Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - McGreevy SHINES At Coors Field, Mo Hints At Roster Shake Up

Starting point is 00:00:00 Pop the champagne. The St. Louis Cardinals got to win. But more importantly, it was another nice step for Michael McGruevy who did something that no Cardinals pitcher had done in almost a month. You are Locked on Cardinals. Your daily St. Louis Cardinals podcast, part of the Locked on Podcasts network. Part of the Lockedon Podcasts. 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 Locktown Cardinals, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network covering your team every day. follow me on X at JD Sports Radio, the podcast on X as well at Allo underscore Cardinals. We're on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram as well, locked on Cardinals. This is a show serving Cardinal Nation and giving the best fans of baseball, all of the info about the birds on the bat.

Starting point is 00:00:48 Today show, we've got a few things to get to. We're going to do some trade deadline talk. I also want to discuss some of the feedback that we got when discussing the possibility of trading Brendan Donovan. Some people got worked up about that yesterday. So we'll get to that. but John Moseilock had some things to say about who and why certain people might be available at the trade deadline. So we'll discuss those things as well.

Starting point is 00:01:12 But let's start with last night's victory. The Cardinals finally in the win column for the first time since the All Star break after defeating the Colorado Rockies 6 to 2. And I know it's just the Rockies. I get that. But when is when and when you've struggled the way that the Cardinals have over the last few weeks, you're going to take them wherever you can get them. even in Colorado. The big story in this game, though, is Michael McGreeby. The 25-year-old right-hander was back up for what is deemed another spot start considering and considering where he was

Starting point is 00:01:45 pitching. Like, how are you not impressed with what you saw? I think the results were pretty nice. Coors Field, not an easy place to go to and pitch well, seven innings, two runs, seven hits. Only had one strikeout, but so what? But we've established this before. Michael McGreevy is not a strikeout sky. That's not his game, really. The number you'll notice, which is his game, is the seven innings, which is something that we haven't seen in quite a while. cue the old lady Rose from Titanic saying it's been 84 years. Maybe it hasn't been that long, but it's been a bet since a Cardinal starter has gone seven innings in a game and pitched well to get there. July 1st, in fact, was the date. The last time,

Starting point is 00:02:32 Cardle's starter went seven innings. Now I know that throwing seven innings isn't the norm anymore, but man, it was nice to see it for a change. And the reason I say that is because like, seeing guys throw seven innings doesn't happen all that often these days. But Michael McGreevy just did it at course field and he threw less than 100 pitches to make it happen. That's impressive to me. It wasn't exactly smooth sailing the whole time. You know, McGreevy dealt with some early bumps in the road where he allowed to, you know, lead off singles in the first, second and third innings was able to get out of the hits the first two innings, but the third inning, the Rockies made it sting by putting up a couple of runs. So, you know, there were your cardinals down two to nothing. Again,

Starting point is 00:03:13 once again, there they are, playing from behind, which has kind of become the Cardinal way recently. No wonder they've been losing as many games. And normally after they're, they fall behind, things begin to spiral out of control. You know, they get behind and then there's another bad and then another bad inning. But McGreevy was able to stop the hemorrhaging in this particular outing and limits the Rockies to just those two runs for the rest of the way.

Starting point is 00:03:40 Gave the offense a chance to get back into things, which they did. And then after they had tied it up, he didn't allow the Rockies to tag on any more runs. You know, far too often the Cardinals offense, you know, they'll put up a fight like say a team jumps out to that three to nothing lead that I brought

Starting point is 00:03:56 up yesterday where it always feels like they're down three to nothing. And the Cardinals might get a run back or two back, but then immediately the other team scores again. The opposition just strikes right after they get a couple runs. And it just deflates everything. It just feels like all the work you did to get back into it. And then it's all gone again. But McGreevy does what he does, man.

Starting point is 00:04:18 He stays calm. He stays cool and collective. I mean, he looks like he's a guy that's, you know, like 30 years old out there. The way he just goes about his business, which I dig. He's very, very mature. allows one hit from the fourth to the seventh innings. He retires 13 to the final 14 hitters he faces, and he doesn't walk anyone,

Starting point is 00:04:39 which you know I love as an everydayer walks drive me nuts. Nothing gets under my skin more than just walking people over, over and over. Folks are going to complain about the fact that he only had one strikeout, but you can live with that when you're not hurting yourself by putting free runners on base. and if there's one thing that Michael McGreevy does very, very well is he doesn't hurt himself. He doesn't put on free base runners. And the one times that he has is when he's gotten in trouble.

