Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - This Outfielder's Success Story IGNITES Hope for Struggling Cardinals Prospect Jordan Walker
Episode Date: September 5, 2025St. Louis Cardinals' Jordan Walker under the microscope. Can the young star overcome his major league struggles?JD analyzes Walker's development, drawing parallels to Angels' Jo Adell. JD breaks down ...Thomas Saggese and Matt Svanson's potential roles in the Cardinals' future. Plus, a preview of the crucial series against the surging San Francisco Giants. JD examines the Cards' recent performance and dissects their path forward in the NL Central.Willson Contreras suspension reduced, Pozo activated, Prieto sent downTune in for expert insights on the Cardinals' roster moves and strategies as they navigate the final stretch of the MLB season.Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/locked-on-st-louis-cardinals/Locked On MLB League-Wide: Every Team, Prospects & More🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/leagues/mlb/Follow on Twitter/X: @JDSPORTSRADIOFollow the show on Twitter/X: @LO_CardinalsSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!5-Hour ENERGYTee up that trip! Enter for a chance to win a dream golf trip for two to any golf tournament* in the USA. Visit 5HEWIN.com for full rules and entry. No purchase necessary. Excludes the Master’s tournament. Ends October 31, 2025.UpsideSimply download the free Upside app in the App Store or Google Play and use the promo code SEASON to get an extra 25 cents back per gallon on your first fill up. Start earning cash at the pump, today!Click Here: https://getupside.onelink.me/zlLr?af_xp=custom&pid=barrington&c=barrington_lockedon25&deep_link_value=promo&deep_link_sub1=lockedon25&af_dp=upsideapp%3A%2F%2FZippixGo to ZippixToothpicks.com and use promo code LOCKEDON for 10% off your first order. Zippix Toothpicks—energy and focus, anytime you need it. https://zippixtoothpicks.com/PrizePicksDownload the PrizePicks app today and use code LOCKEDONMLB to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup.PrizePicks — Run Your Game.Click Link Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONMLBMonarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONMLB at monarchmoney.com/lockedonmlb for 50% off your first year.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONMLB for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FanDuelToday's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Football season is around the corner, visit the FanDuel App today and start planning your futures bets now.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)#ForTheLou #stlcards #mlb #lockedoncardinals #stlouiscardinals Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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Three Cardinal players that I am keeping an extra eye on here in the final month of the season.
This is Locked on Cardinals.
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Hey there, Cardinals.
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As we sit here on this first full weekend of September,
The Cardinals are a game under 500 at 70 and 71.
They've gone six and four in their last 10.
They're 9 and 11 in their last 20, 15 and 15 in their last 30.
All-Star break, not so great, 19 and 25, but they're kind of like just the epitome of a 500 team, right?
They don't go too high up.
They don't go too far down.
They're just in the middle.
Although the All-Star break record at 19 and 25, it's better than only Washington
Colorado or Minnesota, who traded most of their team away.
So that's not where you want to be.
But, you know, the Cardinals have handed the keys to the car over to a lot of youngsters
recently, you know, a lot of injuries going on with the team.
Aronado, Donovan, Burleson, Victor Scott was hurt for a while.
So you could see why, you know, maybe they've struggled a little bit more than usual.
But again, six and four in their last 10.
And I personally, I've enjoyed watching some of the.
the younger guys get some action. So Red Hot Giants are coming to town this weekend and making their
way to Bush Stadium. It's Hall of Fame weekend for the organization, which is normally a very
festive time at the ballpark. Lots of legends are here. Yadi's going to be back in the dugout,
which is great. We're coming off a series win over the age. You got the day off on Thursday,
so a chance to rest up a little bit. So vibes around the stadium should be fairly positive as
we get things started on Friday night. Are the Cardinals where they want to be?
No. Are the Cardinals where the fans want them to be?
Hell no.
Three straight disappointing seasons in a row.
And you shouldn't feel bad as a fan for being upset about this.
You know, for the fans that, you know, feel like they're being blamed or getting a guilt trip for the seats being empty at Bush Stadium.
