Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - Sonny Gray UNLEASHES Frustration After St. Louis Cardinals Loss

Starting point is 00:00:00 Sunny Gray had some interesting comments about his future with the Cardinals or perhaps without the Cardinals following their elimination from postseason contention. 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 Halford, a former national radio sports anchor, born and raised in St. Louis and a lifetime Cardinals fan. and I'm your host for Locktown Cardinals, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, covering your team every day. This is a show serving Cardinal Nation and giving you all of the info about the birds on the bat.

Starting point is 00:00:43 Like a bug floating around here. What the heck was that? Anyway, on today's show, we'll discuss the Springfield Cardinals Texas League Championship. Well done, boys. The extremely disappointing performance and loss on Wednesday night in San Francisco. But the big headline is not so much what happened in the game on Wednesday. that eliminated the Cardinals from playoff contention, but what was said afterwards by the team's top starting pitcher, Sunny Gray.

Starting point is 00:01:11 Now, sometimes players can be very reactionary after a win or a loss and say things that they don't necessarily mean. But Sonny isn't normally one to get overly excited in his interviews about anything good or bad. He speaks slowly, really thinks about what he's going to say and how he wants to articulate his sentences. He's very careful with what he wants to say. He can be very blunt.

Starting point is 00:01:40 He can be very honest. When he pitches bad, he will be the first person to tell you that like, yeah, I wasn't very good. I didn't do this very well. And when he does something good, you know, he'll point that out too. Like, you know, I really like the shape of my sweeper tonight. You know, he's pretty honest about everything. Always willing to talk to the media.

Starting point is 00:02:01 So knowing all of that and then hearing what he had to say to the reporters following the game about his future with the team was very, very interesting after the game last night. So credit to all the reporters, per usual. I want you to go and read all of their work. John didn't at MLB, Derek Gold from STL today, Katie Wu from the Athletic. They're all in there all the time covering everything. But all of them put out the quotes from Sunny Gray. and here's what he had to say. I don't know what that future in St. Louis looks like for me yet.

Starting point is 00:02:37 I have enjoyed my time with the Cardinals and I've loved the people, but I came here to win. I signed here two years ago with the expectation of winning and trying to win, and that hasn't played out that way. But I want to win, and I expect to win. I came here with the expectation to win. So I don't know. Now, if you remember that offseason when the Cardinals signed Sunny Gray,

Starting point is 00:03:03 the Cardinals were trying to figure out a way to replace three spots in the rotation. They really put themselves in a pickle after that disastrous 2023 season where they went 71 and 91. The pitching staff that year had Jack Flaherty, who they had traded to the Orioles. Jordan Montgomery got traded to the Rangers where he went on to be awesome. and win a World Series with them. Jordan Hicks got traded to the Blue Jays. Adam Wainwright retired. They also had Dakota Hudson at the time who became a free agent.

Starting point is 00:03:35 Miles Michaelis was here. Stephen Mats was here. So that offseason, you know, we contemplated, my everydayers will remember this, that we contemplated, you know, who are the Cardo's going to go after? Because at the time, it was like, oh, my gosh, we had this one bad season. Let's go fix it. Let's go spend some money. Let's go fix it.

Starting point is 00:03:54 You know, they didn't spend as much money as we thought they were going to following the 2022 season when they made all that cash when Molina and Foo Holes were retiring and Foo Holes went on the run for 700. And they were like payrolls going up. And then it didn't really. And everybody was like, what the hell is this? So anyway, we're all thinking like, yeah, they're just going to throw some money at the problem. They're going to go buy some good guys. We were like, oh, my gosh, they're going to get Yoshinobu Yamamoto. is that somebody they can get?

Starting point is 00:04:24 Sunny Gray was always a guy that was at the top of the list as well. It just seemed like it was going to be a really good fit for the team, the culture. It just made a ton of sense for Sunny Gray to come on board. But instead of surrounding him with other good starters, they signed him and then Moe & Company signed Kyle Gibson and Lance Lynn. Actually, they signed Gibson and Lynn first if memory serves. Those were the ones that they announced first,

Starting point is 00:04:47 and then they announced the Sunny Gray signing. I think that's how it went. And it left us all a little bit bewildered and questioning the Cardinals desire to win. Why are you bringing older guys? Like Sunny Gray is a veteran, but Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson were older guys. And they weren't very good. Like Kyle Gibson was okay. But, you know, the idea that you were bringing in the American League leader and hits against

Starting point is 00:05:15 to team up with the NL leader of hits against. in Miles Michaelis and then Lance Lynn, who was getting shelled when he was a part of the Dodgers organization, we were all like, what is that? What are we doing? So you get this meh season last year, and this year, okay, runway rebuild time. So not sure if Sunny was sold a bill of goods by Cardinals ownership

Starting point is 00:05:42 and by your general manager John Moseilock, but they'd never followed through with the winning side of all of this. three straight seasons now that they haven't made the playoffs. So I can understand some of these frustrations there. Fans feel the same way, which is why they quit showing up. As far as conversations with management and the direction of the team, Sonny said, I've talked to them a bunch and I know the deal. I know the deal and I've had ample conversations with Heim and all those guys.

