Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - Not A Great Start For Gibson, Making Sense Of The Bench Spots And Opening Day Lineup Prediction!

Episode Date: February 29, 2024

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A rocky beginning for new Cardinals pitcher Kyle Gibson. Plus, we predict the position players on the roster and what the opening day lineup could look like against the Dodgers. This is Locked on Cardinals. You are Locked on Cardinals, your daily St. Louis Cardinals podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Hey there, Cardinals fans. I'm Jady Hafford and I'm a national radio sports anchor, born and raised in the Lou, with a lifetime Cardinals fan. And I'm your host for Locked on Cardinals. part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day.

You can follow me on Twitter, acts at JD Sports Radio. You can follow the podcast as well at L0 underscore Cardinals. We want to thank those of you who make Locktown Cardinals your first listen every day, free and available, wherever you get your podcast. We're also on YouTube, hopefully not blurry today. Be sure to like and subscribe and comments so you can interact with us, hit the notification button so you know when new episodes are posted.

This is a show serving Cardle Nation and giving the best fans in baseball. of the info about the birds on the bat. Today's episode brought to you by GameTime, download the GameTime app, create an account, and use the code locked on for $20 off your first purchase. All right. Looking at the camera right now, it looks like we're clear for now. We were clear for a while in yesterday's episode,

and then things went crazy and it looked like we'd all been swimming underwater. So I don't know what happened there. There's no explanation for it. We'll just hope that it doesn't happen again today. All right. So the Cardinals bathroom in quiet this afternoon. they lose to the Washington Nationals by the score of three to one. In fact, they actually didn't score their lone run until the very, very, very end of the game.

When there were two outs in the ninth inning, Cesar Preato hits an RBI single, scoring Matt Coperniac, Prieto up to 444 this spring. Coperniac is now hitting 571. All right. Props to you guys. Not that they're going to make the roster, but it's nice. It's nice when you see the young guys doing well. But that was it, really.

A quiet day for the starters with the Lumber. Donovan O for three, Goldie O for two, Notto O for two, Carpenter O for two. Jordan Walker got his first hit of the spring, so that's cool. Newt one for three, Mason Wynn, one for three, opposite field knock for him. But not a whole lot to talk about with the bats again today. And I know people are starting to get a little bit worked up online about the lack of offense so far in spring training. And if honestly, if you're going to get bent out of shape about what's happening in the first week of spring training games,

then you're really doing yourself a disservice mentally. Like, don't get all anxious about this and worked up about it. It's not going to do you any good. My biggest concerns in spring training, and this is what you should be worried about, would be physical issues. If someone was dealing with, say, a sore back, you know, like Gorman or noto, knee discomfort, shoulder fatigue.

If Donovan's elbow was acting up, and you were underperforming because of these issues, then I'd be getting a little stressed, but I'm not stressed at all about anything that's happening yet in spring training. So far, we haven't heard about really any injury issues. Tocoa Roby had to be scratched from his start because of some back tightness. I believe that's what he was dealing with. Obviously, you know about Tommy Edmund and his surgery in the offseason,

but outside of that, it hasn't been like anything else really worth talking about. Same thing goes for the pitching staff. At this moment in spring trading, you're working on you know, mechanics, execution. Sometimes the results won't be great. You know, these first times out, first time out on the mound for a lot of these guys, they're not showing their full arsenal and in mid-season form on how they're going to attack hitters and stuff. Sometimes they're like, all right, I want to try throwing at least five sliders or I need to throw two seamers and then we're going to work on our change of like they're working. on stuff. They're not exactly doing everything they can to get these guys out. They want to get

them out. Don't get me wrong. But that's not always the case, especially early on in spring training. But you're getting your work in, you're facing life hitters. And for some, you're kind of just getting to know your surroundings. Remember, the Carls got a lot of new bodies and faces at camp. And it's a bit of an adjustment. For instance, Kyle Gibson today. Kyle Gibson made his first start as a St. Louis Cardinal. And it didn't go that great. It really didn't go that great at all. There's a photo of him on YouTube so far, not blurry. Good news. Fourth pitch he unleashed gets sent over the wall by former Cardinal Wayne Thomas, which was poetic since we like to rib John Moseilock as much as possible about all the talent

