Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - The Good And The Bad At Spring Training

Episode Date: February 28, 2025

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Who are the biggest surprises, both good and bad at spring training so far for the St. Louis Cardinals? We'll talk about it today on 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. I'm J.D. Hafford and I'm your host for Locked on Cardinals, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network covering your team every day. Give me a follow on X at Jaddy Sports Radio and the podcast at L0 underscore Cardinals. on YouTube. Make sure you hit that like button, subscribe, comment, notification button. There's so many
Starting point is 00:00:40 buttons on YouTube that you can hit to make things go much smoother for everybody involved. Don't miss out on the new episodes, the shorts that we drop each and every day. Also now available on TikTok and Instagram at Lockedong Cardinals. This is a show serving Cardle Nation and giving the best fans in baseball, all of the info about the birds on the bat. Today's episode is brought to you by Fandle. Right now, new Fandle customers can get $150 in bonus bets if you're your first $5 bet wins. Download the app or head to fandul.com to get started. Our partner in crime, Thomas Govain from Redbirdrance.com,
Starting point is 00:01:13 joining us here today to discuss some Cardinal baseball. Before we get into it, lately I've been eating a lot of ballpark food while I've been watching the spring training games when they are on, Thomas. What is your favorite ballpark food other than a hot dog? Because everybody goes hot dog. What's like your backup? Sure. in Kansas City, it's where I live.
Starting point is 00:01:34 They've got the Royals, obviously, and so they have barbecue everywhere. There's at nachos with barbecue pulled pork that is absolutely delicious. Ooh, very nice. Yeah, I'm probably, I'm a pizza guy. Like in my heart, I'm a pizza guy first, everything. But I go pretzel is another one. But have you ever been to the Redbird Club at Bush Stadium, which is that? I have. Okay, so they got, you know, there's tons of options that are.
Starting point is 00:02:02 up there, but they do the Asian stir fry, which I never thought I'd be a fan of while watching baseball, but it's pretty, it's just right there in the little container and you just kind of woof it down. So that was pretty good. But, yeah, beer, hot dog, beer, pizza, beer, pretzel, not beer with the Asian stir fry, to be honest with you. No, that's risky. Yeah, I think I would soda on that version. But anyway, I don't know, it's going into spring, I get so excited about all the different aspects of watching a Cardinal game and food, obviously, a big part of it. Let us know what your guys' favorites are down in the comments section. Cardinals are taking on the Astros today on Friday.
Starting point is 00:02:41 Today is the 28th of February. Eric Fetty set to make the start against Hunter Brown. So if you're watching this action, in fact, clearly we're not going to have updated stats on what's going on in that game. But today, what we're going to do is go through some of the good and bad surprises of camp so far. And we're going to warn you, before we start saying these names and stuff, Once again, please do not, you know, overreact to what a player is or isn't doing at camp after the first, you know, five or six games. Some of these guys have only played in like two or three of them.
Starting point is 00:03:14 The most bats anybody's taken so far is nine. There's no need to really freak out about stuff. But we want to share with you some of our thoughts and observations on some of the good and bad that we've seen so far at camp. So, Thomas, we'll start with you. Let's go with position player first. What is a good surprise? Who you got? I have Coperniac as my good surprise here. Matt Coperniac. Look at him coming out of the woodworks with Matt Coperniac.
Starting point is 00:03:43 Yeah, pretty good. What's he been doing so far? He's a 944 slug. Stolen one base, struck out once, walked once. He is just getting on base. And that's essentially all we need. He's also serviceable in the outfield at all three spots. so he could easily make that push for the fourth outfielder depending on how the roster shakes out. He's gotten nine at bats, so he's gotten a lot of action, four hits in those nine at bats,
Starting point is 00:04:07 score two runs. He's just been kind of everywhere. Out of all the people who needed to do something in spring to show up, I think that he's on that list of players who needed to show off just so they can get a roster spot. He was just added to the 40 man, so he's kind of already fringy on the roster, not on the roster, but a strong spring could really push him to the level
Starting point is 00:04:25 that he wasn't expecting. Yeah, in Copernic, for those who are familiar, he's an older guy. I mean, not an old man by any means, but he's 27 already. But all he's done is hit. Like in his minor league career, like last year, he had really good numbers at Memphis, hit 309 with 20 home runs and 73 RBIs. The previous year before that in 2023 at a couple levels, 287, 18 home runs, 85 RBIs.
