Latest / Cardinal Territory: A St. Louis Cardinals Podcast / Interview: Steven Matz joins the show

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Interview: Steven Matz joins the show · Cardinal Territory: A St. Louis Cardinals Podcast

0:04
Speaker 1: Welcome back to Cardinal territory. You're watching this on Friday
0:07
Speaker 1: May sixteenth, right before the Cardinals kickoff a three game
0:11
Speaker 1: interleague series against the Kansas City Royals. And here to
0:14
Speaker 1: talk to me or with me about these Red Hog
0:17
Speaker 1: Cardinals is someone who has been instrumental in the team's
0:19
Speaker 1: success so far this season. Steven Matts. Welcome to the show.
0:22
Speaker 1: I'm thrilled to have youer. Thank you for having me
0:25
Speaker 1: so nice time to be a Cardinal right now. I
0:28
Speaker 1: feel like you guys have played some really good baseball,
0:30
Speaker 1: one of the best teams in the Major since the
0:31
Speaker 1: start of meg just coming off a big series win
0:33
Speaker 1: against Philadelphia.
0:34
Speaker 2: What is the overall vibe in the clubhouse right now?
0:37
Speaker 3: You know, the overall vibe is really good. I think
0:39
Speaker 3: actually it even started in spring training. I think we
0:41
Speaker 3: all left spring training and we all were kind of
0:43
Speaker 3: looking and talking to each other and.
0:45
Speaker 4: Like, Wow, that was a really enjoyable two months.
0:47
Speaker 3: And I felt like it was the same sentiment around
0:49
Speaker 3: the clubhouse, whether I was talking to the trainers whoever
0:52
Speaker 3: it was the players. Everyone's like that was my most
0:54
Speaker 3: fun spring training ever had. So I think we kind
0:56
Speaker 3: of set the tone early there and we enjoy each other.
0:58
Speaker 3: It's a great clubhouse. It's cool to have success with them.
1:02
Speaker 1: I don't think I've ever heard anyone describes the last
1:04
Speaker 1: two or the two months of spring training as being enjoyable.
1:07
Speaker 1: But I did hear just from a bunch of veterans
1:09
Speaker 1: on the clubhouse that it was a very laid back camp.
1:12
Speaker 1: But that is what you want, right especially when you're
1:14
Speaker 1: coming into spring you know the next six months are
1:16
Speaker 1: going to be crazy and hectic. It seemed like the
1:18
Speaker 1: vibe would show up, get your work done, and we
1:21
Speaker 1: are going to handle the rest we be in the
1:23
Speaker 1: koaching staff. How does that benefit a club just in general?
1:27
Speaker 3: I think it benefits a lot. You know, there's a
1:31
Speaker 3: there's just a looseness to everybody. You know, everybody can
1:34
Speaker 3: just know that, you know they can come in and
1:36
Speaker 3: work hard and take care of their business and everybody's
1:39
Speaker 3: going to be pulling on their end of the rope.
1:40
Speaker 3: And so I think that that definitely set the tone.
1:43
Speaker 4: It was. It was good and it shows so.
1:46
Speaker 1: In Philly, I felt like Game two was probably the
1:50
Speaker 1: most impressive or important win for you guys so far
1:54
Speaker 1: this season, and I think Cardinals stands in general, and
1:57
Speaker 1: maybe people who haven't been with the team from a
1:59
Speaker 1: immediate perspect every day are going to look at May
2:02
Speaker 1: and think what changed between the Cardinals in May and
2:05
Speaker 1: what the Cardinals were doing in April. And Ali Marmal
2:08
Speaker 1: says us a lot that the style of play hasn't
2:10
Speaker 1: changed from you guys, that just the results have changed.
2:13
Speaker 1: And I've seen, you know, almost every single one of
2:15
Speaker 1: your games so far this year, and I would agree.
2:17
Speaker 1: But for those who maybe aren't watching the Cardinals every day,
2:19
Speaker 1: or for fans who you know, don't have the luxury
2:21
Speaker 1: that we do have seen the inner workings of the clubhouse.
2:24
Speaker 2: What does all he mean by that?
