Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - Anyone Getting Nervous About Kyle Gibson Or Lance Lynn Yet?

Episode Date: March 20, 2024

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Kyle Gibson gets a lit up again. Lance Lynn struggles again. And it's at the point of spring training that I'm starting to get a little fidgety. This is Locked on Cardinals. You are Locked on Cardinals. Your daily St. Louis Cardinals podcast, part of the Locked on podcast network. Your team every day. Hey there, Cardinals fans.

I'm J.D. Hafford and I'm a national radio sports anchor. Born and raised in a Lou and a lifetime Cardinals fan. And I'm your host for Locktown Cardinals. Part of the Locked-on Podcast Network covering your team every day. You can follow me on Twitter X at JD Sports Radio. You can also follow the podcast on Twitter X at L.O underscore Cardinals. I do want to thank those of you who make Locked-on Cardinals, your first listen.

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Go to prizepix.com slash locked on MLB and use the code all lowercase, locked on MLB for a first deposit match up to $100. Pitching, pitching, pitching. How many times did we hear that this offseason? That was the focus, right? This off season, go out and gather as much pitch as possible. The Cardinals did do that. They did. Not only in the rotation, but also in their

bullpen. A bunch of new arms, right? But so far, this spring, two of the three new starters that they've signed haven't really looked all that good. And the other one is hurt. Sunny Gray continues to recover from his hamstring strain. He's progressing well. We're not worried about him right now. if all goes well, he'll be back sooner rather than later. But your other two starters, Kyle Gibson and Lance Lynn, have not had any injury issues that I'm aware of. Yet their results on the field have not exactly quieted the crowds that didn't like the signings to begin with.

And felt that the Cardinals as an organization settled for cheap replacement parts instead of going out and getting one of the better starters that were available. Low-hanging fruit. We know that term very well. It's not like there were a lot of superstar pitchers to choose from. Aranola always wanted to be in Philly. He wasn't going to leave. Yoshinobu Yamamoto way out of the Cardl's price range.

They were never going to be able to afford what he ended up commanding. And it seems like he wanted to be a Dodger the whole time, too. But the fan base is dream, my dream, along with everybody, was to form a one-two punch with Sunny Gray. I wanted Sunny Gray. I love Sunny Gray. I think he's perfect for the Cardinals, but we wanted a one-two punch. We needed him and somebody else, like a Blake Snow, who is now with San Francisco,

like a Jordan Montgomery, bring him back to St. Louis. He was very, very good in St. Louis. He's still unsigned. And instead, the Cardinals identified two guys, that are known to throw a lot of innings, but they also give up a lot of hits. Give up a lot of hits last year. We already had one of those guys and Miles Michaels.

And so far this spring, both Gibson and Lynn, have given up their fair share of hits so much that some of us, me, are starting to get a little nervous about things. And I've been a guy that has preached patience. I've been that guy. and I'm still preaching it. But at some point, you want to see these guys turning the corner and starting to make some progress. Lock in a little bit, right?

And that was not the case today. I was hoping we were going to see both of them come out pitching very, very well, that this was going to be the day where we get to see the real Kyle Gibson. And even though Lance Lynn had a really good start its last time, I thought we were going to see more of that. that is not what we got. The Cardinals had split squad games today. The first one was at home against the Marlins.

Second one was on the road against the Mets. Kyle Gibson got the start against Miami. And granted, it was a very windy day in Jupiter. John Rooney and Ricky Horton continuously talked about how the wind was affecting things on the broadcast. There was no video today. It was all audio. They were consistently talking about how wind was blowing in from left field. So any right-handed hitters who got one up in the wind wasn't going anywhere.

But for the left-handed hitters to hit one out in the right field, kind of easy because the win was blowing out to the right. Final score today was 11 to 10 with the cardals coming out on top, which is great. But clearly things were tough on pitchers today at Roger Dean Stadium. But most of the damage done by the Marlins was against Kyle Gibson. his final line today, 74 pitches, five innings, eight runs, five of those earned. The cards did have two costly errors, which granted, put Kyle Gibson behind the eight ball. You know, they put him in situations where he wasn't supposed to be there.

They didn't have his back today, which when you have a guy who gives up a lot of contact, your defense has to be good. It just has to be. Victor Scott made an outstanding play in the outfield today. but then you've got some errors going on there. You just can't have that behind these types of pitchers. Gives up nine hits, two home runs,

both of them, the Jazz Chiz of Jr. Both of them described as wind-aided home runs, by the way, where he just got them up there and the wind just blew them over the wall in right field. One walk, two strikeouts. His ERA this spring is now with 10.80.

