Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - St. Louis Cardinals Get A Big Win Behind Sonny Gray | Ryan Helsley Trade Rumors INTENSIFY!

Starting point is 00:00:00 Sunny Gray was short, but sweet. As seeing the Cardinals get back in the win column against Washington. Plus, we're going to do some more trade chatter on today's episode of Lockdown Cardinals. You are Locked on Cardinals, your daily St. Louis Cardinals podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Hey, other Cardinals, I'm Jady Hafford and I'm your host for Locktown Cardinals, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network covering your team every day. follow me on Xadjadisports radio and the podcast at LO-1 underscore cardinals. We're also on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, find us at Locked on Cardinals. 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 00:00:47 I don't know about you guys, but I am freaking sick of brain. How about you? My gosh, I am not a meteorologist. I am friends with a bunch of them, so maybe I should ask them this, but is this like the most rain? like in a summer ever for us in St. Louis. Like, holy crap. It's the hottest summer. It's got the most rain.

Starting point is 00:01:11 It's been brutal. Humidity has been brutal. It's a rough go right now. And last night, Mother Nature was like, hey, you know what? Let's shower you down with a two hour and 19 minute rain delay. That sounds like fun, right? No, not fun at all.

Starting point is 00:01:25 But the Cardinals and Nationals ended up finally getting on the baseball field last night and playing some baseball at around 9 o'clock. at Lewis time. And Sunny Gray was on the bump, which was a good thing because I was a little nervous. You know how Sunny is like very much into his routine and stuff. I was a little nervous that something was going to happen and he wasn't going to make the start because that's just, I just expected the worst. Let's put it that way. But he was there, made the start. Despite one, I guess we can call it a rocky inning, it really wasn't that bad. He was pretty darn good once again. Third inning, Nats got things going after a walk to the number nine hit.

Starting point is 00:02:03 I don't have to tell you that's a bad, bad thing to let happen. Jacob Young draws the walk, quick kid. Never want to do that because, you know, that flips the lineup over. Now you got your best hitters at the top of the lineup normally with a runner on base. So, but it happened. Nats made Sunny pay for it. They did it like in a very gentle way, though. It's not like they were smashing line drives all over the diamond last night.

Starting point is 00:02:30 They just hit the ball and put. it in play and it found some holes. Abrams singles in the empty hole at short when Mason was covering second base. That puts runners at first and third. James Wood singles up the middle on a ball that Sonny deliberately made sure that he didn't touch it because he had a fear of screwing up a double play ball. You see it happen a lot where the double play, it looks like it's going to be a perfect roller right to the second baseman or short stop. And then you'll see the pitcher, like stick his arm out and he deflects it and it screws the whole thing up. It happens a lot. This time, so he doesn't touch it and that backfires because he probably

Starting point is 00:03:09 could have turned two, but instead he lets it go because he doesn't want to screw it up and ball ends up going through the hole. That scores a run. Luis Garcia taps one on the infield. Fielders choice play brings in a second run. The exit veloes on all of these balls put in play. Abrams was the hardest hit ball at 92.9 miles per hour. Wood was next at 85.1 and then Garcia's was at 73. So nothing special at all. But when you put it in play, we've stressed this many, many times. You put it in play.

Starting point is 00:03:42 You don't strike out. Put it in play. Things can happen. And the Cardinals found themselves into two to nothing hole just like that. And with the way the Carls have struggled offensively, you were probably a little bit worried that, uh-oh, are we screwed? Are we going to lose a sunny grace? start because we can't hit again. But Sunny remained calm and pitched well the rest of the way.

Starting point is 00:04:03 He wouldn't yield anymore in the Cardinals, as they often do, end up punching back and score three of their own in the bottom of the third inning. You have the beautiful line shot from Victor Scott the second, the laced ground ball, or not ground ball, but ground roll double that actually it would have been a triple, no problem if it hadn't bounced over the wall. So Victor kind of got screwed that time. But follow that up with the Brennan. Donovan home run his eighth of the season. That was a laser to right field, first pitch swinging. It was actually up and out of the zone. It wasn't even a strike, but he was ambushing fastball. That's what he was looking for. And he didn't miss it. Ties things up at two. Mason Wynn follows with a bloop single to ride.

