Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - St. Louis Cardinals Load Up On Fireballers In The 2025 MLB Draft!

Starting point is 00:00:00 The St. Louis Cardinals targeted pitching in a certain type of pitching in the 2025 MLB draft, which included Fireballer Liam Doyle with the number five overall pick. You are locked on Cardinals. Your daily St. Louis Cardinals podcast, part of the Locked on podcast network, your team every day. Hello there, Cardinals. I'm J.D. Hafford and I'm your host for Lockdown Cardinals, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network covering your team every day. you follow on X to JD Sports Radio as well as the podcast at L0 underscore Cardinals.

Starting point is 00:00:39 We're on YouTube. Make sure you, you know, stop on by, like, subscribe, comment, hit that notification button so you don't miss anything. You can find us on TikTok and Instagram at Locked on Cardinals. This is a show serving Cardinal Nation and giving the best fans of baseball, all of the info about the birds on the bat. Today's episode brought to you by Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account, and use the code Locked on MLB to get $20 off your first purchase. The Cardinals have wrapped up their 2025 MLB draft where, 12, 12 of their 20 picks were pitchers, including their first round pick. Number five overall,

Starting point is 00:01:13 they selected left-hander Liam Doyle from Tennessee. Hopefully you saw the short that I put out about Liam Doyle. If not, this guy is some, you know, most mock drafts did not have him still available with the Cardinals selecting at number five. Most mock drafts actually had the Cardinals taking who went number one overall. Eli Willits. They had him falling to the Cardinals, but the National shocked a lot of people by drafting the high school shortstop with top overall pick. Then not to be outdone, the Angels kept the surprises coming by taking right-handed Tyler Bremner from UC Santa Barbara with the second selection. And this created some good drama, in my opinion, for the Cardinals, who now,

Starting point is 00:02:04 knew that they would have one of four guys that most people didn't think would be there for them at number five. You had Kate Anderson from LSU, Ethan Holliday, Matt's son and Jackson's brother, high school right hander Seth Hernandez, and then Liam Doyle out of Tennessee. The Mariners took Anderson, who many thought was going to go number one overall. So as he started the slide, I'm like, no way if that would this happen. Because a lot of people thought that Seth Hernandez as was what the Mariners were going after. They pivoted because Kate Anderson was still there, I think. So they took him at number three.

Starting point is 00:02:43 The Rocky selected holiday, who when we talked about this last week, I was like, I was like, it's just perfect, right? To take Matt's kid at number four, if he's there, you know, drafted Matt Holiday. Why not take his son Ethan there? There was a little moment there where I was like, oh, and this be good if they went pitcher instead and a holiday could fall into the laps of the Cardinals but didn't happen didn't happen so that left Hernandez and Doyle there for the Cardinals again two guys that most people did not think we're going to be there when the Cardinals were going to be selecting and the biggest differences

Starting point is 00:03:20 here were one is a righty one is a lefty one is a high school kid and one is a 21 year old college player what are you more comfortable with what's more of a slam damn dunk pick, in your opinion. And the Cardinals went with the veteran, if you will, by taking the SEC pitcher of the year Liam Doyle, 6-2-220. Competitive attitude is what I'm going to call it, competitive, and the fastball to match that hits 99 to 100. Hearing how he rededicated himself coming into this season, losing like 20 pounds,

Starting point is 00:03:56 is certainly something you love to hear that he was like, look, I need to get my ass in gear and get moving with this, you know, this is going to be my livelihood. I need, I need to get in the shape, better shape, take better care of myself. And it worked. The dude has the swing and miss that teams crave and the stats to back it up. He was second in D1 and strikeouts, second only to Kate Anderson. Anderson recorded 16 more strikeouts, but also through 23 more innings, if that does anything for you.

