Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - Why It May Or May Not Be A Good Idea To Call Jordan Walker Up

Starting point is 00:00:00 Jordan Walker is mashing at AAA Memphis. Is it time to bring him back up once and for all? Plus, the trade of Tyler O'Neill to the Boston Red Sox just took another massive swing in favor of Boston. Talk about it all today on 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 are Carlis fans. I'm J.D. Haffern.

Starting point is 00:00:33 and I'm a national radio sports anchor born and raised in a Lou and a lifetime Cardinals. And I'm your host for Lockdown Cardinals, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network covering your team every day. You can follow me on Twitter X at JD Sports Radio as well as the podcast itself at L0 underscore Cardinals. I do want to thank those of you who make Lockdown Cardinals your first listen every day. We're free and available wherever you get your podcast. We're also on YouTube because 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 being brought to you by Supply House. Supplyhouse.com is the reliable way to get parts fast.

Starting point is 00:01:07 Shop for your next plumbing, HVAC, or electrical job, and get fast shipping from coast to coast at supplyhouse.com. So I hope you guys had an outstanding weekend. Enjoyed the Sunday off from baseball, which was kind of weird, right? Because we're so used to having ball games on Sundays. But no baseball for the Cardinals on Sunday. So a lot of you hit me up with what you guys were doing. A lot of people were going to church. I don't know if you were praying for the Cardinals or just, you know, doing your own thing in church on on Sunday, which is totally fine, which is great.

Starting point is 00:01:38 People were spending time with families and going out with the kids and doing whatnot. But the Cardinals, as far as what they were going through this weekend, split the games in Kansas City on Friday and Saturday. Offense was big in Friday's win, not so much on Saturday when they lost. And it was kind of a microcosm of the season, right? where, you know, Friday, offense, great. Saturday, offense, yeah. Cardinals have been very streaky for most of the season, but at this point of the year, you know, you got to catch some good streaks, right? And one guy who's streaking in the right direction, not in the nude, mind you, but streaking in the right direction is the bat of one,

Starting point is 00:02:19 Jordan Walker. Now, you remember this guy, right? 22 years old, 6'5, 250 pounds, former first round pick hit 276 last year, 16 home. runs, 51 ribbies, OPS plus of 113 as a rookie. Had a bobblehead this year. Actually, I can grab mine real quick and show it to you guys on the screen here. Look, there it is. If you're watching on YouTube, there you go. Jordan Walker Skywalker Bobblehead, which is, you know, awesome.

Starting point is 00:02:50 He's in the, looks like the Luke Skywalker garb, Jedi robe with the green lightsaber. So obviously there was a big plan for Jordan Walker here in 2024. And it just did not work out, you know. It was a tough go at the beginning of the year. And they sent him back down. And things weren't great at Memphis for most of the year. But he's on what we like to call a heater at the moment for the Memphis Redbirds, the Cardinals AAA affiliate in the month of August,

Starting point is 00:03:23 a mere 43 at bats, mind you, so small sample size. but Jordan Walker looks like the Jordan Walker, we heard a lot about. He's hitting 3.49. It's got three home runs, five ribbies, nine runs scored. Got five multi-hit games already in the month of August. And you've probably seen the home runs on X by now. If not, you can go check out our Twitter X page at L1 underscore Cardinals. I've got them reposted there in our feet.

Starting point is 00:03:49 He's hitting missiles right now. Absolute missiles, just nuking the ball. According to reports on Saturday night alone, he had exit velocities of 105.4, which wasn't out on a flyout, 105.6 miles per hour on a triple, and then 108.4 on his home run, which traveled 434 feet. Home run on Sunday, hit another one, 425. He's made some adjustments at the plate to his stance and to his approach, how he's approaching things, apparently swinging harder. is a part of the thing. We just heard that with Victor Scott talking about his turnaround at AAA and how he got things going again, where he added the late kick and started swinging harder, just being more aggressive and putting a little more effort into the swing. And it's working out.

