Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - Cardinals Top Pitching Prospect Sent Down

Episode Date: March 3, 2025

- Roster Cuts - Quinn Mathews - Nolan Gorman - Masyn Winn - Luken Baker - Position Battles - Veteran Pitchers Struggle - Miles Mikolas - Steven Matz Thomas Gauvain's New Blog https://redbirdrants.com/9-players-who-played-their-entire-mlb-careers-with-the-st-louis-cardinalsFollow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms… 🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOSTLCardinals?sid=YouTube Locked On MLB League-Wide: Every Team, Prospects & More 🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnMLB 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. FanDuel Right now, new FanDuel customers can get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in Bonus Bets if 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.

The St. Louis Cardinals have made their first round of cuts, so to speak, with one very notable player getting sent to minor league cap. We'll talk about it today on Locked on Cardinals. You are Locked on Cardinals. Your daily St. Louis Cardinals podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Hey there, Cardinals. I'm J.D. Hapford, and I'm your host for Lockdown Cardinals, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network covering your team every day. You can follow me on Axe at JD Sports Radio. You can also follow the podcast at L0 underscore Cardinals.

We're on YouTube. Make sure you hit that like, subscribe, and comment when you're there. Hit that notification button to. Somebody buttons for you to press. But trust me, they help us out. And of course, your comments, your suggestions, all of that. Love to hear from you there. Also available on TikTok and Instagram at Locktown Cardinals.

This is a show serving Cardle Nation and giving the best fans in baseball, all of the info about the birds on the bat. Today's episode is being brought to you by Fandle. Right now, your new Fandul customers. can get $150 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins. Just download the app or head to fandal.com to get started. Thomas Govain from Redbird Rance.com joining us again today to discuss some Cardinals baseball. Thomas, welcome in.

The Oscars were last night, dude. Did you watch it? Do you and the family watch the telecast of the Oscars in L.A.? No, and to be honest, I really don't even know what the movies were out there. I'm just not keeping up with film at this point in my life. It's all right. It's all right. You got kids and you got all kinds. We got spring training and stuff. I watched it last night. Anora, just for you and the wife. Heads up. Anora was the one that ended up winning a whole lot. I haven't seen that one yet. I'll be honest with you. Wicked substance, complete unknown, which is the Bob Dylan movie. Those were the three that we had watched and none of them won very much. So now we've got to go back and watch. Nora who killed it. The Brutalist was another one. one that went and did really well, won a bunch as well. So for those of you who watched any of those movies, let us know your thoughts on how things went. Some people were a little upset yesterday about

who won and who lost. On to baseball, where winning and losing in these games over the weekend, not the most important thing. Obviously, we got a rare day off here on Monday as far as games go for the Cardinals. The big news over the weekend, though, Thomas was the team announced that they have produced their spring training roster to 58 players, eight players, Moving on to minor league camp, the team option left-handed pitcher Bailey Horn to Memphis AAA roster. And they also reassigned the non-raster pitchers Ian Bedell, Alex Cornwell, Cooper Jerpy, Quinn Matthews, Edwin Nunes, and catcher Sammy Hernandez and Carlos Lenares to minor league camp.

Cardinals are now at 39 Major League roster players, 19 non-roster invitees in camp. A couple of names obviously stand out to people, but none bigger than top pitching prospect. but Quinn Matthews, who got that start against the Blue Jays last week. It looked really good. Two winnings, no runs, two hits, one walk, three strikeouts, one of those Vladdy Guerrero Jr. Some fans are wondering, why would you move this guy to minor league camp already? We want to see more. Why, Thomas, and you haven't answered before them, don't you?

