Thoughts on Succession's Season 3 Finale, Hawkeye's Disney Plus TV Show Season 1, Matrix Resurrections, and More

 Happy holidays!

Hope you guys have had a happy and safe holidays.  Here are some thoughts I had regarding the Succession finale, Hawkeye Disney+ TV series, Matrix Resurrections, and about Omicron.

The key to winning Logan Roy's heart appears to not be a child of the Roy family or born into there, but instead it seems to be loyalty.  
(Photo: Screenrant, via HBO)

Succession’s Season 3 Finale

It turns out that Kendall Roy didn’t drown after all.  He was saved by Comfrey, and so he lives to take part in another season.  Season 3 was a very interesting and entertaining nail biter.  Kendall gains the sympathy of his siblings, and together, Kendall, Shiv, and Roman team up to try to stop and block their father Logan Roy from selling WayStar RoyCo to Lukas Matsson that would prevent the kids from having any sort of power or meaningful position in the company.

Unfortunately for them, they are both unable to talk their father out of selling their media empire, and their father effectively cuts them off from having a future stake in their company.  The most heart wrenching aspect of knowing that the siblings would fail in their dealings with Logan Roy was the interaction between Roman and Logan, where Roman pleads to his father with love, and his father emphatically rejects it and dismisses his kids' behavior as poor business planning and disloyal behavior.  That the Roy kids would lose to Logan was probably inevitable since it seems that the ruthless Logan Roy always wins, but to me, it was a pretty sad end to Season 3, nevertheless.  

Over the course of the season and in terms of gamesmanship, the big winner turns out to be Tom, who goes from being jail bound to being in Logan's good graces and in a position to be in his inner circle.  It seems that the mistake the Roy kids made was that Shiv told her husband Tom Wambsgans about their plans to block their father’s impending sale of the company to Lukas Matsson, and Tom is implied to have relayed the information to Logan Roy so that he could call up his ex-wife to change things around so that their kids don’t get any leverage or power to block their business dealings.  What makes Logan a bad father makes him a good businessman, at least on the show of Succession.  Logan makes a cold business decision to both sell off the company and also decides that he will not want to deal with his children’s behavior any longer after they teamed up to try to unsuccessfully block the sale.  For Kendall, Shiv, and Roman, it seems that they will have to start up their own company and use their own funds and means to do so, all while Tom and cousin Greg move up the ladder to gain more power within WayStar RoyCo.

Overall, I liked the finale, and it was both gripping and intense.  The characters didn’t fully get everything they wanted on the show, but that is also what makes this show interesting, and it will provide a nice jump off point for the start of Season 4, to see how things unfold from the end of season 3 and onwards.

Disney Plus' Hawkeye season 1 was a roaring success, and it was a fun-filled season that had both  endearing and gripping moments along the way.
(Photo: Indian Express, via Marvel Studios)

Hawkeye TV series

I also watched all of the episodes of Hawkeye.  Kate Bishop (played by Hailee Steinfeld) is a young woman who ends up at her mom’s holiday party, and she poses as a waitress at an underground, black market auction in which they sell off Avengers and Ronin gear.  When a truck comes crashing into the auction, Kate makes a decision to put on the Ronin uniform that was once worn by the original Hawkeye, Clint Barton (played by Jeremy Renner).  

Meanwhile, Kate runs into all sort of problems, as she has to fend off the Tracksuit Mafia, and suspects her mom’s boyfriend Jack (played by Tony Dalton of Better Call Saul fame) of murdering Armand, a rich elderly gentleman who was also an acquaintance of their family.  Moreover, Jack seems to be too suave for his own good and is exceptionally skilled with the sword, and is also Kate’s mom’s mystery boyfriend and fiancée, so Kate immediately is suspicious of him.  In addition, Kate has to deal with the Tracksuit Mafia, who had their previous run-ins with Clint Barton when he was Ronin during his time where he lost his family and was grieving them due to the Snap (also known as the Blip), and so Kate gets entangled in this affair because the Tracksuit Mafia think Kate was the Ronin that they had faced off against years ago.

For Clint, he must deal with the trauma of his past, as he has to help Kate fend off the Tracksuit Mafia, and he also is tasked to find out who murdered Armand.  Echo, Yelena Belova, and Kingpin all play pivotal roles in the 6-episode first season, and we also get treated to good moments with the LARPers and Lucky the Pizza Dog, as we get treated to a nice mixture of action, fun, humor, and grippingly intense drama that keeps you engaged and interested in the series.  I enjoyed watching Hawkeye’s Disney Plus show season 1, and for those of you who already have or get to access Disney Plus, I recommend giving Hawkeye a viewing.

The Matrix Resurrections serves as a refreshing update that both reboots Neo and Trinity in a way that gives us a newer, younger Morpheus, a different version of Agent Smith, and Neil Patrick Harris really turns up the smarm as he steals the show as a secret major antagonist of the movie.

(Photo: Games Radar, via Warner Bros.)

The Matrix Resurrections

I also saw Matrix Resurrections starring Keanu Reaves as Neo/Thomas Anderson, Carrie-Anne Moss as Trinity/Tiffany, and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Morpheus, and I was pleasantly surprised at how good this movie was.

It was not only refreshing to see that they continued the storyline from the previous Matrix trilogy, but it also served as essentially a fun and intriguing reboot.  Neo comes back into the Matrix as a successful video game programmer, and he is credited with having created the Matrix video game that was essentially based heavily on his life.  He has recurring bouts of depression, loneliness, and trauma, and he dreams of Trinity, but he doesn’t know why.  In this world, he doesn’t really know Trinity, and he has to piece together moments of his old life and figure out that he actually lived that life.

Neil Patrick Harris was really good in a villainous role as Neo’s therapist and as the Analyst, and he really plays a smart, witty, smarmy antagonist character to perfection.  That was a really good addition to this series, and Jonathan Groff also embodied the character of Agent Smith and gives him newfound depth that makes him seem both like a credible business partner and Neo’s old enemy from the past.

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II gave a refreshing swagger to playing Morpheus, and he’s basically channeling Morpheus from the very first Matrix movie.  Jessica Henwick also played an important role as Bugs, who helps explain to Neo his importance in paving the way for the future, all while explaining to him that they need him in the present.  As for Jada Pinkett-Smith playing old Niobe, I thought that was a bit of a disappointment.  She essentially was playing an old, wise veteran character that started up a new city called Io after the collapse of Zion, but she comes off as overly protective to the point where she doesn’t seem to want her citizens to take risks.

For the fans that love the Matrix trilogy, especially the first movie, you guys should tune in to watch Matrix Resurrections.  For those that didn’t really care for any of those movies though, maybe you don’t have to watch this, and you can elect to sit this one out.  I liked Matrix Resurrections.  It wasn’t perfect, but it was an entertaining and thoughtful movie that serves as a nice modern update.

Thoughts on COVID-19 and Omicron, and Other Things

Lastly, I wish you all to be happy, safe, and to be healthy.  These are some tough times as the world is dealing with the Omicron outbreak, but make sure you take precautions to be safe and healthy in the meantime.  

Anyways, those are my thoughts for now, and have a happy and safe holidays!  Thank you for reading.

Is Kendall Roy Succession’s Jimmy Darmody?

Hello readers!  I decided to write up my thoughts on the latest Succession episode. 

For those of you who haven’t watched Succession’s season 3, or episode 8 Chiantishire, I’m just going to give a heads up, SPOILERS are below.

(Photo: HBO, via Uproxx)  Kendall Roy looks passed out in his pool at the end of Episode 8's Chiantishire after getting another verbal beatdown from his father, Logan Roy, as his dad won't let him out of the company.  Should we be concerned about Kendall?

I’m worried for my man, Kendall Roy (played by Jeremy Strong).  There's a real concern that Kendall might not make it to Season 4 of Succession.  He’s not in a good state, and when we last saw him, he was dozing off to sleep in a flooding pool with a beer bottle that left his hand.  He really should not have gone to Tuscany.  He should’ve stayed home.  And where the heck is Naomi, who was his bed rock at the end of season 7, when his birthday party crashed and burned (though unfortunate, it was expected that his party would ultimately be a disaster)?  

Kendall is in Tuscany with his kids, but he doesn’t seem to have any adult allies in his corner.  He’s also depressed, on the losing end of his fight with his father, and that’s not a good recipe at all for him.  He should be concerned about his mental health, and people close to him should be worried about him if they care about him at all.  

(Photo: HBO/Newsday) Kendall's plan to leave his father's Waystar Royco company did not at all go as planned, and just like everything else for him this season, ended up being disastrous for him.

For most of the episode, Kendall sought his father to have a big sit down meeting with him.  As expected, it didn't go well for him.  His own father has blocked him from his phone.  His father doesn't even trust him enough to send him a plate of pasta, and he has Kendall's son taste it for him to make sure it isn't poisoned.  Kendall's treated like he's only a member of the family in technicality, but it feels as if he's been disowned in every other sense of the word.  After being on the losing end of the fight to his dad, Kendall wants out of the company, but his dad won't let him.  Kendall will be tied to Waystar Royco until he dies or quits, it seems.

He’s not a perfect person by any means.  At the end of season 1, he accidentally killed a waiter by wrecking his car into a pond while swerving from oncoming traffic after he and his newfound friend (the waiter) were high on drugs.