Starting point is 00:04:38 Looks like the same thing is going on with Jordan Walker as well. But we're not here to win AAA championships. Hey, great, Memphis. High five. Glad you guys are doing well. But that's not what this is about. This is about winning at the big league level. and with Jordan mashing the way he is,

Starting point is 00:04:55 it's got some people, myself included, wondering if it's time to bring Jordan Walker back up to the major league roster and inject even more life into this lineup, the way that Tommy Fan and Victor Scott have done recently. The team still needs right-handed bats that can do damage against left-handed pitching. That's what they need. That's what they're missing.

Starting point is 00:05:18 Tommy Fan was supposed to be that guy off the bench. he wasn't supposed to be in the lineup every day when they got him, but because he's been hitting so well, and because of the injury to Michael Siani, and because he's one of the few right-handed hitting bats, he's in the lineup pretty much every day, specifically against left-handers, and he'll be in the lineup tonight, I'm sure.

Starting point is 00:05:42 But because we've had so much left-handed heavy hitters on this roster, another right-hand of bad that can crush against lefties, it'd be kind of nice to have. But is it the right time? Is it the right time to bring Jordan Walker back to this team? Now, this is something that I argue with myself about because you can look at both sides of it, and that's what I want to do right now,

Starting point is 00:06:06 because the impatient side of me says, yes, what are we waiting for? Let's go, pull him up, have them hit tonight in Cincinnati against left-hander, Andrew Abbott, put Lars Neupar on the bench. He's hitting 143 with no home runs and one RBI in August. As an OPS plus of 83 against lefties this year with no home runs and four RBIs, no need to have Lars Neupar in your lineup tonight against the lefty, Jordan Walker, get him here. Let's go. Now, that's the excitement side of me. That's the fanatic fan side of me. It's like, come on, bring him up. We want him here. We love Jordan Walker. We've missed

Starting point is 00:06:46 him. You'd have to make a roster move, obviously, but I don't want to think logical. I want production. I want it now. We need wins. No time to lose. Let's go. And then there's the other side of me, which is the, you know, the calmer, more responsible side that says, all right, all right, hold on. Let's not rush this. Yeah, he's had a nice couple of weeks here, but the overall body of work still kind of iffy, right? You know, on the season, Jordan Walker is sitting 257 at AAA Memphis. That's not going to blow anybody away. Hadn't shown a whole lot of power until recently.

Starting point is 00:07:27 And again, he's doing this at AAA hitting AAA pitchers. Major league pitchers, they might eat them up again, right? They might have figured something out about him. The AAA just isn't doing. And they're going to chew them up and spit them out again like they did earlier this year. We also don't want to bring them up. and there's only have them hitting against lefties, right? You don't want to have him sitting.

Starting point is 00:07:50 You want him to play every day, you know? And if he's going to sit against righties, because you've got so many of those good left-handed bats that can play outfield and DH for you with Donnie and Victor and Burley and Newt, that would be bad, right? Nolan Gorman, obviously, can be H as well. So he needs to play. So that's the other side of the argument that I struggle with.

Starting point is 00:08:12 Plus mention the roster moves. Who do you send down? down. Do you send Nolan Gorman down? He is four for his last seven. Maybe he, maybe he's starting to get hot again. Can't cut Crawford. That's not something they want to do. He's part of the culture. Everyone seems to love him. So they don't want to do that. This is the conundrum of trying to make a move like this right now. I'm guessing that the Cardinals stay kind of chill and just wait. I think they waited out. People asked about Ivan Herrera recently. Like, well, how come he, well, he's healing with a shoulder issue, which is why he hasn't been playing.

Starting point is 00:08:48 Another reason why he's not up to be a bench bat for him from the right-handed side. So these are the argument. You got the one side where you're like, yeah, this makes a lot of sense. Let's go, let's go, let's go. Then you got the other side where it's kind of like, all right, hold up. Let's think about this for a minute. Are we doing the right thing by doing this? Is this a smart move?

Starting point is 00:09:09 Are we going to do more damage to Jordan Walker? Do we just let him be where he is right now and we're, he's comfortable and let him keep crushing and then finally bring him up. So I don't know. I don't know if I want to slow play it. I know again, the aggressive side of me wants him here now. I want him up on this roster. Now, let's go.

