Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - MISSED CHANCES: St. Louis Cardinals Collapse as Matthew Liberatore STRUGGLES late in Loss to A's

Starting point is 00:00:00 The St. Louis Cardinals failed to cash in on key situations, and Matthew Libertor goes from hot to not fairly quickly as the Cardinals fall to the athletic. You are locked on Cardinals. Your daily St. Louis Cardinals podcast, part of the Lopped On podcast network, your team every day. Hey there, Cardinals fans. I'm J.D. Haffernan and on today's show, we are going to be breaking down Wednesday's loss to the A's. We've got the top 100 prospects from MBOB pipeline. Their list got refreshed, got updated, How did that affect the top guys in the Cardinals farm system like Liam Doyle, Renio Rodriguez. We're also going to take a look at what happened in the NL Central on Wednesday, which is really going to bum you out that the Cardinals didn't get the W in Sacramento because of what happened in the NL Central yesterday.

Starting point is 00:00:50 But let's focus on our guys because you can't want them all. And we know that. So we aren't going to sulk over this loss. And neither other players are going to move on fairly quickly. But this game was a case where at least to me, the Cardinals had every reason to be upset at themselves for losing this game. Not that I don't want to give credit to the A's. They are a solid team. They're in first place in the AOS for a reason. But man, there were a lot of missed opportunities in this one offensively for the Cardinals. And then the way that Libby looked from the first three

Starting point is 00:01:23 innings to what we saw in the final two innings, you know, it was apples and oranges. It was night and day. So let's start with what we got out of Matthew Libertor who came into this game coming off of what I believe to be the best that he's looked all season in the game against San Diego, where he gave up just one run on three hits over six innings. He struck out six. And he just had a really nice tempo to him. Look like he was good mechanically. Just really, you know, got the ball. You know, boom, signal, bang. He was going. And through the first three innings in this game on Wednesday night, he looked just like that dude again. He had a seven pitch first inning that included a very hard hit out by Shea Langalears as well as a strikeout of Nick Kurtz, seven pitches, seven pitches for

Starting point is 00:02:06 that first inning, very impressive. Second inning, gives up a hard hit line out to Rooker. Then what was deemed a single to their new stud rookie Henry Bolte, personally, I felt like it was an error. Like, you know, Gorman backed up and let the ball play him and ate him up, but I guess he didn't touch it, so they gave him a hit. It was Boltie's first major league at bat, so they gave him a hit, whatever. But then a pop out and another hard hit line out that ended the frame on just 10 pitches. So now 7, 10, we're just 17 pitches into this game and he's already through two innings. Third inning, we saw a little bit of a magic trick by Libby and the Cardinals.

Starting point is 00:02:45 It was back-to-back singles to start the inning, which made it first and third and nobody out. Libby picks off Stefanik over at first base and then Langaleers. It's another rocket, but it just happens to go right to the goal. Glover, Mason when it shortstop. He doubles up the runner off third base. They escape without a run scoring. Only took five pitches. That was it. Five pitches for all of that to happen in that inning. Now, that's quite a few hard hit balls early on, obviously, but so far, Libby has thrown just 22 pitches through three innings. That's it. Life is good. We're cruising, right? Cardals take that momentum. They score their first run of the game in the fourth inning, take a one-and-nothing lead. We know how good

Starting point is 00:03:27 they are usually when they score the first run in the game. A's turned ahead, though. And this is the second time through the order for them, which gets tougher for every pitcher, right? That's how this thing works. They see you the first time. Usually you have the upper hand as the pitcher. Second time through the order,

Starting point is 00:03:44 A's kind of know what's coming. They kind of got a feel for what you are. And it was a struggle. It was a struggle for Libby. Things did not go well beginning in this fourth inning. He gets the first time. two guys on eight pitches. But then Rooker singles after a five pitch at bat. And we're going to start counting pitches here because it gets a little crazy. So five pitch at bat to Rooker.

Starting point is 00:04:07 Boltey hits another one to Gorman, which he handles better, but does a lot of shifting with like shuffling with the feet there and makes a bad throw to first base. Boltie, who's very, very fast, ends up beating it out, poor throw by Gorman to get the speedy rookie. They gave him an infield single on that one too. So now you got two on two on. Two. One. Two. well, we're 18 pitches into the inning, gets the strikeout to end the frame, but it took six more to get to there, which gives him 24 pitches that inning, which is more than he had thrown through the whole game up to that point. So now we got a pitch total of 46, which is still great. Don't get me wrong, but things got tougher in the fourth. Then we go to the fifth inning. And that's when things really unraveled. He gets Gelloff to pop out to start it, but throws five pitches to him. Then it's a single by Hernays after six pitch. single to Stefanik after four, a walk to Langalears, which took six. Now he's at 21 pitches in. And now he's got to face the big Amish.

