Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - The Latest On Jordan Walker And His Future In St. Louis

Starting point is 00:00:00 It's a fan feedback show today with thoughts and questions about Jordan Walker. A lot of trade speculation talk. We're going to talk about some teams I want you to keep an eye on and a whole lot more. Coming up on today's episode of Locked on Cardinals. You are Locked on Cardinals. Your daily St. Louis Cardinals podcast, part of the Lopped On podcast network, your team every day. Hey there, Cardinals fans. I'm J.D. Haffron and I'm a national radio sports anchor, born and raised in the Lou,

Starting point is 00:00:33 and a lifetime Cardinals fan. and I'm your host for Lockdown 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 follow the podcast at L.O. underscore Cardinals. What are they those of you who make Lockdown Cardinals your first listen every day? We are free and available wherever you get your podcast. You can find us on YouTube. Make sure you stop by like and subscribe and comment.

Starting point is 00:00:55 That way you're interacting with us. A lot of the comments that we're going to talk about today from you, the fans, is going to be from the comment section on YouTube mostly. We get Twitter X stuff a lot too, but the YouTube comments gives you a little more room to say your thoughts a little bit clear. You can type more in there, so it works out nicely. Make sure you hit the notification button so you know when new episodes are posted. This is a show serving Cardle Nation and giving the best fans of baseball, all of the info about the birds on the bat. Today's episode brought to you by Fandul.

Starting point is 00:01:26 Make every moment more as playoffs will wind down. The sports stop sporting like we want them to. But this summer, Fandul is hooking up all couples. customers with a boost or a bonus daily. That's right. There's something for everyone every day, all summer long. Visit fandal.com slash locked on to get started. So here we are on July the 2nd, July the 2nd, 2024, and the Cardinals are currently 43 and 40 on the season. They're in second place in the NL Central. They're six games back of the Milwaukee Brewers. There are three up on the Pirates, four and a half up on the Reds, five up on the Cubs. In a wow.

Starting point is 00:02:03 They currently reside in the number three wild card spot with the Padres just ahead of them in the number two spot. And then the Braves holding down the top spot. Now, considering how the beginning of the season went to be where they are right now, I think most of us would say that's pretty good, right? That's pretty good. Because there was an ugly start, 14 and 16 after April, 27 and 28 after May, but they go 16 and 12 in June. and although finishing just four games over 500, it doesn't sound like a lot. It doesn't sound all that great.

Starting point is 00:02:38 I agree with you. You're like, I thought they were better than that. But when you look at what they've done in their last 20 games, that's where you see the real big difference, the 13 and 7 record, which is the second best record in the National League behind only the New York Mets who have come on strong. So that's the second best record in the National League.

Starting point is 00:02:57 The turnaround has been significant, but despite what feels like, you know, a winning culture at the ballpark. Everybody seems to be pretty happy and feeling pretty loose. Although things got a little tight in that Red Series, you hate to just split that one. But still, questions still remain, right? As to whether or not this team is actually good enough to make the playoffs. I mean, you're just in the third wildcard spot. It's not like you're running away with things.

Starting point is 00:03:26 So whether or not the team, as is right now, is good enough. and if not, where is the extra oomph going to come from? Like how are they going to improve this team? Who can help them out? And that's where most of the questions come from in our fan feedback today. Not so much that people don't believe in what's going on with the St. Louis Cardinals. They're just kind of questioning how they're going to improve things because they need improvements. Every team that's going into the playoffs is going to look for a way to improve.

Starting point is 00:03:54 They all do it, even the best of the best. The Phillies will try to improve. The Dodgers will try to improve. They're all going to go after some people. So what can the Cardinals do to make sure they get in? And there are questions about who is going to be on the team and maybe about guys who were on the team and what's going on with them.

Starting point is 00:04:17 Specifically, I want to get straight into the Jordan Walker talk because that's where a lot of questions are popping up about players currently on the roster or aren't on the roster now. Now it's Jordan Walker. Everybody wants to know what's going on with Jordan Walker because the other guys that are missing from this lineup that Tommy Edmonds, the new part, it's injury related, right? Jordan Walker has not been hurt. As far as we know, it's just literally been a lack of production, has been his problem. So we had multiple questions about him, what he's doing, how he's doing, is he ready to come back up?

