Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - Is Matthew LIberatore The #1 The St. Louis Cardinals Have Been Searching For?

Episode Date: May 19, 2025

- St. Louis Cardinals lose the finale but win the series over the Kansas City Royals - Matthew Liberatore is rounding into the Cardinals #1 - Brendan Donovan has been sensational - Detroit Tigers Preview Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms… 🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/locked-on-st-louis-cardinals/ Locked On MLB League-Wide: Every Team, Prospects & More 🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/leagues/mlb/ Follow on Twitter/X: @JDSPORTSRADIO Follow the show on Twitter/X: @LO_Cardinals Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! Wonderful Pistachios Get snackin' and get crackin' with the snack that packs a protein punch. Visit WonderfulPistachios.com to learn more! Supply House Join the TradeMaster program today at SupplyHouse.com/TM and start ordering plumbing, HVAC, and electrical supplies with just a few clicks. Plus, use promo code S-H-5 for 5% off your first order. That’s SupplyHouse.com! Monarch Money Take control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONCOLLEGE at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year. FanDuel Right now, new customers can get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS when your first FIVE DOLLAR BET WINS! Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Bet with FanDuel—Official Partner of the NBA. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) #ForTheLou #stlcards #mlb #lockedoncardinals #stlouiscardinals Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

After winning another series in Kansas City, I think it's safe to say that the St. Louis Cardinals could very well have an ace in the making on their hands. You are Locked on Cardinals, your daily St. Louis Cardinals podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Hey there, Cardinals. I'm J.D. 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 next at JD Sports Radio, the podcast available next as well. at LO underscore Cardinals. We're on YouTube. Make sure you like, subscribe, and comment. Hit that notification button so you don't miss out on anything that we put out there for you.

Also available on TikTok and Instagram. That locked on Cardinals. 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 Fandall. Right now, new customers can get $200 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. All right. If you're on YouTube, you're seeing it.

The loud, ugly shirt is back. I'm going to have to wash this sucker. here real soon, which is a good thing. The Cardinals went for the series sweep on Sunday, but came up just a little bit short as they fell to the Kansas City Royals by a score of two to one. It was another pitcher's duel at Kaufman Stadium. Then saw Matthew Libertor go up against former Cardinal Michael Waka, and both guys pitched very, very well. No bias at all, but I'm going to give this pitching none to our boy, Libertor in this one, six innings. He allows one run on six hits, five strikeouts, one walk, and he lowered his ERA.

on the season to 2.92. I don't think I'm going out on a limb here by saying that Libby has been the Cardinals' most impressive pitcher so far this season. That is saying something considering what you're getting so far this year. I know the last start from Sunning Gray was not good, but he's been pretty darn solid so far this year. Eric Fetty has been quite impressive. Miles Michael has been really, really good recently. Andre Palante is starting to come around. But Matthew Libertur has just been something different. Like when he's out there, it feels like he's going to dominate. He's got three wins on the season.

That's second on the team so far. Sunny Gray's got four. 47 strikeouts on the season. That is second behind Sunny Gray's team high 51. But he's giving up just 17 earned runs. That's lowest among the five main starters, despite throwing the most innings on the team. He's in a tie with Eric Fetty there. The ERA 2.92, lowest among the starters.

His whip is at 1.03, lowest among the starters. Second and batting average against at 229, Eric Fetty, just a smidge ahead of him at 228. And he leads a team with six quality starts. And the unfortunate thing is, despite all these great numbers, he's only three and three on the season so far. He lost against Pittsburgh on April the 7th, which was his worst outing of the year thus far, up five runs and six at a third final score in that game was eight to four ride with me as we go through some of these starts loses to the mats of new york because you're going to notice something that is similar in all of them then he's got the mats in new york april 19 he allows

two runs in six and two thirds innings cardinals get shut out three to nothing third loss rain short and start in Cincinnati really got to pitch three innings gave up two runs on that home run Cardinals got pumbled in that game by a score of 9 to 1. So in the three losses for Matthew Libertor so far this year, the offense has scored a grand total of five runs. Then we look at his no decisions. First start against the Angels. He gave up three runs and six innings.

Cardinals lost 9 to 7 and 11nings with four of those Cardinals runs coming in the extra frames. I should say there's more than that. No, it is right. Okay, four of them. When he exited the game, the Cardinals had scored just two runs. So not a whole lot going on there for him. No decision against Philly on May 12th. He gave up two runs in five and a third.