I do, yeah, it's primarily for consistent work. If you look at Ali Momal's quote, it's giving him a routine. It's not just for a brief stint where you can. play two, three innings with the major league squad, and then he doesn't know when his next outing will be from there. Now he can go on a regular five-day schedule. He can get bullpens when he wants. He can do some work on some stuff on the backfields. It's a regular off-season spring training for him at this point. He's not waiting for major league innings anymore. Now, when you see the stat line, and I'm sure you got to watch because that was one of the

few games that was actually televised where you could watch the Cardinals play last week. What were your thoughts on Quinn Matthews? What did you like? dislike, any concerns? What do you got for me? No, I think, I mean, you look at his AAA stats last year. He had four starts and didn't do too well. So the fact that he had three men on at one point didn't surprise me too much. What was really nice was that he got out of that jam pretty easily unscathed. It says a lot to get out of the bases load of jam against real Major League hitters. And then his three strikeouts are just parked with a course given his minor league showing. Yeah, the one thing that I took away, and I mentioned it last week, was first off, the way

he hides the ball, knowing as a former header that that's very difficult when you don't. You can't see where the ball's coming from where the arm slot is. And it just kind of poof and it shows up. The other thing I noticed too is that the hitters when he was with the walk and they were just kind of laying off the change up. And again, we don't know exactly what these guys are working on when they're out there on the mound. But that was the one thing.

He was throwing a bunch of changeups to the one. And they just were laying off on it. So, but it was a devastating pitch like 95 to drive. down to that change. Like he just, you can see why he had so much success making it through all the way to AAA before the end of the season where he kind of, he might have worn down just a little bit. But the stars are quite bright for one Quinn Matthews. So chances will see him in the major leagues this year, probably strong, depending on health and, you know, what happens at the trade deadline? Of course, how he, you know, performs at AAA, but most people aren't too concerned.

I believe, what is he, 40th, 45th ring prospect, I think overall at him. he'll be pipelines. So, uh, for believers in Quinn Matthew. So don't look at this as a promotion. If you're a fan and you're like, oh my gosh, what are we doing? Nicholas sucks. We need Quinn, you know, just to hold on. Like he said, it's really just to keep him on his schedule of every fifth day because, you know, as it moves on in camp, the innings will get leaner. There's just not enough of them to go around for people. Um, and a lot of fans, at least the ones that, because I put a poll question up on X asking if people were upset. 57% said no.

So it seems like most of them understand. But if you're one of those in the minority that was like, I don't get it. That's why. It has nothing to do with him doing anything wrong. Ali even told the media, he did a phenomenal job, even in his exit meeting, which is good to hear, said to transition into minor league camp. It was awesome. You listened to him verbalized what he took out of camp.

And from a routine standpoint, it's always good when these young guys. can see him modeled here. Their immediate reaction is realizing that there's a whole another level to prep a region that these guys got to tap into. And he said that's what Quinn Matthews communicated, that having a routine not only for a game but for the way he prepares for playing catch, preparing for the ballpen, there's a lot of room to commit to that. And it's exciting because he's already good. And there are areas of him being able to improve on. I also read that they had him next to Sunny Gray in the club, which is kind of cool that, you know, And this is what they used to do with Adam Wainwright back in the day.

They would have some guys come in and they'd stick them over there next to a guy like wayno just to kind of, you know, show them the ropes and be an ear to listen and to chat to when they need. So that was pretty cool to Cardinals, I think, too. Absolutely, yeah. Good to get in that experience and conversations. Matthews did throw a simulated game on the backfields on Sunday, so everything's good. Everything seems to be fine with them. health-wise, the Cardinals so far, have been pretty darn healthy.

Like, we haven't had any major hiccups so far, except we got some bad injury news on a former first-round pick. Zach Thompson is going to be out for a bit. What's the latest on Zach, Thomas? Yeah, it's a latch strain. I believe, correct me if we're wrong. The lap's in the back, isn't it? Right by your shoulder brain pretty much? Yeah, okay.

It's a latch strain. He'll be shut down about three to four weeks and then reevaluated from there, according to Derek Gould. It's just a shame for him, honestly, at this point. He really was put back by the COVID season, I think. When minor leagues were shut down, then that was going to be a big year of development for him. I could have seen him in the rotation in 2022, probably, had he had that year. And then now he's got the injury. It just kind of feels like the last straw for Zach Thompson with the Cardinals.

