Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - Dustin May LIMPS Off After Another SHAKY Start but the St. Louis Cardinal Bats Come To LIFE!

Starting point is 00:00:00 What's the level of concern with Dustin May after another poor outing that ended with him limping off the field? This is 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 fans. I am J.D. Haffron. And today's episode is being brought to you by Calci. For a limited time, download the Calci app and use code.

Starting point is 00:00:35 Locked-on, L-O-C-K-E-D-O-N, to get $10 when you trade 10, Cal She, trade on anything. So on today's show, we're going to go through some Cardinal Confessions, where we answer listeners' questions, kind of respond to their comments, a lot of good ones today. It's not as negative as I thought it was going to be. We were going to talk about what was a struggling offense until Thursday to add scheme in Atlanta, but we're going to start with what happened with Cardinal

Starting point is 00:01:03 starter, Justin May, and to help us sift through all of this information. I got our tag team partner, the one, the only Thomas Govain back here in studio with us. Thomas, how are you, buddy? Happy 4th of July weekend. What is the family's favorite part about the 4th? Food, fireworks, or just being off work for a couple of days? My wife will probably say the latter, too, fireworks and then taking off time from work.

Starting point is 00:01:32 fireworks have always been 50-50 on. I feel like if you see one, you've seen them all, but I still get the excitement of it. We'll find out. My two kids, we've usually put them to bed before any of the festivities, so I think the parents would be food. Were you ever one of the guys that would, like, get fireworks and let them off in the street with your buddies or anything?

Starting point is 00:01:51 No, I'm too smart for that, I think. Yeah, I don't know. The risk was not worth it. Well, this shows you how dumb I am. We used to have bomb rocket wars. and we would cut the, you remember the yellow wiffle bats? They're like real thin.

Starting point is 00:02:06 Oh, yeah. I did that a couple of times. Okay, so we used to cut the ends off of those, and we would use those as like the guns, and that's how we would aim and shoot at each other. No fear of getting, you know, a bottle rocket in the eyeball or anything like hurting anybody. We just ran out into a field and did it. So that's the guy that's hosting this show, just so everybody knows.

Starting point is 00:02:28 That's the kind of genius that you guys are listening to. Let's get into the baseball side of things. Cardinals end up getting the win on Thursday night. They take it 11 to 5. So that's some good news. Dustin May, this is where the bad news is about this game. Dustin May had a really bad couple of outings to start his Cardinals career. Settles in nicely.

Starting point is 00:02:53 Looks like he's a solid pickup. Everything's going great. Flirts with a couple of no-nows, throws that complete game. Guy was on top of the world. got Cardinal fans who were like clamoring. Sign this guy. Extension, three more years. We got to keep them. Don't trade them. And now two games later, everybody's kind of like, well, what do we do now? Now we're just hoping he doesn't go on the IL. Game in Kansas City last has two winnings, allows six runs on six sets, including two home runs. They skip his next

Starting point is 00:03:25 start because it was revealed that he was dealing with a little bit of back tightness following that complete game that he threw. Then Thursday night, he only lasts two outings against Atlanta, allows five runs on five hits. He walks to and one of those hits was the line shot that went off his ankle and was, they say it went off the bat at 91.6. It looked like it went 91.6 off his ankle. I wonder if Stackass was catching that and not what it actually was off the back because it shoots into right field beyond Burleson over at first base, clears what was the bases loaded. at that time gives the Braves a four to three lead after the Cardals had jumped out to a three to nothing lead. A couple of singles sack fly later after he stayed in the game. It's five three. They remove May with a right ankle contusion.

Starting point is 00:04:13 But even before he got hurt, Thomas, he really didn't look all that good, did he? No, he didn't. And I think, I don't know, we had Mason win up the middle there on that ground ball. I think if it wouldn't have it, May, we had a double play coming through. And now we got the scoring at just three to one. And that doesn't make it look nearly as bad. But the fact that it careened off his leg, it goes all the outfield. They scored three. I think that hurts it, literally hurts him. But then also his stat line hurts him quite a bit too.