Starting point is 00:04:51 I mean, he's pretty darn consistent. And I feel like the only thing that if people, wasn't a left-handed hitter. If he was a right-handed hitter, like how huge would he be right now? Oh, yeah. It'd be crazy. Like it would make so much sense for him to be on this roster. But unfortunately, he's just, he's another left-handed bat, which is something the Cardinals have a pretty large supply of, including the guy I'm going to bring up next, the guy that has been a really good surprise for me. And a lot of people are excited for him again this year, Victor Scott the second, at 571. He's got the OBP of 667.
Starting point is 00:05:27 got a couple of stolen bases. And we know how, like, the Cardinals are a massive running team just because the horses who do a whole lot of running. We got some guys that got good speed, you know. Michael Ciani's got very good speed, but I get on base. Mason wins got good speed, you know, but these aren't like elite burner type guys where Victor Scott is. And you saw how he can change a game by getting on base and turning, you know,
Starting point is 00:05:54 walks or singles and doubles, even triples. He's got a dinger already this year. Just love the weapon that he can be and talked about it yesterday's episode, how he was very overwhelmed at the major league level, his first time up last year when he wasn't supposed to be on the roster, which is something most people forget that, you know, it took three injuries to New Bar and Edmund. That's right.
Starting point is 00:06:16 Tommy Edmund was on our roster last year. And also Dylan Carlson, before Victor Scott was kind of forced onto the roster and into that starting spot. They didn't know what Siani really was. And he struggled. He struggled mightily. Had a tough year all around, even in the minor leagues.
Starting point is 00:06:32 But when he was getting on base, he was still stealing bags, which is a dynamic that the Cardinals sorely lacking. All right. Let's do honorable mention good guys. What are your thoughts on Wilson Contreras so far? A beefier, muscular, Wilson Contreras over at first base. Any thoughts on what you've seen so far from him? Yeah, it's exactly. What I expected him to do as he switched over to first base was to have his offense really take off.
Starting point is 00:07:00 It's only been six at bats. He's got four hits, a double. He's just been mashing. And I think, as he said, he's stronger. He put on some more weight. I think he'll have a wonderful offensive season over at first base. And to see a good start to spring is encouraging. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:07:15 And the defensive stuff is going to come. There's going to be some growing pains there. So get ready for it. I've said it over and over. We've been very spoiled with the first base work of one Paul Gouldch, it's not as easy as it looks. And Wilson's surely going to make some plays that are going to make you go, what is he doing over there?
Starting point is 00:07:33 I don't know how good he's going to be at scooping. He's got that cannon arm, but, you know, throwing the ball to second base to turn to double play. It's not easy because the runner's just right there blocking it. You saw some issues with that already. But again, offense is the key with him. And that's why he's over at first base. What are your thoughts on J.J. Weatherholt so far.
Starting point is 00:07:52 Obviously, that first game was a was a big one with the Dinger. but what have you liked from him? He's stealing or he's using his speed, at least I should say. He's only got one stolen base, but he's putting his speed to an advantage. I love how he's playing shortstop. I think that'll be great for him, even if he isn't the long-term shortstop to get reps at the toughest defensive position is good for his development too. His energy is there.
Starting point is 00:08:16 It's exciting to see the top draft pick perform the way he has so far. Jordan Walker also want to bring him up real quick. I know the numbers aren't exactly where people want them to be again, but it's very early. But something that was brought up by Kareem is the stance, the change in the stance where he normally had that wide open with the toe kind of bent, kind of Ivan Herrera-ish, the way that he does it too, but he's closed it off. So I think that's part of trying to get to that outside pitch when he does swing at it. So it's been interesting to watch him. And, you know, we're curious to see how him he'll improve this spring.
