Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - St. Louis Cardinals' Matthew Liberatore SHINES In Final Start! OFFENSE Comes ALIVE Against Miami

Starting point is 00:00:00 St. Louis, your ace is ready. Matthew Libertor made his final start before opening day, and it couldn't have gone much better. 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, and this episode is brought to you by MLB, the show, 26. Visit MLB-the-dot show slash locked-on and use code locked on. Do you unlock a pass? Pack for use in Diamond Dynasty, available now on PlayStation 5 Xbox and Nintendo Switch,

Starting point is 00:00:40 right at E for everyone. Stay tuned later in this episode for our MLB top 100 highlight. On today's show, the Cardinals have released what their rotation is going to look like for the start of the season. We've got an update on what's going on with Lars New Part of start the year. Plus, we got two games to talk about from Friday and Saturday, both wins for the Redbirds. But we start with Friday's game from Port St. Lucie, where the Cardinals and Mets took the field for yet another Great Fruit League. battle. I am ready to play some other people other than the nationals, the Marlins and the men. I've had my fill, man. I'm done with it. But anyway, this is one that the Cardinals would come out on top by a score of four to three. We are now under a week away from opening day. It's

Starting point is 00:01:20 going to be on Thursday. So you can tend to see, you know, more of the familiar names in the games and they're in there a lot longer. Leading off and D-Hing was J.J. Weatherhole batting second and playing second was Ramon Urius. Yvon Herrera catching. Jordan Walker was sitting clean up in right field. Thomas and Jacey was in center, Pozo at first base. For Meene was at third, Nathan Church and left field, my guy. And then minor league of Brody Moore at shortstop. On the bump, he had your opening day starter, which had already been announced that Matthew Libertor was going to do it, making his final tune-up start before he takes the hill at Bush Stadium against the Tampa Bay raise on March 26th. Your number one start of the game is a no-brainer from Friday's

Starting point is 00:01:58 game. If anyone was worried that Matthew Libertor was not ready to take on the mantle as the team's number one guy. And I know we throw the word ace around loosely. People get very worked up about it in the in the common section and online. They don't like that word. They don't like it when you call him the ace. It just means he's the top pitcher of our staff, not so much that he's one of the best pitchers in baseball. But either way, he's your number one guy going into the season. It's Matthew Libertor. And if you were worried about him, this game should put you at ease because he was able to shut down the Mets offense over five. innings. And let's be fair. Let's be fair when we're talking about this particular game with Libby. The Mets don't have, you know, Pete Alonzo or Jeff McNeil anymore. Francisco Lendora was out with an injury once. Soda didn't play either. Definitely not the full New York Mets lineup that we expect to see when the regular season does roll around. But they had Boba Shett in there,

Starting point is 00:02:53 who was their big free agent pickup. Mark Vientos, former first rounder Carson Vingge. Mike Talkman was in there. He's a veteran major leaguer. So it wasn't completely. completely empty, but I mean, you can't really blame Libby for that. It's not his fault. He can only do his best against what they send to the plate. And Libby did not disappoint. Five innings, no runs, one hit, one walk, five Ks. The walk was the first battery faced in the game.

Starting point is 00:03:18 And then the hit wasn't until the fifth inning. He was dominant in between those spots on Friday. Following the lead off walk, which we all know is just asking for trouble. He got Tyrone Taylor to fly out. Then got ahead of Bichette, got him to pound a little. slider into the devil play strike out of Bienzos on a change up in the second he struck out jerry young on high heat one of the highlights you'll see online is the punchout that he had of hated singer on that big breaking ball that was initially ruled a ball but challenged by liby and it hit the top of

Starting point is 00:03:49 the zone on the bend down uh strikes out uh carson binge in the fourth on a sinker up in the zone then gets talkman on a slider in the fifth so he was finding different ways to get the punchouts and he He looked really confident doing it. Want to know when a pitcher is locked in. That game with Libby, three for three on challenges on pitches of his that were called balls, and he got him overturned into strikes. And he did it with confidence. Like it was, it was like, bro.