Starting point is 00:04:38 But like you said, he just didn't look right still. And I wonder if there's something with his back. He's outside of last year, he's already well exceeded his career high of innings. There might be something there too. I'm not sure if that's what's getting him. We heard the back tightness. Maybe there's more to it. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:04:54 And, you know, we've started hearing people talk about, you know, what it takes out of your body. when you throw a complete game. And you know, you're going to find older fans and listeners who were used to the good old days where guys constantly went seven. And then there's people like from the Bob Gibson era and the 80s with John Tudor and stuff where they were throwing complete games all the time. Like, what's the big deal?

Starting point is 00:05:17 And for whatever reason, these guys just aren't built to do that, whether it's just because of the velocity they're throwing these days compared to people back then, whatever it may be. I'm sure there's a bunch of different reasons why. But, you know, it says something that after he throws a nine-inning game, all of a sudden, there's some decline in what's going on with his repertoire, with the way he's looked. I mean, he was all over the place in that first inning on Thursday night. So what is your level of concern with him moving forward?

Starting point is 00:05:50 Hopefully he's healthy, right? We're hoping this isn't anything more. You know, it just hit him on the ankle, probably swelled up pretty good. good if you ever been a hit but anything on your ankle. You know how that happens. But if he's healthy and we find out, you know, he's healthy. He's good to go. What's your level of concern on what kind of pitcher he can be moving forward?

Starting point is 00:06:08 And does he rebound from these last couple of outings that were really, really bad? Not too concerned. I think that he'll come back around. He seemed to really be getting a lot of confidence. His 12 starts before these last two. He started off pretty rough. He had a lot of consistency after that. and then he hit this rough patch here.

Starting point is 00:06:28 I wouldn't be surprised. Injuries aside, if he's healthy, I wouldn't be surprised if we see another good string of starts out of him leading up to the all-star break. He'll get one more, maybe two more before the break, and then into the trade deadline from there as well. Yeah. And what's really important about Dustin May is like, you know,

Starting point is 00:06:44 we cardals will likely sell at the deadline. And May was one of those names that many thought could bring back a solid haul for Heim Bloom, but things have changed recently. And we hope he's okay. We really hope that he just keeps helping the Cardinals win. I mean, if you are in a playoff position and you guys are winning and you're throwing well, like, you know, hopefully you can keep him around for a little bit just to see where he can take you. But if they do decide to sell, which is the likely thing that's going to happen,

Starting point is 00:07:14 he's certainly going to be one of those better names available at the deadline this year, which is a plus for the Cardinals. Yeah, absolutely. He's just a rental essentially. I mean, I don't think that mutual option will be taken up both sides. So you need to keep that in mind as well when you look at the returns. But that's probably a team's top 15 prospect and then maybe there's another throw in from there. And that's valuable to the Cardinals.

Starting point is 00:07:34 We saw that last year. We've seen a lot of guys in that range who are now performing. You look at Hazus Baez and a couple other guys we traded for. That's still a valuable prospect for depth that the Cardinals could use. Yeah. And who knows? You could pull a Merrill Kelly like Arizona did where they traded him and then he just came back. you know, if he likes St. Louis and understands the business, which I'm guessing Dustin does at this point in his career, that, you know, maybe he's like, no, I get it. Let me go do that. And then if there's something that we can work out after the CBA gets squared away, you know, maybe that's a possibility. Because, I mean, obviously he looks comfortable. He seems to be having a good time. Well, until Thursday night, you know, he seems like you're going to be a good time. But, you know, it doesn't seem like he's anti coming back to St. Louis by any means. So always keep that in the back of your mind, too, that just because I

Starting point is 00:08:24 trade him away. Doesn't mean that he won't come back to St. Louis when it's all set and done. Now up next, we're going to talk about Thursday night's game. Again, a victory for the Cardinals, 11 to 5 and how after one of the more dismal nights at the plate on Wednesday night, how they were able to rebound in a major way? We'll get into all of that coming up next on Locked on Cardinals. Baseball season is here and now you can trade every game on Calci. That's right. Cal She is where you need to go check out. there it is right there. It's waiting for it to pop up on Cali. You can trade every single game. The Cardinals are trading at 47% to beat the Cubs. They start this three game series with the Cubs this weekend.