Starting point is 00:06:10 I know the direction. I am not in the right state of mind to answer that question right now. Okay. Once again, we feel the frustrations. He didn't sign here to. be a bridge piece in a rebuild. He wants to win now, just like Nolan Aronado, wants to win now. Just like Wilson Contreras wants to win now. The Cardinals haven't been a spot for guys to go just be major leaguers. You know, it's not like this is just some like, you know, fallback normally for

Starting point is 00:06:41 baseball players who, you know, need a bounce back season or something. No, you come to the Cardinals. The expectation is that you're going to win. And until recently, you could count on the Cardinals to be one of those teams that will be competing for a spot in the postseason year in and year out. That's the tradition that Sonny Gray wanted to be a part of and Nolan Aronado and Wilson Contreras. And that's not what these guys have gotten since at least Wilson and Sunny have arrived. It's been nothing but losing really on his trade clause. And whether or not a trade would be in his best interest. He said, I think I do have to consider a trade request, to be frank and be honest, having said that, whether I do decide I want to go somewhere, whether that actually happens,

Starting point is 00:07:28 I still don't have complete control of that. Obviously, I have control over where I can't go or don't go, but I think I do have to consider a trade. I'm going to be 36, and it's going to be my 14th season and my last year of my contract. I don't know what the future holds for me. And there are two big factors in a deal, if that's indeed what Sunny Gray and the Carls decided to do. Number one, and he hinted to this, was that he's got that no trade clause and can dictate where he goes, just like Nolan Aronado did this past offseason with that deal with the Houston Astros. You know, a trade could be in place like it was between Houston and the Cardinals, and it could be ready to go. All we need is them to sign on the dotted line and Arnado beat on it. Sunny

Starting point is 00:08:12 Gray can do the same thing if he wants to this year. We could have a deal done and he go, I don't want to go there and blow it all up. Number two, he is set to make $35 million next year. That is a lot of cheddar for anyone, especially a 36-year-old. And as of right now, only three pitchers are set to make more money than Sunny Gray annually next year. Zach Wheeler, Jacob de Grom, and Garrett Cole. The Cardinals will most certainly have to eat. a decent chunk of that money to move Sunny Gray,

Starting point is 00:08:51 how much is still to be determined, because it's not like Sunny Gray is a terrible pitcher or something. He just reached the 200 strikeout mark for the second season in a row. He's only the fourth cardinal pitcher to do that in back-to-back seasons, joining some pretty good names, Bob Gibson, Adam Wainwright, and Jose Delione. Like, for the last time you heard his name? Although I was looking at that because Andre Palante,

Starting point is 00:09:16 was, you know, when he had, who's set to lose the 16th game the other night before the Cardinals came back. And Jose de Leon had like, he had like 19 losses in one season or something bonkers. I was like, what? I don't even remember that. Anyway, Sunny Gray also made 32 starts. He won 14 games on a team that is probably going to finish under 500 for the second time in three seasons. So Sunny Gray is still very good. As we all know, everyone wants needs more pitching, including the Cardinals, so it stinks that we're going to let another one get away.

Starting point is 00:09:46 But a team that has the means and is ready to compete for a title would certainly love to add Sunny Gray to their mix. The San Francisco Giants have already been mentioned as a team that will have their eye on him. And they won't be alone. Hein Bloom's probably going to have quite a few suitors. But it's contingent on if Sunny wants to go to those teams or not. The same can be said for Nolan Aranato, who has also admitted to reading the writing on the wall. He gets it. It makes me wonder if Wilson Contreras is somebody who would also,

Starting point is 00:10:16 entertain a deal at this point in his career. Cardinals have Alec Berlinson, who can take over first base full time. And Wilson Contreras is still set to make a lot of money. He's a veteran and might be like Nolan and Sunnywhere. He's like, I think I just want to go somewhere and when. I appreciate you. Nobody's mad at the cardals. At least I don't think so.