2:27
Speaker 3: I think the best way to sum it up is,
2:29
Speaker 3: I think you hear it a lot in sports nowadays,
2:31
Speaker 3: is kind of a buzzword. Is just really focused on
2:33
Speaker 3: the process. I think that's really what it comes down to,
2:36
Speaker 3: as cluiche as it sounds nowadays, but I think everybody
2:39
Speaker 3: who was just focused on their process, you know, and
2:41
Speaker 3: trusted the body of work that they were putting in
2:43
Speaker 3: and that everyone put into spring training. You know, you
2:46
Speaker 3: look at Mason win for his sample, you know, he
2:48
Speaker 3: came in and you know he didn't have the spring
2:50
Speaker 3: he wanted to have, but he was focused on his
2:52
Speaker 3: work and he stayed at it. And now look at him.
2:54
Speaker 3: I mean, he's he's one of our best hitters in
2:56
Speaker 3: our lineup. So I think that's just a small example,
2:58
Speaker 3: but I think kind of everybody did this. Pictures got
3:00
Speaker 3: off to a little bit of a slower start than
3:02
Speaker 3: we were hoping, but now you know, guys like Fetti
3:05
Speaker 3: their own complete game shoutouts, and they were just kind
3:07
Speaker 3: of stayed after it and didn't panic by the results
3:10
Speaker 3: we weren't wanting to get at first.
3:13
Speaker 1: So let's talk about their rotation a little bit, because
3:16
Speaker 1: you've been in this hybrid role pretty much since the
3:19
Speaker 1: day the team broke camp, and it can be really
3:21
Speaker 1: difficult to balance being a spot starter, a long reliever,
3:24
Speaker 1: a reliever in short stints. But it's something that you know,
3:27
Speaker 1: whether you're talking to Dusty Blake or all of himself
3:29
Speaker 1: or even you, a role that you embraced and a
3:31
Speaker 1: role that you've excelled in. Miles Michaelis, after the serious
3:34
Speaker 1: sweep in Washington, made the argument that you could be
3:37
Speaker 1: the most valuable pitcher on the staff right now because
3:40
Speaker 1: of the versatility in your role and how effective you've been.
3:43
Speaker 1: It's not easy to do what the Cardinals have asked
3:46
Speaker 1: you to do. You're in the final year of a
3:48
Speaker 1: four year contract, your future. You know, a lot of
3:51
Speaker 1: guys in the final year before being a free agent
3:53
Speaker 1: will focus on trying to maxize their performance because your
3:56
Speaker 1: future does matter here, and you would have every right
3:59
Speaker 1: to have said, yeah, I don't want to accept this role,
4:01
Speaker 1: or I want to start every five days because that's
4:03
Speaker 1: where the most value is. But instead you said, whatever
4:06
Speaker 1: you guys need me to do, I'm going to do.
4:08
Speaker 1: Why was that your reaction?
4:10
Speaker 3: You know, I think it was just the right point
4:12
Speaker 3: in my career to do this. You know, I think
4:14
Speaker 3: as a younger player, I don't think I would have
4:16
Speaker 3: has handled it as well. But I think I've been around,
4:19
Speaker 3: I've seen a lot now, and you know, an expiring
4:22
Speaker 3: contract like mine last year, I think I just had
4:26
Speaker 3: a kind of a different appreciation for just kind of
4:29
Speaker 3: playing in the major leagues to kind of reflect back
4:31
Speaker 3: a little bit, and so at this point, you know,
4:33
Speaker 3: I'm like, whatever they tell me to do, I'm just
4:36
Speaker 3: gonna do it to my best ability and enjoy it.
4:38
Speaker 4: And it's kind of been paying dividends. That mindset for
4:41
Speaker 4: me when you.
4:42
Speaker 1: Think about balancing the role that you have right now,
4:44
Speaker 1: you're in shorter relief since the Cardinals have been so
4:48
Speaker 1: intentional about using a semi six man rotation, but really
4:53
Speaker 1: because they want to keep everyone on a six days
4:56
Speaker 1: rest instead of the traditional five days rest, has really
4:58
Speaker 1: been beneficial to these guys. When you think about how
5:00
Speaker 1: you're balancing it though, how does that work for you?
5:04
Speaker 2: Yes?
5:05
Speaker 3: Hold on, somebody just knocks on my doors, are delivering
5:09
Speaker 3: the curbs.
5:10
Speaker 4: Hello? Can you edit this part?
5:13
Speaker 2: I don't know. We're gonna find out. This is like
5:17
Speaker 2: behind the scenes big league stuff.