that he has allowed to leave the organization under his watch and have blossomed elsewhere. So just another one that everybody can needle mow for, which, you know, always a good time there. The pitch was a sweeper low and away, but it hung a bit in the zone. Thomas popped it over the left field wall, 101.9 off the bat, landed 388 feet away. Then two pitches later, one of the nationals top prospects, 6'7, James Wood. I know we got Jordan Walker, he's a massive man. James Wood is a big dude as well, whom they got from the Padres in the Juan Soto trade. He ends up crushing a sinker up in the zone deposits it over the center field wall,

11.6 off the bat, 411 feet away. And all of a sudden, we're kind of getting flashbacks about Kyle, Gibson and when he was with the Phillies back in July of 2022, and when the Cardinals hit, not one, not two, not three, but four consecutive dingers off of him. I remember watching that. Kim was like, oh my gosh, they're wearing the powder blues that day. Hold on memory. It was Nato, Gorman, and I think Juan Yappez, who's now a national, and then Dylan Carlson, were the four guys who hit the home runs. It did not happen again today. It didn't come to that.

He got a ground out from the next guy, struck out the next hitter, and then another ground out from, to end that inning, to end the first inning. But not exactly the way you want to start your career with a new team. Second inning, ground out, single, ground out, two wild pitches. Both of those were sweepers in the dirt, which allowed another run to score before getting the punch out to end the second inning. Final line, it's not pretty. Two innings, three earned runs, three hits, zero walks, two strikeouts, two wild pitches, and two home runs. To say there's room for improvement.

is an understatement. But just like the hitters, you can't lose your mind over one outing. It's just not going to do you any good. So don't let it happen to you. After his appearance, he didn't see him all that beat up about it when he talked to the media. He said he thought he made a good pitch on the first home round, but the second one was elevated, said he was really trying to sink up a little bit, feel a little more comfortable out there, working through normal spring training, getting acclimated to the mound. That's still a thing for these guys, but said he felt good, walked off healthy, executed a lot of pitches after the first two hitters and we'll try to do better the next time out.

Fairly simple. You know, Kyle Gibson is a veteran. He's not going to let one spring training appearance rattle him. He's just not. And you shouldn't let it rattle you either. Everybody calm down. A couple of examples in this game today of guys who did not have good first appearances in the spring, but look good today.

Giovanni Gallegos and Michael McGregory. Revy, both underwhelving outings their first time out. Today, Gio throws a shutout inning, two punches. McGreevy really got tagged his first time out. Today, two shutout innings, one hit and a strikeout. I don't hear everybody going, oh, my gosh, Gio's done. Oh, my gosh, McGreevy's a bus. You're not hearing that today because they pitched well today.

As for the rest of the staff, Andrew Kittridge, tossed his second shutout inning on just six pitches. He was sitting out of there quick. Adam Klofenstein two shutout innings and counter Thomas throws up another zero with two whiffs. Cards are going to be back at it tomorrow against the Mets again. Matthew Libertor is your scheduled starter. First pitch 1205, St. Louis time. All right, up next, I want to get into the position players who I think are the 13 guys.

They're going to start on opening day. And what the starting lineup might look like in Los Angeles against the Dodgers. We'll get into that next on Locked on Cardinals. You shouldn't have to worry when you are going to. buy tickets to your next big event. I mean, you want to go, you want to get the seats you want for the price you want. You won't have to worry about getting jipped and somebody taking advantage of you. And that's where Game Time comes in. Game Time is the fast and easy way to buy tickets for all of your favorite events, sports, music, comedy, theater, anything going on near you,

