Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - Have The St. Louis Cardinals Found A SECRET Power Source To Help IMPROVE The Lineup?

Starting point is 00:00:00 Right-handed power-heading outfielders were really tough to come by this offseason. A lot of teams were looking for one. And it appears the Cardinals got lucky and have found one. You are Locked-on Cardinals, your daily St. Louis Cardinals podcast, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Hey, they're Cardinals fans. I'm J.D. Haffron, a former National Radio Sports anchor, born and raised in St. Louis and a lifetime Cardinals fan.

Starting point is 00:00:30 And welcome to another episode of Locked on Cardinals. part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, now the number one sports podcast network. A big thank you to the everydayers who have been here since the beginning. For those of you who are new, welcome in. This is a show serving Cardinal Nation and giving you all the info about the birds on the bat. Today's episode is brought to you by MLB, the show, 26. Visit MLB the dot show slash locked on and use code locked on to unlock a pack for use in Diamond Dynasty. Pre-order now, available March 17th on PlayStation 5, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch.

Starting point is 00:01:02 rated E for everyone. On today's show, we're going to discuss the Jordan Walker situation a bit further after another rough day for him at the dish. But there were plenty of good things to focus on from Thursday's matchup against the Mets, one that the Cardinals would come out on top in by a score of three to one. Shocker, another low scoring affair. It feels like we've had a ton of them. And it's great when you talk about the pitching stab. You're like, hey, low scoring game pitching look good.

Starting point is 00:01:29 Not so good on the other side where the offense just can't seem to get. anything going. The Cardinals have now scored three or less runs in 10 of their last 12 games here in the month of March. They had the 10 to two win over Baltimore on March 6th. And then when they had split squad action on Monday, they beat up on Baltimore again, scored seven winning that game seven to two. But outside of those games, they've had run totals of one, three, one, three, two, two, three, one, three. And yes, I know it's spring training. And yes, we've never seen a full starting lineup together in one lineup for a whole game.

Starting point is 00:02:15 But let's be honest. You'd like to see a little more production than that, wouldn't you? I know I would. It makes me a little nervous that even though these aren't like the top tier pitch that they're facing all the time that they're not hitting them very well. So it makes me a little bit nervous for what might come in 2026 when we know that runs are probably going to be a premium. At least that's the way it feels. Now, one guy that has been producing that we are not going to complain about at all.

Starting point is 00:02:41 And it's really started to open some eyes is outfielder Nelson Velasquez. On a team that is missing, Yvonne Herrera and Lars Nupar, at least for now, and has plenty of question marks surrounding other guys in the lineup. Jordan Walker, Nolan Gorman, Mason, Wend, Victor Scott the second, even JJ Weatherhole. As great as we think he will be, we don't know what's going to happen when the regular season begins. So this offseason, they comb the free agent market for right-handed hitters. They would fit their budget, their needs as far as, you know, playing time. And, you know, we kicked around names like Austin Hayes, Miguel Anduehawar, Randall Gritchick.

Starting point is 00:03:22 but none of them came to the Cardinals. Hayes went to the White Sox, Anahar went to San Diego, Gritchick went to the Yankees. The Cardinals decided to challenge some of the guys they already had in house, like Jose Fermin and Thomas and Jacey, to see if they could help in this area.

Starting point is 00:03:36 Nathan Church is getting a nice long look and has looked pretty good. We know that Joshua Baez will eventually get a shot. And then there was Nelson Velazquez, fifth round pick by the Cubs in 2017. Made his major league debut in 2022, showed some pop.

Starting point is 00:03:52 but got traded to the Royals in 2023, where the pop really took off. He launched 14 home runs in 40 games. Problem was he couldn't duplicate that success in 2024. It ended up getting released. Ends up in the Mexican League last year. No offense to the Mexican League, but it ain't what we think that he should be facing in minor league ball, right? We would expect that to be a tier above what the Mexican League is. but credit to where he was and how he handled it because all he did was mash tore it up