Cardles won that won by a score of three to two. They scored two runs while he was in that game. And then on Sunday, he has another outstanding start. Cardle score one run. And he doesn't factor in the decision. So you can see that although the record says three and three, which is not going to, you know, impress a whole lot of people.

You know and I know because you're a smart Cardinals fan that that's a bit misleading about how good Matthew Livertore has been so far this season. In the month of April, he was two and two with a 3.19 ERA. Opponents are hitting 235 against him in April. Again, that Pittsburgh game was the one that did the most damage against his numbers. Now in May, he's one in one with a 2.53 ERA.

Opponents are hitting just 220 against him. Only 10 pitchers in the National League have a better ERA than Libya at this point of the season, and it's some very familiar names. Jesus Lazzardo, who the Cardinals just faced with the Philadelphia Phillies. You know how good he's been. Yoshinobu Yamamoto from L.A. He's making, what, $27 million per year. Huge signing from over in Japan, arguably one of the greatest Japanese pitchers of all time.

Logan Webb, the Giants Ace, been very good. He's making $18 million per. Paul Skeens, former number one overall pick, started the All-Star game last year for the National League. Yeah, he's all right. Griffin Canning, who has been outstanding for the Mets. Cardinals have seen him in action, and he's been very, very good.

What a steal he's been for the Mets so far this year. Like the fact that the Angels and the Braves moved on from Griffin Canning, and now the Mets are just really, reaping the benefits, huge shining for them. Michael King for the Padres acquired in the Juan Soto deal with a big piece of that deal with the New York Yankees. Brewers ace, Freddie Peralto. You know how good he is. Philly's ace, Zach Wheeler. AAB, about $42 million per year. Pretty good guy. David Peterson from the Mets, former first round pick. And then you've got Nick Povetta from the Padres, four years, $55 million deal with the Padres this past season.

as a free agent. Some pretty big names, some pretty big contracts ahead of living. But that's it. That's it. None of them are even remotely at the bargain price of what Matthew Libertor is making this year. And he's still, he's making under a million dollars, something like $770,000, something more on that vicinity. And he's got three more years of arbitration ago. This is a good thing for the St. Louis Cardinals.

biggest difference so far. And it's similar to what he was doing last year as a member of the bull pit. He isn't throwing the curveball as much anymore. In 2022, he was throwing it at a 23% rate. So far this year, 9%. He's going slider, four seamer, sinker, cutter change. And the curveball is his least used pitch so far this year. And it doesn't mean that it's not a good pitch because it is.

He's getting a 44% width percentage on it, which is the higher. out of any of the pitches that he throws. It's just that he doesn't show it as often anymore. The slider is great, 36% width percentage, cutter is at 27.9. It's all been very impressive. And he's not walking people. That's the other thing.

He's not his own worst enemy. He's making people earn the chance to get on base. Walk percentage in the 95th percentile among major league pitchers. Amazing. He certainly deserved to win on Sunday for the Cardinals offense, couldn't get anyone in.

And I'm not upset about it. I'm not. It's just one of those days where there was a lot of traffic on the bases, but you just couldn't come up with that big hit despite another huge day for Brendan Donovan. I want to talk about how special Brendan Donovan has been so far.

We're going to get into that and the rest of the offense coming up on Locked on Cartons. Looking for a snack that's both delicious and nutritious, that crack can do a good source of protein with wonderful pistachios. Wonderful pistachios is one of the highest protein nuts, out serving has got six grams of protein. It's going to give you over 10% of your daily value, plus they're packed with fiber and better for you unsaturated fats to help keep you feeling fuller, longer. When you're watching the Cardinals take on, you know, the Detroit Tigers tonight, when you're watching the Stanley Cup playoffs, you've got the NBA playoffs.

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The Cardinals' offense, tough day. Tough day on Sunday as far as scoring runs. They scored set on Friday, then just one on Saturday and one on Sunday. Clearly one run is not normally enough to get you a win. But miraculously, the Cardinals. were able to get one on Saturday, despite having just two hits and scoring that one run on the Jordan Walker home run. Sunday was a completely different story. It's not that they weren't getting hits. They just couldn't bring them across the plate. They pounded out 11 hits on the day. Problem was they kept leaving these guys on base. The team goes 0 for eight with runners in scoring position and left 13 guys on base. I know flashbacks to last season when you see numbers like that. But this is not a normal occurrence for this team in 2025. In fact, the Cardinals are hitting 265 with runners in scoring position this year, which is tied for the seventh highest batting average in all of baseball.

