Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - The St. Louis Cardinals YOUNG Core Actually Matches Up Well With Toronto's BREAKOUT Stars!

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Toronto Blue Jays worst to first season has given a glimmer of hope to some teams like the Cardinals, who didn't have such a good year. Could the Cardinals somehow, some way recreate that Toronto magic? This is Locked on Cardinals. You are Locked on Cardinals. Your daily St. Louis Cardinals podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Hey there, Carlos fans. I'm J.D. Hafer, a former national radio sports anchor. born and raised in St. Louis and a lifetime Cardinals fan. I'm your host for Locktown Cardinals, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network covering your team every day.

Starting point is 00:00:41 Big thank you to our everydayers for joining us here during the off season after hanging out with us throughout the entire regular season. Now we're trying to fix things, right? So we're going to be going through this the entire off season. Thanks for being a part of it. For those of you who are new, welcome aboard. Hope you enjoy the content. This is a show serving Cardinal Nation and giving you the info about the birds on the bat each and every day. Today's episode brought to you by Fandul. Right now, new customers can bet just $5. And if you're bad wins, you're going to get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. So download the app today. Now, today's episode, we're going to have a little fun.

Starting point is 00:01:16 We're going to have a little fun because we are comparing our St. Louis Cardinals to the Toronto Blue Jays, essentially piggybacking off what we briefly discussed in our last episode. and that's what can the Cardinals do to try and achieve the Toronto Blue Jays-esque type of turn around. Now before we get into this, because I know you're already saying, oh, stop it, stop it. The Cardinals aren't as good as the Blue Jays. Yeah, let's be realistic. Doing what the Blue Jays did this past year, it is not easy. This is not normal.

Starting point is 00:01:51 It does not happen very often. In fact, a total of 14 different teams have gone from the worst record in their division to the best in one year. since 1969. Nice. And the Cardinals weren't even the worst team in the division. That title goes to the Pittsburgh Pirates. So in a sense, the Cardinals don't have as much work to do as the Blue Jays did this past year. Toronto was 14 games under 500 in 2024, 20 games back in the division. The Cardinals finished six games under 500 and 19 games back in the division. Still nothing to like smile about and be proud of by any means, but record-wise, it was mathematically better. Once again, we're trying to be positive here, not negative nancy's.

Starting point is 00:02:36 So in 2024, the Blue Jays got that monster year from Vladigarro Jr. One of the best hitters in baseball has got this enormous contract. But most of the rest of the team did not perform all that well. And that's the first thing that I noticed when I was looking at this stuff and I was comparing the differences between the 24 Blue Jays and this year's team. The Blue Jays got some huge, huge years from guys in 25 that they just didn't get in 24. It started with Boba Shed. Boba Shed had a terrible year.

Starting point is 00:03:11 George Springer wasn't nearly as good as he was in 24 as he was in 25. Plus, you get the difference between players like Alejandro Kirk and Addison Barger from 24 to 25. Massive, massive upgrades. So who are some of the Cardinals players that we can compare these guys to and try and mimic that type of turnaround? Because that's really what it's about. It's about getting more out of the guys that you have already. It's not like the Blue Jays went out and signed a bunch of big time free agents. Like that's why we're not comparing them to the world champion Dodgers because the Cardinals can't do what the Dodgers do.

Starting point is 00:03:48 They're not going to at least. Some will argue that, yeah, they do have the money and they could go spend if they wanted to, but they're not going to. So it's pointless to even argue that. So why compare them to what the Dodgers do? They're not going to go out and buy four free agent pitchers and get the greatest players from Japan. And like, that's just not going to happen. The Blue Jays redid this thing with the guys they already had. And they just got more out of them. Again, this isn't going to be identical. This isn't easy, but this is for fun today because there's not a lot going on at the moment. So let's look at this. Let's start