Starting point is 00:04:22 Come on. Get it together. I think he even had a laugh with the hump when he was coming back to the dugout. I don't know what he said to him. But I mean, he was probably like, man, you're really getting me to. day or something. But either way, Libby was on top of that. He only threw 54 pitches in those five innings. Brilliant stuff had just looked in complete control the entire time he was out there. And he had an edge to him, too, which was great. The confidence in his stuff and what he was doing

Starting point is 00:04:50 and what they were trying to achieve. Like, you could just feel it coming off of them. He was beaming confidence in this one. And this is the guy that the race saw when they drafted him in the first run. They were like, this is the guy they envisioned. And then the guys, that the Cardinals wanted when they traded for him. This was what they were looking for. It took a little while to get there, but he got there. And so far this spring,

Starting point is 00:05:12 he's looked excellent. He's looked excellent. It finishes the spring with some pretty eye-popping numbers. Four starts. He goes 15 innings, three runs, 10 hits, one home run, 19 strikeouts, and just two walks. Huge. ERA, 1.80.

Starting point is 00:05:29 The whip at 0.80. opponents batting just 185 against him. And now he will take that confidence into the first start of the season, which is coming up on Thursday when the stats count for real. So can he do it against a full major league lineup that is going to be taking him on in game one? We're going to find out. But you've got to be encouraged from what you've seen from Matthew Libertor this

Starting point is 00:05:51 year. His first full year coming into the season as a starter is not, you know, kind of floating around in, you know, purgatory. Like, am I a reliever? a starter like what are we going to do he knows exactly what he's gotten into and he's proven that he's ready for the challenge so uh look forward to see what he can do this whole season where he's built up for a full season of being a starting pitcher and uh you know taking the mound every fifth day and going six innings deep in each one of his starts you know he got last year he got burnt out and uh it was

Starting point is 00:06:25 something that was kind of expected because he wasn't ready yet you know he hadn't been built up that way. So it took some time. And when he finally got there, it kind of flamed out really quick because things were not good in the second half. But he has looked like a completely different guy so far in the spring. So he'll get the start on Thursday. We're going to talk more about the rotation because that schedule is out. We'll get you to the large new bar updates. We've also got the next two stars of this game. Plus what went down on Saturday, all coming your way next on Locked on Cardinals. This week's MLB, Top 100, highlight brought to you by It will be the show 26, the latest from the beloved video game franchise each week.

Starting point is 00:07:06 We're highlighting the stars of MLB's top 100 players list, the elite names that you'll be controlling, building around and going head to head with in MLB the show. Today we're spotlighting another former Cardinal since none of our guys actually cracked, cracked the top 100. I say crapped. It's cracked. But that's just what people felt about the Cardinals roster that they were not good enough to be in the 100. So, a young winner, Sandy Alcantara is the guy will go with.

Starting point is 00:07:31 he came in at number 100. Electric stuff that we are all aware of, you know, because he won that Sigh Young Award, but still coming back from Tommy John, hasn't been quite as easy. But if you want to put them in a Cardinal uniform and have them on your team, you can do that in Diamond Dynasty.

Starting point is 00:07:46 You can trade for them in franchise mode. MLB, the show 26, just let you be the guys the way we talk about them every day. Clutch moments, breakout seasons, new superstar trade, surprised. Matthew Libertor's rating is only at a 70, to start the year on his live card. I thought it would be a little bit higher than that.

Starting point is 00:08:05 But that's what's going on. And that's this week's. It will be top 100 highlight presented by MLB, the show, 26, where you can play, manage, and build with your favorite players and teams. If you love talking baseball, you'll love playing it even more. Visit MLB, the dot show slash locked on. Use code locked on to unlock a pack for use of Diamond Dynasty.

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Starting point is 00:09:05 Let's be honest, you know, Missouri was out, Slu was out, Miami, Ohio, a Cinderella team that we were pulling for. They're gone. Not a lot of them left. You know, you got a few guys that have some higher seeds that are still in there,

Starting point is 00:09:18 but it just doesn't feel like they're going to last very long. So it's up to you. Are you going to go safe? You're going to go bold. You're going to ride it with the team. You've been following all season. It is your parlay, your style now with more upside behind it. So head to fandle.com to get started.

Starting point is 00:09:31 That's fandle.com. Fandul play your game. Thanks for making Lockdown Cardinals. Your first listen of the day. Thank you for making Lockdown on the number one sports podcast network. Don't forget to check out the everyday or club for ad-free episodes and access to a group chat with myself and other listeners of the show. Tap the link in the show notes or go to Lockdowns.carnels.com for more information. Putting a bow on Friday's matchup and their win against the Mets.

