Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - DISASTER: Helsley's Third Straight BLOWN SAVE Dooms Cardinals | Will Oli Make a CHANGE?

Starting point is 00:00:00 Ryan Helsley blows yet another save, but don't expect for his role to change anytime soon. You are Locked on Cardinals, your daily St. Louis Cardinals podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Hey, there are Cardinals. I'm J.D. Hafford and I am your host for Locked on Cardinals, part of the Locked on Podcast Network covering your team every day. Follow me on next to JD Sports Radio, the podcast at L0 underscore Cardinals on YouTube as well. make sure you like, subscribe, and comment, hit that notification button so you don't miss out on things. Also available on TikTok and Instagram at Locked on Cardinals.

Starting point is 00:00:41 This is a show serving Cardinal Nation and giving the best fans in baseball, all of the info about the birds on the bat. 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. The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. That's a little bit of both on Monday night as the. Cardinals almost steal one away from the Toronto Blue Jays only to see their closer give up the lead again, which eventually led to a five to four loss in 10 innings at Bush Stadium in a game that was about as boring as it can get for seven innings if you're a Cardinals fan. I'm sure Blue Jays fans

Starting point is 00:01:23 are having a good time, but not much going on for the Cardinals. Almost nothing happened for them offensively for seven innings. It was quite a ride over the final. three frames, though, that's for sure. Trailing three to nothing, the Cardinals would mount a two-out comeback that saw them take the lead on a three-run home run by Yvonne Herrera. And basically after taking a trip down Borafil Lane for most of the night, the Cardinals miraculously had a four to three lead with just three outs to go. Hell's bells rings out and the raining in a closer of the year comes out of the gate to close things out against the bottom of the Toronto order. But in an all too familiar scene this season, especially recently, this didn't happen.

Starting point is 00:02:11 Ryan Helsley was able to get the first out, although it was a bit of a struggle, had him 02. Count ends up going full before getting the pop out to Mason win. You're two outs away from a phenomenal comeback victory. In steps the mighty nine hole hitter for the Blue Jays, Jonathan. Clase, 23-year-old, who in six seasons of professional baseball, has 51 total home runs. So not exactly a major power threat stepping into the box. He's the number nine hitter for a reason.

Starting point is 00:02:44 Halsley falls behind in the count two to one and then lays an absolute cookie right down the middle and Klossay slams it, 107 miles per hour off the bed, 415 foot solo home run to tie the game. unbelievable, unbelievable. The Helsley reaction to it said it all, if you were watching the, oh no, crouch and then stare as the ball sails deep into the stands in center field, into the bleachers. I think we probably all said the same thing. It might have been what Helsley said while he was crouched on the mound area there

Starting point is 00:03:22 when it happened. You've got to be kidding me. All the momentum. that Bush Stadium had was immediately sucked out, like, mega made from the space balls, the movie. Toronto would end up winning the game five to four in ten innings. The Hellsley experience has been, it's been a whole lot different than what we saw last year.

Starting point is 00:03:46 That's for sure, when he set a Cardinals franchise record with saves 49 of those. That's now three straight blown saves, all in the last five days, five blown. saves on the season. Mind you, Heelsley Blue four saves all of last year. And he's already past that. He's got five

Starting point is 00:04:05 already this season. Also, the third home run he's given up, tying the amount that he gave up all of last season. After the game, he spoke with the media about what's going on with him and said, I'm just trying to see the positives and everything

Starting point is 00:04:21 learn from it and take it one day at a time. That's all I can do. The obvious suggestion that I have is don't throw the ball right down the middle. 100 miles per hour, although in theory, sounds awesome, not quite as special as it used to be, but it's still freaking awesome. It's certainly more hitable when it's as straight as Healsley throws it and it's right down the middle.