Starting point is 00:09:30 But that's not always the smart thing to do. Overreacting to a couple of games maybe isn't the smart thing. But I don't know. I don't know what's going to happen. Like I said, I think the Cardinals will slow play it, but we'll see. I'm curious what you think about it. I want to get your feedback on this. Do you have another argument for either side of this debate right now?

Starting point is 00:09:53 So let me know. You guys be the jury on this one. Hit me up in the comments section and on Twitter X. Let me know your thoughts and we can discuss it. Another thing that did happen over the weekend has to do with the return that the Cardinals got for the Tyler Bro Neal trade. If you didn't like the deal before, oh boy, oh boy, you are really going to hate it now. We'll talk about it next on Locktown Cardinals.

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Starting point is 00:11:39 screaming. Can miss analysis, opinions, news, got it all for you. And it's streaming 24-7 on YouTube or the free Amazon Fire TV channels app, part of the Lockdown podcast. network covering your team every day. Thank you for making Lockdown Cardinals, your first listen every day. Again, leave your comments on YouTube as well as on Twitter X anytime you want. Hit me back with that feedback. Good or bad, always welcome and encouraged,

Starting point is 00:12:02 much to the chagrin of the fans who root for the Cardinals and fans of just Tyler O'Neill. There was a breakup this past offseason. I'm sure you're familiar with. For my everydayers, you guys know, I loved me, some Tyler Broneo. I don't have his, I had his towel, his locker room towel that you could buy from the, I can get it. It's on a sweaty, dirty towel or something. But when he first came up, I was so excited about him because of the total package that Tyler O'Neill is, you know,

Starting point is 00:12:33 the speed, the defense, the power. I loved all of it. I love the tattoos. I just, he was just my dude. That's the guy I liked. But the relationship was done, right? After the last season, the relationship was over. They wanted to see other people. They didn't enjoy being around each other anymore. They were bickering, and it was just better for both parties to just move on. It happens in sports all the time. This is not something that only happens with the St. Louis Cardinals. It happens all the time. This wasn't the first time that it's happened in St. Louis. It won't be the last time. So it'll happen again at some point or another. Now, the problem here, and this is where things were a real for the Cardinal side of things because Tyler O'Neill getting out of town was great for him.

Starting point is 00:13:22 Wherever he was going to go, he was probably going to be happy, unless they shipped them to the white socks or something like that where, you know, losing was a big deal. But he ends up going to the Boston Red Sox. And the hard part for the Cardinals here was that everybody knew that the relationship was over. They all knew it. So nobody was going to be like, hey, we're going to give you all of this for the guy that doesn't want to be in St. Louis anymore and a guy that you don't want anymore. You're trying to trade him. We all want him. So it's a tough spot for John Moseilock to be in. You know, we know how good Tyler

Starting point is 00:13:57 O'Neill was. You know, he had the gold gloves already. He's had the power. He showed you that, the speed. All of this, he's put on display at the major league level. The injuries were the issue. And 2023, another rough year where he just could not stay on the field. You had the off the field stuff going on with the relationship as well and how he got along with Ollie. So you had to move him and now you're moving him at his lowest value point. And there's nothing John Mosea lock can do about that. You know, if you make that decision that you were going to move this guy, you just have to get it done.

Starting point is 00:14:37 You can't just let him drag on and still be around this and wait for something to happen or hopefully happen where his value goes up. You know, when I see fans barking about trading Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arnado, trade clauses, by the way, or like a Michaelis or a Mazzo, trade him, just get him out of here. Anytime someone has a bad game, I get these reactions from people. And I understand it, but when you try to move people when they aren't playing well, your return is not going to be good, right? You want to maximize your return in deals.

Starting point is 00:15:17 And when you don't, we bad business, all right? Selling low on a product that has shown you that it can be better than that and should fetch you more than that. But you sell low because you just got to get rid of them. That's bad business. And what the Cardinals had to do with Tyler O'Neill was bad business. But they were stuck in a spot where they didn't really have a choice anymore. You know, in hindsight, you want to trade them after he had that mass. of season a couple of years ago.

Starting point is 00:15:50 But you don't trade those people. You don't trade young, controllable guys who look like they're going to be a future star on your roster for years to come. So obviously you're not going to do it back then. The hope was that the injuries that it plagued them over the last couple of years would finally, you know, kind of chill a little bit. And we get back to seeing the O'Neill that we know and love. But that just never happened.

