Latest / Cardinal Territory: A St. Louis Cardinals Podcast / What to watch for this spring as Cardinals pitchers and catchers report

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What to watch for this spring as Cardinals pitchers and catchers report · Cardinal Territory: A St. Louis Cardinals Podcast

0:05
Speaker 1: Say it with me now, Everyone's four favorite words, Happy,
0:09
Speaker 1: pictures and catchers. The Cardinals twenty twenty five season is
0:12
Speaker 1: officially underway. I'm Katie Wu He's Trevor Rosenthal. Welcome back
0:17
Speaker 1: to Cardinal territory. Let's get after it.
0:19
Speaker 2: Yeah, welcome back. Let's get we're getting We're getting really
0:23
Speaker 2: really close to having actual baseball to talk about. So yes,
0:28
Speaker 2: I've been waiting for a while for this. I've been
0:30
Speaker 2: tread and water. We made it. We're here. Pictures and catchers,
0:34
Speaker 2: report for great words. Katie nailed it. Let's see what
0:39
Speaker 2: we have to look forward to with this Cardinals camp.
0:42
Speaker 1: You know, I'll recognize the elephant in the room. I
0:45
Speaker 1: know this camp feels a little different. It's definitely been
0:47
Speaker 1: a different offseason, and I know fan morale. Just going
0:50
Speaker 1: through comments on the athletic comments on our YouTube page,
0:53
Speaker 1: it's pretty split. I think some of us want to
0:55
Speaker 1: be optimistic and some are rather apathetic or pessimistic. And
1:00
Speaker 1: I understand any emotion. But for me today, it was
1:04
Speaker 1: so great to walk up to Roger Dean. It's like
1:07
Speaker 1: eighty five degrees in Jupiter. I heard it snowed in
1:09
Speaker 1: Saint Louis that sucks not here and the first day
1:13
Speaker 1: pictures and catchers report day is kind of like orientation,
1:16
Speaker 1: you know in high school, like you'd have the day
1:17
Speaker 1: before the first day of school. That's how it felt today.
1:20
Speaker 1: There were no like scheduled workouts or anything, just people
1:22
Speaker 1: catching up and hanging out. And I was like, you
1:24
Speaker 1: know what, everyone here is happy to be here, and
1:27
Speaker 1: I feed into it. So I'm optimistic for the twenty
1:31
Speaker 1: twenty five season. I have no idea where it's going
1:33
Speaker 1: to go, but I'm excited to be a part of
1:35
Speaker 1: it and tell the story. No matter what. When I lose,
1:37
Speaker 1: we're gonna have fun.
1:38
Speaker 2: Yeah. I like this time of the year. It's crazy
1:41
Speaker 2: how much the game has changed. I remember in two
1:44
Speaker 2: thousand and what was my first I don't know, two
1:46
Speaker 2: thousand and twelve was my first big league spring training,
1:49
Speaker 2: and at that time, there were players that I would
1:51
Speaker 2: talk to because I'm like, I'm a curious guy by nature,
1:53
Speaker 2: so I would ask them like, Hey, what's your off
1:55
Speaker 2: season program? Look like, what have you been training? Where
1:59
Speaker 2: are you at in your your throwing program? And there
2:01
Speaker 2: were guys, there were literally guys not that long ago
2:03
Speaker 2: that would show up and be like, oh, I just
2:05
Speaker 2: put on my cleats for the first time, Like this
2:07
Speaker 2: is the first time I've touched of baseball since the
2:10
Speaker 2: season ended last year. And I agree with you, it's
2:14
Speaker 2: it's exciting because as you saw today, there's guys working out.
2:18
Speaker 2: You can tell they're ready to go. I mean, games
2:21
Speaker 2: are not that far away. Games start, what the twenty second,
2:24
Speaker 2: so not too long days after pictures and catchers report,
2:28
Speaker 2: so guys have to show up ready to go. And
2:30
Speaker 2: I think, you know, as we're looking at the Cardinals
2:32
Speaker 2: for this new season, the changes that are going to
2:35
Speaker 2: be made, we got to build some momentum, right like
2:37
Speaker 2: this new culture, the changes that they're wanting to make
2:41
Speaker 2: to rebuild this system and see what they have. I mean,
2:44
Speaker 2: we've got to be starting off on the right foot.