Starting point is 00:04:45 If he's living on the edges with that, he's probably getting that guy out, not what happened here. And as frustrating as it is with the way things are going with the blown saves, they haven't all been like this. You know, it hasn't been him giving up, you know, a long-fly tater to blow the game and ruin everything. Ali pointed out after the game that, you know, there's been some randomness to not only Monday's game in general,

Starting point is 00:05:09 but to Helsley's recent blown saves. I mean, Helsley even brought it up saying, you know, against Kansas City, I got the double play ball. And it just happened to be right up the middle. And then against the Dodgers, the ball hits the second base. bag talking about Shohei Otani's base head in the ninth there and he's like, I strike out the side

Starting point is 00:05:29 and somehow I still give up a run. You know, it's the closer role is a very volatile role. You know, you get all the accolades and everything when you do your job, but it is magnified a million

Starting point is 00:05:49 times when you don't because it feels like you're the one who's screwed everything up for for the team and it's a tough place to be it's not an easy job by any means and uh you know we talked about that saying that tonight i was just challenging the number nine whole guy class say and trusting my stuff he put a good swing on it and i have to tip my hat yeah i mean that that is what happened i mean these guys are major league hitters for a reason uh it's just just such a crushing defeat after being able to come back from where you wore for seven innings where this team looked like they were asleep at the wheel.

Starting point is 00:06:31 Like I was like nodding off watching it. I was like, oh my gosh, is there anything happening here? When I started, you know, putting together my notes for the, for the game, I'm like, I got nothing to talk about. Nothing has happened. And then you get just wildness over the last three frames. And unfortunately, it doesn't fall the Cardinals way. So I got more on Helsley.

Starting point is 00:06:52 We're going to talk about the offensive as well. Head-scratching moment in the 10th inning that I'm curious about. But we're going to get to all of it coming up next on Locked on Cardinals. Give the supplies you need from the site made for the skilled trade supply house, whether it's plumbing, whether it's HVAC, electrical work. Supply house is a reliable way to order products online. They're easy-to-use website is packed with helpful resources and the latest product information. Help you get the job done right, which is what we all aspire. to do, right? Plus, with a complete inventory of over 200,000 parts from 400 plus top brands,

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Starting point is 00:08:43 People just enraged about what's going on with Ryan Helsley. And there are a lot of people who are like, trade them, get them off my team. And that's not going to happen. You know, maybe something towards the trade deadline, maybe. But it's not going to happen. They're not just shipping this dude out on a Tuesday. Stop it.

Starting point is 00:09:02 It's not going to happen. But as I pointed out yesterday, if you listen to yesterday's show, it's been a journey just about every time Helzley takes the mound this year. A lot of traffic on the base paths, whether it's walks, whether it's hits, you know, opponents, batting average against him. It's climbed significantly each year since 2022. 128 is what the batting average against was in 2022, which is insane. 176 in 2020, which is still incredible. 210 last year, still awesome. And so far this season, though,

Starting point is 00:09:39 Chip Carrey's going to like this one. 269 batting average against for Ryan Halsley. That's not good. That's not good whatsoever. And I was kind of looking at things, and he's become a two-pitch guy, really, going almost exclusively with the fastball in slider. That nasty 12-6 curveball that,

Starting point is 00:09:59 that we've seen from him in the past has been, has all but vanished, really. He's only thrown that thing 22 times this year. He has thrown a cutter in there a few times as well, but it is fastball slider. That's what he's coming at you with. And while opponents are batting just 95 against his slider, that's right, 95. They're batting under 100. They're hitting a whopping 426 against his four-seem fastball. So that tells me that his pitch placement sucks, that he is catching way too much of the plate when he's throwing that four seam fastball.

Starting point is 00:10:39 Because when you're throwing four seams at 100 miles per hour, it shouldn't be that easy to hit. Guys should not be hitting 426 against you when you've got heat like that. And they are. And when you see games and people wonder why he's not throwing the fastball more, which is something that I have questioned as well. Like why he just he does? He doesn't trust it. It's because it's getting clobbered. You have a reason not to trust it because it seems like every time he throws it,

Starting point is 00:11:06 it gets smoked. His fastball has a minus five run value on baseball savon while the slider is a plus six. But the two go hand in hand. You can't have one with the out the other. You're not just throwing slider, slider, slider, slider. That's not going to work because a slider isn't normally meant to be thrown as a strike. One sets up the other. So he's just got to be better with the fastball.

Starting point is 00:11:30 That's what this boils down to. He's got to have better pitch placement. He's got to live on the edges. He's got to move it up and down in the zone. He's got to pitch with the fastball. He's not throwing it by anybody anymore. Nobody's surprised at 100 miles per hour these days. If you throw 100, good for you.

