Welcome to a new feature here at STL Sports Central: Breakfast with Bernie, which I’ll write early in the morning on most weekdays. I’ll serve up observations, snark, facts, notes, opinions, randomness, weirdness, praise, cheap shots, assorted Bernie Bytes and stuff on my mind as I have my first cuppa or two or three of the day. We’ll (mostly) go “Buffet” style to give you a chance to graze before I write a different column that I’ll post much later in the day.
Let’s begin with a recap of the previous Cardinals game, which I’ll be doing each weekday morning as part of the Breakfast with Bernie serving.
Five reasons why the Cardinals lost to the Brewers, 5-1, on Monday.
1–The 2022 MLB Draft. On July 17 of that year, the Brewers, not the Cardinals, selected Crowder College pitcher Jacob Misiorowski, selecting him 63rd overall. And that’s how the Brewers beat the Cardinals in Milwaukee, at home, on Memorial Day.
The Cardinals had a home-state advantage, because Misiorowski grew up in suburban Kansas City, and Crowder College is located in Neosho, MO. That’s about 295 driving miles from St. Louis. But evidently the Brewers put a higher value on “The MIZ” than St. Louis. No surprise there because Milwaukee has the smartest front-office operation in the majors.
Earlier in the same draft, the Cards drafted lefty pitcher Cooper Hjerpe at 22nd overall, and chose another lefty, Brycen Mautz, at No. 59. And four picks after Mautz was pulled off the board by STL, the Crew jumped on the powerhouse righty, and Misiowowski is an absolute phenom who will torment the Cardinals for many years.
2–The Miz was utterly dominant. In seven innings he faced 24 batters and struck out 12 for a strikeout rate of 50 flippin’ percent. And in this game, The Miz set a new MLB record by throwing 57 pitches that clocked 100+ miles per hour – the most since pitch-tracking began in 2008. Just over 59 percent of his 96 total pitches were recorded at 100+. Wild thang? Not this man. Misiorowski had a first-pitch strike percentage of 74%, and walked only one Cardinal. Misiorowski struck out all nine hitters in the St. Louis lineup – including Nolan Gorman three times and Ivan Herrera twice. Misiorowski leads the majors this season with 311 pitches of 100+ mph. And no other pitcher is remotely close. The MIZ graciously permitted two hits, a walk and an earned run that scored on a ground out.
3– Matthew Liberatore: The Cards’ starting pitcher has a habit of pitching well except for one really bad inning that pretty much ruins everything. Libby got that out of the way early this time – first inning – by giving up three hits, a walk, and three earned runs. The big blow was a two-run home run by Christian Yelich. Milwaukee’s three-run first inning was more than enough for Misiorowski.
Liberatore was strong over his last four innings and finished with 10 strikeouts, but it didn’t matter because the Brewers owned this game by the end of the first inning. Libby faced 22 Brewers on the day, and their hitters had a .350 batting average, .410 on-base percentage and .550 slugging pct. against him. But his 45.5 percent strikeout rate was impressive.
4–The Cards did nothing against Aaron Ashby. Technically speaking, the Redbirds were down 4-1 and had a shot once Misiorowski departed. But they did nothing against Ashby, a lefty reliever, over the final two innings. They never threatened, going six up and six down against Ashby.
5–The road is getting harder. After winning 13 of their first 18 road games this season the Cardinals have dropped five of their last eight away from Busch Stadium.
Let’s move on …
The Buffet, May 26
— Bryan Torres is a good example of how the Cardinals could boost their offense if they actually gave their Triple A hitters a chance with the big club instead of competing with a weak bench and too many mediocre hitters.
— So basically, the argument over a potential 24-team college football playoff comes down to the SEC trying to protect the broadcast-streaming interests of Mickey Mouse (Disney) and the Big 10 and its lackey conferences wanting to please the overlords of the Murdoch media dynasty by getting Fox Sports a big piece of a 24-team format.
— Gee, how charming. So sweet. These are just two good and corporate entities, kindly looking out for American sports fans. The benevolence is touching.
— I was wondering why the Big 10 was so hot on pushing for an unnecessary 24-team field – and then I remembered that commissioner Tony Petitti worked for MLB commissioner Rob Manfred from 2010 through 2015 – and before that was the head of the MLB Network. When you’ve learned at the feet of Rob Manfred, two things are guaranteed: (A) general incompetence, and (B) rampant greed which is fulfilled by expanding everything and slicing your broadcast-streaming package into approximately 29 pieces to confuse loyal viewers and make them search for the games they’d like to watch. Oh, and Petitti ran ESPN during a time when ESPN lost significant prominence in the culture.
— Misiorowski after owning the Cardinals: “That’s what I do. I throw hard.” This dude dials up sequences of shooting 103-mph flames without breaking a sweat.
— Cards starting rotation strikeout rate: 18.8 percent, 27th among the 30 teams.
— Brewers starting rotation strikeout rate: 28.9%, No. 1 in MLB.
