Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - JORDAN WALKER: St. Louis Cardinals' Young Slugger DOMINATES Nationals, Silencing Doubters for GOOD?

Episode Date: April 9, 2026

St. Louis Cardinals surge behind Jordan Walker’s power spree as they secure a series win over the Washington Nationals. Is Walker finally reaching his superstar potential, and how does this hot stre...ak reshape the Cardinals’ 2024 outlook? Host JD Hafron spotlights standout performances, including Michael McGreevy’s efficient six-inning start and Alec Burleson’s clutch three-hit game. The episode examines Ivan Herrera’s league-leading walk rate, the evolving bullpen situation, and key injuries impacting roster depth—most notably bad news for lefty reliever Packy Naughton. Coverage expands to the NL Central’s competitive landscape, minor league developments with top prospect Liam Doyle, and a preview of the Cardinals’ upcoming showdown against the Boston Red Sox at Busch Stadium. Can St. Louis maintain this momentum and capitalize on a favorable schedule? Don’t miss this analysis-packed breakdown of the Cardinals’ early season charge. 00:00 Cardinals-Nationals Recap & Jordan Walker Surge 12:19 Three Stars: McGreevy, Burleson, Herrera 22:34 Prospects Update & NL Central Standings 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/ Everydayer Club If you never miss an episode, it’s time to make it official. Join the Locked On Everydayer Club and get ad-free audio, access to our members-only Discord, and more — all built for our most loyal fans. Click here to learn more and join your team’s community: https://lockedonstlcardinals.supercast.com/ Follow on Twitter/X: @JDSPORTSRADIO Follow the show on Twitter/X: @LO_Cardinals Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! Turbo Tax Intuit TurboTax now has in-person locations nationwide. You can meet face-to-face with a real tax expert, and your documents get uploaded straight to your TurboTax app on the spot. Visit https://TurboTax.com/local to find a store near you and book your appointment today. Indeed Listeners of this show get a $75 Sponsored Job Credit to help give your job the premium placement it deserves at http://Indeed.com/podcast Gametime Today's episode is brought to you by Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase. Terms and conditions apply. FanDuel Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now new customers can bet just five dollars and get two-hundred and fifty dollars in bonus bets if your first bet wins. Visit https://FANDUEL.COM to get started — Play Your Game. 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.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Jordan Walker is flying high and the Cardinals are reaping the benefits as he continues his long ball tear against opposing pitchers. 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'm Jady Haferin and on today's show, top pitching prospect Liam Doyle made his season debut for Springfield. what appears to be some bad news for left-hand or packing naughty. But we're going to start with our final game of the three-game series
Starting point is 00:00:38 against the Washington Nationals. Two teams split the first two games. Cardinals suffering that very painful loss on Monday, only to turn things around and come from behind to beat Washington and extra innings on Tuesday night. And then you had Wednesday's rubber match featuring Michael McGreevy against former Cardinal Miles Michaelis. And the whole idea of going up against Michaelis had me drawing, right?
Starting point is 00:01:00 I'm drooling with anticipation. This is not for malicious reasons. I don't have any ill will towards Miles Michaelis. Let's be honest. You've been one of the most hitable pitchers in the league for the past three seasons. He had an ERA over 14 coming into this game. It was an indication that not a whole lot has changed with Miles Michaelis from last time we saw him in a Cardinals uniform. And I was really just hoping that the Cardinals bats would be able to, let's say, feast.
Starting point is 00:01:28 feast on some subpar pitching. And they kind of did to an extent. They loaded the bases in that first inning but failed to score. Did it again in the second inning. But this time they played it two on Alec Berlinson's two out two run single, got nothing in the third. And then just like that, Miles Michaelis is out of the game. Just three innings in and the Nats, heanked him.
