Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - Which Position Battles To Keep An Eye On This Spring

Episode Date: February 10, 2025

Thomas Gauvain from RedbirdRants.com joins us to discuss the St. Louis Cardinals - Roster Additions - Spring Training Position Battles https://redbirdrants.com/5-position-battles-to-watch-in-spring-training-for-the-st-louis-cardinals - Centerfield - 2nd Base - Catcher - 5th Rotation Spot - Bullpen Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms… 🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOSTLCardinals?sid=YouTube Locked On MLB League-Wide: Every Team, Prospects & More 🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnMLB Follow on Twitter/X: @JDSPORTSRADIO Follow the show on Twitter/X: @LO_Cardinals Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! Wonderful Pistachios Looking for a snack that’s both delicious and nutritious? Get snackin’ and get crackin’ with the snack that packs a protein punch. Visit WonderfulPistachios.com to learn more. FanDuel Right now, new FanDuel customers can get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in Bonus Bets if your first FIVE DOLLAR bet wins!Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Bet with FanDuel—Official Partner of the NBA. 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 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The St. Louis Cardinals have finally made some roster additions. Plus, we'll be discussing some of the position battles to keep an eye on this spring. 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, Cardals fans. I'm J.D. Hafford and I'm your host for Locktong Cardinals.

Part of the Lockdown Podcast Network covering your team every day. Give us a follow on Twitter, X, at JD Sports Radio, well as the podcast at L-O-W-Darscore Cardinals. I want to thank those of you who make Locktong Cardinals for first listen every day. Free and available, wherever gets your podcast, also available on YouTube, like, subscribe, comment, and hit that notification button so you don't miss a single episode because this right here is a show serving Cardal Nation and giving the best fans in baseball, all of the info about the birds on the bat.

Today's episode brought to by Fandall right now. New Fandul customers can get $150 in bonus bets. If your first $5 bet wins, download the app or head to Fandul. to get started. Thomas Govei from Redbirdrance.com back with us here today, nursing a Super Bowl hangover. I'm sure rough game for the Chiefs last night, Thomas. I feel like the shocking part about it all was just how easy Philadelphia made a look against this Kansas City Chiefs team. They won 15 games this year, a lot of close games. But nonetheless, I think that's what caught everybody off guard was how big of a blowout it was. Yeah, I know she's feeling great. I was

spent at 9 o'clock. I saw it was over, so I just called the night. But yeah, the Eagles had their way with the chiefs last night. Nothing much they could have done. Yeah, yeah, they just proved to be the better team, a lot of weapons, and that defense was absolutely sick. So, usually after the Super Bowl NFL season wraps up, people turn to turning the page to the major league baseball season. I know that NBA is in full swing, just had their trade deadline last week, March Madness coming up next month. But people start to get excited about baseball around this time, pitchers and catchers reporting this week. And the Cardinals who hadn't done a whole lot so far this offseason still yet to sign a single Major League free agent. Yet, I believe

they're still the only team that hasn't done anything when it comes to free agency so far. But they didn't make a couple of additions at the back end of last week. Let's talk about the trade because it's something we've been discussing before together. was, you know, trying to get a right-handed bat, like a bench bat of some sort. The Cardinals sent cash considerations to the Minnesota Twins in exchange for utility man, Michael Hellman. The motivation for the twins for this particular deal was not that something's wrong with Helman and he sucks or something. It was just they were trying to clear some 40-man roster space after signing former Cardinal Harrison Vader, 201-year deal. They also grabbed a relief pitcher as well.

but Helman is 28 years old, right-handed hitter, made his major league debut last season, recorded 10 at batts, three for 10. So he's a career 300 hitter, Thomas. Two of those were doubles, three strikeouts. But former 11th round pick in 2018 out of Texas A&M, injuries last year kind of cut into his season at AAA. But I'm going to give you these numbers.

And you're like, well, he's not that bad, I guess. 271 hitter, 14 dingers, 18 doubles, 47 ribbies in 72 games at class AAA St. Paul, has been described as a versatile defender, played all three outfield spots and third base during his time with the twins, 1,400 innings at second base in his minor league career, logged more than 1,000 innings in the outfield, much of that in center field. So that's always good when you can find somebody who can play all of them, but specifically he can pull off playing center field. And, you know, he also played a little bit of shortstop last year,

31 games at shortstop at AAA. I will point this out of the five total errors that he made at AAA last year and the major league level. Four of those were in shortstop, so I can't tell you that he's a really good shortstop, but it sounds like he can pull it off that the card will need to use him there in a pinch. A very cardinal type of guy, right, Thomas, versatile. He's got some speed, right-handed bat.