So before you start complaining, before you start crying about how the Cardinals couldn't get it done, please understand. Normally, they do get it done. It just so happens that those guys over in Kansas City, the Royals pitching staff, got an excellent stable of pitchers over there on their side of the field as well. I mean, they're second and all of baseball and team ERA behind only the Mets. So got to give the Kansas City Royals some credit. They got a good pitching staff over there.

And for the Cardinals to be able to pull two out of three and do what they did in that first game on Friday. And then eke out the win on Saturday and then fall one run short on Sunday. Not a whole lot to complain about, right? And on Sunday, the Cardinals constantly had people out there on the base pass. Not like they didn't. They just, they were out there, just waiting to be brought in. but Michael Waka and company would always seem to find a way to get that big strike yard or whatever out they needed to get out of the inning.

It just kept happening over and over. And this stuff happens. It does. There's no need to get your panties in a bunch about any of it over a couple of games when the bigger body of work for the Cardinals tells you that this season, more times than not, they are getting the job done. Brendan Donovan, our captain. Another big day at the plate.

He goes four for five. Seven for 13 in the series against KC. Raised his batting average to a very impressive 3.30 on the year, which gives him the sixth highest batting average in the major leagues and places him in third in the National League behind a pair of Dodgers. In former MVP, Freddie Freeman, who's in first place, hitting 371. And second place is their catcher, Will Smith, who's batting 339. Now, the thing that stands out to me is the amount of the bats between them,

because Brin Donovan has a lot more. Brennan Donovan has played in 45 games. He's got 176 at bats thus far. Freddie Freeman has played in 36 games. So nine less and has 136 at bats, 44 less at bats than Donnie, while Smith has played in 38 games. So that's six less. and only has 118 at bat.

So that's 58 less at bats than Donnie. And yes, credit to Will Smith. He has walked 25 times compared to Freeman's 15 and Donnie's 14. Still, for Donovan has 195 plate appearances compared to Freeman's 151 and Smith's 147. So where you're seeing, yeah, Donnie's in third place, but is he? Is he really in third place? technically, yes. But he leaves the NL and hits with 58.

He's fourth overall behind Aaron Judge, Jacob Wilson from the A's who was going bonkers for a couple of days there. And then our old friend Paul Goldschmidt, who's having an outstanding season with the Yankees. And I'll be honest, I thought Goldie would bounce back this year, but I certainly did not expect what he's doing right now. 339 batting average, five dingers, 25 ribbies.

I mean, good for gold. right? I mean, very good for Goldie. It was still the right move for the Cardinals to move on from him. Things are working out just fine in St. Louis. Let's not overthink this. It was the right move. There's a reason why Goldie only got a one-year deal from the Yankees, okay? It's not like everybody else was banging down his door like, yeah, come here. But I don't know anybody who's rooting against Paul Goldschman in St. Louis. So to see Goldie succeeding and having a good season and having fun, in New York, it's great. Like, we're rooting for a Goldie until we have to play him. And then we want him to not be good.

Then we want him to revert back to 2024, Paul Goldschmidt. Donnie is also second in the NL and Devils behind the Mets Pete Alonzo, who's having a great year, had another one in the ninth inning on Sunday. His OBP of 387 is the ninth highest total in the National League. His K percentage. Let's get into the Dorkee stats. K percentage, 97th percentile, whiff percentage, 98th percentile, his expected batting average, 98th percentile.

His baseball savant page is dripping in red, dripping in red. Dripping in red. It's a beautiful thing. It really is. And then, of course, on top of what he's doing offensively, you've also got how good he's been on the defensive side of things. his defense, which was on display once again this weekend, he made multiple gold glove-worthy plays at second base.

He's a plus five defensive, he's plus five defensive run saved, and plus four outs above average at second base. The MLB leaders in those categories at second are at six defensive runs saved and plus five outs above average. So he's right there at the top of the list. I don't think he's got enough innings yet to be considered a candidate for the gold glove yet, but he will be. It's going to happen.