Starting point is 00:01:50 The Cardinals touched him up for two runs on five hits. There were three walks. The National said that they had scripted three or four innings for Michael based upon the grind of his previous outings and high pitch count early in Wednesday's game. He was at 55 pitches after three innings, which is high. So unfortunately, the Cardinals didn't get to enjoy a hearty dose of Michaelis meatballs, as I'd hope they would. He gave them the chance to do a lot of damage early on in the game,
Starting point is 00:02:19 but they weren't able to cash in as much as I would have preferred. But at least they had the lead when he did leave the game. And that left it up to the Nationals bullpen, which we know hasn't been great so far this season. And the Cardinals were able to put up runs in the fifth, seventh, and ninth innings and kind of cruise to a six to one victory in a series win, which means ugly shirt. So on video, you can see my disgusting old man Cardinal shirt. Biggest swing of the game, though, came in that fifth inning when Jordan Walker struck again. At this point of the game, it was a two to one ball game. And we really, the game was still in the balance.
Starting point is 00:02:57 We had no idea where it was going to go. And we've learned in the first two games that the Nationals offense is no joke. So you got to score some runs. Cardinals pitching has had its handful with the Nationals' bats with, but, you know, McGreevy was holding things down. So he was keeping him at bay. And Walker's bomb in the fifth is what really sent the momentum back into the Cardinals favor for good, caught a hanging slider from Brad Lord and deposit it over the wall in dead center field for
Starting point is 00:03:24 his third home run of the series, his fourth home run in his past five games, and his fifth home run overall this season, which put him in a tie for the league lead, along with some not so familiar names, Drake Baldwin from Atlanta. I know he won the NL rookie of the year last year, but, okay, Drake Baldwin's got five, Chase Dalloner from Cleveland's got five. He's a stud rookie for the, for the guardians. And then, uh, Shea, Bangaliers of the A's. So not your normal who's who of power hitters in the early going this season, but who cares? What we are seeing from Jordan Walker is nothing short of magnificent. You know, it wasn't that long ago. In fact, I looked at the date, April 3rd, to be exact. Today is the 9th, April 3rd that I was still getting comments from
Starting point is 00:04:12 plenty of fans saying that they should just cut bait. They should move on from Walker. He was washed. He's never going to live up to expectations. He needs a fresh start someplace. Trade him while he still got some value. And boy, am I glad that none of those people are running the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team. And I don't often call out our fan base for things because I get it. Part of being a fan is being a fanatic in general. And, you know, we're going to freak out about stuff. And that's kind of what makes it fun for us, you know, when things don't go right, we're like, get rid of everybody, change it up and stuff. And that, you know, you have that ability as a fan. And we were allowed to have those discussions. But there were.
Starting point is 00:04:53 plenty of fans who would quit on on Jordan Walker. And I'm curious where those people are now and what they think about Jordan Walker today. You know, getting Jordan turned around was priority number one for this staff. We told you that. Ali in the, the meeting that he had with a group of us, you know, brought it up. It was like, look, this is what keeps us awake at night. Like, we got to figure this out. We got to get Jordan Walker back to being Jordan Walker again. The kid that we thought was going to be a can't miss prospect and things hadn't worked out. They were going to do whatever it took to get this thing working. And on April 4th is what he hit that Titanic Grand Slam against the Tigers. And since then, he's been one of the best hitters in all of baseball.
Starting point is 00:05:37 Batting average, 380, four home runs, nine ribbies in just five games. Now, sure, this could just be a phase. I'm not trying to pour cold water on what Jordan Walker is doing. But, you know, hitters often have hot and cold streaks throughout a season. And right now, Jordan is right in a wave and eventually things are going to settle down. Like they're not going to stay at this level the whole time. That's just part of the game. But what we are seeing is exactly what Cardinals needed from the former first round pick. He's still just 23 years old.
Starting point is 00:06:07 But this is his fourth year. So it feels like he's been around forever now with the big club. And at some point, you needed to know whether or not this kid could handle things at the big league level and will be a part of your plans moving forward. That was something that they needed answered this year. You were hoping to get that answer last year, but some injuries really derailed everything that was going on with them. So it was this year that everybody pointed out like, this is a huge year for Jordan Walker. If he doesn't become somebody that you can rely on to be a solid major league player, what do we do?