Starting point is 00:05:13 So when he limits the walks, he's good. He doesn't put himself into bad situation. So the other thing he did, which has been a problem for Cardinals starting pitchers recently, is he kept the ball in the ballpark. All seven hits he loud, in fact, were just singles. And far too often, the Cardinals pitchers will serve up that big three run home run that puts them in a hole. But it's not just the home run. You know, that obviously alters the score.

Starting point is 00:05:39 But also it alters the momentum in the game. You know, it just swoosh swings over to the opposition side in a very big way, especially when you're on the road. And he didn't allow that to happen. Saw this staff from Rob Raines. The last Cardinal started to go seven innings, get the win, and not allow an extra base in a course field was Adam Wainwright. The future Cardinal Hall of Famer did it back in 2017. So it's been a bit since somebody was able to pull that off. But it just shows you how difficult it is to pitch

Starting point is 00:06:10 at course field in the first place. So job well done, Michael McGreevy moves to two and one on the season, the RA at 3.49. Five appearances this year of the big leagues. He's gotten one less win than Eric Fetty does. Even though Fetty has made 19 starts, Michael McGreevy's got two wins. Eric Fetty he has three. Betty's going to get the ball tonight, by the way. Bottom line, and I think we can all agree on this. This kid needs to be on the big league club moving forward. Everyone knows that. The front office knows it. The pitching staff knows it. The Cardle's coaching staff knows it. Wilson Contreras, who had a big night going three for five with a home run and two ribbies. He knows it. Said in the post game that I think he's ready to stay here straight up. I think you

Starting point is 00:06:54 don't need to go down. That's my take. And I'm going to say that he's ready. He's already. shown a couple of times that every time he comes here, he's coming to pitch. And McGreevy, credit to him, again, very, very mature for his age, has never put up a fuss about any of the shuttling back and forth, even though inside it's got to be upsetting. Like, wouldn't that drive you nuts to know that you're good enough to be doing the job at this level? But they just can't keep you up there because other people are in the way right now. It's got to be frustrating.

Starting point is 00:07:26 It's got to be frustrating. And he responded to questions about if the trade deadline, if things were to go down, would it open up a permanent spot for him, how he would feel about that being a permanent member of the big league club. And he said, I understand how this business works. I'll always be stoked beyond my mind to pitch in the big leagues.

Starting point is 00:07:46 But if I get to stay for the rest of the year with the Cardinals, then great. And if I go down to AAA tomorrow, then, oh, well, you just have to smile through it all. So he has handled this quite well. I think he's earned it. I think everybody knows he's earned it. And we'll see what happens here at the trade deadline if a spot does indeed open up so he can finally claim his well-deserved rotation spot. But it's a matter of time.

Starting point is 00:08:13 So I don't know if he's got to get sit down again before the deadline goes down so that something might open up. So we'll see. We'll see. As far as any transactions so far today, you know, at the time we're doing this, I have not seen anything about McGreevy going back down yet. I'll do one quick look here just to make sure, but I am not seeing that. I am seeing those sad news. Ozzy Osbourne passed away. Just did that show like, what was that, two weeks ago and he's gone, which is very sad.

Starting point is 00:08:46 But not seeing anything on any updates on Michael McGreevy getting sent down yet. So for now, he's still with the club. But it would, you know, it would certainly put a smile on my face and most Cardinals fan faces if McGreevy got to stay. I'd also like to see the offense that we saw on Monday. Stick around for a bit. We'll discuss it. And we'll get to what John Moseylock had to say about their trade deadline intentions. That is coming up next on Locked on Cardinals.

Starting point is 00:09:19 Summer sports are in full swing. And whether you're all about baseball under the lights or golf on the green, maybe some high-stakes soccer action, if you're starting to get pumped for the football season like I am, Fanduel is the best way to make every game even more exciting. You're already following the action. Why not make it a little more thrilling? And the MNobie season, we still got a long way to go here, folks. Trade deadline is coming, yes, but plenty of season to go.