Kendall is a man that has been beaten down, and has gotten back up many times before.  He’s survived verbal abuses from his powerful father, Logan Roy (played by the brilliant Brian Cox), drug addiction, and he is one quirky individual that is fond of parties.  He had the cringe-worthy rap in which he rapped about his love for his father (which looks weird and ironic now), and he also had the equally disastrous 40th birthday party that was hailed as “the Notorious Ken: Ready to Die” party.

There’s something really tragic about him.  He’s habitually had problems with drug addiction, he’s lost a big fight and case against his powerful father in Season 3 where he sought to take him down in their cruise ship’s harassment case, and he’s been tumbling down into depression, ever since his siblings went behind his back to try to do a deal with Lukas Matsson (played by Alexander Skarsgard) at his birthday party in order to finish a business deal.  Add insult to injury, not only does his brother Roman Roy (played by Kieran Culkin) sneak into the treehouse without Kendall’s permission, Roman insults Kendall to his face and pushes him just as Kendall is on his way out of the party.

One of the subtly more tragic things is the supposedly funny headlines at Kendall’s birthday party about his family’s demise, but we’ve come to know that none of that will happen to them.  Instead, the very real demise could be Kendall’s own, as he was depressed, drunk, and fell asleep in his pool at the end of Episode 8’s Chiantishire, and he is at the risk of drowning and dying in the very next episode.

Jeremy Strong is a very good, yet has been since as a mercurial and intense method actor.  He’s one of the best actors most people don’t really know about, but if Episode 8 was the last episode we see Kendall Roy alive, the greatest sendoff for him would be if he wins an Emmy for his strong performance of Kendall in Season 3 of Succession.

Kendall Roy was supposed to be the most woke Roy, if there was a thing.  But as the show has progressed, that may not be necessarily good for him.  He’s an idealist at heart in a world full of cold, calculating business people, and he is essentially like a big fish in a sea of sharks.  He took a big chance by calling out his father at the end of season 2 by calling him a malignant figure, and he was willing to take down him and his company, Waystar Royco to try to expose their company’s cruise ship’s corruption scandal.  

However, he really struggled to give his side of the case at the deposition when he was with his then lawyer, Lisa Arthur. As a result, Kendall had a meltdown immediately afterwards, and his meltdown led to Lisa's chagrin, which disagreed with Kendall.  In turn, Kendall's meltdown and his public firing of Lisa Arthur doomed any chance of him winning against his father or the company.  As a result, Kendall was basically surrounded by enablers, and he didn't stand a chance to win the case once he fired Lisa, who was a powerful lawyer who remained objective throughout the process.

For most of the show, I’ve felt cousin Greg and Tom to be more or less the voice of the commoners in a land of the rich and powerful, and we need them to be heard more.  Unfortunately, cousin Greg has made some very questionable choices in season 3, as he decided to sign an agreement with Logan Roy and Waystar Royco, and he lost his inheritance from his grandfather to Greenpeace.  He ended up planning to sue Greenpeace, and he’s strayed further and further away from seeming to be the common man.

(Photo: HBO via Uproxx) Does Roman Roy really have the inside track to be WayStar's future CEO?  In Season 3, it seems that he'll do one thing to get in his dad and his company's favor, and he'll do another to sabotage himself.

Roman Roy has been one of the more intriguing, oddball characters on the show.  He’s showed business acumen and savvy by being able to rope in his political candidate, Jerryd Mencken to get his father’s seal of approval, and he also managed to get Lukas Matsson back in talks with his company to try to get the merger done.  But every time he makes a step to be Waystar's future CEO, he does something odd and really strange that makes me think that he won't be.  Roman's perverseness and oddball quirks have taken him sideways, and he ended up sending NSFW photos of his junk that went to his father, and that could result him getting fired from his company, or at the very least ostracized and humiliated.

(Photo: HBO/Inverse) Shiv Roy (played by Sarah Snook) really seems to want to be the CEO or at least get a board seat on WayStar Royco, and it seems she'll do whatever it takes, whether if it's rolling Roman or Gerri under the bus for her own gain, or by trying to do her dad's bidding and conduct business at Kendall's birthday party. 

Lastly, Shiv Roy has gone a 180 from working for a very liberal politician to really wanting the CEO position at her father’s company.  Of all of the Roy siblings, she might potentially the shrewdest and the coldest sibling of them all.  She went with Roman to try to do a business deal at Kendall’s birthday party even when he explicitly told them not to.  I wanted to naively believe that she was one of the most progressive of the Roys in the family, but that has been proven to not be the case at all, and she has been ruthless in pursuit of a higher position at Waystar Royco.

Shiv did help expose Roman for his photo gaffe to his father, but she also tried to push her interim CEO, Gerri around to use their secret relationship as leverage so she could gain a higher role within the company.  Lastly, she claimed to remember her mom leaving when she was 10, but her mother told her that Shiv was 13 when she told her mom that she wanted to live with her father, Logan.  

We’ve always known Shiv wanted to be the CEO, but the lengths she goes to is far more than most would be willing to go to get there.  While her mother seemed to make Shiv try to become a mother via reverse psychology, I’m still not convinced Shiv wants kids, and her husband Tom desperately wants to have them.  At some point, Shiv is either going to have to decide whether to have kids and get what Tom wants (Tom, who always seems to be emasculated by his wife and never gets what he wants), or to not have them and potentially leave Tom altogether.

Anyways, those are my thoughts on the show Succession for now.  Thanks for reading.

Side Note: 

For those of you who don’t know who Jimmy Darmody is, he was a central character on the HBO show, Boardwalk Empire.  Spoilers are below.

Jimmy Darmody was a main character on Boardwalk Empire that was played by Michael Pitt in season 1 and 2.  Jimmy Darmody was a protégé and surrogate son of Nucky Thompson, and he was a former soldier that came back from war.  He was born after the Commodore had forced himself and impregnated his mother, Gillian Darmody (in which the affair had been arranged Nucky).  When I watched the first season, I thought that Jimmy would end up supplanting Nucky to be his heir apparent to run the mafia, but that did not turn out to be the case at all.

Jimmy’s life was a very tragic one.  His mother seemed to have a stunted emotional maturity of a child, and Jimmy and his mother seemed to have an incestuous relationship.  Jimmy enrolled at Princeton, but was kicked out after getting into a fight with his teacher after his teacher wanted to date his mother.  On top of that, he was burdened by memories of war, 

Jimmy worked for Nucky, but then later worked for the Commodore, and after he didn’t call off a hit on Nucky, he ended up getting killed by his surrogate father Nucky Thompson at the end of season 2, who more or less disowned him by then.

My Picks for the NBA's Top 75 of All-Time

The NBA released the final, third part of their top 75 list today.
(Photo: NBA.com)

Today, I decided to compose a list of which players would make my NBA’s All-Time Top 75 list in the history of the 75-year history of the league.  I looked to Basketball-Reference and at Marc Stein’s list through his Substack to do my research.  It’s tough to compare eras, as some decades didn’t even have the three-point line, and with the web being introduced later in the 20th century, more information and analytics have come so that players would be equipped more with statistical knowledge and ideas to improve their scoring efficiency and games.

Ultimately, I opted to take a look at 9 factors to determine greatness amongst players in the history of the NBA.

These factors were: 

1) Regular Season Win Shares,
2) Playoff Win Shares,
3) NBA (and ABA) Titles,
4) NBA MVPs,
 5) NBA Finals MVPs,
6) NBA All-Star Appearances,
7) All-NBA Teams (and All-ABA teams for older players),
8) All-Defensive Teams, 

and 

9) Career NBA PER.

Using the statistical formula to rank a pool of over 100 candidates to consider, here is my list of the all-time, top 75 players in that played in the history of the NBA.  Some of the players didn’t have enough longevity, and some players didn’t quite have as many accolades as the others, so some very good players ended up getting omitted from my list.  

Here is my All-Time top 75 NBA’s Greatest Players (in no particular older):

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Michael Jordan

LeBron James

Tim Duncan

Kobe Bryant

Shaquille O’Neal

Wilt Chamberlain

Hakeem Olajuwon

Magic Johnson

Larry Bird

David Robinson

Jerry West

Dirk Nowitzki

Kevin Durant

Kevin Garnett

Karl Malone

Bill Russell

Julius Erving

Dwyane Wade

Moses Malone

Chris Paul

John Havlicek

Oscar Robertson

Charles Barkley

Bob Pettit

John Stockton

Artis Gilmore (did not actually get in)

Dolph Schayes

Stephen Curry

Scottie Pippen

James Harden

Dwight Howard (did not actually get in)

Bob Cousy

Gary Payton

Kawhi Leonard

Rick Barry

George Mikan

Paul Pierce

Clyde Drexler

Jason Kidd

Walt Frazier

Patrick Ewing

Elgin Baylor

Robert Parish

Pau Gasol (did not actually get in)

Kevin McHale

Dan Issel (did not actually get in)

Russell Westbrook

Ray Allen

Steve Nash

Elvin Hayes

Giannis Antetokounmpo

George Gervin

Chauncey Billups (did not actually get in)

Isiah Thomas

Anthony Davis

Tony Parker (did not actually get in)

Allen Iverson

Chris Bosh (did not actually get in)

Bill Sharman

Manu Ginóbili (did not actually get in)

Willis Reed

Paul Arizin

Sam Jones

Dominique Wilkins

Reggie Miller

James Worthy

Carmelo Anthony

Dave Cowens

Hal Greer

Tracy McGrady (did not actually get in)

Dikembe Mutombo (did not actually get in)

Ben Wallace (did not actually get in)

Alonzo Mourning (did not actually get in)

Kyrie Irving (did not actually get in)

#NBA75

Using the strict criteria of the 9 factors above in a pool of 142 players, the players above are the 75 that made my all-time NBA greats list.  Unfortunately, that means there are still some very good players that ended up getting left off.

