Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - Are The St. Louis Cardinals FINALLY Headed In The Right Direction With Their Player Development?

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Cardinals top prospect, J.J. Weatherholt, has been promoted to AAA Memphis. Why, this is a good sign as the Cardinals try to get back to being a part of the National League elite. You are Locked-on Cardinals, your daily St. Louis Cardinals, part of the Locked-on Podcasts network, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Hey, there are Cardals fans. I'm J.D. Haffertan and I'm your host for Locktown Cardinals, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network covering your team every day. Follow me on X of J-D Sports Radio. The podcast also on X as well. I'll add L0 underscore Cardinals. You can find us on YouTube as well as TikTok and Instagram and Locked on Cardinals. This is a show serving Cardinal Nation and giving the best fans in baseball,

Starting point is 00:00:44 all of the info about the birds on the bat. Today's episode being brought to you by Fandall. Right now, new customers can get $150 in bonus bets when your first $5 that win. So the Cardinals had a much needed day off on Monday as they crawl towards the All-Star break. They needed it, man. They were a worn out bunch. but even though they didn't play, still got some big news on Monday

Starting point is 00:01:07 that should make fans happy, make them excited and no, neither Eric Fetty or Miles Michaelis were fired off to the moon like some people are hoping for. The big news was the top prospect J.J. Weatherholt had been promoted to AAA Memphis.

Starting point is 00:01:21 And this is a big deal. You know, JJ was having a hell of a season at Springfield. He slashed his line was 300, 425, 466, 22 extra base hits, 34 RBIs, 14 stolen bases, a little bit of everything in just 62 games and was leading the Texas League and OBP and OPS. He is also the first Cardinals minor league to reach AAA or higher within

Starting point is 00:01:45 a calendar year being drafted since Michael Waka did it back in 2013, first position player to do it since Thunderlegs himself, Brett Wallace did it back in 2009. And if you remember, Brett Wallace first round pick and got shipped to the athletic. as part of the deal to get Matt Holiday. Safe to say the Cardinals won that particular trade. Brett Wallace did not amount to much in the major leagues. Matt Holiday, Cardinals Hall of Famer. And this is a big deal, obviously, with what's going on with JJ Weatherhole,

Starting point is 00:02:19 because not only is it a top draft pick, remember the Cardinals kind of had JJ fall to them in their lap. I was personally hoping they were going to take a pitcher that year. And JJ kept falling, and those pitchers, kept going. And then you get a guy where, you know, had he not dealt with an injury in college that last year, might have been the top overall pick. Cardinals end up landing him anyway. And this is important because it also shows that he's developing well as he makes his way up the system. And in one of the knocks on the Cardinals recently is that they don't develop their young players

Starting point is 00:02:55 very well, which has led to this lack of talent on the big league club in recent years. And with ownership choosing not to overspend on free agents. It's led to a very mid-tier type of team the last couple of seasons. So drafting well and then developing even better is what the goal is to get the Cardinals back to the top of the mountain, get them to being spoken of among the elite franchises in baseball. There are still people outside of St. Louis who are like the Cardinals are still a phenomenal franchise, but people at home, it isn't, the vibe isn't there the way it used to be,

Starting point is 00:03:38 is it? And even though the Cardinals have only had the one losing season, it feels like the last couple of years have been losing seasons, even though last year they finished above 500, currently above 500 right now. But this whole process to kind of get things going in the right direction again. It's not a quick one. And it has led many fans to believe that the ownership just doesn't care about winning. I don't believe that to be the case, but they have made a choice to not go out and dole out the same amount of money that these bigger market teams are doing. The Dodgers, the Mets, the Yankees, the Phillies, you know, the usual suspects, the Cardinals ownership, that we don't want to do it that way. We think it's a foolish way to go about it.

Starting point is 00:04:27 and they are not going to. Instead, they've decided to look within and to compete for a championship. They're like, we got to fix what's going on in our own house first. Before we start spending money on other free agents, let's look at ourselves, figure out what the hell's wrong. And that way we can get back to doing things the way business is normally run for the St. Louis Cardos. The model to just kind of patch things up by spending a lot of money is not what they want to do. I don't think it's the smart thing to do. I think what they are doing is the right thing to do.

Starting point is 00:05:05 Fix your house internally. Clean it up. Get it going where it needs to be. And then you can start adding pieces to complement the good players that you develop and draft on your own. If you're not going to spend crazy money to buy a star, then that's what you got to do. You have to be much better at developing your own people. And it's been a while since the Cardinals had been able to do that. You know, we've seen guys like Jordan Walker and Nolan Gorman.

