So I was checking baseball news this morning like I always do, and man, this headline about Paul Goldschmidt getting two full days off just stopped me mid-sip of my coffee. Made me scratch my head, you know? I mean, this guy’s their star bat. Why bench him back-to-back? Had to dig deeper.
First thing I did was pull up the Cardinals’ schedule for that period. Clicked through MLB dot com, scanned the game dates. Saw they had two games against the Reds – middle of a long stretch on the road. Looked like no travel day break. Thought maybe the manager was just giving Goldy some legs.
Then I hunted for actual quotes. Found the post-game presser from skipper Oli Marmol. Started typing notes like crazy:
- Plain tired: Marmol flat-out said Goldschmidt looked “drained.” No sugar-coating.
- Numbers don’t lie: Goldy was like 0-for-his-last-15? Something awful. Zero homers in forever.
- Mental break too: Marmol mentioned wanting him to “reset mentally.” Heavy words for a vet.
Next step: opened my scorecard app. Gotta see who played first base instead. Scrolled through the lineups for those two Reds games.
- First game: Alec Burleson got the nod at first. Kinda expected that.
- Second game: Whoa. Luken Baker? The call-up? Surprised me there. Hadn’t played much at all.
Okay, so big hole in the middle of the order. Had to look at how they rearranged things. Saw Nolan Gorman moved up to bat third. Nolan Arenado bumped to cleanup both nights. Felt like shuffling deck chairs.
Checked the box scores too. Game one? Cards lost, barely scraped one run. Game two? Won, but offense sputtered early. Baker actually drove in a run! Interesting side effect.
The big takeaway? Hit me while I was munching lunch. This wasn’t just resting an old guy. Not some automatic move. This was about seeing a legit slump dragging the whole team down. Manager had guts pulling the trigger knowing fans would howl. Also showed they kinda gotta try weird stuff – like giving Baker a shot – ’cause Goldy’s bat ain’t replaceable by one guy. Means shuffling multiple spots, hoping someone else heats up. Makes you wonder who else might get mini-breaks if stars keep fading. Wild how one player sitting changes so much. Gave me tons to think about for my next lineup analysis.