Active NBA Players That Made My All-Time Top 75 List (12):

LeBron James
Kevin Durant
Chris Paul
Stephen Curry
James Harden
Kawhi Leonard
Russell Westbrook
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Anthony Davis
Carmelo Anthony
Dwight Howard - didn't actually make the NBA's 75
Kyrie Irving - didn't actually make the NBA's 75

Unfortunately, I ended up getting rid of the some of the “50 Greatest Players in NBA History,” because they did not end up in the top 75 overall after weighing those nine factors equally.  The players I cut from that list were:

Original Top 50 Players that did not make my Top 75, but made the NBA's 75 (11):

Jerry Lucas

Wes Unseld

Billy Cunningham

Nate “Tiny” Archibald

Bill Walton

Dave DeBusschere

Lenny Wilkens

Dave Bing

Nate Thurmond

Pete Maravich

Earl Monroe

Among looking at Marc Stein’s list, what we had in common is that from the original 50 guys, we both omitted Dave Bing, Billy Cunningham, Jerry Lucas, Nate Thurmond, and Lenny Wilkins from our top 75 lists.

39 of the NBA’s “50 Greatest Players in NBA History” made my top 75 list, and 12 active players that are still in the NBA also made my 75 list.  I had fun making this list, and they have just announced the NBA's 75.

The NBA's 75 Greatest Players can be found via Sham Charania's Tweet here.

62 of the players I picked ended up making the NBA's 75 list.

There were several new players that made the top 75 that I did not pick that were not on the original 50 (all of the original 50 made it):

Damian Lillard
Dennis Rodman
Bob McAdoo

All three of those players are very good players.  Lillard is one of the best players in today's NBA, and Dennis Rodman is the rebounding king, and was a star on some of my favorite NBA teams, most notably on the 1996 Chicago Bulls, which was arguably the best in NBA history.  Somehow, they didn't end up in my top 75 of the nine factors I came up with to come up with my own 75, but those three are well-deserving of being in the NBA's 75 as well.

Anyways, I had fun making this list.  Thanks for reading.

Evaluating the 2021 St. Louis Cardinals, part II: The Hitting and Managing

The St. Louis Cardinals had a very good ride as they made a strong late push to get into the postseason. They won 17 straight games en route to making it to the postseason to face off against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2021 NL Wildcard game.  It was going to be a very tough one-game playoff.  The Cardinals had their best pitcher on the mound in Adam Wainwright, but the Dodgers also had their best pitcher in Max Scherzer, so it was going to be a pitcher’s duel.

The Dodgers had won 16 more games in the regular season, and they had won 106 games, so it was going to be a very tough game for the Cardinals to win.  The Cardinals were able to get the upper hand early, but the tide really seemed to turn  for the worse when Dodgers’ third baseman Justin Turner hit a home run off of Adam Wainwright in the fourth inning to tie the game at 1 apiece.  The Cardinals struggled to score later on, and some curious bullpen moves were made as the Dodgers ended up winning on a walk-off homer late in the ninth inning.

The Cardinals’ 2021 season is now officially over.  That begs the question, so how did everyone do?

I looked up information using Baseball-Reference.  For the WAR statistical metric, I went to Fangraphs for that.

St. Louis Cardinals' starting catcher, Yadier Molina made his 10th All-Star team in the majors, and he also became the sixth player ever to catch 2000 games while being the first to do so with one team.

(Photo: Jeff Roberson/Associated Press, via The Philadelphia Inquirer)

C Yadier Molina
2021 (STL): .252 AVG, 11 HR, 66 RBI, 3 SB, .297 OBP, .370 SLG, .667 OPS, 5.1 BB%, 16.7 K%, 41 CS%, 1.0 WAR, made the 2021 NL All-Star team
2021 (Playoffs): .000 AVG, 0 HR, 0 RBI, .000 OBP, .000 SLG, .000 OPS, 0 BB%, 0 K%, 0 CS%

Yadier Molina had a much bigger impact for his team that the box score statistics may have suggested.  He called a great game continuously throughout the season, and he showed great leadership skills in leading his team and the pitchers.  He also did a very good job of throwing runners out in the regular season.  His offensive production may have slowed down a bit over the years, but his defense and signal calling is still very good, and he did a good job of driving runners in this year.

2021 Player Grade: A-
2022 Player Rating: 3 stars
2022 Expectations: Starting catcher of the St. Louis Cardinals

St. Louis Cardinals' first baseman, Paul Goldschmidt had a very good season this year in 2021.
(Photo: Getty Images, via CBS Sports)

1B Paul Goldschmidt
2021 (STL): .284 AVG, 31 HR, 99 RBI, 12 SB, .365 OBP, .514 SLG, .879 OPS, 9.9 BB%, 20.0 K%, 4.9 WAR
2021 (Playoffs): .333 AVG, 0 HR, 0 RBI, .600 OBP, .333 SLG, .933 OPS

Goldschmidt played very well, as he hit the ball really well this year, and he consistently shined on offense this year.  His only significant mishap came late in the Wildcard game, when he struck out by being caught looking on three pitches with Tommy Edman stranded on second base late in the ninth inning.

2021 Player Grade: A-
2022 Player Rating: 4 stars
2022 Expectations: Starting First Baseman of the St. Louis Cardinals

St. Louis Cardinals' starting second baseman, Tommy Edman quietly had a very good season, and he was terrific for the Cards in the postseason.

(Photo: Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images, via Viva El Birdos)

2B Tommy Edman
2021 (STL): .262 AVG, 11 HR, 56 RBI, 30 SB, .308 OBP, .387 SLG, .695 OPS, 5.5 BB%, 13.7 K%, 2.3 WAR
2021 (Playoffs): .600 AVG, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 2 SB, .600 OBP, .600 SLG, 1.200 OPS, 0 BB%, 20 K%

Tommy Edman played very well for the Cards in 2021.  He showed a good approach to the plate, as he would make pitchers work the count, and he is a speedy middle infielder that excelled as a baserunner and fielder this year.  He was very valuable in the playoffs, as he consistently got on base by getting base hits, he also did great work on the base paths by stealing bases, and he made numerous stops with his glove in the field.  Overall, he had a very good season this year.

2021 Player Grade: A-
2022 Player Rating: 3 stars
2022 Expectations: Starting Shortstop of the St. Louis Cardinals

Nolan Arenado had a solid season with the Cardinals, and he was especially good with the glove this year.
(Photo: Rich Schultz/Getty Images, via Denver Fan)

3B Nolan Arenado
2021 (STL): .255 AVG, 34 HR, 105 RBI, 2 SB, .312 OBP, .494 SLG, .807 OPS, 7.7 BB%, 14.7 K%, 4.0 WAR, made the 2021 NL All-Star team
2021 (Playoffs):.000 AVG, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 BB%, 0 K%

Nolan Arenado proved that he can hit outside of Colorado, as he did a good job of hitting, and for power, and he also did a tremendous job with the glove on the defensive end.  While his offensive production was a bit down, he did not disappoint as he brought stellar defense to this team.  He didn’t come through in the playoffs though, but the Cards faced a really tough Dodgers’ squad this year.

2021 Player Grade: B
2022 Player Rating: 4 stars
2022 Expectations: Starting Third Baseman of the St. Louis Cardinals

SS Edmondo Sosa
2021 (STL): .271 AVG, 6 HR, 27 RBI, 4 SB, .346 OBP, .389 SLG, .735 OPS, 5.2 BB%, 19.3 K%, 1.6 WAR
2021 (Playoffs): .000 AVG, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 BB%, 25 K%

He took over in the second half at the shortstop position after Paul DeJong really struggled to hit on offense, and Sosa was a pleasant surprise for the Cards this season.  He did a good job of hitting the baseball.  

On the other hand, he struggled to make plays with the glove in the Wildcard game on defense due to having the jitters, but he was able to find his footing, and it didn’t seem to hurt the team that much.  Overall, Sosa’s future looks to be pretty bright with the Cardinals.

2021 Player Grade: B+
2022 Player Rating: 2.5 stars
2022 Expectations:  Platoon Shortstop with the St. Louis Cardinals

St. Louis Cardinals' outfielder, Tyler O'Neill had a terrific season, as he hit for a .286 batting average, hit 34 home runs, and also provided stellar defense throughout the regular season.  With his tremendous 2021 season that he had, O'Neill arguably has positioned himself to be one of the best left fielders in baseball today.
(Photo: Nam Y. Huh/Associated Press, via St. Louis Post Dispatch)

LF Tyler O’Neill
2021 (STL): .286 AVG, 34 HR, 80 RBI, 15 SB, .352 OBP, .560 SLG, .912 OPS, 7.1 BB%, 31.3 K%, 5.4 WAR
2021 (Playoffs): .000 AVG, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 1 SB, .200 OBP, .000 SLG, .200 OPS, 20 BB%, 60 K%

Tyler O’Neill had a much better year than expected.  Not only did he continue to show a stellar glove in the field, but he also had a very good year offensively as well.  He hit for a high average, and he hit for a whopping 34 homers while stealing 15 bags.  He was a whiff machine though, as he still strikes out a lot, and that was magnified more in the playoffs, but overall O’Neill turned in a very good 2021 season.