Starting point is 00:04:23 with the Boba Shet stuff, who got hurt, didn't even play in the postseason until the World Series, went from a negative 0.3 war and a 70 OPS plus in 24 to a 3.5 war and a 129 OPS plus in 25. Now it didn't hurt that he was in a free agent year. Probably going to sign something pretty big with somebody. If it's not Toronto, I'll go somewhere else for lots of lots of cash. You know, players seem to step their games up when they are getting ready to hit free agency. It just kind of happens before they hit the market. And Bichette had a monster year. 311 average 18 home runs, 94 RBIs, 135 WRC plus in 628 played appearances. So who do the

Starting point is 00:05:06 Cardinals have, if anyone, they can step up their game to be a much bigger offensive force in 2025. Now, it's a guy, in my opinion, that it's not like he just had a bad year. But if he's going to mimic something that Bobauchette did this year. The only guy I trust to have anything remotely close to those particular numbers is Yvonne Herrera, who, as I mentioned, did have himself a pretty darn good 2025. WRC plus of 137, hit 284, 19 home runs, 66 RBIs in just 452 plate appearances. I personally have a lot of faith in Yvonne. He's coming off elbow surgery. I know that. He's a catcher, not an infielder like Bo Bichette is. At least he's a catcher for now. But if they can keep him on the field and healthy, which was the difficult part last year,

Starting point is 00:05:59 he and Wilson Contreras are the closest combination to the Bo Vladdy duo that the Cardinals have. And yes, I know Wilson Contreras is not Vladi Guerrero Jr. I am well aware of that. But if you look at the numbers, Guerrero Jr's OPS plus of 133, obviously very, very good. Wilson Contreras was 123. It's not like Willie was like below 100 or something like that. He was in 123. Vladdy hit 23 home runs with 84 RBIs. Willie hit 20 home runs with 80 RBIs.

Starting point is 00:06:34 And Vladdy had 99 more at bats than Willie. So before you make fun of me, just think about that for a second. And he wasn't that far off statistically than what Vladdy did for the Blue Jays this past year. Do people fear Wilson Contreras the way they fear Vladigaro Jr. Hell no, I'm aware of that. But it's the closest thing we've got. Next spot I want to look at is the George Springer spot. Went from a 1.1 war in 24 to 4.8 in 25.

Starting point is 00:07:08 the OBS Plus jump from 91 to 161. What a resurgent year it was for George Springer, hit 309 with 32 bombs, 84 ribbies, 18 stolen bases. Where the hell did this come from? With George Springer being the age that he is. WRC plus of 166. I mean, you kidding me? Like, where did that come from?

Starting point is 00:07:33 I have no idea. But the Cardinals do not really have anybody that can do all of that. They don't have a guy that's going to hit 300, hit 30 bombs, driving 85, steal almost 20 bases. Unless, I know, you're waiting for it, right? Unless Jordan Walker. That's right. Jordan Walker comes to life in 2025 and finally becomes that guy that many thought he could be. Now, Springer was the leadoff guy for Toronto.

Starting point is 00:08:02 Walker's not going to be batting a leadoff for the St. Louis Cardinals. Heck at this point, we're just hoping that Walker. can be, you know, a top five bat in the order. That's where you envision him when he was coming up. You're like, oh, my gosh, this guy is going to be like your three, four, five, one of those places, right? If we can get the guy that he was in 2023, when he hit 276, with 16 home runs, 51 ribbies, and seven stolen bases in 465 plate appearances, if we can find that guy in that massive body that Jordan Walker has somewhere, somehow, and add on to that.

Starting point is 00:08:37 then perhaps we would have something. Again, I compare him to Joe Adele from the Angels who struggled, struggled, struggled, struggled. And then this past season, he broke out and finally became the guy that the angels envisioned he would be. Is it going to happen for Walker this year? There's no guarantees of that. But I'm staying positive in today's episode because I know most people don't think that

Starting point is 00:09:04 that version of Walker exists anymore. They think it's gone. he's a wash, he's terrible, get him out of here. I'm not there yet. I'm not going to give up on him yet. I want to see him get one more year. And if it doesn't work out this year, then I guess we'll have to have a discussion.

Starting point is 00:09:19 But this is about what the Cardinals need to happen to turn this thing around super quickly. And Walker becoming a real threat of something that will need to happen to get them there. You cannot have what he did in right field last year, offensively. We're not going to even talk about the defense. We're not going there.

