Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - Cardinals Crumble In Series Finale Against Oakland

Episode Date: April 18, 2024

Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! Policygenius Check life insurance off your to do list in no time with Policygenius. Head to policygenius.com/lockedonmlb to get your free life insurance quotes and see how much you could save. Monopoly GO! Get in the game and join your friends. Download MONOPOLY GO! now free on The App Store or Google Play. Yahoo Finance For comprehensive financial news and analysis, visit the brand behind every great investor, YahooFinance.com. PrizePicks Go to PrizePicks.com/lockedonmlb and use code lockedonmlb for a first deposit match up to $100! eBay Motors From brakes to exhaust kits and beyond, eBay Motors has over 122 million parts to keep your ride-or-die alive. With all the parts you need at the prices you want, it’s easy to bring home that big win. Keep your ride-or-die alive at EbayMotors.com. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Gametime Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONMLB for $20 off your first purchase. FanDuel FanDuel, America’s Number One Sportsbook. Right now, NEW customers get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS with any winning GUARENTEED That’s A HUNDRED AND FIFTY BUCKS – win or lose! Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON to get started. 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.

The St. Louis Cardinals win the series in Oakland, but unable to pull off the sweep as the offense stalls again. 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. Haffordan, and I'm a national radio sports anchor born and raised in the Lou and a lifetime Cardinals fan. And I'm your host for Locked-on Cardinals, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network covering your team every day. You can follow me on Twitter, Axe at Jdysports Radio. You can follow the podcast at Lolo underscore Cardinals. I want to thank those of you who make Lockedong Cardinals,

your first listen every day. We're free and available wherever you get your podcast, and you can find us on YouTube. Come on by, like, subscribe, comment, interact with us, hit the notification button so you know when new episodes are posted. This is a show serving Cardal Nation and giving the best fans of baseball.

All of the info about the birds on the bat. Today's episode brought to you by Fandul. Make every moment more. Right now new customers get $150. in bonus bets guaranteed. That's $150. Win or lose, visit fandal.com slash locked on to get started.

So sorry this took a little while to get out after the game wrapped up earlier today. I'm going to show on YouTube. You can see my hand right now. I've been doing some painting today. I'm not trying to flip you off. I'm just showing you my fingers, but I have been doing some painting,

which, by the way, sucks. I am not a fan of painting. I don't want to do that anymore. I would rather be watching baseball games uninterrupted throughout the day. But I had to get that done first. So thanks for waiting on me. The Cardinals do things weren't going to be easy against the A's today, against their starter, specifically in Paul Blackburn,

who had yet to give up a run yet this season coming into today's game. But lo and behold, after falling behind 2-0 on another home run, this time by Esté Ruiz. I thought it was Estuary Ruiz is how he pronounced it. Esté Uri Ruiz is how it's pronounced. That's complicated, man. I just want to call him Esty Ruiz. Anyway, smoked one in the bottom of the third over the left center field,

while his second dinger of the series. The Cardinals fought back, took a three to two lead in the top of the fourth inning, which was great to see because we remember last year they would fall behind, no fight whatsoever and they would lose. Well, not in this one. Not so far here in 2024. they've been able to come from behind in a few games. You get a lead off single by Newpar.

Aronado gets a single, went opposite field for his hit, which was really nice to see. You know when he's locked in when he started to yanking him, you know, because he pulls everything almost all the time. Like, always been a pull hitter. And he's starting to rifle things down the left field line. He's pulling with authority,

but they were pitching him away, just took it to the opposite field. So Nolan, he's getting locked in, which is great to see. But that makes it first and third. There's nobody out. Wilson Contreras comes up. he's been one of the Cardinals best hitter so far this season.

He muscles one, got in on him a little bit, but he's able to muscle it in the left field, down the line. It scores new. It makes it second and third. Nobody out. And you got a huge spot here, a huge spot for Nolan Gorman. And I know you're probably tired of hearing me say this over and over and over. But in this situation, all Nolan Gorman really needs to do is put the ball in play.

