Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - Cardinals' Resilience SHINES in Crucial Comeback Win | Ryan Helsley's Struggles In New York

Starting point is 00:00:00 It wasn't a pretty win over the Colorado Rockies, but it certainly felt like an important one. I'll explain why beating the Rockies on Monday was such a big deal on today's episode of Locked on Cardinals. You are Locked on Cardinals, your daily St. Louis Cardinals podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Hey there, Carlis fans. I'm J.D. Haffern and I'm your host for Lockdown Cardinals, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network covering your team every day. You can follow me on X to Jaddy Sports Radio, the podcast on X at L0 underscore Cardinals. We're on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram at Lockdown Cardinals. This is a show serving Cardinal Nation and giving the best fans in baseball, all of the info about the birds on the bat.

Starting point is 00:00:48 Today's episode brought to you by Fandul. Football season is around the corner. So visit the Fandual app today and start planning your futures bets. Now, the St. Louis Cardinals have been an afterthought when it comes to the playoffs since the second half the season began. Really, you had that horrendous one in five start out of the gate against the diamond bags and then the Rockies, which prompted the front office to say, all right, we're definitely going to trade away our bullpen assets, all right?

Starting point is 00:01:18 A move that I completely agreed with and still agree with. These were guys who, you know, they're going to become free agents and if they want to come back in the offseason, so be it. But you hadn't gotten too far with them so far this season. and you were able to acquire some pieces that hopefully will help you in the future. We are going to talk about these guys here in a little bit. Not the guys in the Cardinals organization, but what have the guys that the Cardinals traded away? What have they done so far since leaving St. Louis?

Starting point is 00:01:47 We'll do that in segment two, so stick around for that. But after that, the Cardinals then split with the Padres. They win the first two, lose the next two to San Diego, which was a bummer. Then they lost two of three to the Marlins, who were playing very well at the time. but the writing was on the wall, right? Like, it's probably not going to happen this year when it comes to going to the playoffs, right? I don't think anybody felt bad for thinking that way. But the calendar flips to August.

Starting point is 00:02:18 And that's the thing is when you have the trade deadline, there's still a lot of time left in the season. You know, it's not, what happens at the deadline is not the be all end all for the end of the season. You've still got two months to go in August. in September before things are all set and done. So the calendar flips to August and you're staring at a gauntlet of the Padres, Dodgers, and Cubs. And these are three teams that were three of the best records in not only the

Starting point is 00:02:45 National League, but Major League Baseball. Like they have been cream of the crop type of teams. And they drop two of three to San Diego. But then you win two of three against the Dodgers. And then you win two of three against the Cubs. you're four and two against those teams. And because of the struggles of teams like the New York Mets, who have lost seven in a row coming into Tuesday,

Starting point is 00:03:12 the Reds have not been able to take off the way many like myself thought that they would. I thought the acquisitions that they had at the trade deadline were very, very good ones. I thought they were nice pieces to complete a puzzle that they're trying to do there in Cincinnati under the restrictions of their their payroll. And some days they look like it's great. And then other days they fall right back into things. So I thought they would do much better after those moves. And so far, it just hasn't happened for them.

Starting point is 00:03:45 And you look around and all of a sudden, the Cardinals haven't lost any ground really. They're sitting at three and a half games back going into this series against Colorado. And in the words of the great Lloyd Christmas, so you're telling me there's a chance. And yes, the Cardinals do have a chance because of the failures of these other teams. It's why this series against the Rockies is so important all of a sudden. It's why Monday was so important.

Starting point is 00:04:13 The Cardinals sitting here hovering around the 500 mark. There's nothing special going on with them. But they put together a few winning series and have not fallen out of contention yet because of that in the National League because none of these other teams have taken off. like some people thought they would. And then you got the Mets who were spiraling. So your job as the Cardinals right now is to just take care of business. Take care of your own yard right now. Rockies are the people standing in front of you.