He's cheap. Your thoughts on bringing in Michael Helman as a part of this 40-man roster. Yeah, we can't have Harrison Bader. The best we can do is Michael Hellman for our backup center fielding. I think that's exactly what he'll be. He's cheap. He's not millions of dollars. It's cash considerations.

He can play any position on the diamond well enough as a backup. He's a right-handed hitter. his 116 WRC plus and AAA last year is pretty enticing, especially since some of that came with the power. You mentioned his home runs and his doubles. He's just a nice 26th man to have. That's all it is. It's nice to have the Cardinals make a major league move, though,

nonetheless, on February 7th. Can we call him Tommy Edmund Light? Can we call him that? No, he's got the switch hitter, but the idea of what Tommy Edmund was where, you know, he can pretty much put him wherever you need to, and he's not going to hurt you, right? He's going to be able to pull it off,

be pretty capable defensively, add some speed if that power stays the way it was. I mean, that's a bonus. But can we go Tommy Edmund Light? Are you cool with that? Yeah, why not? We could use another Tommy Edmund. And because a guy that we had talked about,

Garrett Hampson was a guy that was a major league guy, similar type of person. And when you look at, hey, we're trying to cut calls. costs, you know, do we need to go, do we have to pay a veteran or can we find somebody like Mr. Helmut to help us out and he became available? So it makes sense for what the Cardinals are doing this year, a guy that, like you said, 26 man, put him anywhere you need to and he's not going to kill you. This is not the guy that's going to make a difference day in and day out. At least you're hoping that he doesn't have to be that guy. So just a solid Cardinal move.

You know, it's not going to hurt you whatsoever to get a guy like this. They also grabbed a couple of pitchers. Nick Anderson and Rob Kaminsky, Anderson is the one that caught most people's eyes because a couple of years ago. Pretty good relief pitcher for the Tampa Bay race. He's had a solid 20, 23 season with the Braves. Last year he's with the Royals. So he's been with some successful franchises. Got some stats here for you, dating back to 2019, 158 and the third Major League

beginnings, 3.18 ERA, 39 holds, 10 saves, 31.6% career strikeout rate, 7.3% walk. You like that? 15.4% swinging strike rate. Really what the problem, Nick Anderson is, he's 34 years old, injuries. Injuries have been the problem, but we talked about, hey, maybe a veteran guy in the Andrew Kittridge role that, you know, that's a spot that the Cardinals were trying to fill with then it didn't necessarily have to be a veteran guy, but that's the role that they're kind of, you know, trying to make some competition for, which we'll get to in your position battles later.

But your thoughts on, you know, Nick Anderson and the Cardinals signing him with a chance to make the roster. Yeah, a lot of the chatter this offseason has been Arnado, but behind that has been who's going to replace Andrew Kittridge. And when I saw the signing, I saw his age, I saw a right-handed pitcher, I saw injuries, I saw Tampa Bay raise. I was like, this is Andrew Kittridge 2.0.

why not? He has the track record there for some good back-end success. It's a minor league deal. There are, the amount of bad minor league deals could probably be counted on one hand in all of baseball history. Like it doesn't hurt anybody. Just cut them, you're out X,000 dollars. So I think it's a great addition that could pan out well for the Cardinals throughout the year. Then lefty Rob Kaminsky got inked to a minor league deal, 30 years old now. Many of you will remember that Kaminsky has been with this franchise a couple of times already. First signed with the Cardinals back in 2013 was the 28th overall pick that year, so former first rounder made his pro debut at the age of 18.

He's a left-hander over his first three years in the Cardinal system. He was pretty good. 217 and a third innings between rookie and high A, 2.15 ERA, 2.90 fifth. Cardinals ended up trading him. Do you remember who they traded him for? Because it was a while ago. No, but you're going to tell me and I'm going to kick myself for not remembering.

He very briefly with the Cardinals, Brandon Moss, he went to Clemens, who were still the Indians at the time. But Brandon Moss, the powerful left-handed bat back in the day, who probably, if Moss was a player in this day and age, compared to when he was back then,

probably would be an all-star at this level. The way he knows, it was like strike out our home run. It was basically what he did. And, you know, had some decent of success with the Cardinals while he was here, but it cost them Rob Kamenski. Your thoughts on another minor league deal, but what's the phrase? Can never have too much pitching, right? Yeah, no such thing is a bad minor league deal, can't have too much pitching.

I throw them in the minors, see what we could do if an injury pops up later in the year. He might be one of the first names up on the list, but we'll see. He doesn't hurt anybody as far as young players and blocking them. So why not add to the depth? Yeah, and that's probably what it is. It's probably just depth at AAA for the, for the team. And if you need them in a pinch, yeah, you can bring them up if that has to happen. But yeah, none of these moves are are like earth shattering or super exciting.

But neither are the Cardinals right now. You know, this is this is on par for what they plan on doing. And the reason why that you're not seeing them go out and spend money or, you know, go get a big name is they like a lot of the guys they already have. And that's been why this offseason has been so dull and boring is that, They're quite comfortable. Like first off, they don't want to go spend a lot of money on anybody anyway, but they're quite comfortable with the people that they have on their roster already.

And there's a lot of talent there that they're hoping will make that next step, which creates what we like to call in spring training position battles. And that's something you did a write-up about recently. So we're going to go through those and some of the battles that you are keeping an eye on. We'll discuss them next on locked on card costs. When the game tips off, the NBA action is just getting started. and there's no better place to get in on it than Fandul. America's number one sports book with Fandul,

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Anytime you want your feedback is always welcome and encouraged. All right. So we've talked about the new additions. Some of them might come into play at some point when it comes to position battles here in spring training, which begins this week. Thomas Gauveint from Redwood Rance.com is joining us. And let's talk about some of the battles you brought up in a recent write-up. We'll have the link in the show description down below and in the show notes. So, well, you guys can check that out. And eventually, as it always happens, you go down the Redbirdrance.com rabbit hole.

And then you're just, you've spent five hours on the internet. And it's a lot of fun. But let's start off with the battle. And I'm excited about because there, there's a reason for this battle to be happening. and that's in center field, Thomas. Three guys who all have strong argument, why they should be getting time in center and be the starter. You got Lars Neupar, who is a combination of offense and defense.

We know he's a spark plug in the clubhouse and in the dugout. Michael Siani, who stepped onto the scene last year, outstanding defender, short on the offensive side of things. But like when he was out there last year, he was gold glove caliber worthy center fielder, which is a big deal when you got somebody even covered that much ground. And then you've got Victor Scott the second who has got the speed and the wheels that could be, you know, quite the game changer.

And what a weapon he could be when he is getting on base. Offense was slow last year. But, you know, he's a prospect that you're hoping will continue to progress. Tell us your thoughts on this battle and why it's so intriguing to you. Yeah, this is, I saw you. your post as well on Twitter X, this is probably the most interesting of the position battles. If the Cardinals want to go offense, they should put Newt Bar in center if Aronado's still there, and they want regular reps for Gorman and Donovan. You almost have to put Lars Nupar in the

center field just to have Donnie and left and Gorman at second. But I think there's also an outside shot that Victor Scott II goes off in spring training this year. His demeanor at winter warm up was very reassuring. He seems invigorated. His defense is at least comparable to Siani, maybe a little bit shy of it, but still it's solid defense out of centerfield. If I had to guess Michael Siani would be our opening day center fielder, especially if Aronautos traded, but I think it'll be an intense competition between those three guys. And then you throw in Michael Hellman in the back. He won't start by any means, but you've got him as an option and a backup fourth outfielder,

possibly. Yeah, and Ali has spoke glowingly about what Michael Siani did in center field last year, a guy that took us all by surprise. Nobody expected nobody knew the hell he was when he was. They grabbed him up. Moseiloc couldn't even pronounce his name. That's your in spring training. Yeah. Like it was like, okay, who is this guy or whatever? And then, you know, because of all the injuries that happened in spring training last year where Newt goes down and Carlson goes down. You're just like, whoa, look, oh my gosh, who is Michael Ciani? And then he comes up and he, you know, Cardo fans will always appreciate great defense. And it's something that they haven't been great at the last year or two. And to see what he was doing in center field. exciting. You know, he was one of my favorite players to watch last year. And, but who is he in