Starting point is 00:08:53 Let's go bad surprise position player, who was someone that hasn't had a good start that you might be concerned with a little bit so far. Mason win, our hero, last year's savior. Yeah, Mason, he's no hits and nine at bats, struck out a couple times. It's spring, so I'm not overly concerned. I think we have a baseline for him after last year,
Starting point is 00:09:16 offensively at least, so he'll probably get around that mark, but to not get a hit so far. after nine at bats. That's a little bit interesting. Yeah. It's been tough to watch because he just hasn't looked like he's comfortable in the box yet during the games that have been televised. Another guy that hasn't had any success yet that they're banking on is Nolan Gorman. You know, part of this whole Aronado trade thing was so Gorman could get the at-bats and hopefully that that would help him turn things around. And again, we're trying not to freak out about things. But nine at bat so far and five
Starting point is 00:09:47 strikeouts. So the strikeouts are still there. He does not have a hit. He's hardly putting the ball in play. And he's got one walk thus far. And it's tough to watch because you know what he could offer you and what he can provide if he's putting the ball in play. I mentioned it yesterday that I just worry about the mental side of the thing with them. Worked all summer with Bram Brown and to get off to an ice cold start like he has. It's got to be pretty discouraging and a little upset. So hopefully, you know, he's writing good things in his journal and he's going to be okay.
Starting point is 00:10:20 and mentally he's fine and just has to understand that, you know, hey, you're just getting used to this stuff again and working on things. And, you know, hopefully we'll get some better days from Nolan Gorman here in the very near future. We're going to switch it up and talk about some good and bad pitchers. We'll do that next coming up on Locked on Cardinals. When the game tips off, the NBA action is just getting started and there's no better place to get in on it than Fandall, America's number one sports book with Fandall. You can place live bets throughout the game.
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Starting point is 00:12:19 Always welcome and encourage we're to get to some of your questions for Thomas a little bit later. Thomas Govane from Redbird Rance.com joining us today discussing what we've seen good and bad so far at spring training. I didn't mean to cut you off at the end there. Did you have some thoughts on Nolan Gorman? Sorry about that. No, you're good. I think he just needs to go back to his buttery popcorn he had in 2023.
Starting point is 00:12:40 The popcorn, whatever was working in 2020, go do it. You're not fast anyway. I just, you know, put on some weight. It's okay. It's okay. Butter up that stuff. Yeah. Things are bad.
Starting point is 00:12:53 And I was looking at his spring training stats too in 2020. It was like, wow. It ended up with like four dingers and 12 ribby. That's the guy we need. And hopefully he makes an appearance here soon. Anyway, let's go to the pitching side of things, Thomas. Who is your first good surprise on the pitching side for the Cardinals in this spring so far? I loved what Ticoa Robi showed in his outing a couple days ago.
Starting point is 00:13:17 Yeah, two innings pitch, three strikeouts. But his stuff had ridiculous movement on it. Kareem Hack had some stuff about it. And then there's another guy out there. I'm a butcher's last name, but it's Thomas. Nisdico, he had some stats about it as well. The movement on his pitches was good. He had strong velocity on them.
Starting point is 00:13:34 His key is health. I mean, I think he could be a really legitimate mid-rotation starter right there with Quinn Matthews, Cooper Jerpy, Tinkent, like those four guys alone. We'll probably lead our staff in a couple years. And so to see him get off to a good start coming off of an injury season, it's encouraging. Yeah, 98 on the gun. And it was like an easy 98 too. I was, and that's not something that you normally see in the first.
Starting point is 00:13:59 Maybe adrenaline was pumping a little bit for Toccoa, and that's why he was up there pretty easily. But God, yeah, that was extremely impressive. And as you mentioned, it's been health with Tocua. There hasn't been any doubts that, you know, he's got the stuff. It's just trying to stay on the mound. And it seems like any time he starts to get revved up again, he's got a very large noobbar type of injury stuff going on, where as soon as he starts getting healthy and revved up again, something happens and knocks him back down.
Starting point is 00:14:28 He's got to get back up to it. And it's really, really difficult for pitchers. It's even more difficult because, you know, hitters, you get a couple of games in and you seem like you're fine. Where pitchers, I mean, especially starters, you're throwing every five days. And it's just not as easy to get back to where you want to be.
Starting point is 00:14:44 Good surprise for me. I'm going to go with another young guy who may or may not be a starter at some point with that group you mentioned for the Cardinals in the future. How about Matthew Libretor so far this spring? Four innings, no hits, no runs, two strikeouts. I was impressed with him last year when he got comfortable in the bullpen. Impressed with him again so far this year. I know they got him stretched out for starting just in case,
Starting point is 00:15:09 just in case. He even talked about it where he's like, you know, it's easier to be ready for five innings and then bring it down to one or two then go the other way. So it doesn't mean that they're going to make him a starter. this year. I genuinely think that they've got, they stay healthy. They're not going to need him. That's what you're hoping for is that he can stay in that bullpen and be a huge piece of the puzzle in the back end of that along with some other guys that we want to bring up right now.
Starting point is 00:15:39 Honorable mentions having good camp so far. What are your thoughts on Riley O'Brien? He was the star of spring last year and things didn't go so well for him because of injury in the regular season. but so far, so good. Yeah, five strikeouts, two innings, but this is the Riley O'Brien that we saw last year. This is when we won it this year. I think he has a great shot to be a seventh or eighth inning guy, depending on how, like, Liberator Romero, those types of guys shake out.
Starting point is 00:16:05 And, I mean, he's got ridiculous stuff. We know that he's showing it again in spring training. Just once again, health. Stay on the mountain. A guy that the Cardinals brought last year, which nobody really knew a lot about ended up having a solid, solid season because he had to stay on the roster because he was a rule five pick. Ryan Fernandez, uh, who did a fantastic job last year.
Starting point is 00:16:28 And so far this spring, he's picked up right where he left off. Uh, another guy in the same kind of area that Riley O'Brien looks like he's going to be a seventh, eighth, maybe, you know, a fill in closer. If Ryan Helsley goes down or gets traded or something, uh, two winnings, four strikeouts, he's got a walk, but he's had some filthy stuff on the mound so far. I've been, uh, it's, it's looked better. in spring training than it did last year, at least just the eyeball test for me with Ryan Fernandez. What are your thoughts so far on some other other younger guys, maybe like a Gordon Grecepho?
Starting point is 00:17:02 What have you seen out of him so far? Have you liked what you got? Yeah, I'm glad he's getting a shot in spring to truly start or possibly be in the bullpen. I don't know if you saw his interview with Trevor Rosenfall and Katie Wu, but he seemed very happy to take whatever role was given to him. and he's proving that he will step up wherever we need him. He's just a solid guy regardless of where he's going to be pitching, and he's also a pretty good start himself too in spring. Yeah, another guy that I've liked what I've seen so far. I just don't know what they're going to be able to do with them
Starting point is 00:17:33 because, again, the roster crunch, if everybody's healthy, is Rotary Munoz. I've liked what I've seen out of Munoz so far. We were told by the Marlins guys that, you know, he's got a live arm. He just has to be able to find the strike zone. his real problem. And, you know, so far so good at camp for Rotary Munoz. Again, he's not coming in in early games or anything like that where he's facing, you know, the top dogs for each team.
Starting point is 00:17:59 But so far, let's see here, two winnings, three strikeouts, hasn't allowed anything at all, no hits, no runs. And more importantly, no walks. One save, too. He's got one save. There you go. He's also got a save as well. Spring training. saves are, yeah. The most useless stat, probably. Yeah, when your closers are coming in in the fourth inning, you know, saves or whatever. Let's go to the disappointing side of things.
Starting point is 00:18:29 And once again, I want to remind you guys that, you know, we're not going to freak out because most of these guys are on their first or second appearance so far this spring. But a couple of guys have struggled and it's got to be discussed. If we're going to talk about the dead stuff, you got to bring up the bad. Who's somebody that you were like, whoa, that wasn't good. Yeah, I think hence, he got rocked in one of his innings. He came back out and struck out a couple guys.
Starting point is 00:18:52 One guy, sorry. But he had six earned runs in his one appearance, only one in the third inning. I think they wanted two out of them. He's a guy that he might be a contributor by the end of the year. So they need to see him get on track and get some good innings in spring. Yeah. And again, that was the greatest part about that was after he did struggle. And he got knocked around.
Starting point is 00:19:14 He was able to come back. and do very, very well. I had a very quick inning in that game against the Yankees. A guy who did not have such luck was Sim Robbersa, who had the same thing as Tink, where he went out there. And the horrible part about Sim, too, is that, you know, he gets the first two guys before all hell broke loose against them.
Starting point is 00:19:36 It looked like he was going to be in and out, no big deal, and everybody's fine. And then he got knocked around, gave up the dinger. They take him out, then they bring him back in that next inning. And he gets hammered once again. A tough day for Sim Robbersa, a better days in the future for him. Again, Tink, not going to be on the roster to start the season. Sim Robersa, not going to be on the roster to start the season.
Starting point is 00:20:01 We did have a little bit of a hiccup yesterday with Andre Palante. What were your thoughts on Palanté's first start of the spring? I wasn't really worried. I mean, it's what we expected? They got, what, five singles, ground out, ground out, The hardest exit philosophy is 107 was ground out. There was a single up the middle that was 45.2 miles per hour. Like this is what we expect out of Andre Palante.
Starting point is 00:20:24 It's just a matter of the defense coming through or the ball going to the right spot. I do want to touch on because it's something that was brought up during Palante start as well as Ryan Housley so far. And that's the tick down of Velo for both those guys. like how we said earlier with Tocoa Robi, most people don't come out hammering 98. That's not normally how it is, especially the veteran guys, especially not want to say a veteran like these guys are old dudes,
Starting point is 00:20:54 but guys who, you know, they have a batter. They start the season, they start the spring where they're just slowly but surely revving up. So maybe Halsley is only going 80, 85%. You know, maybe, you know, Palante was, you know, working on a couple of things and wasn't trying to throw it past people
Starting point is 00:21:11 where he's normally at 95 and was down around 91, 92 yesterday. So do you have any concerns with the Velo or is the excuse I'm making good enough for you? Yeah, it's good enough. We did the same song and dance with Helsley last year after 10 games. Like his Velo was down, everybody's freaking out. They could be working on stuff. Injuries are always a concern for these guys. They're both veterans of the game.
Starting point is 00:21:34 Like they know what their body needs at this point. So they could just be working their way up slowly and getting some reps in before they really rev it up. All right. We're going to move on and do some questions for Thomas from our fans. We call it the fan feedback segment. We'll have that coming up for you next on Locked on Cardinals. Thank you again for making Locktown Cardinals. Your first list and today for your second list and find Lockedon MLB. Our baseball guru, Sully, brings you a daily blend of humor in baseball, keeping you updated on all the teams during spring training. He has got his hands full. You know, we got all of this discussion about just the Cardinals and so many things to talk about. He's got all the teams.
Starting point is 00:22:17 if you want to hear about things going on with some of the other teams, make sure you find Locked on M-L-B on YouTube or wherever you listen to your podcasts. All right, so we got a couple of questions here for you, Thomas. We have another Tom. Tom wants to know. Hey. And he spells it. He spells it,
Starting point is 00:22:36 T-O-M, not T-H-O-M. Does that bother? If I go by Tom, I'm T-O-M-2. Okay, all right. So T-O-M wants to know the rumors about the Cardinals, trading Aronado or Fetty this spring. How strong do you feel about them? Do you really think it's something they might do?
Starting point is 00:22:55 I think Fetty is a higher chance of being traded at this point, especially once more pitchers start going down. I mean, you look at the Mets, they're already down to starting pitchers. They could do some help. I would be surprised if Aronado is traded in the spring. It's just such a complex deal between his no trade clause and his contract and the return the cardinals want. Feddy is an easier swap.
Starting point is 00:23:14 You give $7 million and Feddy goes with his contract. and we get a prospect. Like, that's a pretty straightforward exchange. Is that something you'd want to do, though? Like, let's say the feedback, like the return is, you know, an okay prospect, you know, nothing top of the line by any means. But are you okay with trading Fetty at this point? Or would you rather see him stick around and be more of a trade deadline type of thing?
Starting point is 00:23:39 Would you take the risk that he'll be as good as he was last year? Yeah, I think I would and see what we can get. if we're competing, we keep them as a number two starter at the deadline. We make some additions on the edges where we can without giving up prospects. If we're not competing, the return will be lighter at the deadline, but you'll still get something back. Probably an organization's 10 through 15 prospect, depending on how good their pipeline is. Yeah, I just, I feel like this point, and I think it's more just a personal thing for me where, like, I just want to keep the guys I got right now. Like, I don't want to do this all spring where we're like, keep coming over.
Starting point is 00:24:15 Like, that's just me, though. Like it doesn't mean it's going to have it. I'm like, I want my group of guys. I want them all mashing together and building their clubhouse and ready to go during the season. And we'll see where the chips fall. You know, if the Cardinals are in contention, will they even go out to make some kind of blockbuster move? Probably not anyway.
Starting point is 00:24:34 So, I mean, these are kind of your guys. And if they're going to be any good, it's going to take the young guys becoming better players to push them to that level. And if they're out of it and you've got some of these expiring contracts, you know, And people get desperate at the trade deadline. I don't know how desperate people are at the beginning of spring training. You know, like you mentioned, the Mets have lost a couple guys, but how desperate are they? You know, can they take, or they think they'll, well, you know, we'll get by where trade deadline.
Starting point is 00:25:02 Everybody's like, dude, we got to match whatever this guy is doing it and stuff. And they start coming up with outrageous trade ideas. And that's when you can take advantage of desperate general manager. So, but again, the risk is your guys have to be good. they have to stay healthy. And if something happens to them, you're screwed. So it's just kind of the gamble you take. Glad you mentioned talking about how good they might be.
Starting point is 00:25:24 We have multiple people who want to know what you're over under on wins this year for the Cardinals, Thomas. And a lot of people, I think we've seen what, like 77 has been a good number to look at. Or do you think they'll fall? Yeah. So for over unders, you have to have the half in there, right? That's the idea. So you're, okay, perfect. probably 79 and a half.
Starting point is 00:25:46 I don't know. That feels right. I could easily see them being an 83 win team. I could also see like a 76 win team. So I'll put it right at 79 and a half there. Yeah, like it really depends on health. Like, you know, losing Contreras last year was such a big piece that went away for half the season. And your offense took a big hit.
Starting point is 00:26:06 And then, of course, with Nato and Goldie having down years, that's your three, four, five guys just being not there, really. And they still won 83 games, which kind of tells you there's still some talent over here. And if any of these guys make any sort of jump, I feel like they're very capable of winning 83 to 85 games again this year. So would you bet the over on 79 and a half then? I keep telling people, I'm the optimistic guy. So if you like my sunshines and lollipops look on things, then you should bet with me and go over. I think they're going to be. I would do over too, I think.
Starting point is 00:26:41 Yeah. I think they're going to be better than people think, but again, I'm blinded by these red color lenses that I wear most of the time during the show. So I always see the better side of things as opposed to the negative to my own detriment sometimes. Outfielders, question here. Who, if they keep five, who are the five you're hanging on to? And I guess, I mean, are you counting Brennan? I guess you got to count Brennan as well. Outfielders.
Starting point is 00:27:10 Yeah, I think so. Moseilock even just mentioned somewhere. Ken Rosenthal is an article, and Moseilock said something about Donovan being an outfielder. So the five would probably be Donnie, Newt, Siani, Jordan Walker, is Alec Berlinson an outfit? I don't know, because there's so many people who can shift around. Yeah, like those would be by five probably.
Starting point is 00:27:31 I think Victor Scott's had a ridiculous spring. We did this last year or two, where he moved him, he wasn't, like, let him get 20, 30 games in AAA, show this is real. and then bring them on up. So I'd say Siani, Newtbar, Walker, Burley, and Donnie. Okay. That's, I agree with it. Again, I don't know why this is every year.
Starting point is 00:27:52 There's this numbers crunch in the outfield. It doesn't matter what we do. We trade them away. We cut people and there's still like nine outfielders who could be playing each and every day, which I guess is a good problem. But it seems like we picked the wrong person to keep around when it's time. I didn't look at the is Burleson in the lineup today?
Starting point is 00:28:13 I just had it up. I don't know. I post it because to me it's kind of been a little odd that he's only got Fort Bat so far. And I'm like, oh gosh. I was like, this guy led our team in RBI's last year and he can't even get on the field now. Like it's kind of weird to see. But yeah, yeah, that's probably where it's going to be.
Starting point is 00:28:34 Is there any chance Michael Ciani doesn't make this club? the only chance he has of not making the club, I would say it would be a trade. Like, if we just dump him off for whatever we can get, he'll probably be on. Even he's a very solid fourth outfielder. Like, I don't want him starting probably. But if he can come in for speed or defense in the seventh inning, get Jordan Walker out of there. Like, I think that's fine. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:28:56 Yeah, he's a good bench bat. I think we'll be okay with him. But a lot of these things are going to get worked out, you know, something. There are going to be injuries that are going to happen. And things are going to fluctuate throughout. out the spring. We're only a few games in, guys. So these are our initial thoughts on it. Let us know what you think about it. Who's the ups? Who's the downs so far for you? Maybe some people we didn't mention, hit us up in the comments section and let us know. Thomas, where can they follow
Starting point is 00:29:20 you online? I'm on Twitter. Go find me. That's all. I'm not like, okay, I post my articles. I've got some Cardinals thoughts out there. That's about all I've got. My Twitter is for my baseball. Redbird Rance.com as well as where you can find a lot of Thomas's work. Anything else you're working on any upcoming stories? Because you've been doing some of those historic things. I have. I think that's it for now. I was going to write some of Yadi's extension anniversaries tomorrow,
Starting point is 00:29:48 but I missed the deadline on that. I've got one coming out. This is actually historical. Augie Nash on Twitter, the Cardinals historian for social media. He posted nine players who spent their entire career with the Cardinals for a minimum of 10 years. So I've got to write up on that. And then I've got one about which players are going to benefit the most from ABS down the road. Yes, which have you been a fan of that so far?
Starting point is 00:30:11 I love it. Yeah, I went to a AAA game last year and it was cool to see in person. It's a 10-second review. It's kind of exciting in the stadium, too. It's like you get to watch it on the big screen. Everybody gets to react at the same time. I think it's fun. And you're like, ooh, look how close it was.
Starting point is 00:30:26 Helps was right. Good for you. Just how we always get crap to the ups. I feel like they should take a bow when they get it right. like thank you thank you we're booing back here you guys behind home plate shut up i'm good all right well thank you again for joining us here on locked on cardinals and thank you for making locked on cardinals your first listen every day if you haven't already give thomas follow obviously at thomas govane on x you can also follow us at l o underscore cardinals at a jd sports radio we're
Starting point is 00:30:52 also on ticot now at locked on cardinals and on instagram like subscribe on youtube help our channel and our love for the cardinals grow you guys are the best fans in baseball for a reason and we'll see you next time on Locked on Cardinals. Thank you so much, Thomas. Absolutely. Thank you.

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