Starting point is 00:10:39 They seem to be genuinely understanding what they're going to try to do. But at the same time, I think they're more disappointed. anything that they weren't able to, you know, bring back the winning tradition that the Cardinals have, you know, been known for in the last couple years. So it's a bummer. It's a bummer. So if this was the last time that we see Sunny in a Cardinal uniform, sucks that it ended on a frustrating note. And as fate would have it, it was a former Cardinal. They put the nail in their coffin. So we'll discuss it coming up next year on Locked on Cardinals. The NFL season is here In fact, we've got week four kicking off tonight.

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Starting point is 00:12:28 first listen every day. If you enjoy daily Cardinals content, you could follow the podcast on X at LO underscore Cardinals. We're also on YouTube, TikTok and Instagram at Lockdown Cardinals. Appreciate all of you guys for jumping in. Cardinals were hanging by a very thin thread of playoff live going into last night's game against the Giants, but they had all the pieces in the right place to complete the sweep against the boys from the Bay. You had the momentum from Tuesday nights when. you had your number one starter on the mountain, sunny gray, and they were supposed to go up against Robbie Ray, who's a very formidable pitcher.

Starting point is 00:13:03 But that didn't happen. After the Cardinals eliminated them on Tuesday, they were like, well, he's coming back from surgery this year. There's really no point making him pitch again. So they took him out of the rotation, so they didn't have to face him. So this was an opportunity for the Cardinals to stretch their winning streak to four in a row, gain more ground on the mats, the Reds,

Starting point is 00:13:23 and the Diamondbacks who had all lost. it would have been an incredible situation and an incredible story. Sadly, this fairy tale did not end in a good way. It didn't happen. And instead, what we got was one of the sloppiest defensive games from this team all season long. And it cost them big time. And now their season is basically over. Sunny Gray pitch crate allowed three runs, but just two of them earned over six

Starting point is 00:13:49 settings. He strikes out seven. There's an argument that can be made that only one run really should have scored. His defense committed three errors behind him. Three in an elimination game, which is basically what this was. One of them leading to the Giants first run and another one leading to their third run of the game. Second inning, it's back-to-back doubles, but they gave Victor Scott an error on this play when he bobbled the ball in center field after it dropped. It certainly looked like the ball was in the air for a very long time and that either Vic or Newt was going to get under

Starting point is 00:14:23 it make the play. Neither of them did. And then the fumble of the ball run scores. It's a tough error on Victor Scott. But personally, I was more shocked that the ball fell in the first place. I genuinely thought one of them was going to catch it. And then it just went and landed in the grass. So error number one. Then you got Jordan Walker's drop the fly ball to lead off the fourth inning, which put a runner at second base with nobody out. Giants then do smart baseball stuff. Giants move them over on a ground ball to the right side, and then you get a sack fly by former Cardinal Andrew Kisner to make the score three to two at that time.

Starting point is 00:14:59 And I stick up for Jordan Walker a lot, but that was just, there's no other way to say it. That was a terrible error. Any competent right fielder makes that catch, no problem. I mean, just today, I watch Noel de Marte, who has been shifted from third base to right field for the Rets, had never played right field in the minor leagues at all. Did what the Cardinals did to Jordan Walker.

Starting point is 00:15:24 He was like, go get it, figure it out. You're a really good athlete. And I saw him at Noel Ve Marte today rob a home run with the game on the line, two to one score. Pirates got one and it was going to clear the wall. Novele Marte jumps up, makes the catch. And then he makes another running catch to finish off the ninth inning and help this team win.

Starting point is 00:15:46 Ends the game. I also see Noelvei Marquis. hitting the snot out of the ball this year. He is 23, just like Jordan, has played 50 major league games in right field and he already looks better and more smooth than right field than Jordan Walker has, and we're in year three of him learning this position. And he's still dropping balls in big spots like he did on Wednesday night. It just can't happen, man. There's no more excuses. You've got to be able to be better than this. Then later on you had another error on Alec Berlison, who just dropped a lower throw at first base from Thomas U Jacey, who threw it over from shortstop.

Starting point is 00:16:27 It didn't bounce or anything. It wasn't a short hop, something like that that you had to pick it. No, just dropped it. It didn't cost a run there, but it did extend an inning, and it made your pitcher work more than he needed to, so it's not good. Then in the bottom of the eighth inning, you get a sawed off infield single and no man's land between first and second and the run. beats the throw. Dumb luck there. But again, Alec Berlinson goes over and he tries to get this ball. Maybe if he does it, it just covers first. Maybe there's a better play for Donnie to get the runner in

Starting point is 00:17:01 second instead of trying to hit the pitcher in stride at first base. I feel like he would have beat it out anyway. So kind of a new point there, but, you know, it just I couldn't believe that ball went for a single. I just so sick of seeing that against the Cardinals this year. Just dinky, crappy, sawdust. off soft contact BS infield singles and it just seems like it happens to him all the time. Now you got a runner on first, ground ball to Burley after this, who doesn't make the throw to get the lead guy at second base. The runner, just like on Tuesday, ran on the inside of the grass to eliminate the throwing

Starting point is 00:17:36 lane, which I still think is horse spit, but technically is legal. And maybe Burley didn't have a good grip on the ball. But do you think, let's say Paul Goldschmidt over at first base, you think he puts that ball in his pocket and doesn't attempt to make the to get the guy at second base. Do you think he just lets the runner go into scoring position? Hell no. Hell no. He figures it out and he makes the play.