Starting point is 00:04:51 So we're just going to kind of lump it all into one big pot right here. And we'll talk about all of it. So for those unfamiliar, in case you're new to the podcast, Jordan Walker rated as one of the top prospects in baseball last year. Makes the team out of spring training, even though I felt like they shouldn't have done that. But they brought him up. He has that nice hit streak. Remember when the season started?

Starting point is 00:05:13 But then they sit him back down to work on launch angles. He was hitting the ball on the ground too much for their liking. Comes back up in June and has a solid rookie season. If you remember, hit 276 with 16 home runs, 51 RBIs. OBP of 3.42. He's slugging to 445. OPS 787 and 117 games. OPS plus 113. You're thinking, sky's the limit in 2024, right? Like, oh boy, what if he makes that next leap and makes that next jump to the next level of hitter? What can we expect out of Jordan Walker? The exact opposite happens. He struggles big time. The pitchers and the main.

Starting point is 00:05:57 Major League level figure out Jordan Walker can't lay off the outside pitch, and he has trouble hitting it the other way with any authority. Ends up batting 155, no home runs, four RBIs and 20 games with the Cardinals. The OPS Plus at 42, just gruesome stuff. So they send him back down again, thinking, all right, he just needs another restart. It gets confidence back up, you know, and we'll bring him back up. Similar to last year. They're hoping for exactly what happened in 2023.

Starting point is 00:06:27 Unfortunately, that hasn't happened. The problem is the numbers at Memphis, they're not great. They're not feeble. They're not 155 like he was sitting at the major league level, but they're not to the point where it would warrant a callback up anytime soon. So at Memphis, Jordan is sitting coming into Tuesday, is hitting 250, four home runs, 18 RBIs, an OBP of just 304, slugging just 395,

Starting point is 00:06:55 the OPS at 699 over 4, 49 games. Small sample size, 49 games, not a long time. Hardly major league worthy numbers, though. So as annoying as it is, I'm going to steal a word from John Moseilog's vocabulary and just say, we got to show some patience. We got to show some patience. I know. I know. It's driving you nuts. You don't want to hear that. But that is something that we need to do as fans. It's also something that the Cardinals apparently are going to do with Jordan Walker. They're not going to rush this. You know, there are some out there like myself who felt like he was rushed in the major leagues last year to start the season. Second half, it looked like he belonged, right?

Starting point is 00:07:34 He was getting better in the outfield, certainly looked better at the plate. But just 22 years old still. And we're not talking about a guy in his mid-20s already where the clock is ticking, like a Dylan Carlson. We're not talking about that level of like the age and where we're expecting things maybe to happen now or they may never happen. It's not there. But it's certainly concerning that things haven't turned around the way we were hoping they would for him when they sent him back down in April. So the cardinals are going to take it slow. And until he's ready, they're not going to make a move on this guy.

Starting point is 00:08:10 And it's not like they're desperate for him right now. You know, the outfield has been a complete mess all season. You have the struggles of Walker and Victor Scott the second at the beginning of the year. Victor still hasn't gotten his legs under him at Trouple. AAA either, like neither one of them who were up on the team are doing all that much better at Memphis. You had the injuries to Edmund, to Newport, to Carlson. Luckily for the team, things have really worked out for my guy, Michael Ciani, who has emerged as a gold glove caliber center fielder, plus five in defensive run saved in center field. And I think he's plus eight overall as an outfielder all together.