Starting point is 00:05:06 Nick Kurtz, with the bases loaded, not a great idea, not a great plan. Although Libby said he, you know, after the game that, you know, hey, I kind of like my matchup, lefty, lefty there, kept going away, away from Kurtz. And on pitch six, he tried to sneak a slider past him. And Kurtz drills it over the boards in center field for a grand slam to make it four to one A's. And, you know, he went slider away right after a fastball away. And that fastball got tattooed down the line in left field into foul territory, though.

Starting point is 00:05:39 But, you know, when it went off, it's been, everybody's like, whoa, like he smashed that ball. So he was obviously on whatever Libby was doing. And they go slider again, which I'm not going to argue with that. I kind of would have preferred, like, the slow breaking curve ball there to really throw off the timing. but Kurtz, he matched it, didn't get the slider away enough and Kurtz crushed it. So for what it's worth, it was the first opposite field home run for Kurtz this season. So the scouting report was dead on to continue to pitch him away because he hadn't done much damage that way. Yeah, but as you know, sometimes the hitters win, right?

Starting point is 00:06:13 You know, what do you do? You know, Nick Kurtz is an outstanding talent, one of the best young sluggers in baseball. So he's going to get the best of guys from time to time. now we're talking about Libby being at 27 pitches in the inning, and we're no way or near getting out of this thing yet. And now he's losing by three. But the nightmare doesn't end. You get a double by Thomas, strikes out Rooker on three pitches. But then a seven pitch walk to Bolte. And five more to Jonah Heim, which ends in a strikeout, but a whopping 43 pitches. That inning ends his nine and 89 total and 67 of them coming in the fourth and the fifth things combined. Things became a struggle. fairly quickly there. After the game, Libby said, you know, I think that's part of what makes it more frustrating. It would be easier to swallow if, oh, your Velo dropped and you started getting barreled or you're getting hit all over the yard. That fifth inning was two singles and a walk in a situation where I don't mind the matchup on deck.

Starting point is 00:07:08 That's why I went to the curveball in a three-two count. I felt like that was a very competitive ending. It just took a lot of pitches and it came down to one swing. It sucks, too, because it looked like he was on his way to having another dazzling performance. similar to the one he had in San Diego and things just went south really quickly in those final two innings. Final line, five innings, four runs, eight hits, one very big home run from Kurtz, two walks, five strikeouts. Say Kurtz doesn't hit a grand slam and he hits a single or a double. We're only talking for a couple RBIs there and it doesn't look quite as bad. But in the end, just a rough last couple of endings for Libby. And they'll get in the lab and they'll work on it.

Starting point is 00:07:53 figure out what went wrong and how they can fix that. So my first reaction, clearly disappointment, obviously, but, you know, after the grand slam is hit, you're still in a very offensively friendly ballpark. You still got four innings to work with there. Perhaps the offense, hey, you could step up, overcome three little runs. We've seen them do it before.

Starting point is 00:08:13 Wasn't meant to be this time. We're going to talk about the offense or lack thereof coming up next on Locked on Cardinals. If you've ever opened up your bank account and thought, uh, hello. where did all my money go? You're not alone. It happens to all of us. Keeping track of subscriptions and your spending and the bills gets overwhelming pretty darn fast. And that's where Rocket Money comes in, helping you take control of your finances and you get to do it

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Starting point is 00:09:18 help you. Reach your financial goals faster. Join at RocketMoney.com slash locked on. That's RocketMoney.com slash locked on, spelled L-O-C-K-E. E-D-O-N. Thanks for making Locked on Cardinals. You first listen of the day. Thank you for making Lockdown on the number one sports podcast network. The Everydayer Club unlocks every episode ad-free. Give you access to our private listener group, chat.

