Good, Bad and Ugly from Cardinals series with Marlins

The Ugly

Nothing about Thursday’s game was good. It was, in fact, ugly.

Jordan Hicks’ first start was expected to be a mostly bullpen game. But I really wanted better for him.

Taking Hicks out after three innings was the plan the team went into the game with. It’s understandable. But he really looked to be catching some momentum when he ended the third inning. It almost makes you want to “What If!” But the Cardinals didn’t exactly score any runs Thursday so…

Aaron Brooks probably earned a trip to Memphis to join the Redbirds. Going 2.2 innings, giving up three hits, a walk, three runs, including two homers to Jesus Sanchez and Jazz Chisholm, Jr.. He looked sloppy and frustrated.  He was probably going to be one of the players sent to Memphis once roster sizes are reduced from 28 to 26-man rosters. It will be good for Brooks to forget those 2.2 innings happened. He will need to get to Memphis to get built up and be able to go longer into games.

Drew VerHagen pitched an inning, giving up two hits, a walk, and a run. MLB.com’s John Denton reported on Twitter that VerHagen could be headed to the injured list due to hip impingement.

That’s terribly frustrating. Given that this has been an issue since Spring Training, it’s curious why this hasn’t been addressed until now. Shutting down pitching movements for a few days and reassessing where he is at maybe what VerHagen needs. Placing him on the injured list would also give the Cardinals an opportunity to bring up another pitcher from Memphis to get some experience.

Interesting to note, the Reds are 2-11 on the season and have lost their last nine games. Hopefully, the Cardinals will take advantage of this and get some team-building wins this weekend.