Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - Losses Earlier In The Year To Some Really Bad Team Has Put The Cardinals In A Tough Spot

Starting point is 00:00:00 How five different series over the course of this season has the Cardinals playing catch-up in September. 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 J.D. Haffern and I'm a national radio sports anchor. Born and Raves in the Lou and a Lifetime Cardinals fan. And I'm your host for Locked-on Cardinals, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network covering your team every day.

Starting point is 00:00:32 You can follow me on Twitter X at JD Sports Radio in the podcast at L0 underscore Cardinals. I want to thank those of you who make Locktown Cardinals your first listen every day. We're free and available wherever you get your podcast. You can find us on YouTube if you have a stop by there recently. We'd love to have you come on by. Hit that like button. Hit the subscribe button if you haven't already. And be sure to interact with us.

Starting point is 00:00:52 Make sure you're leaving comments, suggestions. What do you want to talk about? What do you want your opinion to be expressed? Do you want me to talk about that? like lay it all in there for me and obviously hit that notification button so you know when the new episodes are posted. This is a show serving Cardle Nation and giving the best fans of baseball, all of the info about the birds on the bat. Today's episode brought to you by prize picks. Go to prize picks.com slash locked on MLB. Use the code all overcase locked on MLB to win $50 instantly

Starting point is 00:01:20 when you play $5. So welcome in once again. Hope everyone enjoyed the off day on Thursday where you didn't really have to worry about Cardinal baseball all that much. Got a chance. to enjoy some NFL football. He had those crazy storms in Kansas City that delayed things. My brother lives in Kansas City. And he was like, yeah, they just came out of like nowhere. And all of a sudden it was just pouring everywhere. Yeah, the Ravens who forgot that they had Derek Henry on their team, decided not to use him last night. You had the wild finish. So that was fun. My Packers are playing tonight in Brazil against the Eagles. So I'm looking forward to that, of course. And our Cardinals are back on the field at home. They're going to be a Bush

Starting point is 00:01:59 stadium tonight against the Seattle Mariners. Here's an update on where everything is standings-wise, you know, this is something we're at that point of the season now where you got to be paying attention, what's going on around you, not worrying about it, but you got to be paying attention to it. So the Cardinals are, you know, just a smidge back in the division right now, 10 games, to be exact, behind first place Milwaukee, although we took four or six against them in the recent series. They're a game behind the second play Chicago Cubs who have played much better recently. They've won seven of their last send. Then behind the Cardo's, you got the Reds at 68 and 73. They just swept the Houston

Starting point is 00:02:37 Astros in Cincinnati. And then Pittsburgh, 66 and 74, bringing up the rear in the NL Central. Now, the division, as we know, is done. All right, it's been done for a while. It's toast. Let's not even worry about it. But the Wild Cardo is still there for the Cardos. Again, it's not likely that they're going to catch up with everybody because these teams have to lose and it's not really happening for them. But, but it is there. And you've got the Braves of the Mets now outside for the third spot. The Mets are on quite a roll right now. They've won seven in a row. They've come to life in a huge way. Then the Cubs are four back and then it's our Cardinals at five. And the mission stays the same. You don't worry about the other teams. You just worry about what you're

Starting point is 00:03:19 going to do that day. You just go out and you try to win as many games as possible and then just let the chips fall where they may. And I was talking to some buddies yesterday. about the team and they asked me like where did things like go wrong this year because to them they're like it never felt like the cardinals were like a real bad team at any point but they never went on a mega hot streak they just kind of been floating in the middle because you know they did get you know a little bit hot after uh mother's day but they were like where you put it where they're like things this was a bad spot and there's a couple areas that that came to mind when I was asked about this. And I was like, well, here's a spot where they kind of

Starting point is 00:04:02 pooped the bet a little bit. And it was in series against teams that it should have beat, right? Like when you go back at it, check this out. You remember how May was, right? Where the team had a really ugly stretch of games. You go to Detroit. Flaherty has this awesome game against you, but you lose two of three in Detroit to a to a Tigers team who at the time, you didn't think all that much about, but they came out and took two of three from you. That's a Tigers team, by the way, which I don't know if anyone has noticed is now 71 and 70. Like, where did that come from? The Tigers who traded away people, who dumped Jack Flaherty onto the Dodgers and traded with them, have a roster of people that you've never heard of. Like, I dare you. I dare you to name five

Starting point is 00:04:50 people on their active roster other than Terek Scouble, their star pitcher. and yet they're five back in the AOL card. Like it's kind of crazy. But anyways, the Cardinals dropped two of three in Detroit at the time, which you're like, that's not good. Then they come home and they lose two of three to the White Sox. We know that's not good. That's awful.

