Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - Cards Squander Chance At First Road Series Win

Starting point is 00:00:00 After a beautiful and fun day on Wednesday, the Cardinals put forth a miserable effort that matched the weather on Thursday against the rats. 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 am J.D. Hafford 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 at J.D. Sports Radio.

Starting point is 00:00:35 Podcast available at L.O. WonderSquard Cardinals. We're on YouTube. Make sure you like, subscribe, and comment, hit that notification button so you don't miss out on anything. Also available on TikTok, Instagram, Lockdown Cardinals. We're all over the place. And this is a show serving Carle Nation and giving the best fans in baseball, all of the info about the birds on the bad. Today's episode brought to you by Monarch Money. Take control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code locked on MLB at MonarchMoney.com for 50% off your first year. So later in the show, we're going to talk about the trade that the Cardinals made with Dodgers on Thursday.

Starting point is 00:01:07 We've got injury updates on Pozo and Herrera. But let's start with the wet and rainy game on Thursday. Cardinals had a chance to win their first road series of the season. But, and I hate to blame Mother Nature. I really do. But that was a big part of the problem here, man. An hour and 37 minute rain delay on a getaway day. It appeared to zap any interest that the team had in,

Starting point is 00:01:35 playing baseball. It was just rough, you know, because things were going well. It was exciting in the first few innings before the rain hit. And then it was all Cincinnati Reds after that. It was a two to one ball game when the skies opened up and sent both teams to the clubhouses. And it really affect both of these teams in opposite ways. The Reds seemed to find life and looked a little more energized while the Cardinals looked like they had all taken a nap and were like sleeping in their lockers while it happened. And then we're rudely woken up and told to finish a ball game. They're like, okay, well, go out there.

Starting point is 00:02:10 Matthew Libertor got the start in this one. He was stung on a first pitch, swing home run by a Reds catcher, Jose Trevino in that second inning. And it wasn't anything I'd be upset about. Libby's trying to get ahead in the county, throws a sinker, and it just hit over the heart of the plate, and Trevino ambushed it, jumped all over it, made it two to nothing. But the Cardinals answered right back.

Starting point is 00:02:32 top of the third inning, Mason win had this outstanding 12 pitch of bad just foul after foul after fall. And although it ended in a strikeout, it was still a very impressive abat. And it took its toll on Red's pitcher Andrew Abbott. Similar to how Pedro Pah has had that 11 pitch at bat on Wednesday and then hit a home run, those kind of abats take their tolls on the starters. And Red Starter Andrew Abbott really had to work there. And even though we got the strikeout, the next two hitters were able to get on base. with hits and perhaps they took advantage of a little bit of the fatigue that Mason win helped

Starting point is 00:03:08 and get that out of Andrew Abbott. You know, Donnie ends up getting a single. Nolan Arnato hits a single, little blooper into center field. Donnie scores on that play after shortstop L.A. De La Cruz mishandles it a bit in the out therely, try to swipe at it and didn't pick it up cleanly. So Donnie kept running two to one ball game and we're off and running. Then in the fourth inning, Jordan Walker walks. Pozo has a 10 pitch at bat before grounding into, unfortunately yet another Cardinals double play that second baseman Matt McLean made a really nice scoop on. It was a nice play.

Starting point is 00:03:41 Give him credit. And here we are at the end of four innings. And the Cardinals had Abbott in 74 pitches. They had three hits. They had walked four times. They were wearing this two down. He was reeling. The Cardinals kind of had him where they won.

Starting point is 00:03:59 of them and we'll never know if they were going to be able to pounce all over that because before the reds can hit rain comes down it opens up in the middle of the fourth inning and it caused that one hour and 37 minute rain delay the game itself like where they're actually playing baseball i think it was two hours and 21 minutes was the final count i can double check on that for you guys so i don't give me any false information but i believe that's what it was yeah 211 and then an hour 37-minute rain delay. So the rain delay almost lasted as long as the game itself. Okay.

Starting point is 00:04:36 So it was significant. And like I said, I don't know what the Cardinals did in the clubhouse during that time. But it appeared that maybe they switched uniforms with some impostors and hopped onto their charter flight back to St. Louis a little earlier. Because the rest of the game was so uninteresting on the Cardinal side of things. like they look like a bunch of zombies just going through the motions. There was no life. There was no energy.