That's all he's got to do. Just put the ball in friggin' play. A strikeout in this situation. Unacceptable. You just can't have it. And on cue, Gorman goes down swinging. Again, he's done it a lot this year. We'll get to more of that a little bit later.

But now there's one down. Okay. It's not like the inning's over. Still second and third. And luckily, Yvonne Herrera is a really good teammate. He picks up his teammate Nolan, which is what teammates do. So Yvonne Herrera, big props there, two runs single up the middle, gives the Cardos that three to two lead. Mason Wynn would walk next.

He had a couple of really nice at bats today where he took walks. He's so much more patient at the play, not trying to just do everything like he was last year when he first came up as a rookie. He was just getting used to the league. Now he's starting to pick up on some things and you've seen him be able to take a few walks here and there. Maybe it's time to move him up in the lineup. What do you say, Ali? Anyway, he takes a walk, but Michael Ciani grounds out to end the end. inning. Cards have a lead though. Great job to fight back against a tough pitcher in Paul Blackburn,

who again had been lights out until today's game. Throwing as well as anyone in baseball. So a great job on getting the lead to come from behind down two to nothing against a very tough pitcher. But, but what's the score? Three to two. There's that number again. The number three, for whatever reason, the Cardinals have been stuck on that number a lot this year. a lot. And with five innings still to go, though, in this game today, odds were they were going to move past it, right? Real question was, would they be able to do that? And it just kind of felt like they were going to have to, right? Just kind of the way things, the vibe of the game felt like you were going to have to score a lot more runs if you were going to win this one. It didn't

seem like it was going to be one of those pitchers duels after that inning wrapped up. So now I think you and I could agree that we were. hoping they didn't need to get more than three runs. That would be great if Stephen Matt's in the bullpen could hold the Oakland days to less than three ones, three runs for three straight games. That would be awesome. But not on this day. Not on this day. Wasn't it going to be enough. Matt's got into some trouble in the bottom half of the inning Oakland had first and third and nobody out. This was a great job by Stephen Matt's. Nick Allen comes up to the play and he tries to bunt for whatever reason. I don't know if he was trying to sneak one

pass the Cardinals defense. I don't understand why you would want to move the runner over from first to second with a guy on third. I don't know what was going on there, but he tries to punt and he pops it up into foul territory, first base side. Goldie makes a nice running catch there. Great hustle. Look good on it. Thank you very much, Oakley. Appreciate that one out. Next hitter, Matt's punches out looking and then Ruiz lines out to right field. And somehow Matt's pitches his way out of some serious trouble in this inning. A hell of a job done by Matt's there and thank you to the A's once again for a crappy bunk attempt. So now you got the momentum, right?

Like everything is in the Cardinals favor. They scored the three runs. They took the lead. They almost gave it right back. But Matt's is able to pitch out of it. Huge escape. Time to pile on, right? This is the perfect situation for the Cardinals' offense to start clicking and just pile

it on and run away with this game. But the Cardinals can't get anything in the fifth inning. And then in the bottom of the half, the A's jump all over Stephen Mats. Whatever it was, missing his spots, whatever it was, three straight hits to start the inning. Single, single, single, double. Game is tied at three.

Ground out, gives them a four to three lead. Sack fly to left field makes it five to three. And all of a sudden you're looking at you're like, what, who, what? Now we're in a hole. Now we're in a two-run hole. Top of the sixth inning, the Cardinals miss out on a major opportunity to score

and cut it to a one-run lead. this is our bozo play of the game. Contreras leads off with another double because he's awesome. Gorman puts it in play this time. Thank you, Nolan Gorman, grounds it over to second base and moves Wilson Contreras over to third base. Great job. Okay, I applaud that because at least you did something productive there. By putting it in play, you move the runner over, and that's good baseball. And then Yvonne Herrera comes up again, and he grounds one into the hole between shortstop and third base. It's fielded by the shortstop, so it was enough.

you know, over to the shortstop side of things where the third baseman wasn't going to get to it. Contreras should be scoring, right? And for whatever reason, Contreras freezes on the play. And he doesn't run home. He stays at third base. Brain fart, I guess, is what it is, but it's a costly one because that would have cut the lead to one. And mentally, it would have gotten the Cardinals, over this hump that is scoring only three runs in a game.