Starting point is 00:04:46 Losing two of three to them in Denver was ridiculous. You just can't do that. But it didn't kill them the way that I thought it was going to. It's obviously a major letdown. You had to trade some pieces. way, but now you get them again. And Monday night, they, they almost blew what was an outstanding start for Miles Michaels. Luckily, they did not. And I give Miles a lot of grief on this show. I know that and deservedly so. He has not been very good in three years. But when he does have good games,

Starting point is 00:05:17 I'm not afraid to acknowledge it. And he did his job at a very high level on Monday. And it sucks that he did not factor into the decision. Five and a third no hit, no hit innings. Yeah, yeah, I'll take that. I don't care what MLB team it is. I don't care that it's the Rockies. Like, I'm not going to knock him for that. That deserves acknowledgement. And even though we left the game trailing two to one,

Starting point is 00:05:44 the guy gave the team a chance to win. And that's really all you can ask for from him. You know, because, you know, Sunny Gray, you're expecting more, right? Matthew Levertoe, you're kind of expecting more. Even Michael McGreevy these days, you're expecting more. Miles Michael is you're just hoping he keeps you in the game. Because really when we see him as the probable starter, we're expecting him to get crushed, right?

Starting point is 00:06:09 Like that's what your expectation is. And then you're pleasantly surprised when he doesn't. Nobody expects him to come out and shut down his opponents like he did on Monday. But he did. And it was unfortunate that the offense couldn't come through while he was actually still in the game to get him the win. But I think if you ask Miles, as long as the team wins, I think he's going to be cool with it.

Starting point is 00:06:29 and thank God they got it done. The good part of the game was the end, obviously. Nolan Gorman, eighth inning, we're talking about Nolan Gorman, who let's not talk about the defense, because we know it is not good over at third base right now. We have been so spoiled with Nolan Aronado, but what Nolan Gorman is doing at third base is not adequate. Like, good is not good.

Starting point is 00:06:49 He's having troubles throwing the ball over there. So maybe we need to see more Thomas to J.C. over there instead. He's in the lineup tonight, by the way, at third base, but they are facing a lefty. But anyway, Gorman, though, any eighth inning, I'm not trying to bash him right now, but he takes that walk, works a walk, great, right?

Starting point is 00:07:08 So, Jacey, bloop knock. And then it's Brendan Donovan coming off the bench with the clutch two-run triple in the eighth inning to give the birds the lead, goes down and gets it and pulls down the right field line. And it was one of those moments that, you know, you've seen over the years when a Cardo's team would go on or run. You know, you have those,

Starting point is 00:07:27 what we call signature wins where you look back and you say, you know, that was a big win right there. And you point to a certain part in a game and you're like, that was huge, right? This was one of those games to me if they're going to continue to hang around and be somewhat of the discussion of this NL wild card. I know they're on the outside looking in. They're a bubble team at best. I don't even want to call them that right now. But that was a big win.

Starting point is 00:07:51 To get a good start from Miles to get the late rally to win and to do it without having to use Joe Joe or Riley O'Brien, who have become your top late inning guys for Ali so far. Kyle Leahy, awesome again. He's been on a heck of a tear lately, giving the team two and the third innings, shutout innings to pick up the win. Garrett Hampson gets in this game and makes a nice catch in the ninth inning, nice sliding catch, scores the tying run as the pinch runner. You know, when Hampson is helping you win, you know you got some good juju going, right?

Starting point is 00:08:21 And I just think it was a huge win for this team, for their just mentality. their well-being for the clubhouse, despite it being against the Colorado Rockies. It was still a come from behind win late in a game. And you're coming off winning two series against two good teams and the Cubs and the Dodgers. And you hate to have a letdown against somebody who's an inferior opponent. All right. If the cardals were in the same spot as the Rockies are, I'd be saying the same thing about them. They're an inferior opponent.

Starting point is 00:08:55 You are supposed to beat the Colorado Rockies. and to be able to do it and come through late like that, I think it's a huge win. Donovan told the media after the game, even though we did sell at the deadline, you still don't lose belief. Because if you lose belief, you have nothing.

Starting point is 00:09:11 One of the things this team has done a good job of is responding. And it was very cool to see that tonight. We said this before the series started. If you don't sweep, in my eyes, it's a failure. And I still think it is. I think they need a sweep here badly. and I hope things continue to head in the right direction. And if they want to keep hanging around in this thing,

Starting point is 00:09:30 you got to take advantage of the schedule when it gives you the Rockies, you know? And you got it in a situation where, you know, the Reds are playing the Phillies right now. Very good team, one of the best teams in baseball. And then they get the Brewers, who are the best team in baseball? So you are able to make some ground here against the Cincinnati Reds.