Starting point is 00:10:00 Number two star for that game, I'm going to go with Yvonne Herrera, who was behind the plate for Libby's start. Why is this important? Okay, well, if he's going to be the top catching option this year, and all signs point to that's what they want to happen. In a perfect world, Ivan Herrera will be your everyday catcher, your number one guy, and you'll have not only his bat in the lineup every day, but you're also going to have him behind the plate. The fact that he was able to catch such a stellar performance from Matthew Libbatorre, I think that's great. And he can't just be a hitter if he's going to be this guy. So he's got to be able to handle the staff, be better defensively, clearly throwing the ball, slowing down that running game is

Starting point is 00:10:40 something that is going to be on his plate again this year. And he's got to be better at it if he wants to be an everyday catcher. But we know that his superpower is the bat. That's where he really excels. And he was able to pop his first home run of the spring. It was a 402 footer to left center to make it four to nothing cardinals. We all know he can hit. He's just kind of working to get the timing back because he's missed so much time this spring,

Starting point is 00:11:03 recovering from the elbow. And then he had the knee going on. there that was barking at him throughout the spring. So to see him, you know, turn on one like that and get it up in the air now, that was good news, obviously, for the Cardinals. My third star of the game on Friday, going to give some love to Ramona Rias, who, you know, signed late with the team and had some injuries that slowed him down along with Herrera. Those were the two guys that have been sitting out the most other than Lars Newpar. But he finally got on the board with a solo shot in the first inning on Friday. It was his first hit and home run.

Starting point is 00:11:36 of the spring. He also took a four-pitch walk ahead of Herrera's Dinger. So he scores a couple of times as well. He should be a really strong depth piece for a team. He's got, you know, the strong defense that we're all familiar with on the infield where you can back up Gorman, win and Weatherholt. I'm sure you can play them first if you need them to as well. But to be able to play all three of those positions at an above average level defensively, obviously going to be something that they are are going to utilize, you know, if, if you feel great about winning weatherhold up the middle throughout games, you know, there's going to be times where maybe you pull Gorman and you put Arias over there at third base and let him close things out defensively similar to the way

Starting point is 00:12:16 that you would do with a Nathan Church with Jordan Walker in right field at times. So, but he could be a good weapon and then another right-handed bat that helps out against lefties. So he should have a decent impact for this team this year. He's not a star. We know that, but he's somebody that can do some good in the right situations. My guy, Nathan Church, speaking of him, he was 0 for two, but he did get a walk, stole a base and scored as well. So when you talk about speed on the base paths, we know Victor Scott has got the wheels. Nathan Church is there, J.J. Weatherhole, Jordan Walker, if he can get out base can steal some bases when he's not getting picked off as well. He was one for three with a walk, no strikeout, so some positive momentum there for Jordan Walker.

Starting point is 00:13:00 he did look better at the plate on Friday. J.J. Weatherholt, as I mentioned, one for three, sack fly, RBI. Bulpin-wise, they were good. Justin Brule's got Blewett and my guy, Luis Gastilum, with shutout innings. Was it Moreno? Was the guy that got hit a little bit on Friday?

Starting point is 00:13:17 But he's going to the minor leagues anyway, so you're not all that concern. Blue it's going to be in the minor leagues to start the year, but Brule's up on the roster. Gasolum's going to be in the minor leagues, but I don't know how long it's going to take, but I'm on board, man. got the save at the end and that that change up is filthy bro. So I want to see more of them.

Starting point is 00:13:38 I want to see him excel at Memphis and I would love to see them up in the big leagues at some point. But it was another low scoring affair. Another W for the Cardinals, though. So good for them. Now on the Saturday's game where once again, you know, the Cardinals, they get a victory. They top the Marlins 7 to 4, almost all big leaguers in the starting lineup, as it should be. Victor Scott was leading off, and it was Mason Wend, Burley, Gorman, Belasquez, Jayce, Fermin, Pahas, and minor league of Ramon Mendoza. On the mound you had Mason Molina, whom they got in that Phil Maton trade last season with Texas at the trade deadline.

Starting point is 00:14:14 So pitching-wise, it was minor league stuff in this one for the most part. But offensively is what you wanted to see them do some good at. And thank God they did because we know offense has been not easy for the Cardinal so far. spring and this one, they look pretty good. So our number one star is going to go to a guy who is on the offensive side, but a guy we haven't seen a whole lot of this spring because he was with team Italy at the WBC. And that's our boy Thomas Sucy. Finish the day, two for three, RBI single on the first, then in his first, then hit his first home run of the spring in the sixth inning hanging slider right down the middle.