Starting point is 00:09:41 We are still in July. We're still in July. It doesn't end next month by any means you still got August. You've still got September, but the NFL is coming. September 4th is the kickoff for that. So it'll be here before you know it. And I've been using Fandul for many, many years now to track my favorite matchups. I'm a big Packers fan, Cardinals fan.

Starting point is 00:10:01 When it comes to blues hockey, when the NHL is it, you know, obviously I'm a big fan of that as well. The app will always keep it fresh with new daily promotions and fun ways to bet so it never feels like you're doing the same old thing over and over. Very easy to use. Fast payouts makes regular season games feel like must watch events. Fandle makes it feel like you're part of the action. And if you're new to Fandul, new customers can bet just $5, you'll get $1,000. $150 in bonus bets if your first bet wins. Once again, $5.

Starting point is 00:10:31 That's it. New customers, $5, get $150 in bonus bets if your first bet wins. That's huge. Open the Fandwell app today or visit fandwell.com slash locked on to get started. Thanks again for making it locked on Carlos. First listen every day. Leave your comments on YouTube as well as on X or TikTok anytime you want. Your feedback is always welcome and encourage.

Starting point is 00:10:54 Loving the fact that the TikToks are starting to take off a little bit for far too long there. It was like 10, 11, 12 views. I'm like, what is happening here? And then boom, like 5,000 views. So I appreciate everybody who's been joining us on TikTok as well. You guys are awesome. Speaking of awesome, McCartle's offense was fun to watch on Monday, right? That was cool, which is often the case for teams that are visiting course field. Their offense becomes better. But until it happens, you know, you want to see it firsthand. You just never know if it's going to work out. I mean, the Rockies play there all the time and don't have a great offense. But it was nice to watch the Cardinals swing the bats on Monday night,

Starting point is 00:11:34 led by Wilson Contreras's big game, as I mentioned, three for five, had the home run, had the two RBIs. The team pounded out 15 hits in the game, including Contreras's 13th home run of the year, which now leads the club. But you also saw Mason win with three hits. You saw Nolan Aronado hit the ball really, really hard. Brendan Donovan, Jordan Walker, Nato, all had multiple hits in this one. Great to see Jordan Walker.

Starting point is 00:11:58 I, hello, Jordan Walker has looked a lot better at the plate. Has he not? Now I know where he's got to keep it up and stay consistent, but he's closed the stance a little bit more. It's starting to lay off those outside pitches that, you know, they keep throwing those sweepers and sliders and stuff to try to get him to chase everything. And he's done a lot better job not doing that.

Starting point is 00:12:20 So love that. Love that for Jordan Walker. Willie, not Donnie, and Mason. also had doubles among those 15 hits. Victor Scott, he's laying down bunts and beating him out of first base. Nato stole a base, Mr. Wheels himself. The boys were seven for 18 with runners in scoring position. They had traffic on the base pass all night long. Yes, it was the Colorado Rockies. I know, I know. But it also was a left-hander. Former Cardinal, Austin Gomber, who got the start. The Cardinals have had a very rough time with lefties so far this year.

Starting point is 00:12:56 Nice to see them getting after a lefty for a change. But as great as things went on Monday and as happy as it makes me feel today, it doesn't change the fact that this team is probably going to be sellers at the trade deadline, despite being three and a half back in the wild card. John Moseilak had this to say about the team's situation prior to the game on Monday, told this to the media that was surrounded there. clearly the weekend was not what we wanted to see, and now we've got to understand what the future looks like for us

Starting point is 00:13:29 as we reflect on really what's best for the organization. There is no, there is the longer view in terms of, are there decisions that we can make that would better situate the franchise in 2026 and beyond? So obviously, we have a lot of players that people have interest in and we have to sort through all that, and before we make a determination exactly what this will look like, Now, we can assume that Mo is talking about when he says there's a lot of players that people have interest in, we can assume that some of the headliners of that group are closer Ryan Helson.