Starting point is 00:04:26 357 15 home runs 57 ribbyes and 49 games did enough for the pirates to bring him back to the state sign him to a minor league deal hits 284 five home runs 17 ribbies and 18 games at triple a but never gets that call up and becomes a free agent ends up playing some winter ball but didn't have any gaudy stats or anything at 269 four home runs 23 ribbies and 46 games but the cardinal sign him in January because why not? Why not take a chance? What do they got to lose by giving a guy who isn't over the hill? He's still 27. He's making peanuts. What's the big problem with giving him another shot at getting to the big leagues? And so far this spring, that chance has been paying off. Nelson or Nelly, as I'm calling him, because it only makes sense. Now he is with St. Louis

Starting point is 00:05:15 has been arguably the Cardinals best hit of this spring. You know, bias, pose. Joe, I mean, they're all right there. They've all been excellent. But he's been better than Alec Burleson,

Starting point is 00:05:28 reigning silver slugger, a winner, better than Walker, better than Gorman, Scott, win, Fermin. In the Cardinals,

Starting point is 00:05:37 three to one victory over the Mets, it was nowly's two-run shot in the first inning that gave the Cardinals the lead for good, and it's why he's my number one star

Starting point is 00:05:44 for the game on Thursday, facing a very accomplished veteran pitcher in Sean Mania, who was working him away, away, away. Nelly finally was like, all right, that's where you're going to go. He ripped the sixth pitch that he saw over the wall in right field for a two-run Apotako

Starting point is 00:05:59 shot. Third home run of the spring, which is tying him with Joshua Baez for the team lead, although Baez has been sent back to minor league camp. He also took Manaya out to right again in his second at bat, leading off the third inning after getting ahead to count three. We got a three-one fastball, hit it up in the air again. I thought it was gone off the just the crack of the bat. As soon as it hit, I was like, that's going to float out of here again, but ended up dying right there at the wall,

Starting point is 00:06:26 344 feet away from home plate. It comes up again in the fourth inning. Had a heck had a heck of a battle with nine-time All-Star and former reliever of the year, Craig Kimbril, who I know is not the same guy that he used to be. But still, it's Craig Kimbril, eight-pitch of bat that saw Nellie foul off three straight full-count pitches before he ended up lining out,

Starting point is 00:06:46 albeit softly, into the second baseman. Then in the seventh inning, he grounded into a double play. So on the day, he goes one for four, which brought his average down to 333 for the spring. But he's got the three dingers, which leaves the club. He's got five RBIs, which is second on the Cardinals, nine hits, is first on the team. OBP at 438, slugging 704, the OPS at 1.142, and he's only struck out twice, which I feel like is one of the most impressive things about it, is that he's not just swinging for the fences.

Starting point is 00:07:15 he's somebody who's putting bad on ball, making contact. He's also taking walks. He's walked five times and done all of this in 32 plate appearances. He's been very impressive. And I mentioned it yesterday that, you know, he's not on the 40-man roster. So some shuffling will have to be done. J.J. Weatherholt also needs a 40-man spot. Doesn't have one of those.

Starting point is 00:07:36 But barring a complete collapse, you got to think the Nelson Belasquez is going to make the squad, right? Right? Someone made the joke online, and I chuckled out loud when I saw it, that these are the guys we normally release and they go on to hit 30 bombs somewhere else. Kind of nails it right there. That's what it feels like. This is the guy that he's showing some potential and is finally maybe coming into his own after dealing with the lack of success after his initial power numbers that he had when he came up. And if you don't hang on to him, somebody else is going to pick him up. and he's going to end up being a solid player for somebody else.

Starting point is 00:08:17 And that's what you don't want, especially during this retool that they're going through. So they don't have to let him go. The guy has earned a spot, so I'm curious how they'll handle this whole situation. But the team needs some thump, and the Cardinals may very well have uncovered a motivated diamond in the rough here. Maybe they finally win one. How about that? But he wasn't the only one who actually shined on the hitting side of things in Thursday's game. We're going to continue with the three stars at the game.