Starting point is 00:11:47 Looks cool on the radar gun. But a lot of people throw 100 now. It's not as special as it used to be. So you can't just throw it past people. it's not going to work because the VILA was still there. There's nothing wrong with how hard he's throwing. 98th percentile. Chase percentage in large part due to that slider,

Starting point is 00:12:07 85th percentile. But the bottom line is this is their guy for the Cardinals. Like it's don't expect any changes here. That's not going to happen. They're not, they're not going to punt on the raining NL closer of the year because of one bad week. You know,

Starting point is 00:12:28 like watching the post-game press conference with Ali last night, he's, there's no like, like his faith in Ryan Helsley hasn't gone anywhere. You know, they give credit to the, to the hitter who put a good swing on it. Still drives me nuts.

Starting point is 00:12:44 It's the number of nine here. Like, if there was like Bichette or Vladimir Guerrero Jr., I'd be like, oh, man, that sucks. You know, those guys are awesome. But class A, I mean, most people never even heard of this guy before the game. So that's what stings the most about this. But you just got to hope that he can improve.

Starting point is 00:13:01 That's really all there is to it and become the guy you saw last year once again. He's not going anywhere in the immediate future. So buckle in because he's just got to be better. John Denton wrote an interesting piece about some of the issues that I was actually unaware of that the Hellsley had in spring training. Irritation in his toe led to trainers inserting a plate into his shoe, something he thought kept him from properly pushing off the mountain, which caused a drop in fastball velocity and regularly remain in triple-digit ranges last year. This is part of the write-up from Denton.

Starting point is 00:13:38 Helsley said that the chain of events led to some bad habits as he tried to regain his velocity and started overthrowing instead of driving off the rubber with his legs. You know, mechanics are a big deal. Look what happened to Matthew Littertore in his last game. All of a sudden, his mechanics got out of whack, and he's throwing like, 89, like things were just not right. And same thing goes with these guys in the bullpen. You know, when his, when Helsley's mechanics get out of whack, things are going to be different. He's not going to be as good. He said he fell in a bad habit at the end of spring.

Starting point is 00:14:11 And early in the season, like in the first week. And then it showed up for like a month. He said, I felt really good these last few weeks, but I haven't had great results. He goes, sometimes baseball just happens. And I know you guys don't like to hear that as an excuse, but It does. These guys are all good ball players in their own right. He says he's just trying to keep working, stay out there and stay after it. So good stuff from Denton, check it out at nlb.com. And it's the, you know, the mentality that the closer has to have. You know, if he was so weak-minded that this one week would crush him and just debilitate him for the rest of the season, that would bug you. He wouldn't be a closer, would he? He'd be something else. If he started doubting himself and his stuff, that's when things would get really, really ugly. and the Cardinals don't have a backup plan if Helsley worn around.

Starting point is 00:14:57 So I suppose you could go to a closer by committee if that's something that you wanted to try. But no team is really interested in doing that. You know, the, we want to have just guys with their particular roles and just do their jobs. That way everybody knows what they're getting into each and every game. You don't want to wear everybody's like, I don't. Am I up? This guy, I don't know. You don't want that.

Starting point is 00:15:20 You don't want that. So Halsley is the guy. period. They're not trading them away right now. Maybe the deadline. That's something we'll discuss. We got a month and a half until then. We brought it up a little bit yesterday, but it's not something that you're looking to do right now. He's not going to get replaced. Nobody else is coming in to be your new closer. Phil Maton is not going to be your closer. Stop it. Ryan Housley just has to be better. He has to be better. And I'm sure he'll work towards doing that. So, Let's root them on.

Starting point is 00:15:55 We're going to talk about this offense next. I want to talk about that 10th inning as well, plus an update on Jordan Walker, Yvonne Herrera's big hit. Obviously, that was fun. So we'll get into all of that next coming up on Locked on Cardinals. Ever check your bank account and wonder, where did all my money go between dining out, whether it's fast food or real restaurants, all of it's expensive these days. Online shopping, you got to go grab simple things like detergent or toilet paper,

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Starting point is 00:17:45 Find MLB game night on Lockton MLB on YouTube or wherever you listen to your podcasts. As mentioned in the beginning, the offense had little to no success against Blue J starter, Jose Berrios. who went six and two-thirds innings, no runs, four hits. And he's not even a big strikeout guy. Just kind of had the guys off balance. A lot of pop-ups last night. Things just didn't turn until he was out of the game, right? Like, they had him in there, and he had the Cardinals just like,

Starting point is 00:18:18 we didn't know what was coming at us. And the Cardinals, though, as soon as he got out of the game, you saw the momentum shift. And you saw them strike in that eighth inning. to do it with two outs, which was pretty impressive. Credit to Victor Scott the second. I mean, we know how much he's been struggling at the plate. Doesn't have a hit yet in June.

