Bernie’s Redbird Review: Don’t Mets With Stubby.

Baseball brawls are usually (if not always) pretty stupid. First of all, they aren’t brawls. They’re pushing-shoving matches, with an element of the rugby scrum. Most of the guys in the pack are trying to play the role of Peace Pilgrim. Ballroom dancing is available for players that prefer to stay at a safe distance.

The dudes running in from the bullpen are mostly doing it for show – and daredevil Giovanny Gallegos could have sprained an ankle, or worse, when he catapulted directly over the bullpen wall to join Wednesday’s eighth-inning scrimmage with the Mets.

Thankfully Gallegos wasn’t injured. And there was one entertaining scene: The sight of compact Cards first base coach Stubby Clapp – the wrestler and hockey player from Canada – taking down 6-foot-3, 245-pound Mets first baseman Pete Alonso with an old-fashioned hip-lock maneuver. Clapp was at a 75-pound disadvantage, but he left Alonso fuming and bragging about his own size and strength.

“I’m a big, strong guy and they don’t know my temper and what I could do,” Alonso told reporters after the brouhaha. “If I wanted to put someone in the hospital I easily could, but I was just out there trying to protect my guys.”

It should be noted that Clapp did not have to go to the hospital. But he did visit the inside of Alonso’s head. According to Mets beat writer Mike Puma of the New York Post, Alonso yelled this to reporters after the game: “That’s your (effing) article title: ‘bitch-made.’ “

What? That’s apparently slang for coward. I didn’t realize that Alonso was a man of the streets.

“I thought that was kind of cheap, (Clapp) just going from behind,” Alonso added. “If you want to hold me back, if you want to restrain me, go at me like a man.”

I think we need to leave this with a quote from the late Yogi Berra.

“I tell the kids, somebody’s gotta win, somebody’s gotta lose. Just don’t fight about it,” Yogi said. “Just try to get better.”

THE REDBIRD REVIEW

OH, AND DON’T FORGET: The Cardinals came out of their hitting coma to pound the Mets for 15 hits and 10 runs while denying the agitated visitors a three-game sweep. The Cardinals retired a three-game losing streak by getting into the grindset to administer a 10-5 beatdown. The Cards are 10-7 and a game behind the Brewers in the NL Central. Milwaukee had gone 8-2 in its last 10 games through Wednesday.

THOUGHTS ON THE PLAYGROUND RUMPUS

1) I don’t blame Alonso for being a sorehead. The Nationals hit him in the head with a pitch in the season-opening series, and the Cardinals (Kodi Whitley) hit him in the head with a changeup in Tuesday night’s game. The Mets were hit by a pitch five times in the three games. They’ve been plunked more times (19) than any team in the majors so far this season. Contrast that to, say, the Pirates hitters – who haven’t been struck by a pitch in their first 18 games.

2) So why are the Mets getting popped so frequently? As the Athletic notes, the current Mets’ roster has five players that rank in the top 20 in the majors for most times hit by pitches over the last five years: Mark Canha, Starling Marte, Alonso, Jeff McNeil and Brando Nimmo. Nothing wrong with crowding the plate. But that also increases the risk of getting hit by a pitch – simply because the data shows that MLB arms are throwing more inside pitches, more high pitches, more up-and-in pitches. Too many of the young pitchers are rushed to the majors with a high-velocity arsenal and a lack of command. If you crowd the plate, and you’re facing flamethrowers who lack control … then, yeah, you’re gonna get lanced by errant pitches more often.

3) Perhaps Alonso and other Mets should talk to teammate Chris Bassitt, the fine starting pitcher who complained about the terrible inconsistency of the baseballs being used this season – a factor, he says, in the shaky control that leads to more batters getting hit. Mets catcher James McCann introduced another theory: MLB went too far in limiting substances that pitchers can use to throw with a better grip on the baseball. In other words: don’t always assume that all hit-by-pitchers are intentional. But the complaints may be overstated; the hit-by-pitch rate is actually down compared to a year ago at this time.

4) Nolan Arenado was buzzed near his headspace in the bottom of the eighth, and he obviously took exception. That’s when gentlemanly play was suspended and the game turned into a hit song from 1974, “Kung Fu Fighting” by Carl Douglas. Arenado lost his cool. As Mets manager Buck Showalter dryly pointed out, Alonso just went to first base without initiating a scuffle after being hit in the head on Tuesday. Arenado wasn’t hit by the pitch aired by Yoan Lopez. So there is a difference.