That magic number three that seems to be their ceiling for runs scored for most games so far this season. It's really, really weird. Mason Wend ends up walking again, making a first and third with two outs. A's go to the left-hander in the bullpen former Cardinal T.J. McFarland to face Siani. So Ali counters with Jordan Walker, who grounds out to third base innings over. And that was really it. There was nothing else offensively really to talk about in this game. The Cardinals never threatened the rest of the way.

The A's added on another run in the sixth inning when they got a lead off single. And with one out, they were, the Cardinals tried to turn a double play. Gorman unable to turn two. He drops the exchange, which happens. He's trying to get rid of it quick. It happens. So far this season, we're not going to complain about double play balls and defense, really, on the end field because they've been pretty freaking awesome. So it happens from time of time.

You try to be quick, ball slips out of the hand. They get the out at second, but the lead man's safe at first base. And it just so happens to be that Ruiz sucker again. And one of the best stolen base guys in the league last year. And he steals second base right away. Cardinals have been terrible at throwing out runners all year. Still only have one caught stealing so far on the season, which is mind-blowing, considering how many years we had Yadi or Molina behind home play where people just did not run in general.

And if they did, Yaddy Gundam more times than not. But that's not happening this year. Guys are running all over the Cardinals. Again, it's either on the pitchers, which it looks like a lot of times they're getting huge jumps against the Cardinals pitchers who have to figure out a better way to hold these guys on. And sometimes not great throws from behind the plate. You know, Herrera not as good behind the plate throwing wise as Wilson Contreras is.

Doesn't have quite the same arm. And they've taken advantage of running on Ivan Herrera so far this year. But his bat, I mean, what are you going to do? You can't really take it out of the lineup the way he's been hitting. But after the Sullen Base, another single drives him in and makes it six to three. And that's how it ended. The Cardinals only had one guy reach base over the final three innings and dropped the finale in Oakland by the score of six to three. So I'm going to have my three takeaways on the game.

And we'll talk about the overall series next on Lockedown Cardinals. Baseball season is officially underway. Don't miss your chance to add your favorite players from the diamond and your prize picks entries, whether it's strikeouts, RBIs, or first- inning runs, take your pick of more or less, and add them to your price-pix entry today. You can get in on the playoff action and went up to 100 times your money on prize picks as you and the world's best players take the game to a new level during basketball's postseason, which is pretty exciting stuff.

Like, you may not be a huge NBA guy, but if you haven't paid attention all year, now's the time to start watching some games with the playing tournaments and the playoffs starting. NBA can be fun then. My favorite aspect of prize picks is just how quick and simple it is. That's what I like in my life. I like simple. And I can make my pick, submit my entries in less than 60 seconds. And then when you win, you get paid real quick too.

It's nice to get your money right away. They don't hold it back from you. Quick withdrawals, easy gameplay, and an enormous selection of players and stat types are what makes prize picks the number one daily fantasy sports app. So download the app today and use the code locked on MLB for a first deposit match up to $100. Don't miss out on your chance to. to cash in on your sports knowledge. Download the app today. Use the code locked on MLB for a first deposit match up to $100. Pick more, pick less. It's that easy with price picks.

Now, I've been told I'm a competitive person. I do have a competitive side to me. I like to win. We all do, don't we? Don't we all kind of want to win in our own different ways? And my competitive side is a big fan of Monopoly Go. If you haven't tried this yet, I'm sure you've heard of it. It's been downloaded over 150 million times. maybe you're one of those people. If you're not, it's a great twist on Monopoly where you play on not one, but hundreds of Monopoly boards in like crazy locations, building up amazing cities and bring you big money, all right? But the best part is really playing with your friends or just kind of messing with your friends throughout the game. I can charge them rent on my iconic

properties, just like classic Monopoly. You know how it is? Somebody lands on yours and you're like, ha ha! Pay up, sucker! But now I can also haise their vaults of riches. for myself and the leaderboard show me who the biggest monopoly tycoon is. But it's not just my competitive side that loves it. You can team up with friends and people all around the world in time tournaments to earn huge reward. So get in the game and join your friends. Download Monopoly Go now free on the app store or Google Play.

