Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - Can The Cardinals Keep Mashing?

Episode Date: April 3, 2025

Gabby From Locked On Red Sox Joins JD To Discuss The Upcoming Series Between The Boston Red Sox And The St. Louis Cardinals - Previous Series - Good And The Bad So Far This Season - Pitching Matchups - What To Watch For In The Series - Future Concerns Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms… 🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/locked-on-st-louis-cardinals/ Locked On MLB League-Wide: Every Team, Prospects & More 🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/leagues/mlb/ Follow on Twitter/X: @JDSPORTSRADIO Follow the show on Twitter/X: @LO_Cardinals Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! Wonderful Pistachios Looking for a snack that’s both delicious and nutritious? Get snackin’ and get crackin’ with the snack that packs a protein punch. Visit WonderfulPistachios.com to learn more. Just Ingredients Visit JustIngredients.us and use code LOCKEDONMLB for 20% off your order! And for more wellness tips, follow @just.ingredients on Instagram. Supply House Join the TradeMaster program today at SupplyHouse.com/TM and start ordering plumbing, HVAC, and electrical supplies with just a few clicks. Plus, use promo code S-H-5 for 5% off your first order. That’s SupplyHouse.com! Monarch Money Take control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONMLB at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year. Gametime Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONMLB for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime. FanDuel Right now, new customers can get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS when your first FIVE DOLLAR BET WINS! Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Bet with FanDuel—Official Partner of the NBA. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) #ForTheLou #stlcards #mlb #lockedoncardinals Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Two of the most storied franchises in Major League Baseball history are set to lock horns this weekend. This is a special locked on Cardinals, Locked on Red Sox crossover. You are locked on MLB crossover, part of the Locked on podcast network, your team every day. Hello and welcome into another locked on podcast crossover episode. In the blue corner today, you have got me, J.D. Haffer, and I'm the host. for Lockdown Cardinals, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network covering your team every day. You can follow me on X at JD Sports Radio. You can also follow the podcast at L.O.

underscore Cardinals over in the red corner. We've got Gabby Malginian from Lockdown Red Sox. You can follow her and the podcast on X as well. And you can find both shows on YouTube and wherever you get your podcast. Today's episode brought to you by GameTime. Download the GameTime app, create an account and use that code Lockdown MLB for $20 off, your first purchase. Always fun to talk some ball with the opposite.

opposition. Gabby and I chatted this off season when those Aronado rumors were circulating and now it's time for some action on the diamond. Gabby, how are things with you, girl? Yeah, I've been very good. I was actually thinking about that the other day and I was like, wow, it's interesting how much time has passed since we had that conversation. And the craziest part about all of that, I think, was the day that we recorded that episode, that night, the Red Sox signed out. Breggman. So the timing of all of that was very funny. But yeah, definitely nice to be able to catch up again. It's always fun when you, you know, put together an entire episode of great thoughts and dialogue and for it to all be blown out of the water just moments later by one of the teams doing something like signing

Alex Breggman to a massive, massive contract. So we're going to get to that. We're going to talk about how Alex has been doing and how things have been going on with both our squads. Just to give you a heads up for this weekend, in case you're not paying attention, the Cardinals are going to be at Fenway to battle the Bow Sox. We've got a 210 Eastern start, 110 St. Louis time for Friday's game. Then it's 410 Eastern 310 St. Louis time on Saturday. And then we get to be on the ESPN Sunday night, baseball game of the week on Sunday night, which should be a lot of fun.