Starting point is 00:04:25 Doyle's 15.4 strikeouts per nine, tops in D1, also had a 5.1-2 strikes. strikeout to walk ratio, which was 26th overall. And then his whip was 0.99, which ranked 17th. Because I was seen where people were like, well, he's got some control issues. It does not appear to be if I look at the stats. It doesn't look like the control issues are that big of a deal, if there's any. Bottom line, the dude was one of the most unhittable pitchers individual and baseball this year. Now, some wonder, and for good reason, whether or not Doyle will be a starter or a release.

Starting point is 00:05:01 because you look at the tape and he screams closer at you with the fastball, the splitter combo, although he does have a cutter and a slider. Cardo's assistant GM director of scouting Randy Flores said this about him when people talk about starter reliever. He says he has a very unique fastball. Not only is the shape unique. The velocity is a level above his peers. There are a range of outcomes of any player, and his range of outcomes includes an extremely

Starting point is 00:05:29 high floor and the ceiling is through the roof. The fact that he's able to miss bats with a couple of different pitches and he really gets good separation on his fastball and split finger fastball, I think that bodes well for his long-term chance to start. Acquiring swing and miss, acquiring 101 with that unique fastball profile on the free agent market is very, very expensive. So there is certainly some risks there. The media have heard and read that there are some possible reliever risk, but that's the

Starting point is 00:05:57 risky swallow. Our hope is that he's not only really committed to this type of fitness and stamina for one year. Imagine as he begins stacking year upon year upon year, that bodes well for his chances to stay a starter. So the idea is that he's going to be a starter. The fallback is, all right, if you can't pull that off, then we go reliever. And we've seen many very good or high draft picks that they try to make them a starter and it doesn't work out. They move it to the bullpen and they become elite there. And they become very, very important to what's going on with the team moving forward. So if money is the motivational factor and it usually is,

Starting point is 00:06:43 and becoming a starter is certainly the more lucrative way to go for Doyle's future. And he seems to have enjoyed the whole weight loss process that he went through and where it's led his career where I don't think anybody was thinking. about him as a top five pick last year. And now here he is. And Doyle confirmed that he enjoys the whole workout thing. He said, I had fun with it when I was in the gym and made it part of my everyday routine. I got in a good routine, whether it was a start day or a Tuesday bullpen. It was really beneficial to me. And now it's something I do to enjoy. It really helped me on the field. And as far as his attitude goes, which is, you know, something that just comes off on the tape when you're watching it.

Starting point is 00:07:30 You're just like, this guy is playing with some fire. But the attitude outside of a sizzling fastball was something that certainly made headlines. Flores said this about it on the mound. He kind of puts on a persona. He really does. We met with him in person and hearing and talking with him. You wonder, where is the screamer? Where is the intensity?

Starting point is 00:07:50 But he pointed out that, you know, when you get Chris Carpenter. my favorite cardinal pitcher of all time that like I got to watch while I was alive. He said, but when you get Chris Carpenter away from the mound, he's also just the nicest human being. You get Adam Wainwright away from the mound. He's a nicest human being. And so you admire him when he has the ability to flip that switch. You admire it even more when he's doing that at 100 miles an hour. So, you know, not everyone is going to love this pick. Not everyone does. You know, there are certain fans out there that wish it had been somebody who seems to be a more stable starter like a Jamie Arnold who ended up going number 11 overall to the A's or Seth Hernandez,

Starting point is 00:08:33 who went one pick later to the Pirates. But Doyle was the pick. And up next, I'll share with you what some of the other experts around Major League Baseball are saying about the new Cardinals left hander. We'll get into that. Coming up next on Locked on Cardinals. We've all been there logging on early and waiting. waiting forever for concert tickets to go on sale, only to lose your spot for a show you've been dying to see.

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Starting point is 00:10:27 Last minute, tickets, lowest price, guaranteed. Thanks again for making lots on Carlos. First listen every day. Leave you comments on YouTube as well as on X. Anytime you want, your feedback is always welcome and encouraged. Obviously, we're going to get plenty of feedback on what people think about the first round pick. Liam Doyle, number five overall. I haven't had that pick since J.D. Drew went down to rabbit hole last night on YouTube watching J.D. Drew.

