Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - Series Victory Has The St. Louis Cardinals Confident Going Into Their Matchup With The Chicago Cubs

Starting point is 00:00:00 The St. Louis Cardinals take two of three from the Cincinnati Reds as they gear up for a massive four-game series against the Chicago Cops. This is Locked-on Cardinals. You are Locked-on Cardinals, your daily St. Louis Cardinals podcast, part of the Locked-on Podcasts Network, your team every day. Hey, there are Cardinals. I'm J.D. Haffron, and I am your host for Lockdown Cardinals, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network covering your team every day. Follow me on X-Ed, J-D Sports Radio, as well as the podcast at L-O-U-U-U-Rourn-Cardals. We're on YouTube, like, subscribe, comment, hit that notification button so you don't miss out on stuff. TikTok, Instagram, you can find us there as well. This is a show serving Cardinal Nation and giving the best fans in baseball, all of the info about the birds on the bat.

Starting point is 00:00:51 Today's episode brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new customers can get $150 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet win. So, how about a round of applause for your St. Louis Card? goals. Series win. One five of their last six. Unable to complete the sweep. I get that. You know, people are a little bit down because things didn't go so well on Sunday, but it is still a series victory. And that's what's most important here. Cool to get sweeps, but series victories. You just want to keep stacking, right? That's the goal. And so we got the ugly shirt back on here today. So that's wonderful. But they

Starting point is 00:01:31 get dominated on Sunday by Andrew Abbott. And the Cardinals managed just one run on three hits on another scorcher at Bush Stadium. Like, oh my God. I remember going to Bush last year when they played the Reds. And my mother, my wife and I went and like we almost died of heat stroke. Like it was miserable. And it looked miserable again this weekend with the Reds in town just weather.

Starting point is 00:01:59 like it's ungodly hot out there. So if you are going to the games, just make sure you get plenty of fluids. I don't want to sound like a dad here, but it's very, very important. But just not a good day for the Cardinals offensively on Sunday. All three hits came in the first two innings.

Starting point is 00:02:16 They didn't have a single hit after the second inning when Joel Pozo singled in their only run of the game after that. They really virtually did nothing at the plate. And when you say it out loud, I know it sounds much worse than it is because most fans aren't really familiar with who Andrew Abbott is. He's not talked about nationally. He's never mentioned among the elite pitchers in the game.

Starting point is 00:02:39 But trust me, when I tell you, getting shut down by Andrew Abbott is not just something out of the blue where just some scrub came in and locked you up. The dude has been doing it to teams all season. I'm not trying to make excuses for the Cardinals because obviously you want them to do much better than they did. just giving you the facts, though, that this guy has been outstanding this year. One of the most unassuming pitchers in the game, six feet tall, 192 pounds. He doesn't throw hard, average fastball on 92.3, which is one mile an hour slower than league average for left handers. Yet nobody is really hitting him this year.

Starting point is 00:03:15 He's now seven and one. The ERA at 1.79. He's doing something right. And it's not just against the Cardinals, although he's faced the Cardinals twice. He's been roughed up only three times this year, gave up four runs in Colorado. and we know how things can go in Colorado and Coors Field. Gave up five against the Brewers and then technically gave up five against the Minnesota Twins, but only one of those runs was actually earned.

Starting point is 00:03:38 And three of those runs came when a ball went off their right fielder, Jake Fraley's glove and bounced over the wall for a home run. So just some bad luck going on in that one. But everybody else, he's pitched very, very well against. Nine shutout innings against the Guardians has beaten those guys twice. he's beating the Cubs twice, so the Cardinals are getting ready to play, allowed one run over 12 and two-thirds innings.

Starting point is 00:04:01 So we got to fight, you got to find footage of those games and find out what the hell he did, right? So we can pass it along to Matthew Libertor and the rest of the guys for this series. The student is legit. He's very good. But the Cardinals did have a chance to do some damage in that second inning,

Starting point is 00:04:16 and that's where things kind of miss, right? You know, even at the time I tweeted about it. I was like, I felt like that that inning was the one inning that they'd be looking back at and say, that was a missed opportunity. Lead off single by Aronado. Thomas Cajee reaches on what was ruled in error by the second baseman, Matt McLean, and then Pozo single makes it one-to-one.

Starting point is 00:04:40 He's got runners on first and second. There's nobody out. And you know as well as I do. When you have a good pitcher and they're kind of on the ropes, you better knock him down. You better get more as much as you can against him because odds are, you're not going to get these opportunities again that they're probably going to fix whatever's going on with them. They're going to adjust and they're going to shut you down and that's what happened.