I don't feel that way at all, man.
It's entirely up to you if you were to go watch the ball games or not.
But this is certainly not a franchise or a city that,
accepts losing usually. We understand how hard it is to win a championship. And when the effort is
put forth by the players, we'll show you appreciations. When it's put forth by management and
ownership and they fall for, we don't destroy them for it. We may suggest ways to improve it.
But right now, this is not a championship caliber team. The management and ownership have not
put together a championship roster. They've screwed a lot of things up. And it's going to take some time.
It's going to take some time to rebuild this mess, okay?
And a lot of it's going to depend on, you know, how some of these prospects develop,
you know, guys like J.J. Weatherholt, leading the charge.
Liam Doyle, going to pitch this weekend for Palm Beach.
Great news.
One of your top catching prospects.
Ranelle Rodriguez was promoted to Peoria,
and went three for four with four RBIs in his debut.
People are very excited about him.
Your other top catching prospect, Leonardo Bernal,
is enjoying success at double egg.
Quinn Matthews is knocking on the door to the big leagues.
After going two and one with a 2.27 ERA, 41 strikeouts and 31 and two-thirds innings,
and six starts at Memphis in August.
So there is talent coming.
It's on the way.
But we can't just rely on them.
There's still talent at the major league roster that also needs to prove themselves, right?
Before the season ends, you know, we need to see more success.
more progress from a few people that are already on the major league roster.
So I got three guys that I'm going to be watching closer than other guys on the team.
Doesn't mean I'm not paying attention to everybody else.
Doesn't mean other players don't have something to prove or things that they should be doing.
These are just three of them that I've kind of singled out that I'm going to pay a little more
attention to.
That's just for me.
Number one is an easy answer.
It's the guy that we've been talking a lot about here recently.
And until things turn around, he's going to continue to be the top headline as far as like Cardinals who need to be better.
And that's Jordan Walker.
Jordan Walker is the guy.
Just got called out by a city coach and his manager about showing urgency and being better about preparing every day.
We covered a lot of that on Wednesday.
and there are a lot of comments about that situation,
which we're going to, I'm going to throw a couple of them up at you here in just a moment.
But MLB.com did a write up on a player for each team that has the most approve down the stretch here.
So John Denton, who covers the Cardinals for MLB.com, he picked Jordan Walker, just like I am.
The Cardinals have made it abundantly clear that they want to see a strong finish to the season from Walker,
who has struggled at the big league level for a third straight year.
Walker's 23 showed some promise after the all-star break hitting three.
304 with six doubles, four RBIs, and an 808 OPS in July.
However, Walker's struggles returned in August when he struck out 25 times compared to walking just four times.
He went into Wednesday with 10 strikeouts in his previous six games.
Carl's manager Oliver Marble said on Tuesday that Walker needs to be more receptive to making changes
and must show more of a sense of urgency.
Now, I gave you my thoughts on all of this in Wednesday's episode.
All right.
So if you haven't listened to that episode or you haven't watched that episode,
episode on YouTube yet go check it out you're going to be kind of lost of what we're discussing
here because um you know there there's a lot of sides to this story about who did who wrong and
what's going on and why Walker hasn't progressed the way we wanted him to or the way he
should be you know there's um you know some people are upset that ali and hitting coach bramp
brown called him out in public about this and we're like hey you know have we not learned
our lesson from Tyler O'Neill situation or whatever.
I don't know if that's what they're trying to do.
Ollie has even talked about that Tyler O'Neill situation before saying he wish he had
handled that differently.
I feel like this is more of just a kick in the pants.
Like, look, bro, we want you to be good.
We need you to be good.
And yet, you know, these are some of the issues we have.
And, you know, this is like a little nudge, man.
Okay?
So don't take it so personally.
We haven't heard that Jordan is by any means.
But I wanted to read some of your responses to,
to what's been said about Jordan Walker with those comments from Brown and from Ali.
Got one here.
I honestly don't fault Walker one bit.
I think the cardals messed with him too much.
Miners, majors, majors, majors, miners, majors, miners, majors, miners, majors.
Talking about how he kept getting sent up and brought back down.
And if they wanted a more refined hitter, then they should have just kept them in the minors.
And now yo-yoed his playing time.
Hard to argue with that.
Walker was betting 273 before getting sent down to 23 to get more.
lift on the ball. The Cardinals are the full blame where Walker is now, period.
What's happening with Jordan reminds me of what happened with Colby Rasmus.
Rasmus would take hitting advice from his dad and not listening to coaches,
which ended up with a feud between Colby's dad and Tony LaRusa,
and then they go into how that actually ended up helping the Cardinals win a world championship
because they traded to,
traded Rasmus to the Blue Jays and got those three pitchers and Corey Patterson in exchange.
and those became big parts of moving forward to win that series that year.
Nick Kurtz at age 22 goes through some stats,
says maybe we need to see how they raise up a young hitter.
At 23, Walker is regressing.
Gorman at 25 shows flashes, but it's still stuck.
Walker is trying to cover every type of pitch on both sides of the plate.
I feel bad for him as he walks up to the plate without confidence.
He looks so sad.
Somebody help him.
Look at Kurtz's body language.
Look at Soto's.
approach and still confidence at all levels, please. And that's just the tip of the iceberg of some
of the responses that we got on this particular situation. And you know, you can still go to that
show and write in the comment section how you feel about things. And I'm going to touch upon
some of these because I'm not disagreeing with some of the things that people are saying.
I'm really not. But there is a guy that I want to point out that that reminds you.
me of what and where Jordan Walker is at right now.
Another guy in the league who struggled a lot at a very young age,
but is now starting to blossom into the player than then he thought he could be.
And I'm going to kind of compare what Jordan Walker's done compared to what this guy did early on and where he is now.
So we'll get into all of that coming up next on Locked on Cardinals.
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So the player that reminds me of the situation that Jordan Walker is in right now
is Angels Outfielder Joe Adele.
And it's because it got similar backgrounds, all right?
You know, both of them came out of high school, highly touted prospects,
tons of talent, big, strong kids.
Now, Joe Adele is not as big as Jordan Walker, Jordan 6, 6, which is crazy.
But Joe Adele 622.
like he's a he's big dude uh former first round pick number 10 overall here's a picture of look at like
yeah dude the dude doesn't doesn't not lift weights uh never said overall pick in 2017 very good numbers in
the miners nothing like incredible where he was popping 40 bombs or something nuts but very good
numbers in the miners big time prospect people had a lot of high hopes for him very athletic a lot of
the same stuff that jordan walker brings to the table and he'd do one
well of the minors, and then he come up to the majors, and he struggled.
He struggled for years when he got to the big leagues.
Came up at age 21 in 2020 and in four seasons, amassed a 21-b-b-vassing average.
This is over four seasons, by the way, 214-batting average, 18 home runs, 259 OBP, 625 OPS, OPS plus 71,
and 619 plate appearances.
So that gives you a 162 game average of 16 home-runs.
runs, 60 RBIs, 1909 strikeouts. He was swinging and missing and everything, and a negative
1.3 war. Jordan Walker in three seasons so far at the major league level, has more plate
appearances. Cardinals have played it more at 974 plate appearances, but his 162 game average,
242 batting average, which is better than Adele's 214. 16 home runs, 65 RBIs, 161 striacouts.
an OBP of 302, 686 OPS, OPS plus of 89, and a minus 1.5 war.
So pretty similar numbers here.
Pretty similar.
And I was talking with John Frisch from Locked on Angels.
He's one of the hosts there at Locked on Angels, does MLB game night with me.
I was talking to him about it and was like, you know, a guy that Jordan kind of reminds me of is Joe Waddell.
when did it turn around for Joe?
Like, what was it?
And he was like, yeah, dude,
he suffered through some very similar things
that Jordan Walker is dealing with now
where pitchers were throwing breaking stuff away, away, away,
and the guy could not lay off it.
Just couldn't figure it out.
And it was a problem.
And it's why he kept getting sent up and down, up and down.
It's just, I'm telling you,
it's so close to what the Walker situation is.
And I said, well, what happened?
And he was like, well, he eventually,
figured out how to lay off that pitch.
And as soon as he did, like a light ball went off,
and things were great.
He laid off that pitch, and when he hit home runs,
he was pulling him to left field.
Okay?
You know, Jordan Walker is a big dude.
He's got power in that bat.
Is he going to be a 35, 40 home run guy?
Maybe not.
But there is power there.
There's certainly 2025 home run power there.
And that's genuinely what he needs to do.
And I was talking about this the other day.
I was like, yeah, he lays off that pitch.
And when they do try to bust him, man, he's so quick with his hands and with his swing.
He's going to be able to yank balls out of the ballpark.
He's just got to learn to lay off that pitch.
Easier seven done, right?
And Joe Adele has figured that out.
204, he hits just 207, but he pops 20 home runs and drives in 62 RBIs.
This year hitting 241, but 33 home runs, 90 RBS.
is in his age 26th season.
And I know we hate the word patience
because John Moseilock has ruined that word for everybody.
And we want these guys to all be great right away.
We just, right now, give it to me, be awesome.
No excuses, right?
But sometimes it just doesn't work that way.
More times than not, it doesn't work that way.
Not every prospect that gets brought up
immediately becomes a stud.
And the angels could have easily given up on Joe Adele.
And I was saying not this past spring training, but the spring training before, I was like,
Cardle should call the angels and kick the tires on this guy, see if he's available, see what it would take.
Because the talent is there.
You see it.
And I feel the same way about Jordan Walker.
I see the talent.
I see all this upside.
And I agree with many of the fans that think the biggest disservice that has happened with Jordan Walker was that season when they rushed him up in 2020.
when they put them on the opening day roster for no apparent reason.
Didn't have to happen.
Every dayers know that when that was announced,
I was like, hey, cool, but why?
Why are we?
Why?
Why are we doing this?
Do we need to do this?
I was not a fan.
I was not a fan.
I thought it was stupid.
Thought it was desperate.
Thought it was, you know, an attention thing.
A media ploy.
if you will to get more coverage, to get more action.
Thought it was rush, thought it was unnecessary.
And it backfired because they get him up there.
And he, yeah, he does okay.
But then they send him down, they're like, well, hold on.
You're hitting too many ground balls.
You're hitting too many ground balls.
We got to work on this.
And they sent him down.
And he hasn't been the same sense.
Like he came back up that year and was, was better.
But he just hasn't been the same guy.
Now, has the team learned from that mistake, perhaps,
because it appears that they are more comfortable with slow playing things
with some of their other prospects like Mason Wend.
They didn't pull him up right away.
They gave him that last month.
And then, you know, last year he became the starter.
Now you've got J.J. Weatherhold and Quinn Matthews,
who both appear to be ready.
They'd be easy to just pull him up right now.
And they're like, well, hold on.
Hold on.
But personally, I'm not punting on a 23-year-old with the talent.
that Jordan Walker has.
Contract friendly, obviously, with money being the way it is with the Cardinals.
They're not looking to spend any.
He's going to be contract friendly for quite a while now.
And a kid that I believe that you're the reason that you screwed this up
by pushing him to the majors and told him that he had to learn to play an entirely new position
on top of trying to hit Major League pitching at the age of 21.
Like, I blame the Cardinals.
I mean, does it, if you're Jordan Walker, don't you kind of, well, I'm kind of questioning your decision making as well, because look what you did to me.
I hope they could figure it out together.
And I feel like that maybe it doesn't happen, you know, this season.
I'm going to keep an eye on it, obviously.
That's the whole point of this segment.
But, you know, that something needs to be discussed and figured out this offseason between the Cardinals and Jordan Walker to figure out, all right, this is what we want to do.
Let's get on the same page.