Starting point is 00:10:56 most of them weren't all that happy, you know, not about the pick itself, but just about J.D. Drew is a, you know, it was a lot of stuff about how the Phillies fans got screwed over. And I was unaware of, like, all the goofy mailing the contract to different houses situation that was going on. Look it up if you don't know what I'm talking about. But either way, J.D. Drew ended up going to the Cardinals,

Starting point is 00:11:20 never lived up to quite the expectations that everyone had for them after leaving Florida State. We're hoping Liam Doyle will live. up to expectations coming out of Tennessee. Personally, I like the pick of Doyle. Again, I hope he's a starter because you get more out of a starter, obviously. But even if he becomes a closer, we all know how important one of those is, too, you know, and with Ryan Helsley's contract up at the end of the season, the Cardals are certainly

Starting point is 00:11:45 in the market for someone to shut things down in the ninth inning. I've read in a bunch of different spots where people are like, his fastball plays right now at the major league level. You could go into, put him into a game. and the fastball will play. Things he's got to work on, Cutters, the slider, the people like his splitter too,

Starting point is 00:12:03 but like, you know, this is a guy who's not really that far off from becoming a major league player. So the journey from college to the major leagues, it might not take that long, you know, if everything works out, he stays healthy,

Starting point is 00:12:20 it might not take that long. And you're starting to see the jump from college pitchers like, making it right into the pros in a year, two years. Like it's happening more and more often because these guys are just better prepared to become major league pitchers. So let's start with ESPN who actually lists Doyle's MLB player comp. This one was interesting. Spencer Strider.

Starting point is 00:12:42 Oh, okay. I'll take that. Here's what they have to say about it. One of the three highly rated lefty collegiate pitchers after sitting in the low 90s as a sophomore. Doyle sat in the mid-90s peaking at 100 and often, just blowing his heater by college hitters. He throws strikes, isn't afraid to pitch inside and backs up the fastball with a splitter slider. Pitches he'll probably have to deploy more often as a pro.

Starting point is 00:13:05 Doyle, see, here we got Doyle's fastball can play in the major leagues right now. And the Cardinals have long been in need of some hard throwing additions to their system. The question here is if the rest of Doyle's arsenal and delivery can be strong enough to keep him in the rotation. Best case, St. Louis just added a strong part of its rotation. years to come, but a potential closer or top setup option isn't a bad fallback plan either. Again, if he becomes a major league pitcher, this pick works. It does. You know, that's the biggest fear is that they never make it.

Starting point is 00:13:41 And then it doesn't pan out, you know, I think top of the line, it becomes, you know, one of your top five starters, set up, closer. Still incredibly important. You need a bunch of those guys, especially in this day and age where guys are not going. This is not the Bob Gibson era anymore. Guys are not throwing seven, eight, nine innings on the regular. It's five, six, if you're lucky seven. And every once in a while, you'll see somebody go longer than that.

Starting point is 00:14:14 It doesn't happen a whole lot in the league anymore. So having capable bullpen arms is important. It is key. So even if he doesn't become a starter, that, yeah, that might be a bummer. But if he becomes an elite pitcher in your bullpen, it's a pretty freaking big deal. CBS Sports, they like the pick as well, saying Doyle is a fascinating pitcher. He has probably the best heater in the class, but he's highly dependent on that offering at a time when MLB teams favor non-fastballs. They say, to be fair, he does have other pitches.

Starting point is 00:14:49 He just didn't need to use them as a lot. off him because his fastball was so good at Tennessee. Nobody could add it in the first place. Between that and a propulsive delivery, Doyle might have been typecast as a reliever 15 years ago. Instead, he's going to get a chance to develop into a plus starting pitcher. They gave him an A grade on the pick. Bleach report gave a MLB comp to former Sight Young Award winner,

Starting point is 00:15:12 Robbie Ray, currently an All-Star for the San Francisco Giants. Here's what they said, leaning heavily on a high octane fastball that touches 100 miles per hour and blows hitters away up in the zone. He posted 3.20 ERA, 0.99 whip, and 164 strikeouts in 95.2 innings. He's a max effort delivery and has his lagging secondary stuff raises some legitimate reliever questions. But a fastball like his from the left side does not come along very often. They gave the pick a B grade. Okay.