Are you watching Fox Sports on ESPN on your TV all day? Have to turn down the volume with all the shouting. Make the switch to locked on sports today. A free 24-7 sports streaming channel program for you. every day to bring you the biggest stories without all the screaming. Locked on sports today brings you can't mess analysis, opinions and news, streaming 24-7 on YouTube or the free Amazon Fire TV channels app. It's part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Thanks for making Lockdown Cardinals your first listen every day. Leave your comments on YouTube

as well as on Twitter X anytime you want. Feedback always welcome and encourage negative and positive. Not scared of you negative Nancy's out there. You can say all the bad stuff you want. Sometimes it's right. Let's talk about today's games. Some takeaways from the 6-3 loss on Wednesday. Scoring three runs. We know the offense is having some issues. Scoring three runs over and over and over and over and over again

is not going to lead to long-term success. If you were watching the games on TV, Bally's threw up the stat on Tuesday night. They did it during today's game as well about the difference in win percentages between a team that scores three runs in a game and a team that scores four runs in a game. And this is going back to 2022. So in scoring three runs, teams are 530 and 936.

That's our record. That's a 362 win percentage. Now, when a team scores four runs, they are 685 and 595 winning percentage of 535. I'm not great at math, but even I can tell that one of those is bad and one of those not great but is good at 535. It's that simple. You got to score more runs. That's really what's holding this Cardinals team back from having a better record.

The Cardinals were two for 10 with runners in scoring position today, and they struck out 12 times. I whine about putting the ball in play a lot because it drives me nuts. The strikeouts drive me nuts. Up a wall, whatever term you want to use, I can't stand them. And it's for good reason because the team continues. to not only strike out a ton, but they do it at inopportune times, which brings me to takeaway number two, Nolan Gorman, over four today, two more strikeouts.

He's now hitting 191 with a team leading 26 strikeouts, those 26 strikeouts, the seventh highest amount in Major League Baseball. His empty bat that he took when it was second and third and nobody out was awful. It was horrible. those are things that just cannot happen. You cannot strike out in that situation. You got to do whatever it takes to put the bat on the ball and get that sucker in play.

You've got to do it. I know he's a streaky hitter, and I've backed him up for the better part of the last year and a half, two years that he's been up on the Cardinals roster because his power is massive. His upside is massive. So I'm hoping things will pick up. up soon for him because the cardinals need him because they continue to bat him in the middle of the

order, which is where he belongs. But right now he is killing them by striking out as much as he is, especially in tough situations. How about something positive? Takeaway number three, Wilson Contreras, two more doubles today to extend his hitting streak to 11 in a row is on base streak is now 23 games in a row. Yes, he had the base running blunder, but the dude has been raking again. After a monster second half, last year. And his batting average is now up to 300. And I think maybe, just maybe, if we're going to shuffle around the batting lineup a little bit, maybe it's time to put Wilson and Paul Goldschmidt's spot and move Goldie down a little bit. Just a suggestion, I doubt it

happens because Ollie doesn't like to give up on the veterans. He doesn't like to move them out of spots and be like, okay, well, you're struggling. So we're going to scoot you down. He just Doesn't seem to be somebody who wants to do that, but a shuffling of Wilson Contreras, getting him more at bats in that number two hole the way he's swinging it right now. Maybe not such a bad idea. As far as the series goes, you got to love what you saw from Sunny Gray and Lance Lynn, your starters in games one and two. That was fun, right?

Combine, they throw 13 innings. They allowed just two runs. Only one of those was earned. the one solo shot hit off Lance Lynn. And they both went deep into games. We're not going to say innings eater anymore, by the way. We are now using the phrase innings gobbler. That's going to be my phrase now.