So he's up there. And it's no shock to see the poll that we ran at the end of the week, asking which St. Louis Cardinals do you think should be an all-star? Brennan Donovan by far and away won that poll. Like crushed everybody else. Well, he was even close. Tremendous start to the season for Donnie. Unfortunately, he couldn't do it by himself on Sunday to get the win.

Alex Burleson hits his fourth home run of the season in the fourth inning for the lone run of the game for the Cardinals. Obviously, he's been heating up. You've seen that four home runs now. Mason went and Wilson-Candreras combined to go 0 for 10. Came up with some key situations and couldn't get the job done. Cardinals had at least one hit in every inning. And four times they had the leadoff hitter on in the inning.

But weren't able to get them to come around and score. So these games happen. but you had Nato, Yvonne Herrera, Joel Pozo all had two hit games. Nato's pop out in the ninth, obviously stands out a little bit with Donnie on second, the strikeout in the first inning. Those were big spots.

You know, he had two on, one out there. He strikes out, Catarrison strikes out that first. They're like, ah, missed a chance there. So Nato, unfortunately, unable to come through in those spots. Ivana Herrera, again, two hits, He's not hitting 429 on the season. He's hitting 464 since coming back from EIL. It has a hit in all eight games since he's returned.

And I know I said I wouldn't keep bringing it up, but I'm not going to. But I do want to say one more time since it is a Monday. Herrera to the cleanup spot and Otto to the sixth hole. How long until it happens? Starting to make a whole lot more sense. He's just more dangerous. you just have to accept the fact that he is a better hitter than Nolan Aronado right now.

Yes, he's more dangerous. He adds a power threat than Nato does not at this point in his career. I know it's a smaller sample size because he's been hurt, but Herrera is hitting a mere 471 with runners in scoring position. 471. Noto's a respectable 255. It's not horrible, but I mean, 471 and 255. I don't know.

Herrera has already driven in 14 runs with runners in scoring position. That's in 17 at bats. Not it was at 12 and 47 at bats. I mean, come on. Come on. The numbers just make sense. But I get it. Why Tinker with success right now.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it, right? That's the old saying. I get it. I get it. They're winning with this formula right now. So why screw around with it? I'm just saying at some point, You don't have to pull the trigger on something like that.

I've been seeing people asking about, you know, Jordan Walker and what they need to do. They don't have to do anything. Like everything's working right now. Let them continue to work. Let them continue to win. Not sending anybody down. This is the team. They're winning.

They're one of the best teams in baseball over the last few weeks because of the team that they have. So let's not start screwing around with stuff too much. by swapping them four and six. I mean, a huge change. Not really. Makes sense. Shout out to Joel Pozo, 348 after his two hit day.

I know this three catcher thing is not the norm, but it's working. It's working out okay so far. So let it be. Cardinals go seven and two on the road trip. They're now 26 and 21 on the season. That's two games back behind the Cubs in the NL Central. Only six teams in the NL have more wins and a better winning percentage.

Dodgers and mats are tied. 29 wins, 617 winning percentage. Phillies are at 609 with 28 wins. Padres are at 600 percentage with 27 wins. Cubs and Giants, a little bit different. 596 winning percentage, but they both have 28 wins. They're both 28 and 19. And then there's the Cardinals.

There's your Cardinals, 26 wins, 553 winning percentage. The team with the most wins in baseball is in town to face the St. Louis Cardinals beginning tonight, Monday. We're going to wrap things up with a look at those Detroit Tigers. Coming up next on Lockdown Carpins. The NBA playoffs are in full swing, and every night delivers highlight-worthy performances, major momentum shifts, and can't miss moments. Whether it's a game winning shot or a breakout player, there's never been a better time to get in on the action. Fandle is making it easier to stay in the game before tip off and while games going on while it's live. With player props, performance trends, and same game parlay.

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I will be your host. them tonight, Tuesday and Wednesday, hopefully talking about some victories for the St. Louis Cardinals. But it ain't going to be easy because the Detroit Tigers are coming to town. They're actually in town right now. They're already 1 and 16 on the year so far. Best record in Major League Baseball. How many people saw that coming after getting into the playoffs, kind of sneaking into the playoffs last year? Remember a trade deadline. They're moving people. They move Jack Flaherty to the Dodgers. They're like, we're probably not going to make. it. And then something clicked and they started playing great together and they just kept rolling.