Cardinals are coming into this series at 4 and 2 to start the year while the Red Sox are now at 3 and 4 after you guys defeated the Orioles on Thursday by a score of. eight to four. So let's start with your series against Baltimore, Gabby. What are some of your highlights and low lights in that series against your division foe? Yeah, you know, going into that series, the morale and overall energy seemed pretty low because they had not started off the season well. They won on opening day and then lost three straight games against the Rangers after that. So there were some concerns going into the series and then they dropped the first game against Baltimore as well. So, you know, everyone was saying, oh, this Red Sox team is not going

to be very good. You know, why did we think they were going to be a good team? And I was like, all right, let's relax, everybody. We're five games into the season here. And the biggest thing, the first few games of the season was that they weren't hitting. The top of the lineup was not producing. Rapiel Devers and his historic number of strikeouts was only a part of it. other guys at the top of the lineup were not producing Alex Bregman, Trevor Story, Tristan Kossis, guys like that who should be hitting that are at that top of the lineup were not. And that was their biggest downfall going into that series. And then the last two games on both Wednesday and Thursday,

the offense started to click a little bit more. I mean, Thursday, especially three home runs in the game, Alex Bregman hit his first home run of the season on Thursday. So that was nice to see. Raphael Devers finally got his first hit of the season on Wednesday night, which everybody was anticipating eventually happening. And he also got a second hit later on in that game too. So that was nice to see. So that was the biggest thing was can they hit because the pitching was primarily doing its job. I mean, the first few games of the season, the bullpen hadn't given up a single run. They still lead the American League in Bullpen ERA right now up to this point, which is very nice to see because that was kind of something that was circled at the beginning of the season as a potential question mark with this team was the bullpen. Bullpen was performing very well.

Starting pitching could be a little bit better, but overall it was really the offense. And the offense the last couple of days seems to have picked itself up, which is promising. We have a common enemy now, although I still love. him in my heart. Tyler O'Neill is a member of the Baltimore Orioles. How did how do things go with with T.O against Boston in that series? Yeah, I know. I definitely miss him a little bit for sure. When you only have the player for a season, you don't get as attached as, you know, you do to some other players. But in the first game of that series, he was just absolutely destroying Red Sox pitching. And I said, you know, if this is going to happen all series, this could be a long series for the Red Sox was getting

on base, basically a never yet bat on Monday. And also I get it. It was the Orioles home opener. So there was a lot of probably fun energy surrounding that Orioles team at that point. But then the Red Sox pitching was pretty much able to shut him down the rest of the series, which, you know, I always will be a fan of him. Ultimately, in the grand scheme of things, should the Red Sox have kept him? I still don't think so necessarily because they do have a very talented young outfield. So I don't necessarily know that there was a spot for him, especially because they now have Bregman in the lineup. But yeah, they were able to pretty much contain him. It was really just that Monday game. He was pretty much the story of the

Orioles offense. And that was upsetting to see. But, you know, good for him. Honestly, I hope he has a good season in Baltimore. Camden Yars is a great ballpark. And the fact that he gets to play his home games there, I think is a great experience for him. All he's got to do is stay on the field, he produces when he can do that. It's just that was kind of his issue in St. Louis was he just couldn't stay healthy. It was tough and nobody wanted to, wanted him to go because you see all the tools that he possesses and you got to see it firsthand in Boston there for the one season. But now has taken his talents to Baltimore, so now you can hate on him, just like we do.

It's okay. Feel free. Cardinals lose two or three to the Angels in our previous series, but they did win that final game, 12 to 5, thanks to three home runs, Gabby. three of them from Yvonne Herrera, our catcher, first time the Cardinals catcher has ever done that. The Cardinals have been around for like a million years and that had never happened before. So that was a really big deal. First two games had to go to extra innings, but L.A. comes out on top.

Overall fans seem to be pretty pleased with what they've seen from the Cardinals, specifically offensively, because last year that was the real issue was they couldn't put any hits together, couldn't hit with runners in scoring position, nobody was scoring runs. it was just a very stale offense. And then the pitching and the bullpen was the good stuff. This year, starting pitching has been pretty good. Hitting has been really good. And then the bullpen, which was so strong last year,

has had a couple hiccups. I'm not going to say the meltdowns or anything like that, but a couple of hiccups. And it was really nice to have Thursday off for the Cardinals to give their bullpen some rest, you know, after those games against L.A. where the bullpen got extended a little bit due to the length of the games. But, you know, things are good in St. Louis. Four and two, people are happy. They're still skeptical.

