Latest / Cardinal Territory: A St. Louis Cardinals Podcast / Can Cardinals balance playing time throughout their roster and still win?

Transcript

Can Cardinals balance playing time throughout their roster and still win? · Cardinal Territory: A St. Louis Cardinals Podcast

• 0:06
  Speaker 1: So should we just start calling the Saint Louis Cardinals
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: the comeback Cards for now? I mean, at this point,
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: I really don't think there's a better way to brand
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: this baseball team. What a fun month it's been for
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: Saint Louis. Another series win against the Baltimore Orioles. Saint
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: Louis came from behind yet again and route to their
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: six to four win in the rubber match on Wednesday
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: night at Camden Yards, and after an off day and
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: beautiful scenic Arlington, Texas, they are ready for another three
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: game interleague set, this time against the Texas Rangers. Welcome
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: back to Cardinal Territory. I'm Katie Wu riding solo with
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: you today on this Friday afternoon. But still plenty of
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: fun things to talk about. Let's break down some numbers
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: that I think you would like. The Cardinals have won
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: eighteen of their last twenty three games. They've won eight
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: of their last ten series. They are eight games over
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: five hundred, a season high. If you're anything like me,
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: you're probably asking what the heck is going on? And
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: that's a great question. Let's break it dow out the
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: biggest question surrounding this Cardinals club. In April was if
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: they could balance individual player runway with overall team results.
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: This was a huge talking point in spring training and
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: in early to late April when they started to slide
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: and fell as low as five games under five hundred,
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: and in conversations with manager Alie Marmel and President of
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: Baseball Operations John Azaylock, this consensus was, We're not sure
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: if we can do both, but we think right now
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: we should be afforded the ability to try. Fast forward
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: to the end of May, and if this month has
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: been any indication at all, it looks like they can
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: do both. But the key difference here is that the
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: players in which are sparking this surge aren't necessarily the
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: players that the organization first identified as the main factors,
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: if you will, so we'll get into what exactly that means,
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: and that's what we'll spend the majority of this episode
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: focusing on. Bear with me, because you know how I
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: get when I'm by myself. But on the Athletic this morning,
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: we had a story up how Ollie Marvel balances development
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: and playing time during the Cardinals tour in May, and
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: I think this is super fascinating because it really breaks
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: down the play that Evon Herrera and Alec Burlson have
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: done over the last month that has essentially forced them
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: into the lineup. We'll get into that, but we have
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: to backtrack first and talk about why they got here
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: in the first place. So candidly, my favorite thing about
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: covering the Cardinals this season so far is that post
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: game and our postgame press conferences, us the reporters of
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: the media, we're talking about a different impact player each game.
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: Each game, it's somebody new stepping up, and in a
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: season designated to be about the future and long term development,
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: the fact that so many players are taking key steps
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: forward and turning it into winning results, not just individually
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: but from a team perspective as well, that's huge. So
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: we'll start with players that have taken major strides forward.
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: Matthew Libertore has been the Cardinals' best pitcher in the rotation.
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: In my opinion, he has emerged as a true starter,
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: and we can't talk about enough on the show how
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: much he sees this opportunity and how the Cardinals finally
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: gave him one and what he's done with it. I
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: think it's been tremendous. Kyle Layhy emerging as a guy
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: in the setup man, and I think he's going to
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: be there. I think he's going to be great the
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: spot during the rest of the season, but I also
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: wonder could he follow in the same paths as Libby
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: next year as a potential starter. Right now, I love
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: what we're seeing at a lay in the bullpen. He's
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: absolutely been a game changer position side. Take your pick,
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: Victor Scott the second sure looks like the center fielder
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: of the future. Lars Newbar, Mason Win, Brendan Donovan were
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: not necessarily a part of the transition group or the reset,
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: if you will. Those are three guys that the Cardinals
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: were pretty confident in their long term future, but they
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: just need to see them play every day. You've seen
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: what you have in Mason Win taught one of the
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: top short steps in the league. You see what you
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: have in Lars Newbar, who is becoming an above average
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: outfielder and left and has really become a thread at
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: the top of the order. And of course Brendan Donovan,
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: who leads in almost every single offensive category as one
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: of the top second basements in the National League. We
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: will continue to push the Brendan Donovan should be an
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: All Star narrative on this show. All Star voting opens
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: on June fourth, by the way, So let that keep
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: that in your mind. Then you keep going down the list.
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: Of course, I think when you see your cornerstones veteran
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: players and Wilson Contrari's and no One or not other
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: than a nice job of letting this young identity from
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: this team kind of come to fruition but still holding
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: it down. I know No One hasn't been super happy
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: about his offense, but his defense is back to a
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: Gold Glove caliber standard. Contrarass is doing a heck of
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: a job at first base as well. So this is
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: what I'm talking about when I say go down the list,
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: it's somebody new making an impact every game. Those of
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: us who watch every Cardinals game know this. It's an
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: exciting brand of baseball that we haven't seen in a
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: very long time. Well, what does that have to do
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: with the playing time picture? Just about everything. Yvon Herrera
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: and Alec Burlson were not necessarily the first tier of
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: the development group identified early this season. Right. That was
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: Jordan Walk and Nolan Gorman. They were, whether it was
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: fair or not, the designated faces of this transition season,
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: and I'm not sure if it's because of their pedigree
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: as former top prospects, as former first round picks, or
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: because they haven't really lived up to their potential yet
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: for a multitude of reasons, some on the player, most
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: on the team, But those are the two guys that
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: Moe and Allie identified early on as Hey, we have
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: to get them right, we have to get them at bats.
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: But the Cardinals are also finding out that they have
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: some true bats in the second tier of development group,
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: the Herrera, the Burlison group, and it's led them to
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: where they are now, which would be if the season
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: ended right now on May thirtieth, they'd be a playoff team.
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: Who saw that coming certainly not me. So how does
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: that play into the playing time picture? Let's break that
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: down first though. A message from our friends at Harry's Razors.
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: If you want a razor that looks good, makes you
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: look good, gets the shape done, and doesn't cost much.
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: Uh oh oh is it nice?
• 6:03
  Speaker 3: That's a Harry John and you can smell it too.
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: Smell it.
• 6:07
  Speaker 3: Oh wow, that's Harry's. That's the shave, Tael. I'm telling
• 6:11
  Speaker 3: you look, I mean, you.
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: Look scary, man.
• 6:16
  Speaker 3: Shut fresh, come and come and come and get.
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: I don't want to.
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: Touch like German engineered blades made in their own factory
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: that stays sharp longer.
• 6:30
  Speaker 3: I'm using the razor and it does not. You can
• 6:32
  Speaker 3: start to feel when it gets dull. I mean, you
• 6:34
  Speaker 3: guys only do like here and like up here. I'm
• 6:38
  Speaker 3: doing Acreach. Get the edge on your shave with Harry's.
• 6:41
  Speaker 3: Normally their trial set is ten dollars, but right now
• 6:44
  Speaker 3: you can get it for just six dollars at Harrys
• 6:46
  Speaker 3: dot com slash foul. That's our exclusive link Harrys dot
• 6:50
  Speaker 3: com slash foul for a six dollars trial set.
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: As the Cardinals continue to try to push their way
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: back to the top of the stand, Olie Marmal is
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: now trying to balance playing time between Jordan Walker and
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: Nolan Gorman because that was promised from at the start
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: of the season and identified as the two guys the
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: absolutely needed to figure out. He's also trying to balance
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: Evon Herrera, who is you know, he's not going to
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: hit over four hundred forever, but he is absolutely one
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: of the Cardinals' the most lethal bats, and Alec Burlson,
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: who does a really nice job against right handed hitters
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: and is the better left handed bat from a production
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: standpoint than Gorman right now, So there are four players
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: that all he needs to try to find playing time
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: for every day in Herrera, Burlison, Walker and Gorman, and
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: it's not an easy process. So I talked to Alli
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: earlier in the week. Here's how the manager of the
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: Cardinals is currently breaking down his playing time. I'll read
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: this straight from the Athletic again. You can find the
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: story there under the Cardinal's page. Olie Marmele said, I
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: don't want to use Jordan Walker as a platoon guy,
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: but I don't mind firing Alec Burlson in there strictly
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: against righty's. I won't do it every time because Walker
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: needs to play more than whenever we see a left
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: hand starter. But the way Alec is swinging it, it's
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: hard enough to put him there against some of the
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: other team's best right handers. So Jordan will play against
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: lefties and righty's doesn't matter, and I'll pick Burleson's spots
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: to hit against righty's. I'd like Herrera to be in
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: there every day, it's going to be mostly at the DH.
