Jaime Garcia has stunk on ice away from Busch Stadium this year -- he’s 2-5 with a 6.19 ERA away from home and a 2-2 with a 2.63 in St. Louis -- so Mike Matheny is thinking of doing something about it:
I liked that Matheny also went all Norman Dale with it and noted that “it’s 60 feet, six inches” from rubber to home on the road just like it is at home. Home/road stuff like this is always confusing given that it’s the same game. I know it’s a real thing for some guys, but I think that -- separate and apart from talking about park effects which are a different subject -- home/road splits gets talked up way more than they should. Probably because they’re so easily available.
Matheny said he would always “consider” changes to the rotation that could involve shifting Garcia to more home starts. But for now, he and the Cardinals will try to continue to solve the mystery as they push toward the playoffs.
“I’m not going to tell you one way or another,” Matheny said when asked about potential changes. “We’re going to continue to work at it, even though we can’t really define it. We’ll see what happens. Right now we just go on the mindset that we can do something to help fix it.”
I liked that Matheny also went all Norman Dale with it and noted that “it’s 60 feet, six inches” from rubber to home on the road just like it is at home. Home/road stuff like this is always confusing given that it’s the same game. I know it’s a real thing for some guys, but I think that -- separate and apart from talking about park effects which are a different subject -- home/road splits gets talked up way more than they should. Probably because they’re so easily available.