Starting point is 00:05:30 They come up with all this hype. We're all excited to see them. And then things haven't panned out quite the way we want it to. And certainly not the way fans thought that they should have. So, I mean, think about how many of you right now are happy with what you've seen from Jordan Walker? Right? You know, it wasn't that long ago. 2023, to be exact,

Starting point is 00:05:53 he was considered one of the top right-handed hitting prospects in all of baseball, not just for the Cardinals and not just for the National League, all of baseball. It was, Gunner Henderson was number one in 23. This is MLB Pipeline, by the way. Gunner Henderson, Corbyn Carroll, Francisco Alvarez, and then Jordan Walker at number four as a hitting prospect. He was the fourth best one Alvarez is right-handed as well.

Starting point is 00:06:22 So him and Alvarez are the top right-handed guys. Henderson and Carroll, I think we can agree, have gone on to become very important keys into the cogs of their particular teams and have made a huge impact for them. Orioles having a down year right now. Diamondback's not quite where they want to be, but Cory McCarroll, just coming back from a wrist injury, he's been fantastic for them. Alvarez has not blossomed the way the Mets thought he would. And then there's Jordan Walker, makes the team out of the team out of the rest injury.

Starting point is 00:06:52 spring training doesn't do all that bad, but they want them to work on launch angles, stop hitting the ball on the ground, goes down, comes back up later, has a decent rookie season, and since then, has regressed considerably. And now is dealing with injuries, which you can't really help, but that's halted his development even further. Nolan Gorman, all the power of talent in the world, mauling the ball at AAA. It seemed like he was hitting a home run every other night. And similar to Walker, brought up, looked all right, has that one big,

Starting point is 00:07:22 breakout year where 27 home runs, I think it was. And hits a wall, strikeouts skyrocket. Home runs start going down. And they can't figure out what the hell is going on. People start labeling these guys as busts already. And they want to trade these guys. But you know, you've seen that Gorman now that he's, he's getting regular playing time. He has looked much better at the plate. But the jury is still out on whether or not he's going to be that 3040 home run guy that they thought he'd be. And you've seen the failures. We've been down this road. Dylan Carlson.

Starting point is 00:07:56 I mean, huge bust for the team. Former first round pick, Zach Thompson, never really found his sweet spot as a starter or a reliever. Now he's hurt. Alex Reyes, he couldn't stay healthy. These were guys that were supposed to be a big deal for them. You've seen them trade off guys like Randy of Rosarana, Doli, Garcia, Lane Thomas, Andy Alcantra,

Starting point is 00:08:16 Zach Gallen. You know the stories with all these guys. And then they trade them off to go get other people. pieces but then fail to develop anyone else to take their place in the organization. Now you've got this core of young players. And I'm going to include, you know, Walker, Gorman, Mason Winn, Alec Berlinson, Yvonne Herrera, Matthew Libertor. You're seeing them make their presence felt this year at the major league level,

Starting point is 00:08:39 which is awesome. You know, Wins your everyday shortstop has the qualities to become a superstar, right? Alec Berluson has been arguably your best left-handed hitter, him and Donovan, are your top two guys. like Burley has been amazing again this year. Will he complete the season as hot as he has been? That was the problem last year is he had this great first half and then he fell off. Herrera has been your best right-handed bad, arguably, you can say Wilson Contrars to.

Starting point is 00:09:07 But when healthy, Von Herrera has been awesome. Libertors become your number two guy in the rotation. You're seeing them do much better with these prospects. And I think that is something that needs to be applauded, that things are starting to be better. It's not always going to be perfect. Nobody's saying that they're all going to be stars moving forward. Jordan Gorman obviously are, you know, they haven't given up on them by any means, but we're still trying to figure out whether or not they are going to be staples for this team moving forward.

Starting point is 00:09:36 We want them to be. Everybody does. But they've got to produce, really. That's what it comes down to. Nolan Gorman is earning the more playing time right now. Walker's out injured. Your next group right behind them, though, J.J. Weatherholt, now at AAA. Thomas and Jacey, in the majors again, still hasn't, you know, we've got a decent amount of infielders here.

Starting point is 00:10:01 So he's starting to take reps in the outfield, which is something I brought up last year. It's like, why can't we teach him to play outfield? Michael McGreevy at AAA, but should be in the big league soon where he belongs. It's Coe-Aroby's at AAA coming up from double A this year. So he's on the cusp. Could be in St. Louis by the end of the season, depending on how things go. Tinkins still try to stay healthy.