5:22
Speaker 4: For the family to visit. Yep, I supposed to have
5:26
Speaker 4: two only half one? All right, we'll continue.
5:28
Speaker 2: Okay, Well, what's fine?
5:29
Speaker 1: Look people think that the big leagues are glamorous.
5:32
Speaker 4: Okay, what was the question?
5:35
Speaker 5: Now?
5:36
Speaker 2: How have you balance the hybrid role? Just in general?
5:39
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's been a little bit of a learning curve.
5:41
Speaker 3: I think as I go, I think being okay with
5:47
Speaker 3: trusting the fact that I don't have to have the
5:49
Speaker 3: perfect routine to pitch. Well, I think that's what I
5:51
Speaker 3: learned this year and I'm really embracing that is I'm
5:53
Speaker 3: kind of enjoying just staying engaged in the game. I've
5:56
Speaker 3: talked about that a little bit, like, you know, today,
5:58
Speaker 3: I could be throwing forwarnings, I could be throwing the
6:00
Speaker 3: twelfth inning, you know, I could be starting in a
6:03
Speaker 3: couple of weeks, and so just kind of being prepared
6:04
Speaker 3: for everything. I think it's kind of opened my mind
6:07
Speaker 3: a little bit to where I'm you know, sometimes you
6:09
Speaker 3: could be pretty rigid, especially as a starting pitcher, to
6:11
Speaker 3: your routine and the things you need to do to
6:14
Speaker 3: get out, and I think I'm learning, you know, at
6:17
Speaker 3: this point in my career, I can do that in
6:20
Speaker 3: any role.
6:22
Speaker 1: You have established your career, and you know it's not
6:25
Speaker 1: easy for any player to do this. But when you
6:27
Speaker 1: think about what the Cardinals are doing in this transition
6:30
Speaker 1: season and presenting opportunities for the next future core of
6:33
Speaker 1: this club. They really didn't want to put Matthew Libertore
6:37
Speaker 1: or mainly Libby but any take your pick of any
6:40
Speaker 1: of the younger pictures in a spot such as this,
6:42
Speaker 1: because they'd ask them to do it so many years
6:44
Speaker 1: before and I hadn't really panned out. What are some
6:46
Speaker 1: of the difficulties that younger pictures would have to face
6:49
Speaker 1: and adjust to in this hybrid role, especially as they
6:52
Speaker 1: start to try to establish their own careers.
6:55
Speaker 3: Yeah, well so, I mean Michael McGreevey, he's done a
6:58
Speaker 3: pretty good job with it. Every time he comes in,
7:00
Speaker 3: he just dominates. So he's kind of the outlier to say.
7:03
Speaker 3: But I think, you know, just I can speak from
7:06
Speaker 3: personal experience. I think I just I needed the reps.
7:09
Speaker 3: I needed the ability to know and trust my stuff
7:12
Speaker 3: that I can get out and be able to throw
7:14
Speaker 3: my bullpens, you know, in between my starts, and be
7:18
Speaker 3: able to work on things and get my proper rest
7:21
Speaker 3: when I need it and everything.
7:23
Speaker 4: So that stuff was really important for me as a
7:25
Speaker 4: younger player. Is really as I was establishing myself.
7:27
Speaker 3: So I'm glad that I got to the point where
7:30
Speaker 3: I can do this, and I'm glad that, you know,
7:33
Speaker 3: Libby's really succeeding in being a starter, and it's been
7:36
Speaker 3: fun to watch him succeed.
7:37
Speaker 2: What have you seen from Libby?
7:39
Speaker 1: I mean, I mean both him and Andre spoiler alert,
7:41
Speaker 1: they're going to be on the show soon. For you
7:43
Speaker 1: Cardinals fans who are asking for players, I'm trying my best,
7:47
Speaker 1: but from Libby. It just seems like he has taken
7:49
Speaker 1: this opportunity and really just gone with it, and he
7:52
Speaker 1: seems to get better with each start. I thought that
7:54
Speaker 1: start against Billy, even though that was his shortest non
7:57
Speaker 1: rain delay start, was one of his more impressive ones.
8:00
Speaker 1: And just where they were playing, the Phillies lineup, and
8:02
Speaker 1: how he handled himself. When you look and see where
8:05
Speaker 1: you were in your early parts of your career, you're
8:07
Speaker 1: compared to Livy, what do you see?