Starting point is 00:04:43 And then Alec Berluson, Yanks a double down the first baseline. Mason win with that good speed scores all the way from first base to make it three to two. Four straight hits to start the inning and just like that. The cardals are back in business. They got a lead. they would not relinquish yet. Lars Dupar adds an insurance solo home run that just got over the wall in right field and over the glove of the right field during that sixth inning. But my dad used always say, doesn't matter how far it goes over the wall, just has to get over that, right? Counts as much as a one that would go 450 feet. Cards end up winning this one by a score of four to two, which obviously put us all in a more pleasant mood after waiting so long for that rain delay. coming into the game, we talked about how lefties have had success against national starter, Jake Irvin,

Starting point is 00:05:32 and how he's been susceptible to the long ball recently, had given up 10 home runs in his last seven games. And you can add two more to that total with the home runs from Donnie and Newt, taking him out of the yard. Nolan Gorman was the only lefty in the lineup that actually didn't have a hit last night. So a little bit of a bummer. They kept beating Gorman up with the fastball. So he's got to make sure that he's not chasing that one. But they get the way. It's not as if the offense exploded though, right?

Starting point is 00:06:01 Four runs on seven hits. Not really that great, but it was enough to get the job done because the pitching was on point on Tuesday night. Sunny goes five innings, two runs on five hits, strikes out six, 70 pitches, though. And there was a little concern initially among us who were watching the game. Like, why is Sunny done so quickly? but it didn't appear that there was any injury issues and that

Starting point is 00:06:24 ended up being true. Nothing to do with that. It was on short rest, which we know they wanted to get him two more starts before the All-Star break. The routine that Sunny normally goes through all screwed up because of all the different rain delays. He said they actually, you know,

Starting point is 00:06:41 it was like every 30 minutes, they would say it was either canceled or not canceled and they kept going back and forth. So it made sense that he was coming. out because of all of these different, you know, things going on with this particular start. Some of the fans were chirping about the short outing online, but I thought it was great that sunny came in after that. And he was like, look, I am gassed. He's like, I just don't have anything. And instead of, you know, going out there and trying to be a hero, he told his manager, like,

Starting point is 00:07:11 look, I don't have anything left, man. I'm wasted right now. So he goes to the bullpen. I thought that was great. You know, it was an overall very long night at the ballpark. And, uh, that's why you have a bullpen, which was pretty well rested after getting blasted on Sunday by Chicago and then the off day on Monday. So I'm glad Sonny spoke up. And it worked out. It worked out.

Starting point is 00:07:31 Ali pushed all the right buttons. So honestly, us complaining that Sunny didn't go far enough into this game. We're really bitching about nothing because it didn't matter. They won the ballgame. Bullpen locked it down. Matt's Mayton Romero, Helzley each got an inning.

Starting point is 00:07:46 Helsley did his normal make everyone nervous routine in the ninth inning. He goes, 02 on the leadoff hitter, Josh Bell, ends up walking him with a two-run lead. That's a big no-no and really annoying. Then it's a couple of more loud outs to the outfield. Victor Scott made a couple of nice catches. Halsley last couple times out has really explored the space of the outfields, hasn't he? You know, the Cubs hit a couple of deep flies on him before he picked up the save there. Same thing happened in this game with the national striking a couple balls pretty hard.

Starting point is 00:08:19 and sing it out to center field and Victor Scott had to make the catch. Then there's a single before he finally got the final out of the game on a ground ball, the Mason win. It's short. 23rd, come from behind victory for the Cardinals, tied for the fifth most in baseball. So that's good. I do have a suggestion for Helsley.

Starting point is 00:08:39 Instead of coming out to Hells Bells, maybe, maybe. Hellsley should switch it up, maybe come out to CNC Music Factory is going to make you sweat. instead seems more appropriate because every time he comes out on that field, I am sweating bullets. Like I can't even watch. I'm watching through my fingers because I'm so nervous that he's going to mess it up. But he did. He gets the save in the end, four to two final.

Starting point is 00:09:03 Cardinals game, a game on the Cubs who got smacked in the mouth by the Minnesota Twins. Brewers won over the Dodgers again. Brewers are brewing, dude. Man, it's a tough ball club. and Cubs better watch it. I'm not so confident the Cardinals can catch the Cubs, but those Brewers got some things going. And you got the Mizz and you got Brandon Woodruff back into their rotation now, too.

Starting point is 00:09:27 And if he stays healthy, they're going to be kind of nasty. Reds got blasted by the Marlins again. They can't see the scorny runs. Pirates lost on a walkoff to the Royals. So only two teams in the division pick up wins, Cardinals, and the Brewers. The real bummer was that the Phillies weren't able to take care of the Giants out west. They get a walk off inside the park, three run home run by their catcher, Patrick Bailey to win their fourth straight. Padres Rob two would be home runs and hang on to win

Starting point is 00:09:55 one and nothing over Arizona. So the card will still remain a game and a half back in the wild card. But happy vibes, right? You get the W. Speaking of Housley, though, this leads me into something else I want to get to today. We're going to keep doing this pretty regularly as we lead up to the trade deadline. Halsley's name keeps popping up around the league in trade rumors, trade discussions, trade ideas, whatever you want to call them. So we're going to scour the internet real quick and come up with a few things that people are talking about that has to do with your cardinals and possible trade scenario.