Starting point is 00:09:35 But offensively, he cannot be. be what he was in 2025 offensively and for this team to become a winning team. They need more. They're going to need more. He's got to become better. Bottom line. We're going to match up

Starting point is 00:09:51 some other guys like, you know, Barger, Kirk, Clement, including the pitching staff, Trey is Savage. We got somebody for that too. We're going to talk about all of it coming up on today's episode of Lockdown Cardinals. The NBA is back and there is no better place to get in on the action than

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Starting point is 00:11:36 Thanks again for making lots on Cardinals. Your first listen every day. If you enjoy daily Cardinals content, you can follow the podcast on X at L1, underscore Cardinals. We're also on YouTube, TikTok and Instagram and Lockedong Cardinals. So let's talk about the side pieces that it took to get the Blue Jays back on track and who I think the Cardinals match up with. We're going to start with Addison Barger, 25 years old, first full season in the Bigs this past year hit 243, 21 home runs, 74 RBIs, OPS plus of 105, his WRC Plus was at 107, very solid player for them this year, a guy who didn't do,

Starting point is 00:12:13 anything the year before for them, but he shows up, and he adds 20 home runs and 75 RBIs. I mean, that's something that you like. The guy I compare Addison Barger to similar age and everything, Alec Berluson, Alec Berluson for this one. And honestly, Burley is actually a better offensive guy than Barger already, statistically, should win that Silver Slugger Award. We're going to find out about that here soon and finish the year hitting 290, 18 home runs, 69 RBI, the OPS plus at 125.

Starting point is 00:12:43 WRC plus at 124. The optimistic side of me believes that Alec Berlinson is just scratching the surface of things. You know, this is his second full year at the beginning of the year, didn't have the full confidence that he could hit against lefties. That ended up fading away as he proved everybody wrong, including myself. So perhaps the numbers can go up even more with, you know, the confidence. that he is the everyday whatever player, that he's always going to be in the lineup,

Starting point is 00:13:18 whether he's playing in left field, whether he's playing DH, filling in for Willie over at first base from time to time. They're not going to put him on the bench, lefty, righty match up. Who cares? He's going to be in there. So perhaps he can push those numbers

Starting point is 00:13:31 to the next level of 25 home runs, 80 RBIs. There's other people out there who think he's going to regress, that he's already, you know, plateaued, and there's nowhere to go but down. And for those people I say, then I apologize for spinning all over the screen. But, you know, raspberries to you.

Starting point is 00:13:54 But for our purposes here, he needs to be who he has been. And it would be great if he stepped up even more and became even better. That would help the cost. Next up, Ernie Clement. Now, Clement has been around for a few years now. You haven't heard his name all that much until this year.

Starting point is 00:14:09 He's almost 30, okay? But age be damned. The dude had a solid year at the plate and really shined in the postseason was all over the base paths for the Blue Jays in the postseason. Regular season hit 277, nine home runs, 50 RBI, six stolen bases, the OPS plus only at 95, WRC plus at 98. Average, right? Average stuff. For me, I think the guy that matches up well here is Cardinal Shortstop Mason went. The gold glove winner had some moments this season where it appeared that.

Starting point is 00:14:42 that offensively, he was beginning to blossom a little bit. Like, oh, here we go. Especially, remember, you had that awful start to the season, which really put him in a hole. Finally broke out of that. But then the knee injury happened. And in the end, his numbers, 253, nine home runs, 51 RBI's nine stolen bases.

Starting point is 00:15:01 OPS of OPS plus of 90, WRC plus of 91. Not really the most exciting numbers. But, again, the knee thing. The knee thing is where I'm going to put a lot blame on this. I feel like it held him back. He was better with the stick in 24. You expected him to progress and get better in 2025. That didn't happen. I'm going to put a lot of a lot of the blame on the knee there. So we could expect more than what Ernie Clement gave the Blue Jays from Mason Wynn playing every day for the Cardinals.