Starting point is 00:08:46 Alec Burleson has been huge. He's become the header that he showed he was in college. And in the minor leagues, remember he won that batting title and everybody laughed about because last year was such a tough year for him in his rookie year, he's showing you that, yeah, he can hit and he can hit at the major league level. And he's becoming a big part of why the Cardinals have turned things around. We always trusted Brennan Donovan, no matter where you put him to do a good job. And you've seen him do that in left field where he's a plus one in defensive run saved,

Starting point is 00:09:14 has made an error. He doesn't have the range of some of the other outfielders, but he gets to most of them, right? He's not hurting you in left field. let's put it that way. It's why I keep saying when Edmund and Newt get back here, this is going to be kind of tough. There's going to be some tough decisions here. And this is without even worrying about Walker.

Starting point is 00:09:35 Let's pretend Jordan Walker doesn't even come up the rest of the year. You still have a lot of guys who can play out field for you and do it pretty well. It's something, it's got me thinking about next year in a way. like what if Paul Goldschmidt is not retained? I know a lot of us believe that they're just going to keep them, try to get them on a one, maybe two-year deal, keep them around,

Starting point is 00:10:01 which you can see the benefit of doing that. You can also go, maybe we should just move on, especially if it's going to be super expensive, which it probably will be. But if Goldie's not around next year, Alec Berluson, is that your new full-time first basement?

Starting point is 00:10:17 I think a lot of people are on board with that after seeing Burley be able to hold his own at the major league level now. Seems like a logical step. Then your outfield on paper, as long as they're healthy, as long as they're producing for next year would give you Donnie,

Starting point is 00:10:33 Newt, Edmund, Ciani, and Walker. That's pretty good five right there, and that's not including your number three overall prospect and Victor Scott the second cracking the lineup at all. So I know it's down the road a little bit, but it's just something that I started thinking about. And it was something I was thinking about this weekend, watching the, you know, watching the games at Bush Stadium and watching them play the Reds.

Starting point is 00:10:57 I'm like, what if Burleson's your first basement of the future now? Does that seem so far fetched anymore? I don't think so. Let's get into some trade speculation, which is a lot of fun to talk about ideas from you, questions from you. We're going to get to that next with many fans on board with adding this one particular pitcher from the AAL East. I'll let you know who that is coming up next on Lockdown Cardinals. I love sports. I love them so much. I never want them to stop.

Starting point is 00:11:28 And now with the NBA and the NHL finals over, we've got fewer games. We've got fewer games. I know NBA Free Agency has been fun to go through NHL Free Agency. Not as much fun for the blues right now. Not a whole lot going on there. But Fandul keeps the sports going whenever you want, whenever I want. And that's one of the beautiful things about going to Fandul. All I have to do is open up the app and just dream up bets anytime I'm in the mood. Cardinals in Pittsburgh to face the pirates over the next three days. Tonight you got Kyle Gibson looking for a bounce back game against Mitch Keller,

Starting point is 00:11:58 whom the Cardinals kind of knocked around a little bit, bit bit pretty good their last time against him. Wilson Contreras batting 333 against him and 15 at bats in his career. Is this the Wilson Contreras breakout time? He's got a dinger off Mitch Keller. Can he get one? That's going to be up to you to make the decision on. Do you trust Gibson to be back to normal tonight after an ugly start against Atlanta?

Starting point is 00:12:21 Not a lot of pirates have hit him all that well in his career. So just things to think about, home runs, hit, strikeout, stolen bases. It's almost limitless on the things that you can bet on with Fandole. And this summer Fandall is hooking up all customers with a boost or a bonus daily. That's right. There's something for everyone every day all summer long. So head over to fandole.com slash locked on and start making the most out of your summer. Fandall, the official sports vetting partner of Major League Baseball.

Starting point is 00:12:51 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 go ahead and make the switch to Lockdown Sports Today. It's a free 24-7 sports streaming channel program for you every day to bring you the biggest stories without all of the screaming. Locked on sports today brings you can't-miss analysis, opinions and news, streaming 24-7 on YouTube or the free Amazon Fire TV channels app. It's part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day.

Starting point is 00:13:17 Thanks for making a Locktown Cardinals your first listen every day. You can leave your comments on YouTube as well as on Twitter X anytime you want that feedback. always welcome and encouraged. And this is a part of the show where we're going to rely on you to do a lot of the work here because I want to hear your thoughts on trade speculation and on what you want to do. Who are some people that you want to target? Who are some people you are willing to trade? These are the things that I want from you.