5) However: if the close call with Arenado was intended as retaliation for NY third baseman J.D. Davis getting hit in the foot in the top of the eighth on a pitch that got away from Cards reliever Genesis Cabrera … well, sorry, but throwing at Arenado’s head is a disproportionate response. But we don’t know if this was an act of revenge. I don’t think Cardinals’ pitchers were targeting the Mets on purpose, so the fair thing to do is give the Mets the same benefit of the doubt.

But if Showalter was trying to send a warning flare, it won’t work. Because as long as the Mets crowd the plate with hitters that have an extensive history of getting nailed by pitches, then we turn to common sense: the Mets will be vulnerable to more HBPs. Especially in this day and age in a sport that has more wild-armed pitchers throwing institutionally manipulated baseballs at record speeds.

And I must say that I’m confused by the Mets. If their own players are blaming a lot of this HBP stuff on the baseball, and on rules changes that made it hard for pitchers to get a grip — then why are they ticked off at the Cardinals?

Moving On …

A DOZEN THINGS I LIKED ABOUT THE 10-5 WIN

1) A slouching offense coming out of a funk to stage a comeback raid after getting down 4-1 in the top of the second inning.

2) The number of STL hitters that put in their piece: Seven guys scored at least one run, eight had at least one hit, and five drove in at least one run.

3) The Cards went 8 for 18 with runners in scoring position after going 2 for 19 RISP during their three-game losing crawl.

4) The bullpen cleaned up after starting pitcher Steven Matz (4 IP, 4 ER) by preventing any substantial damage by the Mets. Jake Woodford, Genesis Cabrera and Ryan Helsley combined for five innings of safekeeping, with the Mets scoring one run after the Matz departure. After Wednesday’s positive work, the Cards bullpen is fifth in the majors with an ERA of 2.47.

5) It’s an interesting bullpen. On one hand their strikeout rate (21%) ranks 27th among the 30 MLB bullpens. On the other hand, their relievers limit hard contact (ranking sixth-best), and have the fifth-highest ground-ball rate at 48.1 percent.

6) Left fielder Tyler O’Neill throwing out Mark Canha at second base to deny Canha’s bid for a double … which soon was followed by right fielder Dylan Carlson blistering an on-target throw when Luis Guillorme tried to leg a double into a triple. Both impressive defensive plays occurred in the top of the sixth.

7) The Cardinals had four doubles and a triple. And this team needed to start hitting more doubles. If the Cardinals can do that, we won’t be babbling so much about their shortage of home runs. Before Wednesday’s game, the Cards were 14th among the 15 National League teams with 23 doubles – only two more than the Reds. Since the start of last season the Cardinals have a record of 59-31 when they hit at least two doubles in a game.

8) Dylan Carlson went two for three with a walk. One of the hits was a two-run that increased the STL lead to 8-4. DC seems to be finding himself at the plate; in his last six games he’s 7 for 23 (.304) with three walks and a .819 OPS.

9) Say this for Corey Dickerson: when he gets a hit, he makes it count. Dickerson has six hits this season – and six RBIs. He’s 4 for 15 (.267) over his last five games.

10) Yadier Molina is 4 for his last 17. That’s a .235 average, and what’s so hot about that? Answer: it’s better than going 2 for 19 (.105), as Molina did in his first six games of the season.

11) Paul Goldschmidt is the golden Goldy again. He went 2 for 5 with a run and an RBI in Wednesday’s clapback. In his last six games Goldschmidt is 12 for 26 (.462) with two doubles, five RBI and a 1.020 OPS.

12) Tommy Edman had three hits, including a double, to raise his onbase percentage to .412 and his slugging pct. to .534. And he’s hitting .302 with a .900 OPS against right-handed pitching.

– For the record, the Cardinals have gone 241 consecutive at-bats without homering. That’s extreme, but the home-run drop is prevalent throughout the majors during this opening month.

The percentage of fly balls that become homers is running at 10% so far this season. That’s lower than what we’ve seen in recent Aprils (excluding 2020):

2021: 13.3% of April fly balls landed for home runs.
2019: 14.4%
2018: 11.9%
2017: 13.7%
2016: 12.8%
2015: 11.4%

The last time MLB had a lower longball rate for the opening month came in 2014, with only 9.5 percent of fly balls resulting in home runs.