Starting point is 00:05:04 You get another strike out by Jordan Walker who got, let's be honest, got hosed on the second strike call. That was crap. Wasn't really that close, but Abbott got the call. ABS, please come save us. We need you so bad after seeing what CB Buckner did on Saturday. and then to have, you know, a call like that go against Carl. You're just like, I cannot watch this crap anymore. I can't watch terrible umpires continue to be terrible.

Starting point is 00:05:32 Like, CB Buckner is the new Angel Hernandez. It's ridiculous how bad he was on Saturday for both teams. But back to the game on Sunday. Jose Barrero, he pops out behind home playing on a nifty catch by Reds catcher, Jose Trevino. And then Donnie flies out to deep center. Wasn't much else after that. The Cardinals only had one base run after the second inning.

Starting point is 00:05:56 One, only one. And that was a walk to Barrero, which didn't happen until the eighth inning. The Reds retired 24 of the Cardinals, 25 batterers, just bleh. The only thing worse than a super hot and humid baseball game is an extremely boring, super hot and humid baseball game that you end up losing. And that's what we had on Sunday with the Cardinals. Miles Michaelis did not pitch bat on the other side of things. But when you got no offense, it doesn't really matter.

Starting point is 00:06:25 You know, he gave up that first inning home run to Matt McLean, who I warned you when the series started, that Matt McLean was a name to watch. He's batting in that nine hole, and he doesn't belong there. He's a much better hitter than that. He was swinging the bat better, and he ends up going all the way out. He goes from ninth in the order,

Starting point is 00:06:43 ends up batten second on Sunday. And I presume that's where he's going to continue to hit as long as he's streaking for the Reds, because he's a very good hitter. He just had a really tough start. But then Michaelis was really good until the fifth inning. And then they get back-to-back doubles, missed the spot a couple times. Eight and nine hitters get you two, which is really a kick in the fanny.

Starting point is 00:07:05 Then he had a pass ball by Pozo. I feel like the Cardinals lead the league in passball. I haven't looked up that stat, but it feels that way. Followed that up by Sacrifice Fly, brought in their third run of the game. Then you get a lead off double and two groundouts off Calahey and the sixth. That gives the Reds their final fourth run. So again, it wasn't really a horrendous day by any means as far as the pitching staff goes. Four runs.

Starting point is 00:07:27 You feel like you can do something with that with this Cardl's offense, but not on Sunday. Cardinals offense, not there, didn't do much to help entertain the fans that did come out and sit in that heat, which was whoof, more power to you guys. Props to you for doing it. Interesting fact that Rob Raines brought up, the Cardinals have now lost their last four games on Sunday and have only one win in their last six Sunday games and fell to five and four this season when they had a chance to complete a series sweep.

Starting point is 00:07:56 So those aren't great numbers. It means that they're not finishing the weeks well. And I don't know if it's just exhaustion. I know that it's been a tough couple of weeks here as far as getting days off and stuff, doubleheaders. So you kind of want to cut them a little bit of slack, but at the same time, you want to finish your week a little bit better than what they've been doing.

Starting point is 00:08:15 But still, series win, ugly shirt, it's here. Solid victory on Friday, comeback win on Saturday, which was exciting when they really didn't even play all that well and probably should have lost that game, but it pulled out that dramatic win in 11 inning. So that was cool. I know it sucks losing the last game, but winning the series, it's got to have the boys feeling good, feeling optimistic with the first place Cubs in town. We are going to discuss that series coming up next on Lockdown Cardinals. looking for a snack that's both delicious and nutritious, then crack into a good source of protein with wonderful pistachios. Now, wonderful pistachios is one of the highest protein nuts you can get your hands on.

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Starting point is 00:10:00 on Cardinals your first listen every day. Leave your comments on YouTube as well as on X anytime you want. Your feedback is always welcome and encouraged. Finally, the Cardinals and Cubs will get a chance to play each other here in 2025. 89 days, according to Katie Wu from the athletic, there's no way I was going to count all that. So I'm glad Katie did it. And while most outsiders accuse the members of the NL Central of not even trying to win

Starting point is 00:10:21 the division due to their lack of spinning in the. off season. You now have the Cubs at 46 and 31. You got the Brewers at 43 and 35. The Cardinals are 42 and 36 and the Reds at 40 and 38. I can do that math. One, two, three, four, four teams in the division with 40 or more wins. Only one other division in baseball has that right now. And that's the AL East with the Yankees, 45 wins. Tampa Bay raise of 43. Love watching them play by them. Toronto at 41 and the Red Sox at 40. Now do the other divisions in the National League had better teams than the NL Central? Absolutely.