Starting point is 00:14:03 Relievers, Phil Maytime, Stephen Matt's. Maybe Eric Fetty, if we're lucky. But what about the guys with the no-trade clauses? What about Nolan Arnato and Sonny Gray and Wilson Contreras and I guess Miles Michaelis, although I can't imagine a lot of people are calling about him? But apparently those are some discussions that are still set to take place. Mo said this about talking to Nolan Aronado specifically, that I will. I haven't, but that's something we will have a good understanding of as we enter that final week before the trade deadline.

Starting point is 00:14:39 Right now, I would envision him being a part of this in the future. But if something were to pop up, I would definitely discuss it with him. to me that says it's not a no if you were interested in Nolan Aronado or Wilson Contreras or Sunny Gray or Miles Michaelis. It doesn't mean they're not going to pick up the phone. They're not going to answer it if you call and say, just curious, what about Nolan Aronado? Mosaic did tell John Denton from Memblebee.com, but he didn't get the sense that there had been any change of heart with Contreras or Gray. as far as wanting to stay with St. Louis and stay with the Cardinals. That was the thing this offseason that he went to him and was like,

Starting point is 00:15:24 hey, this is kind of the direction we're going in. I don't know if that's something you're interested in. We would be more than happy to talk to other teams if there's places you want to go. They said, no, they want to be in St. Louis. They want to stay with the Cardinals. Nolan Aronado famously had a chance to go to the Houston Astros. The trade was in place. He vetoed it, as was his right, with his no trade clause,

Starting point is 00:15:45 and decided he wanted to stay in St. Louis, wasn't sure about the situation in Houston. I wonder if he regrets that now, since Houston is a first place team and the Cardinals are in fourth place, are tied for third now, I think, now with the Reds. But either way, I'm sure this is something they'll go to him again.

Starting point is 00:16:04 And go like, look, here's what we're looking at. Do any of you want out? If you're interested, we can do this at the trade deadline. I'm sure there'll be another discussion. in this offseason about whether or not these guys want to go somewhere. Maybe they'll have a change of heart then, or maybe it's just a better time for them to make a decision on whether or not they want to move on from the Cardinals or not in the offseason.

Starting point is 00:16:28 I feel like that's more likely to happen with these guys. They don't seem like guys who are just, you know, they're family guys, they're veterans. They don't want to pick up and go now. I don't think that's something that they're interested in, especially if they don't get to go to like the team they want to go to. like with Arnado if it was the Dodgers who people have always said he wants to play for it. If they're not interested, would he even want to go to any of these other teams?

Starting point is 00:16:53 Like, is that something he wants? So these are discussions that we'll be had. But at least Mo is being open about this and saying, look, we're going to talk to them and we'll discuss it. It sure would make the deadline more exciting for Cardinal fans if those veterans did waive those clauses and were at least willing to look at other spots. but I'm not going to get my hopes up about anything like that. Because it's not like I want to trade these guys. I don't. I like them all.

Starting point is 00:17:20 I just know the return for them would probably be a little more fun to talk about than what someone might give up for say, you know, Stephen Matt's. Does that make sense? Derek Gould wrote this, though. I thought this was an interesting nugget that according to sources, not with the Cardinals, there are teams wondering if the Cardinals would entertain trading younger players at positions where other. starters have emerged. Two examples would be Jordan Walker or Nolan Gorman. That would be shocking

Starting point is 00:17:49 to me if they were dealt. Doesn't mean it can't happen or won't happen. That would shock me, though. I was as shocked as anyone last year, though, when Tommy Edmund got traded. So I didn't see that one coming. That caught me off guard. So you never know. You never know. But I just cannot imagine them. First off, I can't imagine what somebody would give up for them right now. One of them's hurt. Nolan Gorman's on the IL. Jordan Walker's just starting to look like he's a capable hitter. And that's only for a couple of games. Like, I mean, this is, it just would surprise me that somebody would come up with a deal rich enough for the Cardinals to be like, all right, we're willing to give up on him now. It would, it would shock me. Speaking of shocking,

Starting point is 00:18:36 I did a, I did bring up a scenario yesterday that got some people worked up. And that was, should the Cardinals be willing to trade Renan Donovan if other teams were to call and be interested? We're going to go through some of the feedback next because it was very, very interesting to me. We'll talk about it coming up on Locked on Cardinals. If you're running a business, you know that every miss call is basically money left on the table. It's not good. Think about the last time you had a service emergency. Like I just had some roofing done on the house.