Starting point is 00:15:48 So you're hearing a lot of the. same thing regurgitated over and over and over, aren't you? Got great stuff. The fastball obviously is a big deal. It needs to work on the secondary stuff. Has a chance to be a starter, going to be a reliever if that doesn't work out. All you're looking for in this is an impact player,

Starting point is 00:16:15 somebody who impacts a roster. And there's not much here that says that Doyle shouldn't be able to do that at some point for the St. Louis. Cardinals, obviously people are all like, look at the effort he puts in. He's going to blow his arm out. Tommy John's surgery, incoming. It's a possibility with any pitcher. Like, you don't have to throw a hundred to require Tommy John surgery. It's unfortunately part of the game. It happens a lot now. Yeah, like, I mean, thinking about like Cleveland, like Shane Bieber, like he doesn't throw a hundred, 101, but Tommy John's surgery happened.

Starting point is 00:16:54 It just, it's part of the wear and tear on the arm. Hopefully it's something they can't avoid with them. But, you know, I feel the same way. You see somebody with a herky jerky kind of delivery and you start to think, oh, boy, that doesn't look smooth. It doesn't look like, you know, like how Paul Skeens looks just smooth. Like, just an easy 100 comes out of his hand. But Paul Skeens don't come around very often.

Starting point is 00:17:20 So I'm excited for the pick. I love the attitude. I love that it's not your normal, ho-hum, cardinal type of personality. I like that he's, he doesn't mind being the bad guy, you know, for the opposing, you know, like the way Wilson Contreras is.

Starting point is 00:17:41 Like, Wilson Contreras, on your team, you love him. When you're not on it, when he's not on your team, you're like, ah, he drives me nuts. That's how Yada your Molina. used to be played with some fire, played with attitude. I love that. And I think it's something that the Cardinals have sorely missed over the years. Like there's too many guys that are just so vanilla and bleh. Like I need more energy and more excitement. And that is something that Liam Doyle certainly possesses and got the heater to back it up. And I hope it works out. So what about

Starting point is 00:18:15 some of the other picks in the Cardinals draft? Day one, we'll talk about some of the game, not game two, but day two, picks as well, because the Cardinals targeted pitching, as I mentioned at the top of those. They went after pitching, a certain type of pitching. Doyle was the tip of the iceberg. There's more of it to come. So we're going to discuss some of those other picks. We'll run through those coming up next on Lockdown Cardinals.

Starting point is 00:18:50 Thank you for making Lockton on Cardinals your first list today for your second list and check out the new Lockton MLB Game Night, every game, every night, all season long at local analysis on a national scale. you could buy NIMLB Game Night on Locktime MLB on YouTube or wherever you listen to your podcast. Obviously, we don't have that going on right now because of the All-Star break. Home Run Derby was last night. Did you guys enjoy that? I thought it was great.

Starting point is 00:19:13 I was dealing with my wife wasn't feeling good last night. So I didn't get to see everything, but I saw most of it. O'Neill Cruz, very impressive. Obviously, Cal Raleigh, after that first round, got the nerves out of the way, I think. Got loose. Dad with the gut. But still weapon strikes, good for him. Dude, he's going to be sore today.

Starting point is 00:19:35 I bet you that. But pretty impressive stuff, pretty impressive stuff. Speaking of impressive, the Cardinals, they went after a certain type of pitcher in this draft in 2025. It is something that people have complained about a lot, that there is not enough swing and miss. Well, Cardinals went after some swing and miss guys. Their second pick, they did not go pitcher, though. Second pick, Cardle selected high school hitter Ryan Mitchell, 55th overall.