Starting point is 00:15:35 I would think that I don't think that's absurd to think. What about Blue Jays catcher Alejandro Kirk, who really jumped offensively in 25. going from an OPS of 92 and 24 to 111. His WRC plus this year jumped to 116, hit 15 home runs. He drove in 76 RBIs. Again, they don't play the same position, but we're just talking about offensive numbers, building a lineup that could compete similar to what the Blue Jays did.

Starting point is 00:16:03 This feels like a great match for Brennan Donovan to me. Donnie dealt with a lot of injuries this year as well. And yes, there are legit reasons that the Cardinals could and should trade him offseason. There's no guarantees that that's going to happen. But if they have him back and he does what he did last year and is able to stay more healthy, 287, 10 home runs, which felt low. I thought like he was more around the 15 home run range. Injuries, obviously, hold him back there. 50 RBIs, that should be higher. OPS plus a 119, WRC plus of 119. I feel like that fits the bill for what Alejandro Kirk did for the Blue Jays offensively.

Starting point is 00:16:50 And that Brennan Donovan can match those numbers. I don't see how that would be all that difficult. Again, you got to stay healthy. And again, he's got to be on the team. So we'll see if that happens. Next up, 31-year-old rookie Nathan Lucas, who finally got a crack in an everyday job in the big leagues and really filled a nice role for Toronto this year.

Starting point is 00:17:10 He hit 255, 12 home run, 65 RPIs, the OPS plus of 100, WRC plus over at 103. My comp here is a guy that was actually was not even on the roster for the Cardinals this year, much younger at age 23, and that is top prospect and infielder JJ Weatherholt. All right. Now, we don't know if he's going to make the opening day roster. It really all depends on what moves. The Cardinals make the soft season trades, what his production is at Memphis or just in spring

Starting point is 00:17:41 trading, whether or not he's on the opening day roster. but at some point, you have to imagine he's going to be in St. Louis in 2025, right? And probably for a significant portion of the season. And if the Cardinals can get the Nathan Lucas production out of J.J. Weatherholt, again, 255, 12 home runs, 65 RBIs, I believe they would take that for sure. And it really doesn't seem with the talent that J.J. Weatherholt brings to the table, that that would be all that difficult for him. You know, I'm not, I don't know about the power-wise what his power is going to be

Starting point is 00:18:19 at the major league level, but obviously he has that an issue in the minor leagues hitting a similar amount of home runs. The batting average might even be higher. He seems like, like, you know, he's got a better batting average type of bat than what Nathan Lucas did. But again, he's going to the major league. So things aren't always that easy. Obviously, it's the best league in the world.

Starting point is 00:18:41 If you can get the native Lucas production from JJ Weatherholt, I feel like that's something that would make a lot of sense. Next up, we got one of my favorite guys from the Toronto roster, former catcher, turned center fielder, Dalton Varshow. Now Varshow was an interesting story because he only played in 71 games last year. He was hurt. But he did a lot of damage in that small window. And he ended up hitting 20 home runs, 55 RBIs, the OPS Plus,

Starting point is 00:19:11 was 122, WRC plus 123. Similar to the Jordan Walker scenario earlier, this is where the team needs another young guy to step up. His name is Nolan Gorman. Gotta get back to mashing in 2025. In 162 game average for Gorman and his career, he averages 28 home runs and 79 RBIs. You need that.

Starting point is 00:19:36 That's what you need. The OPS Plus reach 116 and 2023. That's what you need, out of it. them and he'll need to be more of that guy. Then the dude that we've seen the last two seasons where, like last year, 205, 14 home runs, 46 RBIs, and 402 played appearances. There's more there that they need to get out of Nolan Gorman, similar with Jordan Walker. How do they do it?

Starting point is 00:19:58 How do they pull it out? I don't know. But they got to figure it out. That's why they're getting paid to big bucks. The Blue Jays also got a lot of good stuff from other players on the team, Andreas Jimenez, a defensive guy mostly. Miles Straw, Davis Schneider, Isaiah Kiner Falape, later on. They didn't even need, this is what's crazy about this team, is they had all these guys.