Starting point is 00:05:05 It was about as dull and as boring a game as I've been to live in person. And most certainly this year, they just didn't look like they had any interest in being there anymore. That's just how it felt. And I'm sure if you said something like that to any of the players or Ali, they'll tell you, no, no, no, no. We were giving it our best shot and we were doing this. we were trying to do this. And that may be true. I'm just telling you the vibes I got for being at the stadium. You know, it's kind of like a good thing that the bullpen was allowing so many runners

Starting point is 00:05:38 to get on page because these guys might have fallen asleep standing up out there in the outfield and on the infield. It was just really, really lifeless. And it wasn't like that before the rain delay. Like they had some jump to them and they were looking to win that series. And the rain delay just took it all out of them. So the Cardle's offense, if you can call it that, went hitless after the second inning. They didn't have a single base runner after the rain delay. They had a walk in the fourth with the Jordan Walker walk, and that was it. Nobody else got on base, not one. So like I said, it just looked like they didn't want to be there anymore by the time the rain delay ended. I didn't want to be there anymore. So it's hard for me to throw stones at them when I was like,

Starting point is 00:06:26 and I'm not even playing in the game, and I was like, dude, let's get out of here. This is, it's cold and it's windy and it's wet, and it's just, so part of me has sympathy for him, but at the same time, you know, it's their job to go out there and put forth the best effort. You know, some people are blaming Ollie for not having the team awake. These are the things I'm getting from, you know, listeners and stuff. And some are blaming the players, but whatever. It just was kind of a bad look.

Starting point is 00:06:53 It looked like they kind of rolled over and just accepted that they're, We're going to take this L and get the hell out of Dodge. So tale of two offenses in this game. The Cardinal scored 15 runs in 18 innings on a Wednesday and two total in the other 18 innings of the series. So not very balanced, but positivity, it was good enough to split the series. Okay. So they didn't walk away losing the series.

Starting point is 00:07:21 They got a split. And it wasn't all on the offense. don't get me wrong. It wasn't all on the offense because the bullpen was really, really rough on Thursday. And they didn't do themselves any favor. So we'll discuss that. Plus, again, we've got updates on Pozo's injury, Herrera's rehab, and obviously that trade that the Cardinals made with the Dodgers. So we'll talk about all of this coming up on Locked on Cardinals. Ever check your bank account and wonder, where did all my money go? Now recently, I can tell you, it went to Uncle Sam. But normally, everyday living, you know, dining out, online, shopping, entertainment, it's easy to lose track. You know, you go to a ball game and you buy a couple

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Starting point is 00:09:27 So the bullpen, which, you know, it's fair share of bad days this year, had another one on Thursday. And again, this rain delay did not help things. And I don't want to use this as an excuse. I really don't. But it affected what was going on. Because after you had such a great day from the staff in general on Wednesday during that double header, you were looking forward to being able to trust Matthew Libertor to go five, six, maybe even seven innings in this one. He's shown the ability to do it already this season.

Starting point is 00:10:01 and they made an attempt to actually keep Libby in this game. During the rain delay, he actually threw a simulated fourth inning in hopes that if the rain would stop, he'd be able to go back out there and pitch in the game once again. But the delay continued to last too long. As soon as it started to dry up a little bit, the rate would come back. And honestly, when we were looking at the reports,

Starting point is 00:10:27 the weather reports before the game started, a lot of the really bad stuff had gone to the north of downtown Cincinnati. But as it got windier, you could tell that some of the stuff that was supposed to pass was going to the trail end of it was going to come through. And just looking at the radar, we knew we were screwed. So, Ollie had to go to the bullpen. And things immediately went off the rails as soon as he did that. Matt Svonson, who looked better in his last outing, took over after the delay.

Starting point is 00:10:56 Deuses were wild for Matt in this one. end of the day. Check it out two innings, two runs, two hits, walk two, and struck out two. But he was all over the place. He just no command whatsoever, specifically with the breaking stuff, it was just spinning up there. He couldn't get on top of the breaking ball. So things didn't go well for him. He leaves the game with the score four to one. Riley O'Brien strolls in next. We know control could be an issue for him from time to time since he's been a cardinal. And, you know, sometimes he's effectively wild. where it's because there's so much movement on his stuff that he gets people to chase,

Starting point is 00:11:34 strikes out that first hitter that he comes in to see, but then he misses badly on a slider that was supposed to be either out or half or even outside of the zone. That's where Pozo was set up. And it just spun and hung over the inside part of the plate. And Spencer Steer pummeled it into the seats, making it five to one. And the route was on. He stays in for the seventh.