Starting point is 00:11:02 Looking at the wild card standings. You've got the Dodgers, Cubs, and Phillies who are currently in first place. Then it's the Mets and the Giants. Those guys, they got the first two wild card spots. Then it's Brewers in the third one, followed by the Padres. And they're half game back of Milwaukee. And then the Cardinals are one game back of Milwaukee for that third spot. So this series with the Cubs obviously is a big one in many ways.

Starting point is 00:11:22 Not only can the Cardinals make up some ground in the division where they trail the Cubs by four and a half entering Monday, but to continue to compete for that third wildcard spot as well. And the Cardinals are kind of catching the Cubs at a decent time, I would say. I don't know if it's a good time, but they had a rough weekend at Wrigley against the Seattle Mariners, and they have lost three of their last four. Friday night, the Mariners beat them up a night of four. four and the staff gave up four home runs. The ball was flying out of regularly this weekend, by the way.

Starting point is 00:11:53 Saturday, Cubs went in 10 to seven. Cubs hit five home runs. And on Sunday, they lost 14 to six and Seattle hit five more home runs. Cubs got four in that one. There are nine total home runs hitting that game. A lot of the damage was done by Seattle's catcher Cal Raleigh, who is just smashing baseball's left and right. He's now up to 31 home runs on the year to lead Major League Baseball.

Starting point is 00:12:16 The Cardinals current leaders in the clubhouse are Nolan Aronado and Wilson Contreras, who both have 10. Big difference. The Cubs pitching staff gave up 30 runs in three games this week and against Seattle. So hopefully the Cardinals will be able to take advantage of that since the Cubs had to use a lot of their bullpen in that series. They had to endure 12 innings of work. And Craig Counsel was forced to make starter Colin Ray kind of wear it on Sunday when he allowed seven runs and 11 hits and five in the third innings because he was waiting as long as he could to not put anybody in, hoping he didn't have to use. a lot of relievers to close out yesterday's game.

Starting point is 00:12:52 Only he had to use two. But, you know, obviously they're thinking more of this series against the Cardinals and not interleague play against the Seattle Mariners. So the Cubs did get some good news. Starting pitcher Shotai and Managa is back this week after dealing with a hamstring injury that he suffered in the first week of May, but not a while. The assumption is that he will pitch in this series. We just don't know what spot yet.

Starting point is 00:13:17 Okay. Ben Brown is set to start on Monday, and then it's Jameson tie on on Tuesday. Imanagan can be used Wednesday or Thursday. Most people think that Thursday makes the most sense and is the likely spot, but nothing is official about that yet. But it looks like Shota will be at some point pitching at which stadium over the next few days. As for the Cardinals, they've got left hand or Matthew Livertor on the bump on Monday. Again, I hope that they can go find the video of whatever.

Starting point is 00:13:47 Andrew Abbott did to do so well against the Cubs in his two starts because they're going to need something. I mean, this Cubs offense is really, really good, guys. It's really, really good. Nothing has been announced yet for the rest of the week for Cardle's pitchers. So you got Libby and the assumption or speculation, I guess, I should say, is that Michael McGrady is going to be back with the team and get to start on Tuesday, because it seems like anytime Michael McGreeby gets called up and pitches for the Cardinals, he does a really, really good job for the most part.

Starting point is 00:14:25 Like I think he's have one maybe rough outing if you want to call it that, but it isn't something new for him to get called up and then go out and throw a gem against a really good team. He's been doing it over the last year. So I would love to see that happen. And for him to pitch well against these Cubbies, but again, nothing official yet as far as I've seen. Eric Fetty will presumably get the ball in one of these games since he was in the doubleheader game against the White Sox on Wednesday. Is that when that one was?

Starting point is 00:14:57 Or Thursday. Thursday was the double header, wasn't it? Yeah, because the rainout was on Wednesday. I get confused. But anyway, you know what I'm talking about. So, yeah, Eric Fetty will probably get one of these starts and then probably Andre Palante, which is a bit of a bummer that the Cardinals won't have their ace, Sunny Gray, able to throw. against the Cubs, you know, it's just not fitting up schedule-wise for him to do that after just pitching on Saturday.

