Call-Ups: St. Louis Cardinals and Matt Carpenter
By Wally Fish
Once again it is collaborative post time here on Call to the Pen. This month’s topic is September call-ups. To get the ball rolling, I posed the following question to each of our Lead Writers, “Which player do you want your team to call-up in September and why?” It is a simple question but I think you will find the responses to be very diverse.
Taking the path less traveled this month, I decided to post each team’s write-up individually instead of grouping them by league or division as we have done in the past.
Representing the St. Louis Cardinals and Redbird Rants is the site’s Lead Writer, Ryne Gery. Check out what he has to say after the jump.
Ryne’s Take:
The Cardinals free fall in the standings puts playoff baseball up in the air. St. Louis looks dead right now both on the field and in the standings. After losing five of six to the Pirates and Nationals, and with the team about to be swept by the Astros, the fans are losing their patience with this club. The Reds come to town this weekend for the final three games of the head-to-head season series. There is still time to make a final push but it has to start now.
September call-ups will be a big part of that last chance.
St. Louis doesn’t have much that we haven’t already seen in the big leagues. Tyler Greene, Nick Stavinoha*, and Joe Mather are all Memphis Redbirds today. They are all also part of the 40-man big league roster and they have all had extended stints in St. Louis. While all three have desirable qualities, they aren’t game-changers either.
*Update: Stavinoha was called up today
The Cardinals need a spark. Those three aren’t going to provide it because they have already experienced the major league scene and culture in St. Louis.
With their backs against the wall right now, I’d like to see the Cards gamble on a young player who hasn’t tasted the big leagues yet. Minor league players bring energy and hunger to prove themselves. Maybe that attitude and work ethic would rub off on the veterans who have become complacent at this point in the year.
With that in mind and a need at third base, the perfect call-up for St. Louis is Matt Carpenter. The 2009 draft pick out of TCU has a good glove and a good bat. The 24-year-old has excelled at every level in the Cards farm system and in my opinion, he has earned the chance to experience big league baseball. This year at Double-A Springfield, he is hitting 0.322 with 12 home runs and 52 RBI in 101 games. Carpenter’s bat could provide some pop for the Cards struggling lineup. He is also dependable with the glove, making seven errors in his time with Springfield. Most young players struggle more in the field than he has which is a good sign. He is a more mature second-year prospect because he played four years in college, so he should be given a quicker chance in the majors.
He also plays the position that has been a big question mark for the Redbirds since David Freese went down. St. Louis resorted to trading for veteran Pedro Feliz to fill the hole. While Feliz is hitting 0.286 in 12 games with the Cardinals, he is not a great hitter and he cannot be counted on to be the spark that the team needs.
Matt Carpenter is the best answer for a team in need of help. It’s time for this team to get creative and put it all out there. The conservative moves and same old faces aren’t going to dig this team out of this hole.