Starting point is 00:17:59 So Burley doesn't get it done there. Now you got a runner at second base and one out. Guys haven't even hit it out of the freaking infield yet. And then Andrew, mother truck and Kisner smokes a line shot to center field. Victor Scott makes an ill-advised diving attempt at it, was hit right at him. It was going to land short. Everybody knew it was going to land short, except for Victor, apparently. He dives at it.

Starting point is 00:18:23 It doesn't even come particularly close to making the catch. It goes under him all the way to the wall, RBI triple, Kistair's first major league triple. Of course, it was against the Cardinals. There are times to be aggressive. And then there's times where you just want to keep the ball in front of you. Victor chose poorly this time. And the run scores with ease.

Starting point is 00:18:43 He keeps it in front. Perhaps we have a play at the plate. maybe the guy scores anyway, but at least you give yourself a shot at him. And with what he did, nothing. It's an easy run. In the end, it all amounts to a four to three loss where the offense didn't do all that much by any means, but they fought back after being down one-nothing. They took the lead to one, then it's tied at two.

Starting point is 00:19:07 Then the defense lets them down. They fight back, get another run on that sack fly by Aronado to make it three-three, and then they give the lead right back. good teams find ways to win these types of games, while mediocre to bad teams like the Cardinals are, they find ways to lose them. And the fact that it was Andrew Kisner that did it is just the cherry on top. I mean, how do you let that guy beat you?

Starting point is 00:19:37 He wasn't a good hitter in St. Louis. He hasn't been a good hitter anywhere else. And now he's ending your season. Former Cardinals always become superstars against them. I don't know why, but you can almost always bank on it. They are going to shine in some way, shape, or form when they face them. It's crazy. It's crazy.

Starting point is 00:19:57 There was one team in the organization that was crowned a champion on Wednesday. We are going to talk about them and the prospects that are on that team. Coming up next on lockdown crates. Guys, you've probably heard of Viagra, Seattle. Maybe you've even tried these products before. If you're looking for something beyond the usual pill, time to meet Rouguette go long. That's exactly where Rougiet's go long comes in to play. When you're ready to go beyond that usual pill, because it's not some just normal everyday ED pill.

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Starting point is 00:21:51 get local analysis, but on a national scale, you can find MLB game night on their locked on MLB YouTube channel or wherever you listen to your podcast. Now, we as fans love winning. We miss having a winning team to root for in St. Louis. And when something does go well in this organization, they deserve to be recognized. And last night, the St. Louis AA affiliate, Springfield Cardinals, opened up a can of whoopass on the Midland Rock Towns to win the Texas League championship. two games to one. They take the series final score on this one. 13 to 1, a complete butt kicking to secure their first championship since 2012. So congratulations to you guys.

Starting point is 00:22:32 They outscored the Rockhound 17 to 1 over the final 14 innings of the series after they had fallen behind three to nothing in game two. It looked like they were going to get eliminated. And then they roar back and end up taking that game four to three. Springfield outscored Tulsa and Midland, 26 to 11. while winning four of their five postseason games. Leonardo Bernal is an absolute stud for them. The Cardinals number three prospect and number 99 overall prospect. According to MLB Pipeline, he's one of those great catchers that they got in the system.

Starting point is 00:23:03 Drove in three runs, Dakota Harris, collected four RBI, Zach Levinson, and John John Gazdar had four hits apiece. Cardinals pounded out 19 hits total in this massacre. That's how you, that's how you finish it off, man. Nothing tense, no close nail-biting. time of game, just go out there and beat the hell out of somebody. starter Bryson Mott's, the Cardinals number 21 prospect, allowed one run on five hits while punching out three and six innings to pick up his second postseason

Starting point is 00:23:31 win. Austin Love, Hunter Hayes, Zane Mills combined to toss three scoreless innings of relief to lock up the second league title in franchise history. Other names that were on this roster, you're going to recognize some of them from the Cardinals top 30 list. It includes league MVP, JJ Weatherholt, who, you know, he played in 62 games with them before he got promoted to Memphis and tore it up there too. But he was there for a big chunk of this and got him moving in the right direction.

