Matheny on Mistakes-Aggressiveness

(Busch Stadium) Following yesterday’s loss, St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Jose Martinez shared his disappointment at throwing to the wrong bag in the 7th inning. The play did not lead directly to a run, but Martinez shared he tried to do too much and promised to do better when given another chance.

Martinez is in the lineup again tonight, only sliding over to left field instead of playing in right.

“He was talked to multiple times during the game,” answered Mike Matheny if the two had a conversation about the previous play. “Mistakes happen. They happen all the time, try and figure out ways to keep it from not happening again.”

So is being sent right back out there a reinforcement of that message?

“We don’t have a lot of outfielders, either,” pointed out Matheny. “But, we don’t necessarily hold things over guys heads when they make a mistake. That’s more of a mental mistake then a physical one–hadn’t thought through what he was going to do if the ball got to him. Those are things we’d like to see not happen around here, but that’s just not realistic. Mistakes are going to happen. You fix them and you move forward.”

The throw from Martinez is just one of several attempts of the Cardinals trying to do too much at times, which has led to mistakes in the field and on the basepaths. But as he outlined earlier this season when the team got off to a slow start, Matheny wants his team to continue to be aggressive.

“What would the opposite be, go out and play timid?” countered Matheny. “You’ve got to play this game aggressively. You don’t play this game aggressively, you don’t play at this level. That’s all there is to it. But, there’s good decisions/bad decisions. I think they’re two different things. It’s not aggressiveness or lack of aggression. It’s usually wise and unwise. I think those are–you can’t get those two things confused.

“Aggressiveness and making a smart play, you’ve just got to make sure you have the right thought philosophy of what we’re talking about. When we’re throwing to the wrong base, that’s not an aggressive or non-aggressive play. It’s just a right or wrong play. There’s just adjustments we’re going to have to make and learning that has to be done. It’s part of the growing process.”

photo credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports