Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - What Will The Return Of This Key Player Mean For The Cardinals?

Episode Date: April 12, 2024

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The Cardinals have added a key player back to their lineup ahead of their series in Arizona. And KMOV's, Brennan Schaefer, joins us today to talk about that and more on today's episode of Locked on Cardinals. You are Locked on Cardinals, your daily St. Louis Cardinals podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Hey there, Cardinals fans. I'm J.D. Hafford and I'm a national radio sports anchor, born and raised in the Lou and a lifetime Cardinals fan. And I'm your host for Locked on Cardinals, part of the Locked on podcast network. we're covering your team every day. You can follow me on Twitter X at JD Sports Radio as well as the podcast at L0 underscore Cardinals. We want to thank those of you who make Locked on Cardinals, your first list in every day, free and available, wherever you get your podcast.

We're also on YouTube. Make sure you like, subscribe, and comment, interact with us, and hit that notification button. So you know when new episodes are posted, this is a show serving Cardle Nation and giving the best fans in baseball, all of the info about the birds on the bat. Today's episode brought to you by Fandul. make every moment more. Right now new customers get $150 in bonus bets guaranteed. That's $150.50 win or lose by visiting fandal.com slash locked on to get started. So the Cardinals head back out on the road. They're going to be in Arizona this weekend and joining us to talk about things today is Cardinals for KMOV. Britted Schaefer, who not only covers the Cardinals for Channel 4, but also got his own podcast.

I don't know if you guys have seen it yet. If you have it, you're missing now because he really goes into a lot of of information very, very well done, which we're going to link in the description. We've got it in the show notes as well. And you can follow him at B. Schaefer 12 on Twitter X. But a pleasure to finally have you on the show to talk some ball. Brennan, how are you, buddy? Yeah, JD, I'm doing good, man. It's finally good to be on the show with you.

I see what you're doing on Locked On and YouTube and everything. I thought, man, I got to do something like that. So I've been kind of trying my hand as well the last year or so. But appreciate you having me on to talk some cardals today. It'll be a lot of fun. No, I've enjoyed your work thoroughly, not only on the podcast side, but also on the riding side. So if you guys haven't checked them out yet, make sure you do that. Lars Neupar is back, Brendan, which is great news.

He's been out since March 2nd after fracturing those two ribs on the left side of his body when he jammed himself in the ribs while he's trying to make a catch. And spring trading got activated off the IL yesterday ahead of this West Coast road trip that the Cardinals start tonight with the three-game. series in Arizona to make room on the roster for Newt Bar, catcher Pedro Pahez was optioned to AAA Memphis. The return of Newt to the clubhouse, because we know what kind of charisma he brings, and of course his abilities in the lineup should be a significant impact on things moving forward here.

I agree or disagree, as long as he can stay on the field and quit hurting himself. Yeah, I mean, and that was a weird injury. You kind of laugh and chuckle because it is like, how in the heck do you even do that? But that's kind of been the story for Newt the last couple of years. You remember opening day last year, he jammed his thumb going into third base and was out for a while because it's just like one freak injury after the next.

And so with Newt, yeah, you got to keep him on the field. The talent is undeniable. And the last couple of years, what he's been able to do offensively with a real nice on base percentage, starting to maybe see a little bit more power creep into his game. I think that's a goal for him coming into 2024 as he gets that season started a little bit later than he would have hoped, but only a couple of weeks after the beginning of the season.

I agree with you, though, for a Cardinals offense that has struggled. A lot of games where you look at the end of the nine innings and it's a three for the Cardinals and you might like to see a four or a five or a six in that run column. Perhaps Newt Bar is a guy that can hit near either the top or the middle of the lineup, bring another lefty into the fold that can maybe help jumpstart an offense that's been a little bit lacking early going. Now that's one thing I want to ask you.

Where do you prefer to see? And I know it's kind of matchup oriented from time to time, but where do you like to see Lars in the lineup? Are you somebody that prefers him in the bottom half, like, you know, five or lower? Do you like to see him at the top of the order? Because personally, I get excited about the idea of such tough at bats from him and Brendan Donovan at the top of the order,

like to go through those two to start a game and have to see those two more times than not ahead of guys like Goldschmidt and Aronado and Nolan Gorman. I like that idea, but what are your thoughts on that? You know, and I totally understand where Ollie Marmal is coming from when the preferences to kind of line up your batting order in a way that makes it more difficult for the opposing manager to beat you with relief pitchers. So we're talking about the left right, left right that they have tried to stagger throughout their lineup. I get where he's coming from. However, I'm with you. I have said for a while, man, Brendan Donovan Lars Neupar is a one-two punch at the top of the lineup.

I get it that they're both lefties. But what I kind of like about both of these guys is they're not overly splity. necessarily. It's not like they can't hit left-handed pitching as well. Nolan Gorman was a guy that early on you thought, you don't want to expose them to lefties. And then as the conversation evolves, can Nolan Gorman become an everyday guy who can hit lefties too, had some big moments against him last year. But I don't view Newpar or Donovan in that vein. I think those are two guys that you're not overly exposed by having them bunch up.

Now, would it be nice to be able to get a lefty reliever that has to face a Goldie or an Aronado at some point? And maybe it's a little easier to do that if you sandwich a, a newt bar or another lefty between those two sluggers. Yeah, that's something that I guess you could do. But the reality for those two guys has been slow start anyway. So I wouldn't mind necessarily seeing what you're talking about, the two lefties at the top and then slotting everybody else with a little bit of that stagger because you can use a Nolan Gorman in the mixture of those righties to be able to offset.

And if you've got a burly in the lineup piece, somebody batting a little bit lower that can do that. So yeah, I kind of like it. Stack the on base and let those two guys grind out some at bats, maybe take some long A.Bs. and suddenly you've got a pitcher that's a little bit worn out when a Goldie or an Aronado comes to the plate. Yeah, that's like my vision is to see these, you know, five, six, seven pitch of bats against Donovan and Neupar. And whether they get on base or not, that's the idea is just to wear down these starting pitchers where they're exhausted by the fourth and fifth inning. And then then you've got, I know, they've been struggling in Arnado and Goldie, but the idea to get them off a worn off pitcher seems like a good idea to me. So it looks like we're an agreeance there.

What is your take on the Goldie and Arnado struggle so far this season? Are you somebody that's worried all that much about them right now? Do you think it's just a matter of time before they snap out? Or is there some genuine concern that maybe they're just not who they were two years ago when both of them were, you know, at the MVP season from Goldie and a top three finish for Arnado? You know, I think people try to sort of lump them in the same category where they say, ah, these guys are getting a little bit older. and maybe that's just father time sort of catching up to guys.

Well, Arnado is the number of years younger than Goldsmith, so they're not exactly at least supposed to be in the same exact aging curve of their careers. Goldie is a guy that I know to be, like, he's still an excellent shape. He still had some pretty good numbers last year despite a decline from an MVP season that, like, look, nobody is often going to repeat their MVP season unless you're Otani or something. It's not an easy thing to do. So I'm not looking at Goldschman as a guy that I think is just Cook at this point in his career. even though he is a little bit older on the age side compared to Nolan.

But I also think Goldie historically has started a little bit slow. We've seen that from him this year. I'm not super panicked about him. When it comes to Aronado, I do think there is a little bit more of a concern because when you trace it back to the middle of August last year, the power has really been sapped from his game. And I know it's maybe not totally fair because Nolan is at least hitting for a batting average. He had the hitting streak, right?

Like he's still doing some things that are helping this team. But the way the Cardinals are built and the, the way they're truly constructed is I think to have an offense that ranks inside the top 10 in the league and is carried by some of these superstars that are making the big bucks. And for Aronado to truly be the guy that I think the Cardinals need him to be, he's got to hit some homers. And I know that's like a difficult thing to say because I'm sitting here never could imagine making contact with the big league pitch. But when you look at what the Cardinals are and the way that they're built and constructed as a roster, it sort of does demand that sort of power impact from a guy like Nolan Aronado in the middle of the lineup. And when you look back and say, hey, August 19th is the last time this guy hit a homer? Is it something still maybe with the back issues that he had late last year?

Is it something else related to his swing? Is it just one of those things where he's a guy that sometimes takes a little bit of time to heat up with the weather as well? I'm not entirely sure. I don't think he's just totally toast, JD. But I also could look at it and say, are the days of Aeronado just absolutely being an MVP candidate every year? Are those maybe something to temper expectations about? I don't know for sure that that's the case. something that you kind of have in the back of your mind as you watch the days turn into

now a couple of weeks of him maybe not being himself with the power production now one uh guy that's been on this roster that he struggled offensively as well but he brings another aspect to this team that has kept him around we'll see if he does keep on the roster if he sticks around even longer with newts returned some thoughts that night have an effect on what victor scott's position with the team may be we're going to discuss his future next on lockdown cardinals Spring is sprung and that means spring cleaning, whether that means stocking up on cleaning supplies or swapping out your winter clothes for new spring clothes, make sure you're using IBOTA and get real cash back with every purchase. IBOT is a free app that gives you the most cash back every time you shop on hundreds of items from groceries to beauty supplies. What about the kids?

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And thanks for making Lockdown Cardinals, your first listen every day. leave your comments on YouTube down below or you can also hit us both up on Twitter X anytime you want. Your feedback always welcome and encourage KMOV's Brin and Schaefer joining us today. Remember to give him a follow on Twitter X if you haven't done already at B. Schaefer 12 on Twitter X and make sure you're following his podcast as well, man. If you can't get enough Cardinals, you come here, you go there. We're always talking ball. I want to talk about rookie center fielder and friend of the show, Victor Scott,

Scott, for a moment. we know that the plan was not to have him up on the roster. That wasn't the idea at the beginning of this year, but due to the rash of injuries that only the Cardinals would fall into, you lost New, you lost Edmund, you lose Carlson, and the Cardinals felt that he had shown enough in spring training, not to only warrant a spot on the roster, Brennan, but also to play every day.

They made the point that, like, if he's going to stick around, he's in the lineup, had a rough day in the field, and that unfortunate base running mistake on Wednesday, We're not going to kill him for this. It happens. But some suggest that the Cardinals aren't doing him any favors as far as his development by having him on the Major League roster right now. Where do you stand on all of this when it comes to Victor Scott? I think in the long run, JD, I can understand the point where you look at a guy's on base percentage and his batting average and the numbers are low.

And is he quite ready at this point in his career for a full season to take on Major League pitching and keep his head above water? Maybe not. Now, it is still a small sample size. And look, a lot of the Cardo players have been striking out a bunch or not hitting very well. And I think Victor's hit into a little bit of bad luck where if he had maybe legged out another infield hit or two or had a ball drop into the outfield that was caught, maybe we're not looking at his offense as being that big of a deal compared to, I mean, it is. It's jarring when you look up and see O91 for a guy's batting average. So I understand that point of view.

I think specific to right now because Newpar was coming back. And so people thought, well, maybe this is an opportunity. for the Cardinals to make that move and get Victor some seasoning and you throw Newt into centerfield. But I think the Cardinals have been very clear about not wanting Lars Neupar to play centerfield. They want him to be in a corner outfield spot because that's where they believe he best serves the team. And that's the skill set that they believe he has that most benefits his game. Now, what does that mean? You need somebody else with some good range and some defensive ability in center.

The plan was Tommy Edmund. But the best laid plans haven't really worked out there because of his injury and the wrist just taking a long time. to recover. So for right now, I think you're left with, if you're going to stick Newt Bar and left and consider him a corner outfielder strictly, you stay with Victor Scott at the second, or maybe you go Michael Ciani in a bigger role, but the Cardinals really think he's ready for that everyday opportunity. I think specific to Wednesday, yes, the two things that Victor is supposed to be great at, fielding and base running, he had a flub in both of those areas. And yeah, it costs the Cardinals in that game. But if you're worried about this guy's

development and having him maybe take this a little bit too hard, if the ML, B debut doesn't go the way that he's hoping. I think the way to make sure you do that is by demoting him after the worst game of his season. Like that's not something that anybody wants to wear any more, any more difficult than they have to. I also lost my gig because of it. So the Cardinals, I think, did the right thing right now to say, look, if Wilson's ready to catch again, Pahas probably isn't going to see much time anyway behind the plate. So let's go ahead and stand behind Victor Scott and maybe give him that runway of a couple more weeks to say,

hey, we know you had a bad game. We know it hasn't been the way offensively you wanted it to go so far, but we believe in you. And if two weeks from now, it's still not working out. Maybe that coincides with Tommy Edmund or Dylan Carlson returning. And those are guys that you feel a little bit more comfortable and center. So is it ideal? No, I understand the numbers aren't great for Victor. But I also think he's a guy that can play through some of this and can fight through some of this with the personality and just the moxie that he has.

Let's just give him a little bit of time. And if it's not looking good at the end of the month, maybe then you say, hey, we really appreciate what you did. We know that you have a bright future. Go down to Memphis, work on this and this, and we'll see in August. I mean, that could be a reality for what happens for Victor right now. I just really hope he takes off and says, look, I know Wednesday wasn't my best day. I'm going to show people that I can recover from a mistake and I can be my best self on this road trip. I think that's what Cardinals fans would like to see too. Yeah. And we had, we had Jeff Jones on the show yesterday. And he was like, I mean, this is going to be like his worst game of his career, probably, right?

So, I mean, it's not like something this is going to continuously happen with Victor over and over. I mean, he's looked outstanding in center field. And yeah, I agree with you. It would have been a real extra kick in the growing there to also send you down after the one game that you did have some mistakes. And I feel like that would have been a mistake. And I guess it also comes to the question, too, is how do you feel if you're the manager, would you rather have what you would consider your elite defensive outfield? with some offensive upside,

or do you want the better offensive outfield who isn't quite as good defensively if you did decide at some point to move Newport to center field, which we know he's capable of playing center field. But I've been the guy that's been saying, you know, when it comes to this pitching staff, I need the best outfield I can possibly have out there.

Like, I will take the mistakes as far as, you know, not being able to hit the ball on the ground as much. Maybe we bring in Lou Brown to make him do pushups every time he pops it up or something. But I think that is the best way to go as far as to be a winning team altogether is by keeping Victor in center field. It's the pitching staff comment that you made that I think is a little bit underrated. Cardinals fans know what the staff is.

They know it's been more pitch to contact and we've heard the term swing and miss over the recent years. And it's like you can do that slowly, but you're not all of a sudden going to snap your fingers and take guys like Miles Michaelis and make him a swing and miss guy. It's just not really a way that he pitches. So he's going to be pitching to some contact. You bring in Kyle Gibson.

He's going to be pitching to some contact as well. And even guys like, you know, Lynn and Sunny Gray, those guys can be about 1K per inning type of guys, maybe a little bit more. We saw some good swing and miss from Lynn and his last outing. But yeah, on the whole, you've got guys, Palantes, another example, on this pitching staff that, man,

they are going to benefit from that defense. And hasn't that really been the card away when they were being successful? They were doing it because of that sterling defense. And you kind of lost that a little bit last year, along with a lot of other things, but that was something that you did see decline. And I saw and heard from the way the Cardinals talked about it in the winter that they really wanted to be able to prioritize defense.

But it was one of those things where they had to wait and make sure the roster would line up with that. And I think when they got Brandon Crawford, a lot of people were like, well, why did they do that? They wanted Tommy Ebbin to just be able to play center. And I get that Tommy's still not healthy. But view Victor Scott in that same way. They had to make sure that they had their bases covered elsewhere so they could go out and be a good defensive ball club. could you put Newton Center and hey is Alec Berlison having a nice series against the Phillies with five hits and maybe you want to play him and left some more like I can see all of these arguments but the pitching staff is going to think it not only is the manager going to say I like going out there with a good defensive lineup your pitching staff whether they say it or not out loud is going to go I like having those guys behind me that that turns some of my my hits that I allow into the gap those are actually outs pitchers are going to really appreciate that and it shows up at the end of the day now you got to score more than three runs if this card will team is going to win that's you know, offense has got to come, but I also think that on paper, they do have a group that should be able to do that anyway, even if you're quote unquote sacrificing a little bit of offense by keeping a sterling defensive center fielder out there.

Now, the pitching staff has been a pleasant surprise. We're going to talk about what the Cardinals have done outside of just having a better defensive fielding behind them. We'll talk about what has led to better numbers so far. We'll do that next with Brady Schaefer on Locked on Cardinals. It's playoff time in the NBA and the NHL baseball, obviously in full swing. And Fanduel is your place to bet on every single game. Not a lot of Major League Baseball yesterday because of weather and whatnot, but they're back in action today. The whole weekend is going to be jam-packed with Major League Baseball. Of course, the Cardinals in action.

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Once again, Britain Schaefer, Cardinals Rider for KMOV, Channel 4. four and of course also podcast host himself. If you haven't checked him out yet, we got his podcast and his work linked in the show notes and in the comments down below. So we'll have that for you. Just click the link and you can listen to what else Brennan has to offer you when it comes to his writings and his opinions. But I'm glad you're here today, man. It's great talking ball with you. Pitching, pitching, pitching.

How many times did we hear that? It was the motto of the offseason from John Mosellack. And they made a ton of additions. We know that to not only the starting rotation, but also the ballpen. Not the names maybe everybody wanted because we're very greedy and we think we should buy everybody and we don't ever. So I don't know why people's expectations are as high as they were. But the turnover was large nonetheless.

Now some injuries have popped up. A few of those names like Sunny Gray, Keena Middleton, Riley O'Brien. But overall, the staff has looked pretty good. So far, I think most people would say job well done from everybody involved. In your opinion, what are some of the reasons we brought up the defense obviously has been way better than it was last year? But what are some other reasons that maybe this pitching staff is better than they were last year? Well, I do think the personnel differences matter to some extent. Like Sunny Gray, I know we've only seen one game from him, but he looked like, he looked like we expect Sunny Gray to look.

I think he's going to be a really good addition toward the top of the rotation. And Lance Lynn, honestly, I don't know what people were necessarily expecting. they might have looked at last year's numbers and said, oh, pretty high ERA, maybe this guy is sort of over the hill. I never really got that sense from last year. I honestly got more of a sense that if you looked at what was going on with the White Sox, a lot of guys weren't having success over there and it maybe wasn't a great environment to succeed. And so he kind of got out of that.

He's got something to prove with a chip on his shoulder. And he's kind of back to doing Lance Lynn thing. So if you had mentally cataloged him as though he's like a number five in the rotation, maybe he's really more like a solid number three. Miles Michaelis is always going to benefit from better defense behind him. And I think he's gotten that so far with a couple of quality starts in a row on Stephen Matt's. I think they did a really nice job in spring of bringing him along slowly.

Let the pace sort of dictate. And look, you want to have Stephen Matt's be able to throw a maximum 100 pitches like everybody else. But if you have to have them on a pitch count and you get him healthy and you can keep him that way, I think that's honestly to the Cardinals benefit. And so they've been willing to sort of play ball with that when it comes to Stephen Matt's. And then Kyle Gibson even had one really good start, had one that wasn't so good, where, yeah, you lost the game in the first inning, basically. But you don't think it matters that he goes six innings and allows the bullpen for that Philly Series to end up being rested and ready to go, despite having a guy only be able to throw 64 pitches on Tuesday. Like, again, they knew they were going to be up against it a little bit with Sunny Gray's limitation. And so it was pretty important for Kyle Gibson to go out and do what he did. Now, did the Cardles win the Philly series? No, but I don't think it's because the bullpen wasn't rested or able to contribute. It. was more because they had three games where they scored three runs. And when those are the circumstances, it's nice to be able to at least win one of them.

So I just look at the personnel and you went one through five right there and go, yeah, that's honestly, it makes sense why they're doing a little bit better. And I just think when you have a more arrested bullpen and you're not quite asking as much from them, those guys are going to look better too. So I think you do have better personnel, but you've also got a bullpen that's in a better position to succeed when guys are at least getting you through five innings and sometimes six and seven when it comes to the rotation. that Kyle Gibson start where that first inning,

have you heard or seen anything where perhaps he might have been tipping pitches in that first inning because that's something that started to creep around yesterday. I was like, ooh, maybe the Marlins did have a little idea of what was coming. You know, and that is a game that Sunday game. I was not actually covering that game. So I don't know if anything was said in the clubhouse or what was said after the fact, but certainly you could see the way that it lined up. He gives up three, two, pardon me, two three run home runs at the first end.

and then you're able to suddenly get through five more without having much of an issue at all. Again, like at least reading the tea leaves, you could see how that might have made sense. And if that was the case, honestly should be encouraging to Cardinals fans because, hey, it would mean that if that happened, they caught it after about an inning. And then he went on to be able to finish the outing. And other than the inning where he was allegedly potentially having that situation going on, he's looked pretty good so far this year. So I'll be curious to see for Kyle Gibson what happens in the next outing.

and if he's back to looking good again, you might say, yeah, there might have been something to that where they were picking up on something he was doing and quickly it was addressed, which again, if that was the case, I don't know for sure that it was, but if it was, credit to the staff, right? I know Cardinals fans sometimes look at the coaching staff and say,

what are they there for? What are they? That would be an example, right? If somebody coming up and saying, hey, you're kind of doing this for the curve, whatever it would have been, that would be something where you might have to give a hat tip there that they were able to catch it quickly.

And honestly, there will be a Cardinal fan in the comment here that says, should have caught it after the first home run. But, you know, what can we do? Right? Some of the time something happens, right? So that's kind of my thought. If it was going on, maybe not the worst thing in the world because you find out that, hey, they caught it and it's something they can be aware of moving forward.

Yeah, because something changed because it was night and day on how the Marlins were hitting after that first inning. They picked up one run in that next inning against him. But after that, I mean, Gibson was shutting everybody down. So it was really nice to see. and very much encouraging and like J.D., you called him Gibby. That was right. That was proper. I'm team giddy. I like it. I heard it. I like it. Go with it, my friend. But yeah, it was really nice to see him get through those six innings. And like you mentioned,

it was something that set them up to do well in that Philly series. It didn't work out the way they wanted to. They ended up losing two or three. But it put them in a good spot where that last year would have like screwed them up for that whole series and possibly the rest of going into this weekend if they didn't have the day off yesterday. So it was really important. Another thing I wanted to bring up, how great is it seeing Lance Lynn on the mound and somebody who is as, I don't know how to, expressive is a way to talk about that.

Like seeing him get upset because people were bunting against him was fantastic. I love seeing emotion. I love seeing Jojo Romero's emotion the other night. They talked about clubhouse culture this offseason and how things, you know, maybe weren't so great behind closed doors last year. And you're seeing a team that so far to me has shown a lot of emotion and it's something as a fan I can get behind big time. Yeah, I mean, you've got enough of those pieces and those types of personalities now, I think, at the clubhouse that it gives you a little bit of an edge. Teams need an edge, right?

And a guy that's that's in the position that Lance Lynn is in where you had a need on the pitching staff and you also had maybe a need or a desire for that sort of edge within your clubhouse and out on the playing surface. I think Lance Lynn was a good fit for this Cardinals team for those exact reasons. And yeah, it's like he hasn't missed a beat, right? It's like the last time he was here was like 2018 or whatever it was. It's like nothing has changed in the six or so years that he's been gone. And he's just back to doing Lance Lynn things. And I know Cardinal Nation, after a year like last year, they're kind of viving off that. They're feeding off that and enjoying seeing it play out.