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: I'll pair him with a couple of guys throughout the
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: week to catch, which gives Burlison a shot at playing
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: first and getting Wilson Conturis off his feet. He'll serve
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: with the DH. I will give Walker a couple of
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: days a week off, playing him four to five days
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: a week instead of running him out there every day,
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: which gives burlis In another two games in the outfield.
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: The name you're looking for here is Gorman, and that's
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: where I'm having the most trouble finding playing time for.
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: That's not an easy rotation. So let's break down a
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: couple of things. One. I think that's a really candid
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: explanation from Ollie Marmle, and I appreciate the transparency there.
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: Sometimes in situations like this, there is going to be
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: an odd man out. In this case right now, it's
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: Nolan Gorman. And is that fair to Gorman? Probably not.
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: But if you play Gorman every day, who are you
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: sitting him for? Who's is that coming at the expense
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: of you? Sure as heck are not taking Brendan Donovan
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: out of that lineup? No way. You're definitely not taking
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: Herrera out of that lineup. You shouldn't. And Al Burlson
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: has done a great job against Riety's Now Jordan Walker.
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: We talked about this in the last three weeks. It
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: was not good offensively, he really struggled, but the Cardinals
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: committed to playing him every day through that and what
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: we're seeing over the last week is potentially a breakthrough.
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: Let's look at Jordan's stats over the last week, and again,
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: small sample size, but this is important to note when
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: you think about the long term picture for Jordan Walker.
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: Let me find it. Give me a second. I think
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: with Jordan it's not just the stats which look good, right,
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: it's also how he's playing and how he's bought into
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: the messaging. So twofold, maybe I won't find Jordan's stats,
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: maybe I don't know how to read there. They are
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: over the last eleven games, Jordan is hitting three thirty
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: three with the five forty five slugging line. He has
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: a homer and has driven in ten runs, and he's
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: come through the clutch. That's part of the collective buying
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: that we talked in last episode with Bernie. How the
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: organization is buying into Jordan, and Jordan has bought back
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: into them. That is so important to continue doing so
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: if you take Walker out of the lineup now that
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: you're seeing substantial progress in the box score, you're just
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: undoing that month, that month's work of progress. So yeah,
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: who are you going to play at the expense of
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: Nolan Gorman? What Ivon Herrera and Alex Burlson have done
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: is very similar to what Matthew Libertore has done. They
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: have created their runway. Herrera coming in and being one
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: of the team's most prolific offensive hitters was probably not
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: something anyone had on their bingo card. I think we
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: knew he could hit, obviously because we know the scouting report,
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: but I didn't have him coming in as the team's
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: primary DH. Let's back up, why is Herrera, who came
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: up as a top catching prospect, going to be the
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: primary DH. That's actually more of a praise to Pedro
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: Pajz than it is a knock on Yvonne Herrera. Pedro
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: does so many things well in terms of game planning, scouting,
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: pitch calling, preparation. Almost every starting pitcher has commended Pedro
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: at some point this season or credited him for his
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: game planning and his execution. And when you think about this,
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: pitch to contact staff having a game plan and trusting
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: your catcher is so important because it's not like this
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: starting rotation is going to go out there and blow
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: Doris pass hitters. They don't have that below. They don't
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: have that stuff. They do have trust in Pedro to
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: be able to be effective and get those out. That's
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: not to say Herrera can't do that, but they need
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: to develop him keyword of the season along that side
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: defensively to get him to Pedro's level. But if you're
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: only Marmal, you're not sitting that that on the bench.
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: There's no way Herrera should be playing every day. So
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: if it's at the DH and it comes at the
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: expense of playing time for somebody, but you're winning games,
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: that's kind of the balance. The Cardinals are having a
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: hard time, well actually, I don't know they're having a
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: hard time because they're doing a pretty good job of
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: finding success and the wins and losses. But it will
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: come the expense of a player. And I appreciate only
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: Marmal's honesty about, you know, just not being a tough
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: spot for Gorman right now, because it is he hasn't
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: looked great. I will say there are things underlying under
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: the hood that suggests that things are better for Gorman.