Starting point is 00:13:43 That way we can discuss them in a fun, Locked on Cardinals environment together. So even if your ideas are a little bit ridiculous because some of them get ridiculous. list, but we're not going to laugh at you too much. We're not going to point fingers at you. We'll just discuss it. So Friday, I gave you a few targets that were brought up by Thomas Covein over at Redbird Rance.com. The three I gave you pitching wise for Amber Baldaz from the Astros, Tanner Scott from the

Starting point is 00:14:10 Marlins. And the one most fans ended up getting behind was Zach Afflin from the Tampa Bay Rays. Now, Zach Afflin just pitched for the raise on Friday night after we released that episode. And he was outstanding against Washington. The Nationals have been a pretty good team so far this year, surprising a lot of folks. He tosses six shutout innings, allows just four hits, strikes out six, walks one, picks up his fourth win of the season.

Starting point is 00:14:36 Again, everything about Eflin makes a lot of sense for the Cardinals. He's a veteran, doesn't walk people hardly at all, isn't on a big contract. As far as like years and massive amount, you know, he's going to make, you would have to get him, pay him whatever for this season, and then you got them at $18 million for next season. I don't know what the cost would be. I don't know what the raise would ask for to get them, but there would be plenty of teams that are going to try to go after them

Starting point is 00:15:05 if the raise decide to sell. And again, that's where part of the problem is with talking about these players is that there are only a couple of teams that have already decided, hey, we're out and we're going to start trading people. The raise have not been one of those teams yet. Not yet, I say. Because it could happen. It could happen.

Starting point is 00:15:27 But we don't know. We don't know what they're going to do just yet. So we have to kind of hope that the Tampa Bay Rays are a team that will become sellers. They've got some relievers to Jason Adam, Phil Maton, Garrett Clevenger, all veterans who, for the right price, they might be willing to move. So definitely Tampa Bay is somebody that you want to keep an eye on. But they're seven and three in their last 10, 42 and 42 overall. They're 11 back of the Yankees in the division. So they can kiss that goodbye.

Starting point is 00:16:02 But there are only four back in the wild card in the American League. But it's a lot tougher in the American League than it is the National League. So somebody to keep an eye on, all right, is the Tampa Bay raise and the stuff that they have. Got a suggestion here from space magic storm says, would like maybe you say Kikuchi or Jose Berrios from the Jays. Your thoughts. The Jays are definitely a team that I think is going to be willing to sell some guys. And you might see the move some big names.

Starting point is 00:16:35 I know we've heard Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s name kicked around a little bit. He's gotten hot. So he's going to command huge stuff. A Boba Shet, who's at a bad ear. If they decide to move on from him, if somebody wants to give up the bag to get him, that's be somebody. These are not guys the Cardinals would be after, but the Blue Jays are certainly thinking about their future. They're 38 and 46, 15 back in the division, eight out of the wild card.

Starting point is 00:17:01 Of the two that you just mentioned, Kukuchi is the one that, for me, fits a trade scenario for the Cardinals much better. 33 years old, he's a free agent after the year. So he wouldn't cost nearly as much as someone like Zach Eflin, who's got a year of control still. So that's going to, you know, jack the price up a little bit. So this won't cost him, you know, Kikuchi. Berrios is going to be very, very excited. If you're trying to pull Jose Berrios out of Toronto, good luck with that. Because he's not a free agent until 2029. Does have an opt-out year after 2027, which, you know, that's something that you got to worry about.

Starting point is 00:17:36 Like it was something that the Rockies were worried about with Aronado, which was one of the reasons why they moved him to the Cardinals. So that's something to keep in your back of your mind. But I'd rather focus on Kikuchi here because he is the guy that. I think would make a lot more sense than the Cardinals giving up what it might take to go get Barrio. So Cacucci, left-hander, four and eight on the year, but records or whatever. The ERA, 4.18, his ERA plus 95.