They don't believe in it yet, and that's okay. But like you said, it's early on. Let's not freak out about the good or the bad yet. But we are going to talk about those things. How did the Cardinals and Red Sox get to where they are right now and who we think you should be keeping an eye on in this series is coming up on this special Locked on Cardinals, Locked on Red Sox crossover. Get the supplies you need from the site made for the skilled trade. Supply House, whether you're in plumbing, HVAC, electrical work. Supply House is the reliable way to order the products online that you want. They're easy to use website. It's packed with helpful resources and the latest product information to help you get the job done right. Plus, with a complete inventory of over 200,000 parts from 400 plus top brands,

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Feedback is always welcome and encouraged. I'm J.D. Hafer from Lockedon Cardinals, Gabby Malgenian from Locked on Red Sox together again. Let's start with your socks, Gabby. You guys made a lot of big moves this offseason. I would talk about the Cardinals big moves, but we didn't do anything. Nothing, nothing whatsoever. We didn't even sign Phil Maytown until spring trading had started. But you guys went out and got some names, Alex Bregman, which we discussed.

Garrett Crochet comes to Boston. Walker Bueller, among others. You've got a bunch of rookies. You've got the best prospects in the league available to you. You're doing extensions already. You got a lot going on in Boston. What has been the best story so far? And then I'm going to ask you to follow that up with what's been the worst story so far for you guys.

Yeah, you know, I definitely think Christian Campbell has been a really good story for the Red Sox so far this year. Prospect who was called up to start the season, made the opening day roster as the starting second baseman. And what makes this so significant is the Red Sox haven't really had a defined second basement since Dustin Padouria. literally they've been trying to just platoon all kinds of different people to play that position. So this was a kid who they've had an eye on in the system for a while and he worked his way up through the system very quickly at really an unprecedented rate. And he didn't have a great spring offensively, but the Red Sox still seemed to feel confident that he would be ready to go to start the season in the majors.

So they made that decision where he would be the starting second baseman. And he has been very good. He's reached base in every single game so far, picked up a couple more hits in Thursday's game, has already gotten his first Major League home run out of the way in the third game of the season. So he's done a lot already in the first few games of Major League service time that he has had. and he's arguably been the Red Sox best offensive player to this point. So that's a very exciting storyline that Red Sox fans are watching because people were skeptical about his readiness for the majors.

He didn't spend a ton of time in AAA. And also the fact that offensively in the spring, he didn't look great. So going into the season, there was skepticism there. But he has just blown all expectations out of the water to this point. So that's very exciting because he kind of represents both the now and the future. So you have a kid who's so talented here to play second base. And he's super versatile because he can also play in the outfield. They did stick him in the outfield already in a game over the weekend against the Rangers.

So he can play a couple different positions. He has speed. He is playing some sound defense at second already in offensively. I mean, he's just really raking with the bat. And he has very confident swings. And he doesn't hold back on hitting and swinging at pitches that he feels confident. with, but he's also showing a lot of plate discipline. Like he'll take walks and he, um, isn't afraid to be patient at the plate, which sometimes can be tough for a rookie. So lots of really

impressive things from him early on that we've really enjoyed seeing as Red Sox fans. And I mean, obviously Garrett Crochet being extended is another big thing for Red Sox fans too. I mean, through eight shutout innings against the Orioles on Wednesday night, which was fantastic for the bullpen to not have to work. And he is the ace. of the future and the fact that the Red Sox have in lockdown is very exciting. And they knew going into the season after even making that move for him that they wanted to extend him. And I've talked about extensively on my show, you don't give up what you gave up for a guy like

him if you don't have the intention of extending him. I thought he might have wanted to wait and give it more time because if he pitched well, maybe he would want to explore. But he didn't want to. He said he wanted to be in Boston if the deal is right. So they got it done. Very exciting there. The worst storyline so far for sure was Devers and his start that he had because this is

the face of the franchise, supposed to be the heart and soul of the lineup and all of the strikeouts to start the season. I mean, I get it's difficult moving positions. I mean, that part there, I don't think people are really giving him enough sympathy for that because you go from playing in the field to just not playing in the field anymore and being a designated hitter. I feel like David Ortiz made it look a lot easier to just become a full-time DH than it actually is. And Red So Red Sox fans are used to that.