Starting point is 00:09:14 And that means a $100 trade pays out at $209.47. So if you go Cubs at $100 trade, that pays out 176, 26. So you make the call on Calci. You're trading against peers in a live market, meaning there's no house. And as the probability changes, you can buy in and out of your position for a limited time, you can download the Calci app use code locked on, which is L-O-C-K-E-D-O-N to get $10 when you trade 10. Cal-She, K-A-L-S-H-I, K-A-L-S-H-I, K-A-L-S-H-I-C, trade-on-E-T-E-Leguarez. Event-C-T-Lects Trading involves risk and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices, values, and available markets may differ from those mentioned. For more information, see calci.com slash regulatory.

Starting point is 00:10:02 Thank you for making a lockdown Cardinals for first listen of the day. Thank you for making locked on the number one sports podcast network. Get your daily Cardinals coverage completely ad free by joining the everyday club today. Start your seven day free trial right now. Get closer to your team without those interruptions. Click the link in the show notes or go to locked on SEO cardinals. That supercast.com to claim your free trial. Once again, Thomas Covein from Redmond, rants.com joining us here.

Starting point is 00:10:32 And before the final game against Atlanta, I'm just going to be completely honest. Thomas I are texting and we were both about like, hey, let's let's let's talk about how crappy this offense is and how they, they can't seem to do anything right. They can't hit their way. You know, if the, if the ball was coming in like a beach ball, they couldn't figure out how to how to put that on ball. They can't get any slugging going. There's no extra base hits. And then that first inning happens. And Jordan Walker goes yard, gives you a three run lead. And then they cool off and everybody's like, all right. It looks like, you know, they're going right. back into their coma. And then they explode for seven runs in the seventh inning. And, you know, the night before, it was so bad. Like that game was as boring a game as I have ever seen, Thomas. They scored that one run in the first inning. Braves pitchers retired 25 of the final 26 cardinals hitters in the game.

Starting point is 00:11:28 And in winning the second game of the series in Atlanta, the only batter to reach base for the Cardinals after that single on Wednesday night was J.J. Weatherholt who walked in the third inning after that, the Braves retired the final 20 batters in a row. So, of course, we were set to destroy these guys. And instead, the offense goes ham and has this incredible night and wakes up. But it's one game. So I don't want to get overly excited, although it's huge that they're doing this before they have to head to Wrigley. But what are your thoughts on what you've seen from the offense leading into Thursday night's game before, you know, they kind of started clicking in that inning.

Starting point is 00:12:08 What are you seeing from the guys like Jordan Walker and Burley and Herrera and why you think maybe they're struggling as much as they are right now? Yeah, if you go back to June 17th, which is kind of when this losing stretch started a little bit, second game against the Padres. From then up until yesterday, not including Thursday night's game, the top four hitters usually were great for the Cardinals throughout the first, however many games.

Starting point is 00:12:32 But then the only above average hitter of those first four has been J.J. Webber. hole in that time span with the 106 WRC plus. Ivan Herrera was below, just barely, Alec Berlison was pretty far below, and then Jordan Walker is also really far below. And I think it's where those four go. That's where the rest of the offense goes. The bottom half doesn't have superstars, as is often the case. And so if your top four best hitters aren't doing it, then the other five are not going

Starting point is 00:12:56 to be able to support as well. So I think that's where all starts from is those top four hitters. And then from there, you just go into probably a slump across the board, too, for everybody else. Yeah, I mean, you can almost say that about any offense, like even, you know, because you don't really have as many problems with the, with teams with, like, deeper rosters, you know, the guys like the Dodgers and even the Braves and stuff, although they've been scuffling as well. Yankees, I mean, Yankees have hitters like crazy. Yeah, and it's, you're just loaded with studs up and down the order. And the Cardinals, it's not that their bottom of the