reality? Like, is he a guy that you really want starting in center field for you each and every day or is he somebody that you would love to have is just a, you know, a left hand of bat off the bench. You gives you this great defense, you know, in a perfect world, New Park can stay healthy, right? That's what we're hoping for. And he gives you kind of a little bit of everything in center field. Again, as you mentioned, if Arnada was not moved, because that's part of the numbers here is that you got to shift people around because you're not going to bench Donovan and you want Gorb to, you know, we'll get into all of that. But Newpar being forced to kind of move over to center field to play just to keep his bat in the lineup because where were the Cardinals the

worst at last year? Offense is something they desperately need. And to have Siani out there who over his career has not been a great hitter. You're kind of like, oh gosh, are we just going to go down that path again where we're still lacking offensively. Yeah, Siani, when you got to the bottom of the lineup last year, there was three non-factors, Pedro Bajas, Michael Siani, and then whoever else you want to put in it. He had a WRC plus of 64 last year. That might have been the lowest figure for a person who had as many played appearances

as he did. I haven't checked that, so don't quote me. But that's bad offense that we just can't afford this year. He's a great fourth outfielder, bring him in for defensive purposes in the seventh, eighth, ninth inning. Maybe he gets lucky and hits a home run to his. off a righty reliever late in the game, but he should not probably be the everyday starting pitcher, but he probably will be.

We're sorry, center field, sorry. Yeah. And Victor Scott, like, it's just kind of the unknown. And like you, like you said, like if he goes off this spring, awesome. Like, that's awesome. Like, you hope something like that happens. And it seems like a lot of these younger guys who have already started working with Brant Brown are pretty excited about what he's bringing to the table thus far.

So we hope for good things. But if you had to put a bet down right now, who do you wager as your starting center field on day number one of the season? I'm going to cheat and do two bets. If Aronado stays, it's Nupar. If Arnado's gone, it's Siani. Okay, okay, fair enough, fair enough. Let's move over to another position that is also going to be,

you know, it depends on what's going to go on with Aronado. Second base. Also, a spot where you've got three guys. that you won in your lineup every single day. You would love to have all three of these guys in your lineup every single day. There's just not room for it at the moment. You've got former Gold Glover, Brennan Donovan. You've got slugger Nolan Gorman.

And then you've got one of your top prospects in Thomas U.JC. Tell us about this position battle and what you think might happen here. You're going to hear this a lot. It depends on what happens. It really does. And that's part of everything. And that's why the card is that like we've all been stuck in neutral. all offseason is there's nothing to get excited about until we know what the hell's going on with

over at third base. Yeah, if he's still here, it's going to be, I don't know, probably Brendan Donovan at second base, but like we just talked about, he could move to outfield and that opens up in time for Gorman. That's the issue here. It all depends on where Arnauto goes. I would not be surprised if CAC starts and plays a lot of time at AAA this year. It serves him no benefit to sit on the bench and be a 10th man out there on offense or on defense, let him get his regular reps in AAA, keep on raking, keep his confidence where it needs to be, and then let the major leaguers figure out second base. But it'll be very interesting what happens here.

It's not so much a competition here. It's more where it is R&A go. Yeah, it's a numbers game, really, because you're, you think every, all of them are major league capable. You know, it's not like you're worried about any of them, you know, like, yeah, the Gorman strikeouts and stuff like that is a pain in the ass and you get annoyed by it. We all do. But it's also if he elevates his game where he is putting the ball and play more and he continue to be that guy that you've seen in spurts where, you know, yeah, he's going to strike out two times, but pops a two run bomb in the game as well. And you're going to like, well, I can live with the two strikeouts when that happened.

So defensively, obviously, Donovan is the guy. You know, if your best, your best infield with Arnado on the roster still is Donovan at second defensively, in my opinion. I mean, yeah, you love him over there at second base. He's so smooth and beautiful over there. And it's been unfortunate that we've had to stick him in left field because of injuries and stuff because he is so good at second base already. Like how many people move their best second base from the left field and keep them there?