Starting point is 00:11:57 He's got a walk. for a wild pitch and then he hits Ellie de la Cruz on his back foot they reviewed it it got him all right and all of this with two outs at the end of it like with two outs this is happening and all he goes to john king okay mr double play last year uh induced eight of them he was that guy could get that ground ball get you out of the inning but instead he gives up three straight singles it's eight to one by the time the inning ends all of these guys scoring with two outs which makes things even more miserable uh the reds would get an under and runoff king in the ninth inning. But, you know, another rough outing for the veteran left-hander.

Starting point is 00:12:31 And I hate to put it all on him here because it wasn't a great situation for him. Opponents are hitting 333 against him this year. ERA is back over five now. But he's meant to come in and get either the ground ball or get lefties out because lefties are only hitting 2.11 against him. Right-handers are now hitting 4-14 against him. Six of the nine batters that he faced. in Thursday's game were right-handed because the Reds had stacked their Riteys to go up against Matthew Libertor.

Starting point is 00:13:03 And I'm sure Ali was hoping that he could rely on the Ritey's in the bullpen this time around. Again, hoping that Libby would go five, maybe even six. Then he could go Svonson, O'Brien, and then Helsley. I'm sure that was what the plan was. But the rain screwed it all up. And they brought in King instead, because you're not going to bring in Helsley in a game like this. even if you want to get him some work. And King got punished for it because he had to face a bunch of right-handers who just hit him better.

Starting point is 00:13:32 That's just the way it is. So wasn't set up for King to succeed in this one. This wasn't a good spot to have to use him, but Ollie had to use him. You know, everybody's got to throw eventually. And unfortunately for King, he had to come in in a game where there was a lot of right-handers in the lineup. And they did some damage against him. Now, there was a play late in the game that saw our catcher Pozo, Joel Pozo, possibly injure his wrist. If you were watching the game, you saw it as a slide at the play at the play, and he came up, like, holding it, and it looked like it might be something serious.

Starting point is 00:14:11 So he ended up getting some x-rays done. We'll tell you the results of that coming up. We also got a good sign from Yvonne Herrera as he continues his rehab. Boy, we missed him. plus a trade involving the Cardinals and the Dodgers. We'll talk about all of that. Coming up next on Locked on Cardinals. Looking for a snack that's both delicious and nutritious,

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Starting point is 00:16:25 on MLB Game Night. That's right. I do that. I'm part of the rotation there, which is, it's a lot of fun. You know, we run down all of the different games that go on. We'll talk about, you know, the Cardinals and Reds later on tonight. And we'll go through the rest of the league as well. So good stuff, honestly, if you haven't seen it yet, maybe check that out. All right. Let's start with the injuries.

Starting point is 00:16:47 Okay, Pozo, who he's filmed it nicely, right, as a backup for Pedro Pahez, while Yvonne Herrera rehabs from his bone bruise, done a nice job. late in the game, though, on Thursday, there was that play at the play that I was talking about. And the runner slides into home play. And he actually slid head first. It wasn't like the feet hit him. He slid head first. But when they collided a little bit, because, you know, it's not the big collisions like it used to be in baseball.

Starting point is 00:17:16 But when they collided, you know, poses coming in to make the tag. And the runner's coming in full force. And he injures his wrist while applying the tag. And it looks like it just kind of got jammed up. in there. I've had that actually happened to me before, but it happened at third base. Runner was trying to steal third. The road from the catcher was tailing into the runner. I lay the tag down. He comes in full force and it just jams your wrist. And I thought it was broken. We ended up going to get x-rays for myself during that injury. The doctors thought

Starting point is 00:17:48 it was broken at first. They put a cast on me and took it off two weeks later to check out how it was healing and we're like, well, maybe it wasn't broken after all. And I ended up being okay. So you're thinking the worst here. You're like, oh my gosh, not another catcher injury with Pozo stays in the game. Re wraps it up and stays in the game. They take an x-ray after the game is over and it came back clean. No, no issues there. So that's great news. Derek Gold reported that Pozo said that the soreness had already started to subside as he ready for their charter flight to St. Louis. So great news because you don't want to have to use another catcher while you're waiting on Yvonne Herrera. You don't want to have to bring up another guy.