Starting point is 00:13:28 order is just trash, but, you know, they're just not the same level as some of these other rosters are. But yeah, of the four that you that we were talking about with it, we'll just go on the order there with JJ, Yvonne, Burley, and Walker, which one has been the most concerning of those four for you as far as like, you know, like I'm a little more concerned about him than everybody else as far as him bouncing back from what's going on right now. I think the obvious answer is Jordan Walker. Ivan Herrera, you want to see more, especially in the slug department, but he's still getting on base at a 350, 360 clip. They keep hitting him, Thomas.

Starting point is 00:14:04 It's hilarious. Yeah, I just go for it. But I think it's Jordan Walker, especially when you look at his history. I mean, his first three years were brutal up and down except for his rookie year. And even then there are some concerns. But then to see this year, everybody's talking to his garage, as he changed things, what's going on with Jordan Walker. And to see that he went 13 games without an extra base hit, I believe, I think June 13th was

Starting point is 00:14:25 his last one. And he had a couple of days off in there as well. So that's a long stretch without extra base hit for a guy who's vet and clean up in your lineup. He was probably the most concerning great night on Thursday for him as well. For RBIs, he's now nationally leading guy in RBIs. Hopefully he unlocks something again. He gets back on one of those hot streaks that he goes on this year. Yeah, and that's the one thing that you want to see from a hitter, even as young as he is,

Starting point is 00:14:53 because we forget that he's still 24. I do. I feel like he's like 27 because he's been on the team for so long, but he's still just turned 24 like a month ago. a very young guy, but he continues to keep bouncing back when things get cold. And this happens to everybody. Every team goes through some slumps at some point or another. And this just happened to be like where there was no balance whatsoever with the car. Like everybody went cold.

Starting point is 00:15:17 Everybody stopped hitting the ball into the gaps or down the lines. They were getting no extra base hits. I think the other day I did in one of our shows and I had like, it was like three extra base hits for like the top eight guys on the roster as far as hitting like that was all they had over like their last week or something like it was something bonkers and I think two of them were new bar and it was just like wow is that possible like so much talent but it happens from times to time but as you mentioned jordan had a big night on Thursday night uh ends up hitting that three run jack obviously uh that we mentioned but four rbis

Starting point is 00:15:50 and uh goes two for four and he also drove in a run in uh that first game against Atlanta and or in the second game against Atlanta and then even though it was a it loses effort. But I don't know, he seems to be kind of, you know, you see him and he's, he looked pretty good on Thursday night. So hopefully he's busting out. Ivan Herrera, let me ask you this. Are you concerned about the wear and tear on Herrera and wearing him down? Because he, he played last year was the most games he's ever played, 107 games. And we know we didn't do a whole lot of catching during that. It was mostly DH. But he's already played in every game so far this season, whether it's D.H or behind the plate. And even when you're D-Hing, it's going to wear you down physically and mentally at

Starting point is 00:16:35 some point. Do you feel like Ali needs to start getting him out of the lineup a little bit more to keep him fresher and maybe using somebody like Nelson Velasquez a little more as the D-H to give Yvonne like a complete day off once in a while? I don't think so at this point. He's at 31 games caught 53 at D-H after Thursday. Somebody check my math. That feels like a 57%. You know, I think that's 57. I played a lot of NBA 2K when I was younger, and I was at 5 out of 8 just kind of brings it on that. So I'm going to go 57% of his games. Sounds good to me.

Starting point is 00:17:09 Yeah, I think that's a healthy amount for him. The number of catching this year for him was always somewhere on that 60 game mark. That feels right at the end of the year. He's right on track for that too right now. I think if that's the path he stays on, he's not hitting 50% games caught. I think he can play every single game. I don't know if the wear and tears is actually affecting him. he seems to do better offensively when he's behind the plate.