It doesn't have them very often. No. And, you know, I would, I would like to see him be able to make a home there at second base and then fill in in the outfield when he needs to. But the Cajisi stuff, again, if he has a really good spring, it's going to make this even more difficult. But I agree with you. I think a lot of us are starting to get on board with the fact that he might not see as much time in the major leagues unless either the trade happens or some injuries happen, which, you know, you don't really want to see. That would be unfortunate. it. But this is also a guy who's at, and he's not like 25, 26 already. He's going to be,

what, 23. 24. It's not like he's an old guy and he's running out of time and the clock is ticking on his career. Like, it's okay if he's at AAA this year. I think we'll be okay with all that and that it won't be too much of a fuss. Yeah. And I didn't list this guy either. I'd be very surprised to be debuts this year, but J.J. Weatherholt is also in there somewhere for the in field discussion. Thomas's Jayce may be lost between this year and next year when Weatherhole is probably ready. Thomas the JC's in a tough spot here. A little bit of a tough spot. But I've also, but the more I've been hearing interviews and stuff, Derek Gould had a, had a good one with JJ and, you know, it was interesting to hear him talk about hitting and whatnot.

But the more things I look at, like a lot of people are saying third base is his future and not second base. So maybe. I've even heard. Center field, too. I think it was Kyle Reese mentioned center field a few weeks back for JJ down the road. Oh, boy. See, this is what we do. But I hate this because that is not, why are we sticking them in the outfield now? You just took him seventh. I'm tired of this crap. No, standing in field, Megan play short, second or third, you know, Mason wins there, obviously. But so second or third, stop doing that stuff. All right? Why are we doing this? Like, I don't want to hear that at all. Right. We just talked about we got three out. center fielders already. What do we need?

Yeah, right. A hole moving out of there. Stop it. A fourth. A fourth. Let's get it. Talk about this. No more. All right. Let's talk about one more position battle before we move on to the pitching stuff. Behind the plate this year, we got to see a lot of both of these guys last year. Ivan Herrera, Pedro Pahez, both did good at what they're good at, where Pahez is the more defensive guy and Yvon Herrera has got the stick that appears to be something that will be very good at the major league level.

Throwing out runners was a problem for everybody who wore a cardinal uniform last year. How do you want to see this battle going down at spring trading this year? Yeah, I think you and I are on the same page here. It should be Yvonne Herrera as the regular catcher. Now, that doesn't mean he's catching 140 games next year. What it probably means is he's getting 90 to 110 and then Pahey's fills in the rest of it. Herrera had a 300, 301 batting average, which would have only outpaced Michael Hellman last year for the Cardinals.

Let that be noted. And he was one of the best offensive players for the team last year in an otherwise anemic offensive season. Pahe's probably has preferential treatment when it comes to the organization. They love his framing, which don't get me started on catcher framing.

I think that's crazy. But his 83 WRC plus is not overly inspiring, especially for a club that needs more offense. I would pick Herrera. I think it's a pretty 50-50. split and once again whoever does win this competition is probably just getting an extra 20 starts at catcher over the other guy yeah um i what i what i'm hoping that you know is that evan herera figures out how to be a better catcher and he improves and that goes along with the bat which is

already pretty darn good so that's what that's what that's what i'm hoping for and then pauses that guy like you said he catches you know twice a week something like that or yvonne needs a day off maybe you need some rest. Yvine can also do some D-Hing if he needs to. You know, there's different ways to move this around. You do mention also some of the younger guys because the Cardinals have a nice stable of catchers in the minor leagues as well. Jimmy Crooks is obviously a name that you might want to keep an eye on this spring

because of how good he just missed being a top 100 prospect, didn't he? Yes, he did. He'll be in there by the end of the year, I'm sure, especially if he produces the way he did last year. Yeah, and we know how catchers, you know, injuries happen, man. I mean, those poor guys get beat up behind the plate a lot. So if they do have to dip into the minor leagues, you know, you've seen the Cardinals go with that three catcher rotation at times before because of injuries and stuff, you know, which was, you know, we hated it.

Let's not do that again. I know, we hated it, but we understood. There was reason behind it where you're like, I get it, but it's still stuck. But Jimmy Crooks is a guy, you know, keep that in your back pocket as a name to keep an eye on. Obviously, you had a huge year last year, as the offensive player of the year in the minor leagues for the Cardinals. So he's a guy that he can hit, man, and he had some pretty good defensive stats in the minors.