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from now. Okay, start looking at getting yourself tickets through the Game Time app. Blues, going to be making that push to make the Stanley Cup playoffs, at least we hope. Tough loss last night against Edmonton. But you want to go to the games? That's where I got my seats. When I was in St. Louis going to the Blues games, that's where I got mine. So download the Game Time app, create an account, use the code locked on for $20 off your first purchase. That's L-O-C-E-D-O-N for $20 off. Download. game time today. Last minute tickets. Lovest price guaranteed. Locked on as launch the first ever national sports 24-7 streaming channel on YouTube and now it's also available on Amazon Fire TV

and the free fire TV channels app. Locked on sports today is here for you 24-7 covering the top sports stories of the day with the local experts of locked on guys just like me. Plus our national shows covering every league. So find locked on sports today right now available on the Free Fire TV channels app. some position player news. Infielder Buddy Kennedy, designated for assignment to make room for Brandon Crawford, was claimed today by the Detroit Tigers, which all the guarantees that when the Cardinals play the Tigers,

I don't know when that happens, but when they play them, Buddy Kennedy will be on their roster and will destroy the Cardinals. It's just how it works. So heads up. Buddy Kennedy, that week that they play the Cardinals, pick them up in your fantasy team

because he's probably going to go off. But in all seriousness, like yesterday, I want to recap what went down this offseason as the Cardinals attempted to rebuild this roster. I know there was a lot more effort and a lot more work put in when it pertained to the pitching staff, to the rotation and to the bullpen. But they did have to make some changes with the bench as well for 2024. So first thing they did, Cardinals brought back former Cardinal Matt Carpenter, who was now 38 years old. and who outside of his production as a Yankee at Yankee Stadium in 2021, I'm not going to blow smoke up your butt. He has not been that great of a hitter.

He really hasn't. And he hasn't really been an everyday tight player since like 2018. And that was the year when out of nowhere he explodes for 36 home runs for the Cardinals. It hasn't been that good since outside of that brief time with the Yankees and specifically at Yankee Stadium. His stats there were crazy good. everywhere else. Not so great. But again, Mo was trying to target people not only who can do some good things on the field when asked to do it, but also to be one of those great clubhouse guys and leaders. It was a bit of a head scratcher considering both Carp and former second round pick, Alex Berlinson do some similar things. Burleson could play the outfield, which is something we hope that Cardinals don't have to make Carpenter do at any point this season, but they can both play for space, provide a left-hand bat off the bench. So Matt Carpenter, still, here he is, still looks cool in the Cardinal uniform, right?

Although I really was hoping he'd go mustache, but because he can grow the beard, I guess he's going to go with the beard. That's the look he's used to. If you're watching on YouTube, I got the photo of him from the team photo stuff that they're all starting to release them now. So you've got a look at it. But I don't know, I was hoping for mustache. Anyway, so that's what we're going to expect from Matt Carpenter. The other position that needed to be addressed as far as position players goes was at shortstop. Top prospect, Mason, when is going to be your opening day shortstop.

The club is giving him every opportunity to seize that role and be the everyday shortstop throughout this entire season. But everybody needs a day off from time to time. Okay, it doesn't matter if you're 21 like Mason win or 25, 25, 28, and as you get older, obviously any more days off. But to expect Mason when to play 162 games in what would be a full rookie season, he is eligible again. That's just silly. And we saw him struggle last year.

I'm not so concerned about what happened in September. I think he's going to be fine. The club has faith in his skills as a hitter and as an infielder. But there's always the, what if he struggles a lot, again, type of scenario. Like you want to be prepared in case that. things go south for Mason when. The plan was to obviously have Tommy Edmund as the backup shortstop. Problem is, Tommy Edmund now expected to be your starting center fielder after playing

at an elite level there defensively last year. He was unbelievable. The metrics are crazy. Another thing is, do you really want your center fielder as your backup shortstop? Like, you have to rely on that. So Tommy Edmund needs to take a day off from center field so that he can play shortstop the next day. It just, it gets very convoluted. And it's not a great plan.

Not that Tommy isn't good enough, but is that really the best idea for the team? Like I find that hard to believe. Second problem, the obvious problem, is that Tommy Edmund had off-season wrist surgery and so far has not progressed enough to where I'm expecting him to be ready to go on opening day against the Dodgers. I'm just not.