And I think the Cardinal teammates of Lance Lynn are as well. Let's get your thoughts on this weekend series before we wrap things up. Diamondbacks six and seven at the moment. So if people are out there and they're disappointed in what has happened with the Cardinals so far, go ahead and go look at the pennant winners over in the NOS there. They're six and seven too. So it's not like things are going perfectly for them. Your thoughts on this weekend and what you expect to see out of the Cardinals going up against Arizona.

It seems like sometimes, JD, they go out to Arizona and those old boys from the NL. West that are now in the birds on the bat, they tend to have good series sometimes. I'm talking about Goldie and Aronado. This might be a series where you get out there with the roof. You just time stops, right? You go back to the times when you are, you know, on obviously opposite teams, but just wrecking the NOS at the same time. Maybe this is a series where they get those two guys going.

I think if that's the case, Cardinals fans are going to come out of the weekend feeling really good. Obviously, got to keep an eye on what's going on with the rotation. What are we going to get and see from Stephen Matt's tonight taking on Brandon Fott. Like that's going to be an interesting matchup. you got Gibby's Saturday, Michael's Sunday. Like you want to keep getting those five, six and maybe on occasion seven inning performances from the rotation. Obviously with the off day on Thursday coming into the series,

the bullpen should be ready to go. But I am really looking to the offense to see if they're able to kind of turn things around. Get the long ball going a little bit from those guys that bat in the middle of the order, maybe have a newt around if he's able to get off to a hot start, can energize the rest of the team. It's the offense that I'll be watching primarily JD this weekend. And can that group do what they were kind of foretold to do and, like, carry this team the way that we know that you can on paper? I think that's what I'll be kind of checking out when the Cardinals take on the debacks.

Yeah, we would love to see something other than a three in the run scored column. It's not a zero. That doesn't mean you have a two. Like we're talking about four than three, right? That's kind of the name of the game. Yeah, give me a three or a higher. And hopefully that'll add up to a couple of Ws this weekend in the desert. All right. Well, Britt and Schaefer, I appreciate you joining us here today, man. Once again, check him out on the podcast, which we will have the link down below. Make sure you subscribe there as well. And then also make sure you check out his work as he does his writing for KMovie Channel 4. We'll have the link down there to he just recently put something about Sunny Gray out. I read that the other day. So make sure you guys are checking it out and following Britt and Schaefer on Twitter X at B. Schaefer, which, by the way, we should spell that for our audio listeners only.

Not all of us are great spellers, Brendan. Yeah, I got you. It's at B-S-C-H-A-E-F-F-E-R-12. And honestly, it's YouTube.com slash at B-Shaper-12, too. Same thing for the podcast on YouTube and Twitter. So as long as you can spell my name, you'll be able to find me. Granted, that's easier to said than done.

What does the 12 mean in your handle? It is simply the high school graduation year for you, boy. So that's, you know, tell you my age with that. but yeah, graduated high school in 2012. And honestly, it was one of those things where I think 2011 is when I was picking up Twitter for the first time. And at B. Schaefer was taken. So I had to add some numbers or do something to it to be able to have my handle. I got to pay that guy for his handle or something.

But at this point, everybody knows me with the 12. So we just kind of let it be. I was hoping maybe you're a big Aaron Miles fan or something like that. You know what? You got to love Aaron Miles, but that was not the specific reason, no. If anything, I would have done B. Schaefer 7. was a big JD Drew guy as a kid. So you learn a little bit more about me there.

I got you. I got you. All right, man. We'll give him a follow on all of the platforms and make sure you're checking them out this weekend. I'm sure he'll have plenty of content for you when it comes to talking about the Cardinals and this series. Thank you guys for making Locked on Cardinals your first listen every day.

If you haven't already, give us follow as well on Twitter, Accidella underscore Cardinals and at JD Sports Radio. Like us, subscribe on YouTube and help our channel and love for the Cardinals grow. You guys are the best fans of baseball for a reason. and we'll see you next time on lockdown cardinals. Thanks, Brendan. Appreciate you, man.