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Starting point is 00:12:16 Thanks again for making a lockdown cardinals your first listen every day, leave your comments on YouTube. And on X anytime you want feedback, always welcome and encourage. the good and the bad, whatever you got for us. We're here to listen. The trade deadline is in a couple of weeks. I'm sure you're well aware of that. So you're starting to see more and more. I don't want to say trade rumors because they're not really rumors as much as they're just

Starting point is 00:12:38 kind of trade ideas. You go to, you know, people writing for the athletic or the post dispatch or anything. You know, obviously they're going to throw some ideas out just to get conversations going. Blog writers do it. they submit trade ideas and I'm guilty as anybody. I love reading them. It makes me excited. Sometimes it makes me nervous,

Starting point is 00:13:00 but genuinely it's a lot of fun. You know, I find it very entertaining. It may not be the most realistic trade ideas, but it is fun. And I got a couple of them here that I want to discuss. We're going to start with Ryan Halsley. And you know the drill with Helsley by now.

Starting point is 00:13:15 Contract is up at the end of the season. Coming off a big year last year, this year, it's been a lot tougher. things haven't gone quite as smoothly for him, but here he is with 18 saves. He still throws 102 miles per hour. That's going to attract some teams. Some GMs are going to be like, ooh, that looks good. And plenty of teams are going to be looking for bolton help.

Starting point is 00:13:36 One of the teams that has been looking for help seemingly since day one of the season has been the Philadelphia Phillies. They lost Jose Alvarado to a PED suspension. So he's been gone for 80 games. It was about a month ago, so he's still got a lot of time going on that one. And when he does come back, he's still going to be ineligible for the postseason. They can't use them in the playoffs anyway. So that's bad. So you're down that guy.

Starting point is 00:14:04 And then Jordan Romano was the one who blew the save last night against the Giants. People are sick of him talking with Carter Thomas from locked on Phillies. He's very frustrated with his bullpen was even saying last night, like, dude, you're not. going to win anything in the postseason with a bullpen like this. He doesn't trust anybody. So they're all worked up. And that's when you as the Cardinals can strike and take advantage. You know, when somebody's desperate and things aren't going well for them, you got to know when to jump in there and say, hello, we've got some pieces over here. How would you like to make a deal? So this would be, make a lot of sense for Hellsley to go to Philadelphia. And I know what you're saying.

Starting point is 00:14:48 Cardinals aren't out of it. Why would they trade Helsley now? Because if you're not going to sign them at the end of the year, you better get something, right? If he's going to test the free agent market, you're not going to pay up for what he's probably going to get. He's probably going to get priced out of your range. So you should probably think about it, get something for him.

Starting point is 00:15:08 Jim Bowden from the athletic agrees that the Phillies would be a spot that makes a lot of sense for Ryan Helsley. And he was taking suggestions. from readers at the athletic. And this is what he had to say about a possible trade with the Phillies and Ryan Helsley. He says, considering the Carls are still within striking distance, a reasonable return for the rating NL reliever of the year, according to Bowden would be second baseman,

Starting point is 00:15:36 Ayrroon Escobar, I think is how he pronounced it. And then outfielder Griffin, Burk Holder, M.O.B. Pipeline ranks Escobar and Burk Holder, sixth and ninth, respectively, in the Philly system. So two top 10 guys for Ryan Helsley, which when you see that on the surface, that sounds good. Now I know what you're thinking as well here is because, wait, what? Second baseman, infielder. Last thing the cardal's need is another infielder. Because when they're healthy, they've got Aronado, Winn, Donovan, Gorman, Sejacy, top prospect, J.J. Weatherhole, knocking on the door of the major leagues, right behind them now at AAA Memphis.

Starting point is 00:16:15 but Escobar is 20 years old, still in high A, so it's not like he's someone who would impact things right away. Hit 338 at rookie ball last year. It was hitting this year, 285, 11 home runs, 42 RBIs, and 10 stolen bases at A ball before getting promoted to high A. So they got a 55 rating on him at MLB pipeline. So they basically just, everything was good. like pretty well-rounded ball player right there as far as speed, power, everything. So would be a nice piece to have. Then Griffin Burkholder, second round pick in 2024.