Starting point is 00:19:12 You don't just call a place and if they don't answer, just stop looking for people to help you. That's not what happens. You go down the next guy or gal available on the list there. And that's something if you're on the other side of it, you're running a business. Reliable business lines are so important. It's such a big deal. And that's why you need open phone if you don't have it already. is the number one business phone system that helps you streamline and scale customer communication,

Starting point is 00:19:46 all from an app on your phone or a computer. If you've had a business and you've had to juggle two lines, two phone lines, you know, one business, one personal, you don't have to do that anymore. Open phone solves that instantly. Your whole team can share one number and respond to customers like a shared inbox. That way you're always on the same page. They got AI agents to handle your after hours calls, answer common questions, and captures leads so you never miss the customer again.

Starting point is 00:20:12 Open phone is offering Locked-on Cardinals listeners 20% off your first six months at openphone.com slash locked-on MLB. That's O-P-E-N-P-H-O-N-E dot com slash locked-on MLB. And if you have existing numbers with another service, Open Phone will port them over at no extra charge. Open phone, no-miss calls, no-miss customers. Thanks again for making a Lockedone Cardinals first listen today for your second listen. Check out the new Locked-on MLB game night. It's every game every night all season long. get local analysis on a national scale.

Starting point is 00:20:48 You can find MLB Game Night on the Locked on MLB YouTube channel or wherever you listen to your podcasts. So if you were the Cardinals, would you be willing to trade Brendan Donovan? That was my question yesterday. And we got a lot of different responses about this because people love Donnie. And when you try to take away their favorite guy, they get a little worked up. But there were others who were pretty open to. doing something like that. Aidan says, I don't know if I'd actively shop him, but if a team comes across and gives you an offer, you can't reject, very Godfather style

Starting point is 00:21:25 right there, then you absolutely need to. They make them an offer and can't refuse. Jeremy says, tough call. Really depends on who, on for who. If the price is too good to pass up, then yes. Martin says, if you can get a power starting pitcher or a power bat, then absolutely. his value will never be higher for a super utility guy. We all love Donovan, but pitching and power are massively needed for the Cardinals to compete. Matt says, my answer is no, but I also wouldn't continue to try to him out there as the leadoff hitter either. Yeah, things have looked really different for Donnie since he's been hit in leadoff. I concur because he was doing much better in the number three hole.

Starting point is 00:22:08 Joel says Donovan is probably the only true untouchable on the team. Why would you trade up? David says, absolutely not. You need a leader even through a rebelled. So you see how things change, how different people view the Brennan Donovan worth differently. The sentimental value of Brennan Donovan will make a lot of people hesitant to move him. And I get that. I had some people responding. They were like, don't you guys have any loyalty to any of these guys anymore? and the answer is no. Because I learned that this is a business when Albert Poohole's left for the Angels. I never thought I would see arguably the greatest right-handed hitter of our time.

Starting point is 00:23:02 Leave the St. Louis Cardinals in free agency to go to the Angels. I never thought I'd see Albert wear anything but the birds on the bat. And just like that, he was going. on. Where was his loyalty? No, he took the money. He got a better offer from the Angels and said, okay, bye-bye, can you match it? If you match it, it'll stay. Carnells didn't match it. He said, bye. So why would I have a loyalty for players who are more than willing to move on? Why would I, why would I feel differently about that? That's my thing. That's when I learned that lesson was when Albert Pooleholds left. I was like, all right, and we've seen other guys go. Scott Rowland got moved,

Starting point is 00:23:46 Jim Edmonds, Willie McGee way back in the day. Remember when they traded him to the Oakland days, you know, getting attached to these guys. I remember how I was like, oh my gosh, I heard that Ozzie Smith might go to the Houston Asher's. I wanted to vomit back then. But I've learned that money talks, BS walks, and I just don't get attached to them anymore. Is there a guy on this team right now that I would be like heartbroken to see get dealt. Nope. Nope. I want to win. I want to see a group of guys win. I love the team as a whole, not just individual guys. I think certain guys are cool and I like them. But if they have to go so that my team overall is better, then so be it. If I have to sacrifice a Brydon Donovan to do that to win more and get a championship,

Starting point is 00:24:38 then that's the price of business and I'm willing to go for it. Now, I don't think the Cardinals are looking to move Brinand Donovan. I don't want that to get misconstrued in all of this. I think he's a big part of this clubhouse. I think he's a big part of this culture and moving forward. There was somebody who was like, you don't trade one of your pillars. I get that. I'm not saying I'm actively trying to get rid of the guy.