Let's do that, okay?
Because we need this kid to be good, and he can be good.
I think so.
I trust that he should be a very good player at some point.
I think he's got a good enough head on his shoulders to figure it all out.
I just feel like he's been jerked around enough over the last couple seasons that maybe he doesn't trust the Cardinals as much in what they're doing.
And I don't really blame him for it, honestly.
But Jordan Walker, obviously, key number one.
other two guys. I'm not going to know quite as in depth about these two as I just did with Jordan Walker,
but Thomas C.J.C. and Matt Sonson. So J.C. is in a very tough spot right now because he's in a,
he's in an organization and on a team that win healthy. You've got Aronado and Brennan Donovan.
Mason win at shortstop. And Nolan Gorman ahead of him as far as the infield pecking order.
and you got JJ Weatherhole coming up, right?
You know, he's going to be here.
If he doesn't come up this year,
it's probably going to have a next year.
So there's not a lot of room for him on the end field.
So I'm curious what his place on the roster is going to be moving forward.
You know, even if Arnado was somehow moved this off season,
it's still, like even if you eliminate him from the group here,
it's still Gorman, win, Donovan, and Weatherhole.
Still four.
And if Donovan moves to left permanently,
then that opens up a spot. Maybe C. Jacey moves to the outfield. I remember they were talking about, you know, working him out there, but you've still got Newt, Victor Scott, and Jordan Walker out there. Maybe he's just a utility bench guy and nothing more. I don't know yet. That's why I'm going to keep an eye on him here in this final month a little bit closer eye to see, you know, maybe what his future path is going to be. You know, being a bench bat of his caliber, having that. I mean, that's not a bad thing.
but he's someone that I'm really hoping will
jump off the page more in games
and really push for playing time next year.
And then there's Matt Fonson.
The Cardo's bullpen has some guys that have been solid,
you know, since all the trades were made at the deadline.
You know, Jojo, Riley O'Brien's been good when healthy,
which unfortunately keeps popping up, the injuries.
But he's been very good if you go look at the numbers,
like they're pretty outstanding.
Kyle Leahy has had his ups and downs throughout the season,
but a lot of relievers do.
like that's nothing new.
Find me a reliever who doesn't ever give up something and we'll put him in the Hall of Fame today.
But there's a chance of, you know, we've talked about Kyle Leahy, maybe getting converted into a starter.
You've seen that discussion that he's got starter stuff.
So Svanson could be the guy that takes over his role next season, which is, you know,
seventh, eighth inning, high pressure situations.
And he could be a bigger part of this bullpen next year too.
So I'll be watching him and how he handles.
the tougher situations.
And I hope Ollie deploys him.
Got the wrong picture up, sorry.
I hope Ali deploys him in a bunch of those types of situations the rest of the way.
Because this is the time to get in those reps and get them in against big league hitters who still have something to play for.
You know, not every team's pushing for the playoffs.
But a lot of guys are fighting for roster spots for next year, just like the Cardinals, you know,
have that intercompetition going on.
But some of these teams are still playing for things.
like the team that's in town this weekend.
Spring training is fine, but this week and the Giants are here
and have once again started to make a push for a playoff spot.
And that's the kind of team that I want to see him facing in high leverage situations.
That's what I'm looking for.
So with the Giants in town, we're going to discuss what this weekend looks like,
pitching probabilities.
How are the Giants back in playoff discussion?
How did this happen out of nowhere?
We'll get into it next.
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So the San Francisco Giants are in town this weekend.
They made that extremely bold move this year when out of nowhere,
they struck a deal with the Boston Red Sox and pulled Rafael Devers out of Boston,
brought them to the bay.
Many thought that that move was going to catapult them into becoming serious playoff contenders.
And it did not work out that way.
at all. For the longest time, the Giants just kind of slugged along there. Devers wasn't doing much.
The offense was kind of, nah. They just, they did not get the boost they thought they were going
to get when Devers came on board. You know, their big free agent signing, Willie Adomis, he got out
of the gate slow, not living up to the big money that they gave him. So things were kind of bleak.