Starting point is 00:18:34 So great news there, right? Pozo, not a serious injury. It looks like he's going to be okay. More good news, though, from the catching position. And if you're watching on YouTube, you probably see a smile and the smirk on my face right now because Yvonne Herrera continues his rehab from that bone bruise and knocked him out of action since their trip to Boston in the early part of April. and he was cleared to begin a rehab assignment with AAA Memphis earlier this week, was in the lineup today as the designated hitter didn't catch today, but was the DH. And in the eighth inning, our guy Yvonne pops a three-run jack to left field.

Starting point is 00:19:08 105.4 off the bat. He looked good jogging to me. Look really good jogging around those bases, looked healthy. It's a great sign for sure because the cardals have certainly missed the power stroke that Ivan Herrera provides. Now, I know that he hit three in one game, and that kind of might have blown his power numbers out of proportion, but the dude is a slugger. And he's the guy that I told you at the beginning of the year that I was keeping an eye on big time, because I thought he was going to be a major part of this offense. I'm like, I think he's underrated

Starting point is 00:19:43 as a hitter. I don't see people giving him the credit that I felt he deserved. And he just looks like when he comes up to the plate, that he's going to do some damage. And so far the season, he'd been that guy for the Cardinals. He led the team with four home runs when he got hurt on April 6th. Here it is May of the 1st, and he's still second behind Lars Newpar, who now has five. And the power outage from the Cardinals, and I know they hit six home runs on Wednesday, but they haven't been in a whole lot of home runs. Wilson, Cataras, we know, got off to that slow start. He's been warming up a little bit. You're starting to see it come together for Willie. Had a couple over the last, since Herrera's been hurt, including one in Wednesday night's game,

Starting point is 00:20:29 which was a bomb off the batter eye. That was certainly cool. Mason Wynn hit two in Wednesday's first game, but you're not seeing it from Jordan Walker. He's got just two on the year. Nolan Gorman, and I know he was out with the hammy issue. He's got one home run, though. Only one. which is weird, that not only is he not doing all that much, even when he's putting the ball in play, but only one home run. And we've said this before. You don't mind the strikeouts when you're getting the production from his power.

Starting point is 00:21:06 And now you're not getting it. So not a great start for Nolan Gorman this year. Big disappointment. Luke and Baker and Alec Berluson, the two guys that are kind of comboing this DH spot, have no home run yet. Neither one of them. None. And when the offense was really cooking at the beginning of the year,

Starting point is 00:21:26 which it's still been a good offense, but, you know, when it was just on fire at the beginning of the season, Ivan Herrera was one of the big thumpers in the middle of the order doing damage. You know, he was a dangerous spot in the order. He alters the way people pitch this lineup. And when you took him away, it's a significant MIA bat in that order. As far as him coming back to the team, he is set to catch five innings on Friday. They want to make sure that he can catch back-to-back games before bringing him up to the major league.

Starting point is 00:22:07 So hopefully things continue to go in the right direction with Herrera. But it looked good today on that swing and on the jogger on the bases. Look good to me. It was also announced during the game on Thursday that the cartels had struck a deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers, sitting right-hander at Ryan Lutus to L.A. for cash considerations. Now, Lutus had been designated for assignment earlier this week and removed from the 40-player roster so that they created a spot for Jose Barrera, who got the start in center field on Thursday, made a nice catch in center field, had a nice line shot that just happened to be. right at the third baseman at Marte for the Reds or they would have put some runs in. But, you know, Barrero's that Swiss Army knife that Ali can use off the bench, the right-handed bat, the speed, he can play infield and outfield.

Starting point is 00:23:03 So he's probably going to stick around for a while. And they had to create a 40-man spot for him. And unfortunately, Lutis was the guy that they had to move. Made his major league debut this past season, had a 3.38 ERA and eight games for AAA. Memphis this season. Also, and this was a great story by Derek Gould at STL Today.com, if you haven't seen it yet, about how Lutus helped them develop the Cardinals Churp app, the minor league pitchers and coaches and stuff used.

