Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - The Cardinals And Tigers Are Wining In Very Similar Ways

Episode Date: April 30, 2024

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Rain postpones Monday's game against the Tigers. So instead, we'll take a look at the surprising Detroit Tigers, considering their power ranking, are they really that much better than the Cardinals? We'll break it down on today's episode of 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 J.D. Haffron and I'm a national radio sports anchor. You're born and raised in the Lou and a lifetime Cardinals fan, and I'm your host for Locktown Cardinals, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network covering your team every day. You can follow me on Twitter X at JD Sports Radio. You can also follow the podcast at L.O underscore Cardinals. I want to thank those of you who make Locked on Cardinals your first listen every day. We are free and available wherever you get your podcast.

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Millie Vanilli once said, blame it on the rain. And yes, I know they were frauds. And sadly, One of them actually isn't even alive anymore, I don't think. I think one of them passed away. But doesn't make the name of that song untrue. Blame the rain for ruining our baseball fun on a Monday.

Inclement weather forced the postponement of Monday's game. And instead, the Cardinals and Tigers are going to play a traditional double header on Tuesday. The first pitch will be for game one at 240 St. Louis time. Then the teams will have 40 minutes between games, and then they'll fire things up for game two. according to Jason Beck, it is the fourth postponement and third doubleheader that the Tigers have faced so far this season. And it reflected a change in the forecast, though there was a chance of rain looming on Monday. There had been some hope it might hold off long enough to allow the game to get in. That changed as the day went on and the storm system strengthened.

The grounds crew moved in quickly to put the tarp on the field just as Tigers players were emerging from the dugout for batting practice. the game was then called shortly thereafter, bypassing a rain delay. Now, due to the scheduling change, our old friend Jack Flaherty, who was supposed to pitch in game two, which was supposed to be on Tuesday, is now going to start game one on Tuesday. Kenta Maeda, who was supposed to start on Monday, will now slide back to Wednesday. And there hasn't been an announcement on who will throw game two yet,

at least at the time of me making this recording. but in their other two double headers this season, the team is called up Matt Manning as their 27th player to make a spot starting game two. Manning is on turn to start on Tuesday for AAA Toledo at Columbus. So it would make sense that he would get to start. But again, I haven't seen any announcement just yet about who's going to make that start yet. Basically, the Tigers are just kind of making things way more difficult than they need to be. They got dudes moving all around and calling people up. Meanwhile, the Cardinals, they're just sticking.

and with the game plan. Cal Gibson set to go in game one, Stephen Matt's game two, and then Miles Michaelis on Wednesday in game three. The taggers so far this year, 16 and 12. 16 and 12, that's right. They have been really good on the road, where they are 10 and 4 while at home, they got a losing record of 6 and 8. Now, the question is, have they had a tough schedule like the Cardinals have had so far? And again, I'm not trying to make excuses for why the Cardinals have a losing record. I'm just saying their strength of schedule has been pretty tough so far. We knew it was going to be tough in April.

We were warned it was going to be tough in April. And if you go to power rankings guru.com, I didn't make that up. It's real. They have the strength of schedules so far this season. Like they keep it up to date and it goes off of like the average opponent rank. So they've got their own rankings that they do. And then based off of that, they can tell you what they think the strength of schedule is for each and every team. According to them, and if I'm reading this right, the Cardinals have had the eighth toughest schedule in Major League Baseball so far.

Eighth toughest. Ahead of them with tougher schedule so far, the toughest overall has been for the Tampa Bay race. Then it's the Washington Nationals, the Miami Marst. Orleans, Colorado Rockies, San Francisco Giants, Arizona Diamondbacks, Pittsburgh Pirates, and then the Cardinals. And what do you know? All of those teams ahead of them with tougher schedules also have losing records coming into Monday's game. Some things might have changed by now, but coming into Monday's game, Rays were 13 and 16. They did win tonight. So they bumped up to 14 and 16. They beat the Brewers one to nothing on a, I don't know, it's kind of an iffy play there in

the final ending with the ball getting away and the follow through hitting the catcher and the helmet, but whatever. Nationals were 13 and 14. The Marlins 6 and 23. Rockies were 7 and 21. Giants 14 and 15, D-back's 13 and 16, pirates 14 and 15. And then the Cardinals at 13 and 15. As for the Tigers, they are 17th in strength of schedule. They have faced the White Sox, the Mets, the A's, the Pirates, the Twins, the Twins, the Rangers, the Rays, and the Royals. So you've got going into tonight's games, three winning teams among the bunch with the Mets and Rangers just one game over 500. The Royals were a winning team. And I don't think anybody else is.

You know, the Mets and Rangers, like I said, one game over each coming into Monday. Meanwhile, the Cardinals have had to phase the Dodgers, the Phillies, the Brewers, and the Mets. Dodgers are in first place, brewers are in first place. The Phillies have 19 wins, which is tied for tops and baseball, but technically are not in first place. They're in second place in the NL East because the Braves have less losses. They played less game so far. So that's kind of a big deal. You know, when you're facing tougher teams and you're not supposed to be one of those top teams,

which the Cardinals are not expected to be this year. We know that. Hence the record. So are the Tigers really that good? Are the Cardinals as bad as the losing record? Are they really that? Or are both of these teams just kind of middle level teams? Let's see what the new power rankings have to say about that. We'll do it next on Locked on Cardinals. This month, Mother's Day gets something thoughtful for mom on DoorDash. Surprise her from wherever you are with fresh bouquets. The latest tech, you can do gift cards, self-care treats and more to make her day that much better. Use the code locked on MLB to get 50% off your next order up to $15 when you spend 15 or more on your next flower, convenience, grocery, or retail order right now on DoorDash.

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And there's always new time to Vince that can help you win big, like massive multipliers for everything you win or rent frenzies. There's always something fun to discover in Monopoly Go. So get off the bench and go download it now for free on Google Play or the App Store. Game on. Are you watching Fox Sports or ESPN on your TV all day and have to turn down the volume because of all the shouting, then make the switch to Lockedon Sports Today. It's a free 24-7 sports streaming channel program for you every day to bring you the biggest stories without all the screaming.

Locked-on sports today brings you can't miss analysis. We've got opinions, news, and it's all streaming 24-7 on YouTube or you can go to that free Amazon Fire TV channels app, part of the Locked-on podcast network, your team every day. And thank you for making Lockdown Cardinals your first listen every day. Leave your comments on YouTube as well as on Twitter X. Anytime you want your feedback, positive and negative. Always welcome and encourage.

Do not be shy. Let your voice be heard. Right now on Twitter X, I've got a poll up there because I'm trying to come up with a fun name for the back of the Cardinals, a bullpen. I'm trying to come up with a name there for Jojo, Kittridge, and Housley.

What do you want to call them? So go check out that particular poll on Twitter X at L.O. underscore Cardinals and let your voice be heard. And if you don't like the names I got up there, write in a different one. And let me know what you. you think. So we've had some, some interesting ones. Some of them were really, really goofy. But that's the fun of it, right? All right. New power rankings dropped today on Monday.

And here's how things shake out. If you're watching on YouTube, I'm going to throw up the power rankings up on the screen there for you. So there it is. So we're not going to read all of them, but your top five, you've got number one, the Braves, number two, the Orioles. Number three, the Guardians. I know they got a good record, but really, are they better than the Dodgers and the Yankees who coming at four and five. Hey, I voted on this. I did not have the Guardians under number three, but other people did.

Your bottom five, you've got the Astros, which is still a shocker to me. I wouldn't be surprised if they come up a little bit later on in the season because that just doesn't make sense that they have as bad a record as they do. Then you got the A's, the White Sox, the Marlins, and the Rockies.

All of those make sense. The Tigers come in at number 14, while the Cardinals are back at number 23, which is actually up because I believe they were number 25 last ranking. So we know the Cardinals have been playing better. They've been playing better lately. Got swept by the Brewers and it was like the sky was falling, right? Even though two of those games were one-run games,

that Saturday game where they just got blasted, just put everybody in a terrible mood, and they didn't want to hear nothing from nobody about how the Cardinals were actually, going to be a better team later on. But they get swept and then they play better this week. They take two of three from both the Diamondbacks and the Mets. It's still a work in progress. We know that. Offense is still trying to figure things out. Starting pitching has been pretty darn good, especially since Sunny Gray has returned, but the offense continues to be, and pardon the pun here,

but they've been hit or mess, right? Cardals are currently tied for dead last in the major leagues and home runs with 18. The White Sox also have 18. Mind you, all of these stats coming into Monday's game. So some things might have changed by coming into the games, this is where they sat. The Cardinals are 28th in runs right now. 28th and runs with 100 ahead of only the A's and the White Sox. They're 28th in hits with 198. Again, ahead of only the A's in White Sox. Team batting average, 217, 28th. Once again, say it with me, ahead of the A's and the White Sox on base percentage. They're 25th, you know, way up there at 25.

They're at 300 right now. That's ahead of the A's and the White Sox. And then the Marlins, the Mariners and their opponents on Tuesday, the Tigers. Slugging 28th at 336 ahead of only the Marlins of the White Sox. OPS, 27th at 636 ahead of the A's, Marlins, and White Sox, total bases. 29th ahead of only the White Sox. I mean, just some ugly, ugly stats there, folks. Like, it's kind of disgusting.

when you say it out loud because we we talk about the cardals and yeah i'm a fan of the team you're a fan of the team and you like to see things through the rosy red cardals colored glasses sometimes don't we and we like to think that maybe they're a little bit better than they really are i'm definitely guilty of that like i tend to see things a little more positive than most people and a little more positive than what reality probably is. And at least I can admit that. And when I look at this team, I don't see a team that is only better than the A's and the White Sox.

Just me personally. This office seems like it's a lot better than just those two teams. But when you go and look at the stats, that's where they are. I've got some stat cast stuff here for you too. I know we're really nerding out today because we don't have a game to talk about. Barrel percentage, 28.

at 6% ahead of only the White Sox. And this one's kind of interesting. The Guardians. The Guardians, not a very good barrel percentage. Hard hit percentage, they're 23rd at 37.3. Exit velocity. They're 12th. That's pretty good. 88.8. Not bad there.

Expected batting average 15th at 247. So when you look at that, compared to the actual average, which is 217, it's a pretty big difference. Pretty big difference. So expected slightly percentage, 90, that's 18th, IRL, 336. So those last two stats kind of show you that maybe the Cardinals shouldn't be quite as low as they are,

but still nothing to write home about it. It's not like, like, oh my gosh, they're just getting robbed left and right. No, that's, they just haven't been very good. And we, for the most part, think that things will get better and that they will turn around. You're starting to see it a little bit. you're starting to see Paul Goldsmith hit a little bit better. You're starting to see Nolan Gorman hit a little bit better. So get guys like that going.

Aronado continue to do what he's doing. He's getting better. Wilson Contreras has been great. Mason Wendt has been great. Jordan Walker, he had to send him down, but he was a guy that was supposed to be really big part of this offense. And he hasn't done dittily poo for you,

unfortunately. Hopefully he's going to get things straightened out at AAA Memphis. You know, it's just been a lot of guys. guys who just haven't lived up to what we thought they were going to do. And, you know, how they always say, you'll hear like Brad Thompson and, uh, and Chip Carey saying, you know, the back of the, the baseball card doesn't lie. At the end of the day, they'll probably have their stats. Well, if that's the case, then great.

And that means that they're going to have, uh, you know, what, five great months coming up, which is great news for the Cardinals. Or are they going to stay where they are and not turn it around. But, you know, some of these guys have been doing it so long. especially like a guy like Paul Goldschmidt, you expect him to have better numbers as he moves on, usually a slow starter. Pitching-wise,

they've been, they haven't been great, okay? The back three in the bullpen have been outstanding. We know that. But the pitching has actually been what's kept them in a lot of these ball games so far. Team Air A 3.86, which is 13th in the league. So we're not talking like elite, but they're not like they were last year.

starters are at 4.21, that's 20th, while the relievers are at 3.49, which is ninth best. Now, you've got to remember, too, you've got stats from like Zach Thompson, who was having a horrible time in the major leagues, which is going against some of these numbers. Opponents are hitting 237 off the bullpen. That's 15th best, while the starter's batting average against is at 264. That's 25th. Miles Michaelis has got a very high batting average against so far this year. So he's not helping the cause.

Strikeouts as a team, Cardinals 18. with 236. starters are 20th, while the pin has got the 10th most. So that's cool. Cardell's pitching is pretty good when it comes to walks. 84 of them so far. That's 22nd. Starters ranked 15th while the pin.

Third best, they've only walked 33 hitters so far this year. So you like to see that. The home run ball, I brought it up many, many, many, many, many, many times. That has been an issue. Relievers have given up 10, which is the fifth lowest amount in the major leagues. while the starters have served up 23. That's the fourth highest amount. Overall, 33 combined home runs that the pitching staff has given up.

That's the fifth highest amount in the league. And you knew that that was something that was probably going to happen. You know, Michaelis, Lynn, Gibson, people hit home runs off of them. It happened last year. Obviously, with Lynn, it was like, woof, like way blown out of proportion. He normally does not give up that many, but it's happened. are guys that don't have a lot of swing and miss stuff. And when they miss spots, the ball goes a long way in the other direction. So it's bound to happen. It's bound to happen. But as you can see,

the bullpen, they keep it in the yard for the most part. So what are the tigers good and bad at? Let's talk about their opponent. Well, one guy who thankfully the Cardinals will not have to face in the series is their ace. Tarek Scouble. The former ninth round pick has really come into his own over the last couple of seasons last year, seven and three and 15 starts at a 2.80 ERA this year already. He's 4.0, 1.72 ERA and six starts. He's got an ERA plus of 237, which is just ridiculous. He's really freaking good. Only one other starter on the Tigers pitching staff has a win. Nobody else except one dude. Former number one overall pick Casey Meis, who has dealt with a bunch of injuries. so he isn't quite the guy that when they took him number one overall,

he hasn't quite shown that kind of stuff at the major league level just yet. He's still a young man, but he's got a win. And nobody else from the starting rotation has got one. Jack Flaherty, O'Fred Jack Flaherty, he's 0.1 with a 4.91, ERA and five starts. Kenna Maeda, O'N1, 5.96 ERA and five starts. Those are the two guys that the Cardinals will be facing on Tuesday. Reese Olson is 0 and 4 3.18 ERA in 4 starts. Let me backtrack for a second.

Maeda is now on Wednesday. My apologies. I'm going to be on Wednesday. Matt Manning, O.N.1, 2.92 ERA into starts. They're combined team R.A. Like, when you look at those numbers, too, because you got the really good numbers from Scoobel, and then you've got not so great from Flaherty and Maida,

but Reese Olson, not bad, Manning, not bad. Casey Meis hasn't been brutal. So their combined team ERA is fourth in the league at 3.14. The starters are at 7th at 3.53, but that bullpen really, really good. Their bullpen has got a 2.71 ERA, which is fifth in Major League Baseball. The Tigers pitching staff leads the league in batting average against at just 211. Starters are sixth, but the pen is number one with a 190 batting average again. So you don't want to be in the bullpen.

You want to take advantage of these starters. And the fact that you don't have to face scoble makes things all that much better. Their closer is a guy by the name of Jason Foley. Seven career saves coming into 2024. He already has nine this year. And he's not exactly a huge strikeout guy. He's not like Hellsley who comes in and he relies on the strikeout. But he's very effective.

He still throws 97, 98, which seems like everybody does these days anyway. He's got a sinker. He's got a four-seem fastball. He's also got a slider. He'll sometimes dabble with a change up, but mainly he's a three-pitch guy, but he has been really, really good over the last couple of seasons and has been really on his game so far here in 2024. So you don't want to get to the bullpen against the Tigers because they've been kind of like where the Cardinals are, where those back three guys have just been outstanding.

So yeah, the Cardinals don't face the ace. That's great, scoble, but good pitching against the Cardinals sputtering offense. not exactly a great matchup. Now, offensively, the Tigers are 24th and hitting. They're batting just 223, which is 26th, 24th and hitting at 223. They're 26th in OBP, 25th in slugging, 25th in OPS.

They're 25th in home run. So it's not like they're hitting a whole lot of those either. Only 23. So, you know, the Cardinals only got 18. Tigers only got 23. 10th highest in strikeouts. Cards are actually doing a lot better in that category. Remember, they were win.

up there in the strikeouts early on. They're now 14th in the league in strikeouts while the tigers are in 10th. Neither team runs very much. Tigers have 14 steals. The cardals have just 12. So when you look at this matchup over the next two days, these teams are actually very similar. Good starting pitching, not great because neither of the aces are going to go in the

series, but very good bullpins and not a whole lot of offense to speak of. So we could see some very low-scoring games. games over the next two days. A lot of three to twos, four to threes, two to ones. That might be what we're looking at. Offensively, Carrie Carpenter leads the Tigers in hitting at 276. Mark Kana and Riley Green are tops and dingers with just five. Kana leads an RBI's with 15. You guys remember Javi Baez? Remember Ann? One of the young stars on those Cubs teams that were really good, as painful as that is to say, Chris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, Kyle Schorber, Wilson Contreras, among others, all on those teams.

And he was one of their main guys, like was going to be a future superstar in the league. You know, he was on the cover of them. I'll be the show. And in 2022, the Tigers gave him a six-year, $140 million contract. Remember the Cubs traded him, goes to the Mets, was really good in New York.

And then he goes to Detroit. And things have not gone well ever since. And I wonder if it has to do with, he's not in one of those big markets. I mean, Detroit's a big market in general. Like, there's a lot of people that live there. But like he's not in New York or Chicago or like an LA or something like that. Like he has just, if the lights are brighter, he's probably better. But not quite as bright when you're playing for the Detroit Tigers. And his numbers show it. 22, hit 238, 17 home runs, 67 rebodies. His OBP was 278 is OPS plus 91. Now remember, 100 is league average. 2023, Havi Baez, 222, nine home runs, 59 RBIs, OBP 267, OPS plus of 62. So far in 2024, he's hitting 193, one home run, nine RBIs, an OBP of 233 is OPS plus 46.

He's making $25 million this year. It's guys like this. when we get mad because John Moseilock and the Cardinals won't give out a big contract to somebody, it's because of guys like this. This is why he's gun shy about long deals. So let's hope that Javi Baez remains comatose for the rest of this series and doesn't get those old Cub juices flowing again when he sees the Cardinals come to town. The Cardinals do have a couple of other former Cardinals on their team. The Tigers do.

I think I said Cardinals, the Tigers have a couple of other former Cardinals on their team. Jack Flaherty, who we mentioned. mentioned Shelby Miller is there and Carson Kelly. So three former top prospects in the Cardinals organization now playing for the Detroit Tigers. They've also got former number one overall pick. We mentioned Casey Mize, but also Spencer Torkelson, but he's been horrible so far this year. 2.14, no home runs 10 RBIs. So let's just let's just let these guys continue sleeping, shall we?

All right? Let's let's be quiet. Let's not, let's not wake up their offense. Let's get in, get the hell out with at least two wins, you know? All right, we're going to take a look at some injury updates next, including some very good news about Dylan Carlson. Coming up next on Lockdown Cardinals. It's playoff time in the NBA and NHL.

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Visit fando.com slash lockdown and make your first bet an automatic win. Fandul, America's number one sports book. Lockdown is launched the first ever national sports 24-7 streaming channel on YouTube. It's also available on Amazon Fire TV and the free Fire TV channels app. It's Locked on sports today. Here for you 24-7 covering the top sports stories of the day with the local experts of locked on plus our national shows covering every league so find locked on sports today now available on the free fire tv channels app dylan carlson boy do we miss him dylan carlson is going to begin

his rehab assignment with triple a memphis on tuesday love it love it finally this was confirmed by manager ali marmal um also added that carlson will appear as a d h for that games we're not going to play the field but he's getting in live action and he's swinging about and this is great news for the Cardinals who have been missing him ever since he went down. What was that? March 25th collided with Jordan Walker, who is now his teammate at Memphis right now, fell hard on that left shoulder.

And when it happened, I was like, you gotta be kidding me. I was so mad. MRI that night revealed a spray to the AC joint in the shoulder. And that's when they brought up Victor Scott the second and said, you know what, we're going to bring him up, we're going to play him. He's not going to just sit on the bench on this team.

He's going to start. But he struggled. Not so much defensively. He had the one bad game. But other than that, but offensively, man, just could not get anything going. Went five for 59 in 29 games. That's an 85 batting average people, 85,

before getting an option to Memphis on April the 21st. Now, who's been in centerfield since? Michael Ciani. Outstanding defensively, right? Pretty much every game he starts, he's diving and making some great play. You know, he's been amazing in center field, has done quite well in sacrifice bunt situations as well. His bunning ability is very, very good.

I made the joke yesterday on Twitter X that he should just bun every time, no matter what the situation is, just bunt, just bunt. At least you put it in play. But coming into the season, we were told that he was not a very good hitter. And so far, that scouting report has been dead on. Siani is hitting 108 so far this year. He is four for 37, one extra base head, one RBI, two stolen bases. His OPS Plus is 14.

Let me just put this out there for it. You ready for a goofy step? Four for 37, so he's got four hits, right? He's got five sacrifice hits or buntz. He has four real hits, five sacrifice hits or buntz. Just think about that for a moment. So all in all, between C. Siani and Victor Scott the second.

Those two guys, nine for 96 this year. That's a 92 batting average coming from your center fielders. 92. Now we have to assume that Dylan Carlson will be better than that offensively. He sure looked like it in spring training. Will he be as good as Siani or Victor in the field? Probably not. Siani is much quicker and faster, so is Victor.

but the Cardinals are getting almost nothing out of that never-nine spot in their order. It's just a black hole right now. So, and that's not helping their struggling offense any, where you're basically hitting with eight dudes. Not good, not good at all. So sooner or the better when it comes to Dylan Carlson. The other guy that was supposed to be the starting center fielder this year, Tommy Edmund, remember him?

Switch hitter yet to fully go through baseball activities after undergoing risk surgery back in October, but he has progressed, taking swings from both sides of the play, but he's doing it off the T. So far, no issues. Remember, he had to stop the rehab because of lingering pain and swelling and we all got nervous. I know I did that maybe he'd have to go back under the knife, that things didn't quite go the way they needed to. But Ali said this time around he's been good. He's recovering really well. It's a direct quote. So that's great to hear. They still have late May is a timetable for his return. So we'll see if they actually make that.

Matt Carpenter has been out since April 2nd and Ali said he was feeling really good. After taking live batting practice on Monday, he'll repeat that activity on Tuesday. And then Ali said the club will start to figure out what a rehab assignment will look like for the 38-year-old. And Keena Middleton, you know, a guy that was supposed to be a big part of this bullpen. Luckily, the team has been all right without him out there in the bullpen. scheduled to throw off the mound on Monday. It's not a simulation. The catcher was going to be standing up.

So Ali called him a mound catch. They just want to get him used to throwing off a mound since he's been throwing off flat ground for so long now. But he's progressing. You know, there was a time where we thought maybe he ain't going to be around this year because of the issue he was having. Maybe he'd have to have surgery. But so far, on the way back.

Next step for Middleton, who hasn't pitched since March 7th, will be a bullpen session. So fingers crossed that we get more good news from him. And nothing new to report on Riley O'Brien yet. It's been very radio silent on that, although at the time, they said no structural damage in that elbow. He's just got a strain. They're taking their time with them. Again, bullpen's been good. So it's not like you got to rush these guys back, you know, let them take their time.

Things are okay out in the bullpen thus far for the St. Louis Cardinals. All right, that's all I got for you today. Thanks for making Locktown Cardinals your first list in every day. If you haven't already, give us a follow on Twitter, X at L.O. underscore Cardinals at a JD Sports Radio, like and subscribe on YouTube. You're the best fans in baseball for a reason, and we will see you next time on Locked on Cardinals.