Things were kind of bleak in the bay. But things have changed in a major way. So the Dodgers and the
Padres. Remember, they were butt in heads recently, and they continued to battle for that top spot in the NLS. And the Giants,
they just kind of slowly but surely crept up and had been making a little bit of noise recently.
They're 12 and 8 in their last 20, but 9 in 1 in their last 10. And in that time span, the Padres have been struggling at 2 and 8 in their last 10 and lost one of their relievers Jason Adam.
and the Cubs and Mets have not pulled away like many thought they would.
The Giants are now just four games out of a wild card spot as we begin things on Friday.
So they got a lot to play for this weekend.
Okay, they're motivated.
And the Cardinals are the ones standing in their way of completing their task of trying to get to the postseason.
Now, Cardin's going to have Michael McGreevy on the mound tonight against Ritey Carson Seymour for the Giants.
he's going to be the starter for just the second time this season,
started against Baltimore on August 30th, got beat up,
four runs on five hits, two home runs,
and just three innings.
This is one of those bullpen type of games for them.
So advantage cardinals there.
I'm going to trust the Michael McGreevy starts every single time
because they just play better behind him.
They do well behind Michael McGreevy.
He doesn't get beat up so far that they are out of games early.
He struggles in the first couple of innings.
then he tends to figure it out, and then he's fine.
Then he's fine.
So hopefully they stay away from the beginning on Friday night.
And, you know, if they do go down, maybe one or two runs, nothing major.
Keep ball in the ballpark, obviously.
And advantage cardinals on that one.
Saturday, you've got future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander,
who's just three and ten this season.
I know weird, but has had a much better time recently.
August 2 and 2, 3.62 ERA.
he'll go up against Andre Palante.
I'm still in the rotation.
Six and 13, but hasn't had hardly any success in quite a while.
One in six in his last seven, ERA, close to seven at six point eight.
I mean, who would you bet on in that game?
Then on Sunday, it's Sunny Gray trying to bounce back after getting stomped by the A's on Monday.
The Giants haven't officially announced their starter, at least not that I saw,
but Logan Webb pitched on Tuesday, so I'm not sure why it wouldn't be him.
I'm not completely sure why.
Very interesting.
The Cardinals actually just made a move, by the way,
have activated Joel Pozo, which we knew was coming from the seven-day concussion list.
Cesar Prieto has been optioned back to AAA Memphis.
Wilson Contreras had a six-game suspension reduced to four.
They'll begin serving that suspension today.
I have not seen Quinn Matthews is pitching in the minors tonight.
All right.
Henderson's pitching tonight as well at Springfield.
So those are some two games.
But I have not seen the lineup yet or who's going to be playing at first base with
Wilson Contreras out and Alec Berlinson out.
I would assume it's going to be Gorman.
That would be my guess.
They'll have Gorman go over there and have Cajee play third.
But that's just my guess.
I'm not totally sure yet.
We'll see.
But like I said, now I'm trying to retweet this.
I apologize.
But like I said, the Giants haven't officially named it yet.
but I don't see why Logan Webb wouldn't get the start.
Devers, Adamas, Chapman, top hitters, Elliot Ramos, very, very good.
Been hanging well recently.
Drew Gilbert, a guy they got from the Mets in that Rogers deal,
is hitting 571 with two dingers in his last five games.
So don't take your eyes off that prospect.
It's Hall of Fame weekend.
Yadi's back.
He's back in the dugout.
That's going to be cool.
Maybe the Cardinals can spoil things for the Giants.
When Yadi was in town last time and was in the dugout,
they took two or three from the Cubs, who were the better team at the time.
So maybe they could spoil for things with a win tonight.
And then on Sunday, because I'm not betting that Palante is ever going to win a game again until he proves that he can't,
especially not against a future Hall of Famer like a Justin Verlander.
So that's what I'm going with.
Two out of three for the Cardinals this week.
And because I don't want to get yelled at by you guys.
All right.
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