Starting point is 00:16:10 I mean, it was back. It was leg. It was shoulder. Like the, you name it. This dude has dealt with it. And then when it was clear that it, it was finally time to move on and they had to cut the cord. I don't think the Cardinals got the interest that they thought they might get for him.

Starting point is 00:16:28 Because I think a lot of other teams were the same way. We're like, but this dude's always hurt. Why do I want a guy who can only stay on the field for like 50 games a year? Like, why would I want to do that? Why would I give up something for that? And the idea was that maybe they could sell high on the potential of Tyler O'Neill. and what he had done at the major league level already. Kind of similar how they did this Dylan Carlson saga has ended.

Starting point is 00:16:54 You know, for years, Carlson was this can't miss prospect. Had a great rookie year. People wanted him. People liked him. Cardle said, no, we're not going to trade him now. We want him to be one of the future starting outfielders for this team. And then everything went south. And now you have to trade him, even though he's still got controllable years,

Starting point is 00:17:14 for a relief pitcher who's not having a great year and is a free agent at the end of the year. Like that's how quickly things just went whoop. And that's what happened to Tyler O'Neill. I don't think people were all that interested in getting him. So the Cardinals end up trading him to the Boston Red Sox and they got two pitchers in return. Nick Robertson and Victor Santos. Now, Tyler O'Neill this year has dealt with injuries again. A lot of goofy stuff. You got a concussion where he, like, when he ran into one of his own players, he's had other injuries.

Starting point is 00:17:52 He's on the IL right now with a calf infection. Like, was it feeling good? Like a week, I think it was like a week ago. And all of a sudden, he gets this infection in his leg. He's out with a calf infection, right? The weirdest stuff happens to Tyler O'Neill over and over and over. But he has been on the field a lot more this year than not. And is hitting 268.

Starting point is 00:18:16 He's got 22 bombs, 45 ribbies, OPS plus of 143, and a little under 300 of bats. Cardinals could have used that production from the right side of the play, but they had to break up. Meanwhile, the Cardinals pitchers that they got in return. All right, this is going to make, I hope you have like a barf bag or something right next to you. Because this is going to make you sick. It's going to make you sick. Robertson, who was on the Major League roster briefly this year,

Starting point is 00:18:45 you remember he had eight appearances, eight appearances with the team, was so bad at AAA that the Cardinals, when they activated Riley O'Brien from the IL on Sunday, which is great news for the team, they designated him for assignment. That's how bad Nick Robertson has been. 4.3 ER8 and 12 in the third innings with the Cardinals,

Starting point is 00:19:07 which wasn't that bad. Got a little glimpse of them. You're like, okay, you know, just keep working at it, dude. AAA numbers were so much worse, guys. 7.48 ERA and 21 and two-thirds innings at Memphis. Gross, right?

Starting point is 00:19:24 DFA'd. D-F-Aid. Santos, he's not any good either. 6.11 ERA and 66 in the third innings at Memphis. Like, what? And I'm guessing what the cartels are hoping? is that Robertson goes unclaimed, which I don't know why anybody would take him right now. And then they can just, you know, re-sign them to the organization and figure something else out.

Starting point is 00:19:48 You know, he's still just 26 years old. This is not some like 32-year-old guy. But how bad does this look? How bad does this trade look right now? Again, I'm not sure what Moe was getting offered in return for Tyler O'Neill. I don't know if anybody else offered anything all that much better. but if that was the best deal he could get for Tyler O'Neill, yikes. Yikes. And again, I'm not putting all the blame on John Moes-A-Lock here. Like, we can make fun of them all we want for some of the crappy trades that he's made.

Starting point is 00:20:23 But in a pinch where everybody knows you've got to get rid of the guy, everybody's going to low-ball you. So I don't put all of this on Mo, but at the same time, we let this get to a spot. where it put them in that position, which is bad, bad business. It also brings up the case, again, where we ask what is going on with the Cardinals and their inability to develop their young players, hitters and pitchers, because it's both. You know, you've seen the list of guys that have gone on to have success with other teams that used to be in this organization. They moved on from, you know, a Rose Arena, Adolius Garcia, Lane Thomas, Patrick Wisdom.