Yeah, unfortunately, it's because we're running out of time here. He's getting older because a couple years ago, you were like, oh, he's still young. And now we're back to it. What's he 20? Is he like 27 now? Is that where we're at? He is. I've got it right here.

Give me a moment. Yeah. I saw it. I just saw it. Yeah, probably 26, 27. Yeah. So, and not that he's an old man by any means, but when it comes to guys coming up and you're running out of spots and like, like,

like he said, it's a tough time for him to get an injury like this because lad injuries or no, this is not like a blister on his finger where it's like, you know, you're going to give him like seven, 10 days. and then he should be back to normal. We're talking off three to four weeks from doing any throwing whatsoever. And these are like these lad injuries can be just devastating and debilitating to pitchers. There's a couple of guys like Frankie Montas is dealing with one of these with the Mets right now. Severino, wasn't he one that had lat issues all the time?

I think he was the other one. But like they just, it's just tough because it's a muscle. It's not like you broke a bone or something and you just don't know how you're going to come back from stuff like this. And for a guy like Thompson, who as you mentioned was kind of on the bubble, we were hoping that he could impress and that way earn a spot, couldn't come at a worse time for him. So whether or not he's a part of the Cardinals' future moving forward is definitely up in the air.

As far as how it affects the current roster of what we were thinking about for opening day, cardinals are at this moment. They're okay left-handed in that bullpen, don't you think? Oh, absolutely. I mean, John King, Jojo Romero. If you wanted bulk, you have Libertor there. I know Zach Thompson is typically a starter, but had he been in the bullpen, he probably would have been a bulk guy anyway.

You got Matthew Libertor. I'm not worried about backfilling after Thompson's injury. I don't think he was even on the, he's on the 40 man, but I don't think he was even being considered for an MLD spot before this. Yeah, it was going to take a special spring out of him. Right. Off the screen for him to be a part of it. And let's not forget, Stephen Mats could also be a guy that ends up being in that

open as a left-hander too. So at the moment, they've got a little bit of depth there, but if Matt's ends up being a starter and then one of these other guys goes down, maybe you get a little concerned with depth at that point. But for the moment, we're going to be okay. We want to give you guys some observations from this weekend, which includes discussion about everyone's favorite punching bag, Thomas Nolan Gorman. That's right. We're going to talk about Storm and Nolan on Gorman next on Locked on Cardinals. When the game tips off, the NBA action is just getting started and there's no better place to get in on it than Fandall, America's number one sports book.

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That's fandle.com for your shot at $150 in bonus bets. Make every moment more with Fandul, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Thank you again for making it locked on Cardinals, your first list in every day. Leave your comments on YouTube as well as on Twitter X. Anytime you want that feedback, always welcome and encourage. Thomas Govane from Redbird Rants.com joining us here today discussing what he saw over the weekend with the Cardinals. We had a three to two loss to Houston on Friday, three to two walkoff win against the Nationals on Saturday. And then they fall five to three to the Marlins on Sunday.

We want to start with the guy that everybody is either concerned about or they're like, I just be quiet, give him some time. But Nolan Gorman has become the top guy that people are talking about at camp right now. And sadly, it's for kind of all the wrong reasons because things have not gotten off to a great start for Nolan here in 2025. Yeah, absolutely. And out of all the players in the roster, I think he needed to have the best spring just to show even fans or himself that, hey, I'm here.

Last year is a fluke. I can be my 2023 self. he hasn't quite done that. Here is where I put the spring training stats don't fully count caveat. But we still need to look at them and have some thoughts and concerns about them. He's at eight strikeouts now through 15 at bats. He just got his first hit yesterday. It was a double.