2:46
Speaker 1: And I think this is the perfect spring to see it,
2:48
Speaker 1: because you know, I walked in and granted, there's probably
2:51
Speaker 1: about a third of Big League camp here today on Tuesday,
2:56
Speaker 1: and I was for the first time. I looked around
2:58
Speaker 1: and I said, oh my gosh, I think I'm older
3:00
Speaker 1: than almost everybody in this clubhouse and I have not
3:02
Speaker 1: experienced that before. But there are a ton of young
3:05
Speaker 1: guys in there, and then I look over on the
3:07
Speaker 1: staff side of the room a ton of new staff,
3:10
Speaker 1: new faces, So it definitely feels like a reset, like
3:12
Speaker 1: a transition. Of course, there are the people that you
3:15
Speaker 1: have spent years with, but walking in, I was like,
3:18
Speaker 1: I have some work to do. I have some people
3:20
Speaker 1: to get to know, some names and basis to learn.
3:22
Speaker 1: And when I'm sure we're going to spend so much
3:24
Speaker 1: time in the spring talking about the overhaul to the
3:28
Speaker 1: minor league system, because everyone is here and we'll get
3:30
Speaker 1: to see these coordinators in action already within the first
3:33
Speaker 1: thirty minutes of being in the complex. Today, I was
3:37
Speaker 1: talking to a couple people in the clubhouse and they
3:39
Speaker 1: mentioned the amount of work that new catching coordinator Ethan
3:42
Speaker 1: go Forth has put in with Evon Herrera. And little
3:46
Speaker 1: did I know that Von Herrera was going to start
3:47
Speaker 1: throwing in the backfield. So I was like, hey, can
3:49
Speaker 1: I come watch you here's yeah, of course, he's actually
3:52
Speaker 1: a little preview what's coming in the athletic This week.
3:55
Speaker 1: Spent part of the winter in Tampa at Driveline completely
3:58
Speaker 1: new throwing program and both bullpen catcher Jamie Pogue and
4:03
Speaker 1: their catching coordinator You can go forth, we're part of
4:05
Speaker 1: this to kind of revamp Herrera's arm. We know about
4:09
Speaker 1: the arm troubles last year. They weren't great, So that's
4:12
Speaker 1: something I was interested to see, and like, right off
4:13
Speaker 1: the bat, you see guys like Herrera was really excited
4:16
Speaker 1: about the work that he put in. So again I'm
4:18
Speaker 1: feeding off that excitement and optimism and there will be
4:20
Speaker 1: stories and there will be plenty of things to talk about,
4:24
Speaker 1: potentially as early as Sunday. All right, let's get into it.
4:29
Speaker 1: It's time for our like our bi monthly check in
4:32
Speaker 1: on Nolan Arnado, who is still a Saint Louis Cardinal.
4:36
Speaker 1: So the most pressing question of the winter for the
4:39
Speaker 1: Cardinals Trevor, was if Nolan Arnado was going to be
4:42
Speaker 1: a Saint Louis Cardinal, and now it's their most pressing
4:44
Speaker 1: question of the spring. So not exactly a good sign
4:48
Speaker 1: that your off season went according to plan when you
4:50
Speaker 1: roll into spring training and you didn't answer your most
4:53
Speaker 1: pressing question of the winter. However, he is still a Cardinal.
4:56
Speaker 1: He is expected to be here by Sunday, which is
4:59
Speaker 1: position player report deadline, and the Cardinals are still actively
5:03
Speaker 1: trying to trade him. The issue it's been the same
5:06
Speaker 1: thing since December. Alex Bregman remains unsigned, so it's created
5:10
Speaker 1: a log jam of effect. Really, I feel like the
5:12
Speaker 1: Cardinals are being a little bit held a little hostage
5:14
Speaker 1: by Bregman at this point. But one thing to note,
5:17
Speaker 1: they still remain engaged with the Boston Red Sox. It
5:19
Speaker 1: sounds like that's the most likely fit if a trade
5:23
Speaker 1: does happen. However, the Red Sox are still in conversations
5:26
Speaker 1: with signing Alex Bregman. There about five other teams involved
5:30
Speaker 1: in that and nothing looks close to a resolution. So
5:34
Speaker 1: while the Cardinals continue to talk to the Red Sox,
5:36
Speaker 1: that is just kind of a like doing your due
5:38
Speaker 1: diligence in case this trade happens, in case Bragman goes
5:41
Speaker 1: somewhere else, the Cardinals want to be able to slide
5:44
Speaker 1: right back in and pick up where they left off.
5:45
Speaker 1: I did hear they'd exchange some player names, but I'm
5:48
Speaker 1: unclear on which players would be involved in a hypothetical trade.