Starting point is 00:09:45 If you haven't joined yet and you're as excited about the Cardinals as I am and most of us are, tap the link in the show notes or go to Lockdownsseldon sdocardels. com for more information. Now, the Cardinals' offense did not suck on Wednesday night. That wasn't the case, man. 13 hits. They had 13 heads in this game. And usually that's plenty for a team to win a baseball game these days. But the problem was the A's also had 13 hits. And they were able to score six runs off those 13 hits where the Cardinals were unable to capitalize on all of those base runners that we saw throughout the game. They just could not get that one big hit to really break through. 13 hits, only one walk, which is a little weird. But the Cardinals just never, never could find. it. You know, anytime something happened with two wouts and they were, they were threatening, it just died. It fizzled out and the A's were able to squirm out of whatever situation they were in. First inning. I mean, we'll go through a couple of these different scenarios.

Starting point is 00:10:47 You know, JJ led off with a single. Yvonne Herrera hits into a double play, wong, wah, burly, then double. So now you got a runner at second and scoring position to wout. Jordan Walker's up, but he strikes out looking to end it. Second inning, you get the lead off walk to Nolan Gorman. All right, Off walks are good when you're the offense. Mason wins singles. All right, here we go. But church lines out to right field, which does move Gorman over to third base, but Pahez, for whatever reason, tries to bunt with a safety squeeze, but it goes right back to the pitcher who gets the out at first, no advance, and then Victor Scott grounds out harmlessly, threat is over. I guess, you know, if you trust Pahez to be the bunter, I guess, I guess that,

Starting point is 00:11:31 you know, you're taking some chances there. You're trying to be a little aggressive and trying to dictate what's going on there. Sometimes I can get on board with that. And Pa has been struggling too. So let's be honest, you know, he's not swinging the bat. Well, him and Victor both at the bottom of the order are just like a black hole of offense recently. So maybe Ali's just like, hey, let's just check it out. Let's see if we can get it done.

Starting point is 00:11:54 Didn't work. Didn't work. They don't score. Fast forward to the fourth inning. Three straight singles by Gorman win in church. That makes it. three on and no one nothing makes it one nothing at that point that's when church got the rbi hit but then paez fails again to do anything at all he strikes out looking then with victor up

Starting point is 00:12:16 they tried another bump play with mason went off third base at this point but somebody messed up it was either victor didn't put the bun down or mason came too far off their base somebody screwed up Somebody screwed up in this situation. When gets picked off third base by their catcher Jonah Heim, and then Victor strikes out to end it, which was a huge, huge wasted opportunity. And this was after, you know, the Cardinals had wiggled out of that situation against the A's, where, you know, they didn't have the first and third nobody out situation. And they got out of it.

Starting point is 00:12:50 And then the Cardinals come up and it looks like they're going to do some damage. And then they make some mistakes. And the opportunities go away. Sixth inning. Gorman is robbed by the rookie, Bolte. Is it Bolte or Boltte? I think it's Bolte in center field on a sinking line drive. So great catch by the rookie. Church hits a two-out single, but he gets caught stealing. That's the end of that one. Seventh inning. They get three hits from Paez, who hit a blooper, J.J. and Burley to score a run.

Starting point is 00:13:19 But then Walker goes down again, this time swinging. Four to two ballgame at this point. Yvonne Herrera was the one that got the RBI in that situation. but the A's get two more in the seventh and eighth, and the Cardinals never really threatened after that. So, you know, some, it's a couple of big strikeouts there by Jordan Walker in this game. It's going to happen. You know, he is,

Starting point is 00:13:39 he is human as far as we know. And, you know, there's going to be times where he doesn't come through. And this was one of those nights. It was just a tough night at the plate for Jordan Walker. We had some meh kind of base running, not a lot of timely hitting, but overall you see 13 hits.

Starting point is 00:13:53 And you are pleased by that. unfortunately they couldn't make those situations hurt more. And I really feel, you know, even the Grand Slam being what it was, I feel like this game was more on the offense just not coming through than it was Libby giving up the grand slam. Like you should be able to score four runs when you have 13 hits. And that just didn't happen in this game. Three stars of the game, I'm going to go with Alec Berluson at number one, thanks to his three hit night at the dish.

Starting point is 00:14:20 The lefty has a minus three game hitting street going, five for 14 during that time, which is a 357 batting average. Fantastic. The glaring issue is no ribbies during that time. That's got to change. You know, normally he's batting in the third or the fourth hole, normally third. And, you know, if he's hitting 357, he should be driving in some people. You should have people on base in front of them. That hasn't happened.

