Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - People Are Fed Up With This Performance

Starting point is 00:00:00 Two key plays help doom the Cardinals on Monday against the Mets. And we'll take a look at Tuesday nights lineup. Interesting, interesting batting orders set up by manager Ali Marmal. We'll talk about it on today's episode of 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. Hafford and I'm a national radio sports anchor, born and raised in the Lou.

Starting point is 00:00:34 Lifetime Cardinals fan, and I'm your host for Locktown Cardinals, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network covering your team every day. Follow me on TwitterX at JD Sports Radio. You can follow the podcast at L.O. underscore Cardinals. I want to thank those of you who make Locktown Cardinals your first listen every day. We are free and available wherever you get your podcast. YouTube. If you haven't been to YouTube, yeah, make sure you come by. Check us out over there as well.

Starting point is 00:00:57 Subscribe, like, comment. Make sure you're interacting 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, all of the info about the birds on the bat. Today's episode brought to you by Price Picks, the easiest and most exciting way to play daily fantasy sports. Go to PricePix.com slash locked on MLB and use code all lowercase,

Starting point is 00:01:20 locked on MLB for your first deposit match up to $100. So with the ickiness. And first off, before we get into this episode, I'm sorry it's coming out so late, had a ton of work stuff to do today. So it really got in the way, had some car things. I had to take care of. So I do apologize.

Starting point is 00:01:36 But the ickiness of losing the series to the White Sox, still fresh in everyone's mind going into Monday night's game, right? The New York Mets were in town. They've lost three in a row. They're not a great ball club either right now. So perhaps this could be where the Cardinals would be able to rise to the occasion to keep that losing streak going for the Mets. Kyle Gibson on the mound against Sean Mania.

Starting point is 00:02:00 And I told you on Monday that Mania has been pretty darn good this year. that the one neat weakness that he's had is that he doesn't go deep into games because he walks a lot of people. So I thought it might be a good idea for the Cardinals to be a little more patient at the plate, although nobody likes hearing that P word anymore, not plate, but be the patient word. Let Manaya get himself into some trouble with the deeper counts, put some people on, and that's how you beat him. And early on, it seemed like that was the plan for the St. Louis Cardinals. Problem was, Sean Manaya was throwing a lot of strikes early on and wasn't really taking

Starting point is 00:02:34 the bait. Like he was pretty accurate with what he was throwing. So instead, the team had to rely on actually hitting the ball. And that's where the card will struggle this year, which makes it, you know, really hard to win ball games when you can't hit. It's an issue. They did manage to get eight hits in the game. Five of those hits were devils, but only three runs ended up crossing the plate. They go one for six with runners in scoring position. It's been a problem. It continues to be a problem. You know that. I know that. There's not much else to say about the offense. I don't have answers. There's no magical potion or magic button that we can push to make these guys start hitting again. They just have to figure it out. For me, there were two plays in the game that stood out to me that were just like, you know, turning points. Okay. First was in the fifth inning. Mets are up one or nothing. Nito leads off with a single. Then Nemo singles to write. I think that should be illegal, by the way, to have Nito and Nimo. batting backs to each other. But Nemo shot to right field.

Starting point is 00:03:36 It had a little bit of top spin, so it was sinking. It lands, gets on Newpar, goes past him right to the wall, which sets up a second and third situation and nobody out. Not like Newt needs anything else for us to pile on him about right now because he's not doing a whole lot of things that are positive offensively, and for something to happen to him defensively now, it's just a tough situation. Like he's in a bad place right now,

Starting point is 00:04:01 And the Mets capitalize on this. They get a ground out. They get a sack fly. They don't even need a hit, but they make it three to nothing. Not a big deal for a lot of teams. Three to nothing. You're like, all right, well, you know, we've still got plenty of game to go. But for one is offensively challenged as the Cardinals have been a bit of a mountain to climb.