Not quite what I was hoping for it today. I wanted to see a better, Kyle Gibson, and I didn't get that. And I'm going to give the benefit of the doubt to pitchers early on. We've said it before. I'll say it again, spring training, sometimes they're working on specific pitches, specific locations. They're tinkering with their delivery a little bit.

The number one goal isn't necessarily getting a guy out with pitches or things that you normally would be doing out there on the mound. They're trying to work on some other things. and some of those things don't work out quite as well, and they get head harder. When you're facing live hitters, that's just kind of the way it is. But this is the third start of the spring for Gibson. Time is ticking. And to get knocked around for a third consecutive game doesn't exactly instill confidence for a guy

who is 36 years old, gave up an AL leading 198 hits last year. I'm just saying, I'm not trying to scare anybody. I'm not trying to freak anybody out. But it makes me, it makes me fidgety, like I said in the intro a little bit. I'm starting to get a little fidgety here. According to John Denton at MLB.com, Gibson is not too concerned about his less than stellar stats so far this spring. And neither is Cardinals manager Ali Marmal.

The way Marmal sees it, the 36-year-old Gibson is a veteran pitcher who the skipper trusts to be an asset in the Redbirds rotation this season. So there's no reason to see the right-handers inflated grapefruit league numbers as a red flag with opening day only nine days away. Again, this is John Denton words. After the game, Gibson said physically, I felt good. I just didn't execute as well as I'd like to on some pitches. I was able to get ahead of most guys except for the walk and to Jats, which he most definitely wasn't pitching well against in today's game. As far as the stats go, Gibson said the numbers are what they are. It's more about execution and how you go about it.

There are certain things I've got to clean up and get better at. It's execution. It's something I can control a lot of the time, but I just didn't do that today. Trying to build up pitches, working on some things. That's just delivery stuff that I'm working on. But that's what spring training is all about. Figure out adjustments you need to make. I've had good bullpins for the most part.

I feel physically pretty close to where I want to be. So you hear him describe these things and talk about them, and you would think that all of this is to be expected, that he's supposed to be going out there in getting, his brains beat in. And he's a veteran. And like I said yesterday, he knows what it takes to get himself ready for the upcoming season. This is not Kyle Gibson's first rodeo or anything like that. He knows what he needs to do. And if he's not going to be sweating about these things, maybe we should trust him. You know, it's not like we've had him in the Cardle's organization for a few years

and he's lied to us in the past. So we should be weary of what he's saying, we don't know. We've never had it before. But I guess we should trust him. I'll be that guy. I'll trust him. His next start is scheduled for Sunday in the final spring game in Jupiter before the Cardinals break camp and head west in preparation for their opener against the Dodgers. Gibson said he would like to get through six innings,

reach a higher pitch count in his final tune-up before the regular season. I want to know what your thoughts are on his struggles. Should we be worried? Should I be freaking out? Or should I step back and just, just chill a little bit. I don't know. I feel like we're getting awfully close to when things are going to start

meaning something, and I haven't seen much progression. So that's where I'm at. But let me know what you guys think. Get in those comments and hit me up on Twitter X. Let me know what your thoughts are. We're going to talk about Lance Lynn's grueling start. That's the best way to describe it for me. It was grueling to watch them out there today against the Mets.

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as well as the interaction that you have with other Locked on Cardinals listeners. It's great. Lance Lynn had a disgusting 2023. We know this. He got clobbered for 44 home runs of the regular season, 189 hits, which was fifth most in the league. But the hope was that he will take what happened to him last year, learn from it, find some inner strength and get back to that 2021 form,

and be able to do it in a familiar place, St. Louis, where he started, at a more pitcher-friendly ballpark called Bush Stadium. His first time on the mound this spring, it was an eventful one, that's for sure, got tossed for arguing balls and strikes with Angel Hernandez, then he got banished from his bullpen session after that. Before all that happened, it wasn't great anyway on the mound. He had thrown two innings, allowed three runs, four hits, walk three, although he had some issues with the strike zone,

which might have led to those three walks, strikes out just. just one. Second outing, so much better. So much better against the Mets. Four innings, no runs, one hit, four punchies, no walks, beautiful, beautiful. Look great. But then tonight, tonight was a struggle. Tonight was a struggle in a couple of different ways. Lynn threw a ton of pitches early on in this game. First inning goes through the first two guys, no big deal, then has a nine pitch at bat against Pete Alonzo, which ends in a single. Next guy, 11 pitch battle against Jeff McNeil, which ends in a walk. 20 pitches to two hitters.