Granted, I know it's the minors, but still it gives you some hope that, you know, he seems like one of those guys that can do-it-all type of catchers. We're going to talk about the pitching battles with Thomas Coveyne from Redbird Ranch.com coming up next on Lockedon Cardinals. Thank you again for making Lockton Cardinals your first listen today for your second listen head on over to locked on MLB my man sully is hosting things he's got that nice little blend of humor in baseball he is an encyclopedia of baseball stuff uh going especially for our our veteran fans

i'm not going to say you're old veteran fans uh the dude tells story after story and like you're like how do you remember all this stuff like he's just got that kind of brain it's it's incredible So if you haven't checked them out yet, do so. Locked on YouTube or wherever you listen to your podcast. Thomas Govain from Redwood Ranch.com joining us today. Recently did a write-up about some of the position battles that he's keeping an eye on this spring as we get ready for pitchers and catchers to report in a couple of days here. Starting rotation has six viable guys right now.

Health obviously is a big thing when it comes to starting pitchers. But the battle for the number five spots seems to be the most intriguing for you, Thomas. got a veteran going up against the former first round pick. Tell us about this number five battle. Yeah, I think the top four spots are set. It's going to be Sunny Gray, Eric Fetty, Plante, and then Miles Michaels in those spots. And then the fifth spot is a little bit more up in the air. Stephen Mattson and Michael McGreevy would be the two main guys there. We know who Matt is at this point. He's injury prone, but his best year was 105 innings a couple years ago, and it was pretty good numbers behind that. And then we have McGreevy who made a

1.91 ERA for outing season last year in his rookie debut. It could go either way. Honestly, I see more value in moving mats to the bullpen where he can dial it up a little bit. He's working in shorter stints and there's a lower injury risk. And Michael McGreevy, he pitched 170 plus innings last year, which is a starters load in the majors. He's ready. He's conditioned for it. And he showed a good amount of performance last year in a short stint. So I'd prefer McGreevy. I think it was Derek Gould, who also recently talked about a six-man rotation,

especially with Sunny Grace health concerns, and then to keep Eric Fetty, I mean, last year was his first year back in the States, and he threw quite a few innings. So just to maintain health to keep the six-man rotation. I'm not opposed to that. It's just not something you see very often. Yeah, you know, pitchers are weird, man.

They're like, no, no, no, I got to do it this way. We just had Ian Biddle on a prospect. Yeah, right. I heard that. And he was going through some of the things that, you know, this has to be this way. And this is when I crack my, my energy drink and this,

and like they're very meticulous about the stuff. And we start messing around going from five to six. I don't know what happens to them. It just throws them off. And, you know, you want to keep everybody as calm and as happy as possible. We've talked about this before. I'm not going to change my mind on this.

It does us the cardinals no good to have Stephen Matt's your number five. Like, you know what he is. You know what he is. You know he's probably going to get hurt. And you know that at some point, this is what I think about too, is that like if you're really concerned about what your future is going to be, and you want to know if Michael McGreevy is a top three kind of guy heading into next year.

Like we're not worried so much about this year. This is the year where you're trying to figure out what people can do, right? Well, what are you sticking them in the bullpen for? That doesn't make any sense. We already know what Matt's can do. And let's be honest, we're going to, they're going to see a game where Miles Michaelis goes two in a third inning and gives up nine runs and then you're going to bring in a Michael McGreevy, you're going to make him pitch that. I'd rather just let Matt's do that kind of crap.

I don't need to see your former first round pick who you think might have a really good future doing mop-up duty or just coming in randomly in a six-day. Like that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. That's what Stephen Matt's is for now. Like you don't worry about it. You know, he's not a key cog in your organization anymore. Like at that time has passed. and it's time to use him in a role that is more suitable to make the rest of your, you know, your future more clear in my eyes. So me and you agree on this. So I'm just yelling at my stuff right now.

I'm not yelling at you. I don't even understand the process of even thinking why Stephen Matt should be in the rotation this year whatsoever and how that makes any sense. But I've seen the Cardinals do this before where, well, he's the veteran. He's making 11. Who gives a crap? He already paid him. the money's already gone. That's your fault.

Yeah, right. Let's move on to the bullpen really quick, Thomas. I'm getting heated. We know you can never have too many arms in a bullpen. Every bullpen goes through this. Nobody stays completely healthy. The Cardinals did a pretty good job last year. I credit to Ali Marmel for keeping people healthy and keeping them.