Starting point is 00:20:04 People seem to like this pick as well. Mitchell played infield in high school. Projected as an outfielder, doesn't have the strongest arm. But what they say stands out about him is the bat. The bad is something people are very much excited about. He's got an athletic frame. Bleacher report. Mitchell is one of the best pure hitters in the 2025 prep class.

Starting point is 00:20:26 Again, high school kid. showing a disciplined approach and spraying the ball to all fields. There is projectable power potential in a 6-2-185-pound frame, and his overall hitting ability should help him make full use of the pop that he develops. His defensive profile is more of a question mark with average range and arm strength, likely limiting him to second base if he stays on the dirt center field. Might end up being his best fit, but it's his hitting ability that will determine his impact.

Starting point is 00:20:53 For what it's worth, it's listed that he's an outfielder, everywhere that people talked about him. So he's not playing the infield. He's going to the outfield. John Denton from MLB.com said the 18-year-old was the volunteer states Gatorade High School player of the year. And he is committed to play college ball at Georgia Tech. However, the Cardinals are confident that they will be able to sign him and make

Starting point is 00:21:16 him their centerfielder of the future. So there you go. Another centerfielder. But it's athletes. You can move in the left. You can move on the right. don't think their pigeonhole into that one spot just because that's what they're calling them right now. With their third pick, they selected Liam Doyle's teammate, right-handed pitcher Tanner Franklin from Tennessee,

Starting point is 00:21:36 which I thought was very interesting because, I mean, how many times you take a guy from the same school that you just took your first round pick from? It doesn't happen all that often, but here you are. And the reason behind it is because of the strikeout potential. Franklin walked 40 batters and 30 in a third innings during two seasons at Kennesaw State. Hold on. But harnesses his swing and miss stuff out of the Tennessee bullpen this spring posted a 52 to 9 strikeout to walk ratio in 38 and two-thirds innings has closer potential if this command continues to improve. Their fastball, they said, since 94, 98 has reached 102 with huge carry and armside run also throws one of the hardest cutters in college baseball, averaging 90 miles per hour with a peak of 93, though it does it

Starting point is 00:22:24 this nearly as many bats as his heater. Randy Flores talking with John Denton about him, said with his velocity in the way his fastball plays and his multiple innings of relief, that's something we want to see as we continue to extend him out. There was a very talented staff there at Tennessee, and you could argue that if he was at another school, he might have gotten the chance to be extended even more as a starter.

Starting point is 00:22:47 So they're just saying that because the guys ahead of them were so good, they were like, well, let's the shoes in the bullpen. And he excelled. John didn't ask Doyle about his teammate, Franklin, who said Tanner is also a super competitive guy. And I feel like that's all you get when you get Tennessee guys. He's a hard throwing guy. He knows how to come out of the bullpen. And he really shut things down for us this year.

Starting point is 00:23:08 He's pitched at a high level. And he made a huge transition with himself coming from a small mid-major school. And having success in the SEC, I was pretty excited hearing that pick. So you're making your first round pick happy. You got the teammates. They can, you know, come up through the system. them together and hopefully you got two impact pitchers coming to St. Louis sooner rather than later. Third round pick. They selected a first baseman, Jack Girovich from San Diego.

Starting point is 00:23:36 Dude, dude's got some thump in his bat. I was looking at his stats. 371, 477, 681 slash line with 16 doubles, 17 bombs, 56 ribbies. Oh yeah, he did that in 56 games this year. So the left-handed header has a first base only profile employed more of a line drive. approach in the past, but registered some loud exit velocities and an uptick in power production as a junior. He's not a big guy, only six feet tall, but when you can hit, you can hit. You don't have to be six, seven to be a good hitter. And it doesn't always mean you're going to be a good hitter if you're six, seven. So they take guys who got recommended to him. More of the pitching side of things here. Cade Crossland, round four, left-hander

Starting point is 00:24:20 from Oklahoma. Flores talks about him saying that the strike. Strikeouts with him are big and we have a history of drafting Oklahoma players. We have a good relationship with that staff. His better days are ahead of him in Pro Bowl and we can't wait. Round five, right-hander, Ethan Young from East Carolina. Ethan Young was a great example of us being in position for someone who is missing bats. He's not just an inning out reliever. He has a history of pitching in high leverage situations and a ton of strikeouts this year.