Starting point is 00:15:23 And the bummer is because not only is your top pitcher, but he pitches so much better at home. Like if you can get him a home start over anything on the road, you want to do that just because he pitches very, very well at Bush Stadium. So, but it doesn't look like Sunday Gray is going to be a part of this particular series, unfortunately. But like I said, offensively, the Cubs, they've been really, really good this year. I was going through these numbers, man. Oh, gosh.

Starting point is 00:15:52 Like, this is a frightening lineup to go up against. And even though they got beat two out of three by the Mariners, they still put up a bunch of runs for hitting a bunch of home runs. And they've got some firepower. And they've been led by one young man who has really taken the league by storm. He's doing something that not a lot of people expect. I kind of had a hunch he was going to do some good things, but not a lot of people expected what's been happening. We're going to discuss him and the power rankings.

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Starting point is 00:18:00 Don't want to brag, but I will. He was someone I was really excited about fantasy-wise coming into the season. I am a sucker per speed when it comes to fantasy baseball. And Sam Ober and I, who's Sam's the Lockdown Cubs guy, we were texting during spring training this year. And I told them. I was like, look, man, I'm, I'm targeting PCA all my leagues. That's who I'm going for. And holy crap, was I right? And holy crap, has that paid off. The 23-year-old phenom is hitting 269, which is a number of chip carry is going to love to say on Monday. With the team leading 21 home runs, 61 RBI's 56 run scored and 23 stolen bases. Oh, and if that wasn't enough, he's as good as it gets in center. field defensively. Second in the league in defensive runs saved with a plus seven. Victor Scott right behind him, by the way, plus six. He's also second in outs above average at

Starting point is 00:19:00 plus nine. Victor at a plus eight. So not a huge drop off there. So go victim. But the dude, he's been virtually unstoppable this year. And fan grabs, he's got a 3.9 war, which is only behind Aaron Judge and Cal Raleigh. Baseball reference has got him at 4.1. And he's not, here's the thing about he's not like this big hulking dude he's six listed at six feet we all know how people lie about that stuff so he might be more 510 511 184 pounds that's nothing that's a second baseman but man does he run like a deer and now is displaying the pop to go along with it he did have a 20 home run season down in the minor leagues uh it is a split season between double A and AAA, but he's already at 21 this year.

Starting point is 00:19:54 Like, he's never had power like this in a season. It's, it's wild. I really, really hate that he is a Chicago Cub because I love watching him play. I love watching this kid play. He's so good. It's so fun. Like just some of the catches he makes defensively in the outfield, you're just like, how did he even get there?

Starting point is 00:20:13 And then he's got a flare for the dramatics as far as when Cubs need a big hit. There he is. He shows up. He reminds me a lot. Well, I shouldn't say it reminds me. Similar to what Corbyn Carroll does for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Another one of my favorite guys in baseball to watch, small and stature. Not a big guy, but they carry a big stick, man.

Starting point is 00:20:34 They just line shots all over the place. Big sticks with speed, dude. These are the kind of fantasy ball players you drool over to have all these tools. So he obviously is a key to what the, Cubs do offensively. So slowing him down is obviously going to be something that the Cardinals want to try and pay attention to, but they got so many names. Like Sayas Suzuki is having a monster year hitting 256, 20 bombs, 64 ribbies. Then they got, oh, yeah, forget about Kyle Tucker. Remember got him from the Astros? He's been at 285 with 15 bombs and 46 ribbies.

Starting point is 00:21:11 We know that Ian Hath routinely destroys the Cardinals every single season. And oh, goody, he's heating up two. He's got four home runs at his last four games. Awesome. Then you're talking defensively up the middle. I mentioned PCA in center, but Danesby Swanson, the goal glubber at shortstop. Nico Horner won the goal glove in 2023. He's going to win it. He's on his way to doing it this year at second base. Over at first base, they got former Dodger top prospect, Michael Bush, who's hit 353 over his last five games. Our old friend Carson Kelly, former Cardinals prospect of catcher part of the Paul Goldschmidt trade with Arizona he does most of the catching for the cubs like it's up and down the order you're just like uh how do you do that how do you maneuver through

Starting point is 00:22:01 it i don't know i don't know what you do keep the ball in the yard is obviously a big important thing here easier said but done but the emergence of PCA the addition of Kyle Tucker it's added such a dynamic to this offense. They're third in the league in home runs. Their second and run score. Their ninth in batting average. Third and stolen bases. So they can beat you with the long ball.

Starting point is 00:22:26 They can beat you with speed. They don't strike out much. They're one of the lower teams in the league as far as strikeouts, but they're eighth in walks. Like, this is going to be ridiculous. I don't mean to feel like I'm drooling over the Cubs right now. But like, do you just look at the numbers on paper? And you're like, I don't.