Starting point is 00:08:43 game coming up next on Locked on Cardinals. College basketball is nonstop. You got the big games, the tight spreads, the momentum swings. It happens every single night, especially now that tournament time has begun from early tip-offs to late-night West Coast shootouts. There's always action on the board. And now Fandall is giving you a way to turn that energy into even bigger potential wins with a college basketball parlay profit boost. Again, now that these conference tournaments are underway, you can build your own parlay using the spreads or totals. You can go with, player props if you want to do that way too. All you got to remember to do is apply the profit boost and instantly bump up the potential payout. Sadly, my wife's Miami, Ohio Red Hawks were upset by

Starting point is 00:09:29 UMass on Thursday. They blew an 11 point second half lead. It was kind of sad to watch their perfect season go down to drain there. Mizzou, they end up falling to Kentucky. So not a great day. Not a great day for college hoops in my household. But it's up to you how you want to do this. You can go save. You can go bold. You can ride with that team that you've been following all season or switch it up. It's your parlay, your style now with more upside behind it. Head to fandole.com to get started. That's fandle. Play your game. It's tax time, but for a lot of us, the old way of doing taxes is a lot. Trying to book an appointment. That's not the most convenient.

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Starting point is 00:11:18 Go to Lockdowns-S-T-L-L-Cardinals. Supercast.com or tap the link of the show notes for more information. him. All right, continuing with the game on Thursday, three stars of the game, Nelson Velasquez. He gets my number one star, though there's an argument that the guy who is my number two star could be my number one, because I got to show some love to what I saw from Nolan Gorman on Thursday. One of the guys that has been kicked around by myself, I take full obligation for that. But myself, other fans, other fans, tons of them for the last couple years. Gorman sucks.

Starting point is 00:11:53 He's terrible. He can't even hit the ball, blah, blah, blah, blah. And people could feel that way for a good reason, mind you. His production was trash. So there's a reason why people are like, bro, I can't watch this guy no more. But this year is yet another new beginning. And thus far, you have to give a little bit of credit to what Nolan Gorman has shown. He's done it a lot better than what a few other guys have done.

Starting point is 00:12:19 so far that we were expecting big things from. On Thursday, Gorman goes two for two with a walk. First to bat following the Velasquez Dinger against the lefty, Sean Minia, mind you, which is something Gorman really struggled with. He pulls a two-o fastball down the right field line, rolls all the way to the corner. And nobody's ever going to confuse Nolan Gorman with Victor Scott. But the guy, the guy was giving me the Paul Goldschmidt vibes as he hustled and chugged his way. around the second base into third base.

Starting point is 00:12:52 Could have easily pulled up at second. It's a spring training game. But no, he gave that extra effort to get the third base with one out. Unfortunately, he got stranded there. But one of my favorite things about Paul Goldschmidt is just watching him pump those arms and just like giving it everything he's got, you know, to run the bases. And you don't see that from everybody on this play, on this triple, Nolan Gorman reminded me of him.

Starting point is 00:13:17 Like he wasn't slowing down. He was doing everything he could to get to third base and he made it safely. Second at bat, still against Mania, falls behind O2 before roping a double to right with one out. Once again, he gets stranded there, not his fault. But in the past, here's the thing with Gorman. In the past, when he would fall behind O2, it's almost a guaranteed strikeout, like every freaking time. In his career, I look this up for you guys. In his career, when falling behind O2, Gorman is hitting.

Starting point is 00:13:47 102 with 105 strikeouts in 166 of those types of situations. 105 and 166 chances. 63% strikeout rate. But this time he comes out on top with the double. So good for you, Nolan Gorman. Enjoyed watching him today. And they even did an interview with him. And something that you don't see from Nolan Gorman all that often, smiling.

Starting point is 00:14:14 He doesn't show a lot of emotion normally, although if you're watching on the on the video i got the uh pinch hit home run that he won the game with uh i think that was in 2024 to be honest with you but i don't know rare emotion there from uh no one gorman and you know he was pleased with his performance uh in this game on thursday so good for him third at bat four pitch walk against former cardinal first round pick luke weaver before getting lifted for the pinch runner who once again did not score after uh it was ramo mendoza i believe who came in for him got wiped out on uh it was jordan walker's third strike out and then uh a poso double play into the ending. So so far this spring, Gorman hitting just 222, but the double and the triple from today, put that together with the two dingers that he said. He's got five ribbies, four walks, four strikeouts. Here's the thing, slugging, 556. So put that into, you know, last year's numbers like overall in the league. A 556, slugging percentage would be sixth highest in the league. OPS right now,

Starting point is 00:15:15 879 this spring, which would have been ninth overall in baseball. And those are the numbers that you really want to look at. You don't want to look at batting average when it comes to Nolan Gorman, because he's never going to have a high batting average. That's just not what he is. But the slugging, the OPS, if those are high, then he's doing his job. So you've got to be pleased with the way he's been looking so far. And I know small sample size, I get it.

