Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - St. Louis Cardinals SHOCK Pittsburgh as Pedro Pages, JJ Wetherholt and Jose Fermin Deliver Heroics!

Starting point is 00:00:00 If I hadn't seen it, I wouldn't believe it. The Cardinals, Mount a Furious ninth inning comeback to shock the Pittsburgh Pirates. 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, Cardinal fans. I'm J.D. Haffern. And on today's show, the Cardinals add a new left-hander to their 40-man roster. We're going to read off some comments in our Cardinal confessions. But to quote the late great Jack Buck. I don't believe what I just saw. Said that after Kirk Gibson's home run against Dennis

Starting point is 00:00:43 Actorsley and the A's back in 1988. Now this game wasn't quite the same significance. That was the World Series, but I'm borrowing it anyways. Oh my gosh. How much fun was that? Incredible, miraculous, unbelievable, preposterous. How about this one from the first? Princess Bride.

Starting point is 00:01:06 Inconceivable. I am sure that there are other words to describe what we saw, but are you kidding me? The old saying it's always darkest before the dawn never rang more true than what we witnessed on Monday night in Pittsburgh. The St. Louis Cardinals' offense sleepwalking through the first eight innings of this game. They did not have a single base runner until there were two outs in the seventh inning. The Pirates bullpen game.

Starting point is 00:01:34 was working to perfection. For whatever reason, the Cardinals always seem to have trouble with bullpen games from other teams. And until Alec Berluson tapped what was perfectly described by Chip Carey as an infield squibber, perfect description that Pirates are baseman Nick Gonzalez almost made an outstanding play on to get Burley at first, but Burley hustling all the way and he just beats the throw to break up the perfect game and the no hitter at the same time. at this point you're thinking, well, at least crisis averted, right? Even if we lose this game, at least we didn't have a no-no throne or a perfect game thrown against us. But at the same time, I even said to my wife, I was like, I mean, it's still a two-run game.

Starting point is 00:02:19 It's not like the pirates are blowing them out. It's not like we're getting crushed by them. So the old Chip Carrey, you know, blue bit of blast. Theory would work here. Alas, it was not meant to be in that seventh inning. Jordan Walker goes down looking to end it. In the eighth inning, the Cardinals get a single by Jose for mean, but then Mason Wynn hits into that nifty double play that was turned by Brandon Lowe

Starting point is 00:02:40 and Connor Griffin, tip of the cap to you. It was a nice one. So off to the ninth inning they go. Score is still two to nothing. Pirates turn things over to their very good closer. And Dennis Santana, who gets the leadoff guy, Thomas and J.C., to ground out, which brought in Pedro Pahas. And we hadn't seen Pedro since.

Starting point is 00:03:00 Saturday when he was having that monster game going three for three with the two run shot against Seattle. But he had to leave early with hamstring tightness. And we were all kind of worried like, oh, no, because it didn't look great, right? His reaction to it all, it didn't look great. Men expected him to go on the IL, but no move was made on Sunday. And there he was back in the lineup on Monday. And after falling into the whole O2, he catches a slider from Santana that got a bit too much. to the plate. And he shoots it over the wall in left field to put the cardinals on the board. And all of a sudden, it's a two to one ball game, one run. That's it. This brings up the hometown

Starting point is 00:03:40 kid in J.J. Weatherhole. Now, JJ grew up in Pittsburgh as a pirates fan was making his major league debut on this field where his favorite player, Andrew McCutcheon, used to row. As nerve-wracking a moment as you can get, he's got dozens and dozens of family and friends on hand to watch them and the team's getting no hit for most of the game. And there are just a special number of athletes who can rise to the occasion. When the game is on the line, they're the guys who want the ball or want to be at the plate. And so far in his Major League career, JJ is proving that he is indeed one of these special athletes who will not cower in the limelight.

Starting point is 00:04:25 and he proved it again here after working a full count. He smashes a Santana fastball into the Pittsburgh night and over the right centerfield wall, game tying solo home run. We're all knotted up. What an awesome moment for him and his family, but job wasn't done yet. Now we've got a ball game. Now we're tied up and there's a chance to win this. So we get back-to-back jacks to tie it up.

Starting point is 00:04:47 Cardinals just kept attacking and kept being really smart at the plate. Yvonne Herrera, who's been as patient as anybody in baseball this year, where it's a six-pitch walk. Now you got Santana really, really, because he's giving up the home runs. Now he can't throw strikes. Alec Burleson hits a legitimate cue shot, like hilarious.

Starting point is 00:05:08 Right down the third baseline, it starts fair, and then it spends foul, and then it spins back into fair territory, just kind of dies on the chalk there for an infield single, never even made it to the third base back. Didn't even get that far, but it just died like a perfect bud.

Starting point is 00:05:23 And that brings in, Jordan Walker, who I know he's been cold recently, but has an outstanding event against Santana. Kept trying to get him to chase, chase, chase, and he wouldn't fall for it. That's all they're doing now. Low and away crap. Everyone's throwing Jordan right now. And he finally says, uh-uh, you're either bringing it in or I'm not swinging. Works another walk. Had two walks on Sunday. Another one here. Keep that batter's eye going, buddy. Now you got the basis Jews for Jose for Mien still only one out in the inning there's no place to put him so for me knows that he needs to throw strikes and normally I'm somebody who's all about being patient at the plate

Starting point is 00:06:03 but I get it in this situation if somebody throws something over the the heart of the plate you like it you go after it I don't I don't mind that and for me jumps on a first pitch slider rips it down the line and left for a two run double to give the birds a four to two lead and that's the way this one would end and an absolutely mind-boggling comeback to go from absolutely nothing. Nothing for almost seven innings. No offense, no base runners. Could have just put nobody at the plate and it would have been just as good. You go from that to winning this baseball game when you're down to your last two outs. That is amazing. That's absolutely amazing. After the game, Ali spoke about the win saying that, you know,

Starting point is 00:06:48 it says a lot that our guys were able to stay engaged and steal this game. That's one of the great things about this team. Our guys always keep fighting. And that is true. We have seen it multiple times this year. That's 10. 10 come from behind victories out of their 15 wins so far this season. It's what they do. And after four straight losses, three of them really tough ones to a very good Seattle team. It seemed like the boys were in a bit of a funk for most of the game. Like I said, sleepwalking is what it looked like. But boy, oh boy, did they come to? the live quickly after the pahistinger and more so after JJ left the yard outstanding stuff super deflating loss for your opponent so let's hope that win leaves a really bad taste in their

Starting point is 00:07:38 mouths and they have like a bit of a hangover effect for the next couple games with the pirates for the rest of this series you guys can get good again when the cardinals leave town but that was that was insane that was fun I loved it I we're going to talk more about it. We've got standout performances from three different guys I want to get to. Coming up next on lockdown cardinals. ED is way more common than most guys think. Millions of guys actually deal with it at some point. So it's nothing to be ashamed of. And that's exactly why Hems offers a straightforward way to handle it. Hems connects you with licensed health care providers online, giving you access to legitimate ED treatment options from the comfort of your own home. No awkward appointments, no pharmacy lines, just a straightforward process. that makes it easier for you to take care of yourself. The whole process is very simple. You just complete a quick online intake and a provider will review your information. And if the treatment is right for you, it's going to ship directly to your door,

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Starting point is 00:09:54 So the one person that is, in my opinion, truly kind of forgotten in this comeback win is the person that helped get you there in the first place, and that is Monday starter Dustin May. Excellent. He was excellent once again and has now four straight solid games under his belt. Three of them are quality starts, and he was just too out short in Miami of making it four straight quality starts.

Starting point is 00:10:21 On Monday, he wins six innings, two runs, seven hits, two walks, two strikeouts. Nothing mind-blowing about that line, but it kept the guys in the game. He never let the game start to snowball against him, even when runners got on base. And that's what a pitcher's job is to limit the damage. Give the team a legitimate shot to win the ball game. And being that the Cardinals are on this stretch of 17 and 17, having him go six innings after what you got from McGreevy on Sunday is heaven sent. Following, because, you know, you had that wild game on Saturday,

Starting point is 00:10:55 which just blew everything up, all the plans that you have. head for your bullpen, just boom, and you still lost the game. So really kind of put the bullpen in disarray. So having back to back, really good starts from those two guys was huge. That was huge. And you know about the ugly numbers that May had in his first two games of the season, but his last four starts, he's thrown 23 and a third innings, has allowed just five-ard runs, 23 hits, which is a lot. I get that, but only four walks. So he's not hurting himself. He's not putting more pressure on himself by walking dudes. And then he's got 15 strikeouts, which gives him an ERA of 1.93 and a fifth of 3.04.

Starting point is 00:11:38 That's exactly what you're looking for from Dustin May. The fastball velo continues to hover around 97 miles per hour on average. He's in the 90th percentile of walk percentage, 75th percentile of barrel percentage, which makes sense considering, you know, he gave up two home runs in that game against Detroit. in the first two games when, you know, things weren't going so well. And since then, he's only given up one home run. So barrel percentage, as far as how he is amongst the league leaders,

Starting point is 00:12:06 75th percentile, which is really, really good. Now, teams are hitting the ball hard against him. He's down in the 21st percentile in that category, but he's keeping it in the yard and the Cardinals defense is doing their job and making the plays behind him. Now, I did expect the strikeout numbers for Dustin May to be higher. I did. You know, his career average 8.1 per 9.

Starting point is 00:12:29 But he's never been a really huge strikeout guy, despite the, you know, good velo and everything and the movement that he's got on that sweeper. He's never been like this, like guy that's striking out 10, 11 per 9. It's 8.1's the average. And he's down to 6.5 so far this season. But if you go look at past years when he's had better seasons, his rookie year was really, really good.

Starting point is 00:12:55 He was at 7.1 strikeouts per night. 2023, excellent year. His second best year is a pro, 6.4. So he doesn't need to have the gaudy strikeout numbers to be effective, clearly, because those two seasons are the best ones he's had in the major leagues, and those are two of his lowest strikeouts per nine. So I don't want you to freak out because he's not striking out enough people. He really just has to stay healthy.

Starting point is 00:13:22 And so far he has been. So solid job. Dustin May, good job. Obviously, J.J. Weatherholt is the big story in this particular game. Coming home to Pittsburgh, hitting the dinger to tie it, three straight games now with a home run. An incredible moment in front of his now converting cardinal friends and family. He talks, yeah, you know, a lot of Pittsburgh people root for the Cardinals in the stands tonight. After the game, he said, I really was just trying to get on base and was able to put a good swing on

Starting point is 00:13:52 the ball. It was good to come through, but it was a great team win. And I love to hear that out of him where it was it, you know, when you get a young guy? He's like, yeah, it was really cool. And, you know, I'm super excited. He mentions the team, team, team, team, team. That's the kind of leader you want. Playing against the team you rooted for as a kid, that's got to be a little weird, obviously. And I couldn't imagine like playing for the Cubs or the Brewers having to try to take down the Cardinals. I feel dirty. I feel dirty. Just saying it. And JJ was the same way for sure. He was quoted as saying it's kind of a goofy experience,

Starting point is 00:14:27 but it's such an honor to be here. Playing against the team you grew up, rooting for will always hold a special place in your heart. For me, I feel like it's just how many games I've watched here, so I feel like I know this park better than any other park. Just being here as a kid and playing here a little bit in college was super cool. The backdrop of the city you grew up in to be able to play in a ballpark like that is special. How mature does this kid sound?

Starting point is 00:14:52 Isn't it amazing? Like the maturity of J.J. Weatherholt is insane to me. Ali chimed in talking about the experience for JJ, you know, saying that the cool part is when he hit the home run. All his family is sitting there in that one section. They all went crazy. That's something you'll never forget. And he says, I think we've talked a lot about his success early,

Starting point is 00:15:14 not only offensively, but defensively, on the basis, his demeanor, what he brings to the club. there are a lot of positives there, especially for a young kid. And that's what I've been most impressed by. I mean, I know the stuff we see on the field has been great. You know, he's on pace for like this almost 30, 30 season as a rookie. Like, but nothing, I'm so impressed with the guy, the human being that he is. Nothing seems to phase him.

Starting point is 00:15:42 No moment ever seems too big for him. He doesn't come to the plate. And I'm like, yeah, there's no way he's coming through here. I believe in J.J. Weatherholt when he comes to. to the plate. I feel like he's always going to do something good. And we've already seen that clutch gene pop off a couple times. And he's just getting started. This is his first month as a major league player. Like kids all over St. Louis, you need to go get a J.J. Weatherholt jersey now because this is a special player. He's going to be a role model for them for years to come.

Starting point is 00:16:12 How do we get him locked up? That's the next thing everybody wants to know. Get him 10 years and let's go because you're not going to, at least from what I can see, you're not going to find a better human being than what we've seen out of JJ Weatherhold so far, talks about his faith all the time and how important it is. Like, those are the guys you need around leading this club forever, if you can keep them. So lock them up. Let's get to it, Haim. Last guy I want to give some love to is Ryan Fernandez, who came into this game after Dustin May. And most of us are focused on the fact that the Cardinals don't have any hits. They don't have any base runners.

Starting point is 00:16:47 It's perfect games getting thrown against them. And we just kind of brush aside what we saw out of the bullpen on Monday. And Ryan Fernandez comes in and he gives you two winnings, no runs, no hits, four strikeouts, keeps it within the two runs so that the bloop and the blast type of thing can happen. And then you get Soriano, who comes in and closes things out. You know, you're talking about two guys here. that you didn't really expect them to be the guys helping you take down a division opponent this year.

Starting point is 00:17:25 We weren't counting on George Soriano and Ryan Fernandez this year. But there they were. At the end of this game, finishing things off. So tip of the cap to them as well. Obviously, shout out to Alec Burleson, who ended up with not one but two, infield singles because speed doesn't slump for biscuits.

Starting point is 00:17:49 Don't underestimate those wheels. The second one in the ninth still, no clue how that stayed fair. Crazy stuff right there. Baseball gods down the line there blowing it, keeping it fair, you know. For Mean two, I would expect to see for Mean in the lineup more. You should be rewarded, whether he's playing on the infield or the outfield, more Jose for Mean. Cardinals claimed a pitcher on Monday, whose older brother is really good.

Starting point is 00:18:14 But is he any good? That's the question. We'll talk about it next on Lockdown Cardinals. If you've got a sweet tooth like I do, you know how tough it is to find that perfect treat without all the sugar because it's bad for you. That's why the confetti craze five hour energy shot brings that nostalgic flavor back in a whole new way and you don't feel bad about drinking it. This is that classic taste that you remember, but with a tasty caffeine boost and zero sugar. It's quick. It's easy. And it satisfies that sweet craving that I get from time to time. I'm sure you do too. and it keeps things simple, though. And you don't feel bad about drinking it when you're done. It's a perfect alternative to the sweets that are filled with all those unwanted calories and sugar.

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Starting point is 00:19:32 It is back on five hour energy. com or at Amazon. So crack open confetti craze, five hour energy shot today. Thanks for making lockdown cardals, your first listen of the day. Thank you for making locked on the number one sports podcast network. Cardinals have claimed left-hand pitcher Luis Peralta, off waivers from the Colorado. of Rockies, optioned him to AAA Memphis, so no corresponding moves were necessary.

Starting point is 00:20:00 The Cardinals had an open 40-man spot. He slides right in. No fuss, no must. 25 years old, younger brother of Freddie Peralta, who is now with the struggling New York Mets, was a starter earlier in his career, but got moved to a reliever role when he was a minor leaguer with the pirates, actually, before he got traded to Colorado. And between the two clubs, 47 and two-thirds minor league innings allowed only a 0.93 earned runs per nine gave out walks at a pretty high rate though that's been the problem with them

Starting point is 00:20:30 11.2% walk rate 40.1% strikeout rate which you love that's huge number 48.8% ground ball rate above average as well got to make his major league debut he's been in the pros put up a 0.7 3 era in 12 and a third innings but since then the command has just vanished for whatever reason it has not gone well. 9.47 ERA in the majors last year, 9.09 ERA and AAA, 15.4% walk rate in the majors. It's been worse. It's 17.8 has trouble throwing strikes. That's really been the problem. Began this year at AAA, 14 earned runs in seven and a third innings with a whopping 13 walks. He also struck out 14. And I went back and looking at some of the footage of him pitching in the major leagues and saw him baffle some pretty good hitters,

Starting point is 00:21:23 including Juan Soto, when he was with the Yankees. So there's something there. But at this point, something's not clipping, clicking right. You know, the, the, the velo on his fastball, it's down a little bit. His four seamer used to sit at 95. It's down to about 93 and a half. Curve ball change up. They've also dipped in be low, according to reports. He can be optioned for the remainder of this year and one additional season as well. And if things go well, he has less than a year of service time, which means he can be affordably controlled for years into the future. It's a low-by situation. The Cardinals don't have much depth when it comes to left-handed relievers. The kid has shown that he's got some talent. Jojo has scuffled recently, Justin Bruill, you know,

Starting point is 00:22:09 how I feel about what he's done, not impressive. Maybe they see something in him like they did with Soriano. You know, people were like, wait, what? why are we trading Andre Grenio for George Soriano? They're scouts and the guys in charge of it. Maybe they've seen something in Peralta that they're like, no, we can work with this. We can fix this and make him a useful option. If not, you move on.

Starting point is 00:22:31 It's no real loss. So that's my thoughts on Peralta right now. And so we get to see him and figure out what he can do in a Cardinals uniform. So far this year, it has not been good. So expectations, keep them down there. Loving the positive comments, though, I want to give you guys all credit after last night's game. People were losing their minds just like me. If you saw my short on YouTube, yeah, I did a Rick Flair Woo.

Starting point is 00:22:58 I was beside myself with excitement. It was so much fun. So I wanted to read a few of them here in our Cardinal Confessions because, you know, after four straight losses, the answer is starting to get down a little bit. And I don't blame you. But a couple of these guys, dude, I was dancing all around work that last inning. I effing love baseball. The first eight innings practically put me to sleep,

Starting point is 00:23:19 and then they got to Santana of all people. I loved it. These kids played in the last out. I saw the first inning, and that was enough. And then I turned it back, and it was the last inning. Glad I did. That was awesome. Cardinal snapped a 36-game scoreless streak in Pittsburgh,

Starting point is 00:23:35 dating back to last season with the runs in the ninth inning. Got their first win on a Monday this season. They break their four-game losing skids. So a lot of good. positive energy came out of this particular game. And I hope it's one of those where this, you know, kickstart something bigger and better for this young team. NL Central, the Reds had the day off yesterday.

Starting point is 00:23:58 So they're still at 18 and 10. Rockies are visiting them after sweeping the Mets. So Rockies are believing in themselves right now. Cubs lost to the Padres 9 to 7, although they did break Mason Miller's scoreless streak in the ninth inning. They're at 17 and 12 and in second place. Pirates are now at 16 and 13. Cardinals at 15 and 13.

Starting point is 00:24:17 And then the Brewers who were idle are 14 and 13. They'll be hosting Nolan Arnado and the Arizona Diamondbacks. Have you guys seen what Nolan's been doing recently? Not on a heater hitting 611 over his last five games, made some nice defensive plays. So good stuff, man. Nato, keep it up, especially against Milwaukee. Beat them, beat the hell out of them. Keep it going.

Starting point is 00:24:40 Keep it going. Tonight, Calahehee on the mound for the Cardinals. He has not gone past five innings yet this year. year. So I hope the bullfin is ready. Gordon Grecefo, you need to be ready. Everybody get ready. All hands on deck. Calle, he's starting tonight. So maybe he'll surprise us. Maybe he'll surprise us. We'll see. Thanks for making a lockdown cardinals for first listen every day. If you haven't already, give us a follow on X at L.O underscore Cardinals, TikTok and Instagram at Lockdown Cardinals. Like subscribe on YouTube. If you never miss an episode, try that every day or

Starting point is 00:25:06 club. If you haven't already, get locked on Cardinals ad free, members only Discord access and more. Full free month still available with the code finally. at a locked on STL cardinals.supercast.com to join the club. Video side, we send you to the first ever 24-7 national lockdown podcast network YouTube channel on audio. Make sure your second listen is locked on MLB. You're the best fans in baseball for a reason. Let's keep this energy going into game two.

Starting point is 00:25:32 Thanks for listening and watching, Locktown Cardinals.

Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - St. Louis Cardinals SHOCK Pittsburgh as Pedro Pages, JJ Wetherholt and Jose Fermin Deliver Heroics!

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