Starting point is 00:20:21 They didn't even need their big free agent signing, who was Anthony Santander, who did almost nothing for them. After accepting that five-year, $92 million deal, perhaps it pans out at some point over the next four years, but he only hit 175 with six home runs and 18 RBI. So that is an albatross of a contract already, making $18 million per. and getting that in return. Again, there's four more years on that deal to see if it works out for him. But that's how deep their lineup was, which is something that the Cardinals need this year.

Starting point is 00:20:56 You need to have that depth in the lineup. And when you look at the Cardinals bench, you've got guys that have ceilings, right, that are up there. You know, Thomas and Jacey, what can he be? Jose Fermin did very, very well in the limited time we saw him in St. Louis. Will he have a bigger role this year? Where does Lars Newport fit into this with the bum heels and the after surgery? Like, what's he going to be?

Starting point is 00:21:22 You've got the combination of Pedro Pahez and Jimmy Crooks and on top with the Yvonne Herrera. How does that combo work as the backup? The assumption is that the Cardinals will likely sign a veteran hitter to a short deal. in John Denton's article discussing the subject, you mentioned that, you know, strikeouts were a big thing that needs to change about the Cardinals' offense, pointing out that Toronto was MLB's hardest team to strike out in 2025. Cardinals found that out firsthand when they got swept by Toronto in St. Louis early on in the season. We're like, good Lord, these guys don't go down.

Starting point is 00:21:59 The Cardinals made, and this is Denton's quote here, the Cardinals made tremendous strides in the first half of the season under hitting coach Bram Brown. who preached about there being a time to slug and a time to hit. Much of that progress fell off. But the club now knows the scrappy, relentless approach. It must have to be successful. Cutting down on strikeouts, the Cardinals said the ninth few is K's in MLB in 2025 at 1,321, but he says that will be key.

Starting point is 00:22:23 And I couldn't agree more. You know, remember early on when the Cardinals were lacing the ball all over the yard, we were praising Brant Brown, you know, we were singing songs about him and how great he was. and how he finally unlocked this offense's potential. And now the Cardinals had a chance. And they did. They looked really good in the month of May because of that offense. But then, as John said and pointed out, it faded.

Starting point is 00:22:46 And they became a similar offense to the previous year, which was inconsistent and not very good. So how do they get back to being the way they were in those first two months of the season? That's what they'll have to figure out. And of course, we got to point out the pitching side of things. We need to get to there. Do the Cardinals have a? Trey is Savage, light guy in the system? Some people think they do. We'll delve into that coming up next on Lockdown Cardinals. This episode brought to you by prize picks. You and I make decisions every

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Starting point is 00:24:47 Find Locked on MLB hosted by Sully, who brings you that daily blend of humor of baseball throughout the offseason. You can find Locked on the YouTube channel or wherever you listen to your favorite podcast. So the Blue Jays had a nice mix of veterans and they're starting rotation this past year, much better than the Cardinals.

Starting point is 00:25:03 And as much as we found ways that the offense could step up and, you know, be similar. Like I have a lot of faith in, what these guys have to offer offensively. The pitching, that's a different story. They do not match up very well in my eyes whatsoever. So here's what I came up with. All right. Kevin Gosman, 34 years old, he was the ace of the staff. Remind you, ace of the staff and went 10 and 11. That's crazy, right? But he was. The rest of his numbers are great. 3.59ER, 3.415, 1.06-2 whip. ERA plus at 119. This is what Sunny Gray needs to be.

Starting point is 00:25:40 is 35 years old and went 14 and 8. So better record than Kevin Gosman, but everything else was worse. 4.28 ERA, 3.39, 5, which was very, very good, which actually better than Gossman, but the whip 1.234, ERA plus 96 below average. Gosman was able to throw more innings, but gave up less hits and runs. Sonny had seven games where he gave up five or more earned runs, seven of them. And then he had 17 games where he gave up two or less. So you know it's in there.

Starting point is 00:26:16 If he cuts down on those really bad games, again, seven of them, where he was just awful and got pounded. How much better would his numbers be? Cut those in half, shave it down to like three games like that and go look at what Gray's numbers would be. Can he do it is the question. Will he be in St. Louis to do it? That is another question.