Starting point is 00:05:09 The White Sox are going for the worst record in the history of baseball. 32 and 109 right now are the Chicago White Sox, and the Cardinals lost two of three to them. Think about that. Then you lose two to the Mets. That's pretty good. And then three to the Brewers before they took off on Mother's Day because then that's Mother's Day Sunday happened. And that's when the Cardinals kind of turned things around.

Starting point is 00:05:33 But that was a very painful stretch of games. That was pretty bad. They also split a four game series with the Rockies in June. That's bad because Rockies are 52 and 89 this season. They're not good. You drop two of three in Miami to the Marlins. The Rocky series was at Bush Stadium. So that was a, that's a, yeah, not good.

Starting point is 00:05:54 The Marlins, you lose two of three. I remember that series where it was just like, they just look terrible. The Marlins are 52 and 88. They dropped two of three to the pirates and the nationals in July, and then you get the disgusting sweep in Cincinnati in August, which, you know, really put them behind the eight ball. So winning every, you know, every game and every series,

Starting point is 00:06:15 obviously it's not going to happen. I get that. But you flip a couple of those series around, and instead of losing two of three, you're winning two of three, or just get one extra win in those series. And look how it changes things. You grab one one against the White Sox.

Starting point is 00:06:30 So you win two of three instead of losing two of three. You win three or four against the Rockies instead of splitting. You win two of three against Miami instead of losing two. You win two instead of losing two to the nationals. And you get at least one win in that Cincinnati series. Just one. Like you don't win the series, but you pick up one W. That's five games against teams that I think most of us would agree.

Starting point is 00:06:53 The Cardinals are better than and should be better than. And that would make quite a difference in the wild card standings for you right now. You know, I mean, that's five games. How far back are you? Five games. So and at the time, you know, you say things like, you know, hey, it's early on. We still got time. And they did.

Starting point is 00:07:15 And they are playing better right now. But it's probably too late. And I look at those games against the White Sox, the Rockies, the Marlins, the National and the Reds, and I see missed opportunities that has essentially put them on the outside looking in as we sit here today on September 6th. So those are the ones I'm looking at where I'm like, wow, think about that for a second. And, you know, we always say, well, you know, it depends on what we're going to do later on down the road. But now that you are down the road, you look back, you're like, those were the problems right there. Those were the missed opportunities.

Starting point is 00:07:49 Those five games would make a world of difference on what the outlook of the Cardinal season is. could make a world of difference on what the crowds are at Bush Stadium. Like if the cartels were in the third wild card, I would assume there would be more people there. I'm not saying it would be a sellout or anything, but it wouldn't look the way it has looked recently. I wouldn't think when they're in the wild card spot. So, you know, it's frustrating, too,

Starting point is 00:08:12 because you know this team is better than that. You're seeing them play up to a better level against better teams recently when you're talking about the Padres and the twins and the Yankees and the Brewers for two. And, you know, it's, you can see that they're better than this. And they're better than what they were earlier this year. It's just unfortunate that it's taken this long for things to start clicking. Speaking of clicking, Paul Goldschmidt, somebody who's picked up the pace a little bit here in August and September.

Starting point is 00:08:42 In fact, it goes back a little further than that. I want to revisit the Paul Goldschmidt stuff next. Should the Cardinals bring him back and at what cost would you accept his return to this roster next? Here. We'll get into it next on Lockstone Cards. Even though summer is almost gone, you've got plenty of time to still stock up on all your favorite grilling foods. Like, you know, with the Packers on tonight, I'm eating Broadway. That is what I will be doing. And you can earn cashback on every purchase when you use I Bada.