I've prepared myself mentally that he is not going to be available that day. And who knows? long it's going to be, whether it's a couple of weeks into the season. It could be a month later into the season. Who knows? We don't know. So internally, you had the options of sliding Brandon Donovan over to play shortstop on the days Mason win isn't. Not a horrible plan. You also have Jose Fermin on the 40-man roster as well. But Donovan is coming off the elbow surgery to his throwing arm and the team has been very open about saying they're not exactly comfortable making him do throws from other spots except for second base for right now.

That's where they want him. They want to ease of men, make sure he's cool. Things will progress later on. He doesn't have limitations medically, but they just, they're being smart. They're being cautious about him. They want him to stick to second base. So then your only option is Jose for me as the backup shortstop. And the Cardinals felt like they needed someone with a better resume and a better track record for this.

situation. And that's good. Like to have more depth at a position where there could be an issue is a good thing. So the Cardinals address the problem. And they signed a long time giant shortstop Brandon Crawford to a one year deal. Now, I have not seen any of the terms on the deal yet. We know it's a one year deal. I'm assuming league minimum people I've reached out to think it's going think it's going to be the league minimum. But we don't know yet. I don't know. But who cares, right? They're not going to overpay for him. 37 years old now. He's won four gold gloves, three-time All-Star, Silver Slugger winner, won two world

championships with the Giants. And not that long ago, in 2021, he finished fourth in the NLMVP award voting. The last two seasons, being honest, have not been great for Brandon Crawford. The offense is debt, so have the defensive metrics. There have been people who say, the metrics don't show exactly how good he was at shortstop. Like he's actually been serviceable and not as bad as maybe the numbers look. And a lot of these issues, both offensively and defensively, could be to the number of leg injuries that he suffered over the last couple of seasons. He's dealt with a bunch of them with his knee, hamstrings, like there's been problems left and right over the last two years.

And when you don't have your legs, it makes it awfully tough to be good at any sport, right? So he spoke with the media in Jupiter on Tuesday. They asked him about his health, said he feels healthy, feels like he's ready to prove that when he is healthy, he can still offer something to the Cardinals. Crawford has an outstanding reputation off the field. He's already familiar and knows Cardinals third basement, Nolan Aronado, pretty well.

He admitted that. Says he knows Goldie, but knows Nato a little bit better, has talked with him a lot more. He does not appear to be a very, expressive guy. He's not that in-your-face type of personality, but he's also, like if there's one word that can describe Brandon Crawford, at least the way it comes off to me is he's a professional. Like everything about him just comes up as very professional. And there's nothing wrong with having those kind of guys in your clubhouse and coming off your bench, right? It's another good clubhouse

voice who brings a winning pedigree, who is bringing championship brings into that clubhouse. And like, this is how we did it. And he seems like a very good fit as a Cardinal. The Carbiter move still is kind of a head scratcher to me. If they had announced that Matt Carver was going to be one of the assistant coaches, I feel like that would have made a lot of sense. I am not exactly sold on what he can offer on the field. again, I'm pro Cardinal, so I'm hoping I'm wrong.

But I'm questioning whether or not he's got much left. And keeping Carpenter on this team, it also might cost Alec Berlinson a roster spot. Like, to be honest, he might have to start at Memphis. Crawford, I like a lot. I've always liked him from afar watching him play with the Giants. He was one of those guys when the Cardinals played San Francisco that you're just like, that's that's a ball player right there he's somebody that just does everything the right way and he's got something to prove but also knows his role as a mentor to your 21 year old top

prospect shortstop mason win he realizes that admitted that in the media session they were like what would they tell you what your role is going to be he's like uh i know that they got mason win he's the guy i'm here to help him and teach him and do anything i can to help him in this ball club win. Perfect. Perfect. And apparently he's also willing to play some second and third if needed. He's more than happy to do that. And Cardinals love having guys who are versatile. We know that. So what does all of this mean for the opening day roster and lineup for the Cardinals in 2024? Your biggest question, Mark, clearly is what's up with Tommy Ed? Because when he's healthy, things are going to look a little bit different. But like I said, I'm under the impression that he's not going to be ready come March 28.