Starting point is 00:14:43 He's got more stolen bases than RBI is in the past three games. So that's not normal for the man we call biscuits. Second start of the game, we're going to give it to my guy Nathan Church, who had a couple of hits. and one of the team's two RBIs. That's his third multi-hit game in the last five played, which has bumped his average up to 252 on the season. And when you think about the lack of offense coming from Victor Scott in Centerfield

Starting point is 00:15:05 and Lars Neupar set to begin his rehab assignment this weekend. We're assuming everything goes well and Newt doesn't have any setbacks. It wouldn't shock me in the slightest to see Church takeover, Center Field and Newton Leffield. Wouldn't shock me whatsoever, which would relegate Victor to the bench or Memphis. You know, maybe Newt gets a few D-H spots just to get him off his feet a little bit from time to time. But, I mean, Victor is, I think he's hitting like 178 now. Like it's been really, really bad for Victor, sadly, because we know how much talent he has as far as the speed.

Starting point is 00:15:40 He's great defensively. But, I mean, once that's just not going to cut it, what he's doing in that number nine hole. It's like you're hitting with eight most nights. Sometimes it feels like you're hitting with seven the way Pahas was going. third star could very easily go to JJ or Mason win for their multiple hits and probably should be. But I want to throw a little love over to Matt Sonson who needs it. Had a scoreless inning after Livy came out. Now, similar to Ryan Stanick's struggles,

Starting point is 00:16:05 Fonson had this horrendous start to the season. Still is not out of the woods by any means. In fact, he's given up runs in five of his last seven appearances, but they need to get him right the way that they've been able to seemingly overcome whatever issues Ryan Stanick was having. And they need to see if they can get Sponson's. and back to more like what he was last year. So baby steps, scoreless inning, little love for Spons,

Starting point is 00:16:29 and I hope he enjoys it. Some notes from Rob Raines at shtlspage.com that bloops single from Pedro Pahas that I mentioned in the seventh inning, snapped and sitless streak at 22 at bats. Longest streak without a hit in his career, you know, those Jimmy Crooks requests. You're starting to see more of them.

Starting point is 00:16:47 They're getting louder. The people who want to see Jimmy Crooks brought up and Pahey shipped out, They're getting louder. They're getting louder. The four runs allowed by Liberator were the most he has given up and a start since April 25th when he allowed five against the Mariners. So he's actually been better than you think.

Starting point is 00:17:03 But, you know, people are going to focus on giving up the grand slamming. Oh, Libby stinks. And it's not really the case. This was only the second time in 11 games in May that the Cardal starter allowed more than three runs. They've been so good. Collectively, the starters have given up 21 earned runs in 62 innings with an ERA of 3.05. That's getting it done. That's getting it done.

Starting point is 00:17:22 And you can see why the Cardinals are winning more than they're losing at this point of the season because starting pitching's been pretty good. You've got parts of the bullpen that are working. And the offense is providing a lot more thump than we thought. So tough loss, you know, you don't, but you can't dwell. You got to move on, try to win the series this afternoon. Top 100 prospects got updated at MLB pipeline. How did that affect the Cardinals top guys like Liam Doyle, Radio Rodriguez? We'll talk about those guys coming up next.

Starting point is 00:17:51 on Locked on Cardinals. The NBA playoffs are here, and every possession matters if you're looking to get even closer to the action. Can I introduce you to Fandall? They got a great offer to get you started right now. New customers can bet $5 and get $150 in bonus bets. If your first bet wins, that's right. You turn five bucks into $150 in bonus bets just for getting started.

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Starting point is 00:19:05 The Thunder and Nicks are awaiting their opponents after sweeping their series. And Oklahoma City is just, they're so good. They're so good. They're so deep. Hard not to roll with them. But that's on you. I like the Spurs. I enjoy how they play too, but man, it's hard to get away from OKC.

Starting point is 00:19:22 But you choose. You decide. Doesn't mean I know what I'm talking. talking about. You decide. Head to fandul.com to get started. Fandul, play your game. Thanks again for making Lockdown, Carlos, your first listen of the day. Thank you for making locked on the number one sports podcast network. Top 100 prospects at MLB Pipeline got updated with JJ Weatherholt graduating to the big leagues. The Cardinals do not have a top 15 prospect in the system currently. In fact, they actually had one of the biggest drops in rankings

Starting point is 00:19:53 with Gerangelo St. Just falling from 73 to number 89. Catcher, Leonhard. Bernardo Bernal, who was in the top 100, he's out, fell out of the top 100. They said this about Bernal's drop. After a second half downturn last year, Bernal hasn't done enough to reestablish himself as an offensive threat with a 244, 328, 370 slash line and three home runs and 32 games at AAA. Although they did say, worth noting, he's still the only catcher age 22 or younger to get more than 10 plate appearances in AAA this season.