8:09
Speaker 3: I see someone who really is convicted in this stuff.
8:12
Speaker 3: I think it's started last year in the bullpen.
8:14
Speaker 4: You saw it. He wanted the ball every day.
8:15
Speaker 3: I think being out there last year for a month
8:17
Speaker 3: with him, you know, you can tell this guy he
8:20
Speaker 3: wanted to pitch. And I think that's a really good
8:21
Speaker 3: starting point.
8:22
Speaker 4: Early in your career.
8:23
Speaker 3: You can doubt yourself, you can kind of have you know,
8:25
Speaker 3: hesitation going into those big lineups like Philadelphia has, and
8:30
Speaker 3: I think we all saw that in him last year,
8:32
Speaker 3: and obviously the team did as well with the plans
8:34
Speaker 3: of him starting this year. Is just you know, the
8:37
Speaker 3: conviction he has and the belief he has in his stuff,
8:39
Speaker 3: and when I mean when you watch his bullpens. You're like, Wow,
8:41
Speaker 3: this guy's incredible, you know, up close and everything. And
8:46
Speaker 3: so I think I the conviction and the belief he
8:49
Speaker 3: has and this stuff is really is really showing now
8:51
Speaker 3: as he's starting.
8:53
Speaker 2: Well, we'll get into a lot more about your teammates.
8:55
Speaker 1: One of my favorite things and having players on the
8:57
Speaker 1: show is that we get to kind of do a
8:59
Speaker 1: behind the scenes low at the clubhouse. So I'm going
9:01
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10:11
Speaker 1: All right, You've had the ability to be both in
10:14
Speaker 1: the rotation and in the bullpen? Which group is more fun?
10:18
Speaker 1: And don't lie, don't do the Oh, they're both fun.
10:20
Speaker 1: You have to pick one.
10:25
Speaker 3: It's hard to It's hard to match miles funness, you know,
10:31
Speaker 3: and Andre he brings a pretty uniqueness to it. But
10:34
Speaker 3: I mean, I think I'm gotta go with the bullpen
10:37
Speaker 3: because the camaraderie we have there right now is pretty solid,
10:42
Speaker 3: you know. I know, once I'm back in rotation, I'll
10:44
Speaker 3: probably change my sentiment, but I'm there right now, so
10:46
Speaker 3: that's what we're going with.
10:48
Speaker 1: I thought for sure, you'd say a rotation because of
10:50
Speaker 1: those two guys. We've had Miles on the show in
10:53
Speaker 1: April and I was asking him about the different personalities
10:55
Speaker 1: of the rotation and it just seems like everyone is
10:59
Speaker 1: so different and that's what makes it fun. What is
11:02
Speaker 1: it about I mean, you and Miles, of I think
11:04
Speaker 1: are very close, very similar career paths, and in terms
11:07
Speaker 1: of you know, what you've accomplished, what is it about
11:10
Speaker 1: your relationship with Miles that you really enjoy?
11:16
Speaker 3: I think Miles is just he's a He's a one
11:18
Speaker 3: of a kind type of person. He's so neat, he's
11:20
Speaker 3: so unique, and he's unapologetically who he is. And so, uh,
11:25
Speaker 3: I do appreciate that about on my like quirky personalities,
11:27
Speaker 3: and so Miles definitely has that. And so it's just
11:31
Speaker 3: it's always an enjoyable conversation when when you are sitting
11:34
Speaker 3: the dugout just talking about who knows what?
11:38
Speaker 2: What do you guys talk about in the dugout? Because
11:41
Speaker 2: I mean.
11:41
Speaker 1: I feel like as a starter, you're obviously you're you're
11:43
Speaker 1: reading swings, You're looking at how you would attack hit
11:45
Speaker 1: or sequencing that's working, especially you know if you're watching
11:49
Speaker 1: Libya very similar because you guys are both left handed.
11:51
Speaker 1: But you can't be doing that all the time. What
11:54
Speaker 1: kind of what what goes on really down there?
11:56
Speaker 3: No, well, I'm down the bullpen. It's a whole it's
11:59
Speaker 3: a whole different deal. We are definitely a lot more engaged,
12:03
Speaker 3: i would say, in the game during the bullpen, because
12:05
Speaker 3: we're calculating whether who's going in, I'm going in, you know,
12:08
Speaker 3: what hitters coming up?