Starting point is 00:18:04 So below league average so far here in 2024, but strikeouts per nine, 9.5, which you love. Cardals could use some more swing and miss. His FIP, which is fielding independent pitching, is a respectable 3.53. It's pretty good. It puts them right around the top 25 in all of Major League Baseball there. For reference, Afflens is higher, but still strong at 3.68. But, you know, Kukuchi with a 3.53, that's something that you keep an eye on. That's something you like to see, which means he's probably pitched better than what the numbers say. I think he'd be an excellent candidate for the Cardinals moving forward to help solidify the back of

Starting point is 00:18:47 the rotation with Stephen Matt's still up in the air. We do not know what we're going to get there. I've also brought up Chris Bassett as someone I'd keep an eye on from the base rotation, a guy that I've been fond of since this time in Oakland. I like them there. In the bullpen for Toronto, too, because I'm also thinking about bullpen help. I think the cartels are going to need that. I think they will need that for sure.

Starting point is 00:19:10 I worry about, and I've said it before, the strain of what the first half of this season is going to be on not only Ryan Helsley, who's, you know, obviously been special, but Andrew Kittrich and Jojo Romero, you know, you kind of need a guy that you would like to see somebody fill what was supposed to be the Keen and Middleton role. They got a guy. Toronto's got a guy. Springfield, Missouri's own, Trevor Richards is a guy I would look at 31 years old, 1-0, 2.49 ERA, 41Ks and 43.

Starting point is 00:19:45 and a third innings, a whip of 0.831. Yes, please. His FIP, 3.58. Going to be a free agent at the end of the season. You want to come home? Trevor Richards? You want to come on home? That would be somebody I'd keep an eye on. You know how we like to bring people who grew up in the area? Bring them back. They always dreamed of pitching for the Cardinals. I would assume Trevor Richards did too. Multiple people bring Cal Quantrol, like a lot of people in here. the Rockies. Well, okay. Cal Quantrell, 29 years old, right-hanner, six and six on the year.

Starting point is 00:20:24 We just saw him pitch very well against the Cardinals, which is probably why more people are talking about him. Shut out the Cardinals over five innings back, what was that, June 6th. ERA on the season, 3.78, 1.301 whip is FIPP, 4.55. Not great. Not awful, but not great. The thing you look at there with Cal Quantrell is his split. You know, usually you're like, oh, so he probably gets killed in Colorado and then is real good on the road and you'd be okay with him.

Starting point is 00:20:52 Not really. Not much different. Two and three with a 405 ERA at home, four and three, three, three. Three point five eight ERA on the road. Not a huge difference there. Has another year of arbitration left before becoming a free agent in 2026. He's just kind of me. Just meh to me.

Starting point is 00:21:11 Nothing really excites me about Calquantrol, but I'm sure it's a, the kind of guy Mo is going to look at because he won't cost that much probably. You know, is Colorado really need them? There's a history with trades between the Cardinals and the Rockies. So you can keep them in the back of your mind, but not somebody I'm actively like chasing after. A team that I'm keeping an eye on is the Texas Rangers. All right. The defending champs not having a great year, 38 and 46.

Starting point is 00:21:43 they're eight back of the Mariners in the West. They're eight back in the wild card. A lot of injuries this year. Corey Seeger has been hurt. Josh Young has been hurt. Adoli's Garcia, not having a great year. Marcus Simeon's numbers are down a bit. They're still good, but they're not like, you know,

Starting point is 00:22:02 astronomical like he's been. Jacob de Grom has been hurt all year. Supposed to return from Tommy John surgery in August. We'll see if that happens. I don't know. I mean, if the team's out of it, are you going to force him back? They just got Max Scherzer back at the end of June. If the Rangers become sellers, they got a lot of names that might be interesting to,

Starting point is 00:22:28 they might move. Like Scher, this is it. Scher's at the end of his deal. He's got a no trade clause so he can say who he goes to, when he goes there. It's up to him. And I know that the Cardinals kind of burned him in the past when they didn't try to get him as a free agent previously. But considering where he is in his career now, 39 years old,