LET’S TALK ABOUT HOME RUNS

For the record, the Cardinals have gone 241 consecutive at-bats without homering. That’s extreme, but the home-run drop is prevalent throughout the majors during this opening month. One obvious factor is the baseball. It was intentionally deadened for 2022 in a way that puts a drag on a batted ball in flight. Early estimates? The ball is traveling around three-to-four feet less in the air this season. Apparently the baseball overlords decided that fewer home runs would create more action. Whatever.

The percentage of fly balls that touch down as homer runs is running at 10% so far this season. That’s lower than what we’ve seen in recent Aprils (excluding 2020):

2021, 13.3% of April flies landed for home runs.
2019, 14.4%
2018: 11.9%
2017: 13.7%
2016: 12.8%
2015: 11.4%

The last time MLB had a lower longball rate for the opening month came in 2015, with only 9.5 percent of fly balls resulting in home runs.

Is it possible for these geniuses to come up with a consistently designed and manufactured baseball that’s fair for both hitters and pitchers instead of changing it every year – and at times using different balls in the same season?

NOTES THAT MAY INTEREST ONLY ME

– When the Cardinals lead off an inning with their first batter of the inning getting on base at least four times, their record is 5-0. And when the hitter that leads off an inning gets on base three times or fewer, their record is 5-7.

– The Cardinals won 10-5 without hitting a home run. They’ve actually done pretty well in their homerless games, going 5-4.

– In his two wins this season Matz has a 0.84 ERA in 10.2 innings. In his two other starts – one loss, one no-decision – Matz has been pummeled for 11 runs in seven innings for a 14.14 ERA.

– Beginning with the series at Milwaukee, Paul DeJong is 3 for 32 with a 40 percent strikeout rate in 10 games.

A NOTE THAT SHOULD INTEREST YOU: Nolan Arenado already has 1.7 Wins Above Replacement this season; that ties him for first in WAR in the majors with San Diego’s Manny Machado. In addition ‘Nado is second to Mike Trout in OPS (1.155), is second in wOBA (.498), is third in slugging (.703), third in adjusted runs created (133% above league average) and fourth in batting average (.375).

A NOTE THAT WILL ABSOLUTELY INTEREST YOU: The atomic Nolan Gorman went off for the Triple A Memphis Redbirds in their 9-6 win Wednesday at Durham. Gorman smashed two homers and two doubles, knocked in four runs, and scored three.

After going 2 for 14 in his first 14 games, Gorman has 10 homers, a .396 average and a 1.000 slugging percentage in his last 13 games. He’s homering every 5.6 at-bats during this stretch.

On the season this left-handed power plant is punishing right-handed pitching for a .405 average and 1.024 slug.

Gorman’s strikeout rate is coming down; it’s 27% over his last 13 games, 22.5% over his last nine games, and 14.2% over his last six games.

HELLO, ARIZONA: The Diamondbacks are at Busch Stadium for a four-game set. Arizona is 8-11 and in last place in the NL West, five games behind the first-place Giants. But that’s misleading; the D-backs have won five of their last eight and just took two of three from the Dodgers. It’s a team of extremes AZ ranks 28th on offense with an average of 3.0 runs per game, has the worst batting average (.178) in the majors, and is 29th with a .580 OPS. But the pitching has been very good; it may surprise you to know that the Diamondbacks rank 10th in MLB in overall ERA (3.95) and third in rotation ERA (2.55.) The Dodgers scored only eight total runs in the three-game series at Arizona.

PITCHING MATCHUPS:

Thursday, 6:45 pm: RH Humberto Castellanos (3.00 ERA) vs Dakota Hudson (3.95.)

Friday, 7:10 pm: LH Madison Bumgarner (1.00) vs. Adam Wainwright (3.86.)

Saturday, 1:15 pm: RH Merrill Kelly (1.69) vs. Miles Mikolas (1.21.)

Sunday, 1:15 pm: RH Zach Davies vs. Jordan Hicks (3.00.)

Thanks for reading …

–Bernie

Bernie invites you to listen to his opinionated and analytical sports-talk show on 590-AM The Fan, KFNS. It airs Monday through Thursday from 3-6 p.m. and Friday from 4-6 p.m. You can listen by streaming online or by downloading the “Bernie Show” podcast at 590thefan.com — the 590 app works great and is available in your preferred app store.

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Please email your “Ask Bernie” questions to BernScoops@gmail.com

All stats used here were sourced from FanGraphs, Baseball Reference, Stathead, Bill James Online, Fielding Bible, Baseball Savant and Brooks Baseball Net unless otherwise noted.