12:09
Speaker 4: What in my lane is?
12:10
Speaker 3: So the bullpen is definitely a different conversation. But you know,
12:15
Speaker 3: the first shoe innings were definitely goofing off a little bit.
12:17
Speaker 3: Then you kind of feel everybody to start to, you know,
12:20
Speaker 3: just get a little bit more focused as we're trying
12:22
Speaker 3: to figure out who's going in and what's what's happening
12:24
Speaker 3: with the game. But in the dugout, I mean, gosh,
12:27
Speaker 3: it could go anything from what's your favorite what's your
12:31
Speaker 3: favorite you know, Christmas dinner to what's your favorite movie too?
12:36
Speaker 4: You know, it goes all over the place.
12:38
Speaker 3: So, you know, there's a lot of downtime as a
12:41
Speaker 3: starting pitcher, which is which is good, but definitely leads
12:44
Speaker 3: to some pretty wild conversations sometimes.
12:46
Speaker 1: Yeah, given that you're working with Miles and Andrey specifically,
12:49
Speaker 1: I can all, right, who's the most unserious reliever in
12:53
Speaker 1: the bullpen?
12:55
Speaker 3: Unserious? Let's see. Wow, that's a tough one.
13:04
Speaker 2: Is it because there's so many unseerious people?
13:07
Speaker 6: No?
13:07
Speaker 3: Probably because everybody's pretty serious down there. But I mean
13:10
Speaker 3: we joke around a lot. Who am I thinking of? Maybe, Uh, wow,
13:23
Speaker 3: that's a tough one.
13:23
Speaker 4: I don't know.
13:24
Speaker 3: I would say sneaky is Kyla Kye likes a joke.
13:26
Speaker 3: He's very quiet, very serious, but he's he likes a joke.
13:29
Speaker 3: He's kind of sneaky.
13:31
Speaker 1: I would have never guessed that. I'm starting to try
13:34
Speaker 1: with the young guys. I really try to encourage, like, hey,
13:36
Speaker 1: it's not scary. I know there's a camera in your
13:38
Speaker 1: face and a bunch of microphones and people slamony with questions,
13:41
Speaker 1: but like, it's not that, it's not that hard.
13:43
Speaker 2: And I think Kyle did his best postgame.
13:45
Speaker 1: Interview when he saved you know, his two and a
13:48
Speaker 1: third innings on Monday against The camera went off and
13:51
Speaker 1: he was just talking to the writers, and like a
13:53
Speaker 1: whole new personality came in.
13:55
Speaker 2: Yeah I was I was very proud. Yeah, but I
13:58
Speaker 2: wouldn't guessed that.
13:59
Speaker 1: That's See, this is good inside stuff. This is why
14:01
Speaker 1: people subscribe to the podcast Kylie Personality.
14:05
Speaker 4: Yeah, exactly.
14:07
Speaker 1: Okay, so I'm not supposed to disclose this information, but
14:11
Speaker 1: the rumor around the club is that you might be
14:15
Speaker 1: the best overall athlete. And I've been told us a
14:18
Speaker 1: couple of times, and I've been told don't tell him
14:20
Speaker 1: because it'll go to his head. So I'm not going
14:22
Speaker 1: to say who said it, but just know if there's
14:24
Speaker 1: a rumor going around, would you agree with that sentiment
14:28
Speaker 1: all around that?
14:30
Speaker 4: No, I don't. I don't agree. I don't agree.
14:32
Speaker 2: Who's your top three?
14:34
Speaker 4: I mean, you got Mason Win, Okay, he's he's top.
14:42
Speaker 3: Probably Lars new Bar because apparently he was jury's out,
14:46
Speaker 3: but apparently he was a good quarterback. Okay, so if
14:49
Speaker 3: you can do two, you know, if you if you
14:50
Speaker 3: can play two college sports, you've.
14:52
Speaker 4: Got to be in the top.
14:54
Speaker 3: You know, Mason's obviously got all the tools to be athletic,
14:59
Speaker 3: and and then we got Lars, we got him, and
15:05
Speaker 3: then going around, I mean.
15:12
Speaker 4: Vick's really fast.
15:18
Speaker 3: I don't know, Well, I gotta got I gotta go
15:20
Speaker 3: ky because he also he set.
15:24
Speaker 4: He set a state he came in like third state's
15:27
Speaker 4: high jumps.