Starting point is 00:22:47 I don't know. I don't know how to beat these guys. It happens, though. Miles Michaelis was, was quoted after yesterday's game. Because Cardinal, I mean, they're not like, oh, gosh, this is giving me real good. No, they're up for the challenge.

Starting point is 00:23:00 They're ready to rock and roll. They're looking forward to it. You know, I always make fun of teams that I got used to be honest. I usually make fun of the Reds because the life's such a fan of them. But I'll be like, you guys always look at like the series against the Cardinals is your world series. Like, you guys lose your minds over this. where the Cardinals are just playing another series.

Starting point is 00:23:19 It's kind of flipped here where this kind of feels like the Cardinals World Series right now. These games are extremely important. The Cubs, if the Cubs lose this series, they're going to be like, all right, whatever, we'll move on, where the Cardinals are going to be like, woo, we're going to lose it. We're going to go crazy. We're going to be dancing in the streets Sula if we win this series. But that's the way it is right now, because Cubs are the favorite, and the Cardinals are not. But Miles Michaelis was quoted after yesterday's game saying, these are the fun games,

Starting point is 00:23:47 the rivalry games, and I'm sure there will be a bunch of blue up in the seats, but hopefully there's more red, which, please, let's get the Cardinals fans out there. I do not want to see a sea of blue all over that stadium. That, oh, I'll throw up. He said, I know it's a midweek series, but I hope the turnout is good. Come to the game and boo the Cubs, you know, get in their head and give us a home field advantage. Let us take our shot, give them hell, and maybe make a move right here. I like that. I like that. mindset, you know? Let's make a move. Why not? Nobody's given them a chance. So why not? Why not us, right? And it feels like the only way to really beat the Cubs is to outslug them,

Starting point is 00:24:28 which is not the Cardinals way of winning at all. And not having a Von Herrera is obviously going to make it even tougher. So it's going to be an uphill battle. But Seattle just beat them. Teams are beating them. It's not like they're, you know, they have 55 wins and just unstoppable force. they've been beaten. You can do it too. But it's no wonder they're ranked third in this week's MLB power rankings behind the Tigers and the Dodgers because they're really good.

Starting point is 00:24:55 The Cardinals scooted up a spot to number 12 this week. Will Leach says that the Cardinals, if you can believe this, haven't played their hated rivals, the Cubs yet this season. That will finally happen on Monday when they host the Cubs for a four-game set. At Bush Stadium, the Cardinals come into the series hot, having won five of six. And if they were to somehow find a way to sweep the season, series, they could be only a half game out of first place.

Starting point is 00:25:18 It's going to be tough without the services of their best hitter, Don Herrera, who will miss two to six weeks with the left hamstring string. So, yeah, it's, it'll be easy. But this is why they play the games. That's why they play the games. You would think tonight's pitching matchup favors the Cardinals. You know, you like what you've seen out of Matthew Liberator most of the year. You like what you saw out of him in his last outing.

Starting point is 00:25:41 And he's a competitor. It's always a fun series. against the cup. So the Cardinals would need to play with the fire and the grit that we saw from them when they took on the Dodgers. Remember the Dodgers came to town and it was a packed atmosphere, a lot of fun at the ballpark. Cardinals came out in droves and lo and behold, the Cardinals won that series. Let's do it again. Let's do it again. I'm going to need that kind of atmosphere if the Cardinals are going to pull this one off. A series split, I think, would still feel like a win for the Cardinals in a sense. But losing 3-04 or heaven forbid getting swept in the series, I mean, that is really going to crush the mood. That is really going to dampen the mood that the Cardinals have kind of built up over the last six games after going on that skid for a little while.

Starting point is 00:26:27 They've kind of got back into it, taking care of business against the White Sox and the Reds. And went five and one in those six games. Can they keep it rolling? Can they keep it rolling without Ivan Herrera? We'll see. We'll see. Thanks for making a lot. So Cardinals first listen every day if you haven't already.

Starting point is 00:26:44 Give us a follow on X at L0 underscore Cardinals and a JD Sports Radio, TikTok, Instagram, and Lockdown Cardinals. Like, subscribe on YouTube. Preachiate all of you who come by on YouTube and leave comments and the views and everything. You guys are fantastic. That's why you guys are the best fans in baseball for a reason. And we'll see you next time on Locked on Carliners.

Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - Series Victory Has The St. Louis Cardinals Confident Going Into Their Matchup With The Chicago Cubs

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