Then another six to Starling Marte before the inning was finally over 32 pitches in the opening frame. Then in the second inning, strikes out Francisco Alvarez before he giving up the solo shot to Brett Beatty. Then it's a strikeout, single, back-to-back walks. And just like that, Lance Lynn is up to 59 pitches in an inning in two thirds. Like it just went, whoosh, escalated quickly. Lance Lynn's a big dude. He looked a little bit gassed out there. Now he didn't look like exhausted like he was dying, but it looked a little bit gassed.

Ollie came out and got him because you can do that in spring training. So he comes out and gets him at this point. Lynn goes back out there to start the third inning, gets a strike out and the ground out before getting pulled again at 71 pitches, where I assume that was like the limit that he was going to and that was going to be his pitch count and he was done for the night. But loam bald, fourth inning started. There he was again. Lance Lynn on the mound.

And he issues another walk, but no damage is done. And then that was finally the end of Lance Lynn's night. Final line, 84 pitches over three and a third inning, which isn't great. Two runs, three hits, one home run. walks and four strikeouts. It was exhausting to watch. It was exhausting to watch. My wife's on the couch watching with me.

And she's like, who is that? Looks like a dude from the local pub down the street. And I had to chuckle a little bit, you know? Lance does kind of look like that. She said, what was it? She said, she says, she looks like a dude shop that would shop at Walmart and his slippers. It's like, okay. But it was exhausting to watch him out there.

two innings of Lynn's outing, like just they went on forever. And there's plenty people chirping online about innings eaters as he struggled through those two innings. But I think my biggest issue about this game for Lance Lynn was just the walks. You know, that's seven of them now in nine and a third innings. Got to get that fix. Can't be doing that. But it was good to see, even though it was tough for him, it was good to see Lance battling against the Mets starters. It's not like he was struggling against guys who were going to be at AA or AAA in a week and a half. These were the Mets top dudes, Francisco Lindor, Starling Marte, Pete Alonso, Jeff McNeil, guys that are going to be a big part of the Mets offense this year.

They worked them hard. They worked them hard, but it's good for them. That's what this is about. That's what spring training is about. They weren't really hitting them all that hard. They just gave them some really tough at bats. And that's pitching at the major league level. Like, it's not easy. So the pitch count, yeah, not ideal, but it wasn't quite the disaster as it sounds. Just tough, man, just some tough at bats there. So we're going to talk about the other aspects of both of these games, offense, bullpen, another big hit for one outfielder who appears to be turning the corner, which is a good thing at the plate this spring. So we'll get into all of that next year on Locked on Cardinals. Byer TV.

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Dylan Carlson, Dylan Carlson, a guy that I consistently tell you I'm rooting for. I really am. I really want him to be good. When Cardinals have prospects that are expected to do very, very well, I get excited. And a lot of times, we've been let down, haven't we? You know, the tragic ending to Oscar Tavares, number one hitter in all of baseball in the minor. top-hitting prospect, and we lose him. He dies. Alex Reyes, top right-handed pitching prospect and all of baseball.

Can't stay healthy. Has one season where he's an all-star in the bullpen. And that's it. That's all we got out of them. sucks, right? Jordan Walker seems to be on the path to do something really, really good. Dylan Carlson was on that path as well. And things did not work out.

He's had trouble not only hitting right-handed pitching, but staying on the field. He's also dealt with injuries. And he's got another opportunity this year to take advantage of an injury situation with Tommy Edvin and Lars Newport. Had a rough start to the spring. And we're all saying, here we go again, man. We just cannot seem to get Dylan Carlson going. I talked about his body language, how he just looked defeated and frustrated and just not like he's having much fun out there on a baseball field, which, you know, how it is in any job.

You're not having a good time. It's pretty miserable. But recently, Dylan Carlson, for whatever reason, is starting to come to life at the plate. And I love it because he could be huge for the Cardinals this year. I don't know if Tommy Edmund's going to make it back this year. I don't know. If you can keep Dylan Carlson healthy and you start to see the guy that was up for Rookie of the Year Awards a couple of years ago and that guy shows up.

Huge, huge for this Cardinals team. Game against the Marlins today comes up in a big situation. A lot of times when we see D.C. up with a chance to make a dent, strikes out, something silly happens and he doesn't do anything. Well, not today. Came up at a huge situation. Basis juice, two out, down by three, ripses a double clearing of the bases. Like it was awesome.