Starting point is 00:17:33 Someone also checked me on those numbers. Last time I checked it was better across the board for him when he's catching. So I've got a lot of people checking me now, I guess, but I'm not too worried about it. If someone starts barking like his knees like they have been in the past, then I'll see some worry. But I trust Ali and the staff to give him days when he needs it. I mean, he looked healthy running on Thursday night

Starting point is 00:17:53 when he was running from first to third on that ground ball play where they actually had some good base running. and JJ got into the rundown. But he looked good running there. So it doesn't seem to be any problems down in the lower half, at least. And I don't know. I just don't always worry about these guys because it seems like they get worn out. And I don't want them toasted by the time August rolls around just in case.

Starting point is 00:18:14 If this team is still in the hunt, you know, I still want them to be able to at least compete. Now, I was telling the wife tonight, she's like, you get so worked up watching these games. And I'm like, well, it's because like when they're playing good baseball and they lose, I feel I'm okay. it's when they started screwing up, kicking the ball around and walking people. And I just, I get so frustrated. And I think, I don't think I'm alone on that one. And, you know, watching Yvonne Herrera constantly swing at the first pitch and ground into double plays. And I'm like, maybe he's just tired.

Starting point is 00:18:44 I'm like, what else? What else is the excuse here? He doesn't want to stand in there for five pitches. So swing at the first one. Yeah, yeah. He's so tired that he's got to get down and get out of the box as quick as possible. So he hits into these devil plays and swings at the first pitch. And I was so ready.

Starting point is 00:18:58 to do that tonight too. I was like, I'm so sick of watching them swing at the first pitch. And literally the next hitter was Nathan Church who hits the three run Homer on Thursday and on the first pitch. And I was like, well, I guess I'm going to put my foot in my mouth now and just be quiet and not say anything like that. But I just, you know, we, we as fans, we get worked up about these things with the, with the team because, you know, it's immediate like one game they might look good. And the next game they suck. And we immediately dump on them. And then two days later, we're like, hey, look at the great offense. And it's just, you know, that's baseball. And there's going to be lulls. There's going to be peaks and valleys. And you're just hoping that

Starting point is 00:19:36 this low point that they were going through when they were losing the guys like the Royals and the and the twins and, you know, the diamondbacks just recently. Like, you're hoping that that gets out of the way now because now we're in this 14 game stretch. You just took two of three from the Braves, which feels really freaking good. And then you got the Cubs for going to Wrigley, weekend. And then you got the Brewers and then you got the Braves again. So it's one hell of a stretch. So we're going to talk about what Thomas thinks their record needs to be during this 14 game stretch for them to be considered a viable playoff team. And we'll do that in a bunch of other Cardinals confessions. We got a lot of questions for you, Thomas. People want to

Starting point is 00:20:17 really, really get some answers out of you. So we'll get into all of that coming up next year on on Locked on Cardinals. Nothing like watching a Cardinals game live and in person. You get the excitement. of course you got the ambiance, the food, ballpark village, you got tarps off going on in right field. The only problem is getting tickets. It can feel like a grind, long queue, surprise fees. Price is jumping up and check out. It's nonsense. You shouldn't have to deal with it. And you don't. That's where game time comes into play. The game time app gives fancy advantage with constant innovation. It's how you unlock amazing tickets and experiences in just a few taps. It's simple to use. The game time guarantee means that you're always going to get 100% authentic

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Starting point is 00:21:39 your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, create an account redeem code LOC, E, D, ON, for 20 bucks off. Download the game time app today. Thanks again for making Locktown. Carlos, your first list of the day. Thank you for making it locked on the number one sports podcast network. Thomas Covey from Redwood Rants.com joining us here tonight. This is coming off Cardinals 11 to 5 win over the Braves. They take two of three in the series. and now they're heading to Wrigley Field. And the first question out of the box, Thomas, what is your confidence level heading into Wrigley after seeing what they just did to the Padres over the last couple days?