Starting point is 00:14:51 Major league hitters don't miss that pitch. Thomas Cajie did. And he popped it for a home run deposited it over the wall in left field, made six to four. Cardinals at the time. He did get caught stealing in the second inning, but listening to the game, John Rooney thought he was safe and if replay were available, which it's not during spring training, he says that one might have gotten overturned. In my opinion, Cs, he deserves to be on the roster. And I know that being with Team Italy might have hurt his chances a little bit. I would put him on there, but there are some that think he might get sent down just to start the season because they didn't get a chance to see him as much in camp as they wanted to. And

Starting point is 00:15:28 He didn't really play all that much with team Italy either. So he's kind of far behind people. He does also have two minor league options left. And Jose Fermin, who's a guy who's competing in a similar role with Sejacy, does not have any left. So we'll see how they handle that situation. I think Sejacy is the better player. But when you think about it, if you want Thomas Sejacy playing every day,

Starting point is 00:15:55 he's not going to get that opportunity on the major league roster, unless an injury happens. So we don't want to see that. But they're pretty much set, man. You know, it's, I think it's Church Velasquez in left field doing that. Walker, Victor are going to be in center and right. And the infield's full. Gorman, wind, weather hole, Urius early over.

Starting point is 00:16:18 I mean, there's really not a lot of places to put Thomas C.C. at this point. So if he needs to go down and that's where they want to start at him to begin the season, I kind of understand. Dan it. I just think he's a better player than Jose for me. And I haven't seen a lot for me in this spring. Like I'm a little bit disappointed in what we've gotten out of him so far. But we're going to talk about the second and third stars coming up next.

Starting point is 00:16:39 Plus, again, initial rotation schedule, Lars New Bar Update. That's coming your way next on Locked on Cardinals. What of sports were traded like markets? Now you can put your sports IQ to work in real time with Robin Hood prediction markets. It's not you against the house. It's you participating in a live market. you can buy or sell your positions live all game long. Use your sports knowledge in the moments that matter.

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Starting point is 00:18:46 podcast. Go to Indeed.com slash podcast right now and support our show by saying that you heard about Indeed on Indeed on Indeed.com slash podcast terms and conditions apply. Need to hire. This is a job for indeed sponsored jobs. Thanks for making Locktown Cardinals, your first listen of the day. Thank you for making lockdown on the number one sports podcast network. All right, second start from Saturday. And there were plenty to choose from. It was a good day for the offense.

Starting point is 00:19:17 But I'm going to go with Alec Berluson. He deserved it. Two for four, two run double in the first inning. His first double of the spring, which is weird. It does have a home run, but that was his first other extra base head. That got the ball rolling, though, for that offense. Victor Scott Mason went and singleed ahead of them. Burley made the Marlins pay, which is what you want from your number three guy in the batting order.

Starting point is 00:19:39 Those guys get on base. You want him to be doing the damage. He has shot over the center fielder's head 108.7 miles per hour off the bat. He also added a single in his final at bat in the seventh. He's ready. He's bad in 3.43 this spring. He's going to try to replicate and hopefully expand on his Silver Slugger winning season from the year before. So we're excited to see what Alec Berluson has got for us in 2025.

Starting point is 00:20:04 now that he's got a position he can call his own, probably going to be the number three hitter, more nights than not when it comes to the batting order. So he's got a spot. He's locked in 343. We're happy. Third star, let's give it to a guy who hasn't had a great spring. How about Victor Scott? Victor Scott the second hitting only 176 this spring.

Starting point is 00:20:26 You were hoping it would be better than that. I know. But Saturday, he was one for three, reached on a fielder's choice, stole a base, scored a run. lead off single, as I mentioned, in that first inning, you know, that started the whole inning going where he single. Then it was Mason win. And then Burley got the double. So you can see what a weapon he can be when he gets on base, tried to butt his way on.

Starting point is 00:20:51 And his second event didn't work out, didn't get it towards the line enough, got it towards the pitcher. So he was thrown out. Reach on a field of choice, ground ball that he was able to beat the throw at first base in the fourth inning. and that ended up being a double because he stole his sixth bag of the season, which is the fifth highest in the league. Braden Ward?