2021 Player Grade: A-
2022 Player Rating: 4 stars
2022 Expectations: Starting Left Fielder of the St. Louis Cardinals

St. Louis Cardinals' outfielder Harrison Bader (pictured in the middle) had a very good all-around season, and he and O'Neill are two of the best defensive outfielders in all of baseball right now.

(Photo: Justin Berl/Getty Images, via Redbird Rants)

CF Harrison Bader
2021 (STL): .267 AVG, 16 HR, 50 RBI, 9 SB, .324 OBP, .460 SLG, .785 OPS, 6.7 BB%, 21.2 K%, 3.4 WAR
2021 (Playoffs): .000 AVG, 0 HR, 0 RBI, .750 OBP, .000 SLG, .750 OPS, 25 BB%, 25 K%

Harrison Bader had a solid season this year.  He did a better job of hitting the baseball, and he fielded very well defensively.  He did a great job of getting on base in the postseason, and he quietly played well this season.

2021 Player Grade: A-
2022 Player Rating: 3 stars
2022 Expectations: Starting Center Fielder of the St. Louis Cardinals

RF Dylan Carlson
2021 (STL): .266 AVG, 18 HR, 65 RBI, 2 SB, .343 OBP, .437 SLG, .780 OPS, 9.2 BB%, 24.6 K%, 2.8 WAR
2021 (Playoffs):.250 AVG, 0 HR, 0 RBI, .250 OBP, .250 SLG, .500 OPS, 0 BB%, 25 K%

Dylan Carlson was a player that continually got better as the season progressed.  He is a solid all-around outfielder that can do a little bit of everything.  He does strike out too much, but he had a good rookie season nonetheless, and big things may be expected out of him next season.

2021 Player Grade: B+
2022 Player Rating: 2.5 stars (3.5 stars potential)
2022 Expectations: Starting Right Fielder of the St. Louis Cardinals

IF Paul DeJong
2021 (STL): .197 AVG, 19 HR, 45 RBI, 4 SB, .284 OBP, .390 SLG, .674 OPS, 8.7 BB%, 25.6 K%, 1.6 WAR
2021 (Playoffs): .000 AVG, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 BB%, 100 K%

Paul DeJong may have lost his starting job midway through the season due to his offensive struggles, but he is still a very good fielder, and his strong physical tools will show every once in a while, as he still hit 19 homers this season.  He made a terrific catch in the postseason to show his defensive value, but he then immediately followed that up by striking out in the next inning, which pretty much sums up his season.

2021 Player Grade: C+
2022 Player Rating: 2.5 stars
2022 Expectations:  Platoon Shortstop with the St. Louis Cardinals

RF Lars Nootbar
2021 (STL): .239 AVG, 5 HR, 15 RBI, 2 SB, .317 OBP, .422 SLG, .739 OPS, 10.5 BB%, 22.6 K%, 0.6 WAR
2021 (Playoffs): N/A

Considering that very few people in the baseball community knew who he was prior to the season, this year can be considered an overwhelming success for Lars Nootbar.  Nootbar did a good job of providing pop off the bench, and he also fielded well defensively.  He skyrocketed up through the minors to play well in a reserve role this year.  If there was an open starting spot for him next year, then Nootbar could then be a sleeper candidate for the NL Rookie of the Year award next season.

2021 Player Grade: B+
2022 Player Rating: 2 stars (2.5 stars potential)
2022 Expectations: 4th Outfielder on the St. Louis Cardinals

UT José Rondón
2021 (STL): .263 AVG, 3 HR, 9 RBI, .322 OBP, .413 SLG, .735 OPS, 8.9 BB%, 18.9 K%, 0.3 WAR
2021 (Playoffs): N/A

Rondon didn't make the team on Opening Day, but after playing well in AAA and as the team was hit with some injuries, he was able to show what he can do in the majors.  Rondon provided some pop off the bench, and he showed that he can hit for extra bases, but he also struggled considerably on the defensive end.

2021 Player Grade: C+
2022 Player Rating: 1.5 stars
2022 Expectations: Backup Utility Infielder on the St. Louis Cardinals

C Andrew Knizner
2021 (STL): .174 AVG, 1 HR, 9 RBI, 0 SB, .281 OBP, .236 SLG, .517 OPS, 10.8 BB%, 21.1 K%, 23 CS%, -1.0 WAR
2021 (Playoffs): N/A

Knizner didn’t hit the ball very well or throw runners out often, but he seemed to do a decent job of calling the game from behind the plate.  Whether or not if he can be the heir apparent remains to be seen, but he may have had a better year than the stats may suggest he had.

2021 Player Grade: C
2022 Player Rating: 1.5 stars
2022 Expectations: Backup Catcher on the St. Louis Cardinals

2B Matt Carpenter
2021 (STL): .169 AVG, 3 HR, 21 RBI, 2 SB, .305 OBP, .275 SLG, .581 OPS, 14.1 BB%, 30.9 K%, -0.3 WAR
2021 (Playoffs): N/A

Matt Carpenter is nowhere near the player he used to be, and while he can still draw walks, his numbers were down considerably across the board.  Not too long ago, Carpenter used to be a very good player that made All-Star teams, and he used to be very helpful in the playoffs.  There were questions if Carpenter or Carlos Martinez should have made the team this year, and neither of those two players really did anything to suggest that they should have this season.

But to put it nicely in terms of how good of an MLB player he is right now, Carpenter is super washed up, and it’s looking to be very unlikely that he’ll ever return to top form.  He’s been such a shell of himself that this time, he wasn’t even used for the Wildcard game against the Dodgers.

2021 Player Grade: D-
2022 Player Rating: 1 star
2022 Expectations: Backup Infielder somewhere in the majors, or retired

OF Justin Williams
2021 (STL): .160 AVG, 4 HR, 11 RBI, 0 SB, .270 OBP, .261 SLG, .531 OPS, 12.4 BB%, 33.6 K%, -0.8 WAR
2021 (Playoffs): N/A

Williams surprisingly made it to the team’s Opening Day roster, but he struggled mightily once he played in the Majors this season.  He was able to hit for power as he showed some pop in his bat, but he struggled to hit the baseball or to field this year.  

2021 Grade: D
2022 Rating: 1 star
2022 Expectations: AAA outfielder in the minors

Hitting Coach – Jeff Albert
2021 (STL): .244 AVG, 198 HR, 678 RBI, 89 SB, 8 BB%, 22.3 K%, .313 OBP, .412 SLG, .725 OPS
2021 (Playoffs): .156 AVG, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 3 SB, 10.3 BB%, 25.6 K%, .289 OBP, .156 SLG, .446 OPS

It was a fairly mixed bag of a year for Jeff Albert.  The hitters did a good job of hitting the long ball and getting extra base hits in the regular season, and they also showed a decent ability to steal the bases and run on the basepaths this year.

On the other hand, their approach was still was sort of suspect, as they didn’t hit for a high average, and they struck out far too often.  The Cardinals weren’t the most consistent offensive team.  They were tremendous in September, but they couldn’t get the job done in the clutch in the postseason, even with big-time boppers, which hurts even though they faced a very tough Dodgers’ team.

2021 Grade: C+
2022 Rating: 2 stars
2022 Expectations: Hitting coach of the St. Louis Cardinals

The 2021 St. Louis Cardinals had a good season overall, as they did much better than expected, even though there were some curious bullpen moves that were made late in their Wildcard game loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the postseason.

(Photo: Robert Hanashiro/USA Today Sports, via Viva El Birdos)

Mike Shildt
2021 (STL); 90-72, 0-1 in the playoffs
Managerial Career: 252-199, 4-9 in his playoff career

The Cardinals overachieved in the regular season, and they were able to get to the playoffs, despite the majority of people picking against them.  Shildt gets the credit for being able to build positive relationships with his players, because he trusts them almost to a fault.  

In the playoffs though, this tendency tends to backfire because he’s reactive with his moves and not proactive, so he doesn’t always go with his best options.  He made some curious bullpen moves in the Wildcard game, so he will have to improve as a tactician in order to push the Cardinals closer to title contention.

2021 Grade: B
2022 Rating: 2.5 stars
2022 Expectations: Manager of the St. Louis Cardinals

The 2021 Season Grade for the St. Louis Cardinals:

Hitting: A-
Pitching: B
Coaching/Managing: B+
Watching Their Journey This Year: A-
Overall: B+

The 2021 St. Louis Cardinals had a good season overall, and they exceeded a lot of people's expectations.  Maybe this team wasn’t destined to win the World Series, but it was a fun ride to watch the 2021 St. Louis Cardinals, and they got a lot of mileage out of a makeshift bullpen and end of the rotation starters that they managed to cobble together.  Plus, it was fun watching Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina play for another season, and play very well in doing so.  So, there you have it, and thanks for reading.

Evaluating the 2021 St. Louis Cardinals’ Pitching

 The St. Louis Cardinals had a lot of injuries, but Adam Wainwright was dominant throughout the season, and they also received strong play from Alex Reyes in the first half of the year.  While Reyes started to falter from after that point, the other pitchers managed to pick up the slack, and the Cardinals made the most out of a makeshift collection of pitchers that they managed to find along the way.