Starting point is 00:22:20 Granted, the Padres, and it's weird, how are they still in a wildcard spot? Because every time I look up, they're getting creamed by somebody. So I don't get how the Padres are still there. But they are. And the Cubs took care of business and just brought out the whooping sticks on them. It's going to be a holiday weekend. The whole city is going to be at Wrigley Field or in Wrigleyville surrounding the stadium. What is your level of confidence going into Wrigley this weekend with the Cardinals after seeing what they just did to the Braves on Thursday night?

Starting point is 00:22:51 Three out of ten because I'll give them one out of three wins. You look at the projected starters. It's two lefties right up the bat. And then the one game where it's the righty. It's Matthew Livertore pitching for us. So Libby's different after that last start, hopefully. But you would hope that just for matchup purposes, it's Polane off the bat against David Peterson,

Starting point is 00:23:13 Nike against I'maiga, and then Libby against Javier Assad. I give us the last game probably, one out of the three. You get to pick your favorite. But we struggle more against lefties, then Lipper towards going against a righty. You never quite know. So I'll take one out of three against the Cubs in Wrigley. As long as they're hard-fought games,

Starting point is 00:23:30 I think I'll be happy with that leave in the city. Yeah, my biggest fear is not losing. It's getting embarrassed. Like I don't want to see one of those series where the Cubs are just kicking the hell out of the Cardinals. Like I don't want to see 8 to 1, 8 to 2. I certainly don't want to see 23 to 3 like the Cubs did to the Padres. Like I wanted to be competitive fun games like they were at Bush Stadium for the most part. Those were fun games to go to even though, you know, we were at the one where they lost, Thomas.

Starting point is 00:23:59 That was our fault. We'll take the full blame there. But that's what I'm looking forward to is I hope it's competitive. I just don't want to see them laying egg. And it really does something for my confidence for this team to see them put up 11 runs against Atlanta before heading into Wrigley. Because if they didn't put up, you know, if it was another one of those dull games where they're not hitting and they're not scoring, oh, gosh, it could get really bad at Wrigley. So I feel a little bit better about it. But yeah, I agree with you.

Starting point is 00:24:28 Don't get swept. At least get one. And I don't think it'll be too much complaining. but if you can do better, go for it. If you were to add something for this team at the deadline, what area are you targeting first? So I guess starting pitching, bullpen, or an everyday player.

Starting point is 00:24:46 We don't really have to talk about like depth pieces. I got plenty of that. But of those three things, an everyday player starting pitcher or bullpen, who would you like to target if they decide like it? We need to go out and get somebody to add. I'd say a starting pitcher, preferably one with control.

Starting point is 00:25:01 Now, that's a tricky thing to get into because then you're probably trading high-level prospects to get that starting pitcher with control. There might be a way for Highen Bloom to walk the line. If that's not the case, I'd target a high-level corner infielder, third base. Yeah, all of a sudden, third base is like, wait a second, now we kind of got a hole over there with Gorman being down at Memphis and Blaze Jordan starting to struggle a little bit, which happens to most rookie. so but yeah defense for blaze jordan has uh oh stuff because he was making all the plays all the all the normal plays he was making and even had a couple of nice ones in there in the last couple days it's like bro have you ever played third before this is like this is we don't need to bring that back up again that's a conversation people didn't like having on social media yeah yeah uh well here's here's one of

Starting point is 00:25:49 the questions it's because like now people are starting to jump on the Jose for mean train and and people are excited about him. Should Jose Fermin gets a more run over at third base with Blaze Jordan kind of struggling a little bit? I'd try it. I mean, he's a guy you can play anywhere. You're not going to get extreme offense out of him, but he's reliable defensively.

Starting point is 00:26:07 He seems to come up with big hits, The Fermanator. I'm into that too. Home run the other night. Why not give him a little bit of run? I think Blaze Jordan might have been figured out by opposing pitchers. So let's try for Mena out there. Yeah, for Mena on the season right now is hitting 266.