Starting point is 00:06:41 He didn't look good this spring. Remember it was a rough spring for Jordan? It looked like he was searching all the time, thinking too much in the box. And now it looks like the weight of the world has been lifted off. of his shoulders and he's playing the game freely and most importantly with confidence. He doesn't appear to be thinking about that last strikeout because he's got to strike out. He's a big man and that's going to come with territory. But he doesn't look like he's dwelling on that anymore. Instead, he gets back in the box for his next at bat and he's attacking with a newfound presence that
Starting point is 00:07:15 we haven't seen from him since like his rookie year when he first came up. Basically, the guys having fun again. And that's so important in the sport. After the game, he spoke with Danny Waxelman, and you could just see the excitement in his voice and his mannerisms. And he spoke about the confidence that he's got now saying, I always feel like I can do it, but just working with the guys and being with the guys all day, especially working with assistant hitting coach Casey Chenoweth in there. It's just going through the roof right now. And I've got to get it to stay there. Consistency is going to be the key for Jordan, just like, it is with any ball player. Odds are that this heater that he's on right now, it ain't going to last
Starting point is 00:07:57 forever. And nobody expects it to, expects it to. And when times do start to get tough for Jordan Walker, that's going to be what I'm keeping an eye on. You know, when things start to go the other way, because they always do for every hitter. It doesn't matter how good you are. Juan Soto, Aaron Judge, whoever it is, they go through low points of the season. And it's the ability, to keep that positive frame of mind and dig yourself out of those low spots to get back to mashing baseballs again that separates the elite hitters with your average hitters and then your poor hitters. You just try to keep those high points lasting longer than your low points, but there's going to be ups and downs. So how is Jordan Walker going to handle it when everything
Starting point is 00:08:46 he hits isn't leaving the yard anymore? We hope that doesn't happen anytime soon. But when it does happen, then how does he handle that mentally to be continued? We're going to find out. But for now, enjoy the Jordan Walker show because this is a lot of fun. And this has been a few years in the making. And it's awesome to see it. Keep them healthy. Keep swinging it, buddy.
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Starting point is 00:12:17 Well, now that we've sung the phrases of one Jordan Walker, who hit that big home run to give the birds the three-to-one lead at the time, Let's talk about our three stars of the game. Jordan Walker obviously was a big part of it, but Michael McGreevy. What up Michael McGreevy? I harped on this in yesterday's episode. The Cardinals need to start getting some length from their starters.
Starting point is 00:12:38 Dustin May not pitching well has been an issue because his two starts have been really short, which is taxed the bullpen. But before Wednesday's games, the Cardinals, you know, just in general, we're having a tough time pitching deep into their starts. They ranked 20th innings thrown by their starters. And they had the seventh most innings thrown by their relievers. Like you just can't live that way. You're living upside down.
Starting point is 00:13:01 That can't happen. If you're bullpen his lights out and is super deep, perhaps you can handle such things better. But the Cardinals don't have that luxury. So the less innings on their bullpen, the better. And Michael McGreevy did that for the team in this one, going six innings. He allows just one run on four hits. He only had one strikeout, but no walks, which is super important. And he retired the final 11 batters he faced for his second quality.
Starting point is 00:13:24 start of the season. Some people were hoping that he would go into the seventh inning, but they shut her down. The first inning, the first inning was a, was kind of a taxing one for Michael McGreevy, had to throw 22 pitches, pitched around back-to-back singles to start the inning, but was able to escape unscath. McGreevy's not a strikeout guy. He'll get his four or five a game, something like that. That's going to happen. He's not a high velo guy. We're seeing that. People have had some concerns about what his velocity looks like so far. But, he is the definition of a pitcher. He's out there pitching.