Starting point is 00:09:13 So you won't have to choose between burgers or hot dogs or brats or Mets or whatever it is you're into. You can get them all. I bought is a free app that lets you earn cash back every time you shop. You can earn on hundreds of different items from groceries to beauty supplies to toys. You know, the average I bought a user that take home $256 per year. That's what they earn. That could cover the cost of a major portion of your day to the ballpark, to the stadium, to six flags, to the flight that you've been lining up or a fancy dinner that you want to go out to. And other apps are going to give you points that don't really amount too much.

Starting point is 00:09:49 But with Ibada, you earn cash back that you can withdraw to either your. bank account, you can put it on PayPal, you can use it on gift cards, simply add offers in the app, upload your receipt, and voila, the money is yours. It's time that you join the over 50 million users who use Ivada to earn cash back every time they shop. So right now, I Bada is offering our listeners $5 just for trying I Bata. So use the code locked on MLB. When you register, go to the app store, Google Play, and download the free IBata app to start earning cash back and use the code locked on MLB. That's I-B-O-T-A in the Google Play or app store and use code Locked-on MLB. Thank you for making Locked-on Cardinals. Your first listen today for your second listen.

Starting point is 00:10:36 Enjoy the Lockdown MLB podcast hosted by Solie, who is here daily to provide national expertise with his trademark humor. Prepare for the Fall Classic with Solie, who's got you covered every single day on Lockton MLB, available on YouTube or wherever you get your podcast, part of the Locktown Podcast Network, your team every day. Cardinals are back home and remember you can catch every pitch of the Cardinals hometown broadcast with Sirius XM. Just download the SXM app and search the word Cardinals. Time for a little bit of fan feedback, a little fan interaction here as we tackle the Paul Goldschmidt situation.

Starting point is 00:11:11 Again, this is a topic that has been on the mind of a lot of fans, a lot of media members recently because of his research and set the plate. That was pointed out to me by a few people. Maybe I'd been selling Paul Goldsmith short a little bit recently by not. giving him credit for not only this recent 11 game tear that he's been on and in what his improvements have actually been before that. That it's actually gotten a lot better as the season has progressed. And going back and looking, I'm like, that's fair. So let me give you a little more, a little more info on the Paul Goldschmidt progression this season because you go to his splits

Starting point is 00:11:55 and you see that in March and April, Goldie hits 236 with 37 strikeouts. The OPS plus is at 86. Remember 100 is your medium level, right? That's the league average. So below average there. 204 batting average in May, although we did hit five home runs that month, but 33 more strikeouts and OPS plus of 95. June he hits 232, 30 strikeouts OPS plus of 78.

Starting point is 00:12:20 So we're talking about a below average hitter at the major league level in Paul Goldsmith, which is not something anybody expected. Then in July, things get better for them. And we can put up Smiley, Paul, in this situation here on YouTube for this part. July, he hits 260, five home runs, 28 strikeouts. So you're seeing the strikeouts come down a little bit. OPS plus up to 102. In August, he hits 272 with four home runs and 14 RBIs, which is the high in a month

Starting point is 00:12:51 this year for him, the 14 RBIs, only 22, strikers. only 22 strikeouts OPS plus up to 123. And then so far in September, he's been ridiculous, right? He's hitting 421. The OPS plus is at 240. Up until July, he was hitting 225 with 11 bombs, 33 rebis, 100 strikeouts, and 80 games. Okay, that's not good. On base percentage, 294, the slugging 361 OPS 655.

Starting point is 00:13:20 Not good. Not good at all. Since July, he's, he's, He's at 280, 10 home runs, 25 ribbies, 55 strikeouts, so they've dropped dramatically. And that's over a 53 game stretch. OBP up to 318, slugging up to 502, the OPS, up to 821, significantly better and more like the Goldie we are accustomed to in St. Louis. Now, is he anywhere near those MVP numbers from a couple years ago? Of course not.

Starting point is 00:13:49 And he's probably never going to get back up to that level. It was kind of out of nowhere that he was that good that year. And I don't think anybody was expecting that that season. But when you take the whole body of work this year, we're looking at a 247 header with 21 home runs, 58 ribbies, the OBP 304, slugging 417, OPS 721, the OPS plus of 99. So he's just a shade under league average there. Among qualified first baseman in the league. So let's compare what Goldie has done compared to all the other first baseman. he's tied for 10th in home runs with Freddie Freeman.