Starting point is 00:18:38 He's betting 136 over his last 78 plate appearances, but they're riding with them. You know, we talk about runway for guys like Gorman, although, you know, he hasn't had nearly as much as we thought he was going to get, but Jordan Walker, Victor Scott as well. Like, they're not benching this guy. They're not going to call Michael Siani in to save the day. And all of a sudden start him in center field.

Starting point is 00:18:59 like Victor Scott is the guy. They're rolling with him. And they just, you know, they're going to try to get him out of this funk that he's at the plate. But he works that lead off walk, which was outstanding, you know, because he got, remember the one strike call was way outside. The Yump was like, oh, I didn't call that, didn't I? So on the last pitch, which could have been called a strike way closer than the pitch

Starting point is 00:19:21 that was previously called the strike. They call it a ball. He gets on. You saw the pitch for the for the blue jays. He was like, what the? But Victor gets on, you know, and I felt good for him there because despite all the struggles at the play, despite the unfortunate home run that went off his glove in center field to make it three to nothing. You know, it's like when things go bad, they really go bad. But he works that walk in the eighth.

Starting point is 00:19:46 Mason Wynn gets a single. And then with two watch, you get the RBI single by Wilson Contreras, which set up the moment for Yvonne Herrera, who delivers with a bang yet again. I mean, how much do you love this guy? How much do you love Yvonne Herrera? Three run rocket into the camera well and left field corner, giving the Cardinals a four to three lead, just pandemonium at Bush Stadium. The place was alive.

Starting point is 00:20:09 The offense has this never quit attitude, and they've played with it for most of this year, and it just about got them a win in a game that honestly seemed dead and gone long ago. Like nobody figured that all of a sudden, they would just come back and swipe the lead, but they're able to do it. unfortunately, you know, Helsley wasn't able to close the door.

Starting point is 00:20:29 But five of Herrera's seven home runs this season have either tied the game or put the Cardinals into the lead. Like he's just been as clutch as anyone can ask him to be. And it sucks that it got wasted. You know, he did it against the Royals on Thursday. But it's kind of eerily similar to what happened here. Helsley unable to shut the door. Royals stole the win in that one. Blue J. steal a win in this one.

Starting point is 00:20:52 So that was unfortunate. But, you know, it is awesome. seeing a von Herrera, you know, blossoming the way he has so far this year. You wonder where his numbers would be if he hadn't missed that month with the bone bruise in his leg. So I do want to talk about the 10th inning real quick. So after the Cardinals go down in the 9th, Victor Scott made the last out. So you're like, all right, we got our speedster starting the, starting the extra

Starting point is 00:21:17 innings at second base, fastest guy on the roster. You're down one run after the Blue Jay scored in the top of the 10th. And you've got the struggling Lars Neupar coming to the plate. And I think myself and the rest of the world expected a bunt attempt of some sort there. And it didn't happen. I was shocked. Why no bunt attempt? And I haven't seen Olly talk about this yet.

Starting point is 00:21:44 My thing is, though, that Lars has looked just terrible recently. Like he looks terrible at the plate, taking some of the most un-newed at bats we've ever seen. just wild swings at pitches that are really not even all that close to being strikes. And for a guy that's got that eagle eye that we're used to seeing, it's been weird. Brendan Donovan looked weird last night, too, swinging at a bunch of bad pitches just flailing away. But nude had two more strikeouts on Monday, giving him 32 in his last 105 plate appearances with just eight walks. That's not normal. His career, strikeout percentage is 20.1 percent.

Starting point is 00:22:24 and over the last month, he's at 30%. So a significant increase in the strikeouts right now for Lars Neupar. He's really fighting it. Also batting just 215 in that same time span. The OVP has dipped the 286 over that time span as well. You know, when things were really cooking for this offense, it was Newt that was setting the tone with his long and exhausting at bats, getting a lot of walks.