Starting point is 00:04:18 So that's key play number one. The Cardinals answer in the sixth inning, leadoff hit by Jose Fermin, who was batting leadoff, had a couple of hits. So nice. Nice job by Ali, recognizing the matchup of putting them up there. We'll get to tonight's lineup here in just a little bit, which is a bit of a head scratcher. Then Contreras rips an RBI double. You get a walk to Paul Goldschmidt, Cardinals are a business, right? You got first and second, nobody out, one run in, and Aronado coming up.

Starting point is 00:04:46 Doesn't work out this time, all right? He flies out to right with Marte's arm. They respect it. So the runners stay. They don't move up. Next guy is Carlson. Guess what? He pops out into foul territory to, guess who?

Starting point is 00:05:00 Starling Marte. Again, great arm. So again, nobody advances. So now nothing has happened with the last two hitters. Lucky for the Cardinals, Yvonne Herrera comes up, got some dog in him, and he laces a shot into the gap in left center. Had hit one there earlier in the night, but got robbed by a hit by McNeill and left, but two runs score. But Herrera got aggressive and Nali explained about this after the game that Herrera thought there was going to be a closer play at home plate. and he wanted to try and ensure that the run scored. He wanted to see if, you know, him taking off a third base would make the Mets cut it, try to throw him out of third base instead of trying to get Goldie at home plate. So the attentions were good.

Starting point is 00:05:43 He was kind of sacrificing himself to make sure that run scored. But the rule is you never make the first or the third out of an inning at third base. So that's play number two for me because who knows what happened. next. You would have still Sean Minai on the mound scrambling a little bit, but instead it clears the field and we're back at zeros, basically. I would have loved to see Brennan Donovan step up. He had hit a double earlier in the game. I would love to see him face Mania again and getting at bat with Yvonne Herrera at second base, but didn't work out. Ali goes to the pit next then. He brings out one of his big guns in Andrew Kittridge, who apparently is human after all.

Starting point is 00:06:23 He gets a breaking ball down and in. It's down and in, but it's. still high enough in the zone where Nimmo is able to yank it over the wall in right field to make it four to three. And, you know, Kit's been amazing so far this year. Hadn't given up a run of his own since April the 6th. It's just the second earned run against him this year. Can't be perfect all the time. We would love for you to be that way, but it unfortunately happens at a time when the cardinals are only allowed to score runs in one inning per game, it seems. They go fairly quiet. the rest of the way, and it's another L on the standings and another, what the heck is going on type of game for the Cardinals,

Starting point is 00:07:05 where they just cannot do enough offensively to pick up a win. I've got some other things that I do want to bring up some positive things. And then we're going to get into the lineup for Tuesday night. Excuse me, I hit the remote there. We'll get into the lineup for Tuesday night's matchup, which, as I mentioned, it's got me scratching my head just a little bit. and they've released two of them now. They've updated the lineup once.

Starting point is 00:07:29 So we'll get into all of that next here on Locked on Cardinals. Baseball season is officially underway. Don't miss your chance to add your favorite players from the Diamond and your prize picks entries, whether it's strikeouts or RBIs or first inning runs. Take your pick of more or less and then add them to your price picks entry today. The way the Cardinals offense is going, maybe bet the under on whatever they've got going on as the over under on the amount of runs and hits that the Cardinals might get tonight. You can get in on the playoff action and went up to 100 times your money on

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Starting point is 00:10:42 every day to bring you the biggest stories without all the screaming. It brings you can't miss analysis, opinions and news streaming 24-7 on YouTube or the free Amazon Fire TV channels app. Part of the Locktown podcast network, your team every day. Remember you can catch every pitch of the Cardinals hometown broadcast with Sirius XM. Just download the SXM app and search the word Cardinals. A couple of things from Monday's game that stood out to me that I want to mention real quick before we move on to Tuesday's lineup. First of, how good is Kyle Gibson been? Hello, somewhat of a whipping boy for the fan base in spring training when he was getting rocked. I was one of those two. It was like, is he going to figure this out or is this just kind of who he is?