So for Devers, it's got to be tough mentally to adjust to that. So I think that was definitely a factor in this whole thing that now he's playing DH in not third base anymore. But now that he got a couple hits on Wednesday, hopefully he starts to get moving a little bit. didn't see a lot of big things from him on Thursday, but he did record a hit in that game, too. So hopefully he's kind of trying to turn the tide there a little bit at the plate. And it wasn't even a matter of not swinging at the right pitches because he was definitely showing that he had good pitch selection up there. And he wasn't swinging at bad pitches.

It was the thing. It was just he was late on everything. And that was the biggest concern. I mean, a 95 mile an hour fastball he would be late on. And that was the biggest cause for concern was that he just legitimately was just not able to hit anything. So that was definitely the biggest storyline here up to this point. Can he continue to make forward progress for sure? The biggest thing with that, though, was he was showing good plate discipline.

He was taking walks. like I had talked about before how he wasn't swinging at bad pitches. And he did put up some good fights during his at-bats, even when they resulted in a strikeout. It was just he physically was unable to hit the ball. So hopefully that improves. And that's really what we're looking to see here as the team gets back home after they've won a couple of games over the last two.

And we're hoping to see him just continue to move forward with his offensive ability. Yeah. For the Cardinals fans who weren't familiar, Davers had, it was like 15 strikeouts in the first like three or four games. It was something just nuts. And Cardinal fans are kind of have a similar thing going on in St. Louis right now. There was two guys. So I'll start with that just because it makes a lot of sense to go with this,

is that the struggles, this has been, if there is something bad to point out, it was the struggles of Wilson Contreras and Mason Wendon for the Cardinals who, finally got their first hits on Wednesday, but so far on the season, they're combined three for 45 with 20 strikeouts. And they moved Mason Wend down to the bottom of the order so Nupar could lead off who's been just outstanding at the leadoff spot. But Mason Wend, he had a tough spring, and he just, he was doing some, same thing with Contreras, very similar to what Devers was going through where it wasn't so much that they were chasing or making bad decisions.

they just would swing and miss. It was like there was a hole in the back. It was just one of those slumps that a lot of people, they'll go through eventually. And, you know, everybody clowns these guys at the beginning of the year because it's so bad. And everybody's paying attention right now.

It's the beginning of the season. And oh, my gosh, Devers is the worst hitter on the planet. He doesn't know what he's doing anymore. Same thing with our guys. Like, they're like, send Mason went down. He's not ready. And I'm like, shut up. You've got to be kidding me.

Everybody, relax, relax. relax let these guys get a few games under their belt i did mention something like that on my show i said if this was the middle of july endeavors was in a slump like this it wouldn't look as bad because it's the middle of the season it looks as bad as it does because he starts the season with it so therefore people think that this is going to last for this is it this is the whole year it's going to be like this no matter what he's going to strike out 400 times what have we done this is the worst decision who signed Bregman, this is dumb. Yeah, you get all these guys who lose their minds over everything.

And it's just, that's why, like, I have so much respect. It's something I've actually learned more since starting with Locked-on where, you know, every game I'm really into is where you just got to relax in baseball. Like, this isn't football where, you know, you're only playing 17 games. Like, this is a long season, you guys. There's going to be a lot of peaks and valleys. And it's a roller coaster. going to be like that for almost every team, except for the Dodgers, you know, who apparently are

going to go 162 and oh, they're unstoppable. But, you know, for the rest of us, there's going to be moments like this for all these guys. So just don't, don't get too worked up about it. Let them work their way through it. You can't start benching people and sending them down and telling them their careers are over because of six games. Like, you just can't be like that. The good stuff that the Cardinals have been going for them. Every kind of aspect of the team hasn't been that bad. There's not really one spot where you're just like, this has been really, really bad.