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: He's cut a strikeout rate down nearly eleven percent compared
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: to last year. Last year, that strike out rate was
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: thirty seven point six percent. This year it's just over
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: twenty seven, so that's huge. He's working more walks, the
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: contact rate is up. He's just not hitting for average
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: or hitting for power. And when you're a player who
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: profiles like Gorman, you want to see that. Now. What
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: he really needs is a long run like Jordan Walker
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: had consistent bats to show it. But you can't do
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: that right now if you're the Cardinals, because it's coming
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: at the expense of somebody else who's been so productive.
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: It's not like Donovan is slumping. It's not like Burlison
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: is slumping or Herrera and Walker is showing signs of
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: turning it around. So someone again is going to be
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: the odd man out. In this case, it's Nolan Gorman.
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: Is it perfect? No? But is it hard? Can you
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: argue with the results from the Cardinals right now from
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: a team standpoint? Also? No? I think the biggest question
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: for Saint Louis going forward is how are going to
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: continue balancing long term results with short term team victories
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: and is a sustainable I kind of think it might be.
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: It's just coming at different players doing different things that
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: we may be first expected in the beginning of the season.
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: So we'll dive into Nolan Gorman's playing time. Like I said,
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: this is going to be a short one because we
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: have to get to the ballpark, and I think it's
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: I think we can dive into that a little bit
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: more on what the Cardinals should do with Nolan Gorman,
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: but first we got to hear from Roeback.
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: The weather is warming up, and with that being said,
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: you need to check out what Roeback is bringing to
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: the table. If you're a golfer, especially and you're looking
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: for golf shirts that just have the perfect style and
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: also are soft. They're lightweight and perfect for the summertime.
• 13:41
  Speaker 2: Rowback is the spot. Of course, FT's hooking you up
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: with the code for twenty percent off at rowback dot com.
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: That's foul on rhobac k dot com for twenty percent
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: off all shorts, hoodies, Polos, and more.
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: So. When I asked Ali Marmel before the road about
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: Nolan Gorman and what we should be looking at, it
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: was pretty self explanatory. He said, what's tough for Gorman
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: right now is when you look under the hood, he's
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: making more contact, he's chasing less, he's walking more. We
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: just discussed this. Yes, the bats speed is down, but
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: that's at the expense of making contact. He needs a
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: run of games to show that it's coming into play,
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: which is hard to do at the moment because I'm
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: not sure who he'd play him at the expensive there's
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: not a great answer for it. Now. The common fan
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: reaction would be, We'll just send Gorman a Memphis. He
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: needs a bats. There is nothing that Nolan Gorman can
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: get out of Memphis anymore he needs. He doesn't need
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: to show anything at Triple A. He doesn't need ad
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: bats in Triple A. We know he can hit Triple
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: A pitching, we know he can be a minor league hitterer.
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: They don't need to know that. The whole point of
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: the season is to figure out what this team can do,
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: or what these players can do at the major league level.
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: So there is nothing for Nolan Gorman in the miners
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: except for the sake of consistent at bats, which ultimately
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: does nothing for his long term development. It doesn't matter
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: if Nolan Gorman can hit minor league pitching, it matters
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: if he can hit major league pitching. Finding him at
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: bat right now is going to continue to be a
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: priority for Allie Marble, But as he said, won't be easy.
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: I think right now, if you're the Saint Los Cardinals,
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: you play the hot bats. I know that John Mozelat
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: came out in the off season and said we're going
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: to give Gorman six hundred of vats. That's when they
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: were under the pretense that Nolan Arnatto would not be
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: a Cardinal. Nolan stayed, mo said, and Ollie said, we
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: could probably get him four fifty to five hundred at vats.
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: And right now, Gorman's on pace to see about three fifty.
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: So that's obviously much lower than six hundred, but that
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: was out of the organization's control. For the most part,
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: three to fifty is still much lower than four fifty
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: to five hundred, but three fifty is still a solid
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: sample size to decide what Gorman can be in the future. Now,
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: if Burlison taper's off or Herrara tapers off, and there's
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: an opportunity to get Gorman back in there, we will
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: see that. I mean we saw the Cardinals do the
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: exact opposite of this. In April, Burlison was not playing
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: well and not hitting well, and he was riding the
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: bench and Gorman was hitting or attempting to hit every
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: single day. He had that stretch of playing time, he
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: didn't do much with it. Now the Cardinals are figuring
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: out how to develop other players as well, So it's
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: Burlison's time to shine. So for all the clamor that
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: I've been getting about Nolan Gorman needing to go to
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: Memphis or getting in bats, I agree with you. He
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: does need to get at bats, but not in Memphis.