Starting point is 00:13:58 He's changing speeds. He's using movement instead of Velo to get awkward swings and get that weak contact. He's kind of like what Miles Michaelis used to be when he was in his prime with the Cardinals. There was a moment in time that Miles Michaelis was an all-star and was a very good pitcher. And, you know, as time moved on, you know, just like anybody, you know, he wasn't as good anymore. But Michael McGreevy, it does a lot of what Miles Michaels used to do when he was having his really good seasons with Cardinals. And as long as you're living on the corners, you can get away with that. You don't have to throw 98, 99 to win in this league.
Starting point is 00:14:37 And McGreevy was doing that on Wednesday and gave his manager so much needed innings from his starter. He's now one in one on the year. Obviously the first game, he had the six no hit innings, but had a no decision in that one. took the loss in his last time out, but one at one on the year, ERA of just 2.16. That's good for 11th best in the National League and 20th overall in Major League Baseball. Your second star of the game goes to Alec Berluson, the Silver Slugger winner has been in a little bit of a funk recently,
Starting point is 00:15:07 recorded three hits in this one, though, one of them, the button single in the first against Michaelis, which got a kind of a funny reaction from Miles. But then in the second with two outs, it was Burley who broke through against Miles with the RBI's, the two-run single up the middle that played it two and got the birds on the board in the first place. When clutch moments come up in games, you need your best hitters to be the ones that you can rely on in those situations. For moments like that, bases loaded, two out.
Starting point is 00:15:35 You need a big hit from one of your big guys. And Burley's at the plate and his ability to make contact is probably the number one guy you won up in those situations. I know Jordan Walker is super hot right now, but Burley's kind of the guy. that I would trust the most in that situation because you know he's probably going to put that in play and make something happen. His third hit of the day came in the seventh inning after back-to-back walks to Weatherholt and Herrera to start the inning. Burley coming through yet again RBI single up the middle to make it four to one. And now that Burley has got a real threat behind him and Jordan Walker, it's going to make life even that much more miserable for opposing
Starting point is 00:16:16 managers because you can't just pitch around Burley like you could earlier in the season when Mason Wynn was batting clean up behind him. He's going to be seeing more pitches over the plate. And that's going to give Alec Berluson more chances to do some real damage. You know, he's not going to have to go chasing just to get bat on ball. You know, they're going to be coming in at him. And it's going to be on Burley now to come through and take advantage of those situations and Wednesday he did exactly that. Your third star of the game. Probably should go to Joel Poso for the two-run single late in the game, but I'm going to switch it up and go with Yvonne Herrera and I'll tell you why. The top five guys in this lineup
Starting point is 00:17:01 are expected to do the majority of the damage, right? Offensively, it's going to be JJ, Yvonne, Burley, Walker, and Gorman carrying the load on most days. And Yvonne, obviously, is a huge piece of that. This is not groundbreaking news that Ivan Rivera is going to be a big part of the offense. And although his batting average is still under the Mendoza line at 195, the guy's getting on base a ton, an absolute ton, thanks to his walks. He was one for two on Wednesday, got a walk, got hit by a pitch as well,
Starting point is 00:17:35 but he's now got a team high 12 walks on the season, which is also tops in the national league. let me say that again. 12 locks now registered for Yvonne Herrera, the most in the National League. Think of all the great hitters in the National League right now. I know Soto's hurt. He's usually the walk machine, but think of all of the great hitters. And it's Ivan Herrera, who's take advantage of them the most of people not throwing him strikes. So tops in the National League, second only behind the Astros, Jorda, Alvarez and all of baseball. The OBP now is just under 400 at 393.
Starting point is 00:18:14 That ranks 12th in Major League Baseball. The batting eye is there. He's picking up the baseball. He's watching it. You know, he can, he's just, his zone is locked in right now. And it feels like it's just a matter of time before we see him break out in a big way by hitting the baseball. I'm waiting on it. You're waiting on it.