So if somebody else steals it from me, you pointed out that they stole it, okay? But that's exactly what the Cardinals are looking for from this veteran starting rotation. This is what they're supposed to be doing. All right? I know Lyndon strike out a lot of guys on Tuesday night, but he didn't need to. He took advantage of that cavernous stadium that is. is the Oakland Coliseum and just had the A's flying out. One of them got over the wall.

So, but this is what the starting rotation is all about. Six innings, that is the goal every single time they take the ball. And Sunny Gray and Lance Lynn were able to do that. The bullpen, things went according to plan in those first two games as well as far as how the blueprint for the bullpen was supposed to be. Kittred, Romero, and Housley. they give up one run and three innings on Monday, the solo shot against Romero.

Romero and Halsley come out on Tuesday night, two shut out innings. And then today, despite losing the game, just one run over three innings between Ryan Fernandez, who has kind of been the go-to guy when the Cardals are losing. It's been him, and it's been, who else do they keep bringing it?

But Ryan Fernandez has been the main guy that they're like, yeah, let's bring him up. You know, we're down a couple runs. This is where he can, you know, gobble up some innings. Ryan Fernandez, though, Matthew Libertor, back from his illness, came in today. Looked pretty good and then, you know, started to wear down a little bit. Probably didn't want to push him too much because he was feeling sick over the last week.

Then you got Giovanni Gallegos, eight innings, two runs, one solo home run off the Romero, as I mentioned. And then one run today against Fernandez. That's it. Two runs and eight innings against your bullpen. You will take that. You will take that. The A's did end up hitting home runs in every game against the Cardinals, and the staff has now given up 23 long flies on the year,

which is the fifth highest total in the league. I know there hasn't been a ton to complain about when it comes to the pitching staff. Sure, there's been a game or two here and there. We're like, oh, my gosh, Gibson just got shelled or whatever. But the home runs is really the only thing where I'm like, this is still a problem. This right here is it's still a problem. So I just want to point it out, It's not a huge complaint.

I'm just pointing it out to you. The Cardinals scored three runs in all three games, and have scored three runs are less in 10 of their last 11 games and are four and six in those 10 games that they only score three runs. Through the stats up to you just a little bit ago. Got to be more than that. You got to get to four and hopefully more than that. Brought up Gorman and his struggles earlier,

but he's not alone. Paul Goldschmidt continued his ice cold start. He's now hitting just 182. How about the Cardinals center field position? And I know, I don't want to laugh, but at the same time, like, wait till you hear this. So the Cardinal's center field position, if you've watched and paid a tent, you know, it's like a black hole for offense right now. Michael Ciani gets the start in center field for the second consecutive game goes O for two.

He's one for 15 a year. It is batting 67. We know Victor Scott the second has struggled. So he and Victor Scott the second are a combined five for 62, which is an 81 batting average. that's what we're getting out of center field right now. And it's not like they're getting on base in other ways, because that would be a different story. If they were taking walks and getting on base that way, that'd be great.

But no, they have a combined three walks and have struck out 20 times. And the combined performance, and it's not just the center fielder's, nobody's hitting in the outfield, really. I know Newport just got back, but all of the team's outfielder's are 34 of 1.4 of 1.4 of 191 this year. That's a 178 batting average for the entire outfield. Like Walker and Burleson and Ciani and Victor and Donovan when he's hitting, when he's an outfielder, they're like 178. It's brutal. It's brutal. And I realize that Oakland isn't a very good team, although they aren't as pathetic as the Chicago White Sox have been. Have you seen their lineup, by the way, oh my gosh.

But the A's aren't, they're not a team that's expected to win a whole lot of games this year. Okay, we understand that. So not being able to complete the sweep, it's a bit annoying. You know, you want to, you want to beat the bad teams. You got to take advantage of that because when you play the good teams, you know wins are going to be tough to come by. But on the positive side, I don't want to be too negative. Cardinals did win the series.