5:52
Speaker 1: It is believed though, that are not a would wave
5:54
Speaker 1: his no trade cause, unlike the Houston situation a couple
5:58
Speaker 1: of months ago. So ASKO Trevor, is it getting traded
6:01
Speaker 1: or is he a Cardinal on opening Day?
6:04
Speaker 2: I'm still in the camp. It seems like he's got
6:06
Speaker 2: to get he has to get traded because they've put
6:07
Speaker 2: such an emphasis on it. Certainly, you would have to
6:11
Speaker 2: imagine they've lost some leverage, mainly because of Bregman, mainly
6:16
Speaker 2: because the timing. Right now, teams are well aware that
6:21
Speaker 2: this is a move that Saint Louis wants to make,
6:24
Speaker 2: so I think it I'd be interested to hear your perspective.
6:28
Speaker 2: Is this a situation where the Cardinals are trying to
6:31
Speaker 2: not have to give up as much in terms of
6:33
Speaker 2: like eating the contract, eating dollars that are left on
6:36
Speaker 2: Nolan's contract, and then also the players that they get
6:41
Speaker 2: in return. I mean, how how picky can can Saint
6:43
Speaker 2: Louis be at this point?
6:44
Speaker 1: They can't be picky at all. You're spot on. They
6:46
Speaker 1: have no leverage. I mean, every person in baseball and
6:50
Speaker 1: knows that the Cardinals do not want Nolan on their
6:53
Speaker 1: baseball team. Now, if he remains a Cardinal, I'm you know,
6:57
Speaker 1: this is not a hot take by any means, but
6:59
Speaker 1: he may the team better. If Nolan Arnada is your
7:02
Speaker 1: third baseman, you have a pretty good third baseman and
7:05
Speaker 1: a pretty strong right handed bat in your lineup. But
7:08
Speaker 1: the reason that you know, we've talked about this all
7:09
Speaker 1: off season long. They want to let the kids play,
7:11
Speaker 1: They want to create playing time for Gorman and s JC,
7:14
Speaker 1: et cetera. And I think Nolan wants to go and
7:16
Speaker 1: play for a committed contender, where the Cardinals taking a
7:20
Speaker 1: step back in that regard. Now, it's important to note
7:23
Speaker 1: here that while he's expected to report on Sunday at
7:27
Speaker 1: the latest, the Cardinals, both John Mosey Locke and Nolan
7:30
Speaker 1: Arnatto have not set a hard deadline on a trade
7:34
Speaker 1: like needing to be decided by a certain date. They
7:36
Speaker 1: Cardinals will continue to negotiate into the spring. Nolan, I'm sure,
7:40
Speaker 1: wants some clarity. I think he just wants to know
7:42
Speaker 1: if I'm getting traded is bostonological possibility? Is this legit?
7:46
Speaker 1: Or am I going to be a Cardinal? And then
7:48
Speaker 1: he'll lock in. Remember it's not like he's demanding ticket
7:50
Speaker 1: out of here. If if the Cardinals can't trade Nolan
7:53
Speaker 1: and he remains in Saint Louis, I don't think we're
7:55
Speaker 1: going to see like a big pity party. I think
7:57
Speaker 1: he's going to be like, all right, well, I couldn't
7:59
Speaker 1: get traded the team. The teams that I wanted were
8:01
Speaker 1: interested in me. The Cardinals could not figure it out.
8:03
Speaker 1: So I'm going to prove some people wrong. Now, A
8:05
Speaker 1: big hold up in this minus fragmant is something you
8:07
Speaker 1: talked about. It's the money. The Cardinals are not going
8:10
Speaker 1: to just eat the majority of this contract. Now. Are
8:12
Speaker 1: they willing to be a little bit more flexible now
8:14
Speaker 1: than they were in December? Yes, but not to the
8:17
Speaker 1: point where teams are willing to re engage. The Yankees
8:21
Speaker 1: have been pretty strict in their initial conversations, as in,
8:24
Speaker 1: they don't want them pay well to go any higher.
8:26
Speaker 1: They're not going to take on any more additional salary.
8:29
Speaker 1: The Cardinals, and remember this is a build of junior decision,
8:32
Speaker 1: not necessarily a mode decision in terms of how much
8:34
Speaker 1: money the organization can eat, have been pretty reluctant to
8:37
Speaker 1: eat anymore. So it's this perfect storm of all of
8:41
Speaker 1: these factors that make a trade really complicated. But I'm
8:45
Speaker 1: with you, Trevor. As long as Alex Bregman does not
8:47
Speaker 1: go to Boston, I think are not a will be
8:49
Speaker 1: traded by the middle of spring. And I mean it
8:51
Speaker 1: this time. I know I've been very inconsistent on my beliefs,
8:54
Speaker 1: but this one, it feels like his best chance in
8:57
Speaker 1: being traded will come to the middle of spring. And
8:59
Speaker 1: I'd even go as I think that are not up front,
9:04
Speaker 1: we'll pick up really quickly.