He got, did not get the RBI. I thought he got an RBI double. He drove somebody in, but he's not. It was just the double. He walked. He has a walk on his ledger, but that's about it. 258 OPS. 0.67.

Batting average, he's just not doing what we wanted him to do in spring training. Yeah. And one of the things with Gorman is you were just hoping for any sort of positivity, right? Like sometimes, you know, you're stinging the ball and it goes right at people. Oh, well. But at the moment, the strikeouts still a major concern. He is striking out over 50% of the time, eight strikeouts and 15 at bat so far, which is not what you wanted to see.

although we want to give him a little bit of leeway here because he was working with Bram Brown in the offseason a lot. We know that. And, you know, he's working on some adjustments to his swing. So his first look at live batting in-game situations, things probably are going to be a little difficult at the beginning. Some people will say we're just making excuses for him. This is just who he is. That's fine. You can believe that if you want.

But the optimistic side will say, hey, look, at least he, you know, the double look good on that. you know, got pitched away, took one, hit it off to the left center field for the, uh, for the, smoked it. Uh, so, uh, it's a reminder of the type of power that this guy possesses. And if he ever gets the bat to ball skills, where we need it to be at a good percentage, like under 30% clip of striking out, he can do some real damage. He can do some real damage. Uh, the other guy that people have been talking about, uh, struggling this spring. You could bring up Jordan Walker if you want to, but. Mason win having a tough go as well.

Batting average, the same as ours, Thomas. Mason win is zero. What's going on with Mason? Hey, you don't know what I've been hitting down in spring training these last few weeks. I'm not quite sure what's going on with him. He's got four strikeouts, one walk. He was caught stealing once when he tried to steal after his walk. I think the difference between Mason Wynn and Nolan Worman is that we know what Wynn can do in the majors.

And he's not really, the concerns that we had with him then aren't really. that big of an issue now, whereas with Nolan Gorman, it was always the strikeouts, and he's striking out even more now. I'm not too concerned about Mason Wynn. He doesn't quite up the swing adjustment that Gorman's going through. I think he just needs to get back on base and focus at what he's trying to get the storm bases up and his batting average walks, those types of things. I think he'll get there.

I'm not as worried about when than I am Gorman. Yeah, because, you know, with the Gorman thing, too, it's like, you know, they were trying to adjust this whole roster to just kind of get him the most at bats. And when when you see him continuously struggling the way he is, you're like, maybe we shouldn't be making so much room for this guy if he's not going to be any good. But yeah, Mason, when tough time, I will say this. I was saying, you know, my wife was talking about, you know, how like, you know, these guys, why can't they hit right now?

And I'm like, would you rather have them be ice cold now and then get hot when the season starts or be hot now and be on the downside of a streak when the season starts. She's like, yeah, that's a good point. So, you know, that's why when you see guys like Mason when not living up to what he did last year so far in the spring, you're kind of like, well, we know he's good at the major league level. We're not going to worry about it now. Yvonne Herrera is another guy who is batting a donut right now in camp. But most people think he'll come around and be just fine. How about some positivity? I feel like, for being a little too negative here.

Tell me about the walk-off hit for Thomas Sejacy. That was kind of a nice sight to see on Saturday, wasn't it? Yeah, it was great. It's exciting. It's spring, but it's still a walk-off. Like, we can get the vibes and the energy up out of that, too. And for Sejacy, too, who, back to Gorman, might be his replacement. I think it's a good step for Sejc in the right direction. How about people feeling good about what Wilson Contreras is doing?

That batting average like 556, I think now. The ball that he hit might be landing right about now. That was an absolute bomb. And things look to be pretty darn good for Wilson-Centureus on the offensive side of things so far, don't they? Yeah, he's just smoking everything right now. I think that the transition to first base is going to be very beneficial for him. That's what everybody's been talking about. He can boost his offense, doesn't need to focus on defense or getting exhausted by being behind the plate.