Starting point is 00:18:36 We all are. I feel like we're on the verge. We're on the verge. Hopefully maybe in this series against Boston. little home cooking, might do them some well. So speaking to JJ, who I brought up a moment ago, he's now reached base in each of his first 11 games of his career. Amazing, right?
Starting point is 00:18:52 He's been just what the doctor ordered at the top of this lineup for years. The Cardinals have been searching for a leadoff guy who can stay healthy because you thought Lars Newport could be that guy with his elite OBP and batter's eye. But, you know, he's always hurt. So JJ has been outstanding at the top of the lineup. doesn't have to get a hit every game, but he's going to be on base at some point or another. He's got the wheels. He's stolen a couple of bases, made an awesome defensive play in this game as well, diving to his left in a hole between first and second to get an out.
Starting point is 00:19:24 So JJ just continues to do his thing. Beliegered reliever, Matt Fonson, was able to get in this game. And although he did walk the first hitter that he faced, he retired the next five guys he saw in order. So a nice bounce back performance for him. it just feels like it's mechanics and confidence is what's going on with Matt's Fonson. So as soon as they get him figured out, I'm hoping he's going to be fine. I know we kind of were teasing, you know, Ryan Fernandez 2.0, here we go. But hopefully it doesn't get to that point where he's got to be sent down.
Starting point is 00:19:59 I know a lot of people are ready to ship him out. They don't want Ryan Stanick around anymore. I get it. I understand that. But yeah, you also have to know that very long season, they're going to ride with these guys for a little while longer, that's for sure. Justin Broll got into the game, saw some action, got the one-hitter he faced. So, you know, he hasn't pitched all that great recently.
Starting point is 00:20:21 So good to see him do well. Riley O'Brien again had gotten warm before the Joe Alpozo two runs in the top of the ninth end before his base hit. So he was already warm. So with the day off today, Ollie was like, yeah, let's just put him in anyway. comes into the ninth inning, finishes it off with a clean inning, ERA still at 0.00 on the year. Great stuff from Riley O'Brien. Cardinals have now won three of the first four series of the season. They moved to seven and five this year.
Starting point is 00:20:49 They get the day off on Thursday, and then they welcome in Wilson Contreras and the Boston Red Sox to Bush Stadium for a three-game series beginning on Friday. Up next, we're going to check in on Liam Doyle's first start of the year. It did not go well. And sadly, more bad news for reliever packing not in the dude just cannot stay on the field. So sad, sad news about him. We'll get into all of it. Coming up next on Lockdown Cardinals.
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Starting point is 00:22:34 Thank you for making it locked on the number one sports podcast network. Former first round pick Liam Doyle, who is the Cardinals top ranked pitching prospect. And as soon as, you know, they remove J.J. Weatherholt from the list, there'll be MLB Pipelines number one prospect for the St. Louis. Cardinals got his first start of the year for Springfield and wasn't pretty. Wasn't pretty. Got rocked in this one.