Starting point is 00:26:24 three home runs, 15 RBIs, does that all in 124 at bats. They did have him over at third on Thursday night. And he had one play where he kind of rushed his throw where he tried to turn two, where he stepped on third throw to first. And it was a terrible throw down the line a little bit. But I don't know, with the more repetition over there, maybe that's what happens. That takes us into my next question because we kind of talked to Blaise Jordan there

Starting point is 00:26:50 because there was a question about, has this bubble popped already? Are we done with them? But how about this? Who do you think it's called up first? Nolan Gorman or Victor Scott? Who comes back to the show first? You know, I thought you were going to throw a wrinkle in there and do Josh Baez, like Nolan Gorman and Josh Baez. And I don't have an answer to that. I'd probably go. We can go that way if you want to go that way. We can make it a trio. We'll stick to the question. I don't want to get anybody excited. Probably Nolan Gorman. I haven't looked at his numbers. I know he was striking out a bunch. He had home run somewhere in there. But I think I'd give him. shot just because there's no other options at third base right now. The outfield seems pretty stacked and set at the moment. And I think that if the outfield is going to be replenished, it'll be Josh Baez before Victor Scott. So I'll go go Gorman over here in the Vs too.

Starting point is 00:27:40 Okay. Now, another question that had to do with Baez was whether or not your timeline for a call up for Baez changed with the way the offense had been performing. Now we see them score 11 runs. so maybe everybody calms down a little bit, but had it changed it all in your mind? No, I don't think so. Derek Gould talked about this a couple weeks ago, one of his podcasts. Bias is on the 40-man roster.

Starting point is 00:28:03 So if there is a lockout and if the season is delayed next year, he cannot play in minor league games, even if he hasn't debuted. I would really imagine that give him the Mason win treatment, give him 30-some-odd games up here, keeping under that rookie threshold of played appearances, just to give him a taste and some playing time

Starting point is 00:28:21 before he might be off for six months. A couple of fun questions, too, as we wrap it up. Who do you think is the most disliked player on the Cardinals by other teams or fan bases? Because, you know, back in the day, it was always Yadi. Everybody booed Yadi and they respected him, but nobody liked him. Is there anybody like that on the Cardinals? I thought that was an intriguing question. I'm like, none of our guys are jerks.

Starting point is 00:28:45 Like, they don't really even talk or anything. So I don't know if there is a guy that comes off that way. Is there anybody in your mind that you think other teams don't like? I got to look at the 40-man roster now just to see. Probably a pitcher, but I really don't. I don't think we have, like, it was Wilson Contrars. Maybe it's not cocky enough, like JJ, no. Maybe Alex Burleson, strictly from the fact of like,

Starting point is 00:29:11 why is this guy doing what he's doing? You know, like, people are just going to annoyed that he's able to produce the way he is. I really don't have an answer. Because Wilson Contreras would have been the easy answer last year. Look at him now. I'm going to go. That was done. That was an entertaining scene with him in Boston the other night, getting all upset and spiking his helmet at Cavali.

Starting point is 00:29:30 Like, I'm like, God, I miss that about Willie. And then there are parts of me like, I don't really miss that all from Willie. Actually, I think I'm an audible. I'll go to Fondarer just because they pluck him so much. But it's not a purpose. But like, you know. Obviously, they hate him. They keep hitting him with the baseball every time he comes up.

Starting point is 00:29:47 All right. Last question for you. What would you rather say? this weekend in Chicago. PCA go 0 for 15 or the Cardinals score 20 runs over the three game series. Neither of them guarantee 20 wins or anything. Which one would bring you more pleasure, though? 20 runs, probably because that feels like it equates two wins, maybe a third.