Starting point is 00:22:49 going to be 40, what do you consider? Coming home to St. Louis, going to be a free agent next year. Would he consider ending his career with the Cardinals? Could the Cardinals get him and then talk him in and stick it around for a year or two? Is Max Schurz are good enough at this point in his career that that's something you want to do? He's looked pretty good so far. in his first two starts returning from the IL. Andrew Heaney, 33 years old, free agent after the year, veteran lefty,

Starting point is 00:23:22 three and nine record, ugly, right? Most losses, at least in the American League, I don't know, it could be eventually baseball. But the ERA, 4.04, his FIPS, 3.92, you like it to be under four. The whip at 1.264. That's a guy that could be your number four or five. You'd be okay with that, wouldn't you? Like, just take the record away and just look at the numbers.

Starting point is 00:23:41 You'd be okay with that, wouldn't you? I mean, it's better than what Michaelis gives you some nights, you know. I know Michaelis has been pretty good until the last couple starts, but, you know, just, hey, we're just chatting. We're just chatting about it. So Andrew Heaney, a guy, and keep an eye on. Nathan Evaldi is somebody that a lot of people bring up and want to talk about. Evaldi's got a vesting option next year at age 35, becomes a free agent in 2026.

Starting point is 00:24:10 obviously solid. I don't know what it would cost. I would imagine he'd be more expensive than an Andrew Heaney. I don't know what the Rangers would want for Max Scherzer, considering he's leaving. I don't know. I don't know. But I feel like he ball the,

Starting point is 00:24:29 I don't know if they want to move on from him or not, considering they can bring him back next year. But somebody to think about. Michael Lorenzen, another guy for the Rangers. Free agent after the year, 4 and 4, 3.4, 3.4. to zero ERA. Strike heads are down. The fifth is up. He's over five, five. Oh, eight. There's some risk there. But we're talking about a number five guy. You're not going to get an ace to be back there. So these are just some names to keep in mind.

Starting point is 00:24:56 Bolpin wise, they've got a couple dudes here that I want to bring up, Jose Leclerc and Kirby eights. Both of these guys will be free agents after the season. Leclerc is 30. He's having a down year this year. Three and four, ERA at four. Two-five, but the FIPP's at three point nine. His strikeouts per are at 11.8. Got 47 of them in 36 inning. So that's a name. I would love to see in the Cardinals' bullpen. What about Kirby Yates? What is Kirby eight's going to cost you? He's 37 years old now, but look at these numbers. Three and one, ERA, 0.95 and 28 games. The fifth, a ridiculous 1.96. His whip, 0.953. He's got 38.1.3. He's got 38.1.1.8.3. He's got 38.8. Ks and 28 and the third innings. Again, both of those guys are free agents next year.

Starting point is 00:25:45 I mean, are the Rangers really like we're hanging on to our 37-year-old guy? Probably not. He sounds like a Cardinal, doesn't he? Kirby 8s? He just sounds like a Cardinal. So those are just some other names sitting teams to look at. But again, these teams have to be ready to give up on those seasons. So the next couple of weeks are going to be very, very important as we get into the All-Star break, and then, of course, with the trade deadline coming up at the end of the month. But if you've got other thoughts, teams, players, you want me to discuss on here? Hit me up in the comments section or on Twitter X, and we'll get to it. Cardinals face the pirates tonight.

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Starting point is 00:29:43 So the Cardinals visit Pittsburgh for the next three days. Kyle Gibson against Mitch Keller on Tuesday. you got Miles Michaelis against rookie Jared Jones on Wednesday. Then on Thursday, Andre Palante against Martin Perez. So the Cardinals avoid Paul Skeens, which is a victory in itself. There's good and bad, though, because there's still part of me as just a baseball fan in general that wants to watch Paul Skeen's pitch. But I'm glad that the Cardinals don't have to face him, right?