Starting point is 00:09:51 As I mentioned, the Mets have lost seven straight. I still can't believe it's falling apart like a, it is for them. But they got the Braves right now, which, you know, they're not very good this year, but still it's a, you know, a division opponent. And then they get Seattle who has made major moves at the deadline and look great. So the Cardinals are getting the Rockies. Then you're getting a Yankees team who's been dealing with a lot of issues specifically in their bullpen. So this is the time to take advantage of it. And after the game, Michael is, you know, he talked about how things feel. There are a lot of guys in this locker room, you said, we have tremendous

Starting point is 00:10:24 amounts of fighting them and tons of heart. We're not giving up, no matter what anybody else is throwing our way. As long as we have fun, we're a dangerous team. You know what's fun? Winning. Winning is fun. So keep doing it, boys. Up next, what are the guys that the Cardinals sent away at the trade deadline? I always like to go back and look and see, we'll do the prospects that they got

Starting point is 00:10:44 at some other point when they get their, you know, get their feeding in the organization a little bit. But let's talk about the guys they traded away. One pitcher in particular not having much success so far with his new squad. We'll get into that next coming up on Locked on Cardinals. If you're running a business, you know that every miss call is money left on the table. You know, think about the last time you had a service or emergency like a plumbing issue or maybe something with your air conditioning right now with it being ungodly hot in the Midwest and in St. Louis.

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Starting point is 00:12:27 We're also being brought to you by Fandall today, August 26th is officially Fandall Futures Day. It's a brand new holiday for football fans who live for bold predictions and preseason hunches for just 24 hours. Fandle will give you deals on NFL season predictions. So whether you're calling your MVP, whether you're hiring a long shot division winner, or maybe you're ready to say who's going to win the Super Bowl already before week one even kicks off. This is your moment to shine. So take a flyer on, say, the MVP race, which is something that I'm always interested in. Josh Allen, your defending winner from last year.

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Starting point is 00:13:43 Why not? Crown your champion. It's fine. Visit the Fandul app today and start planning your futures bets now because Futures Day is one day and one day only. Fandle play your game. Thanks for making Lock on Cardinals your first listen every day. leave your comments on YouTube as well as on accent TikTok anytime you want your feedback always welcome and encourage make sure you guys give us a follow on those social medias man we appreciate that uh let's start with uh you know i mean we're not even going to start we're just going to go into it the guys that got traded away all right the guys that got traded away we're very familiar with them like i said we'll do the prospects the cardals brought in a little bit later on down the road when uh they get some more games under their belt but ryan hellsley phil mayton and stephen mats those were the three

Starting point is 00:14:32 names that got shipped out all solid pieces to what had been a pretty formidable bullpen for the Cardinal so far this year. Now they're in New York, Texas, and Boston. The headliner of all the trades was Ryan Halsley, reigning NL reliever of the year. He was the guy most people wanted to get their hands on ahead of Phil Maeton and Stephen Matt's. And he ended up going to the New York Mets. I just talked about how they have not played very well. And Hells Bells has been in the middle of this. It is a not gone well for Ryan Helsley so far in the back apple. He is not their closer. Medwin Diaz is still the closer there. So it's a different role for Helsley. And, you know,

Starting point is 00:15:13 seven in a row they've lost. And Helsley has been right there in five of the games already for the Mets. A lot of the same issues that Ryan Helsley was dealing with while he was wearing a Cardinals uniform has followed him to New York and predictably followed him. to New York. I don't know why we thought anything would change. Too many guys on base. Too many guys on base for Ryan Helsley this year of the five appearances that he's made since going to New York. Only one. Only one of those appearances has he gotten through it with a clean inning without a runner being on base. One. Gave up two hits. Struck out three as first. Strikeouts have been there, though, granted. Gave up two hits, struck out three in his first

Starting point is 00:15:59 outing gave up 200 runs and extra innings without allowing a hit in his second one had to intentionally walk a batter in that one. It started with a runner on second base. It's not easy for anybody in extra innings game. So really not too upset with him about that, I'm sure. But that didn't work out. It ends up taking the loss in that game. So there's the first really bad appearance. Third appearance was a clean one. Three batters, two strikeouts, no base runners. Good for you, Ryan Halsley. But then he gets to Milwaukee. Of course. The Milwaukee Brewers are the best team in baseball right now, you know, and they do really, really good. And they've seen Ryan Helsley a lot through the years.