So I'm going to give you my final roster and line up predictions next on Locked on Cardinals. Get buckets with your first bet on Fandol, America's number one sports book because right now, new customers get $150 in bonus bets with any winning $5 bet. That's $150 if your bet wins. Bet on all your favorite NBA players and teams with quick bets, live same game parlays. They've got exclusive props available and a whole lot more. was thumbing through things today, and there's an area where you can bet on star player props.

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Locked on is long. It's the first ever national sports 24-7 streaming channel on YouTube, and now it's also available on Amazon Fire TV and the Free Fire TV channels app. Locked on Sports Today is here for you 24-7 covering the top sports stories of the day with the local experts of Lockdown, plus our national shows covering every league. Find Locked on Sports today right now available on the Free Fire TV channels app. All right, so we went through all the pitchers that I thought was going to make the team yesterday, went through the starting rotation, we went through the bullpen,

Now we're going to go through the position players. Not really a lot of question marks here except for the bench, which might see some movement a little bit. But at catcher, you've got Wilson Contreras and Ivan Herrera. Remember, you've got 13 spots available here from what my predictions were with the pitching staff yesterday. So Wilson Contreras and Ivan Herrera, those are two. Your infield, Goldie, Donovan, Nato, and Winn.

That's four guys. So that gives you six total. Outfield without Edmund, Newbar Carlson Walker. So there's three more. That gives you nine. Your DH, second baseman, also third basement, if you need them to. Nolan Gorman.

That'll give you 10, which means you got three spots on the bench, right? On the bench. You know Brandon Crawford's going to be there now. Matt Carbner's going to be there right now. And Alec Berluson, because Tommy Edmund is out. So all three of them are going to be left-handed. And I know people were questioning like, nobody, no right-handers at all going to be on the bench. Well, there's going to be movement and certain lineups and are going to have lefties in it more than they are righties.

But remember, with the three batter rule when you bring in pitchers, the lefty specialist thing is not really much of a thing anymore. So you're going to face a lot more righties. Like, I forget what the exact stat was, but it's like 70-something. percent of all pitchers in the major leagues are right-handed. So you're going to face a whole lot more right-handers than you are left-handers. So to have three lefty bats off the bench, all with a little bit of pop, can do a little bit of different things. That's not a bad thing, not a bad idea at all. Now what happens if Edmund comes back or is available opening day? I would assume if that's the case that Alec Berluson is out. He would start at Memphis.

which, by the way, if you look at who the Cardinals are going to have at AAA Memphis, and I know the goal is not to win AAA championships, but they've got a hell of line-up down at Memphis. If Burleson's down there, and then you've got Victor Scott the second, Lucan Baker, we almost have the triple double there, or triple double, the triple crown there in just like 80-something games, Thomas and Jacey, Cesar Prieto, Pedro Paul Hess will be your catcher, Moises Gomez, Michael Cian, Jose for me, that's not too shabby. That's not too shabby at all for a lineup. I mean, wow. So here's how I would see it play out on opening day. Again, this one, this particular lineup is going to be minus Tommy Edmund. So I'm going to throw that up on the board there.

So leading off and playing second, Brennan Donovan. Batting second, I've got left field or Lars Newport. Batting third, first baseman, Paul Goldschmidt, batting cleanup, third Baseman, Nolan Aronado. Batting fifth, your DH, Nolan Gorman. Batting sixth in catching, Wilson Contreras. Batting seventh in right field, Jordan Walker. Batting eighth in centerfield, Dylan Carlson. Batting ninth, your shortstop, Mason win, and your starting pitcher, which has already been announced, is Sunny Gray. Now, if there was going to be any movement from what I am predicting here, it might be them moving Goldie up to second. Now, we saw them do that last year. I'm not huge on that, but if that's the way they want to do it, that's the way they want to do it.