Starting point is 00:14:26 So no slaps there. 21 home runs is not anything to just sneeze at, by the way. You know, Goldie hitting 30 to 35 home runs is probably not something to expect anymore. But when you're in that 25 home run range, which is where he's probably going to finish, not that bad. Like, that's not bad. He's eighth and extra base hits. Pretty good.

Starting point is 00:14:48 He's sixth tied for six, actually, and hits overall for first baseman, with the Royals Vinny Pass Quantino. That's good. That's not bad. It's just everything else. Overall, this season has been average or below. The batting average, obviously low at 14th among first baseman. OBP is down at 20th.

Starting point is 00:15:08 Slugging 13th. OPS 17th. He leads all first baseman in strikeouts. And he's only 20th in walk. So there's a big difference there. There's a huge gap in his strikeout to walk. ratio, which is bizarre to me. It makes me feel like he's chasing things and he shouldn't be and he's not being more patient at the plate. Obviously, things have gotten better as the, as the season has moved on.

Starting point is 00:15:33 But there's other stuff to Paul Goldschmidt, though, other than just what he does at the plate. And we always have to remember this. And it's something that I ate personally. I sometimes, you know, I just kind of, you know, cruise over and I don't really think about it as much. But the defensive skills that Paul Goldschmidt, you know, supplies you at first base. You know, super steady guy. Underrated aspect of his game, in my opinion. He's got a few gold gloves, but I focus a lot on the offensive side of things normally when it comes to him. And I sometimes fail to mention how good he is defensively.

Starting point is 00:16:08 I mean, 996 fielding percentage this year. He's only made five errors in almost 1,150 innings this year, which is significantly higher amount of innings played than the guys who are ahead of him with less errors. Okay. Fan Graf's has his defensive runs saved as two, which would put him eighth in the league. You know, you need that over at first. I mean, how many times has Goldie saved an errand throw over there from all of our infielders? You know, Nato and Wend and, you know, Donnie and Gorman and all he's got like, how many times

Starting point is 00:16:41 has he made some kind of play and you're like, wow, that could have really screwed that ending up and it was Goldie who who was over there can he can Luke and baker and alec Berlinson make those plays I don't know yet I don't know but my guess is they won't be as good as Paul Goldschmidt he just continues to be steady over at first base uh his base running like you love it right he's a he's always been a very good base runner he's second and stolen bases even at his age uh for first base where he's got nine of them this year which is tied with louisa re uh arise and uh one behind Brewer's Jake Bowers, who's got 10 this year. So, you know, you trust him on the base pass. You don't see him make mental errors. You always see him hustling. He's not like dogging it.

Starting point is 00:17:27 Like you see him when he puts his head down and he's going, man. It's a cool thing to watch. We know his teammates love him and respect him. The fans, the front office, we all love and respect Paul Goldschmidt, but should they try and bring him back? Or is it time to just kind of pull the plug and and move on all together. It's a time to make a clean break and just close the book on this chapter of Cardinals baseball where it's him and Arnato are your main cogs and just move forward into a direction without at least Goldie.

Starting point is 00:17:59 You know, Nato, I don't expect him to trade him. I would assume he'd be over at the hot corner again next year, but Goldschmidt's a free agent. So I struggle with this because there's part of me that wants to be cut and dry about it and, you know, this business side of me that says, I want to go younger, man. They haven't won much, certainly not in the postseason. They've won regular season games, but not in the post season since Goldie has been here. Like, why are we continuing to go through the motions here with this? Let's try something different. Let's see what

Starting point is 00:18:34 else can click. So going younger, a more affordable combo of Alec Berluson and Luke and Baker, you know, see what they can do together as the full-time guys next year. But, you know, and then you, you know, let's see the things that I list here. They're the intangibles that Paul Goldschman offers off the field, the, the improvements he's made at the plate in the second half of the season. And then that side of me, the fan side wants to keep him around. So, uh, it's a tough spot, you know, I think most of Cardinal Nation is, is split on this. And it, it showed up in the poll that I put on Twitter X.