Starting point is 00:23:57 This year's number five overall pick Liam Doyle joined the team late. He only pitched one game with them in the postseason. But, you know, he was there and he was around a winning atmosphere, which is good. Mention Leonardo Bernal, number 11 prospect Joshua Baez, who had this breakout season this year. He's only 22 years old because they took him, you know, a couple of years ago when he had out of high school. 22 years old, hit a combined 287 with 20 dingers, 79 RBIs, and 54 stolen bases. We'll love to see what he can do at AAA Memphis last year. Number 15 prospect and pitcher of the year in the Texas League.

Starting point is 00:24:34 Ishawn Henderson was on this team. Obviously, he's somebody who's moving up the ranks and somebody we're going to keep an eye on as the Cardinals continue to try to load up with the pitching prospects in their system. Number 16, 67 pitcher Chen Wei Lin was on this team. Number 21 Mots, number 24, outfielder and former first round pick, Chase Davis. And number 25 relief pitcher, Luis Gastilum, who we got to see a little bit of in-spring training this past year. He's another name to keep an eye out as far as somebody as a relief pitcher for this team here in the very near future. The Cardinals are trying to get that winning culture back, right? That's what we're looking for.

Starting point is 00:25:14 and for some of these future St. Louis Cardinals, I'm glad they got a taste of what it's like to be a champion already in their careers. And I hope they keep those vibes going as they make their way up through the minor leagues and hopefully bring them to St. Louis some point soon. Now that the Cardinals are done looking at the playoff picture, it feels a little less fun. But let's be honest, we kind of knew that it wasn't going to happen, that they weren't going to be a part of this weeks ago, unless they went on a tear, which they never did.

Starting point is 00:25:42 One team on it's here right now, the Cleveland Guardians, who have kicked the hell out of the Tigers this season, beating them in eight of 12 head-to-head matchups. They won again on Wednesday, and they are said, I believe they're playing each other again on Thursday. Yeah, first inning right now as I'm recording this, they're in the top of the second.

Starting point is 00:26:03 Detroit's up two to nothing at the time, but Guardians try to sweep them. They've won 15 of 17 games, just insane run that they're on right now. have taken over first place from the Detroit Tigers, whose collapse has just been extraordinary. Nobody saw this coming. This was the best team in baseball in the first half of the season. It's kind of a reverse of what they did last year,

Starting point is 00:26:25 where they got hot and made the playoffs this year. They were hot and now ice cold and are in danger of not making it at all. Yankees are still trying to catch the Blue Jays in the AL East. Seattle has clinched the West. Astros trying to hang on in the wild card, but we're behind the Tigers by a game entering Thursday. Then in the NL, you got the Phillies and Brewers are in. The Dodgers just clinched the NLS today.

Starting point is 00:26:48 The Cubs and Padres are in, but the Mets, Reds, Diamondbacks are still working for that third spot. Reds beat the Pirates. So they're a half game back with the Mets and Cubs playing on Thursday night. Things are very interesting. MLB final week has been a whole lot of fun. It's just really too bad that it doesn't involve the Cardinals much anymore. I mean, they're going to play the Cubs this weekend,

Starting point is 00:27:09 but, you know, they're not going to change things. much. So Miles Michael is going to get the ball on Friday is scheduled to make what could be his final appearance in a St. Louis Cardinal uniform. So we'll see what happens on Friday. McGreevy is supposed to pitch this weekend as well. But things can change. Obviously, with the team being out of it, they could go in a number of different directions instead. So we'll keep tabs on it. And we'll be here with you throughout the entire weekend. So thank you guys for making lots on Cardinals, your first list of every day. If you haven't already, give us follow on X at L.O. underscore Cardinals and a JD Sports Radio.

Starting point is 00:27:45 You can find us on TikTok and Instagram at Locked on Cardinals. Like, subscribe on YouTube, help our channel and love for the Cardinals grow just because they kind of suck. Doesn't mean we suck here at Lockdown Cardinals. Now, we're getting all the info and taking care of you throughout the offseason. I know people are excited to talk about what are the moves, what's going to happen? Well, we're not going anywhere. Just because the season ends, we don't leave.

Starting point is 00:28:08 We're here throughout the entire off season discussing all things, St. Louis Cardinals baseball. So hopefully you'll stick around and join us for it. You guys are the best fans of baseball for a reason. We'll see you next time on Locked on Cardinals.

Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - Sonny Gray UNLEASHES Frustration After St. Louis Cardinals Loss

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