Starting point is 00:30:07 However, if PCA goes over 15 and there's another blunder defensively, I'll take that. Like, give me five runs and then a PCA blunder in 0 for 15. I haven't looked up the stats yet, but that game we were at when they were playing at Bush Stadium, and PCA hit the home run into the tarps off section when they were screaming overrated at him, and it went right over my head, and the ball ended up right next to me in the Cub fans' hands in front of me because of that awful throw from the tarps team guy. But like since that point, I just guessing, I think PCA is hitting 700 since he did that. Like it's been unbelievable what that guy's been doing.

Starting point is 00:30:49 We don't have to like him, but holy crap, what a talent, right? Oh, absolutely. I can give you, if you give me like 30 seconds. I can get his numbers if you want to. 30 seconds. Yeah, I mean, there's a lot of reasons to dislike him just because of his arrogance. Like, I don't know, he doesn't look like he should have an earring, but he wears an earring.

Starting point is 00:31:08 Like, it doesn't fit. Holy cow. Okay, 29 games. This is not including anything from Thursday. 248 WRC plus in the 29 games since. That's nuts. Yeah. 13 home runs.

Starting point is 00:31:21 It's as if the tarps off section in St. Louis unlocked. Like, you know, we used to call it villain Willie, villain PCA, and he has just been on a tear ever since. Yeah. It's boxed. Well, I don't know how we're going to silence him this weekend, because that's going to have to happen. We're going to have slow down.

Starting point is 00:31:38 It's Dansby-Swanson, Sayas Suzuki. All of these guys are hitting a ton. Michael Bush always rocks us too. The only guy who hasn't woken up yet is Nico Horner. He's still kind of just falling apart. Ever since he got hit by a pitch, I think it got him in the head. He's been weirdly not good. So I don't know what's going on with him.

Starting point is 00:31:57 But I don't know. It's going to be crazy. It's going to be a wild crowd in Chicago. And I'm hoping we survive it. So last question. What do you think? I got one more for you real quick. What do you think the Cardo's record needs to be over this 14 game span to

Starting point is 00:32:13 stay within this race? I think they got to go eight and six. They took the first series from the Braves. I'd be fine with a one and two series against the Cubs, split it home against the Brewers, and then beat the Braves. Or three and one against the Brewers and one and two against the Braves.

Starting point is 00:32:28 I think both those are equally as possible. So I'll go eight and six over the stretch. Yeah. Hopefully the Reds kind of knocked the Brewers off kilter with their win on Thursday. And they kind of beat up on Mizorowski a little bit. So I know we got to play the Brewers. five times and four days. So that's never fun, but at least we get to do it while we're,

Starting point is 00:32:48 we're at home, right? We're at home for that series, right? Yeah, yeah, the last two we are. Yeah. So hopefully, hey, we need you out there, Cardinal Nation. Get on out to Bush Stadium, root these guys on, man. They've proven a lot of people wrong in this first half of the season, and hopefully they'll do it again here over this final stretch leading into the All-Star break. All right. Thanks for making a lockdown Cardinals. We haven't already give us follow on X at L.O. underscore Cardinals, TikTok, Instagram, and Lockdown Cardinals. Like, subscribe. on YouTube. Make sure you guys follow Thomas Covey. He's got a new handle on Twitter because some jerk took his other one and stole it from him. What's the new handle, Thomas? It's just my name with number two at the end because I'm not creative enough.

Starting point is 00:33:27 Okay. Simple enough. Why? Why get rid of all right? If you never miss an episode of the everyday air club built for you, get locked on Cardinals ad free members only Discord access and more at a locked on SDL cardels.com to join the club. Make sure you check out Thomas's work at Redbird Ranson.com. He told me he was working on some new things. So be on the lookout for those as well. For those of you on video, we'll send you to the first ever. Locked on 24-7 National Locked-on Podcast Network, YouTube channel audio. Make sure your second list is locked on MLB. Thomas, thank you as always, buddy.

Starting point is 00:33:58 I appreciate you. All right. Take care, JD. All right. We will see you guys next time on Locked on Cardinals.

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