15:28
Speaker 3: So he's a two sport athlete too, what I was
15:30
Speaker 3: not a two sport athlete, So.
15:33
Speaker 1: I wow, Maybe I'll say I actually think he would
15:36
Speaker 1: hate the idea of a podcast, but I'm gonna keep
15:38
Speaker 1: I'm gonna keep media training him because he's an interesting
15:40
Speaker 1: guy from from your perspective.
15:42
Speaker 4: He's a high jumper.
15:44
Speaker 2: Okay, wow, sport athlete.
15:48
Speaker 1: Do you think you are the best overall? Like if
15:51
Speaker 1: if the National League was still the National League, are
15:53
Speaker 1: you the picture most likely to Homer still.
15:57
Speaker 4: On our team?
15:58
Speaker 2: Yeah?
15:59
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, probably, Yeah, definitely Miles. Miles has more power.
16:04
Speaker 3: But I mean I got the contact.
16:07
Speaker 2: You got the contact.
16:09
Speaker 1: There was a time where Mason's back tightened up and
16:12
Speaker 1: I thought we were gonna have to see Polante taken
16:13
Speaker 1: in bat and I was really excited about it. But
16:15
Speaker 1: Ali said he was gonna do his best to ensure
16:17
Speaker 1: that never happened.
16:19
Speaker 2: About was boring. He gives people what they want. But
16:21
Speaker 2: we did Majro at second base, which I think is
16:23
Speaker 2: a good runner up.
16:24
Speaker 4: So yeah, that was a good runner up.
16:26
Speaker 1: It's good of running joke on this podcast. As we
16:28
Speaker 1: make fun of Pedro for his golfing abilities. And here's
16:31
Speaker 1: the thing. I don't think he's a bad golfer. I
16:32
Speaker 1: just think his teammates only post his horrific shots and
16:37
Speaker 1: like Lars always posts that the Cardinals themselves, how are
16:41
Speaker 1: you gonna get played by your own social media team?
16:43
Speaker 1: So poor Pedro is probably a better golfer than advertised,
16:46
Speaker 1: but not on the show. We feed into the narrative.
16:48
Speaker 1: But you golf a ton of you guys do uh
16:51
Speaker 1: if you had to pick your ideal four person scramble,
16:54
Speaker 1: so I guess three other people because you'd be in
16:56
Speaker 1: it and they have to be just teammates.
17:01
Speaker 3: I would like to golf with John King, okay, and
17:05
Speaker 3: it's got to be full bullpen right now, just because
17:10
Speaker 3: I'm going John King. I would like to see Gordon
17:13
Speaker 3: Gerceppo out there. I feel like that would be good
17:15
Speaker 3: humor in Kyle ad that'd be that would be a good,
17:17
Speaker 3: good foursome.
17:20
Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, okay.
17:21
Speaker 1: Are you like a strategy guy when you're making your scramble?
17:23
Speaker 1: Like I would want someone that has the long drive.
17:26
Speaker 1: I would like a good short game approach, someone that
17:28
Speaker 1: can put because I'm trying to win.
17:31
Speaker 2: I guess that's a good one.
17:33
Speaker 3: Well, I'm actually running out of a golfer really really, yeah,
17:38
Speaker 3: I'm not. I've golf once. I golf like once every
17:40
Speaker 3: other year pretty much.
17:42
Speaker 2: Okay, Well, like what's your strength?
17:44
Speaker 1: Uh?
17:45
Speaker 3: My strength? I do have one driver, so that's my
17:47
Speaker 3: only club I own.
17:49
Speaker 2: And that's why you bringing to the table.
17:51
Speaker 3: Yeah, I do have I do have a good drive.
17:53
Speaker 3: I have a good drive. That's about it though.
17:55
Speaker 1: Okay, so when you're when people are scouting for their scramble,
17:58
Speaker 1: they can just mark you down as.
17:59
Speaker 3: Yeah, every fifth drive, I'll I'll hood it really far
18:03
Speaker 3: and really straight.
18:03
Speaker 4: Other than that, probably not using my shots.
18:06
Speaker 2: Yeah, what do you like?
18:11
Speaker 1: I feel like in the bullpen, walk me through how
18:15
Speaker 1: it's your like. I know they call dusty calls or
18:19
Speaker 1: scouse calls. How do like, how do you know when
18:22
Speaker 1: it's your time and what's your routine?