Starting point is 00:16:37 He gives up two runs on two hits, including a home run on eight pitches in his first appearance against the Milwaukee Brewers. Last only a third of an inning. So that's really bad. Then it is last appearance. It was one run on two hits, one walk, one K, and just two thirds of an inning. Had to throw 24 pitches to get through all of that, takes the blown save, his sixth. of the season. All in all, Ryan Housley has given the New York Mets five games, four innings, has given up five runs, three of them earned because of the extra inning stuff,

Starting point is 00:17:08 uh, on six hits, one home run, two walks, six strikeouts. ERA is at six point seven to five. He's got a whip of two ERA plus of just 64. Remember 100 is league average. He's got a loss. He's got one blown save, but he has no actual saves or holds so far since donning a New York Mets uniform. And the Mets have lost every single game he has appeared in. Again, they've lost seven in a row. Not all of it is on Ryan Helsley, but I'm sure there's some blame being kicked around in that locker room and saying that, okay, this guy kind of sucks, which is probably

Starting point is 00:17:46 what they're thinking. You know, New York's a little bit more aggressive than the way we treat and think about our players here in St. Louis, whether that's a good or bad thing. I don't know. Sometimes we catch hell. for being a little too nice to some of the players who deserve a little more scrutiny. But Heelsley has not been good. He just hasn't.

Starting point is 00:18:07 I kind of figured it would happen that way. I didn't think it was going to be a great fit for him in New York. It doesn't feel like the New York lifestyle is something that Ryan Housley is probably all that keen on. He seems like a Midwest guy, you know. So it doesn't surprise me that he has struggled so far. Let's stay in the Northeast. Stephen Matt's in Boston. He's made three appearances thus far.

Starting point is 00:18:29 appearing in the sixth, seventh, and fifth innings, three and two-thirds innings pitch, no runs, when hit, two walks, three strikeouts. Not bad, not bad, right? Needless to say, it's going better for Stephen Matts in the Northeast than it has for our boy, Ryan Helsley. Then you got Phil Mayton. Now, Phil Mayton, we know very, very good. He's had an excellent season, was having a great year with the Cardinals so far, and ended up going to the Texas Rangers, and they've enjoyed this. He's been very good. Five appears. so far for the Rangers five innings one run two hits one walk four strikeouts he's got to hold he's got to save and he's got to win already under his belt with the Rangers they got to be quite happy

Starting point is 00:19:10 with their acquisition of Phil Mayton so all in all two out of three doing well you feel for Ryan Helsley you do as a person because we like Ryan Helsley he's a great guy we loved him in St. Louis but the writing was on the wall that things are going in the wrong direction for Ryan Housley. It was doing it in St. Louis, although he, you know, 20, 20 plus saves with the Cardinals. Some of those saves, we were like, oh, my gosh, I can't watch. Why is it so difficult all the time? Still has outstanding velocity on the four-scene fastball.

Starting point is 00:19:50 Saw that he hit 103.8 on the gun when he was in Milwaukee in that game on Saturday. The problem is, is that it's straight. And when it's straight, guys are eventually going to time it up and hit it. They've been clobbering his fastball all year. All he's got is the fastball on the slider right now. He's got to get something else to get these guys off the barrel. That's whether he's throwing, needs to throw a cutter more. I would love to see a split finger for Ryan Heldley.

Starting point is 00:20:20 I think that would be a great pitch. But these guys are going to end up hitting it. And the sad thing is, is now with the Cardinals, Sorry, there is a, another Nat is in here. I just had to hit, if you're not watching on YouTube, I just had to hit the microphone with a fly swatter because they just keep coming in. There's like a crack in my door. They keep coming in and I tried to fill it up today.

