Brendan Marks, Fri, 10 Jul 2015 15:41:00 GMT
St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Joe Strauss joined The Ryan Kelley Morning After on Friday to discuss several topics surrounding the Cardinals.
Read notable excerpts and listen to the full interview below:
Thoughts on Carlos Martinez’s performance last night?
“What he did last night confirmed…that this is a guy that if Michael Wacha is making the All-Star Team, he should have at least equal claim to making the squad. This is 10 straight quality starts…He’s on an amazing run of consistency. It’s amazing the turnaround he’s made. I think he’s deserving of any praise he gets. He’s quietly moving up to ‘ace’ category. Every time he starts…he looks a little more refined.”
On Molina’s effect on him:
“As people told me…Molina has an effect on him. Molina can be rather blunt with him and get away with it. He trusts Yadi. That has a lot of bearing on it. His stuff is dynamic, he just has to maintain in control of his emotions.”
On the Pirates and Cardinals:
“I think the Pirates and Cardinals right now are playing like the two best teams in the league. You don’t know what (the Nationals) are going to be. The Pirates had one game against the Giants last year…it was played in Pittsburgh. They lose it and the Giants win the World Series.”
Think Matt Carpenter is coming out of his slump?
“I don’t know. If it’s taken him five weeks…I’m not going to pronounce him healed after one night. I just htink what he’s dealing with is a little more significant that perhaps missed timing. The different in looking at him right now and the rest of his career is rather stark. They keep running him out there so you assume he’s OK physically. You just wonder if there’s some other explanation for what he’s going through right now.”
Listen to the rest of the interview here: