Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - St. Louis Cardinals' Pitching NIGHTMARE Continues | Why Is Mikolas Still Here?

Starting point is 00:00:00 The dangerous world of Miles Michaelis Roulette backfires on the St. Louis Cardinals again in L.A. Is it almost over? 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. I'm J.D. Hafford and I'm your host for Lockdown Cardinals, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network covering your team every day. Follow me on X at J.D. Sports Radio in the podcast at L1 underscore Cardinals. YouTube, TikTok, Instagram at Locktong Cardinals.

Starting point is 00:00:36 This is a show serving Cardinal Nation, giving the best fans in baseball, all of the info about the birds on the bat. Today's episode brought to you by Monarch Money. Take control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code lockdown MLB at Monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year. So on today's episode, we're going to really just discuss what the hell we saw last night because it was the latest edition of Michaelis Roulette, a joke that I've been saying for,

Starting point is 00:01:09 what are we working on about three years now? About three years we've been doing this. Every fifth day for three years, it's just been rough, man. And I know I'm being a smart ass when I talk about this stuff in this way. And it's not an attack on Miles the person or anything like that. seems like a good dude that you'd like to have a beer with and hang around with. Keeps things light.

Starting point is 00:01:36 Keep things entertaining. But the simple fact is, you just don't know what you're going to get with him when he starts a game. You don't know. It is a wild card every single time. And if things do go sideways, which they tend to do, they go off the rails quickly. And that's exactly what we saw in LA on Tuesday night as the Cardinals get beat by a score of 12 to 6. Now, it wasn't just Miles who got beat up in this particular game, but he's the starter. He's the veteran.

Starting point is 00:02:13 He's the guy that sets the tone for the game. And like many of the Cardinals starters over the last couple of months, he immediately puts his team in a hole in the first inning by allowing two runs, just four batters into the game. And I apologize if you're watching on YouTube and you see me swiping at the screen. There has been a fly living in this office, and I can't stop him. I used a racket to hit him that's electrified. I should have brought it for the podcast to show you guys. And it won't stop. He just, he's like superhuman.

Starting point is 00:02:46 It's crazy. So if you see me do that, that's the reason why I'm doing it. It's not because something smells. It's because there's this fly. Did I get them? No, I don't think I got it. Anyway, so pardon me if it happens. Anyway, this is real life.

Starting point is 00:03:01 This is what happens. But he immediately puts a team in a hole in this particular game on Tuesday night. First inning, two runs, right? Four batters into the game. The cartels are down two to nothing. Lead off double by Otani. Comes around to score. Home run by next Muncie, first of two on the night for Muncie.

Starting point is 00:03:22 And in the blink of an eye, the team, it's playing from behind again, which you've heard me say it over and over. You know it by now. this has been the norm for the Cardinals. And it's hard to be a good baseball team when you're constantly playing from behind. Like anything in sports, you know that you want to capitalize

Starting point is 00:03:38 on any momentum that you get. And after the fun and entertaining and exciting win that the Cardinals pulled off on Monday, you immediately throw it out the window because your starter can't stop throwing the ball down the middle. He can't stop. It's so weird.

Starting point is 00:03:57 Most pitchers, when they have control issues, it's because they can't throw strikes. Miles Michaelis can't stop throwing strikes over the heart of the plate. For whatever reason, the pitch to Muncie might as well have been on a batting team for him. 95 right down Broadway. Of course he's going to destroy that. That's what Major League hitters do. And Max Muncie, they're a pretty good Major League hitter. And it's the same thing over and over again with Miles.

Starting point is 00:04:33 He throws a lot of strikes, which I can appreciate because walks are the devil. You don't want to put yourself in bad situations because you can't throw strikes. We had a card to pitcher do that last night. Didn't work out so well. We'll get to him later. But like most pitchers, you just can't live over the heart of the plate. and especially when you're topping out in the mid-90s. You know, might as well be soft toss underhand at this point to those hitters.

Starting point is 00:05:04 And the Dodgers are trotting out, you know, multiple MVPs and star players. And they're going to beat the crap out of you. And that's what they did. Mikelis gives up two doubles and a home run in the inning. And he was lucky that it was only two to nothing after that first inning. You just can't live there. You saw last night, if you caught the game between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the San Diego Padres, you know, Mason Miller, there was a hundred four, a hundred and four. But he threw it right down the middle and Lawrence Carrillo Jr. hit it for a home run.

Starting point is 00:05:39 It doesn't matter how hard you throw. If you throw it over the heart of the plate, these guys are going to hit you. They're major league hitters. Fastballs do not scare them anymore. luckily for the Cardinals, Gorman answers in the top half of the second inning with an absolute nuke of his own off of Emmett Sheehan, 109.1 off the bat. Dude, had some smoke on it.

Starting point is 00:06:07 There was a vapor trail going out to the bleachers after he hit that one. That was absolutely smashed by Gorman. And I always compared Nolan Gorman to Max Muncie. Like I want him to be our Max Muncie. So it was fitting that Muncie hits one in the first. Gorman would hit one in the second. It was nice. That's what I want him to be.

Starting point is 00:06:32 That's what if there's going to be a ceiling for Nolan Gorman, I would love for it to be a Max Muncie type of guy. He's going to strike out a lot. That's fine. But he gives you that threat of power every single time he's up there. Obviously, you got to stay on the field. The back injuries continue to pop up. But Moncy also gets hurt.

Starting point is 00:06:49 So, but that's kind of what I want, you know, and that's my wish for him. And he looked a lot like him on that swing, an absolute piss missile to right to tie the game up. And we got a ball game again, right? 2-2. Michaelis puts up a zero in the second when he gets Otani to ground into that six three double play. That was nice. And we're like, okay, all right, maybe Michaelis is going to settle in. But in the third, boom, the wheels come off again.

Starting point is 00:07:14 Lead off double by Mukie Betts, who's been struggling mightily for the Dodgers this season. and the reaction of the bullpen because he hit the left field, you can see the Dodgers bullpen there. Like that reaction, the reaction of the dugout, I thought it was funny because it was as if like a rookie was getting his first major league hit or something. Like they were very excited. They love Mookie for obvious reasons.

Starting point is 00:07:38 The dudes is really, really good. Having a tough year, though, on and off the field. So to see him come through there, the Dodgers teammates, they were obviously very much excited. And that set the tone for the inning. Freeman grounds out to move him over to third. And then it's blast off again with Muncie, who gets another cookie for Miles, not right down the middle this time,

Starting point is 00:08:00 but it is still over the heart of the plate and elevated, still in the zone. And he obliterates it for a two-run shot to make it four to two. And in case your spirits were completely crushed by that one, Michaelis then serves up another home run. Three pitches later on a hanging curveball to two to Oscar Hernandez. does that makes it five to two he does get confordo and pa has to fly out but you know ali has seen this poop show before and after 67 pitches three innings which yielded six hits six of them or extra base hits three of them went over the wall five runs scored he's like we're out

Starting point is 00:08:38 replaces miles with mass fonson in the fourth inning you know there are days that miles michaelis pitches well they do happen i had four front row seats to one of those games when he was wonderfully good against the Cincinnati Reds. When he lives on the black and is changing speeds, well, he's a capable pitcher. But when it's bad, it's really bad. And far too often, it's more, it's bad instead of good. And for three years now, you've played this Michaelis roulette wondering when the gun is going to go off. and when it does, it just crushes this team's momentum.

Starting point is 00:09:22 It does that. It costs the bullpen because now the bullpen's got to come in and pick up the pieces after the carnage that he leaves behind. And I like most Cardinals fans are counting down the days to where we don't have to watch and play this game with Miles Michaelis anymore. I did the math. The Cardinals played, what, 115 games? so he's probably roughly got maybe nine starts in there if you give him every fifth game.

Starting point is 00:09:53 But the ERA since the end of May, when it said, it had a respectable 3.51 is 6.49. His record in his last 12 starts is 2 and 7. He has allowed 18 home runs in about 60 innings pitched. He's allowed 78 hits over that time span. He's allowed 44 total runs. He is batting practice. He has been for three seasons. And he's still here.

Starting point is 00:10:27 So why? Why is he still here? Why? That's the question I give for most people. Why is here? Why don't they give him the fetti treatment and just remove him from the equation? What are we doing? And the answer is simple.

Starting point is 00:10:42 I will tell you what it is next on lockdown card. Today's episode brought to you by Game Day Hugh, and so is this particular hat that I got right here. I'm loving these hats. I got two of them. They're different styles where they have like a different stitching in the front of the hats. But these are really cool golf hats. I have enjoyed them thoroughly since I was able to get them from Gay Day Hugh. They make clean, no logo gear with, but they get the team.

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Starting point is 00:11:55 I also got the split shade gloves, which are also made for the golf course. I'll be in another tournament here real, real soon with my buddies for charity to support the police officers. And you bet your bottom dollar. I'm going to have my game day, Hugh won, and mixing and matching to look good out there on the course. So looking forward to that.

Starting point is 00:12:14 My mother is calling me for, it's my birthday today. So I'm getting multiple calls from people today. So I apologize for that. But let your colors talk because colors speak louder than words. Make sure you go over to gameday hugh.com. Right now, you can get 15mlb 15 at gamedayhue.com. That's game day hue.com. The code even stacks on bundle deals.

Starting point is 00:12:36 So now's the time to load up. Let your colors talk because your colors speak louder than words at gameday hue. com code MLB 15. Thanks again for making Lockedong cardinals. Your first listen today for your second listen. obviously M-L-B Game Night is something that I want you to check out. Make sure you guys leave your comments on YouTube as well as on X or TikTok. Anytime you want, your feedback is always welcome and encourage.

Starting point is 00:13:05 So I just gave you the numbers from Miles Michaelis, right? Total numbers on him in the last 12 outings, two and seven record, 6.49 ERA. Gross, right? Remember how Eric Fetty was? Remember how bad Eric Fetty was? Cardinals cut the cord on him before mercifully giving him to the Atlanta Braves, who were so desperate for arms. They were like, please, anybody got one that we can use? Gave them over to the Braves. He hasn't done much for them either. Eric Fetty's record in those,

Starting point is 00:13:36 his final 12 starts with the Cardinals was 0 and 7. The RA 6.38. So lower than Miles Michaelis. Miles Michaelis has been just about as terrible as Eric Fetty, who was also on an expiring contract. Cardinals said enough is enough, got rid of them. So why had they not done the same for Miles Michaelis. And the answer is simple. They don't have anyone else who they believe is ready for the big leagues in their system. That is the simple truth. They have done such a terrible job at acquiring talent, grooming and developing the talent that they do draft, that they have painted themselves into an area here where they don't have anyone better than Miles Michael is to stick out there on the mound every fifth day.

Starting point is 00:14:25 I do not think it's a money thing. I don't think it's because, well, we're paying them. So we want to get, I don't think that's even the case. They don't have anybody else. McGreeby was the one guy who was deemed ready to roll if something were to happen to one of the starters this year. You had Stephen Mats for the for the most part of the year before he got traded. So those were the two guys that in case something happened to the five beginning, the guys they had. That's who was going to be able to slide in and be their depth.

Starting point is 00:14:53 They didn't have a lot of depth to begin with. And now that Matt's is gone and Fetty is gone, McGreevy's coming to the rotation, now they're really screwed. They don't have anybody else. Injuries to some of their minor leaguers hasn't helped their cause either. You know, Quinn Matthews was on the fast track to St. Louis. We were all hoping that we'd see Quinn Matthews this year.

Starting point is 00:15:17 And it still could happen, but. shoulder injuries to begin the year just hasn't been quite right all season. Like it's just a lot of walks. The beelo's been down. It's, you know, and you thought maybe it was something serious that was going on with his arm. Did pitch well the other day. Pitched on August the first, six and two thirds innings, struck out nine, got the win. I hope that trend continues.

Starting point is 00:15:43 And maybe we do get a chance to see him at some point. But, you know, with the season being basically lost. I hate to burst the bubble for people who are still holding out hope that they're going to the playoffs, but basically it's over. There's no need to rush Quinn Matthews up to the major leagues. But if he continues to pitch well at Memphis, you could see it. You could see it at some point. My hope was that Toccoa Robey would be the first guy up after all the progress he had been making at AA Springfield. And then he came up to AAA Memphis and was pitching well.

Starting point is 00:16:19 and now he's gone. Tommy John's surgery lost for possibly all of next season two. Those were your top three guys, McGreevy, Matthews, and Roby when it came to prospects that you might see in the major leagues this year. One of them's here. One of them's gone for the season with injury. Matthews has dealt with injuries. Those were the guys that were primed to make the jump. After that, there's not much else that is ready. Teen Kent's can't stay healthy, still in double-A, I believe, right?

Starting point is 00:16:49 I don't know. He's always hurt. I don't know. Sim Robbersa out. Cooper Jerpy. Out. Both of them. Arm injuries. Tommy John. It's about as bare bones as you can get. And at the trade deadline, they didn't get anybody who can help them. They got a bunch of A ball guys for the future. Guys that we assume Hain Bloom liked and was like, hey, no, no, no. These guys got some things that I like and, you know, I know they're young, but we're going to, let's roll with them. Perhaps they can stretch somebody out like a Kyle Leahy at some point, but the starting pitching depth is abysmal right now. And I don't know what the hell they're going to do for next season. I have no idea. They don't want to spend a lot of money, clearly. We know this.

Starting point is 00:17:40 So what are you going to do? You got to bring in somebody capable of health. helping out these guys, right? I hope that it's not another dumpster dive, which is what John Moseilac has done the last few years, maybe because this is, his budget said he could only afford these kind of guys, but the guys he picked have been wrong. It's just been bad, fatty Gibson, who else did we have, Lance Len,

Starting point is 00:18:08 these are dumpster diving moves that he was hoping would work out. And they didn't really. they're not going to spend a lot of money, but they got to pay someone. Somebody has to pitch. And hopefully, Hyam Bloom is better at finding some guys who are younger with the upside that, you know,

Starting point is 00:18:26 they can groom into something more than going and finding guys in their mid-30s to late 30s who have maybe a year left in their arm before they retire, which is what Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson have done since pitching for the Cardinals. And I don't know what the future Joel Tremales, Michaelis, I don't know who would want him. I'm sure somebody will give him an invite to a camp next year at some point.

Starting point is 00:18:53 He's healthy, but he's just not very good. As far as the rest of Tuesday's game goes, Matt Fonson and Gordon Gricefo. Maybe Grisepho. Back has just started. Maybe that's something they can do. But they both pitch well. They both pitch well on Tuesday. Give you three shutout innings.

Starting point is 00:19:09 They punch out six combined. And after a two-out RBI single by Yvon Herrera in the seventh inning, you know, you had a five to three ball game. And considering what you got from Miles Michaelis and where this game was going, you had to feel pretty good about that particular situation. I wasn't all that upset. I was like, okay, we're still in it. Let's see what we can do.

Starting point is 00:19:30 You know, the Dodgers bullpen's been pretty beat up this year. Maybe there's something they can do here. But then it all fell apart after yet another rough outing for reliever Ryan Fernandez, who had no command whatsoever. And like I said earlier, you know, Miles Michaelis can't stop throwing strikes over the heart of the play. Ryan Fernandez can't figure out how to throw strikes. No command whatsoever when he came in. He walks to you.

Starting point is 00:19:54 He gives up a hit. Six to three. He gets one out. They hand the ball over to Andre Greenio. They've seen enough Fernandez. He doesn't have it tonight. And he gives it to Grenio who promptly hangs a slider to Teosca Hernandez. And he says, thank you very much.

Starting point is 00:20:09 And crushes the ball. 110 miles per hour off the bat. 429 to center second home run of the game makes it 9 to 3 and it's game set match basically this one is over uh Ryan Ferdandez was pitching better in Memphis but and this one looked like the same dude that the Cardinals sent down back in April 21 pitches only eight strikes it's now got a major league ERA of 12.60 on the year I mean you got a couple months here to work with so I hope he can turn it around but that was all awful. That was terrible. And while Fernandez couldn't throw strikes, as I mentioned,

Starting point is 00:20:50 Andre Greenio, he got a, all of a sudden, he got infected with the case of the Michaelis's. He couldn't stop throwing pitches right down the middle and paid the price, paid the heavy price, gives up the home run to Hernandez, but six more hits over an inning in two-thirds, four earned runs charged to him, saw his the RA jump from 2.38 to 4.85. Granted, these are the Dodgers. He's not out of here. throwing against. I mean, I want to make fun of the Rockies, but they just beat the Cardinals two out of three. Like, who else is there? Who else can't hit? Anyway, the Dodgers are a good hitting team, you know, and they've been, the Dodgers have been a little quiet recently,

Starting point is 00:21:30 offensively. They were bound to wake up eventually. And when you have to serve up, arguably the most hitable pitcher in baseball over the last three seasons to them, the odds were that they were going to take advantage. And that's what they did. Final score in this one was 12 to 6. Again, Svanson and Grisphel were great. Everybody else was trash on Tuesday night. Offensibly, there were a few bright spots, but there was one particular moment that made me want to punch a hole on the wall. I'll tell you what that moment was coming up next on Locked on Cardinals. Ever wish managing your money felt easier. Well, with Monarch money, it can. Whether you're growing your savings or planning a big purchase, Monarch put you in the driver's seat,

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Starting point is 00:23:20 Thanks again for making a Lockdown, Cardinals, your first listen today. Check out Lockdown MLB Game Night next. every night all season long at local analysis on a national scale you can find it on the locked on on nlb youtube channel or wherever you listen to your podcast uh the cardinals scored six runs on nine hits last night another chip carry special if you will but normally you know that that would be enough to win a ball game but not on this particular night we did have some bright spots i don't want this all to be a doom and gloom type of situation but you lose 12 to six i'm not going to have a whole lot of nice things to say. But there were some bright spots. So Nolan Gorman home run was awesome.

Starting point is 00:23:59 It was awesome. You know, tied the game up at two in the second inning there. It was still a ballgame at that point. 10th home run of the season. So he reaches the double digit home run plateau once again. Finish two for four on the night with two RBIs and two run scores. One of the best swings I've seen from Nolan Gorman this year. Like it was smooth. It was easy. Opened up the hips and flop. And destroyed it. It was a beautiful swing by Nolan Gorman. I hope we see more of it. Wilson Contreras, two for four, popped his 16th tournament of the season. It was meaningless because at that point of the game, the game was over. But going into the season, they asked for bold predictions. And my bold prediction was that Wilson Contreras would lead the NL Central

Starting point is 00:24:50 first baseman in the major category. the major the major ones for the for uh hitters so um and not only is he doing very very well in the in l central he's doing well in the national league altogether after the home run and after last night's game he is now fifth in home runs among nl first baseman he's third at rbis and third and runs scored all right all right top 10 and uh you know batting average and Opie and all that stuff. But Wilson Contreras is quietly having a pretty darn good offensive season and should be, it should be appreciated and spoken about a little more than it is. And he's played pretty darn good over at first base, considering it's his first year. Yvonne Herrera had a tough time

Starting point is 00:25:40 last night, struck out his first three times up. But being a resilient guy and being the good hitter that he is, he out of side out of mind, gets that two out of RBI single to cut the lead, two, five to three and the seventh. So you love to see that, the ability to put, what has happened behind you because he's had, he had some awful swings last night and to come through in the clutch there. That was great. You'd love to see that. Lars Newport, two for four.

