isaac thurman

This last 7 ish stretch of games for Walker has been even more encouraging for him than his initial home run barrage imo. #stlcards

@CardinalSTLMuse The pitching matchups are about as good for the cardinals as they could possibly be given each teams rotations.

Thoughts on this series?

@RedbirdFarmhand I’ll shoutout Patrick Galle. He’s a super interesting PTBNL.

Now that we are a month into the Minor League season, which player has impressed you more than expected? I'll start: Jack Gurevitch has been better than I expected

@AdamAkbani I don’t have the numbers pulled up but has Ivan really had defensive woes? Seems like he’s been at least fine back there. I’m happy for Pedro. Not buying into his offense even a little.

Still early to decide on the catching situation, but given his defensive woes, Iván Herrera could move off the position entirely If Pedro Pagés's offense is legit, he could split reps with Jimmy Crooks instead, who's been torching Triple-A One way to begin clearing the logjam

@RedbirdFarmhand An underrated bad thing about Bruihl is that he’s 1 of 2 lefties in our pen and he’s been extra atrocious against left handed hitters. If Packy hadn’t gone down I think he would’ve been up soon if not already.

I do hope they eventually find someone through waivers they like better than Bruihl, though it’s mostly just switching bad for bad

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

@TortsIllustrtd He’s just so advanced for a rookie. I don’t see any holes in his game. He outshined Griffin by a lot this series. Griffin is younger but still.

Not sure I can be rational or measured with Wetherholt anymore. If he ends up below starter level player I will be disappointed. NOT because he needs to be, but because I can’t have another promising prospect flame out

I’m sure Konner Griffin is going to be great. JJ Wetherholt is on another level right now!

Putting Justin Bruihl in the game with runners on is never the right choice…

@woodbat28 And Fernandez has only had one good outing.. not sure why this is the hill some are dying on.

"Why Fernandez?" Is something im already seeing a lot of. 1, he has options remaining so some of the worser performing options who are out of options remain because the team wants to maintain its already thin depth, this is the game and the life of a flex reliever. 2, Svanson hasn't been terrific this year, but he and Graceffo (who has performed well) have the ability to give the team multiples with a short bullpen is likely the main reason they remain. 3, assuming the Cardinals agree with you that Fernandez has pitched well and deserves to be up here, he won't be in Memphis very long. This is the reality of how modern baseball mixes and matches its pitching for different stretches of the season. Not saying you have to love it. It just is what it is.

@FoulTerritoryTV @Kurkjian_ESPN This continues to be such BS. You can be anti cap. You can be as pro player as they come. You cannot sit there and say that there is no strong correlation between high payrolls and winning. There are high payroll teams that fail. That doesn’t mean there’s not a strong correlation

The argument behind payroll disparity and how it directly correlates to competitive balance is running out of time, says @Kurkjian_ESPN. "You just have to run your team better."

@calebnoble08 He’s the second lefty in the pen but he has reverse splits for some reason. Get him outta here.

I’m sorry, but if you can’t get outs when your team is up 8 runs, you’re more than useless and just shouldn’t be on the team. Not to be harsh, but good lord.

@fullspectrumice @redbirdnerds Well I guess it just depends on if you think he’s a cornerstone guy or not. I think he is. Maybe never an MVP level guy, but a 5 WAR player you can build around. If you don’t see that then yeah the extension doesn’t make sense

@isaacthurman1 @redbirdnerds Of course I have. But STL has control for 5 years. He’ll be a 29 year old 2b when his control expires. I’m not convinced that that’s a cornerstone piece that needs to be locked in one month into his career.

The longer we wait the more it becomes.

@fullspectrumice @redbirdnerds Have you not seen so many other teams do this? Some with guys who haven’t even debuted yet. The idea is that it costs more now but saves you money on the backend and locks in a cornerstone player for 2 more prime years. Player salaries will only go up over time

@isaacthurman1 @redbirdnerds How are you saving money by locking in two more years he’s not under contract in his age 31-33 years when you’re over paying by millions over the next 5? You also mitigate risk if he gets hurt or just ends up sucking

@fullspectrumice @redbirdnerds 1. He isn’t a complete unknown. 2. You’re saving money in the long run if you extend him now and he reaches even some of his potential.

@isaacthurman1 @redbirdnerds But why? They have so much control already. It’s completely unrealistic to expect any player to have a 8+ year career at elite levels. No reason to pay whatever 5-7x more right now for a complete unknown.

@datzoulou @redbirdnerds Griffin signed a 9 year deal. Do you value his age 27-29 seasons that much more than Wetherholts age 29-31 seasons? I don’t think there’s a big difference

@isaacthurman1 @redbirdnerds There's a big difference between Wetherholt and Griffen, Emerson, and Griffen. He's 2-4 years older than them. There's not as much value in rushing to extend him versus the others.

@DaniWex @kyler416 You’ve been a huge highlight of these Cardinals TV broadcasts. Really enjoy your interviews.

@thomasgauvain That feels like more of the floor to me. He’s such an advanced hitter for a rookie.

If JJ Wetherholt repeated 2B Cavan Biggio's rookie season, how would you feel? .234/.364/.429, .793 OPS, 16 home runs, 14 stolen bases, 115 wRC+ He won't strike out as much, but Cavan's walk rate (16.5%) offsets that. Also, wanting more defense, but still. #STLCards

I think it should be noted that the Pirates have done far more financially to help their team now and in the long term than the Cardinals. They have extended their young star. They’ve brought in guys like Lowe and O’Hearn. Our FO will have to step up and step up fast.