Starting point is 00:30:09 Considering he's 4 and O and has been virtually unstoppable so far since coming up to the major leagues. The Pirates are 5 and 5 in their last 10. They've dropped two of their last three when they were in Atlanta over the weekend to wrap up the month of June. Mitch Keller, you know he's tough. He's the starter tonight. It's not going to be easy. Jared Jones also, no slouch in his rookie year. Martine Perez, someone you'd like to take advantage of in the day game on Thursday.

Starting point is 00:30:37 Offensively, it might not be a great series to watch. Neither the Cardinals or the pirates are hitting the ball all that well lately. Pirates batting 210 over the last week. Cardinals at 204. Rowdy Tellez. Yep, he's still there. Two home runs and three RBIs and his last 12 at bats. Brian Reynolds was red hot until the Atlanta series.

Starting point is 00:30:58 And then he cooled off significantly in that series. So let's hope he keeps going down. Connor Joe, four for his last date, Key Brian Hayes, four for his last 12. O'Neill Cruz. We know about him. Crazy power from the left side. Strikes out a bunch, too.

Starting point is 00:31:13 Got a cannon of an arm at shortstop. But we'll boot the ball around a little bit. but he's a fun guy to watch too. For the Cardinals, Nolan Gorman, man, I don't know what to tell you. Like, I mean, he's just in a really bad funk right now.

Starting point is 00:31:32 I mean, I kept waiting for it in the Red series for him to break out. And he hit a couple of deep fly balls. And I'm like, okay, he's just barely missing. And then he just had a horrendous game on Sunday. And I'm like, like he's striking out a ridiculous amount more than he ever has, which is saying a lot,

Starting point is 00:31:54 considering how much Nolan Gorman strikes out. One for his last 16. He hit just 141 in the month of June. Hasn't homeroid since June 19th. Only has two home runs since June 11th. It's been bad. It's been really, really bad for Nolan Gorman recently. Nolan Aronado may not be hitting with the power that we were hoping would finally show up.

Starting point is 00:32:14 It still hasn't. But he and Michael, Siani of six hits apiece to lead the team over the last week. Both Donnie and Burleson cooled off against the Reds. Contreras still has not looked great at the plate since coming back from the IL. I was worried about that. I was worried that they were going to rush him back up when it didn't need to happen. They did it anyway because he was also contraris.

Starting point is 00:32:37 He's a veteran. And when he says he's ready, he's ready. But he didn't hit all that good in his rehab assignments. He hasn't hit all that good since coming up to the team. So could be a few two to one, three to two type of ball games in Pittsburgh over the next three days, which is something we're used to as Cardinals fans because that's what they do, one run games. I want to congratulate Lance Len on his 1,000 strikeouts in a Cardinals uniform. Cardinals Hall of Famer, Lance Len?

Starting point is 00:33:05 What do you think? Do you think he's got the resume as a Cardinal that they'll vote him in at some point? I don't know, something to think about. And also, Teen Ken's Quinn Matthews, have been selected for the few. futures game during All-Star weekend, which is great. Congratulations to them. They also released a new top 100 prospect list. Hintz is number 43. Quinn Matthews cracks the top 100 just makes it in number 100. They were the only two cardinals in the top 100, both Thomas Sejacy and Victor Scott, who were previously on the list, they've been dropped. They've been dropped for obvious reasons,

Starting point is 00:33:38 both of them having not great years compared to what they did last year. So you could understand that. And they were late guys. Like Sejacy was in the upper age. Victor was, I think, 94. So you can see why they fall. It's not like they're just like vanish and they're like, oh, they're terrible players now. That's not the case. They're just not top 100.

Starting point is 00:33:56 A lot of people dropped off the list too. So don't freak out about that. Anyway, that'll do it for us today. Thanks for making Locked on Cardinals. Your first listen every day. If you haven't already, give me a follow on Twitter X at L.O. underscore Cardinals and a JD Sports Radio. Please like and subscribe on YouTube and help our channel

Starting point is 00:34:12 and love for the Cardinals continue to grow. You guys are the best fans in baseball. baseball for a reason and I will see you next time on lockdown cardinals. Have a good one.

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