Everything's been pretty darn good. Defense has been really good. Something that Cardinal fans take personally, like to watch teams that take the field and they're no good at it. And wearing a Cardinal uniform is like just blasphemy to them. They hate it. So it's been nice to see them play well defensively. Starting pitching has been pretty good.

bullpen outside of like I said, a couple of hiccups and the extra innings has been fine, but the offense has really stood out huge. Currently fourth in run scored in Major League Baseball. Not the division. That's what they're used to for the last couple of years is it hasn't been good. No, fourth overall in baseball right now, tied for third in total hits,

tied for second in batting average, tied for first in OBP, third in slugging, third in OPS. The offense, despite those cold starts of Wilson Contreras and Mayson, and went two major, major cogs that are going to be very important for this offense for the rest of the year being as ice cold as they've been. It's been other people that have stepped up. And it's some people that outside of St. Louis, maybe you're not aware of. You know, like Yvonne Herrera is the catcher.

He's a slugging catcher. Hasn't been able to figure out how to throw a ball to second base all that well yet. So that might be something to keep an eye on stolen basewise for your Red Sox. But hitting wise, the guy has looked apart since he got called up last year. and he's continued to slug ever since. Lars Nupar, as I mentioned, made his name during the World Baseball Classic with Team Japan, hasn't been able to stay healthy,

but is off to a red-hot start. He's walking. He's getting on base with hits like he's just all over the place. Nolan Aronado, a guy that we thought might be in a Red Sox uniform at this point, is off to a great start. 391, one home run, six RBIs. He's been coming up with some clutch hits too, which is, again,

something the Cardinal struggled with last year was runners in scoring position, one of the worst hitting teams in baseball. This year, it's been good. It's been good. It's been great, to be honest with you. I mean, sure, you're not always going to come through every single time. There was a play on Wednesday where they had a runner on third, nobody out and didn't score, which is, you can't stand that. But it's going to happen from time to time, like we said, long season. So it's going to be an interesting battle considering, you know, the pitching that you guys have had so far this year, getting back to Fenway Park and seeing if this offense wakes up a little bit against a pitching staff for the Cardinals that has been pretty darn good.

We're going to roll into that, talk about these pitching matchups, and we'll give you our things to keep an eye on in this series and our biggest concerns for our teams moving forward on this special Locked on Cardinals Locked on Red Sox crossover. There's nothing better than catching an MLB game live, the crack of the bad, the roar of the crowd, and of course, the smell of ballpark food. Which is so good. I wish they could bottle that up.

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check out Locked on Fantasy Baseball. It's a podcast with our host Dominic and Matthew. You want to win your league. You want to get those bragging rides. You want to be the person at the end of it all, holding up the title belt or the championship ring, however you guys celebrate. Then listen to Locked on Fantasy baseball.

They do all the work for you. They get all the research for you. They'll help you get that championship. They're available on YouTube and wherever you listen to your podcasts. All right, Gabby. Let's go through these pitching matchups real quick. Friday, Eric Fetty, 1 and 0. against Walker Bueller, one of your new guys,

O-in-1. Saturday, it's Andre Palante 1-0 for the Cardinals against Richard Fitz, O'N-1. And then on Sunday, it's Miles Michaelis, who doesn't have a record yet, pitched well when his first start of the season. And going up against the lefty, Sean Nukeb, O'N-1, so it's all righties for all of us

in the starts except for Newcomb on Sunday. No crochet. Woo! Thank you, Lord. Don't have to face him. That's great news for the Cardinals. your thoughts, though, on the starters that will be taking the bumper to you guys, Bueller, Fitz, Newcomb, what you got for me?