Starting point is 00:19:11 I asked, you know, would you bring Paul Goldsmith back next year? And 52.2% of the vote said yes. Said yes. So that's a little under 48. Said no. So, I mean, that's kind of right there. But many of the people who want to bring him back were smart about it because they had some stipulations involved in his return as far as how money looks, how many years, options, stuff like that. So I want to run through some of the responses from some of our listeners.

Starting point is 00:19:45 We'll do that next year on Locked on Cardinals. Price Fix is America's number one daily fantasy sports app with more than five million members. And it's the easiest and most exciting way to play daily fantasy sports. Now, unlike other apps, on prize picks, it's just you against the numbers. All you got to do is pick more or less on six player stat projections. And you watch your winnings roll in. You can sign up today and get $50 instantly. When you play $5, you don't even need to win.

Starting point is 00:20:11 How about that? To receive the $50 bonus, it is guaranteed. Now, they're going with a Bears player, but one Caleb Williams passing yard will get you one win on price picks every single week in the month of September. Number one overall pick, the Bears took him. He looks good on hard knocks, as much as it pains me to say that. And the Bears have gotten them some good weapons, man. They drafted a, you know, a wide receiver as well in the first round. and then you've got the DJ board, you've got the Keenan Allen, and you got D'Andre Swift. So there's some weapons in Chicago now for Caleb Williams.

Starting point is 00:20:47 And let's be honest, one passing yard. It's not a difficult thing to do. So only one yard. We'll get you an automatic win every football weekend in September. Four weeks of free W, so don't miss this deal on Price Fix because it will be gone when September ends. Download the Price Fix app today. Use the Code Locked on MLB and get $50 instantly when you play $5.

Starting point is 00:21:07 That's code locked on MLB on Price Fix. to get $50 instantly when you play $5. You don't even need to win to receive the $50 bonus. It's guaranteed. Prize picks run your game. Thank you for making Locktown Cardinals your first listen today. Now, do me a solid. Go check out the Lockdown MLV podcast with Sully.

Starting point is 00:21:33 Prepare for the Fall Classic with our guy, Sally, who's got it all covered every single day. You can find the link to Lockdown MLV in the description so you don't need to search. Part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. So for the people that said, yes, I want Paul. Paul Goldschmidt back. And there were plenty of them. There were plenty of them that said they did not want him back under any circumstances.

Starting point is 00:21:54 And they were more like how I felt a couple of weeks ago where I was just like, dude, I can't watch this anymore. It's killing me to see him just not come through anymore. And now he is. And so things are starting to teeter back in the favor of Paul Goldschmidt. I've always said from the get go that I think the Cardinals are going to offer him something. I think they're not just going to wash their hands of Paul Goldsmith. but I think they will try to get him back.

Starting point is 00:22:19 It's a very cardinal thing to do. But the fans have spoken here. And when I asked what would be the stipulations, if you were to bring Paul Goldschmidt back, like what kind of offer would you make for him? You know, what's your deal going to be like? You get to be Mo. What are you putting out there as an offer on the table?

Starting point is 00:22:37 And some of the responses, they make a lot of sense. Like Tyler says, $10 million with bonuses so he can earn up to $15 million. Hunter, two years, 25 million team option for year two. Thomas Govain from Redbirdbrance.com, our buddy, one or two years, starting at 10 million with escalators to get him up to 15 per and make sure that he's open to a reduced roll, which is a big part of something I want to bring up here in a minute. Brent says, yes, I want to bring him back with a lighter workload. Let him do a full retirement tour.

Starting point is 00:23:12 Let him pitch an inning if you need to. let him go full pool pool holes and Molina in their last year when they both took them on at one point. Cameron says one year 14 million. Ziggy, one year seven million. I think that's pretty low. I don't think he's going to accept that. For a while, you know, and it's just more of these types of ideas. And, you know, most people are right in that same ballpark between like 10 and 20 million. And I, you know, like I said, I've been strong on moving on, but knowing that the, like I said to the Cardinals, I think they will offer him something. I'm starting to lean a bit more towards thinking that might not be such a bad idea. Because what I would do is like you sit them down.