Starting point is 00:24:49 And he has someone we could stretch out to starting if we so choose. Round seven, right-hander, Peyton Graham, Gonzaga, 6'2 right-hander came into 2025, throwing 98 miles per hour. Round 10. Right-hander, Ty Van Dyke from Stetson, 7-0, 9 saves and 27 relief appearances, 1.52 ERA. Bose hit just 175 against him, hard-throwing right-hanner with a 71 to 16 strikeout to walk ratio, average 13 and a half strikeouts per 9. innings. Are you picking up on the tone here of what the Cardinals were targeting with the pitchers that they drafted? Swingingness. Swing and miss. Certainly going into the direction that everybody has hoped they would go into for a while now, which they fell behind in the

Starting point is 00:25:42 times. And we're still drafting guys. And no offense to Michael McGreevy, who has shown that he can pitch at the major league level, but he's not a swing and miss guy, right? guys they've got in their team right now. Eric Fetty, Miles Michaels, not swing and miss guys. Matthew Littert. Still up in the air. How much he can be a strikeout guy as a starter. You know, you've seen good days, you've seen bad days.

Starting point is 00:26:11 But he's not pumping 99 101, you know, but you're seeing guys like Toccoirobee coming up. Who 99 right now, swing and miss type of stuff. Quinn Matthews, obviously. had a lot of strikeouts, specifically last year. I know we're dealing with injuries this year. But you're seeing the change, swing and miss. That's the biggest complaint about the Cardinals pitching staff. You know, even Ryan Heldsley this year, you know, the swing and misses that he's not

Starting point is 00:26:41 getting the swing and misses. You know, in situations, you know, when it comes to the bullpen, there's not guys that come in who are just whiffing dudes. You know, you saw like the Braves in this last series, you know, they, just bringing in dudes throwing 99, 100, like no big deal. Cardinals need that. They need more of that so that, you know, the soft contact issues that they run into all the time where guys are putting the ball and play, they're finding holes.

Starting point is 00:27:06 That gets eliminated because you can't hit it. So, you know, outside of Sunny Gray right now, who's the big swinging miss guy? That's about it, right? And Sunny Gray ain't going last forever, clearly. So the Cardinals loaded up on pitchers this year. this draft and every single one of them possesses some sort of swing and miss stuff. They're not just good pitchers. They come in and they put you down and send you back to the dugout.

Starting point is 00:27:38 That's what they went for. So I like it. I like that that's what they're targeting. Yeah, there's always going to be a risk of arm injuries and stuff with guys who throw as hard as these guys do. But that's what you need these days. it's what you need. And the Cardinals targeted it. And hopefully more of these guys pan out than don't. So it appears they're doing whatever they can to change the culture of the type of pitchers that they have any organization.

Starting point is 00:28:07 And they drafted that way. So let me know your thoughts down below. What did you think of the Cardinals draft? Are you happy with the direction they went into here? You like the Liam Doyle pick. You wish they would have done something else. let me know down below we'll do some fan feedback in our next episode all-star game tonight enjoy it bernand donovan the only guy we have the route for i'm pulling for the national league i think they got a better roster um i was pulling for junior camanero in the in the home run derby last night he fell short just short of cow raleigh so uh we'll see what happens tonight but enjoy the all-star game tonight thanks for making a lot ton cardinals for first listen

Starting point is 00:28:46 every day if you haven't already please give us a follow on x at l underscore cardinals and the jd sports radio, TikTok and Instagram and Lockdown Cardinals, like subscribe on YouTube. You guys are the best fans in baseball for a reason. We'll see you next time on Lockdown Cardinals.

Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - St. Louis Cardinals Load Up On Fireballers In The 2025 MLB Draft!

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