Starting point is 00:21:11 Does anybody know who Brayden Ward is for Boston? Oh my God, 27 years old, former 16th round pick of, I think it was the Rockies. I had to look it up. Like, I'm not going to be actually. I had to look it up. I didn't know who this guy was. But Braden Ward for Boston has 19 stolen bases this. in 24 games that he's played it.

Starting point is 00:21:36 That is nuts. And it's not like the guy's not fast. He had 57 combined steals last year at double A and AAA, but 19 already this spring. That is nuts. That is nuts. But Victor Scott, positive day, which is great. Another positive day for Nolan Gorman.

Starting point is 00:21:55 One for one with a walk, no strikeouts, two runs scored. You got to appreciate the batter's eye that he's shown so far this spring. it continues. Nelson Velasquez two for three raises his batting average to three 57 this spring. Mason win one for three with a walk and a run scored, no strikeouts. We're hoping he turns it around. He's had a really rough spring at the plate so far. Solid offensive day for the squad all around. Speaking of offense, we did get an update on Lars Neupbar. He is going to start the year on the injured list. The one thing that we were wondering was whether it was going to be 10 day or was going to be 60 day. Was they going to slow it down enough to where?

Starting point is 00:22:32 where he would go on the 60 day and we'd see him much later in the year. That is not the case. It is going to be the 10-day injured list. The running progression has begun, started that on Friday, but it's official he will not be ready for opening day, which is what we always assumed. But until they say so, you have to kind of keep that little percentage that he might make it.

Starting point is 00:22:55 But yeah, he's not going to be ready. And I don't know when he's going to be ready. There's no timetable on his return. but, you know, that opens the door for what we assumed was going to be the left field grouping because you were trying to see if it was going to be Sejacy. For Mene, Nathan Church, Nelson Velazquez, who is it going to be out there in left field? And it looks like, at least it's, in my opinion, it's going to be one of those guys of Fermin and Sejacy. I would go with Sejacy as far as the best player, but we already discussed that.

Starting point is 00:23:29 And then there's going to be Velasquez. he's got to make this team. Nathan Church has got to make this team. He's your backup in center field. I think that makes the most sense. People are like, you know, well, they're going to make some moves on the 40 men if they're going to do that. You do have a couple of pitchers who are coming back from injuries. Corroby is going to be transferred to 60 day. Cooper Jerpy could also be transferred to 60 day. That would open up two spots right there. They don't have to release anybody if that's the case. If they send JC down, then you don't have to run for mean through waivers. I think that's

Starting point is 00:24:01 That's where we're at. And you would just add those two to the 40-man roster and be done. So we'll see what they decide. We'll see what they decide. I think all of that makes sense. At least it does appear in my head. As far as the rotation goes, we did get that schedule as well. We knew Libby was going to start on opening day on Thursday.

Starting point is 00:24:19 After that, Ollie's going to roll with Michael McGreevy, then Dustin May. Kyle Leahy will start the next series with the Mets. And then Andre Palante will get the fifth game. They do have the off day on Friday. So opening day, Thursday, off day, Saturday, Sunday, and then Monday, Tuesday against the Mets. So that's what it's looking like to start the year. Cardinals have one more game in Great Fruit League action. They'll face the Astros on Sunday, 1105 St. Louis start.

Starting point is 00:24:45 And then that'll be it, man. Then they do the exhibition game in Springfield, and then it's off to St. Louis. So we're almost there. Almost opening day. Getting excited. Thanks for making a lockdown. Carlos, your first listen every day. If you haven't already, give us a follow on X at L.O.

Starting point is 00:25:01 underscore Cardinals and a JD Sports Radio. We're on TikTok and Instagram and Locked on Cardinals, like subscribe on YouTube. If you never miss an episode, don't forget about that every day or club. It really will benefit you built for people just like you who just can't get enough. Go to Lockdown, get the Lockdown Cardinals podcast. It's ad-free. Members only Discord. Go to Lockdownsstlcardinals.com to join the club. Video side, we're going to send you to the first ever 24-7 national locked on podcast network YouTube channel. If you're on audio, make sure your second listen is Locked on MLB with our guy Sully. You're the best fans of baseball for a reason. We'll see you next time on Lockdown Cargles.

Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - St. Louis Cardinals' Matthew Liberatore SHINES In Final Start! OFFENSE Comes ALIVE Against Miami

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