Starting point is 00:23:56 You're like, hi, Paul, welcome, welcome in. You want me to take your cup? You sit them down and you just tell them like, look, we want to keep you. All right. We're not trying to kick you to the curb. We're not trying to rid ourselves of Paul Goldschmidt. Great ambassador for a game. Love what you do in the community.

Starting point is 00:24:13 Love what you do with chance. the way you interact with, you know, the media, with your own teammates. We want you in a red jacket one day here at Bush Stadium, getting applauded by 60,000 people or whoever's going to be there for that day. We want you to finish your career here. Like, we don't want to see you go anywhere else. But we also need to be honest about what this team needs and where it's going moving forward. I've enjoyed personally the Goldie, Burley, Luke and Baker kind of trio thing that's going on right now at First Basin D.H. You know, I have not been a fan of having your two catchers playing, you know, one D-Hing and one catching.

Starting point is 00:24:58 I have not been a huge fan of that this year. And I just kind of think like this trio idea, I think it's kind of cool if they continue doing that moving forward, knowing that. as long as Goldie knows, these other guys, they've got to get there at best. Okay? They just do, which would mean a few less games for him.

Starting point is 00:25:21 And if that's okay with him, is he willing, knowing that we don't need him to be the everyday guy like he has been throughout his career, will he be willing to take a more team-friendly salary to do that job? Now, I don't know if that's such a bad thing.

Starting point is 00:25:40 I don't know if Paul Gould, It's going to go for that. And if you do go two years, like some of these people have mentioned, I hope it is a team option, not a player option, because if things do kind of go sideways, like they did at the early points of this season, I don't want to be on the hook for another year of it. I want to be able to be like, all right, that was cool. The incentives and escalators that people brought up, obviously great idea.

Starting point is 00:26:06 Not only does it give Paul Goldsman extra motivation, not that he needs it because he works very, very hard. but it's nice to know that, you know, if he does end up playing more than, you know, if he's doing very, very well and has to play more, that it'll pay off even more for him, where he's not just, well, I'm still only going to get this, even if I do that. So that kind of eases that issue. Like I said, will this be something that Paul Goldsmith wants? I don't know.

Starting point is 00:26:32 Will someone else try to snag him with a two-year guaranteed deal of 40 million or something? That very well could happen, you know, like I said. The name, first off, is it's a name that other teams are going to be like, well, look, we can get Paul Goldschman off this team. You know, that's going to be something that might be attractive to some of these other teams, even at this point of his career. Does Paul Goldschman want to move again? And that's why what I brought up Arizona in one of our previous shows, I was like, that's something he's familiar with, which would make sense if the Diamondbacks don't lock up Christian Walker. But maybe they don't want to do that at all. Maybe they don't want to pay for either Walker or Goldsch bet.

Starting point is 00:27:20 Maybe they don't want to do that. They're going to stay young and they've got somebody else ready to roll into that first space slot. I don't know. I don't know the Diamond Max roster off the top of my head right now. But I know they like younger guys. They got E. E. E. E. E. Haneo Svarez, right? They can move him over to first, I guess.

Starting point is 00:27:35 But anyway, this is a card podcast. We're not talking about time. Anyway. But these are some things that could happen. You know, there might be some other teams. And, you know, I don't blame Paul Goldsmith if he decided to go listen to some of these offers and see what's out there for him. Personally, I feel like he would enjoy spending his final years in St. Rose. But maybe he wants to go chase a ring.

Starting point is 00:28:02 Maybe that's something like in the end. He's like, yeah, but I kind of want that jewelry, man. That could be something too. And if he decides to like, hey, I, you know, I got this. chance, you know, so-and-so has decided to give me an offer and I'm going to run with it. It's not the end of the world. It really isn't. If you just move on and then you go with Burley and Baker and you use the money that you're

Starting point is 00:28:27 saving for other areas of the team. Like it's not, that's what's great is that I think the Cardinals are in a spot here where they can be comfortable with whichever way this whole thing goes. He decides to come back. Cool. If he doesn't, we're going to be all right. right. You know, we feel like we've got a little something here with Lucan Baker. You know, we know Alec Berlinson can hit righties very, very well. The lefties is where he struggles.