Starting point is 00:26:04 Now four for 13 since coming off the IL. Bad news side of things. Mason, Mason, Jordan Walker, 0 for 12 together. The abat by Burleson and the seventh inning is the is the one. Okay, five three.

Starting point is 00:26:17 Let me paint the picture for you. It's five to three at this point. Two out. Runners at first and second. Dodgers go to the bullpen. And this was where the punch-the-wall moment came for me, like Andy Bernard in the office. Like, if you follow me on Twitter,

Starting point is 00:26:34 that was the gif I used where he just puts his hand through the wall. Dodgers go to the pen. They bring in a lefty to face Burleson. He goes to be the lefty as well. Alex Vessia comes in to faces him. And Alec Burleson swings at the first pitch again, grounds out to the pitcher ends the inning. One pitch, boom, it's over.

Starting point is 00:26:58 And it was a first pitch slider. I don't know if he was looking for that. And that's what he wanted. But it drove me insane. I was like, oh, again? Now on the year, and I pointed this out for Burleson before. He's batting $2.97 when he swings at the first pitch. So it has worked for him more this year than in years past.

Starting point is 00:27:21 because I feel like last year he was like in the low 200s and I'm like, why does he keep doing it? This year it has worked out much better for it, 297 batting average. But this particular situation is a new pitcher coming in, two on. Pressure's kind of on him, you know, tying runs on base now. He's the go-ahead run. Can we not just see what this dude has before we swing the bat? I know you watched his warm-up pitches, but like, Can we not get in the box and just, hey, let's see what it looks like.

Starting point is 00:27:56 Let's see what it looks like coming out of his hand from this area. Now, don't get me wrong, if he had laced a single, I'd be singing his praises today. But I'm always going to preach patience at the plate. I'm going to be that guy that takes a pitch in a situation like that just to get a look at what the guy's offering, how the spin's coming out. I just let me see one. Burleson, obviously, is a very good hitter. He knows what he's doing. But that was the situation where I was like,

Starting point is 00:28:28 I was like, just take one. Let's see what he's got first. He didn't, taps out to the pitcher, threats over, and then you had what happened in the seventh inning in the bottom half against Ryan Fernandez, and the game was over. So it was a chance for the Cardinals to do something there.

Starting point is 00:28:49 And it did work. So a chance to win the series still today. Shohei Otani is going to be pitching was not all that effective. His last time out against the Cincinnati Reds in Cincinnati left that game with cramps, but saving the game to hit. But there wasn't much that he did pitching wise that I was like, wow, good effort. Like he was just kind of, it was cool to see him pitch. But yeah.

Starting point is 00:29:18 So he's going to be on the. out today for L.A. It's an afternoon game against Matthew Libertor, who, you know, we're hoping continues to thrive this season. You know, it's, he's not used to pitching as much as he has. So, you know, you worry a little bit about that and fatigue with him. But we'll see what he's got. We'll see what he's got today. Cardinals go for that series when in L.A. before coming home. So thanks for making lots on Cardinals, your first list of every day. If you haven't already, give us a follow on X at L.O. underscore Cardinals at a J.D. Sports Radio, TikTok and Instagram. And, of course on YouTube if you're not watching there yet would love to see you come on by and say

Starting point is 00:29:52 hi you guys are the best fans in baseball for a reason we'll see you next time on lockdown carcass.

Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - St. Louis Cardinals' Pitching NIGHTMARE Continues | Why Is Mikolas Still Here?

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