Starting point is 00:10:25 Quinn Matthews, injuries have been a problem to slow him down this year, but he was a monster last year, obviously. And hopefully things will go better for him the rest of this year at AAA. Jimmy Crooks, your catcher at AAA. So you're seeing some young talent emerging and getting ready to come up to the big leagues. But it doesn't matter what you're doing in the minors. It's what you do in the show.

Starting point is 00:10:45 And nobody's going to be all that impressed until you get up. here and start showing out in the on the big stage. But I'm just saying I see reasons to be optimistic. And you've got Heinblum taking over. That's his specialty, player development. They're more instructors and coaches and upgraded things in the minors. So they're making progress. It just doesn't happen overnight. And in a world that is so dependent on now, now, now, now, everything has to be immediate in your lap, in your hands, right this second. It's not an easy pill. to swallow as a fan. So I understand where the resentment and the anger is coming from.

Starting point is 00:11:24 Not an easy pill to swallow, but it's a necessary pill because you got to get everything in your house in order first before you can start plucking things off the free agent market to, again, compliment. That's the idea. You're not supposed to buy these free agents and then make them the star. Usually you buy a free agent to compliment some guys you already have. put together. And I feel like there's a decent group of guys coming up together. There's two waves of it right now. And I think you have a reason to be optimistic if you're a Cardinals fan. So I just wanted

Starting point is 00:11:59 to point that out and why I think this whole J.J. Weather whole thing moving up to AAA already, why I think it's a big step in the right direction. We're going to jump into some fan feedback next because there's been a lot of chatter about Feddi and Michaelis and what the Cardinals should be doing and people's feelings about what's going on with the team right now. So we're going to We're going to hit that up in our next segment coming up here on Lockdown Gardens. Summer sports are in full swing and whether you're all about baseball under the lights, golf on the green. Good day to go out on the course the other day or, you know, high-stakes soccer action.

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Starting point is 00:13:36 new to Fandle, new customers can bet just $5 and get $150 in bonus bets if your first bet wins. Open the Fandul app today or visit fandle.com slash locked on to get started. Thanks again for making it locked on Cardinals, your first listen every day. Leave your comments on YouTube as well as on X anytime you want feedback. or bad, always welcome and encouraged. Monday's show was geared towards how bad Eric Fetty and Miles Michaelis had been. It's uneniable. They've been awful.

Starting point is 00:14:10 The numbers are brutal. And the fans had a lot to say about the current situation. So I thought we could start there and go through some of these thoughts from fans in a segment that I like to call cardinal confessions. And the reason I call it that is because if you've ever been to confession, the church. You don't, you're not supposed to know who each other are on each side of the wall there, right? You get to say whatever you need to say, get it off your chest, and nobody judges you. It's just, go ahead. Just release your thoughts. Go for it. So we're not going to call you

Starting point is 00:14:44 out by name. You'll be anonymous. We're not going to pick on you. And you can share your best and worst thoughts about the team. A lot of it is negative stuff right now because Cardals haven't been winning much. They had a 500 record in June. But when you get beat up like he did in Chicago, two out of three games, fans are going to be mad. First one, Cardinals need to say goodbye to Fetty and Miles. I am hoping that someone will keep Moe from making any more decisions in the coming deadline period. Let Bloom do that. So this is a transition year. The trade deadline stuff normally just falls on Mo. It's his deal. He has to ask ownership if they're willing to spend a certain amount of money to go acquire certain people.

Starting point is 00:15:26 But I'd be shocked if at this point of this transition, that anything roster-wise like trades wouldn't be something that is discussed among the group with like Heim Bloom and everybody. Mo would make the final call. I don't think he's like, all right, everybody, everybody want to vote. Who's in? Who's out? I don't think that's what's going on.

Starting point is 00:15:49 I don't know why Mo would sabotage things. start wheeling and dealing guys that the rest of the organization wants to use moving forward. So I'm not worried about anything like that. He's always said the goal is to make this transition smooth and easy and do what's in the best interest of the Cardinals, not himself. I mean, he didn't go out and just start wasting money on people, you know, this off season. Actually, the one guy he signed has been outstanding in Phil Maytime. So I feel like it's a holding pattern. If he's going to trade guys away, it's going to be these guys who are on expiring contracts anyway that the Cardinals aren't going to resign anyhow.