Starting point is 00:15:40 Okay. I'm just saying, though, you look at a batting average and you're like, Oh, what the 222. What is? But those aren't the numbers you got to pay attention to with Nolan Corby. You got to go elsewhere to find what he really can do well. And so far this spring, pleasantly surprised. Our third start of the game goes to Michael McGreeve. He made his fourth start of the spring. He goes five innings. He allows one run, four hits, one walk three strikeouts. The one run he did give up was a home run there in the first inning, a solo blast by Jorge Polanco, change up that was way up in the zone, by the way. In fact, if you go to like, the MLB page. You look at Stackast.

Starting point is 00:16:17 It was actually above the strike zone, but you can't float changeups that high because these dudes will rip you. And Polanco crushed it for his second home run of the spring. Both the home runs have actually come against the Cardinals for Polanco. But after that, McGreevy does what he normally tends to do. And that's that he settles in, kind of finds a groove,

Starting point is 00:16:38 and comes out and you're like, whoa, all of a sudden, you're like, that was not a bad start whatsoever. 72 pitches in this one, only the one walk, which you love, three hits after the home run, moves to 3 and O on the spring, continues to feel like a guy that's going to be a reliable back of the end rotation starter for 2026 and beyond. You know, again, they interview him and he sounds like he's 10 years older than he really is. And he's wise above his years. I think that's the phrase that they use.

Starting point is 00:17:11 But either way, I've been impressive Michael McGreevy. again, he's going to be one of those guys that normally is not going to be very flashy. He shouldn't be striking out a lot of people, at least not initially, but he's definitely a pitcher, not a thrower. And when he finds that groove, like he's able to get through the lineups with some regularity. So I'm excited to see him in a full season in a cardinal uniform up in St. Louis. Now one guy who did not have a good day was Jordan Walker. And I shouldn't laugh, but it's just, It's tough to watch sometimes. We're going to talk about his day and some other observations that I had from the

Starting point is 00:17:48 win on Thursday. We'll do that next coming up on Locked on Cardinals. This week's MLB Top 100 highlight is being brought to you by MLB, the show 26, the latest from the beloved video game franchise each week. We're going to be highlighting the stars of MLB's top 100 players list, the elite names that you'll be controlling and building around and going head to head with in MLB, the show. today we're going to spotlight a former cardinal since none of them cracked the top 100, sadly,

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Starting point is 00:19:55 Available March 17th on PlayStation 5 Xbox Series S&X and Nintendo Switch, rated E for everyone. Thanks again for making Locktown. Cartel's your first list of the day. Thank you for making Locktown on the number one sports podcast network. Some more observations from Thursdays when. another great day for the bullpen for the Cardinals, who only gave up one hit, one hit, after Michael McGreevy left the game and got shut out innings from Chris Roycroft still

Starting point is 00:20:23 has not been scored upon here this spring. Wow. I did not see that coming. George Soriana, who they got late, ended up striking out the side, had a zero ERA so far this spring. Skylar Hales, who they got, I think it was the Phil Maton deal that they got him. He, he, he's a He ends up picking up the save. He looked good. Matt Pushard, the Rule 5 guy, pitched around a couple of walks, wasn't great, wasn't sharp. He's a guy that maybe, when we're talking about some wiggle room on that 40-man roster, maybe he's a guy that they're like, all right, man, it didn't work out. So, and they end up offering him back to, I believe it was the Marlins they got him from. Darling Saladin ended up coming in, got him out of that

Starting point is 00:21:07 jam there. So, but he looked good. But right now, the Cardinals, they got to be pretty pleased with what they are getting from their pitching staff on most days. You know, every once in a while there's going to be a hiccup here or two. But overall, things have been pretty good so far this spring. They're now eighth in the league and team ERA. The starters are 10th at 3.88 while the relievers are 11th. They've got the seventh lowest walk total, which I will always love. And they're not hurting themselves most games by just putting people on.

Starting point is 00:21:36 That's not how they're going to lose. They're going to make you hit. And tied for sixth in strikeouts, which gives them a K-Walk rate. of 2.53, which is the third best among pitch staffs in spring ball so far. Opponents are only hitting 232 against them. That's the eighth lowest batting average in the league against, and their whip is ninth best, okay? None of it like superstar status or anything like that.