Starting point is 00:26:37 Jose Barrios, 31 years old, 9 and 5, 4.17 ERA, 4.01 5th, and an ERA plus of 108. And this is where I need Matthew Libertur to be. I need Matthew Libertur to have those numbers. Former first round pick turned 26 today, actually. Happy birthday of Libby. It was 8 and 12, 4.21 ERA, 4.035, 1.305 whip. That's got to come down.

Starting point is 00:27:01 ERA plus at 97. Like what we saw in this past season, which was essentially his rookie year, as a starting pitcher. You know, yeah, he pitched in the bullpen, but this was his rookie year as a starting pitcher, all right? Need to build on that, right? You just need to take those next steps and progress because he's going to be a huge piece of this rotation,

Starting point is 00:27:26 whether Sonny is traded or not. Sonny is here, great. He's still probably your number two guy, barring something they do in trades or free agency. And if Sunny is gone, Is he your number one? Again, depends on what they're doing for agency and trades. Chris Bassett, 36 years old, 11 and 9, 3.96 ERA, 4.01 5th, 1.327 ERA, the ERA plus at 108.

Starting point is 00:27:53 This is actually more similar to Sunny Gray's numbers than Kevin Gossman, but you need Sunny to be the number one. So who matches up with Bassett? Nobody, nobody really. This is where the Cardinals need to go sign someone to fill this spot. And guess who's a free agent? Chris freaking Bassett. Go get him.

Starting point is 00:28:16 Why settle for a knockoff? Why? Oh, I hope he's as good as Chris Bass. Go get Chris Bass. He's out there. You can get the real thing. Same could be said about Max Scherzer, who John didn't brought up that, you know, bring Max home. Wouldn't that be great?

Starting point is 00:28:30 Shurzer could fill the Chris Bassett role if you need to. Both three agents landing one of them. That would be a nice game. for this rotation as we approach the holidays, wouldn't it? Eric Lauer, 30 years old had only 15 starts, appeared in 28 games, though. 9 and 2, 3.180, ERA, 3.85, 5th, 1.108 whip, the ERA plus at 134, outstanding numbers. Cardinals don't have anyone to really match up with those either. But I'm going to put this one on Michael McGreevy to fill a similar role in the rotation this year.

Starting point is 00:29:03 I do not expect him to be that good. Wouldn't that be great, but I don't expect it. But nobody expected Eric Lauer to do what he did with Toronto after he played in Korea in 2024. He was terrible with the Brewers in 2023. Went to Korea. Wasn't all that great over there either. Signs a minor league contract with the Blue Jays this year and then had that season. Sometimes you've got to get lucky.

Starting point is 00:29:33 Sometimes you've got to get lucky. and the Blue Jays got lucky with what they were able to get out of Eric Lauer. Could Kyle Leahy be the good surprise that Kyle Leahy was for that Eric Clower was for the Blue Jays this year? Or will it be an outside arm that they haven't signed yet? We'll see. And finally we get to Rookie Sensation, Trey Yassavage, who pitched at every level of professional baseball last year, had a guy that did that.

Starting point is 00:29:57 And Quinn Matthews didn't make it to the pros, but did it the previous year in 2023 when he was outstanding. but Yassavage goes on to become that postseason superstar drafted in the first round in 2024. The only comparison I have for this dynamo is the potential of Cardinals 2025 first round pick Liam Doyle. Jim Callis at MLB.com talked about this as well in a recent piece talking about people who could be the next Trey Yassavage here in 2026 saying that Doyle would rank higher on his list. He had him at number four if the Cardinals projected his stronger contenders in 2026, which they don't, and we understand why.

Starting point is 00:30:34 He topped D1 and strikeout rate at 15.4 per nine innings last spring. He reached AA at the end of his brief pro debut. He features an explosive fastball that reaches triple digits, and he has three other offerings, an 82 to 85 slider, upper 80s cutter and splitter that could be solid or even better. Doyle, we know, got to AA last year, barring any catastrophes or major setbacks. I would expect him to probably start at AA and then get promoted to Memphis fairly quickly. And after that, it's simply production and need at the major league level. You know, don't forget that Trey Y Savage, it's not like Y Savage was up with Toronto all year last year.