Starting point is 00:11:24 But so far, so good here in the regular season, the Marlins game has been the outlier, not the norm, where he just got ripped early on in the game. Now, he does seem to come into games a little bit cold. Like he gives up runs early in the game, but then he figures it out and he pulls through, like just Monday night, rips off another quality start on Monday, six innings, two-word runs, three total, strikes out four.

Starting point is 00:11:49 He's giving you what he ends to win almost every night. That's his fifth quality start, which is second most in the major leagues right now. The league lead is six. And there's a lot of people who have six. There's a lot of people who got five, and Kyle Gibson is one of them. I don't think you would have said that at the beginning of the year that you would be like, all right, Kyle Gibson, going to be right up there with these guys, right?

Starting point is 00:12:08 3.68 ERA, not the hottest one in the world, but still 21st in the National League, not too shabby for a guy who was deemed just a number five or worse before the season started. So good for Kyle Gibson, good for the St. Louis Cardinals. Look like they made a smart deal there. How about this? Last night's game, something the cameras picked up on after the play with Ivan Herrera at third base, which I think we can all agree a base running blunder, right? That was a mistake. And the cameras caught after the play, Ali pulling Ivan aside in the dugout. And you can see, he was asking him, hey, what was going on there? Like, why did you do that? You were already in scoring position. He wanted an explanation. You know, he didn't like berate him in front of everybody. He was just, like, hey, so what was going on there? Because we would have liked you at second base there. We don't want to make a third out there.

Starting point is 00:13:04 Ali got the story, which I told you earlier, was that, you know, Herrera was trying to make sure that that tying run scored. That was his idea. It wasn't a mindless decision that Herrera made. He wasn't just running to run thinking he was real fast. He was thinking about the situation and that's why he went for it. ultimately it did end the momentum in the rally, but, you know, it's a learning moment for a young player who's still getting used to how fast the game can be in Major League Baseball. He thought

Starting point is 00:13:37 it was going to be a closer play at home play. Goldie had beaten the throw pretty handedly, so there was no need for him to try and stretch that into, you know, getting third base to, you know, get the attention off of Goldie so to make sure the run scored. He was going to be safe. So, you know, this is part of it. You know, when something like that happens, you hope these young players that are on the team can learn from them. Jose Fermin, a couple of hits in the lead off spot. Dude was raking at Memphis, got a chance to start.

Starting point is 00:14:05 He leads off. A couple of hits becomes a big part of the rally that ties the game back up. But for some reason, he is not in the lineup tonight. And I haven't seen any updates as to why. They've got a very lefty, heavy lineup ready to roll for game two. But I'm not sure I understand it completely. Here's what it originally look like. So if you're on, if you're online on YouTube right now, you can see it.

Starting point is 00:14:30 So that's what it originally. Wait, no, this is, hold on. That's the, that's the one I'm going to show you. Never mind. You don't want that. Never mind. So it originally, it had, uh, Brennan Donovan was at the top of the lineup. Okay.

Starting point is 00:14:46 Here, I'll just read it off for you. I don't have it visually to show you anymore. I'm sorry. Originally, you had Brennan Donovan leading office. large new bar, nope, that's the new one. Okay, Brennan Donovan leading off. We also, Contreras, third, then Goldie, Aronado, Berlison, Newt Bar, Gorman, Crawford, and Michael Ciani.

Starting point is 00:15:03 Then they updated it. It's now Donovan, Newt Bar, Contreras, Aronado, Goldie, Burleson, Gorman, Crawford, and Ciani. And Jose Budo, who is the starting pitcher for the Mets tonight, right-handed pitcher in his career, which is only 15 games, so not a huge sample size. but righties are hitting 237 against them and lefties are hitting 190. This year, righties are hitting 192 and lefties 146.