Starting point is 00:21:03 And not all these guys are stars by, by, you know, a rose arena, you know, a rose arena, don't know, any means, but like they, you know, they've been solid majorly players. Harrison Bader they moved on from. Now Tyler O'Neill. Now Dylan Carlson. You know, what if Carlson prosper somewhere else? What's the deal with Nolan Gorman's regression? What's happening to him? Is Lars Nupar next on the chopping block? Since he seems to be stuck in an injury, mediocrity, hell right now as well. Why are pitchers like Robertson and Santos failing? What's going on with Zach Thompson and Matthew Libertor, how come they haven't become the people we thought they were going to be? I know Michael McGreevy looked great in his first start in the major leagues,

Starting point is 00:21:42 but his minor league numbers tell you a different story about him, that he hasn't been all that good. And he was a first round pick. Why? Why aren't these guys developing properly? It's just stuff I think about, and the Cardinals are, you know, if they're going to go in this direction where they're never going to give up the massive contracts of some of these other teams are giving. If they don't do that, then they've got to be able to develop their own young stars, which is fine. It's a great philosophy.

Starting point is 00:22:15 Save money that way. Go fill in holes where you need to with free agents, but you don't have to go after the big guys that are commanding, you know, 10 years, 300 million. But your track record is not good at being able to pull that off. So they got to turn that around. And I hope they do. I hope they do real soon.

Starting point is 00:22:34 You know, Mason Wend has panned out so far. Victor Scott looks like he's doing well. You know, J.J. Weatherholt just got drafted, but he's had a nice little start. Jordan Walker seems to be progressing again. Thomas A.C. is getting hot again. You know, there are some success stories going on in the minor leagues for the Cardinals right now, Quinn Matthews. But Team Kents, you know, hasn't had a great year this year.

Starting point is 00:22:59 Like, why? What happened air? What was the cramp in his hand that knocked him out for as long as he was? Like weird stuff, you know? So I hope they turn it around because they're going to need to. They're going to need to. All right. Upcoming series with the Reds, we've got to talk about that to playoff picture.

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Starting point is 00:26:46 We got to get together and do a crossover soon. So the Cardinals split with the Royals over the weekend. It was a fun night on Friday. Contrars and the boys are ripping bombs. That was cool. You get that huge hit from Victor Scott the second. And despite Miles Michaelis, not pitching great. They did get that eight to five win,

Starting point is 00:27:02 which was a fun and exciting game between, Kansas City and the Cardinals. I wish we got to play them more because there's a nice fun, you know, the I-70 rivalry series. It's cool. Saturday was a different story, not as much fun there. Michael Walker shut them down after the second inning because that's what former Cardinals do to them. And although Andre Palante, he did pitch well again. The bullpen ends up having a rough night. They fall eight to three. Now they're in Cincinnati for the next three games. And the Reds were able to beat the Brewers on Sunday. Did the Cardinals a solid there? Thank you very much to the Reds.

Starting point is 00:27:38 But they didn't lose two of three to Milwaukee. The Reds are now in fourth place in the division, three games back of the Cardinals at 57 and 61. So they are by no means like out of the picture yet. They've still got stuff to play for. You know how they look at the Cardinals as the Big Brother of the Division. They're always trying to prove themselves to the Big Brother. And that's a dangerous team to play against because that means they run a little harder.

Starting point is 00:28:04 They swing a little harder. throw the ball a little bit harder. They try more against the Cardinals. It's true. They do. This is kind of like their World Series. It is not the same for the Reds against the Cubs or the Brewers or the Pirates. It's the Cardinals, who they always want to be, and they're just completely sick of them.

Starting point is 00:28:23 And so they get a little extra effort. The Pirates, on the other hand, when you're looking at the division and stuff, may not have noticed, but they have now lost seven in a row, nine of their last 10, and are now in last place in division. Now, who saw that coming? You had all of this momentum after Paul Skeen's getting called up. He starts at the All-Star game. Cardinals end up beating him for the first time. And things have not gone great for Pittsburgh ever since. Again, they've lost nine of their last 10, last place in the division now. The Brewers continue to do what they need to do. And that's they just keep winning. And they win a lot. They push their lead to seven and a half in the division over the Cardinals.