9:06
Speaker 2: Okay, I'm just I'm wondering too. You mentioned if he
9:10
Speaker 2: reports on Sunday, how awkward is that media scrum? Like,
9:15
Speaker 2: what do you ask him? Especially if we're all thinking
9:18
Speaker 2: he's going to be traded. It's just a matter of time.
9:22
Speaker 2: I mean, what do you talk to a guy like
9:24
Speaker 2: that about.
9:25
Speaker 1: Yeah, I have also thought about this, and I've also
9:27
Speaker 1: thought about, oh, this might be a little awkward. And
9:29
Speaker 1: I've said this on the show before. Noel Arnado has
9:32
Speaker 1: been a pro to the media, and in the four
9:34
Speaker 1: years he's been here, I mean, there have been days
9:36
Speaker 1: where he has not wanted to talk and has said,
9:39
Speaker 1: you know, hey, like I don't really want to do it.
9:40
Speaker 1: I hope you guys understand, and we do. And then
9:42
Speaker 1: he's left the club us and come back and he'll say, actually, no,
9:44
Speaker 1: let's just do it, like this is part of my
9:46
Speaker 1: obligation or what I signed up for as a player.
9:48
Speaker 1: He's taken the heat multiple times in twenty twenty four
9:51
Speaker 1: when the offense was that instead of having a younger
9:53
Speaker 1: guy who didn't come through in a situation, he would
9:56
Speaker 1: wait for us in the clubhouse and make it clear
9:58
Speaker 1: that he was going to be the designated player to
10:00
Speaker 1: talk about the offense. That happened at least three or
10:02
Speaker 1: four times last year. So it will be awkward, but
10:05
Speaker 1: you know, Arnatto is a veteran. He's been in this
10:07
Speaker 1: league over ten years. He knows how these things are
10:10
Speaker 1: going to go. It's not like, you know, again, he
10:13
Speaker 1: didn't demand the trade. Moe asked him if this is
10:15
Speaker 1: something that he wanted. He agreed that it would probably
10:17
Speaker 1: be the best decision. I don't think we can ignore
10:20
Speaker 1: the tension or the awkwardness, but I think overall Unt
10:24
Speaker 1: he'll be a pro about it. We are scheduled to
10:27
Speaker 1: talk to Olie Marmel and John Mozelac for the first
10:29
Speaker 1: time Wednesday morning. That's tomorrow, so I'm interested to see
10:32
Speaker 1: what mo has to say about it. I can't imagine
10:34
Speaker 1: it'd be very easy to talk to the exact same
10:37
Speaker 1: group of people that you did two months ago talking
10:39
Speaker 1: about how Arnatto is you know, they intend to trade
10:43
Speaker 1: him a Priority one, two and three w Twever, if
10:45
Speaker 1: you don't accomplish Priority one, two and three over your
10:48
Speaker 1: off season, especially if those options are actually the same thing,
10:53
Speaker 1: is that a good off season or no? Well?
10:55
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean it pretty much sums up the off season.
10:58
Speaker 2: I think we're very much still and so there's still
11:01
Speaker 2: some time, maybe twelve hours or so, but we're running
11:06
Speaker 2: out of time to check those things off. I mean,
11:07
Speaker 2: I'm a procrastinator, but you would think someone in Patzi
11:12
Speaker 2: would not wait until the last minute. But no, I agree.
11:15
Speaker 2: I think Nolan's a professional. I've enjoyed following him on
11:18
Speaker 2: social media this offseason. It's very clear that he is
11:23
Speaker 2: eager to prove his you know, filled those holes that
11:28
Speaker 2: he had last year. We're talking about maybe the swing
11:31
Speaker 2: or the power, whatever it may be. But he's been
11:33
Speaker 2: intentional about posting the work that he's been putting in
11:36
Speaker 2: and he looks good. So I agree he's a professional
11:39
Speaker 2: and it's all going to work out at the end.
11:41
Speaker 1: I think we should commend Nolan. He has been on
11:43
Speaker 1: Instagram for very long, maybe about a year, but he's
11:45
Speaker 1: really picked it up. It's an interesting account to follow.