Starting point is 00:15:30 So we're filling it up with left-handers who are worse against this guy. And instead of leaving right-handed hitting for mean at the top, he goes back to Brennan Donovan to the top of the order. Then he's got, you know, now it's Newbar batting second. But then you've got your three righties kind of crammed in the middle. little there with Contreras, Goldie, and Aronado, and then it's all lefties all the way through, and then again, at the top of the order. So you've got Donovan, the Newt, Willie, Nato, Goldie, Burley, Gorman, Crawford, and Ciani. And I don't know if I'm missing something here,

Starting point is 00:16:05 but wouldn't it make more sense to break up the clump of right-handers and lefties a little bit? Like, wouldn't that be better for you later on in a game? I mean, it's not like, I get keeping Contreras and Aronado together. That's fine, but I don't understand why Goldie needs to be up there still. He's just, he's not getting it done. It's just not working. So I'm sure there's some sort of reasoning behind it because they don't just make these decisions on a whim, but I'm just not seeing it. And if Wynn is going to sit out, this was the plan game that he was going to sit out, like, why Crawford over for me? Like, I don't understand that. You know, it's not like Brandon Crawford has done anything worthy of earning another start right now. So I would have kept

Starting point is 00:16:46 for me. So here's the lineup I would have gone with, all right? Here we go. There's the new one. So you can see it on YouTube, but for those of you listening to the audio, I'll just read it for you. I would have had Jose Fermin leading off playing shortstop. I would have had Donovan in left field batting second. Contreras catching, then Nato at third base. Alec Berluson, who hit the jack off of Budo the last time they saw him, deaching and batting fifth, then Gouldy, then Newt, then Gorman, and then Siani, benching for me and for a guy. batting 105 doesn't sound all that appealing to me. And I'd be shocked if it was a defensive thing, but is it? Is for me like terrible and shortstop? I really don't know. Let me know your thoughts below. I wish he could, I wish he could get Herrera back in the lineup. He had two missiles last night, robbed on the first one, gets a double on the second one, and he's not in the lineup tonight. The way Newt's hitting, you could put Burley in right and have Herrera DH instead. It's just kind of a

Starting point is 00:17:47 peculiar lineup. But again, I'm not, I'm, I'm sure Ali's got his reasons. Like when everyone tried to kill him for Wynn sitting earlier this year, we found out he was dealing with some back discomfort. And everybody's like, oh, okay, never mind. But I don't know. I don't question Ali's lineups all that often. I'm usually kind of on board with what he does. But this one's got me scratching my head just a little bit tonight. We're going to wrap it up next with some unhappy fan feedback. Yay. That's next on Lockdown Cardinals. This Mother's Day gets something thoughtful for mom on DoorDash. Surprise her from wherever you are with fresh bouquets, the latest tech, gift cards, self-care treats,

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Starting point is 00:19:53 Fire TV channels app. So the unrest among fans, it's growing exponentially by the day. With each loss, the venom gets spewed harder and harder. And I'm not here to tell you you're wrong. Okay, that's not my job. I'm not here to tell you that you're doing it wrong and you shouldn't be upset. I'm sick of losing too. I'm sick of losing too.

Starting point is 00:20:14 This team on paper, it should be much better than they are. And many people believe that it's Ali Marmal's fault. I tend to disagree with this only because I don't see Ali making a lot of mistakes with his bullpen. Like he's not the guy that put the seam together, but he's the guy that's got to manage them. And as I mentioned, I have issues with his starting lineup very rarely. And then, you know, the batting order like time to time. I'm a little confused by it like tonight. But I don't see him costing the team games.

Starting point is 00:20:47 Like I've very rarely seen something. I'm like, what the hell is he thinking? I see a lot of guys underperforming on this team. And some feel that Ali deserves blame for that. Fans believe that it's Ollie's fault that he's not motivating players properly, not teaching the fundamentals properly. People are fed up. People are fed up and it's not going to get any easier when these losses keep piling up.