He can just go out and mash. And so far he's done just that. I got to show some love to the guy who's leading the team in RBI so far this spring. Luke and Baker with another bomb. He's got two now, hitting 250, two home runs, six RBIs this far. And, you know, there was a time in this offseason where there was discussion about him going overseas and playing. But I get a lot of questions about whether or not he's going to be on the roster. Do you think he's got a shot at sticking around and being a, you know,

that right-handed bench bat, even though he's, you know, he can only D.H and he can only play first, which is, you know, sucks because you want him to be able to have a little more versatility. But, man, to have that kind of punch coming off the bench, that would be huge for the Cardinals, don't you think? Yeah, it would be. And he's consistent. He can hit lefties pretty well, which is what the Cardinal struggled with the last two years. It'd be nice to have him there.

My fear is he's, like you said, he's one-dimensional. He can't go beyond first base in DH. Alec Berlison, Wilson Conreras, Savon Herrera. Those are all the guys who would be doing those roles too. And then any guy who needs a rest at D.H, I don't know how many at-bats there is for him. But the at-bats he does get, he's proven he can take full advantage of them. Yeah. And, you know, the hope is that, you know, Wilson will be healthy, at least more than he was last year.

A lot of those injuries. One was a hitting injury. Obviously, we know about the arm injury while he was catching. So we're hoping he'll stay healthier. but, you know, to have him being able to come off the bench, play a little first base, you know, it's just, I like him there. I want to, I want to see him on the roster. I think it would be a big boost to the bench. But, you know, again, the versatility is going to be really tough when you can't play him anywhere else. So that's the one thing that is absolutely going against him heading into the year.

Matt Keperniak. Matt Keperniak. What are you thinking about him so far? shot at him making the roster at all. I mean, again, it's another left-handed bat, but we're talking about bench battles here. It's kind of up in the air. Do you think he's got a shot here to be a part of this team on opening day? I don't think so. He's doing well in spring so far. I just, there's too many outfielders. I mean, just off the rip, you've got Siani, Newpar, Walker, Brendan Donovan would be out there, Alex Burleson. That's five. And three of them already left-handed. You can't

or four of them. Sorry, four of them are all standard. You can't really throw in another lefty out there. Yeah, it's, I'm rooting for him. And I, but he's on the 40 man in case something happens, which, you know, if and when Newpar goes down because it normally happens, that would be somebody that might be the first call up. But, yeah, it's going to be tough for him to make this, this opening day roster.

And obviously, we're still excited about the things we're seeing from Victor Scott. If this is an actual, like, like, I keep thinking. about this. Like, and again, it's spring training, so you don't want to get overly excited, but if Gorman continues to struggle and at the clip that he is, is there any way

that maybe he ends up starting at Memphis this year and you get Donovan at second Victor and Center with Newton left? Yeah, that's totally possible. That's really the only other option for Nolan Gorman. Like, they're not going to DHM. No one's going to take the bait on a trade right now. You can't put you somewhere else, so yeah.

The Cardinals aren't going to cut him. No one's going to trade for him right now. There's no value in him, really. It's like Dylan Carlson's situation all over again if he continues to struggle. I think you'd have to put him at Memphis and save the spots for Donnie and Newpar in the field. Yeah. Like I start thinking about it. I'm just like, just remember how we were going to move everybody around or trading

or not like all these guys are out of position. But if you eliminate Gorman, everybody goes back to their normal positions. It's not like we're rooting against him, but I'm just saying if the struggles continue this way, I don't know how he can be like, well, you know, we're still going to start him right away. I'm like, well, maybe he needs to keep working on some things before that spot for him. I don't know why we're just handing the keys to a spot to him when this is what we're getting so far. But if he turns it around, then great, I'm all for it. I want to jump into the pitching side of things, specifically the veterans that we saw over the weekend.