Starting point is 00:28:52 We know Luca Baker hits left-handed is very, very well. And there's really no point of Luke and Baker being down at AAA ever again. Okay. We're starting to see that he can handle major league pitching. He's got nothing else to prove at Memphis or AAA. That's just a waste of his time now. he's done everything he can down there. And, you know, last year, it wasn't great when he came up and he got his first taste of the big leagues. And his bat looked slow. He looked like a little bit lost, you know. He looked like a guy making his major league debut, kind of how Mason Wend looked,

Starting point is 00:29:25 where he didn't look all that comfortable and looked a little lost to play in his month of work with the Cardinals last year. And we've seen how that helped him. And he was able to turn things around. And Luke and Baker right now, when he comes up to the plate, he looks kind of. confident. It looks like he's got a plan. He looks comfortable. And you're seeing it pay off on the field. He's driven runs in in what six straight games now, which I read earlier was like the longest streak and major league baseball right now. I would love to see him get more at bats, but the Cardinals just haven't faced a whole lot of left-handed starters recently.

Starting point is 00:29:58 They'll get Miller tonight, Gilbert tomorrow, Castillo on Sunday from the Mariners. They're all right-handers. So he'll probably remain in the pinch hitting role this week. And Cardinals counter with Eric Fetty, Kyle Gibson and Miles Michaelis, the Meriters, who seem like a shoe win for the playoffs earlier this year have really hit hard times. They've slipped a four and a half back of Houston and the American League West, as I mentioned earlier, the Astros getting swept in Cincinnati. They're still four and a half back. The Cardinals are five in the wild card.

Starting point is 00:30:30 And so are the Merrittors. They're five back in their wild card. Offense has been the problem for them as well. Julio Rodriguez is having a dreadful year. year for his standards, hitting just 258, it's only got 14 home runs after hitting 28 and 32 at its first two full seasons. Former Cardinal Randy a Rosa Rana is now on their team. He was traded to them at the deadline by the Braes. He's only hitting 238 with three home runs since the deal, only hitting 218 overall this year.

Starting point is 00:30:57 Their catcher, Cal Raleigh, he's been the guy that's been their biggest offensive threat. He's got 29 dingers, 87 ribbies, the most home runs by a catcher in the league this season at 29. second most RBIs. But he does strike out a lot, 156 strikeouts this year. That's a lot of punchees. That also leads all major league catchers. As the team,

Starting point is 00:31:17 the Mariners are dead last and batting average in 218. They lead the league in strikeouts with 1430, just a little bit better than the Cardinals and hitting with runners in scoring position. We know how bad the Cardinals have been there. The Mariners aren't that much better. They're hitting 237. Cardinals are 22.

Starting point is 00:31:34 They are down at the bottom. in most offensive categories in all of baseball along with Chicago White Sox. But they're a 71 win team because of their pitching, which has gotten them through this year. So this is certainly a winnable series. The Cardinals have lost a series in a while. It's been nice. It's been fun. 10 and 6 in their last 16.

Starting point is 00:31:55 I would imagine these are going to be some low scoring games this weekend. So you got to do the simple things right. You got to do the little things right. No stupid base running mistakes. No, don't walk a lot of people. You got to limit the walks. No free passes, man. You got to make them earn their way on to beat you.

Starting point is 00:32:13 They're not a good offensive team. So don't help them by putting people on and then putting the pressure on yourself. That is certainly something the Cardinals want to avoid this weekend. So looking forward to it. Thanks for making lots on Cardinals. Your first listen every day. We haven't already. Give us a follow on Twitter X at L0 underscore Cardinals and a JD Sports Radio.

Starting point is 00:32:32 Like, subscribe on YouTube, help our channel, and our, love for the Cardinals grow. You guys are the best fans in baseball for a reason. I'm curious to see how many of you are out there at the ballpark this weekend. And I'm very curious as to whether or not this guy will be there this weekend cheering on the Cardinals. We'll keep an eye out for him. Until next time, thanks for hanging out on Lockdown Cardinals.

Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - Losses Earlier In The Year To Some Really Bad Team Has Put The Cardinals In A Tough Spot

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.