Starting point is 00:20:25 And again, he's graduated from AA to AAA. life is a little more difficult. He's adjusting. Nobody's freaking out about this. Highest rated Cardinal is Liam Doyle at number 23. Radio Rodriguez is at 25. Outfielder Joshua Baez at 68, then St.ia at number 89. Doyle is rated as the number three left-handed pitching prospect in all of baseball right now. Behind the Mariners, Kate Anderson and the Marlins Thomas White. Radio Rodriguez is now rated as the number one catching prospect in all of baseball. years old, number one overall in baseball, which is awesome. So he just graduated from, from A ball and is playing at Springfield now. So his star continues to rise. Your top 10 in the

Starting point is 00:21:10 organization right now, Doyle Rodriguez, Baez, St. Jha, then it's Bernal, Quinn Matthews, Jimi, Brandon Clark, Tchaoerobe, and Tanner Franklin. They still got teen hits at number 14, which shocked me a little bit, considering his fall from grace and how he just is just kind of a shadow of what he used to be. So that surprised me a little bit. They did do a list of the hottest pitching prospects for each team in the league. And they went with Yoheeker Fuhardo from the Cardinals who was acquired from the Red Sox and the deal for Wilson Contreras. Here's what they had to say about Fuhardo. The 19-year-old right-hander has made a strong impression in the third organization of his career entering the week at a 1.46 ERA, 34 strikeouts, and only three walks through 24 and

Starting point is 00:21:54 two-thirds innings with high A Peoria is 30.4K to walk percentage is sixth best among 144 high A pitchers with at least 20 frames this season, despite being only one of only four age 19 hurlers to meet that innings threshold at the level. So that's good to hear. I thought they would have gave it to Tanner Franklin, who was somebody that is wowing people, but they go food harder, which is fine. It's good to have options of guys that are doing pretty freaking good in your minor league system, and they're going to just continue to build on this stuff. So you got to like where the farm system's headed. NL Central on Wednesday, as I mentioned at the top, everybody lost.

Starting point is 00:22:32 Everybody lost. So the Cardinals, good news is they don't lose ground. They don't gain any ground because they lost their game. But everybody lost in the Central, which is not something that's happened very often. Might be the first time it's happened this year. Cubs lost to the Braves again, 4 to 1. They've lost four in a row. Brewers got an amazing start from Jacob Misarowski.

Starting point is 00:22:50 I got him in fantasy. So I know this. He was awesome. Had to leave the game because of cramping again. And then the bullpen blows it in the ninth inning, gives up three runs to fall to the Padres. Three to one. We know the feeling. We know the feeling Milwaukee. Cardinals go down to the A's. Pirates get throttled 10 to 4 by the Rockies and the Reds. Blow a five to nothing lead, losing 10 innings to the Nationals by a score of eight to seven. They continue to struggle and are creeping closer and closer to that 500 mark. So that's where we stand in the Central.

Starting point is 00:23:19 Cardinals go for the series win this afternoon. Michael McGreevy will be our savior. He will be on the mound against another lefty in Jacob Lopez coming in for the A's. The A's only have that one reliever that's a lefty. So they got to rely on the starters to do this. So I'm sure we'll see the normal flip of Walker and Burley in the lineup. And after the game, they come home. Royals are going to be in town next.

Starting point is 00:23:44 So hopefully we get to wear that ugly shirt for our next episode. And hopefully the Cardinals get the dub today. Thanks for making Locked on Cardinals your first list. Every day, we haven't already. Give us a follow on X at L1 underscore Cardinals, TikTok, Instagram, and Locked on Cardinals, like, subscribe on YouTube. Help our channel and love for the Cardinals grows. We make that push for 15,000 subscribers.

Starting point is 00:24:02 Can't do it without you. If you never miss an episode, the Every Day or Club, check it out. Get locked on Cardinals ad free, members only Discord access and more. At a locked on SEO cardinals. That supercast.com to join the club. For those of you on video,

Starting point is 00:24:15 you're going to go to the first ever 24-7, national lockdown podcast network YouTube channel. On the audio side, make sure your second listen is locked on MLB. You guys are the best fans in baseball for a reason. Let's get a series win today. See you next time on lockdown cartels.

Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - MISSED CHANCES: St. Louis Cardinals Collapse as Matthew Liberatore STRUGGLES late in Loss to A's

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