Starting point is 00:31:13 They only made three starts in the major. They brought him up at the very end of the year to get his first taste of major league baseball. And then rode his momentum and how good he was through the postseason. So if Doyle isn't up by the All-Star break, people don't need to start freaking out or anything. if he doesn't make it to the big leagues at all this year, you shouldn't be freaking out. But fans will want to see him and JJ Weatherhull up there this year if they're doing what they are expected to do in the minors. You know, JJ had an outstanding year last year. It's a matter of when with him. With Doyle, we haven't seen much yet as a professional.

Starting point is 00:31:56 So this is, you know, we're in it for the long haul here. This isn't about 2026, but what we're doing today as far as like turning it all around for 2026, Doyle will probably need to be a part of things at some point, but making knee-jerk decisions on prospects, not the wisest thing to do. Doesn't mean they can't be more aggressive with their decisions. Didn't mention that in his piece saying the Cardinals would be wise to be similarly aggressive with hard throwing lefty, Liam Doyle and catcher right now, Rald Rodriguez. Doyle pushed to pitch in the pros last season.

Starting point is 00:32:31 Cards got them into single A and double A. Maybe just maybe the season college pitcher will open in double A next year and have an attainable path to a Cards Club needing swing in this stuff. Maybe he comes into the bullpen. I don't know. The club, he says, might be more patient with Rodriguez, who doesn't turn 19 until January 4th, but the 954 OPS is an 18-year-old and rave reviews from Nolan Aronado

Starting point is 00:32:53 following hitting sessions, screen potential greatness for the D.H. and catcher, which is fine. But unless they make a deal from that catching depth, there's no reason to talk about Rodriguez being up on this team. Leonardo Bernal, on the other hand, he's a guy that I could see making his way to the pros at some point in 2026. Now, in my opinion, the Cardinals have a nice grouping here. I really do believe that.

Starting point is 00:33:19 Barring any trades, this team should be better than they were last year if the proper pieces elevate their games. Walker and Gorman on the offensive side. I would love to see more from Victor Scott on the offensive side as well. On the pitching side, they need a lot of work. They need a lot of work. Let's be honest. If Gray stays, he has to be more consistent.

Starting point is 00:33:38 Libby needs to take that next step. McGreevy will need to continue his path of success that he's found over the last year and a half. They need to sign one or two guys or have Leahy and Palante step up and do something or another minor league starter come up and do something. The bull pit I'm not stressed about. even need to go through the bullpen pieces because I feel pretty confident they know what the hell they're doing there. But we don't know who the closer is. That's a real question. And that could be

Starting point is 00:34:05 something that needs to need some attention. You know, that that's something that I think they need to figure out. It's always nice to have that one guy that you can rely on in the ninth inning. There's plenty of good ones out there right now. So I would imagine they'd sign somebody to bring into that role. That way they can still have Jojo is kind of the setup lefty closer type of guy. If they need them to be, but what are your thoughts on this? You know, again, I realize that we're being very optimistic here and we need a lot of things to happen. But it's the same way Toronto thought coming into their season.

Starting point is 00:34:40 They're like, yeah, we've got some good pieces here. We need other guys to step up. And it happened. Can the Cardinals have that same magic? I feel like there's some pieces here that could get them there. What are your thoughts? Leave them in the comments section. Am I drunk thinking about stuff like this?

Starting point is 00:34:54 Maybe. But that's what fans do, right? Thanks for making Lockdown Cardinals. If you haven't already, give us follow on X at L0 underscore Cardinals and at JD Sports Radio, TikTok, and Instagram at Lockdown Cardinals, like, subscribe on YouTube, help our channel

Starting point is 00:35:07 and love for the Cardinals grow. You guys are the best fans in baseball for a reason. We'll see you next time on Lockdown Cardinals.

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