Miles Michael, Stephen Matt, both made some starts. We'll talk with Thomas and get his thoughts on those guys coming up next on Locktown Cardinals. Thank you again for making Lockdown Cardinals your first listen today for your second list and you can find Lockdown MLB Baseball Guru Sully brings you that daily blend of humor in baseball. Keep you updated on all the teams during spring training. You can find Lockdown MLB on YouTube or wherever you listen to your podcasts. All right. So let's go with Miles Michaelis's start first because we saw some good things to Michaelis

and we saw some familiar things about Miles Michaelis in his start, where it's he continues. And it's such a weird problem to throw too many strikes. You don't hear that very often, but that appears to be the case of Miles Michaelis. What's going on here, Thomas? Man, he gets smoked with pitches down in the heart of the plate. I did some research.

And on two strike counts last year, pitch was thrown in the heart of the plate. Michael's had 110 of them, which led all of baseball, which I'm not a pitcher. I'm not an MLB coach, but I don't think you want to be throwing two strike pitches down the heart. Like, you hit the edges at that point, right? Am I crazy? Yeah, you try to get people to chase because there's all the pressures on the hitter now,

not on you. Right. And that's what got him on his start over the weekend. He threw a sinker right, I think it was a sinker right down the middle, and it got launched, 400 plus feet out to left field. And there he is, 2.2 innings with two run runs. That's exactly what Miles Michaelis does. Yeah, it was very Miles Michaelis of him to do it that way.

And it's something that, I mean, he's even admitted talking about this offseason where I know the one thing that I'd need to work on is stop throwing strikes when I'm ahead in account because he doesn't have the, you know, overpowering stuff where he can just throw it past people. Like he's got to hit his spots. And if there's any moment that he doesn't, like he's got some of the most hitable pitches in all the baseball. and what you've seen in the last couple of seasons.

You know, we're talking two years ago. He's an all-star. Now, you know, the last two seasons, one of the most hitable pitchers in baseball. So it's something he'll continue to work on, but it's tough to watch when you see it. It's just like, here we go again, here we go again. So hopefully he gets it straightened out before his next start and obviously before opening day, which is way more important. Stephen Matt's also made a start over the weekend.

thoughts on how he looked on Sunday? I'm tired of seeing him. Honestly, starting at the games. It's the same stuff. He got rocked in an inning. He couldn't keep ball under control, got stuck by some walks, and couldn't come back from it. That's what Steve Mess is. Throw him in the bullpen. Let him mess up there. Yeah, I mean, he had the one really nice inning. Yeah. Let's like, okay, let's use that in the bullpen. Let's get you that one inning of work. Yeah, it's again, and you can understand the frustration of Cardinal fans because they're like, we've seen this movie before. Why do we keep going down this path?

We know that these guys are what they are. Part of it is contract stuff. I always say you've already spent the money, so who gives a crap? Why do you have to keep throwing these guys out there? But it's something they're willing to take a chance on, at least at this point of spring training. And I'll tell you the one thing, it's not doing us any favors for any sort of trade ballot. you for either of these guys with some of these injuries that you're starting to see pop up around the league. We're like, oh, crap, like, you know, the Yankees are dealing with some stuff now with

with heel being out. And then, you mentioned Frankie Montas with the Mets. They're down a couple of guys. So their injuries are starting to show up. And that's where some of these guys, you know, like those two or an Eric Fetty, people might, you know, hey, Cardinals, are you guys willing to listen in on anything? But if these guys suck in spring training, it's not going to help us any with that. We just need to protect Eric Fetty at all costs. Whatever, anybody else, go ahead and get hurt. But Eric Fetty, you're our trade value right now. With these cuts that we saw go down, one of the names that was not on the list,