— The St. Louis hitters will try to wrestle lefty Kyle Harrison for some runs in Tuesday’s game at Milwaukee. In his last six starts Harrison has been nicked for only four earned runs in 31 innings (1.16 ERA) with a 37.5 percent strikeout rate.
— Cheer up Cardinals fans. The Cubs have lost nine in a row, and more and more Cubbie fans are screaming for manager Craig Counsell’s dismissal.
— This month Alex Bregman, Dansby Swanson, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Nico Hoerner and Seiya Suzuki are hitting a combined .195 with seven homers in 400 at-bats.
— Those five Cub hitters signed contracts with the Cubs that total $693 million guaranteed.
— My policy: no pitcher “flirts” or “bids” for a no-hitter unless he’s gone seven innings without giving up a safety, then shaddup about the no hitter. And I’m being generous by citing 7 innings as a real threat to go full no-no.
— Here’s an analysis from Baseball Prospectus on the probability of a pitcher completing a no-hitter based on how deep the pitcher has gone in his start with a no-no still intact.
* Through 6 IP: 10%
* Through 7 IP: 24%
* Through 8 IP: between 50% and 55%
— Speaking of Kyle Harrison, the smartest front office in the majors got him from Boston for Caleb Durbin, a couple of non-essential infielders, a competitive-round draft choice and (hopefully) a large case of the finest Wisconsin sausages and cheeses. Harrison, 24, has a 1.77 ERA in nine starts. Durbin – the key player in the trade from the Red Sox vantage point – is batting .163 with a .479 OPS. Oh, and Harrison won’t be eligible for free agency until after the 2031 season. And this is another example of why the Brewers are the Brewers. And this is how the Brewers took over the NL Central and drove John Mozeliak into retirement.
— Rest in peace, Sonny Rollins. The “Saxophone Colossus” died at his home in Woodstock, NY on Monday at age 95. One of the most innovative and influential sax players in the history of jazz, Rollins played a foundational role in “Dig” the 1951 classic album by Miles Davis.
— As one critic put it: “Rollins served as the primary foil to Miles Davis and acted as the driving force behind the album's hard-bop transition. His presence is central to why the record sounds the way it does. On Dig, Rollins provided a muscular, high-energy contrast to Davis’ more restrained, introspective trumpet style.” (As you probably can tell, I love “Dig.”)
— Baseball analyst Mike Axisa of CBS Sports named the Cardinals as the NL’s biggest surprise team this season as MLB reached the annual Memorial Day milepost.
“What was supposed to be a rebuilding year has instead produced a (29-23) record,” Axisa wrote. “Granted, the (-3) run differential and probably not sustainable (7-2) record in extra-innings games suggests this great start may not last, but it has happened. The wins are in the bank.
“Jordan Walker is breaking out, JJ Wetherholt is a stud, and Alec Burleson and Iván Herrera are excellent young veterans,” Axisa added. “There's a wave of pitching coming too. If nothing else, it looks like the rebuild won't go on especially long.”
Thanks for reading …
–Bernie
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Bernie was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2023. During a St. Louis sports-media career that goes back to 1985, he’s won multiple national awards for column writing and sports-talk hosting – and was the lead sports columnist at the Post-Dispatch from 1989 through 2015. Before that Bernie spent a year at the Dallas Morning News, covering the Dallas Cowboys during Tom Landry’s final season (1988) plus the sale of the team to Jerry Jones and the hiring of Jimmy Johnson as coach. Bernie has covered several Baseball Hall of Fame managers during his media career including Tony La Russa, Whitey Herzog, Earl Weaver, Joe Torre and (as an interim) Red Schoendienst. In his career as a beatwriter and columnist, Bernie covered Pro Football Hall of Fame coaches Joe Gibbs, Tom Landry, Jimmy Johnson and Dick Vermeil on a daily basis.
Bernie has covered and written about many great St. Louis sports team athletes including Albert Pujols, Kurt Warner, Brett Hull, Yadier Molina, Adam Wainwright, Jim Edmonds, Marshall Faulk, Scott Rolen, Mark McGwire, Orlando Pace, Isaac Bruce, Torry Holt, Adam Wainwright, Chris Carpenter, Al MacInnis, Brian Sutter, Bernie Federko, Chris Pronger, Dan Dierdorf, Jackie Smith and Aeneas Williams. Bernie covered every baseball Cardinals’ postseason game from 1996 through 2014 and was there to chronicle teams that won four NL pennants and two World Series. He provided extensive coverage on the “Greatest Show” St. Louis Rams and has written extensively on the St. Louis Blues, Saint Louis U, and Mizzou football and basketball. Bernie was/is a longtime voter for the Baseball Hall of Fame, Pro Football Hall of Fame, Heisman Trophy and the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame.
You can access his columns, videos and the podcast version of the videos here on STL Sports Central, catch him regularly on KMOX (AM or FM) as part of the Gashouse Gang, Sports Rush Hour, Sports Open Line or Sports On a Sunday Morning shows. And you can catch weekly “reunion” segments here at STL Sports Central featuring Bernie and his longtime friend Randy Karraker.