You know, the endings is best they could do. You know, they had a lot of tight games. So you were using Halsley and Romero and Kittredge over and over. They were getting worn out at times. And you would see that. So you need as many fresh arms as possible. And there's a slew of guys down there where you're like, could they be something?

Will they be something? Who are some of the names? And what is some of the battles that you see coming together this spring of the bullpen? Yeah, slew is a nice way to put it there. For just spot six through eight, I had Stephen Mats, Chris Roycroft, Kyle Leahy, Gordon Grycepho, Riley O'Brien, Ryan Loudus, and newly acquired Nick Anderson as options.

We just talked about mats in the bullpen, so that takes up one of those spots. And that gives them a lot of lefties. It's Romero, Libertore, John King, and then Stephen Mats at this point with all those lefties. So they're going to throw in a couple right-handed pitchers. I think Riley O'Brien's stuff is enticing, whether he can, A, stay healthy, and B, implement that stuff, is question mark.

So he'd be a good choice. Gordon Grispho, I've heard some whispers about his velocity, it sits around 92 to 94, but he could probably tick up to 96 in a relief appearance, and he could throw some good bullpen innings, be a bulk guy in there. We talked about Nick Anderson earlier, Chris Roycroft, Loutis, and Kyle Leahy have all had experience. So it's not like it's a bunch of scrubs. It's just guys that you're thrown in the back of a bullpen.

Yeah, and when it comes to the bullpen, usually, this is how it usually works, where, you know, you got one or two, like, premium guys. And then it's usually some guys that you're, like, hoping will step up and can eat some innings for you. It's not, you're not going to have a bullpen that, you know, looks like the Dodgers starting rotation where it's just name after name. Like, doesn't usually happen. Okay, not all teams can pull that off. And you're hoping that some of these guys who have found success in the minor leagues,

like a Matt Sphanson or an Andre Greenio, I know other guys who have, who have closed in the minor leagues that maybe they can take on more prominent roles at some point as well. So like I said, the key in a bullpen is as many arms as possible. Just keep them coming, keep churning them out. and hopefully a few of them end up being better than you thought. I mean, when we traded for Jojo Romero, did anybody like go, yay? Look at that.

He's going to be a big piece of our puzzle. No, nobody knew. No, but he could smash energy drinks. I'll tell you what, that video is a can on his head. But, like, he, you know, he just, he stepped up. He became a better guy. And, you know, we as Cardo fans, as much as people like the bag on Dusty Blake, you know, we've seen some success stories with since he's been here.

You know, that first year was a little tough. That was tough year for everybody. But we saw some success stories next year. And you see people seemingly getting along with everything that they're talking about and the philosophy of what they're doing as pitchers now. So, you know, more. Keep them coming. Keep them coming.

And then you've got guys that you, you know, the Quinn Matthews of the world and seen Kansas and stuff like that, just waiting on the horizon. You don't want to rush them. but they're also guys that could move up and be a part of this roster at some point later in the year. But spring training wise, you know, like the names that you mentioned. Again, the link will be down below in the show notes and in the description. You know, you click on nobody. You've got all the names listed and stuff.

These are just some guys that when you see them on the roster when opening day gets here, you won't be surprised, you know, well, we've already, Thomas has given you the names and the updates of who they are. And so you'll be like, yeah, I already know about this guy. You'll be smarter because of Thomas. no. Hopefully, I don't know. So don't take it as gospel. All right. Well, we're going to wrap things up here today on your Monday. Again, Redmond, rants.coms where you can find all of the word for Thomas Gauveen. You actually had a cool story with, so for those of you don't know, you've been doing different stories about

different members of, you know, Cardinals Lord, whatever. And you went to the music side of things on a new article, which is Jeremy, who does. who also does the blues games as well. So he's got the cool jackets and the hats and stuff. Cool guy. Oh, he is awesome. Yeah, absolutely. You guys need to check out that article under Redburgantz.com.

Thomas just posted that one up here recently as well. And, you know, give him a follow on Twitter and all the other jazz that Thomas does. So thank you as always, buddy. I appreciate your time. Yeah, thanks for having me on, J.D. And thank you guys for making a lot on Carls. Your first listen every day if you haven't already. Give us follow Twitter X, L0 underscore Cardinals, into JD Sports Radio.

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