Yeah, you know, Fitz actually had the best start of anybody in their first start of the year. So that was very nice to see. He made a few starts last year for the Red Sox. So very small sample size so far with him. But what we saw from him last year, great command and just a guy who just pitches with a lot of confidence and has three very good pitches that he'll throw. His first start of the season was very good. And this weighs a lot because of the fact that the Red Sox do have a guy named

Garrett Crochet in the rotation, who obviously pissed a lot better in his second start. But fits in his first start was very good. I liked a lot of what I saw from him in that game. He threw six innings against the Rangers and gave up three runs. So definitely solid outing for him. I'm hoping to see a lot more of that. Has a great pitch selection too in terms of, you know, what he's going to throw. So I really like a lot of his arsenal.

He has been working pretty extensively during the off season to continue to develop a fourth pitch. So that's going to make him hopefully even more of a threat. So he's somebody that, you know, doesn't have a ton of swing and miss stuff. So that's the biggest thing I'm looking at with him as something that could be a potential concern down the road. He doesn't have a lot of that going on, but he is somebody who definitely knows how to control the strike zone.

So he is not going to hopefully give up a lot of walks. That was one of the biggest things that stood out to me about him. So definitely circling that start as hopefully one that could be good for the Red Sox in this series. As far as Walker Bueller goes, I mean, I had mixed feelings about him. coming to Boston originally, just because obviously, you know, with his injury history, it's hard to know whether he's going to be able to actually stay healthy throughout the course of the season. But at the same time, the version of Bueller that we saw in the postseason last year,

I said, wow, if we get that version of him or some semblance of that, this could be a steal for the Red Sox like this could end up being one of the best moves of the off season. So it could go either way with him. His first start was okay, not as good as I would have hoped for it to be, didn't pitch as deep into the game as I would have wanted him to pitch. But the biggest thing that I will say with Walker Bueller is he still looked pretty sharp in terms of his pitches. I mean, fastball was still averaging 97, 98 about, which was really,

yeah, which was very promising to see from him. didn't walk anybody in his first start. So definitely will be hopefully serviceable in this second start, hopefully a little bit better than he was in his first one. I know, you know, going into the season towards the end of spring training, he was feeling a little bit rusty in certain areas. So going into his first start of the year, I kind of expected him to maybe not be at his best. So I do expect a little bit of a bounce back from him going into tomorrow's game. And plus the home opener, too, with him on the mound. I mean, that's the type of game where you want to pitch well if you're Walker Bueller.

Yeah. First time you get in front of the home fans in Boston. You want to have a nice game. Yeah. And yeah. So that's the other factor in this, too, is it's, you know, this is you're basically these fans want to have a reason to welcome you with open arms here at Fenway. And if you don't pitch well, then that's going to be, that's going to be tough for them

because Red Sox fans are tough. in that type environment. So he needs to embrace that. Obviously, he's great in pressure situations. Was very good in his first start, I will say, with traffic on the bases in terms of changing his approach. So that's another thing that I liked that I saw from him, but definitely would like to see him go a little bit deeper in this next start.

Sean Newcomb, a concern. Kind of got shelled in his first start of the season. he pitched against the Orioles in the first game of that series and gave up four runs in the first inning. The first four batters reached on a hit. So that was tough. I'm hoping that that was because it was, you know, his first start, you know, here. And also, I mean, with the Red Sox in general. And so it's the transition maybe of him trying to get used to being here and trying to make a good impression on people here with the Red Sox. I think the biggest thing with him, you know, that I noticed was that he did settle in a

little bit after that first inning. Still was not great. Still was giving up lots of base hits and was completely hitable, especially on his curveball. That was a very hitable pitch, the entire outing. And he kept trying to go to it. But the Orioles were all over that pitch. So if he continues to throw that pitch consistently, you guys might, you know,

feast on that pitch. So I'm hoping he changes that approach a little bit on Sunday. But, you know, I will give him a little bit more time. He had a great spring, hands down the best spring of a good group of pitchers at the Red Sox were trying to decide between to even get that fifth spot in the rotation because they do have guys who are hurt right now. He was hands down the choice coming out of spring training based on the spring that he had. but he's kind of on a tight leash right now because, you know, some of these guys who are injured are going to start coming back.

