The Chicago Cubs have thrived when their pitchers have called their pitches. The St. Louis Cardinals? Not so much.
The St. Louis Cardinals were riding the high of taking their series against the New York Yankees two to three this past weekend. They had the chance to carry that momentum into their series against the Miami Marlins on Monday. The thing is, they lost 5-4, despite carrying a 4-2 lead in the seventh inning.
The Cardinals did get into trouble early on, as Miles Mikolas surrendered two earned runs on a groundout by Bryan De La Cruz that allowed Luis Arraez to score, and an RBI double by Jesus Sanchez to take an early 2-0 lead. From thereon, however, Mikolas settled into the game until his exit in the seventh inning.
After the game, Mikolas revealed that he was calling his pitches when he surrendered the two earned runs. Once that happened, he allowed catcher Willson Contreras to call the game, and he retired the next 16 batters. Mikolas then said, via Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, "Never again. I'm never calling pitches again."
This is one calling card that the Cubs have used to great success for the season, and it hasn't worked for the Cardinals.
Cardinals fail to replicate the success of the Cubs' pitching strategy
Earlier this year, Cubs pitcher Kyle Hendricks informed the team of his plan to call his pitches. That worked out quite well for him, as his first game calling the game on his own using Pitchcom saw him come four outs away from throwing a no-hitter.
That ended after surrendering a double to San Francisco Giants outfielder Mitch Haniger. Hendricks went on to win his next two starts but did lose in his June 29 start against the Philadelphia Phillies after surrendering three earned runs on three hits in seven innings pitched.
This is all preference of the pitcher. It had worked for Hendricks for the most part in his limited playing time this year after recovering from a shoulder injury. Mikolas gave it a try, and it didn't work out. So, he pivoted to having Contreras call the game, and it worked after doing so.
As for their following game, the Cardinals lost out on the chance to win their series against the Marlins, as they lost 15-2 on the Fourth of July. Adam Wainwright surrendered seven runs (four earned) on seven hits in 3.1 innings of work. Now, Wainwright has an ERA of 7.66 on the year.
With the trade deadline hitting Aug. 1, the Cardinals have to decide what to do, whether that's to make a last-ditch attempt to make a run for a division title or to sell to help build their farm system.