Starting point is 00:25:00 It's not like he's doing something wrong. I'm just saying if a team calls and it is interested, are the Cardo's like, no, we're not interested. We're not discussing that. Or are they like, well, what do you have in mind? Because what if they do want to give up a decent package so they can have Brennan Donovan. So I'm like how Mo has always said it, where nobody is ever untradable.

Starting point is 00:25:23 There are certain guys that you probably won't, but nobody is untradable. There could always be some just crazy deal that somebody offers. And you're going to be like, well, yeah, that makes sense. I would do that. no untouchables. And I don't think Brendan Donovan is untouchable, but I don't think he's going anywhere.

Starting point is 00:25:42 But the guys who are certainly on notice, we've mentioned, Heelsley, Mayton, Matt's, you know, the way the chatter is about acquiring bullpen help

Starting point is 00:25:50 around the league right now, it's starting to make me a little more optimistic than maybe the Cardinals could get some decent prospects in return. I would not expect, because I know the expectation is like, hey, Ryan Helsley was,

Starting point is 00:26:02 you know, the NL reliever of the year last year. Like he's worth, he's worth a king's ransom, right? Nah, not really. Not really. There are other guys that people want to get their hands on. Duran from the Minnesota Twins is a name that's being dangled out there. People love him.

Starting point is 00:26:18 Class A, Bautista, Kenley Jansen out in L.A. There's a number of them that are out there, which, you know, depending on how people feel about them compared to Ryan Housley, what's he going to be worth for somebody to get their hands? Dave Robertson just got signed by the Phillies. The Phillies have been looking for help all year, and they just signed David Robertson. That's how desperate they are. So, you know, you hope some of these, you know,

Starting point is 00:26:47 big market teams have got a lot of money and prospects and are willing to do whatever it takes to get into the playoffs and to win this year, that they're willing to sacrifice a hefty load of prospects in return for some of these guys. You know, we saw what the Padres did last year to get Tanner Scott. and he was very good for them. I didn't see what happened. I know he got hurt last or left the game with an injury.

Starting point is 00:27:10 I don't know what the severity of it was, but the Dodgers are a team. It's just been beaten up all year in their bullpen as far as injury-wise and in their rotation. So what are they willing to give up to get some of these guys? So we'll see because they've made some bad traits in the past, you know, but what I'm trying to say is don't expect top 100 prospect type of guys in return. but we've seen smaller names at the time, guys that nobody was had on their radar yet,

Starting point is 00:27:40 like Fernando Tatis Jr., Jordana Alvarez, Jr. Camerro, they got traded in what were considered minor deals at the time, and they end up blossoming into superstars. So perhaps the Cardinals can get lucky, like the Padres and Astros and Rays did in those particular deals. We'll see. Either way, we're going to be here with you the entire time. got you covered when it comes to all the transactions and all the trade discussion. We're going to be here every single day with you. So we'll keep you posted on and all. We got our finger on the heartbeat of everything that's going on.

Starting point is 00:28:15 So we got you covered. Eric Fetty on the mountain in Colorado tonight, will he get murdered again? Or can he imitate what Michael McGreeby did on Monday? We shall see. I'm hoping for the ladder, but I'm prepared for the bloodbath. Thank you for making. at Lockton Cardinals, if you haven't already, please give us a follow on X at L0 underscore Cardinals

Starting point is 00:28:38 and at JD Sports Radio, TikTok and Instagram at Lockedong 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. We'll see you next time on Lockedown Cardinals.

Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - McGreevy SHINES At Coors Field, Mo Hints At Roster Shake Up

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