Starters:

St. Louis Cardinals' ace and starting pitcher, Adam Wainwright had a fantastic season this year, as he had 17 wins and is a contender for the 2021 NL Cy Young award this season.

(Photo: Joe Puetz/USA Today Sports, via Sports Illustrated)

Adam Wainwright
2021 (STL): 17-7, 3.05 ERA, 206.1 IP, 7.3 H9, 0.9 HR9, 2.2 BB9, 7.6 K9, 3.66 FIP, 3.8 WAR
2021 (Playoffs): 0-0, 1.69 ERA, 5.1 IP, 6.8 H9, 1.7 HR9, 3.4 BB9, 8.4 K9

Adam Wainwright had a terrific season, as he had a rejuvenation year by managing to get 17 wins, and he had a very impressive Cy Young-caliber season at age 40.  

2021 Grade: A
2022 Rating: 4 stars
2022 Expectations: Starting pitcher and ace of the St. Louis Cardinals

Jack Flaherty
2021 (STL): 9-2, 3.22 ERA, 78.1 IP, 6.5 H9, 1.4 HR9, 3 BB9, 9.8 K9, 4.22 FIP, 0.9 WAR
2021 (Playoffs): N/A

Jack Flaherty pitched fairly well when he was healthy, and he did a very good job of striking hitters out.  However, he was quite injury prone this year, and he didn’t seem to be fully healthy as he tried to come back late in the season.  He also allowed the long ball at a fairly alarming rate this season.

2021 Grade: B-
2022 Rating: 3 stars
2022 Expectations: Starting pitcher of the St. Louis Cardinals

Kwang Hyun Kim
2021 (STL): 7-7, 3.46 ERA, 106.2 IP, 8.3 H9, 1 HR9, 3.3 BB9, 6.8 K9, 4.34 FIP, 1.2 WAR
2021 (Playoffs): N/A

Kwang Hyun Kim did a decent job as a starting pitcher this season.  He was a pitch-to-contact pitcher, and he had pretty good command of his pitches when he was healthy this year.

2021 Grade: C+
2022 Rating: 2.5 stars
2022 Expectations: Starting pitcher of the St. Louis Cardinals

Dakota Hudson
2021 (STL): 1-0, 2.08 ERA, 8.2 IP, 7.3 H9, 0 HR9, 1 BB9, 6.2 K9, 2.48 FIP, 0.3 WAR
2021 (Playoffs): N/A

Dakota Hudson missed most of the season due to injury, but he showed great command in the brief time he was out on the mound this year.

2021 Grade: B
2022 Rating: 2.5 stars
2022 Expectations: Starting pitcher of the St. Louis Cardinals

Miles Mikolas
2021 (STL): 2-3, 4.23 ERA, 44.2 IP, 8.7 H9, 1.2 HR9, 2.2 BB9, 6.2 K9, 4.40 FIP, 0.5 WAR
2021 (Playoffs): N/A

Miles Mikolas has had trouble staying healthy over the years, but he’s shown solid control of his pitches when healthy.  He’s had some trouble keeping the ball in the ball park, but he’s proven that he can be a solid starting pitcher when healthy.

2021 Grade: C
2022 Rating: 2 stars
2022 Expectations: Starting pitcher in the majors

J.A. Happ
2021 (STL): 5-2, 4.00 ERA, 54 IP, 8.7 H9, 1.5 HR9, 2.8 BB9, 7.5 K9, 4.61 FIP, 0.4 WAR
2021 (Playoffs): N/A

J.A. Happ also showed decent enough control and command to help the Cardinals go on a massive winning streak in the second half of the season.  He struggled to keep the ball in the ball park, but he did other things pretty well, and he had an underrated presence on the mound.

2021 Grade: C+
2022 Rating: 2 stars
2022 Expectations: Starting pitcher somewhere in the majors

Jake Woodford
2021 (STL): 3-4, 3.99 ERA, 67.2 IP, 8.8 H9, 0.9 HR9, 3.3 BB9, 6.7 K9, 4.50 FIP, 0.3 WAR
2021 (Playoffs): N/A

Woodford showed decent command of his pitches and versatility by being able to start and come out of the bullpen this year.  He wasn’t an outstanding pitcher, but he pitched well enough to be counted on for net season.

2021 Grade: C+
2022 Rating: 1.5 stars (2.5 stars potential)
2022 Expectations: Spot starter or long reliever in the majors

Johan Oviedo
2021 (STL): 0-5, 4.91 ERA, 62.1 IP, 8.8 H9, 1.2 HR9, 5.3 BB9, 7.4 K9, 5.27 FIP, -0.1 WAR
2021 (Playoffs): N/A

After he was called up last year and held his own in the majors, it was perhaps expected for Oviedo to take on a greater role and get an extended stay in the big leagues this time.

Unfortunately, he didn’t pitch too well in the majors.  He showed flashes of his potential at times, as he does have strike out stuff, but he also had control and command issues, and he was somehow even worse in AAA when he was demoted.  Right now, it’s unclear if he’ll pitch much in the majors next season, as he’ll need to get his game back on track.

2021 Grade: D
2022 Rating: 1.5 stars (2 stars potential)
2022 Expectations: AAA starter in the minors, emergency spot starter or long reliever in the majors

Jon Lester
2021 (STL): 4-1, 4.36 ERA, 66 IP, 9.3 H9, 1.5 HR9, 3.5 BB9, 5.5 K9, 5.40 FIP, 0 WAR
2021 (Playoffs): N/A

Jon Lester was acquired in a midseason trade, and he was lucky enough to help the team win a handful of games when he was on the mound.  It seemed that he was definitely helped out by good defense and run support this year.  He didn’t do any one thing particularly well this year, except show enough command, have a calming veteran presence, and be a good luck charm for the Cardinals.

2021 Grade: C
2022 Rating: 1.5 stars
2022 Expectations: Starting pitcher somewhere in the majors

Wade LeBlanc
2021 (STL): 0-1, 3.61 ERA, 42.1 IP, 9.6 H9, 1.5 HR9, 3.4 BB9, 4.9 K9, 5.58 FIP, 0 WAR
2021 (Playoffs): N/A

LeBlanc was helped out considerably by good defense, but he struggled to keep the ball in the ball park, and he was not a threat at all to strike hitters out.  He wasn’t a great starting pitcher by any means, but he wasn’t terrible either, as he was decent enough of a starter to let the bullpen help decide the outcome of games when he was out there.

2021 Grade: C
2022 Rating: 1.5 stars
2022 Expectations: Spot starter or long reliever somewhere in the majors

Carlos Martinez
2021 (STL): 4-9, 6.23 ERA, 82.1 IP, 8.4 H9, 0.9 HR9, 3.9 BB9, 6.2 K9, 4.76 FIP, 0.6 WAR
2021 (Playoffs): N/A

Carlos Martinez really struggled as a starter once again this season, and he just had trouble with his command or to consistently make quality pitches this year.  In addition, he’s been hurt by injuries over the years, and his velocity has dipped drastically since he’s first been called up to the majors.  This season was technically an improvement for him compared to 2020, but it was still not a great year for him by any means or stretch of the imagination.

2021 Grade: D-
2022 Rating: 1.5 stars
2022 Expectations: Spot starter/long man in the majors

Relievers:

St. Louis Cardinals' closer, Giovanny Gallegos proved himself to be the most steady and dependable bullpen arm on their team this year, and he finished the season with 14 saves.

(Photo: Jeff Curry/USA Today Sports, via Viva El Birdos)

Giovanny Gallegos
2021 (STL): 6-5, 3.02 ERA, 80.1 IP, 14 SV, 5.7 H9, 0.7 HR9, 2.2 BB9, 10.6 K9, 2.75 FIP, 2.2 WAR
2021 (Playoffs): 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 IP, 9 H9, 0 HR9, 0 BB9, 18 K9

Gallegos turned out to be the best reliever on the Cardinals’ team by far, and he was the most dependable bullpen pitcher on this team.  He pitched very well down the stretch and in the playoffs.  

There were reports that he couldn’t grip his slider pitch prior to the start of the 9th inning, which was reportedly why he was taken out of the game.  Still, he had a very good season for the Cards this year.

2021 Grade: A-
2022 Rating: 3.5 stars
2022 Expectations: Set up man or closer on the St. Louis Cardinals

Second half and postseason slide aside, St. Louis Cardinals' relief pitcher and at times closer, Alex Reyes had a solid season overall as he had 29 saves, and he managed to exceed his expectations this year by making the 2021 NL All-Star team.

(Photo: Jeff Roberson/Associated Press, via Fox 2)

Alex Reyes
2021 (STL): 10-8, 3.24 ERA, 72.1 IP, 29 SV, 5.7 H9, 1.1 HR9, 6.5 BB9, 11.8 K9, 4.40 FIP, 0.2 WAR, made the 2021 NL All-Star Team
2021 (Playoffs): 0-0, inf, 0 IP, inf H9, inf HR9

Reyes was lights out as a closer in the first half, and he is a fireballer that could consistently throw in the triple digits to strike hitters out.  He also was very wild and often had control issues, so much of the first half of Reyes racking up saves was me wondering if he was defying analytics and was getting saves due to his extremely good stuff, or if he was extremely lucky.  Either way, he surpassed expectations by a long shot in the first half, and he was contending with Wainwright, O’Neill and others to be the Cardinals’ team MVP at that point.