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: It needs to be in the major leagues and right
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: now if you want this card the Cardinals to keep
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: up their wind streak and you know, maybe be a
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: relevant team in the second half because who knows what
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: they're going to do with the trade deadline. That's time.
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: That's talk for a different episode. Then this is kind
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: of what you have to do. Play the hot bats,
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: communicate with Gorman that he's going to see some sort
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: of a decrease in playing time, just like you did
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: with Burlison. These things will even themselves out and go
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: from there. But I really like what the Cardinals are
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: seeing from Jordan Walker right now. I think this is
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: an example of what happens when you stick with the
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: player and you're patient, even when the results aren't there
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: fully all the way. I love what von Herrera looks
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: like in the middle of the order. I really think
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: Alec Gurlson can be a true bat against righty's and
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: I don't disagree with the notion of platoon him. If
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: you look at the splits Burlson his career hit righty's
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: much better than he has against lefties. And when you
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: have finally simbats from the right side that can provide
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: some thumb, use them as a platoon player, use them
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: at his best. I agree. It's not a perfect situation
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: for the Saint Louis Cardinals, and you certainly want them.
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: You want to see what you have in Nolan Gorman.
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: But right now, if you're a fan, and I'm not
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: sure what the answer is, because I think we all
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: have different opinions here, ask yourself what's more important winning
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: right now or figuring out where your players are a
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: long term But what if the players that are performing
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: right now are part of that long term? And what
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: if this is expedited the process for where the Cardinals
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: are supposed to be, because that is a legitimate thing
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: as well. That's what I'm thinking about as I watch
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: the Cardinals for three games in Texas, will see how
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: they end the last two or three games of the month.
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: June will be a big test for them. There are
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: two off days, two scheduled team off days in June,
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: one being June second, one being June sixteenth. The Cardinals
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: depth has not really been tested, so let's knock on
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: wood collectively together. There have not been any major injuries
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: for the Saint Louis Cardinals yet, they have not had
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: their rotation tested, had they're depth tested. They've been able
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: to play, especially with the every Thursday off day in May,
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: they're a team almost every day. In June, They're gonna
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: have to rely on their bench. They're gonna have to
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: rely on their health. We might see Stephen Mattz, who
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: has thrived in that bullpen roll, come back and serve
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: in that hybrid role again just for the sake of
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: resting the pictures. We've talked about how important that's been
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: with Ollie Marmel and Dusty Blake and the results it's
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: led to. So June will be a big test for
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: the Cardinals in terms of their depth. That's been a
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: problem for them in years past. I like to see
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: how they do from there. But right now, I think
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: it's safe to say the Cardinals are ahead of schedule
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: with their development plan. They've done so and they are
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: that way because certain players have taken major steps forward
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: that they maybe didn't project to and it's really been
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: fun to watch. So that was a super fast version
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: of Cardinal territory again. Had about to head to the
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: ballpark Globe Life Fields. Let's see what they got and
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: let's keep our minds focused onto June. Should be a
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: well pitched series. You got Libby tonight, Sonny on sat
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: and Eric Betty on Sunday. The Texas Rangers have been
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: a woefully offensive team. Their only team in baseball with
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: a lower OPS than Texas are the Colorado Rockies, and
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: that's never a good sign when you're looped in with
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: that organization. So we'll see how the Cardinals do to
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: round out the month, and we'll see what they do
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: with their depth in June, because I firmly believe that
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: we'll be tested, But right now, I don't you can't
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: you cannot fault Ollie marmal and the Cardinals were playing
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: in the hot bats. I'm sure the Gorman situation will
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: work its left out in time, but right now and
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: a season about development and figuring out who can play,
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: you might as well play the players that are producing.
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: All right, Burnie and I back with you on Sunday
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: to break down the ti Oh my gosh, I did
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: I say Tigers? The Rangers and Cardinals series. Hopefully it's
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: another series win. Thanks to Zoking for watching. This is
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: Cardinal Territory three