Starting point is 00:22:57 Six runs, four earned on eight hits, one home run and one walk and three strikeouts and just three innings of work against Tulsa, who is the Dodgers, double A affiliate. Dodgers number one ranked prospect, 12th overall. According to MLB Pipeline, 20-year-old outfielder, host Sway DePaula, went four for five in the game with five ribbies. show off. John Denton said that of the 65 pitches that Doyle threw, 42 of them were strikes. He did register 15 swings and misses. And this is from a Tulsa team that apparently came out aggressively. They were swinging early in counts and targeting Doyle's fastball, which is obviously the smart thing to do against any hard throwing pitcher. You know, you want to hunt the fastball. That's what you want to do because if he gets ahead of you, you got wipe out splinters and then you've got the
Starting point is 00:23:45 slider. So that's what you want to do. I wouldn't freak out about this. Better days are ahead for him, I'm sure, but that wasn't the debut. Any of us were hoping for Springfield's first loss of the year. They dropped a four and one in that particular game. Memphis Redbirds also lost on Wednesday by a score of seven to three to the White Sox AAA affiliate, the Charlotte Knights. Quint Matthews got the start. He lasted. He had a rough outing, too. Just two and two thirds inning, seven runs on five hits, two home runs, walks three, also struck out six. And if that wasn't a downer enough, left-handed reliever Packy Naughton,
Starting point is 00:24:23 who looks so good this spring, so good this spring. It was really close to making the big league club. You know, they explained it to us where we just need to see him be able to stay healthy so we can handle the rigors of a major league season. And if he can do that, they have no doubt he was going to be a part of their plan moving forward,
Starting point is 00:24:40 had to leave the game after just three pitches. he was clutching his elbow. It did not look good. He's had multiple surgeries on that elbow, which has kept him out of baseball since 2023. And you just feel awful for him. Like as soon as it happened and you saw the anguish in his in his face. And, you know, when things tweak, you know, you're not, you don't react the way Packing Norton did. It felt like something. What it looked like to me, it looked like he tore something again and knew exactly what happened. happened as soon as it happened. So just awful news for Packing Notton, which also comes into play. Like you hate to think of it this way, but business side of things, maybe they were going to rely
Starting point is 00:25:22 on Packing Notting to be another one of those left-hand of relievers, which was what made, you know, Nick Roque available and, you know, expendable. And now he's no longer with the, with the organization. So where do they go from here? Lefty relievers. Do we, They're already out of the free agent market that they might be able to sign. We'll find out. They're going to need somebody to fill those roles. The rest of the NL Central saw the Brewers, Reds, and Pirates. They all lost their games on Wednesday.
Starting point is 00:25:54 Brewers get shut out by Sunny Gray and the Red Sox 5 to nothing. That's right. Sunny Gray pitching well at Fenway Park and look good against the Brewers. Brewers have now lost back-to-back games. That does not have it very often. So pop champagne on that. Reds fell to Miami, 7 to 4 to snap their. or five game winning streak. The Pirates got six shutout innings from Mitch Keller, but the
Starting point is 00:26:17 bullpen allowed eight runs and three innings as they fall to the Padres eight to two. The Cubs did pick up another victory. They beat the race six two thanks to a five run fifth inning that saw Tampa Bay commit two errors in that inning alone. They made three total in the game. The win pulls the Cubs back to the 500 mark at six and six. So your standings have the Brewers and Reds tied at the top at eight and four, pirates and cardinals tied behind them, a game back at seven and five and then the Cubs are six and six. The NL Central is now the only division in baseball without a losing record. They're solid again. The Dodgers got the best record in the league at nine and three. That isn't surprised many people, but who's got the worst record might? Seattle
Starting point is 00:26:57 Mariners have the worst record in the league right now at four and nine. Yeah, multiple teams have just four wins so far this year along with Seattle, White Sox, Tigers, Nationals, A's, and the Red Sox. face two of them so far. Tigers, Nationals, got a third one coming into town when they play Boston on Friday. Dustin May is your scheduled starter. The only team that they've played so far that's got a winning record is the New York Mets. So is that, does that take away from what the Cardinals have done so far this year? Or have the Cardinals just played well and have beaten teams that should be better. I take it however you want to take it. I'm going to stay positive and just say I feel like the boys have just been playing some pretty decent ball. And I like the grit. I like the fight.
Starting point is 00:27:50 I like the energy. I like the youth. I'm having a good time watching this team so far. And I'm having a good time getting to put on this ugly shirt after almost every series so far. I hope they keep it up and show up against Boston. And I hope we get some fans who show up at Bush Stadium. this weekend to root on the Cardinals who are putting a pretty good brand of baseball out there on the field so far in 2026. Thanks for making a locked on Cardinals for us. If you haven't already give us a follow on X at L0 underscore Cardinals. We're on TikTok and Instagram of Lockdown Cardinals. Like, subscribe on YouTube.
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Starting point is 00:28:51 Enjoy the day off on Thursday. We'll see you next time on Locked on Cardinals.

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