So he really has no choice but to have a good outing. That is the one I am most concerned about, though, because even though he settled in a little bit after the first inning, he still didn't show tons of promise, especially on his off-speed stuff and could barely get guys to swing and miss. I mean, lots of guys were fouling off lots of his pitches. So his pitch count was really worked early on. And so that's definitely something that I'm a bit concerned about Sunday. No pressure, Newcomb. It's only Sunday night baseball.

The whole world's watching. No big deal. Hopefully at home at Fenway. No big deal. Yeah, no, no. It should be, yeah. I mean, it'll be fine. I'm definitely, I'm definitely concerned.

I have my concerns about each of the three of them for different reasons. But, you know, hopefully things go better than I'm expecting. Yeah, I don't know if I showed it enough, but I'm very excited to not face care crochet. You can. I figure. And, of course, Tanner, How also a very good pitcher as well. So we're getting the back three of the rotation that Boston offers.

Cardles-wise, you guys are getting kind of the middle meat of it. Sunny Gray pitched on Wednesday. So he's our pseudo number one. But Eric Fetty was excellent in his first outing, was with the White Sox last year, traded over at the trade deadline, a trade that we swindled with the Dodgers who got Tommy Edmund. I don't think he's done much since he's left town, so not worried about that.

Andre Palante will be throwing on Saturday. Good ground ball guy. He's a guy that he's a right-handed pitcher, but is excellent at getting left-handed hitters out. He's one of those rare guys where the splits are actually better against lefties, but he was excellent in the second half last year, broke a lot of bats in his first start this year. He's got an excellent sinker. Miles Michaelis is the guy that when he's on. it's like two or three hits, a couple of runs.

You've got to give base hits off. He's been one of the most hitable pitchers in baseball the last couple of years. And he pitched really, really well this last game. They ended up going extra running, so he didn't factor in the decision. But you just never know when he's just going to implode where like he could give up five bombs in the first three innings. Because if he misses his spots, he can't throw it past anybody. And so everybody will tee off on him. So everybody's always there.

You never know what miles. you're going to get. And he could go three, four innings, no hit baseball. And then it's always like one inning just stands out where everybody goes, oh, there you are. And then they just unload on him. So we're hoping that that's something that changes this year, but it's been two straight years of this. So odds are it's going to happen again. But that was something he was working on in the spring was because he throws so many strikes where he's just around the zone so much. And these guys are just so good. They can hit even the slightest part that's outside. of the zone where he needs to get people to chase more.

And it's just his stuff's not great enough to get people fooled. So it makes it difficult for him to do that job. But yeah, it's not a sexy rotation by any means. There's nobody that's going to come in and be like, wow, you're incredible. They just kind of go out and do their jobs and then walk away. Like it's not anybody to, it's really fear. But they genuinely, I'll put it this way. They're genuinely pitchers.

They are not throwers. They are not coming at you with smoke. None of these dudes. I mean, Palante might hit 95. Nobody else is. It's not happening. It's all cutters, sinkers, change it. It's all that stuff.

So get ready to see that. Any big concerns for the socks moving forward for our final thoughts here? Yeah. No, it is interesting when you mentioned the pitching. I mean, all three of these starting pitchers for the Red Sox are small sample size pitchers for the Boston Red Sox in particular. I mean, Bueller's made one. start in a Boston Red Sox uniform. Newcomb, same thing. Richard Fitz made probably a test made probably a total of about four by now because he made a few last year. So small sample guys, so they still have

time to, you know, improve in terms of my, my niceness or harshness towards them based on how they perform this weekend. But yeah, I mean, concerns moving forward for sure is definitely the consistency of the pitching staff overall. I think, you know, we have guys who we know will likely go out there and just do their job every time. You know, the guys like crochet, even some guys in the pen that we feel are super reliable that will go out there and do their job. Mian Eraldus Chapman has been pitching very well so far. I was going to bring him up too.