Starting point is 00:23:35 So that was kind of neat to learn about that. You can check that out, which kind of gives you the backstory about Lutus and how he got the gig as well as how he became a pitcher in the minor leagues and how he got better. added some below to his arsenal, and now he's going to the Dodgers and is going to be on their 40-man roster. They're dealing with all sorts of injuries in L.A. We feel real bad for the Dodgers, right? But Carls get some cash in return, so nothing sexy to discuss.

Starting point is 00:24:06 No trades for anybody that was like a prospect or anything at all. But Luda's going to get a chance with the Dodgers now. Final thoughts overall, this four-game set with the Reds. I think you got it because I'm normally a positive guy. I think you got to deem this as progress. They didn't lose the road series, right, for the first time this year, doubled their road win total. They only had two road wins coming into the series.

Starting point is 00:24:34 They take two of four from the Reds who were playing really good baseball. When the Cardinals came into town, and you saw them play really, really well on that Monday night game. And then the Cardinals, I mean, I had never seen a major league. double-headed before. And I loved it because not only did our Cardinals win, but it was a beautiful day in Cincinnati. And again, the Cardinals won, which was awesome. So I can't really complain there. Super impressed with Miles Michaelis's start on Wednesday. Plenty of you guys saw me behind home plate in that one. I was the one in the powder blue jersey, the only Cardinal fan in the entire middle section there.

Starting point is 00:25:15 We had a couple other ones sprinkled around in the diamond seats there. But I was the only one like right there. And oh, boy, those seats are awesome. If you ever get the green seats at Bush Stadium, cherish it. It is so nice to be down there and get that view. But watching Miles Michaelis deal on Wednesday, that was cool. Like how do we bottle up that version and get him to repeat that? That's the real question.

Starting point is 00:25:42 How can we get that Miles Michaelis more often here? in 2025 because he was good. And he got squeezed a couple times, too. Like, there were a few play. I mean, obviously, Ollie got tossed in that game for arguing ballast and strikes because he was sick of it. He was just like, and both sides were not happy with the strike zone in that game. But it looked like the cardals were getting pinched a little more than the reds were in that one.

Starting point is 00:26:06 So, but good stuff from Miles Michaelis. Love the power surge in the ninth inning. It was fun to be able to do the little bird celebration after the home run. that was pretty cool. And then you saw it again in game, too. They come out flying and they come out swinging against a rookie pitcher. And I know a lot of us were nervous that like, oh, my gosh, it's Chase Petty guy pretty good in the miners for the Reds.

Starting point is 00:26:30 Usually if the Carls haven't seen a guy, they have some issues and they had no issues with figuring out petty. So that was cool. A little bit bummed, obviously, that they weren't able to finish the job in Thursday's game where, again, it just felt like they were going through the motions. Maybe they weren't. maybe that's just me overreacting to something. Not like that's never happened before.

Starting point is 00:26:50 I realize it does happen from time to time where teams will just shut the other team down. I mean, even the Cardinals big win on Wednesday night in that 9-to-1 game, remember, it was 20 straight hitters. We didn't do anything. We're retired. And it was very much the same type of thing after that rain delay. So it does happen.

Starting point is 00:27:11 Okay. So we're not going to get super angry about it all. But they're going to need more juice this weekend. They're going to need some juice this weekend because the New York match are coming back to town. Mets swept the Cardinals in New York. But let's not forget. Cardinals are a different team at home. They've been a different team. They'll have Sunny Gray on the mound on Friday night. We're going to preview that entire series and talk more about things going on with the Cardinals in our next episode. But thank you guys for making a lockdown cardinals your first listen every day. If you haven't already,

Starting point is 00:27:42 give us follow on X at L.O underscore Cardinals at a JD Sports Radio. You can find us on Instagram and TikTok at Lockdown Cardinals. Like subscribe on YouTube. I believe we're like 35 subscribers away from hitting 12,000. So if you haven't subscribed yet, please do me a solid. We'll get to 12,000 here real, real soon. I appreciate you. You guys are the best fans in baseball for a reason,

Starting point is 00:28:05 and we will see you next time on Lockdown Cardinals.

Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - Cards Squander Chance At First Road Series Win

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