Turns out, the answer to that question was a little bit of both, that he was getting outs due to his very good stuff but he was also very lucky too.  However, his wildness caught up to him in the second half and later on in the season.  When other teams caught wind that he was a talented pitcher that could close games, they got the book on him and studied him, and Reyes had trouble adjusting to them late in the season.  He started blowing leads and saves, and he lost his closer job late in the year.  He was entrusted to come in the game in the 9th inning against the Dodgers, but ended up allowing a heartbreaking walk-off homer that ended the Cards’ season.

2021 Grade: B
2022 Rating: 2.5 stars
2022 Expectations: Set up man or closer on the St. Louis Cardinals

Génesis Cabrera
2021 (STL): 4-5, 3.73 ERA, 70 IP, 6.7 H9, 0.4 HR9, 4.6 BB9, 9.9 K9, 3.28 FIP, 1.1 WAR
2021 (Playoffs): N/A

He’s a left-handed, hard thrower that had a very good season, as he did a great job of keeping the ball in the ballpark, and he struck a lot of hitters out.  He had some control issues, but he proved to be one of the more reliable relievers on this team.

2021 Grade: B
2022 Rating: 2.5 stars
2022 Expectations: Relief pitcher on the St. LouiS Cardinals

Jordan Hicks
2021 (STL): 0-0, 5.40 ERA, 10 IP, 4.5 H9, 0 HR9, 9 BB9, 9 K9, 4.17 FIP, 0 WAR
2021 (Playoffs): N/A

Hicks is the team’s former closer that once threw 105 MPH, as he had a blistering fastball that would absolutely punish and devastate hitters.  He’s been oft-injured since, and he’s had trouble staying healthy.  He also has a tendency to overthrow and walk batters.  He was briefly up but continued to run into injuries, and he was disastrous in three starts in AAA.

2021 Grade: D+
2022 Rating: 2 stars (3 stars potential)
2022 Expectations: Relief pitcher in the majors

Kodi Whitley
2021 (STL): 0-0, 2.49 ERA, 25.1 IP, 5.3 H9, 0.4 HR9, 4.3 BB9, 9.6 K9, 2.97 FIP, 0.4 WAR
2021 (Playoffs): N/A

Kodi Whitley is a hard-throwing relief pitcher that did a good job of striking hitters out and keeping balls in the ballpark, but he did have some control issues.  Still, he had a pretty good season this year.

2021 Grade: B
2022 Rating: 2 stars (2.5 stars potential)
2022 Expectations: Relief pitcher in the majors

St. Louis Cardinals' relief pitcher, Luis García was fantastic this year, and he did a great job out of the bullpen in both the regular and the postseason.

(Photo: Ed Zurga/Getty Images, via Viva El Birdos)

Luis García
2021 (STL): 1-1, 3.24 ERA, 33.1 IP, 6.8 H9, 0.5 HR9, 2.2 BB9, 9.2 K9, 2.72 FIP, 0.7 WAR
2021 (Playoffs): 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1.2 IP, 5.4 H9, 0 HR9, 5.4 BB9, 0 K9

Garcia had a rejuvenation year, as he was plucked off the scrap heap, and managed to turn in a great season.  The hard-throwing reliever pitched very well in relief for the Cards this year.  

He showed a good fastball and slider, and he was one of the most dependable bullpen arms for the Cardinals this season.  He didn’t have control issues this year.  He also pitched well in the playoffs, though a couple of balls were hit hard and he was saved by the great defense of his team.  Either way, Garcia still had a very good year in 2021.

2021 Grade: A
2022 Rating: 2 stars
2022 Expectations: Middle reliever or set up man for the St. Louis Cardinals

Ryan Helsley
2021 (STL): 6-4, 4.56 ERA, 47.1 IP, 1 SV, 7.6 H9, 0.8 HR9, 5.1 BB9, 8.9 K9, 3.99 FIP, 0.3 WAR
2021 (Playoffs): N/A

Helsley is a hard-thrower that was able to strike plenty of hitters out, but he also ran into some control issues this season.

2021 Grade: C
2022 Rating: 1.5 stars (2 stars potential)
2022 Expectations: Relief pitcher in the majors

Seth Elledge
2021 (STL): 0-0, 4.63 ERA, 11.2 IP, 10 H9, 0.8 HR9, 5.4 BB9, 8.5 K9, 4.46 FIP, 0 WAR
2021 (Playoffs): N/A

He showed that he can strike hitters out, but he also had control issues throughout the season.

2021 Grade: D
2022 Rating: 1.5 stars (2 stars potential)
2022 Expectations: AAA reliever in the minors, emergency spot starter or long reliever in the majors

T.J. McFarland
2021 (STL): 4-1, 2.56 ERA, 38.2 IP, 7.4 H9, 0.7 HR9, 2.1 BB9, 4.9 K9, 3.79 FIP, 0.3 WAR
2021 (Playoffs): 0-1, 13.50 ERA, 0.2 IP, 0 H9, 0 HR9, 13.5 BB9, o K9

McFarland was another relief pitcher that was plucked right off the scrap heap, and managed to turn in a good season this year with the St. Louis Cardinals.  He did a great job of locating and commanding his pitches.  He almost was able to make it through the 9th inning in the Wildcard game, but he walked in the eventual go-ahead run, and was taken out in the loss.

2021 Grade: B+
2022 Rating: 1.5 stars
2022 Expectations: Relief pitcher in the majors

Andrew Miller
2021 (STL): 0-0, 4.75 ERA, 36 IP, 10.3 H9, 1.3 HR9, 4 BB9, 10 K9, 4.50 FIP, -0.1 WAR
2021 (Playoffs): N/A

The left-handed, Andrew Miller struggled more with his command this year, as he didn’t do a great job of keeping the ball in the ballpark or locating his pitches this season.  On the other hand, he still did a good job of striking hitters out.  He’s historically been a very good bullpen pitcher, but this wasn’t his season in 2021.

2021 Grade: D
2022 Rating: 1.5 stars
2022 Expectations: Relief pitcher in the majors

Justin Miller
2021 (STL): 1-0, 4.50 ERA, 16 IP, 8.4 H9, 1.1 HR9, 2.8 BB9, 5.1 K9, 4.98 FIP, -0.1 WAR
2021 (Playoffs): N/A

Miller showed good control of his pitches, but he had trouble keeping the ball in the ballpark, and rarely struck hitters out, either.

2021 Grade: C
2022 Rating: 1.5 stars
2022 Expectations: Relief pitcher in the majors

Junior Fernandez
2021 (STL): 1-0, 5.66 ERA, 20.2 IP, 10.9 H9, 0.9 HR9, 6.5 BB9, 6.5 K9, 5.15 FIP, -0.1 WAR
2021 (Playoffs): N/A

Fernandez spent another season up in the majors, but he didn’t seem to do any one thing particularly well in the bullpen, and he was extremely walk prone this year.

2021 Grade: D-
2022 Rating: 1 star (2 stars potential)
2022 Expectations: AAA reliever in the minors, emergency spot starter or long reliever in the majors

Tyler Webb
2021 (STL): 0-0, 13.22 ERA, 16.1 IP, 12.1 H9, 0.6 HR9, 10.5 BB9, 7.7 K9, 5.74 FIP, -0.1 WAR
2021 (Playoffs): N/A

The left-handed reliever, Webb was just terrible this season, and he was extremely walk prone this year.

2021 Grade: F
2022 Rating: 1 star
2022 Expectations: AAA reliever in the minors, emergency spot starter or long reliever in the majors

Designated For Assignment:

Daniel Ponce de Leon
2021 (STL): 1-1, 6.21 ERA, 33.1 IP, 8.6 H9, 1.4 HR9, 5.9 BB9, 6.5 K9, 6.11 FIP, -0.5 WAR
2021 (Playoffs): N/A

Ponce de Leon was bad from the get go, and he was later DFAed by the Cardinals.

2021 Grade: F
2022 Rating: 1 star
2022 Expectations: AAA reliever in the minors, emergency spot starter or long reliever in the majors

Traded Away:

John Gant
2021 (STL): 4-6, 3.42 ERA, 76.1 IP, 7.5 H9, 0.7 HR9, 6.6 BB9, 6.6 K9, 5.12 FIP, 0.5 WAR
2021 (Playoffs): N/A

John Gant was traded away to the Minnesota Twins this year.  He was a pitch-to-contact pitcher that could start or come out of the bullpen, but he also walked hitters at a very alarming rate this year.

2021 Grade: C (C w/STL and C w/MIN)
2022 Rating: 1.5 stars
2022 Expectations: Long reliever in the majors

Mike Maddux had a really good year, as he helped turn a makeshift bullpen and backend group of starters into a solid group of pitchers for the St. Louis Cardinals this season.

(Photo: Steve Mitchell/USA Today Sports, via Redbird Rants)

Pitching Coach – Mike Maddux
2021 (STL): 90-72, 3.98 ERA, 7.8 H9, 1 HR9, 3.9 BB9, 7.8 K9, 4.30 FIP
2021 (Postseason): 0-1, 3.12 ERA, 7.3 H9, 2.1 HR9, 4.2 BB9, 7.3 BB9

Maddux had a solid season as the pitching coach for the Cardinals.  Wainwright had a rejuvenation year, and Wainwright dominated, especially in the second half of the season.  Maddux also helped aging veterans, John Lester, J.A. Happ, and Wade LeBlanc pitch well in the starting rotation for the Cards this year.

