innings. His walks were down. He wasn’t allowed much. He held games in check for Rosenthal, and also took a few rounds in the 9th inning himself. Siegrist was the everyman for this brutally stout Cards pen. When the rotation needed help, Siegrist helped lead the charge to pick up innings. His 53.2 innings are tied with Rosenthal for the bullpen lead. With Jordan Walden out since late April, Siegrist has forged his role into a multi-faceted attack. He’s done so on the strength of a recovered four seam fastball, a circle changeup and a slider(per Brooks Baseball).

Not too bad for the 1,235th pick in the 41st round in the 2008 draft making 518,000 dollars. Siegrist didn’t disappoint in his June 6th, 2013 debut against Arizona. In 1.2 innings, he struck out 4 batters. Two years later, fans expect that dominance out of the 6 foot 5 215 pound Buffalo, New York native. After a stormy 2013 season, Siegrist is back in a big way.

Sunday, here’s why I wanted Siegrist to stay in there, just so I am clear. In 133 at bats against righthanded hitters this season, the lefty has held them to a .150 average(20 hits and 1 home run) while striking out 51 and only walking 8. Against lefties, Siegrist is much more human, allowing a .316 average and walking 11 in less than 60 at bats. The decision to bring in Brox to face Davis was dumbfounding due to Siegrist’s ability to get the job done.

Wednesday night, Siegrist recorded more than 4 outs for the 7th time this season, pitching the 7th and 8th innings to hold the Pittsburgh Pirates at bay for a 4-2 victory that pushed the challenging Bucs team 7 games out of first place. Just the latest example of the man doing his job in a big spot against a great team. The latest appearance in a season that rivals, if not shines brighter, than Rosenthal’s work.

How good is Kevin Siegrist? He has 65 strikeouts in just 53.2 innings, an average of 10.9 strikeouts per 9 innings. You may point to his 11.0 strikeouts per 9 last year, but unlike in 2014, Siegrist isn’t getting clubbed along with the whiffs. His fielding independent ERA(take away his defense) is 2.58. It isn’t the greatest statistic for a reliever, but shows how dominant he has been.

Siegrist isn’t arbitration eligible until 2017 and isn’t a free agent until 2020. He’ll keep doing his thing, deadly style, for another season on the cheap. While he isn’t exactly an unsung hero of this pitching staff, Kevin Siegrist doesn’t get enough credit for the transformation he’s shown this season.

-DLB