And they kept rolling. And they played good into the playoffs. They, you know, obviously didn't make it to the World Series. But they played well. And they've been playing well ever since since the start of the season. Their fifth and team hitting at 260. Carls are second, by the way, 262. The Tigers are fourth and runs scored, fourth and hits tied for sixth and home runs. They're a very good offensive team. They do not run. much, which is good news for the Cardinals, second to last in steals, but it's a really good offense. And the name that pops off the screen when you go look at the stats is former number one overall pick, Spencer Torkelson. Every day, as you might remember, not last year. Well,

a little bit last year, but the year before that, I was like, dude, I think tigers are starting to give up on Torkelson. Maybe put in a call, put in a call, see if you can get them. Not going to get him anymore. 12-old runs, 38 RBIs this year after another big year last year. So, Spencer Torkelson becoming exactly what they thought he would be when they took him number one overall a few years ago. Riley Green has been awesome, excellent outfielder. Very clutch hitter is killing it for me in fantasy this year. So was Torkelson, by the way.

Kerry Carpenter is a name you're going to want to watch. Zach McKinstree, another name. They've been really, really good. But the guy that is standing out right now that you're going to be like, wait, what? Avi Baez. hobby bias he's back left for dead in recent years was the butt of a lot of jokes had an okay year that first year with the tigers and since then has done nothing for them has been that guy that costs a bazillion dollars and they don't even want them but they got what are they going to do with them

they're not going to cut him and still pay them all that money so uh they just kind of let him rod on the bench last year. And out of nowhere this year, Huffy Baez has returned and emerged as their new center fielder. He's hitting 291 with six home runs and 28 RBIs. To put it into perspective, last year he had six home runs in 37 RBIs total for the whole year. Only played in 80 games.

Six home runs 37 RBIs. This year he's already matched the home run total. And he's just nine RBI short. It's been a wild turnaround. He's been completely rejuvenated. And I don't say this as a mean thing, but he's got his swagger back. He's got his cockiness back that you're seeing,

which sucks because we got to know it really, really well while he was a Chicago Cub. Dude was a very, very good ball player, and it was shocking to see the dip in production that you saw over the last couple of years. But now he's back. and he's feeling really good about himself. So keep an eye on Javi Baez in this particular series.

Pitching matchups, Monday, Sunday grade for the Cardinals, hoping to rebound after that tough game in Philly, where just everybody was hitting taters off of him and off of Aeronola, one of those crazy games in Philly. Detroit hadn't officially name their starter yet, but I believe they're bringing up a guy to make the spot start. So it's not official yet, but I mean, I'm sure it'll be announced at some point. But it's not one of their top guys.

Just put it that way. Tuesday, it is one of their top guys. It's the rating AL-Sai Young Award winner in Terrick Scoobald, 4 and 2.67 ERA, 71 whiffs and nine starts, strikeout totals of 12 and 11, his last two outings. He's really freaking good. He's amazing. And he gave up five runs in his last outing, but the tiger's one big. But he's all.

awesome. Like, that's going to be a tough one on Tuesday. He'll be opposed by Eric Fetty. And then on Wednesday, it's another old friend. You know, we saw Michael walk over the weekend. Jack Flaherty will be on the bump against Andre Palante on Wednesday. Flaherty not having a great year. Two and five, four point four four ERA those far. One and two with an ERA close to seven in the month of May. Palante is starting to write the ship a bit. So you feel pretty confident about that start for Andre, but it should be a very entertaining. series. You know, Detroit, good offense, Cardinals good offense. Both of them have got very good pitching as well for the most part. So this is a good test. You know, the Kansas City Royals were a good

test. And you got to beat them. You beat them on the road. The Phillies, obviously, were a very good test. You beat them two out of three on the road. Now you get to come back to the friendly confines of Bush Stadium where the Cardinals have been a much better team overall this season. They're playing good. ball. They're feeling confident. They're having fun. Let's keep it rolling. Let's keep it rolling. Let's keep this loud, ugly shirt on my back for another few weeks, shall we? Thanks for making Locktonedon Cardinals. Your first listen every day if you haven't already. Give us a follow on X at L'O underscore Cardinals at JD Sports Radio, TikTok and Instagram and Locked on Cardinals. Like, subscribe on YouTube, help our channel and love for the Cardinals

grow. You guys are the best fans in baseball for a reason, and we will see you next time on Lockstone Cardinals.