Starting point is 00:20:43 But anyway, as far as Healsley goes, now you're kind of rooting against him because now with the Cardinals trying to chase down the Mets and the Reds, sadly, you kind of hope his struggles continue so the Cardinals can keep catching up. You hate to see it because you like the guy. But at the same time, sports, man, we want to win. We're going to preview tonight's game, a game that I think the Cardinals should win as well. That's coming up next on Locked on Cardinals.

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Starting point is 00:23:06 on Frisch tonight. Hopefully talking about another win for the Cardinals. After this big win on Monday, now you get the lefties from Colorado. You're going to see Kyle Freeland tonight. Former Cardinal Austin Gomber supposed to pitch game three. But tonight's starter, Freeland going up against our lefty, Matthew Libertor, Freeland, 2 and 12 on the year, splits between Coors Field and the road. They're real. Coors, he's one in five. He's got a 6.5-2 ERA, and opponents are hitting 314 against him. On the road, he's one in seven, the ERA, more respectable, 4.75. and opponents are hitting 2.75 against them. The key to this is getting as many right handers into the lineup as you can.

Starting point is 00:23:43 Ritees are hitting 317 against them this season. So get them all in there if you can. The lineup actually already got released. And I know we've got a lot of a lot of the Ritey's are in there. Donnie is back in the lineup, which is great to see. Batting lead off. He's going to be playing second base. Pozo is behind the dish tonight.

Starting point is 00:24:03 Walker is back in right field. So J. he's going to be over at third base. Newt's X-rays negative after the game last night. So that's good after he hit that foul ball off his knee, not in the lineup tonight, which is fine because we need the righties. So I'm looking forward to seeing Mason winning company and Contreras and Yvonne Herrera. They got to do some damage tonight.

Starting point is 00:24:27 They have to own this game for the Cardinals to pull out this W. Libertor has not won a game since June 29th. He's made five starts. He's o' and three, the area over five. None of that is good. And it doesn't get much better. He's not going deep into games at all. The strikeouts are falling off big time.

Starting point is 00:24:42 He has just one in his last two outings. The amount of enemies he's thrown as a whole this season might have finally taken the toll and he might be hitting that wall that sends to happen to guys who aren't used to throwing as much. You know, he's been a reliever. He has a bit of starter over the year. So we'll see if he can at least be more efficient tonight. Hopefully he can get the guys at least five. innings, but he has not reached that mark since July 5th.

Starting point is 00:25:06 So it's another good reason that the bullpen didn't get taxed last night. Only needed to use Cal Leahy, thanks to Michaelis's good start. And Leahy being so good and covering the rest of the game. So I know it's cliche, but you got to do one game at a time if you're the Cardinals right now. You take care of the team that's in front of you right now. That is not a very good team. That is the Colorado Rockies. You came back.

Starting point is 00:25:27 You crumbled their spirits last night by coming back and defeating them near the end of the game. Hopefully that lingers. over into today's game, a bit of a hangover, if you will. Shouldn't be scoreboard watching right now. I know you're going to hear Chip and the guys on the telecast talking about, hey, you know, the Reds are in the Phillies and that's fine. We can do that as a team. I don't want them doing that yet.

Starting point is 00:25:49 Just take care of the business in front of you. Just do that. Focus on them, all right? Guys in black and purple and gray, that's who I want you paying attention to. Don't worry about everything else. Just go out, continue to give the effort that you have given us over the last seven games where the Cardinals are five and two. You continue to do that.

Starting point is 00:26:08 You should be able to beat the Colorado Rockies. Right handers. Let's get swinging the night. Thanks for making Lockedonged Cardinals. Your first listen every day if you haven't already. Give us a follow on X at L1 underscore Cardinals at a JD Sports Radio, TikTok and Instagram and Lockedong Cardinals. Like subscribe on YouTube.

Starting point is 00:26:26 You guys are the best fans in baseball for a reason. Hopefully the weather will be cool for tonight's game. I know they already, I saw where they were already pulling the tarp on the field because I had some rain at Bush Stadium already. So hopefully we get this one. And let's get another one. Let's get another dope. Why not? You're the best fans in baseball for a reason.

Starting point is 00:26:45 We'll see you next time. I'll lock up cartels.

Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - Cardinals' Resilience SHINES in Crucial Comeback Win | Ryan Helsley's Struggles In New York

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