So that would be moving Goldie up to second, Gorman would go third, not oh fourth, contraris fifth, Newt Bar slides down to six, then Walker Carlson and when. I could see it happening. Doesn't mean I want it to because personally, I like the idea of two really tough at bats at the top of the order in Brennan Donovan and Lars Neupar. They work counts. They're not afraid to see a lot of pitches. which makes the starter throw a lot more pitches.

They're on base machines. Ahead of Goldie and Nato, I just, I prefer that. I think it's a good idea. But they've used Goldie in the number two hole many times. So that could be what they go with instead. Now, if we have Tommy Edmund back and he's able to play and he's in the starting lineup, he would slide in for Dylan Carlson. DC becomes your fourth outfielder.

Brennan Donovan would be kind of like your fifth guy. Edmund has never been a very good leadoff hitter. So I would not put him in the leadoff spot. The OBP just has not been there for Tommy Edmund throughout his career. Like you would think he's got the skill set to be a very good leadoff hitter, switch hitter got very good speed, you know, but it just, it has not been a spot that he's all that great at. In fact, his strongest spot in his career in the order has actually been the seventh spot. where he's got a career OPS of 927.

So here's the lineup with Tommy Edmund in it. Donovan, Newbark, Goldie, Nato, Gorman, Contreras, then Tommy Edmund in Centerfield, Jordan Walker and Wright, Mason win at shortstop. Now, if you want, you can make a case to swap Walker and Edmund. I don't have any problem with that. I just think it's kind of nice to have the switch hitter in between Contreras and Walker. So it gives you a chance to, you know, break that up a little bit.

But that's just me. But when you look at this one, like when healthy, this is going to be the starting nine for the Cardinals on most dates. This would be, yeah, the ideal starting nine, whether you move them around in the order or not. But it just kind of shows you what a healthy St. Louis Cardinals lineup, like how much length they actually have in their lineup where Jordan Walker is your number eight hitter.

I mean, this is a guy who's a rookie last year, hit 276 with 16. home runs and 51 RBIs. That's your number eight guy? And yeah, you want to slide him up to seven? Great. That's your number seven guy? I mean, he's one of those dudes that at some point is going to be a middle of the order bat, three, four, or five.

And imagine if he goes off this year with putting on all that extra muscle and can give you 30 home run potential in that seven or eight spot this year. I mean, that is nice. then late in games. You got Carlson coming off the bench as the defensive replacement for Walker at times. Carpenter can play first on days that Goldie is at DH or needs a day off altogether. Crawford backs up when, possibly Arnato at third, although when Nato needs a day, you've got Donovan, you've got Gorman,

who can both play there as well. I know it's not ideal, but I'm sure Matt Carpenter will see a little bit of time at second or third in a pinch. He's been taking grounders at those spots. in spring training because you just never know. You just never know. Again, not ideal. I'm not saying it needs to happen very often and I hope it doesn't.

But in a pinch, he can do that too. So that's really the plan for the 2024 St. Louis Cardinals. So leave your comments, leave your suggestions. Are there things that you would change from my lineup or where I've got people playing? I feel like it's pretty easy lineup to just kind of, there it is. Not a lot of alterations need to be made. I mean, I'm sure you'll swap guys here and there, depending on what the pitching matchup is, but I'm pretty stoked for a lineup like that. If they can stay healthy, it's tough. It's a tough one. All right, thanks for making lockdown cardinals.

Your first listen every day. If you haven't already, please give us a follow on Twitter at L.O underscore Cardinals and the J.D. Sports Radio, like and subscribe on YouTube and help our channel and love for the Cardinals grow. Round of applause. We stated. focus today with the camera on YouTube. So that's great news. And for those of you who all pointed it out yesterday and how horrible it looked, thanks. I know. If you listen to the podcast, I was trying to fix it while we were doing it. But thank you for pointing it out over and over. You guys are the best fans at baseball for a reason. And I will see you next time on lockdown cardals.