Starting point is 00:16:32 I'm more curious about what kind of general manager, Hein Bloom, will be when Moe is gone. Because as much as we complain about what Moe's done recently, for the most part over the years, he's been pretty good. I know, like, when you go look at Hein Bloom's resume, a lot of attention goes to the field. Mookie Betsteel in Boston, where the goal was all. it was laid on him that you got to slash payroll. We don't want to spend this anymore. So slash payroll, Dodgers ended up being the team that took advantage. But he was also the guy that got Boston, Kyle Schwerber, and Willier-A-Bray you, and Nick Povetta, as well as developing the Red Sox Farm System into one of the best in the league.

Starting point is 00:17:14 So I'm just kind of curious about what things are going to be like moving forward. You know, I'm excited about the future. And, you know, with a fresh perspective on things, with a new. voice and new leadership. Another one here. Our team blows. And management is okay with that since they rake in money. Well, with the tenants down at Bush and the drama with the TV deals, ownership is taking

Starting point is 00:17:38 a hit in the wallet this year, if that makes you feel any better. They're not broke by any means, but they're not going to be making as much. But more important, I wouldn't characterize a team that's five games over 500 and a game and a half back in the wild card is a team that blows. quote blows, but they certainly are not among the elite teams in the National League, like the Dodgers and the Mets and the Phillies and the Cubs, although look at their record against those guys, 11 and 12. Yes, it's a losing record, but 11 and 12 against those teams and those payrolls and that star power that those guys all possess. And then the Cardo's not spending anything

Starting point is 00:18:17 keeping up with them, you know, when they play them at least. The thing is, is losing as many games as you have to to the pirates. And, you know, obviously in your own division with the Reds and Brewers, those are the guys that you need to beat more. And they haven't so far this year, which is, you know, probably makes it seem like it's a lot worse than things are. Here's another one. We all know Feddy is bad to me.

Starting point is 00:18:43 The much bigger concern is the offense got shut out again. How do they fix that with the guys available? I honestly, I hate using excuses, but I'm going to chalk this one up to injuries. the loss of Ivan Herrera was huge. The guy is hitting 320 with eight home runs and 36 RBIs and an OPS plus of 158, and he's missed a month and a half a time. Like he has been a monster in the middle of this order. Losing that type of bat on a team that isn't loaded with other sluggers

Starting point is 00:19:15 to pick up the slack in the first place. It's obviously very crippling to what this offense can do when they're at their best. Ironically, though, they're 22 and 19 in games that he starts. I would have thought that record would have been better, honestly, but they played really well without him in May after he got hurt in Boston when they went 19 and 8. So it doesn't have to be all on Ivan Herrera, but that helps having him in the lineup for sure. But with him out, Nato now dealing with a shoulder issue, not in the lineup again on Tuesday, Newt Bar falling off an absolute cliff as the lead off hitter and having to move down in the

Starting point is 00:19:53 order, which made Britt and Donovan have to move up and be your leadoff guy again, which I still, to this day, he's just not a very good lead off guy. He's not. He's better where he was at number three, but it sucks because they don't have another lead off guy. They could put Mason one up there, I guess, but they like Mason one in the two spot. So that has hurt Brennan Donovan's production and his RBI chances. My favorite lineup. And let me see what you guys think about this, because it was kind of difficult to put this together. But my favorite lineup, I think if I had to pull one, like right now, would be, and they have to be healthy and being play well.

Starting point is 00:20:31 So I love the large new part at the top of the order. If you can get him back to doing what he was doing early on, that's ideal. He's a great leadoff guy when he's doing that stuff. Mason went at second. Numbers back it up, and he's been pretty good there, batting second at short set. Brennan Donovan playing second base, batting third. was great there. Wilson Contreras. I'm going to put him in the cleanup spot over at first, followed by Yvonne Herrera. I like the protection of Yvonne behind Wilson. And here's the thing,

Starting point is 00:20:59 though, Yvonne has to catch because we need other bats in this lineup. Burleson, sixth, bat and sixth. I want him in right field. I can't take that offense out of the lineup. Aronado, seventh, the third base, Gorman eight the DH, and then Victor Scott, ninth in center field. Not the best defensive setup. I understand that, specifically a catcher where Pah has just, you He calls a better game. The ERA is so much better for the team when he's behind the plate. But, you know, I need a Bon Herrera's bat in the lineup. Pitchers love throwing to Pahas.

Starting point is 00:21:30 I get it. But this is how you get all my best hitters in the game. Now you can flip some guys around depending on the matchup, but those guys that I just may list that they all need to play. And, you know, Jordan Walker is not in there right now because he hasn't been that good. You want to see him play. and want to see him take that next step. Maybe you can do that when lefties are on the mound.