18:25
Speaker 3: So I always try to, like around the fourth fifth thing,
18:28
Speaker 3: depending on the pitch count, I just start moving around.
18:31
Speaker 3: And I don't like just sitting cold and then throwing.
18:36
Speaker 3: Obviously nobody does, but like those first few throws I
18:38
Speaker 3: feel like are crucial. So I like to kind of
18:40
Speaker 3: after the fourth or fifth just kind of keep it
18:42
Speaker 3: slowly going, maybe do a little weighted balls. Maybe I'll
18:46
Speaker 3: even do like some dry go through our motion with
18:49
Speaker 3: the ball in my hand and throw, you know, just
18:52
Speaker 3: not throw, but go through my motion with it and
18:54
Speaker 3: just kind of keep it, keep it going a little bit.
18:57
Speaker 3: So that's pretty much it though, and then get ready
18:59
Speaker 3: PRETTYQUI from there.
19:01
Speaker 1: I think I'd be the worst reliever because I would
19:03
Speaker 1: be just messing around the whole time.
19:05
Speaker 2: Talk about un serious.
19:06
Speaker 1: I really have to lock in when I go in
19:08
Speaker 1: the clubhouse, but as soon as I leave, just a mess.
19:10
Speaker 1: And I would be the one that was like sitting
19:12
Speaker 1: there just hanging out and all of a sudden they're like,
19:14
Speaker 1: oh they need you in the game.
19:15
Speaker 3: Oh that didn't happen to me. That happened to me
19:18
Speaker 3: one time, one time this year. Actually it happened to
19:23
Speaker 3: me twice, No, just once, just once. But yeah, but
19:26
Speaker 3: I ended up didn't go I didn't end up going in,
19:28
Speaker 3: so it was good. But I was about to.
19:30
Speaker 2: That's good. I'd be so scared. But maybe you just
19:32
Speaker 2: perform under pressure, right yeah? Sure?
19:38
Speaker 1: All right, last thing about your team before our second
19:40
Speaker 1: ad break. So for those of you who aren't familiar
19:43
Speaker 1: with terms like this. I feel like the Cardinals are
19:46
Speaker 1: a good PfP team. PfP pitching, fielding practice, and a
19:49
Speaker 1: lot of times when you see.
19:50
Speaker 2: A picture, this is just the way of the game.
19:52
Speaker 1: Go out and feel the ground ball, throw it first,
19:54
Speaker 1: like you're clenching, You're a little worried, You're like, is
19:56
Speaker 1: this bald and sail in the right field? What's going on?
19:59
Speaker 1: But with you guys, I am so confident in this group.
20:03
Speaker 1: It's very athletic pitching staff. Who who is the.
20:07
Speaker 3: Best the best fielder? I mean, I'm gonna have to
20:21
Speaker 3: go with uh, He's got enough innings this year where
20:26
Speaker 3: I can give him credit. McGreevy wow, because he was
20:30
Speaker 3: like a shortstop? Was he short stop in college or
20:32
Speaker 3: something like that? And he's a really good fielder, so
20:35
Speaker 3: I gotta give I gotta give him that credit. I
20:36
Speaker 3: think Sonny's maybe close with Sonny might have almost want
20:38
Speaker 3: to go a glove a few years ago or something
20:40
Speaker 3: like that. But I gotta I think I'm going with McGreevy.
20:43
Speaker 3: He's he looks pretty his throws. It's hard to throw
20:46
Speaker 3: as a picture because you're you know, you're you get
20:48
Speaker 3: the angle and you're so mechanical and you're just throwing
20:50
Speaker 3: it pretty much hards you can every time and then
20:52
Speaker 3: just pump the brakes like that. Going a first is
20:54
Speaker 3: kind of a hard deal for a lot of people,
20:56
Speaker 3: but Greevy makes it look easy.
20:58
Speaker 1: So I would have gone side, but I wasn't thinking about,
21:01
Speaker 1: you know, outside of the five or six. Right now,
21:03
Speaker 1: I'm Agreeby's a sneaky good pick. He's he's also a
21:06
Speaker 1: super good golfer. It's annoying.
21:08
Speaker 2: How are you so good at.
21:12
Speaker 1: All? Right, well, we'll get into our last segment. A
21:14
Speaker 1: quick message, however, first from Arena Club.