Starting point is 00:16:56 He's only 19 years old and hasn't found much success in the minors so far. But again, he's 19. And the scouting report at MLB Pipeline lists him as big, physical, and athletic. Phillies have taken to calling him Captain America because he can do everything. well. So that's kind of a nice endorsement. If you're a comic person, you know that Captain America's kind of a big deal. But both are very young prospects who won't make an immediate impact. So that probably going to disappoint fans who, you know, want something now. They want some new toys to play with. And if that's the return, some guys and gals are going to be a little upset about that.

Starting point is 00:17:37 But again, better getting something like that. Two top 10 prospects from a Phillies organization. and it's got a nice farm system. Get that instead of just letting them walk at the end of the year. Anyhow. So saw another one from Bowden and talking about this on the same ride-up. Again, he's taken suggestions and questions from the audience. This one was regarding Nolan Arnado, maybe going to the Dodgers. A reader proposed Bobby Miller, who used to be at one time was like the Dodgers top pitching

Starting point is 00:18:06 prospect. And we saw what he did against the Cardinals. I think it was last year where he. he just went just right through the Cardinals and just looked amazing. Hasn't had as much success as people thought he was going to have, has dealt with some injuries as well. But the reader proposed Bobby Miller or James Outman, the outfielder for Nolan Aronado.

Starting point is 00:18:27 And Bowden's response was the Dodgers say no, because they're not taking on Nolan Aronado's contract at this point in his career, and they're happy with Max Muncie, who is on the IEL, but expected to return from his bone bruise well before the end of the regular season. We know Aronado would love to go to the Dodgers at some point. It's never been a secret. But they said no to him this offseason.

Starting point is 00:18:54 It doesn't sound like they're really all that interested in having him at this point this season. Maybe the Yankees kick the tires on Nolan Aronado. You've got the Goldie relationship already there. They've got some good veterans. They move Jazz Chisholm Jr. back to second base. So that's something maybe to keep an eye on, in my opinion. Again, any trade with Arnado will require his approval. You know, he's got that no trade clause.

Starting point is 00:19:18 So he seems happy in St. Louis. And it's not like this team isn't competitive and not having fun and not winning. They're just not a World Series contender at this point. And the idea of having a better shot at winning a World Series ring while his clock on his career is ticking down, that might outweigh his happiness in St. Louis. So it's something to keep an eye on. but we'll see. We'll see. I also saw that our buddy Jeff Jones from the business news Democrat, B&D.com, if you haven't been there yet, go check it out. Mention the Cardinals going after Luis Robert Jr.

Starting point is 00:20:02 Belleville News Democrat. That business. I don't know why I said that. Belleville News Democrat. I knew something was wrong there. But he mentioned Luis Robert Jr. from Chicago White Sox or maybe Taylor Ward from the Angels to help with their issues, against left-handers, in theory, that would make sense. That would be an exciting get for the Cardinals. The Luis Robert won more than Taylor Ward, who I don't think would move the needle all that much for Cardinals fans. But Luis Robert Jr., the idea of him is that he's a star, even though he kind of is not. You know, his value was down considerably from a couple of years ago.

Starting point is 00:20:36 He's having another ugly year in Chicago where they just don't win a lot. And he doesn't look like he's having a lot of fun. He does not look motivated. it just came off the IEL. He's been hurt. But when you, you see him and you see what he could be, you know, you've seen him be amazing, you know, a change of scenery might do him some good, just get him out of the culture that is the Chicago White Sox. But you've seen him be a star, you know, 2023, 38 home runs, 80 RBIs at a 5.3 war. He was awesome. And he was very, good defensively as well. And everybody's like, oh, drooling over this guy. It's a guy that we wanted

Starting point is 00:21:19 the Cardinals assigned way back when the White Sox ended up outbidding them on the international market. So to get him finally in the fold and have him play, I don't know, right field left, whatever, you got Victor in center. You don't really need to move him, but have Robert Jr. You know, take one of those corner outfield spots, although you've got Walker, you've got Burleson, you still got Newt, you've got Donovan, who's playing second. left fields too, so it might cause something there. But it's a fun one to keep an eye on. I don't know how realistic it is, but we'll see. I want to talk about tonight's game against the nationals before we wrap things up. Another lefty with strikeout stuff coming in hot to face