Starting point is 00:29:00 But in the wild card, where I think the Cardinals, if they're going to get in, it's going to be that way. because I just don't see them making up all this ground against Milwaukee. They're one and a half back of the Braves who have also fallen on hard times. Remember we're talking about going on streaks? The Cardinals haven't done that. They just continue to kind of be right in the middle there while these other teams either thrive or they're falling off. And the Braves are one of those teams that have fallen off. The Cardinals are now a game back of the Mets who also cooled off this weekend.

Starting point is 00:29:29 They got hot and jumped the Cardinals. Now the Mets cooled off this weekend. and they got swept in Seattle and got dominated. The Mariners outscored them 22 to 1. They got shut out twice and got blasted on Sunday night baseball 12 to 1. Like just embarrassed. And I hope the Mets egos because they're a New York team, so I just assume they have egos.

Starting point is 00:29:51 We'll get the best of them and they'll just eat themselves. Okay. The rest of the month, we know, is not easy for the Cardinals. We know it's very difficult. And though the Reds are not a terrible team, they're one of those teams that is always going to try a little bit hard, against St. Louis, they split with the Cardinals at Bush Stadium back in June. Remember, it was those ridiculously hot days, and we were all melting in the stands,

Starting point is 00:30:15 and the Cardinals were able to beat them twice, but the two games that they lost to the Reds, the Reds kind of beat the snot out of them. And we know how things can get a little bit wild in their ballpark, great American small park, as we've nicknamed it. Things can get goofy in that stadium. Cardinals have had some good success there so far this year. But these are three games where you really, really, really want to take at least two of three, right? If you can get a sweep, phenomenal, right? But two or three, and you're kind of set up because your best pitchers are going to be in this series.

Starting point is 00:30:46 Tonight it's Sunny Gray, your staff ace against another left-hander and Andrew Abbott. Now, the Cardinals did hit him hard in Cincinnati back in May, but Abbott got the win against them in that series in June and Bush Stadium, despite walking six hitters. Cardinals couldn't get anybody to score. Sunny did not fare well against the Reds earlier, his former team in that series at the end of June. He allowed six runs, three of them earned in just four and a third innings. But the overall matchup, when you look at it on paper, it should favor the Cardinals. Sunny Gray, they'll take him over Andrew Abbott. Tuesday, you've got Eric Fetty, who grabbed his first win as a Cardinal at Bush Stadium last week,

Starting point is 00:31:25 going up against Hunter Green, who has been outstanding this year for the Reds. Outstanding. So that won't be an easy one on Tuesday. Then Wednesday, the Reds have announced that Carson Spires will get the start. And although he pitched well against the Cardinals in June, he just got walloped this weekend by the Brewers. So hopefully he's starting to come back down to Earth a little bit, and the Cardals can take advantage. They have not announced officially their starter for Wednesday, but it is Kyle Gibson's turn in the rotation. So we'll see who ends up getting the start on Wednesday, but should be Gibson, right?

Starting point is 00:31:59 But winning two of three, absolute necessity in Cincinnati over the next three days, considering the rest of your month, you've got the Dodgers at the end of this week. And then it goes Brewers, Twins, Padres, and Yankees. So you've got the gauntlet, the murderers row coming up in the rest of August. So if you can take advantage of playing the Reds, you need to. you need to. The weakest link here is the Cincinnati Reds out of these next few teams you're going to play this month. You've got to be able to beat them. So hoping for two of three, praying for a sweep. Thank you for making lockdown cardinals your first listen every day.

Starting point is 00:32:36 If you have it already, give me a follow on Twitter X at L.O underscore Cardinals and a JD Sports radio. Please like and subscribe on YouTube and help our channel and love for the Cardinals grow. Thousands of views on the videos and then we get like 110 likes. Okay. How lazy are you that you can't click the like button and help your boy out a little bit. Come on. Come on, man. You guys are the best fans of baseball for a reason, though. I love you.

Starting point is 00:33:01 We'll see you next time on Lockdown Cardinals.

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