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22:20
Speaker 2: Right, Steven.
22:20
Speaker 1: I know it's been a minute since the Cardinals have
22:22
Speaker 1: played such good baseball, but I for when I'm really
22:25
Speaker 1: enjoying it. I think it's just an all around super
22:28
Speaker 1: fun time to be back in with the club. And
22:30
Speaker 1: I know some fans are a little skeptical, some fans
22:32
Speaker 1: are back in. What's your message to fans who might
22:35
Speaker 1: be on the fence right now?
22:36
Speaker 2: And if this streak is legit, you.
22:40
Speaker 3: Can't fake it in the major leagues. I think that's
22:42
Speaker 3: the bottom line. I mean, you know this is a
22:44
Speaker 3: tough league. We beat the we beat the Phillies two series,
22:47
Speaker 3: beat the Mets in a series, beat at Lant in
22:51
Speaker 3: the series. Or no, we didn't beat it Land in
22:52
Speaker 3: the series, but we played.
22:54
Speaker 4: Some really good baseball. Yeah.
22:56
Speaker 3: Yeah, we didn't beat Lana, but no, we played some
22:59
Speaker 3: good teams. We're winning good quality games, we're scoring a
23:04
Speaker 3: lot of runs, and we're pitching well. So I don't
23:07
Speaker 3: think it's like I said, you can't fake it in
23:09
Speaker 3: this league. It's it's too tough of a league to
23:11
Speaker 3: fake it. It's just about being consistent and hopefully we
23:16
Speaker 3: can show that down the stretch.
23:18
Speaker 1: What are you enjoying the most about just being on
23:21
Speaker 1: the team this year and what are you liking.
23:23
Speaker 3: Well, obviously when you're winning, everything is more fun, and
23:26
Speaker 3: so that that's been It's been great.
23:27
Speaker 4: But uh, I think, like just what we talked about.
23:29
Speaker 3: Earlier, it's just the camaraderie we have, just the there's
23:34
Speaker 3: guys are playing loose, you know, there's it's a good
23:37
Speaker 3: group of guys, you know.
23:39
Speaker 4: I think I think sometimes when you go through tough.
23:41
Speaker 3: Times together, you know, essentially this is the same team
23:43
Speaker 3: as last year for the most part. A few changes,
23:45
Speaker 3: but I think there's something that you kind of learned together,
23:48
Speaker 3: you grow together, and now to experience some success, I
23:51
Speaker 3: think it makes it even more enjoyable.
23:53
Speaker 1: Last question, when you look ahead before it should be
23:56
Speaker 1: another exciting series, what what gives you comment evidence that
24:00
Speaker 1: this is going to continue?
24:01
Speaker 2: And what do you really like about the club?
24:04
Speaker 4: Yeah?
24:04
Speaker 3: So I think every night, a different guy is playing
24:07
Speaker 3: a huge role in the win. Like you know, last
24:10
Speaker 3: night it was you know, Mason getting four hits with
24:13
Speaker 3: a homer. You know, a few nights ago, it was
24:16
Speaker 3: Wilson with a couple of big hits. A few games
24:19
Speaker 3: before Thattti Eric Vetti throwing a complete game, shutout Kyla.
24:22
Speaker 3: He come out of the pen and throwing you know,
24:25
Speaker 3: three innings of shut down baseball. And so I think
24:27
Speaker 3: that's what really, It's not one guy carrying the team
24:30
Speaker 3: when he cools off, you know we're in trouble. It's
24:33
Speaker 3: it's everybody stepping up, you know, different night and big
24:37
Speaker 3: moments to give us the win.
24:40
Speaker 1: Agreed, It's made for some really fun baseball, and I
24:42
Speaker 1: for one hope it continues. So we will see again
24:45
Speaker 1: the Cardinals three games in Kansas City before they return
24:48
Speaker 1: to Bus Shadium for three against the Detroit and three
24:50
Speaker 1: against the Diamondback. Stephen Mats should be all over it
24:53
Speaker 1: as he has been all seasons. Stephen, thank you so
24:56
Speaker 1: much for joining the show. I appreciate it, all right,
24:59
Speaker 1: Thanks Katie, All right, Cardinal Territory, we're back with you
25:01
Speaker 1: at the end of the weekend. As always, thanks for
25:04
Speaker 1: watching for Steven. I'm Katie Woo