Thursday Thoughts

Before the game today, I wanted to get down a couple of thoughts . . .

Tony LaRussa had a clubhouse meeting after the game last night. That’s a good thing. The media reported that it was a positive meeting and that LaRussa told them to not get down about the loss. A couple of bad calls went against them, and some hard hit balls were caught.

I want to mention another reason why the hitters on this team are streaky. Their plate discipline is not as good as it should be. They need a different meeting with a different coach. McGwire should be meeting with his hitters and saying this ... “The scouting report on you is out. Everyone knows you are aggressive and you want to hit early in the count. So they are throwing you breaking pitches out of the strike zone early in the count. And you are digging your own hole. Instead of being up 2-0 or 2-1, you find yourselves down 0-2 or 1-2. Pitch selection is key. Recognize the low pitches that are going to drop out of the zone. If you see a fastball early in count, AND it’s waist high or above, drill it. But lay off the pitches below the waist until you get 2 strikes. They are most likely going to drop into the dirt.” This applies to almost everyone but Freese and Molina. I don’t see them swinging at these kind of pitches. But Schumaker, Ludwick, Pujols, Holliday, Rasmus, and Ryan are really expanding their zones. And if they’re not better disciplined today, Roy “Doc” Halliday will eat them alive.

. . . and Matt Holliday, if you have a groin strain, sit your butt down and get better. We have other outfielders.

. . . and the Cardinals should just take the day off on Cinco de Mayo. They’ve lost 15 of their last 17 games on that date.

Go Cards.