Toccoa Robey did not get sent down just yet. What do you think they're doing with Tocua? Is it just you think they want more chances to look at him? Is he a possibility for the bullpen this year? So I've heard some people talking about that. I think that might be an option. in relief for him. I would rather him get his reps, stay healthy, remain a starting pitcher. But if he can go out there for one, two, three innings and just light it up, save the Cardinals

in the bullpen, I think that'd be good for him. I'd rather have Gordon Vercefo be the starter to reliever for the majors than Roby. I think Roby's ceiling as a starter is higher than Grosophos was. But if they want to keep them up, get him some reps with the Major League squad. Why not? Go for it. Yeah, I agree with you. When Grisophos look decent, he gave up the one home run this spring so far. But I mean, he's looked pretty good. And if, you know, this is a kind of a new role for him. So there might be, again, it's spring training. And I keep having to remind myself, I was like, I can't get too excited about all the good stuff. And I can't get too down on all the bad stuff that could be happening as well. But I don't know. So far this spring, I've been pretty

impressed with guys, you know, Fernandez, Libertor, obviously Roby standing out five innings. and he's just looked really good. Like he's got some good stuff. You got to keep him healthy, obviously. That's the big thing. Jojo Romero's looked pretty good. Chris Roycroft, I've been kind of impressed with him. I feel like he's got a chance to be a nice little depth piece in that bullpen as well.

Anything else stand out to you about what you saw this weekend? And what are you looking forward to this week? Who are some guys you want to, you're really interested in watching? Yeah, I need some offense. I feel like the Cardinals pitchers, the ones that are going to be in the major of the roster, have been doing well, but the hitters have not. I mean, look at Aronado, you look at Wynn, Gorman, Walker. I think that those three guys, four guys need to step up and start showing what they can do offensively. I'm not overly concerned about the pitching side of the team, similar to last year.

I think we know where the floor is right around the middle of the league and the rotation and a little bit better bullpen. But I think the conversation from last year was always we need more offense. And so now if these position players can start showing up in the spring, I think that'd go a long way for my confidence and comfort with the team. Yeah. And it would put, yeah, I think it would put a lot of people's minds at ease a little bit just to see them stinging the ball a little bit more. You know, watching Wilson mash his home run. I was like, yes, we finally got something. Seeing Aronado hit his home run last week, you know, it was nice to see those.

But the guys you were more worried about, the Gormons and the walkers have yet to really shoot. go much and it's starting to freak people out. I'll be honest that, you know, my level of concern is, you know, it's a weekend. I get it, but it rises a little bit because if those two guys don't live up to what we need them to be this year, the cardals are going to be back where they were last year and be in trouble all over again once opening day rolls around. Yeah, those two guys are the ones we've heard all off season who need to step up and are going to get all these opportunities.

I think it starts now for them to start showing us. Yeah. All right. Well, let us know in the comments section, your thoughts, concerns, the good, the bad guys that you've been excited to see so far. You know, J.J. Weatherholt's starting to come back down to, you know, people are excited right away. And now you're hearing less talk about him. You're starting to understand that, yeah, you know, he's still got some work to do. But let us know who you guys want to see this week, what you're excited about the team moving forward. Split Squad game on Tuesday. They'll have the Mets and the Nationals. Astros, Nationals, Astros, Nationals this week, and then the Yankees on Sunday.

So that's the schedule for the Cardinals. Make sure you guys are checking out, RedbirdRance.com. Thomas, what are you working on this week, brother? I just had something to put out today. This is courtesy of Augie Nash on Twitter. There were nine players in Cardinals history who played for the team minimum 10 years

for their entire career. That went out today, and I'm starting something about young Cardinals who will take a step forward in 2020. and young players who will not. All right. We'll put the link to the new article. We'll put that in our info section

and the, you know, all the stuff down below on YouTube. We'll get it in the podcast stuff as well. Make sure you guys check out Thomas at redwood rants.com. Give them a follow on X at Thomas Gauveen. And if you haven't already, give us follow on X at L.O underscore Cardinals at a JD Sports radio. Find us on Instagram and TikTok at Lockdown Cardinals.

Like, subscribe on YouTube, help our channel and love for the Cardinals grow. You guys are the best fans in baseball for a reason. We'll see you next time on Locked on Cardinals. Thank you, Thomas. You're welcome. Thank you.