They took two of three. We should be pretty happy about that. Right. We can agree on that, right? Two of three is good. If you take two of three against every team the rest of the year, you're probably going to be in playoffs. All right. So the loss, though, does drop them back under the 500 mark. They're now nine and ten. And are three games back in the division behind the Milwaukee Brewers, who despite losing their two top pitchers, still really good. Wilson Contreras, his brother, he's tearing it up for him. Christian Yalich has been a lot better, although he's starting to deal with some back issues. again, but he was very good to start the year. So Brewers are coming to town for a three-game series that begins on Friday at Bush Stadium. First time the Cardinals actually get to play somebody in the division so far. We are going to be on April the 19th. We are 19 games into the season and haven't faced a division opponent yet.

Scheduling has been dumb, at least for the Cardinals. I don't know what the rest of the leagues had to deal with. But as far as the Cardinals have concerned, I think that's really, ridiculous that it's taken this long. But it's going to be a big weekend at Bush Stadium. Cardinals need to be ready to roll. Will the Cardinals be getting any of their injured guys back soon to help out with this struggling offense? We'll give you the updates next on Locked on Cardinals.

It's playoff time in the NBA and NHL. Baseball's in full swing. And Fandall is your place to bet on every game right now. New customers get $150 in bonus bets. Guarantee. That's $150. Win or lose. You can bet on everything from the slug.

lap shots to the home runs to the slam ducks all in an app that is safe, it's secure, it's easy to use. You know, it's a bummer that the Blues were not able to make Stanley Cup playoffs again this year. But I don't know about you. I still like watching the Stanley Cup playoffs because it's just arguably the greatest playoff of any sport. Like I know NFL games, you know, it's won and done.

And that's, you know, that's obviously a big deal. but, you know, a seven-game series, like it's just such a grind. I mean, you saw it when the Blues didn't make the playoffs back when they won the cup. How big of a grind that was, but how much fun that was to watch. And I know you don't have our team in there to root for it. But at the same time, you can still bet on games. You can still do that. So what are you waiting for?

Visit fandole.com slash Locked on. Make your first bet an automatic win. Fandul, America's number one sports book. Locked on has launched the first ever national sports 24-7 streaming channel on YouTube. It's now also available on Amazon Fire TV in the free fire TV channels app. Lockdown Sports Today is here for you 24-7 covering the top sports stories of the day with the local experts of locked on plus our national shows covering every league. Find Locked on Sports today now available on the free fire TV channels app. So injury updates. Let's start since we're not getting anything

offensively from the center field position. Let's start with the centerfielders that are hurt because as great as they have been defensively, little to no offense so far from anybody in center field. So Siani, Victor Scott the second. I love the gloves. Don't get me wrong. Don't get me wrong. I understand why they're still out there and stuff,

but you just hope for a little something. But Tommy Edmund was one of those guys that gives you a little bit of everything, right? He gave you the defense. He gave you the speed. He gives you the offense as well. It was supposed to be our starter. He continues to progress, though.

So no setbacks. He has yet to full. go through baseball activities after undergoing wrist surgery last October, per manager, Oliver Marmel. I don't know why is that Oliver, Ali Marmal. Call him Oliver, his parents. Anyway, Edmund will be allowed to swing at balls on a T from both the right side and the left side of the plate. Now, according to the Cardl's website, they have late May as a return date, which seems a little optimistic to me, but we'll see.

We'll see. Maybe things will go quicker for Tommy here in the near future. Dylan Carlson, who unfortunately spraying that AC joint his left shoulder on March 25th. Where would the Cardinals be if they had the way Carlson was swinging the bat in spring training over the last week or two if he was in the lineup every day? Would they be 9 and 10?

Probably not. So that was a huge blow when he got hurt. March 25th, he has resumed swinging for the first time in three weeks. He's hitting off a T. Just did that on Monday with the goal of progressing. to soft toss later in the week. According to Ali, once he's progressed enough, he will start throwing a baseball again

and taking batting practice off a pitching machine. And then in the bullpen, another guy we were excited about and he got hurt in spring training. Keena Middleton began playing catch on Sunday. And that's the first step in his throwing program. He had initially been slated to begin a throwing program on April 3rd, but he received a PRP injection in his forearm that was on April 6th and had to go 72 hours without activity and a week without throwing before being reevaluated.

