St. Louis Cardinals: Lackluster team, lackluster coaches

The St. Louis Cardinals have exited the All-Star break with a three-game series against the Miami Marlins with results similar to the entire 2016 season: loss-win-loss.  Are the players to blame or is the coaching staff to blame?

Let’s face it, we are all exhausted by the perpetual up-and-down that is the 2016 St. Louis Cardinals.  One day we cheer, the next we jeer.  When things are up, we are happy with the players on the team.  When things are down, we are all thinking of trades or internal moves.  This indicates to me more than the need for personnel shake-ups.

Allow me to cut to the chase: the coaching staff currently occupying the bench for the St. Louis Cardinals- while good at times (like the team itself)- is simply not good enough.  As evidence of this is the simple fact that players are sent elsewhere to address their ills.

To exemplify this point, we need only look to Kolten Wong‘s trip to Memphis to correct his batting issues.  Moreover, we need only look to Randal Grichuk‘s Memphis trip for the similar fashion.  In both of these cases, the likes of Mark Budaska was the Yoda necessary, not the St. Louis Cardinals’ John Mabry.

In the case of Wong’s trip to Memphis, during his time in the Bluff City, he also learned a new position– that of center field.  This new position installation was thanks to Memphis Manager, Mike Schildt.  Much can also be attributed to Memphis Coach Robby Hisert.  In this regard, the St. Louis Cardinals were aching from the absence of Jose Oquendo for sure.

Looking back at hitting, players like Tommy Pham (and Grichuk as well) who surface from Memphis with power and finesse at the plate are other shining examples of Budaska’s work.  This, and the positional change of Wong, argue for that the better coaches may reside in Memphis rather than in St. Louis.

Before you go burning an effigy of me, I will completely admit that the minor leagues are- in fact- the best place to make changes such as these as the players aren’t facing the degree of challenge as is in the major leagues.  This admission in hand, I still hold that the coaches in Memphis outshine the coaches in St. Louis.

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Fast-forward to the issue before us today: that of Trevor Rosenthal.  In this case, rumors are bubbling that a trip to Memphis might do him good.  If he head to Memphis, Rosey will get the chance to work with Bryan Eversgerd who started and ended his career with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Just look at Memphis’ pen which is a strength of the Memphis Redbirds and you can easily see how a Rosey move to Memphis would be a great move.  Add to this the fact that Rosey could also spend some time in Springfield and work with Jason Simontachi who works with the pitchers heavily during spring training.

Both Eversgerd and Simontachi, in my opinion, eclipse the quiet Derek Lilliquist.  That said, we do need to recognize that the St. Louis Cardinals have great coaches who took them to consecutive post season berths and this definitely deserves recognition, but have these times gone stagnant?

Next: Time to become sellers

So, while I agree that moves should take place either within the organization or from outside the organization, I wonder if we Mo should spend a little time to evaluate the staff manning the St. Louis Cardinals.  Can changes be found here?