Starting point is 00:21:54 You go Jordan and right, Burley is the DH, which would leave Gorman out, which is something you're trying not to do. You could sub out Newt and put Donnie in left with Gorman at second base, or Newton's center bench Victor against lefties. A lot of different ways to move people around, but no matter what you do, there's going to be somebody who you wish was in the lineup

Starting point is 00:22:14 is going to have to be on the bench. Or you're going to take a hit defensively. certain spots too. So yeah, it's not easy. But let me know what you guys think about that. Would that be your best offensive lineup? Okay. I know it's not the best defensive. You point that out. But is that the best offensive lineup what I listed there? Give me a shout. Let me know what you think. Washington Nationals in town. We'll preview that next. Coming up on lockdown girls. If you're running a business, you know that when you miss calls, that's money left on the table. That is not what you want. Think about the last

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Starting point is 00:24:25 but doing it on a national scale. You can find MLB game night on lockdown MLB on YouTube or wherever you listen to your podcast. So the nationals just fired their manager, Davy Martinez, their GM, Rizzo, Higong. This is a squad that's got lots of young talent. The one paper should be good. And it has surprised me, just like it surprised most people, that they have not won more baseball game.

Starting point is 00:24:52 James Wood and left field superstar. Monster of a human being. He's huge, like Jordan Walker size, but he's so much better than Jordan Walker right now. Huge guy, speed, athletic. He's very similar traits to Jordan Walker, left-handed hitter and is hitting the snot out of the ball. He's their best hitter by far.

Starting point is 00:25:16 CJ Abrams, a really good hitter, top of the order. Not much on the defensive side. It's shortstop. I wouldn't be shocked if he changes positions at some point, but he's a really good hitter. Both those guys coming over in the Juan Soto trade. Luis Garcia, Kbert Ruiz, Nathaniel Love, Jacob Young. They brought up Brady House, one of their top prospects.

Starting point is 00:25:37 They've got veterans like our good friend Paul DeYoung, Josh Bell, Ahmed Rosario, McKenzie Gore in their rotation. You know, you list all these people and you're like, ah, these guys aren't too freaking bad. But they are. has not worked. They are last in the NL East at 37 and 53. They've lost three in a row, six of their last 10, 21 of their last 30. The Cardinals have got to take advantage. After licking your wounds and seeing what the Cubs did to you over the weekend,

Starting point is 00:26:09 this is where you've got to take advantage because you're getting ready to play a Washington Nationals team, which you have swept already once this year, but you've got to take advantage of them. They're in a bad spot. Miguel Cairo, former Cardinal, is the intermanager right now. So he's going to be trying to figure things out and try to get them motivated again. Let's not let that happen. You know, they will not have Herrera Walker or Aronado in the lineup on Tuesday. But you got your number one in Sunny Gray on the mound who has been excellent at home this year, going up against Jake Urban, who's got a record that says seven and three. But the ERA is closer to five. And in his last seven starts, he's got an ERA of seven point one.

Starting point is 00:26:48 he's allowed 10 home runs. Lefties do hit him a little bit better than righties. So I'm hoping that our big lefties, Gorman, Burley, Newt, Victor, Donnie, I hope you guys are all ready to rock. I hope you're ready to rock because we need you guys to pummel this poor man into submission. Like I said, they swept Washington back in May,

Starting point is 00:27:09 three game set. And you need to get at least two out of three. That is what the ideal record is. Like I want them to go four and two over these last six games into the All-Star break. Go into the break feeling good about yourself. But try to get healthier. Catch your breath a little bit over after this chaotic schedule where you've had six double headers and it's just been nuts. But, you know, a lot of teams are going through that.

Starting point is 00:27:37 So we can't use it as an excuse. But so Jayce's in the lineup tonight for Aronado. Gorman's going to be over a third. Donnie's going to be in left. So just got to get these left-handed bats going. And let's do some damage. Let's do some damage against these Washington nationals. A sweep would be great, but I'm hoping two out of three is what I'm rooting for.

Starting point is 00:28:00 Hopefully a good game by Sunny. Pah is behind the plate tonight. So I'm looking forward to it. Thanks for making a lot. I'm a cartels for first listen every day. If you haven't already, give me a follow on X at L.O. underscore Cardinals and a J.D.S.R.R.R. radio, TikTok, Instagram, like, subscribe on YouTube if you haven't done that already, pushing

Starting point is 00:28:16 towards 13,000 subscribers. We'd love to have more of you subscribed if you aren't already. You guys are the best fans in baseball for a reason. We'll see you next time on lockdown.

Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - Are The St. Louis Cardinals FINALLY Headed In The Right Direction With Their Player Development?

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