Ties the game up. Carlson, batting average up to 250 now. Remember when he first started? Like, he was way down there. It was ugly. Up to 250 now. He's got two home runs. He's got nine RBIs.

He's got confidence. And that I think is one of the things that Dylan Carlson is missing a lot of the time. he's got confidence again. Maybe he feels healthier. Maybe he trusts that ankle. And he's feeling good about himself. And I say, hallelujah, keep it coming, D.C.

Wilson Contreras, who always looks confidence? Single and a double in the second inning today when the Cardinals played at seven. He drives in three with that two-out double. Gorman and Aronado also had two-out RBIs. Didn't see a whole lot of that last year if memory serves. And it's nice to see him getting it done. In the bullpen, Andrew Kitch,

Richard finally looked mortal. I'm not going to bash on him. He allowed two runs on three hits and an inning of work, but the combination of Jojo Romero, Riley O'Brien, and Kyle Leahy, they closed the door. Cardinals win that one, 11 to 10.

Great comeback, considering they were up huge at 7 to 2, and then the Marlins came storming back, hitting everything Kyle Gibson put up there, hitting everything Andrew Kitchrich put up there, and you're just like, what is going on here? But that's why they play nine innings. So it was nice to see them come back. back and do that. In the game against the Mets tonight, runs were at a premium for both sides.

Redbirds fall three to one. Offensively, the Cardinals only mustered five hits. Cesar Prieto drove in the lone run, hit an opposite field, base hit after a leadoff triple by catcher Yvonne Herrera, who's chugging around the bases. I was like cheer to pause because the game was on TV, so I was like, go three, go three, you got time. And there he was. Yvonne Herrera, you don't get a lot of triples out of catchers. So it was kind of cool seeing Yvonne Herrera do that. Mason Wend goes down on strikes three times in the leadoff position. His batting average down to 217 this spring.

Hasn't look great. Hasn't look great so far this spring. I hope he can get out of this funk soon. Jordan Walker, he walks twice. He whiffs twice. Alec Berlinson was one for three and is hitting 351 now while also making a nice running grab in left field. It was in foul territory and came chugging in. made the catch. He's looked really good in the outfield so far this spring. I've been

pleasantly surprised. The rest of the Cardals pitching staff, solid. John King, Ryan Fernandez, Wilking Rodriguez. They all throw shutout innings. Lone run came against Nick Robertson on a two-out RBI double by Francisco Alvarez. You know, I mean, you're not going to torch the guy for giving up a two-out RBI double. It happens. But you got to be impressed with what the Cardals bullpen has been doing so far this spring. And I know, Part of it, when I think about it, and I say it out loud, it's like, well, later in games, are they facing the top hitters anymore, or is the guys that aren't going to be on a major league roster?

So I don't know, something to think about. But I don't want to ruin the moment. Bolpin's been pretty good so far this spring. Cardinals face Washington again tomorrow. It's a night game 505 St. Louis time start. Stephen Matt's is scheduled to get that start. He's another starter who could really use a good outing to get things moving in the right direction for the starting rotation.

You know what else starts on Wednesday? The Seoul series begins between the Dodgers and the Padres. Technically, it is opening day for Major League Baseball. These games are considered regular season games, and they will count for their regular season records. The downside of it being in South Korea is that it starts very early in the morning. 5 a.m. St. Louis time. It will be streaming on MLB.tv and on ESPN.

Your pitching matchup, a guy that we were hoping would end up in a Cardinals. uniformed didn't happen. Tyler Glass now will be on the bump for the Dodgers against you Darvish for the Padres. Shohei Otani slotted to bat second for the Dodgers in their batting order. How about this top of the lineup for L.A.? Mookie Betts, Shohei Otani, Freddie Freeman, and then catcher Will Smith, pet and clean up. Not bad. To Oscar Hernandez is in there. Jason Hayward's in there, which is shocking, but plays good defense in right field still. But fantasy-wise, I bought into all of the Will Smith I could. I grabbed as much Will Smith stock as I possibly could in fantasy this year.

So I'm looking forward to it. Set your alarms if you're going to get up and watch it. It's an early one. Again, 5 a.m. St. Louis time start, 6 a.m. on the East Coast. So that's going to wrap it up because I need to go to bed so I can get up for these games. Thanks for making Locked on Cardoles. Your first listen to every day. If you haven't already, please give us a follow.

on Twitter X at L.O underscore Cardinals and a JD Sports Radio. Please like and subscribe on YouTube. Help our channel on our love for the Cardinals grow. You are the best fans in baseball for a reason. I will see you next time on Lockdown Cardinals.