The Cardinals look to have righted the ship (for the moment). They notched their 3rd win in succession last night. And with the Pirates loss, extended their NL Central lead to 4 games with 17 left to play.
You might have noticed that Tommy Pham got a rare(ish) start. And that he did OK.
Ever since the return of Jon Jay, Pham’s playing time has been kneecapped. Jay has ‘produced’ meager numbers in his last 15 games, tallying a .195 AVG with 8 hits, 10 strikeouts and an OBP of .267.
Meanwhile, in Pham’s last 7 games he’s posted .385 AVG with 5 hits, 2 strikeouts and an OBP of .285… 3 of those hits being home runs.
Twitter wasn’t kind to Jay (who isn’t responsible for his playing time) and manager Mike Matheny (who is).
To wit:
https://twitter.com/StlWinn/status/644330751652028416
Jon Jay couldn't hit two HRs and a triple in the same game if he played 300 games a year for the next 10 years. #freetommypham
— Just Fred (@fredtastical) September 17, 2015
Tommy Pham, 11 total bases tonight. Jon Jay, 11 total bases since June 25th.
— Matt Reaves (@TherealReavus) September 17, 2015
Coach Mike:
https://twitter.com/CardinalTales/status/644326686578704384
The Tommy Pham AB followed by the Jon Jay AB should be very deeply considered by Mike Matheny.
— Justin Striebel (@jstriebel22) September 17, 2015
Tommy Pham you better stop hitting home runs before Mike Matheny take you out.
— jeremiah a hall (@Black_Phillip10) September 17, 2015
You can’t fault Jon Jay for playing. He’s a pro athlete. He wants to get in there and believes that he can make a difference. Heck, he has done really good things for this team in the past, so there’s no reason for him to not believe he can’t do good things again.
Coach Mike, though? He’s guided the team to 91 wins and could possibly get to 100. Granted, he needs to make sure to ride the hot bats, but he’s built up some good will with Jay. He trusts him. We should trust that he’ll be as objective as possible moving forward.
https://twitter.com/CardinalTales/status/641662168576856064
Photo: MLB
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