Starting point is 00:22:50 If he wasn't walking, he was punching a hit or two in there. obviously he was hitting the long ball as well, and that is just not happening at the moment. And I'm sure he's working really hard to get back on track, but it's certainly a reason why this offense has looked a little more sluggish in recent weeks. I don't want to say they're overall struggling. I mean, they've faced some pretty good pitching. So it's not like, you know, they're getting beat by a bunch of scrubs. But both him and Victor Scott struggling at the same time and then hitting back to back in the nine hole in the number one hole. has shortened this lineup a little bit.

Starting point is 00:23:26 So that's a big reason why the sluggishness is showing up in this Cardle's offense from time to time. But again, with Newt struggling the way he is, I was just a little surprised that they didn't even try to bond to move Victor over to third base. That way, with his speed, you've got a number of different ways to get him home and tie the game, whether it's a wild pitch, pass ball, ground ball. Mason Wynn hits a ground ball up the middle that moves him over to third eventually. but that ground ball probably scores him, you know, barring some miraculous play on the infield and a phenomenal throw home that's got to be perfectly accurate to get somebody as fast as Victor Scott. You know, I just found it a little bit odd.

Starting point is 00:24:07 It was strange. If Newt was going strong, then I can understand swinging away a little more, but it just kind of felt like that was an opportune time for somebody who's struggling to do something positive by getting a bunk down. and instead he strikes out again and the Cardinals don't end up scoring. Shout out to Andre Palante, who was shaky early on. I even made the joke on X. I was like, is Palante the new Michaelis?

Starting point is 00:24:32 Because it just seemed like the Blue Jays were just finding empty spots all over the infield, the outfield, just hole after hole. If there wasn't somebody, if there was one little patch of grass that a Cardinal wasn't standing in, that is where the ball landed. Like it just was happening that way early on. But he settles in nine. nicely, make some adjustments, ends up getting a quality start, six innings allows just two runs. And I know some fans are wishing Michael McGreevy was the guy getting these starts instead of Andre Palante.

Starting point is 00:25:01 But, you know, you got to give Palante credit overcame that rough start to give the Cardinals exactly what they needed last night to stay in the game. And it worked because the Cardinals come back and take the lead in the eighth inning. So he did his job, kept you right there, just didn't, weren't able to finish it off. Some injury updates. Jordan Walker has shown significant progress to batting practice pain free for a second straight day per manager Ali Marmal expected to start a minor league rehab assignment on Thursday. Thank God. It's frustrating as it has been to watch Jordan Walker go through the struggles this year, although he was hit much better before he got hurt. I can't watch Ryan Valade hit anymore. It is driving me bonkers. He is now one for 13 with five strikeouts since getting called up. I can't watch it anymore. I don't want to see it. it anymore, which hopefully means he's going to get a couple hits tonight. But I can't. I can't. It's not working.

Starting point is 00:25:57 It doesn't look good. And I'm over it. I'm over it. Matthew Libertura appears good to go on Wednesday after leaving his start with the fatigue, has had a couple rough starts. His last few times out has been a big piece of the turnaround this season for the Cardinals. So hoping for a nice bounce back game from him on Wednesday. It's a day game.

Starting point is 00:26:16 And then tonight, Tuesday, it's my last week. Michaelis against Chris Bassett. Michaelis 4 and 2 with a 3.96 ERA against Bassett. 6 and 3, 3.56 ERA. Really good in his last outing against the Phillies. But he did get lit up in his two previous starts against the Ray's Ammy Athletic. So hopefully we get that version of Chris Bassett tonight, not the one that took on Philadelphia.

Starting point is 00:26:39 Thanks for making a lockdown Cardinals your first list. Every day, if you haven't already, give us a follow on X at L.O. 1 underscore Cardinals and at JD Sports Radio, TikTok, Instagram, and Locked on Cardinals. Please like and subscribe on YouTube and help our channel and love for the Cardinals grow. You know, you hear this about YouTube videos all the time that, you know, only like 4% of the actual viewers are subscribed.

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Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - DISASTER: Helsley's Third Straight BLOWN SAVE Dooms Cardinals | Will Oli Make a CHANGE?

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