The most impressive aspect of his coaching this year was that he made the most of a makeshift bullpen that was pretty much mostly plucked off the scrap heap, and he helped turn this team into a playoff baseball team.  Even though the Cardinals faltered in the Wildcard game, this was a good coaching job by Maddox this year.

2021 Grade: A
2022 Rating: 3 stars
2022 Expectations: Pitching coach of the St. Louis Cardinals

Conclusion:

Overall, plenty of pitchers on the St. Louis Cardinals ended up missing considerable time due to injuries, but the Cardinals made the most out of the group they were able to work with this season.  Adam Wainwright had a terrific season, as he had 17 wins, and was one of the best pitchers in baseball this year.  The Cardinals plucked plenty of pitchers off of the waiver wire and through trades, and found a way to make it all work to get to the postseason.  

The Cardinals' pitching was a key component in helping the Cards go on a 17-game winning streak en route to reaching the postseason.  It was tough to see the Cardinals lose in a heartbreaker in the Wildcard game to the Dodgers, but the Cardinals had a good season overall, and their solid pitching throughout the year was a key component in helping them have a good year in 2021.

So there you have it, thanks for reading.

The NBA’s Health Fraud Squad Theoretical 17-Man NBA Roster (15 Players, Plus 2 Two-Way Players)…and 1 Other Guy

Today, some really shocking news hit the NBA community.  

According to NBC News Correspondent Tom Winter's tweet, 18 former NBA players (which included Tony Allen, Glen Davis, and Darius Miles) were indicted and charged in an alleged fraud case, as they were arrested and charged for defrauding the NBA’s Health and Welfare Benefit Plan out of millions of dollars.  This was shocking, especially since this group also featured former 6-time Defensive team guard Tony Allen and forward Glen Davis, both of whom were on the 2008 Boston Celtics’ championship team, as well as Terrence Williams, who was cited as the ringleader.

Crooked Media, Takeline, and All Caps’ Jason Concepcion had a very interesting take online, and he cited that this team would win 23-26 games.  Okay, so maybe that was a generous take from him.  

This got me thinking.  Who would be their best player, what would their starting lineup be, and who would be on their team?  Since 15 players plus 2 two-way players can make the team, that means one player would unfortunately have to get cut from this roster.  It's never good that anyone was caught in a fraud scheme, but just for fun, I wanted to see what this basketball team would look like.

Of course, you can shape this roster any way possible, since this wasn’t actually an NBA team, but I decided to see what this team would look like in today’s age, in the 2021-22 NBA season.

In trying to figure out what the NBA Health Fraud squad would look like, here is what I came up with after looking up information and doing research via Basketball-Reference:

The NBA Fraud Squad’s Hypothetical Starting Lineup:

C Glen Davis
F Ruben Patterson – the team’s most likely best player
F Jamario Moon
G Tony Allen – the team’s best overall defender
G C.J. Watson

While Tony Allen would be the team’s best defender and most notable name on this list, Ruben Patterson would be the team’s best overall player, and the 2nd best defender on this team.  The NBA’s Fraud Squad would definitely have trouble shooting or scoring points, but they could certainly run, press, and defend to wreak havoc on the defensive end.  Only 3 players averaged 10 or more points in their NBA careers, and Ruben Patterson is one of them (the other two would be Tony Wroten and Darius Miles).

Here are the stats for this starting 5 (the position is next to the name):

Ruben Patterson was a good defensive player that provided toughness, intensity, and energy, as well as some scoring skills on the court.  To the right of him is his former Blazers' teammate Darius Miles, who also was charged with fraud along with Patterson.

(Photo: SB Nation's Blazer's Edge)

G-F Ruben Patterson

NBA Career: 10.7 PPG, 4.2 RPG, 1.8 APG, 24.6 MPG, 55.6 TS%, 17.1 PER, 35.1 WS48
Years in the NBA: 1999-2008

Self-proclaimed as “the Kobe stopper” back in his heyday, Patterson never quite did that, but he was actually much more than just a good defensive player in the NBA.  He was a very athletic, tough multi-positional player that could play and guard numerous positions, and he was very good at attacking the hoop to score on offense.  He couldn’t really shoot threes, but his athleticism, defense, and energy made him a solid role player, especially on the defensive end.

Tony Allen was a tough, gritty hard-nosed defender that was named to six All-Defensive teams throughout his NBA career.
(Photo: Justin Ford/USA Today Sports, via Fansided's Step Back)

G-F Tony Allen

NBA Career: 8.1 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 1.3 APG, 22.0 MPG, 52.9 TS%, 28.2 3PT%, 14.2 PER, 38.7 WS, .103 WS48
Years in the NBA: 2005-2018

Tony Allen is the most accomplished NBA player that is on this list.  Known affectionately as “the Grindfather” by Memphis Grizzlies fans, Tony Allen was a superb defender that made 6 All-Defensive teams in the NBA.  He was a key role player on the 2008 Boston Celtics’ championship team, and he was a very athletic guard that consistently provided lockdown defense and toughness, as he excelled in his role throughout his years in the league.

Glen Davis was a key role player on the 2008 Boston Celtics' NBA championship team that season.

(Photo: Elsa/Getty Images, via Canoe.Com)

F-C Glen Davis

NBA Career: 8.0 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 0.9 APG, 21.1 MPG, 49.4 TS%, 12.4 WS, .082 WS48
Years in the NBA: 2008-2015

Dubbed affectionately by sports fans as “Big Baby” back in the day, he was a below the rim, energetic low post scorer that would provide his teams with points and rebounds off the bench.  He was a key bench player as a rookie on the 2008 Boston Celtics’ championship team.  He even averaged 15 points per game for the Orlando Magic in the 2012-13 season, and Davis was one of the best finds of the 2007 NBA Draft.

F Jamario Moon

NBA Career: 6.3 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 1.0 APG, 22.6 MPG, 54.1 TS%, 32.9 3PT%, 13.1 PER, 14.3 WS, .106 WS48
Years in the NBA: 2008-2012

Jamario Moon was a tall, very athletic forward that excelled as a scorer in transition, and was a solid defender in this league.  He was a streaky shooter, but he could space the floor well on his best days.  He wasn’t a heavy scorer, but he could be an athletic 3 and D guy in this league.

G C.J. Watson
NBA Career: 7.2 PPG, 2.5 APG, 1.9 RPG, 20.2 MPG, 53.3 TS%, 37.3 3PT%, 13.1 PER, 24.1 WS, .096 WS48
Years in the NBA: 2008-2017

C.J. Watson was a journeyman backup point guard who was best known for being a solid shooter, and for reliably running the point on second units for various teams in the NBA.  He wasn’t the most dynamic player on offense, but he consistently played well enough to be a regular in NBA teams’ rotations for many years in this league.

Filling out the 10-Man Rotation for the Hypothetical Team, the NBA Fraud Squad:

G Shannon Brown, the 6th Man
F Alan Anderson, the 7th Man
F-C Darius Miles, the 8th Man
G Tony Wroten, the 9th Man
F Chris Douglas-Roberts, the 10th Man

G Shannon Brown
NBA Career: 7.6 PPG, 1.9 RPG, 1.1 APG, 18.0 MPG, 50.3 TS%, 33.2 3PT%, 12.4 PER, 9.2 WS, .060 WS48
Years in the NBA: 2007-2015

Brown was a very athletic combo guard that thrived as a shot maker off the bench. He didn’t really fit a traditional position, but he was a key contributor on the 2009 and 2010 Lakers’ championship teams in this league. 

G-F Alan Anderson
NBA Career: 7.3 PPG, 2.2 RPG, 1.1 APG, 20.6 MPG, 52.6 TS%, 34.4 3PT%, 10.3 PER, 7.4 WS, .052 WS48
Years in the NBA: 2006-2007, 2012-2017

Alan Anderson had spent a couple of seasons on two lowly Charlotte Bobcats’ teams before ending up out of the league, and he bounced around overseas and in the then D-League before re-inventing himself as a 3 and D player.  When he came back, he was a useful role player on various NBA teams.

Darius Miles was one half of the Clippers' popular duo along with Quentin Richardson that did taps on the head in the early 2000s.

(Photo: SB Nation's Clips Nation)

F-C Darius Miles

NBA Career: 10.1 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 1.9 APG, 1.1 BPG, 26.3 MPG, 49.8 TS%, 13.9 PER, 9.5 WS, .039 WS48
Years in the NBA: 2001-2006, 2009

Darius Miles, known as “D-Miles” early in his NBA career, was a very athletic, tall forward that was selected 3rd overall in the 2000 NBA Draft.  He had a ton of upside, and he was a gifted scorer on fast breaks, and showed promise as a defender, as he had the potential to guard multiple positions.  

While he showed promise in his early years, unfortunately, he never quite reached his full potential in the NBA.  He never fully developed his offensive game or became the defensive stopper some felt he could have been, but Miles was a tremendously athletic forward whose great speed and rim running abilities would make him an intriguing small-ball center in today’s NBA.