Starting point is 00:21:13 So they got to do something quick. So here's just some of the fan feedback. And this is the stuff I get sent to me. in droves each and every day. Embarrassing, this team and management are both honestly pitiful. What's it going to take to fire Ali Marmal? We're in last place. Again, whose fault is this?

Starting point is 00:21:34 I basically quit watching these clowns last year. Subpart team, poor effort. Marmal has no excuse to bat Goldschmidt third until he starts to constantly produce. He simply can't. I know who Goldschmidt is, but what he's not right now is a productive hitter. slide them down to sixth and get Herrera hitting in the top three. I was at the game Sunday and it was pathetic, boycott the games, fire the whole coaching staff and the GM. How many more do they have to lose before Bill DeWitt does anything?

Starting point is 00:22:05 It's only going to get worse. These boys are a carbon copy of last year and that's a product of piss poor coaches, period. People are pointing out the success of Tyler O'Neill and Jordan Hicks since leaving. How Jack Flaherty? You know, of course he looked really good against the Cardinals because, of course, he did. But how he seems to be better off outside of St. Louis had another good game for the Tigers the other day. I just, I don't remember a lot of people spilling a lot of tears over Jack and Tyler leaving last year.

Starting point is 00:22:32 I remember a lot of people pretty upset that the Cardinals were still trusting them and giving them another chance. How dare they? They're always hurt. They suck. Get rid of them. And now they get rid of them. And they're finding success somewhere else.

Starting point is 00:22:45 And now you're mad at the Cardinals for getting rid of them. for getting rid of them in the first place. Like it's a no-win situation sometimes. And, you know, it is odd that people are leaving St. Louis or escaping the Cardinals' organization, as some people have said, and see their careers swing upward. Not all of them do. Like, what's Dakota Hudson doing? I don't know.

Starting point is 00:23:08 What's Woodruff? Woodward doing? I don't know. But who am I thinking of? that would Jake Wolford, Jake Woodford. That's what I'm thinking of. Like, what's he doing now? I don't know.

Starting point is 00:23:22 But Flaherty and O'Neill, like, they were good as Cardinals. They were. While they had the Carly uniform on, they were very, very good. But injuries kind of derailed their careers. You know, so I don't think it's a lack of understanding the talent. I don't think it's developing some of these guys's talents. Some of them just have different reasons why they do better. Some people get more.

Starting point is 00:23:48 playing time like Ramio Rosarena and Adoli-Scarcia. Lane Thomas didn't have a great career with the Cardinals. He wasn't doing much when they gave him playing time. So they moved on. And he's just now putting it together years later down the road on his, what, second team? Because he was with the Blue Jays for a while first. And now he's starting to pick things up with the nationals.

Starting point is 00:24:07 That's, uh, I mean, some people are lay bloomers. But there's a lot of angry fans out there. And I see a lot of empty seats out there as well. And a lot of losses piling up. And if something doesn't change quickly, I'm very worried how dark things are going to get down at Bush Stadium because it ain't good. It ain't good right now.

Starting point is 00:24:26 And I don't blame me for being upset. And if you don't want to go to those games and you don't want to watch this team play, I don't blame me. I don't blame me at all. They should prove themselves to you. I understand it completely. But I'm here for you if you want to vent. It's okay.

Starting point is 00:24:40 You're not going to upset me by bashing the Cardinals, okay? They deserve it right now. They're a last place team again. I get it. Thank you for making Locktown Cardinals. Your first listen every day. If you haven't already, please give us a follow on Twitter X at L.O.

Starting point is 00:24:54 underscore Cardinals and at J.D. Sports Radio, like, subscribe on YouTube and help our channel. And what's remaining of our love for the Cardinals to grow? You guys are the best fans in baseball, as angry as you get. You're the best fans in baseball for a reason. That's why they call you that. And I will see you next time on Locked on Cardinals.

Starting point is 00:25:11 Enjoy the game tonight.

Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - People Are Fed Up With This Performance

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