So they got them taking baby steps. It would be nice to have him out there in the pen sooner rather than later. Although, as I mentioned earlier, the bullpen isn't something that there's a whole lot to complain about right now. You know, it's not like they're blowing leads and screwing games up like last year. I mean, pitching staff lies, things have gone according to plan. it's just got to get this offense going. And I don't know what it's going to take. I don't know how you get Goldschmidt and you get Walker and you get Gorman to break out.

And you keep seeing like people, you know, fire the hitting coach, you know, get them out of here. Turn a ward. But he's coaching all of them. So there are guys that are hitting in the lineup, you know, Arnato has come around. Contreras is hitting fine. Herrera is hitting fine. Mason Wynn is hitting fine. So what is the difference between the message they're getting and what the other guys are getting from the same hitting coach? So when you say fire the hitting coach, like you got to look at it. You can't just blame him for the guys who aren't hitting and then don't give him credit for the guys who are hitting.

Like you can't do that. It's just they got to go execute. You know, he can't go up. I keep saying. it, he can't go up there and swing the bat for you. But it seems to be working for some people and just not others right now. And that's, you know, that's baseball. Before we wrap it up today, I just want to say a big thank you to Cardinals Hall of Fame manager, Whitey Herzog, you know, thoughts and prayers going out to his family and friends. You know, Whitey passed away at the age of 92. And I just want to, I just want to say it out loud. I just want to say thank you for all the great memories and all the laughs that he gave myself and fans over the years.

As a kid growing up, a little kid in the 80s there, the first manager I remember was Whitey Herzog. The first one that I actually paid attention to was Whitey Herzog. Those 80s teams were so much fun to watch. My dad and I and my mom, we would go to games, but I remember specifically going to games with my father, sitting out in the bleachers and watching these teams. play and you know you would just you would just marvel at the speed and the defense and the pitching that those whitey herzog led teams had and it's a brand of baseball that disappeared for a while

and then it kind of came back you know you saw those those kansas city royals teams the one that won the world series most recently they could have brought that back like it wasn't a big power hitting team it was all about speed and pitching and defense and it's a brand of baseball that that I certainly miss. I think it's still a brand of baseball that can win today. You've seen the Cardinals in some of these games. They're not putting up a lot of runs, but they're doing all the small things right.

They're getting the pitching and they're playing a lot better defense. You know, we're not seeing a lot of stolen bases because the guys who can steal a lot of bases can't seem to get on base. But, you know, I know a lot of fans feel the same way I do, that that was like their most fun Cardinals teams that they remember. If you weren't alive when those games were going on, and those teams are playing, go on to YouTube and look up some of the old 1980s Cardinals footage. And there's a bunch of different, like just random games are on there.

You can go back and look at some of the World Series games against the Royals and the Twins and, of course, the Brewers in 82 when they won, and just see how they played the game and how much fun it was to watch. And Whitey was the leader there, you know, he was just an awesome guy, had a great sense of humor. and it's going to be odd not to have him around the ballpark. I'm glad he got to make it to opening day this year before passing away. But, you know, it's going to be weird for him not to be around, just like it's been weird to not have Mike Shannon and Tim McCarver and Bob Gibson and Lou Brock and all these greats that have passed away recently.

A lot of great ones, a lot of great ones have moved on. But I'll tell you what, they will not be forgotten. So thank you, Whitey Herzog. And thank you. for making Lockton Cardinals your first listen every day. If you haven't already, give us a follow on Twitter, Twitter, X, at LO underscore Cardinals, and at JD Sports Radio, like and subscribe on YouTube,

help our channel and our love for the Cardinals grow. You guys are the best fans in baseball for a reason, and I will see you next time on Lockdown Cardinals.