Starting point is 00:22:01 the Cardinals at Bush Stadium. We'll talk about him and hit the matchup, pitch matchup. We'll do that next on Locked on Cardinals. Summer sports are in full swing and whether you're all about baseball under the lights like tonight at Bush Stadium or whether it be golf on the green, maybe some high-stakes soccer action. Fanduel is the best way to make every game even more exciting. You're already following the action, so why not make it a little more thrilling? Why settle for just, yeah, why not take it to the limits? With Fandall, you can get in on the game while your friends are out doing whatever it is they're doing this summer, which is not winning with Fandall, which is what you can be doing. I've been a fan and using Fandul for years to track my favorite

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Starting point is 00:23:47 at local analysis on a national scale. You can find MLB game night on Lockton. be on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts. I will be on there again tonight hosting with my buddy John Frisch from Lockthon Angels. Maybe we'll talk about Taylor Ward coming to St. Louis. Maybe that's something we can discuss. Tonight's game, Mackenzie Gore is going to be on the mound for the Washington Nationals. Another one of those names that came over in the one Soto blockbuster deal. James Wood, C.J. Abrams also part of that deal. It was huge. Gore, don't look at the record. Three and eight. Gross, right? But don't look at that.

Starting point is 00:24:21 that. Look at the 3.11 ERA. Look at all the strikeouts. The dude's been a bright spot for the Nats rotation. Cardinals did already beat him once. Pat on the back for us, right? Yeah. Mother's Day actually is when it took place. Cardinals got him for four runs on five hits, two home runs. Newt had that lead off home run in the game. Contreras got him in the second inning. Cardinals also drew three walks against him going to win that one six to one. It was a game that completed the sweep behind Miles Michaelis, who was pitching well at the times, but so much has changed since then, right? Newt's not batting a leadoff.

Starting point is 00:24:56 Michael is not pitching well. Gore did strikeout seven in that game, but we know the bird struggle against lefties, so it will likely be another tough night at Bush Stadium. Maybe take the over and strikeouts for McKenzie Gore. I don't know what it is yet, but I would assume there's going to be a lot of swing and misses tonight for the offense, but maybe they surprise us again. And maybe they picked up on something in that first time and can take advantage of him again. Andre Palante will get the nod for the Cardinals. He's silently been very,

Starting point is 00:25:27 very good recently. He doesn't get a lot of credit. A lot of people forget he's even in the rotation. Excellent is last time out in Pittsburgh. Seven shutout innings allowed just one hit, but the offense took that series off as you remember. So I got wasted. Palante has only given up two earned runs in his last 18 innings. It's pretty good. Whatever he's doing, I hope he keeps it up tonight and helps the Cardinals pick up another victory because like I said, we need at least four of six in this final week for me to be happy. And I think that'll put them into a good spot going into the All-Star break. They are hoping to have Nolan Arnato back in the lineup.

Starting point is 00:26:04 I have not seen a lineup released yet for today. So not sure if he is going to be in there or not, but hoping it will be. I know he was talking to reporters yesterday said he was feeling a whole lot. lot better. He's played some long toss. The arm feels good when he's on defense and throwing. It's swinging the bat is where he's got some discomfort. So, but he said he felt a lot better. So with a lefty on the hill tonight, it would be great to have him in the lineup. Yvonne Herrera also set to begin a rehab assignment on Thursday or Friday should be back with the Cardinals after the All-Star break barring any setbacks. Fingers crossed that we don't have

Starting point is 00:26:42 anymore. Yvonne has been hurt too much this year and his bad is too important. So got to get him healthy and get him back for good. And speaking of the All-Star break, do you guys hear this? MLB announced that they are using the ABS, the automatic ball strike system during the game at the all-strike. Why? We know it works, guys. We saw it in spring training. I know you're getting a national audience now, but anybody who really watches baseball knows that it's coming. And we wish it was here already because we've seen some terrible games this year from the same guys that you aren't very good at calling balls and strikes behind home plate. But we know this thing works. We know it's going to be great. You just need to tell your ums to get their heads out of their

Starting point is 00:27:26 butts and be better, the ones that are struggling. Not all of them are bad, but it's the same guys. You know, it's C.B. Buckner and Las Diaz and Andy Fletcher and Bruce Dreckman. It's the same guys all the time. So tell them to stop sucking. Clean it up, boys. Clean it up. All right. Thanks for making a lockdown cardinals your first list in every day if you haven't already give us a follow on exit l-o underscore cardinals and jd sports radio tic-ttock instagram locked on cardinals like subscribe on youtube making that push for 13,000 subscribers you guys are the best fans in baseball for a reason we'll see you next time on locked on cardinals hopefully talking about another victory

Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - St. Louis Cardinals Get A Big Win Behind Sonny Gray | Ryan Helsley Trade Rumors INTENSIFY!

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