G-F Tony Wroten
NBA Career: 11.1 PPG, 3.0 APG, 2.5 RPG, 21.2 MPG, 48.8 TS%, 21.2 MPG, 12.6 PER, -1.3 WS, -.021 WS48
Years in the NBA: 2013-2016

Tony Wroten was a tall, very athletic combo guard that excelled as an athletic slasher, which enabled him to score quite often in this league, and he also could play numerous positions in this league.  He didn’t have a great outside shot, and he consistently played on some of the worst teams in the league, but his ability to score and facilitate allowed him to have two decent seasons in the NBA.

After CDR's tremendous junior season at Memphis, some of the draft fans and analysts thought he was destined for greatness in the NBA.  Chris Douglas-Roberts played 6 seasons in the NBA, but never averaged 10 or more points in a single season, though he came close once in the 2009-10 season.
(Photo: Pace for News, via NY Daily News)

G-F Chris Douglas-Roberts

NBA Career: 7.1 PPG, 2.2 RPG, 1.1 APG, 19.7 MPG, 52.8 TS%, 32.9 3PT%, 11.5 PER, 5.4 WS, .059 WS48
Years in the NBA: 2009-2011, 2013-2015

Chris Douglas-Roberts, affectionately known to some as “CDR” and referred to in court documents as “Supreme Bey,” was a college star that was known for his strong scoring skills (predominantly on dribble handoff plays) on the 2008 Memphis Tigers’ team that lost in overtime to Kansas in the National Championship game.  Thought to be a likely first round pick, he fell to being selected 40th overall by the New Jersey Nets in the 2008 NBA Draft.

Douglas-Roberts was an athletic, journeyman swingman that provided scoring on various NBA teams in this league.  He wasn’t the most consistent player and he didn’t shoot quite as well as hoped in this league, but he is a player that can provide some solid scoring punch on his best days.  

Rounding Out the Roster part I, Players 11-15 for the Hypothetical Team, the NBA’s Fraud Squad:

Players, 11-15:

F Eddie Robinson, 11th Man
G Will Bynum, 12th Man
C Greg Smith, 13th Man
F Antoine Wright, 14th Man
G Sebastian Telfair, 15th Man

F Eddie Robinson
NBA Career: 7.0 PPG, 2.7 RPG, 0.9 APG, 19.2 MPG, 53.4 TS%, 14 PER, 10.2 WS, .091 WS48
Years in the NBA: 2000-2004

Perhaps I should’ve rated Eddie Robinson higher on this list, but there were a lot of intriguing candidates to help round out the rotation.  Anyways, Eddie Robinson was an athletic, high-motor combo forward that excelled at attacking the hoop to provide scoring off the bench.  While he didn’t have a great outside shot, he was a vital role player that would provide scoring, athleticism, and energy off the bench.

G Will Bynum
NBA Career: 8.1 PPG, 3.3 APG, 1.6 RPG, 18.4 MPG, 51 TS%, 14.6 PER, 7 PER, .051 WS48
Years in the NBA: 2005, 2009-2015

Will Bynum bounced around quite a bit in this league, but he was a serviceable backup point guard that provided tough, feisty defense in his years in the NBA.  While he didn't have a great outside shot, he was a solid backup point guard that could reliably run the point, and he was a tenacious defender in this league.

F-C Greg Smith
NBA Career: 4.0 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 0.3 APG, 12.3 MPG, 62.3 TS%, 13.8 PER, 5.5 WS, .143 WS48
Years in the NBA: 2012-2016

Greg Smith was something of an analytical favorite, but he was also a seldom-used center that only played 1000 minutes or more once in a season during his years in the NBA.  He was an athletic center that could score in the low post and rebound, but he didn’t play very much in this league.

F Antoine Wright
NBA Career: 5.4 PPG, 2.3 RPG, 1.0 APG, 19.2 MPG, 49 TS%, 30.4 3PT%, 7.9 PER, 3.1 WS, .026 WS48
Years in the NBA: 2006-2011

Wright was a very athletic swingman that could score on offense, but he was very inconsistent as a shooter in this league.  On his best day, he could be a solid 3 and D role player when he was out on the floor.

G Sebastian Telfair
NBA Career: 7.4 PPG, 3.5 APG, 1.6 RPG, 21.5 MPG, 47.8 TS%, 31.9 3PT%, 10.8 PER, 5 WS, .020 WS48
Years in the NBA: 2005-2013, 2015

Telfair was known for his high school exploits that enabled him to be a first round pick of the 2004 NBA Draft.  He didn’t quite live up to expectations, but he was able to carve out a career as a journeyman point guard that could provide a little offense and run the team.  He was a solid facilitator, but was an inconsistent shooter that didn’t really offer much defensively in this league.

Rounding Out the Roster part 2, The Two-Way Players for the Hypothetical Team, the NBA’s Fraud Squad:

F Terrence Williams (would be on a Two-Way contract in this scenario)
C Melvin Ely (would be on a Two-Way contract in this scenario)

Terrence Williams was alleged to be the ringleader of the health fraud scam, as a total of 18 players, and one other person were apparently involved in that scheme.

(Photo: Phelan M. Ebenhack/Associated Press, via CBC.ca)

G-F Terrence Williams - the alleged ring leader of their health fraud scam

NBA Career: 7.1 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 2.4 APG, 19.1 MPG, 46.6 TS%, 31.7 3PT%, 11.5 PER, -0.2 WS, -.004 WS48
Years in the NBA: 2010-2013

Williams was a very athletic point forward that had promising skills, and had plenty of talent, but he also was an extremely inconsistent player in games.  His versatility made him intriguing as a player, but he also would show bad shot selection and he also would take bad gambles defensively.  On his best days though, he could provide scoring punch and playmaking skills on an NBA team.

C Melvin Ely

NBA Career: 5.3 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 0.7 APG, 16 MPG. 49.7 TS%, 10.6 PER, 4.0 WS, .032 WS48
Years in the NBA: 2003-2009, 2011, 2014

Ely was a strong, physical center that played for numerous teams in this league, but he was quite inconsistent as a player in the NBA, and he shot the ball really poorly in some of the years in the association.  He provided some shot blocking skills, and he hung around in the NBA for quite a while, but he was pretty shoddy as a scorer or rebounder, and his advanced stats were quite bad for an NBA center pretty much all across the board.  On the other hand, he is a center that would be on a team that has a dearth of true centers on this roster, and Ely also won an NBA championship as a member of the 2007 San Antonio Spurs, which would give him a decent case to be on this team.

The Player that Would (Likely) Get Cut From this Hypothetical Team:

G Milt Palacio
NBA Career: 4.8 PPG, 2.5 APG, 1.8 RPG, 17.9 MPG, 47.7 TS%, 9.9 PER, 3.9 WS, .022 WS48
Years in the NBA: 2000-2006

Unfortunately, NBA rules stipulate that the maximum a team can carry on their roster is 15 players, plus 2 two-way contract players, so one player would get cut from their regular season roster.

G Milt Palacio

Palacio was a journeyman backup point guard that did little more than reliably run the team as a second or third string point guard in this league.  He was never a great shooter or scorer, but he hung around by being a game-managing, pass-first point guard that could capably defend on the other end of the floor.

So, who would be the theoretical head coach?

Well, there is no head coach that was named as part of the NBA Health Fraud Squad, but I feel that former NBA head coach Rick Pitino would be a great fit as the boss for this team.

His run and press scheme would utilize the best aspects of this very defensive squad that featured some of the most underrated defenders in their heyday, and Pitino also was suspended for parts of the 2017-18 NCAA college basketball season for his failures and negligence in an escort sex scandal at Louisville involving recruits, so he would fit right into this team.

So in essence, here would be who would be on this fictional, hypothetical, NBA Health Fraud Squad.

The NBA's Health Fraud Squad (Fictional Team):

The Would-Be Head Coach:
Rick Pitino

The Would-Be Starting Lineup:
C Glen Davis
F Ruben Patterson
F Jamario Moon
G Tony Allen
G C.J. Watson

The Would-Be Bench:

G Shannon Brown
F Alan Anderson
F-C Darius Miles
G Tony Wroten
F Chris Douglas-Roberts
F Eddie Robinson
G Will Bynum
C Greg Smith
F Antoine Wright
G Sebastian Telfair

The Would-Be Two-Way Guys:
F Terrence Williams (would be on a Two-Way contract in this scenario)
C Melvin Ely (would be on a Two-Way contract in this scenario)

Ceiling (Peak Scenario): 30 wins, but miss the playoffs
Floor (Lowest Level Scenario): <15 wins, the worst team in the NBA

Most Likely Theoretical Season Outcome: A 25-57 record, this team would likely miss the playoffs, and be one of the worst teams in the NBA

Overall, if this were the 31st team in the NBA, this team would be an intriguing expansion team, and they could be fun to watch defensively, especially if they were equipped with a coach that would allow them to play fast and utilize a style that enhances their team’s strengths.

On the other hand, this team would really have trouble scoring the basketball, which could be a recipe for disaster in today’s NBA.  All of these players were career role players, and there isn’t one player that is capable of sniffing a chance to make the All-Star team.  

Before doing this research, I thought about building this fictional team around the talents of Chris Douglas-Roberts, but after having done the research and looked up their stats on Basketball-Reference, I developed a greater appreciation for the underrated basketball skills of former Los Angeles Lakers and Portland Trail Blazers' forward, Ruben Patterson.

In any case, this would probably not be a great team in today’s age, but if this were a real team, maybe Ruben Patterson would pick up a Most Improved Player award, and it might actually be a team where Tony Allen would have a legitimate chance to be the team’s best player on an NBA roster.