Starting point is 00:21:58 And sure none of this means anything won't mean squat when the regular season begins. I understand that, but it does give you some room for optimism, doesn't it? That like, all right, okay, they're doing some good things. so far this spring. Maybe that carries over. Maybe it's a confidence thing. We will find out when the regular season begins here in just a couple of weeks. Now on the other side, we saw another day to forget for Jordan Walker, who was 0 for four with three strikeouts to drop his spring average to 200. He's down to 200, boys and girls. It is not looking good. No extra base hits. Only two RBIs, 11 strikeouts now with just two walks, where Nolan Gorman has shown you signs of progression.

Starting point is 00:22:42 obviously incomplete. Work is not done. You got to be able to do this stuff when it really counts. But Gorman has shown you signs of becoming a better hitter, more like the guy we saw when he first came up, while Walker looks much like the same guy we've seen the last two seasons. And that's a guy that has a combined OPS plus of 68. It's not good enough.

Starting point is 00:23:07 Daniel Goreout, STL Today.com, did an article on Walker, who, you know, he got some quotes. from him and Ali and Bram Brown, the hitting coach. And Walker says, you know, right now I'm looking for consistent timing. That's what I'm trying to get right now. I love the way my hands are working. I love the way I'm rotating towards the ball. The timing is all wonky right now.

Starting point is 00:23:26 I feel like once I get that down, that's when everything is going to start click. Start to click. Obviously, we're pulling for this kid. Like, we want Jordan Walker to be amazing. Like, we want him to be awesome. That's the whole idea. We're pulling for him. We know how specially it can be because we've seen it.

Starting point is 00:23:45 We have seen it at the major league level before. But eventually, if the results aren't there, something has got to happen. Now, Walker does have a minor league option left. And plenty of fans have jumped into the comments and have been online on X and wherever they can voice their opinions and say, dude, this guy needs to start at Memphis this year. There has no business being up on the big league roster. and he needs to work his way up, once again, instead of just getting handed the job.

Starting point is 00:24:15 And I get it. I understand that. And in an ideal world, he's going to start hitting the ball hard more often over the final two weeks, and all of this will become a distant memory. But if I'm being honest and going off just the eye test that I saw in Thursday's game, it tells me that he is not even close. I hope I'm wrong.

Starting point is 00:24:42 but man, was it rough watching his, it bats? A lot of like him looking, like, it's almost like he's overthinking everything that's happening. Like he's almost got too much information going on. Instead of just going out there and being an athlete and just putting bat on ball, he's thinking about everything that goes into each pitch. And it just, it feels like he just looks overwhelmed. Like he's just like, I don't, I don't know. I don't know what to do because he's put in the effort.

Starting point is 00:25:11 Like in this article from Daniel Guerrero, like he's got quotes from Ollie and Bram Brown, as I mentioned, talking about how, you know, there are signs of positive things that he's doing, that he's been different from last year as far as, you know, being honest about things that he's feeling and what he's seeing and all that. like there's a new level of maturity, I would say, about how he's handling the struggles and how he's trying to adjust to all these new things that they're trying to get him to do. Oh, man, I really hope it works out. But again, it'll look at it on Thursday. But it's a great thing about baseball. Play again tomorrow. And you can see an entirely different outcome for Jordan Walker.

Starting point is 00:26:00 Cardinals are going to be playing Houston. It's going to be a night game. 505 St. Louis time. Kyle Leahy, who's coming off a very good outing. His last time out is the scheduled starter. Thanks for making Lockdown Cardinals. If you haven't already, give us a follow on X at L.O underscore Cardinals and at Jney Sports Radio. We're on TikTok and Instagram and Locked on Cardinals.

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Starting point is 00:26:37 For those of you on video, we'll send you to that first ever, 24-7 National Lockdown Podcast Network, YouTube channel. On the audio side, make sure you guys are making your second listen, Locked-on MLB. You're the best fans in baseball for a reason. We will see you next time on Locked-on Cardinals. Thanks for hanging out.

Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - Have The St. Louis Cardinals Found A SECRET Power Source To Help IMPROVE The Lineup?

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