Familiar face for Cardinal fans. They've seen him in pretty much every uniform in the NL Central, it seems, except for Milwaukee and St. Louis. So very familiar with the Roldis, the Cuban Missal, alive and well in Boston. So get ready for it. Oh, yeah. He's still throwing 101 miles an hour. I mean, still has a problem with the walks.

That's something that I didn't think was going to miraculously change this year with him. But he's been going out there and he's been getting the job done. So I will say that for sure. So we have our guys who we know are reliable that are going to go out there and get the job done. Others who have been a little bit iffy. So that's something that I'm definitely a little bit concerned about is, you know, can the iffiness be a little bit less iffy and a little bit more? I'm going to go out there and I'm going to get the job done because some of these guys don't really know how to handle situations

where they have face traffic, and then they start to fold, and then it just escalates. And this happened the other day against the Orioles, the first game of that series. And the bullpen just completely imploded in that game. So that's something that I'm definitely looking out for. But if they continue to hit, which hopefully they will at this point moving forward, you know, this is a good baseball team that has the capability of being very good. I think I will say, you know, they have a lot of athleticism and they will steal bases. That was another thing that I wanted to bring up when it came to, for you to be aware of is they are very aggressive on the base pads in general.

Hold on. I'm texting Yvonne right now. Heads up. They're going to be running, Yvonne. No, they are. Lots of guys who like to try to stretch singles into doubles. Lots of guys who will steal and are serious threats to run. So that's a big thing about this Boston Reds.

Sox team because they're young and they're athletic and that's just what they do. So I would say pitching-wise consistency is the biggest concern for me moving forward overall with this team. For the Cardinals, can they sustain what they showed offensively in the first six games? The most impressive thing about what they did offensively. First off, double-digit hits in every game. Like, I mean, they are clubbing the ball, but they're taking really good at bats. And as nerdy as that sounds and like a casual fan's going to be like, I don't know what that

means. it's where they're working the count, where they're not just flailing away at pitches. They're not always swinging at the first pitch, trying to ambush anything. They're making these pitchers work. So when I hear your bullpen has a problem, when people get on base, that excites me for the Cardinals because that's something they were able to do really, really well over these first six games is just they were able to take the walks to get the base hits.

And then here and there, they were putting a ball over the wall. And it was just, we were kind of blown away in St. Louis. seeing it because it's most of these guys are the same dudes that were on this team last year, and they did not look like this at all, which is why you're seeing a lot of praise for their new hitting coach, Brant Brown, who is like, you know, hitting Jesus right now in the city of St. Louis, like, people are in love with this guy. So they'll need to try to continue that. Can they do that? And the question is, how will they fare against better teams? Because you start off the season, the twins, we thought we're going to be all right. They've gotten off

a slow start. Nobody expected anything out of the Angels, right? But they came in and took two of three and played pretty well against the Cardinals. You know, what's it going to be like going up against a team that has higher expectations like the Boston Red Sox? So first real test, if you will, for the Cardinals this weekend on the road. Well, this was a lot of fun, Gabby. I appreciate your time. And we'll have to do it again. Hopefully at some point down the road. We want to thank you guys for making Locked on Cardinals and Locked on Red Sox your first list. and every day. If you haven't already, please give us both a follow on X and we can follow along together for this three game series and talk smack and laugh when our players make mistakes

and when Debra strikes out 12 times in a row. We can laugh at that. Hopefully he's off that train now. We can laugh when Yvonne Herrera throws it in the center field three times when you guys are stealing. It's going to be great. It's all good. We're here to have fun and enjoy the game of baseball that we like and love so much. Make sure you guys like and subscribe to our shows on YouTube and wherever you listen to your podcast. Everybody enjoy the series. We'll see you next time on the locked on podcast network.