11:47
Speaker 1: It's it's hard being both a professional athlete and an influencer,
11:51
Speaker 1: I guess. But he does a good job. Yeah, I'm
11:53
Speaker 1: excited to see how that turns out. I feel like
11:57
Speaker 1: at this point, I mean, we waited for to figure
12:00
Speaker 1: out if you was going to get traded or not.
12:03
Speaker 1: It would be the most Cardinals thing ever for him
12:05
Speaker 1: to get traded, like Saturday night. And then I'm mad.
12:08
Speaker 1: And then I'm mad because I stressed all week over
12:10
Speaker 1: how this press conference is going to go, only for
12:13
Speaker 1: us to have to scramble. So when that happens, just
12:16
Speaker 1: think of me and just know I'm in a bad mood.
12:17
Speaker 2: Katie, don't be mad. We're happy. It's spring training. Every
12:22
Speaker 2: team is on a level playing field right now. We're happy.
12:26
Speaker 1: You're right, You're right, and you know what. We're going
12:28
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12:30
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Speaker 1: Oh, I'd give that transition like a six out of ten.
13:39
Speaker 1: I was a little premature, and then I left the
13:41
Speaker 1: banner up was it my best work. We took a
13:43
Speaker 1: step back. But next week at least I did it.
13:46
Speaker 1: You know what, that's the baseline. And do I actually
13:49
Speaker 1: do the ad the library?
13:52
Speaker 2: I did?
13:52
Speaker 1: Was it executed?
13:53
Speaker 2: Well?
13:53
Speaker 1: No? Not so much whatever?
13:55
Speaker 2: Not mid season form?
13:56
Speaker 1: No very. I'm very much like ramping up like like softime.
14:00
Speaker 2: You there we go, all right?
14:04
Speaker 1: Did I sell predictions wrong? Oh? No, I sell predictions wrong.
14:08
Speaker 1: Hold on, we're just we're gonna hide it your initial
14:13
Speaker 1: spring prediction, Trevor, I have a couple, but I'm inntioned
14:17
Speaker 1: to see, like your big storyline coming into pictures and Catchers,
14:20
Speaker 1: what is it.
14:21
Speaker 2: Big storyline coming into pictures and catchers for me? I
14:25
Speaker 2: mean a bullpen guy obviously, you know, closer for the Cardinals.
14:29
Speaker 2: And and so when I look at the bullpen, I
14:31
Speaker 2: like the flexibility, I like the options. I think I
14:34
Speaker 2: don't I'm not really too concerned about what they what
14:37
Speaker 2: they have in the bullpen, especially coming off of last
14:40
Speaker 2: year Sean bullpen lost a couple of guys, but we
14:42
Speaker 2: still have Hellsley. We still have some guys that are
14:46
Speaker 2: gonna be anchors out there, and if not, there's options,
14:50
Speaker 2: so we can we can shuffle guys in and out.
14:52
Speaker 2: The The interesting thing for me on the specific specifically
14:55
Speaker 2: on the pitching side, is the starting pitching just to
14:59
Speaker 2: see what the strategy ends up being. I know it's
15:01
Speaker 2: going to take a few weeks as we get into
15:03
Speaker 2: the games for guys to get stretched out, but just
15:06
Speaker 2: to see what that strategy ends up being or No,
15:09
Speaker 2: there's people that have talked about six man rotation. We've
15:12
Speaker 2: talked about who's going to beat in the rotation. We
15:15
Speaker 2: know we have Sonny Gray. We know we have we
15:17
Speaker 2: have Eric Favetti, Miles Michaelas and uh, you know the
15:24
Speaker 2: few others. But yeah, I'm interested. I think the starting
15:27
Speaker 2: rotation is for me, is going to be the most
15:30
Speaker 2: interesting storyline as we go through these first couple of
15:32
Speaker 2: weeks since bring training.
15:34
Speaker 1: I think so too. It's certainly going to be something
15:36
Speaker 1: that I'm looking at because we've talked a lot about
15:38
Speaker 1: the youth we went, but that's a pretty better and
15:40
Speaker 1: heavy rotation. I mean, you named the big three, right,
15:43
Speaker 1: Sonny Gray, Eric Fveetti, Miles Michaelis, and I think Sonny
15:49
Speaker 1: Gray is your ace. That's always a good sign, right.
15:51
Speaker 1: I feel like the Cardinals feel very confident with him.
15:53
Speaker 1: As their number one. I have no idea how the
15:56
Speaker 1: rest of the pitches are going to slot in. I
15:57
Speaker 1: have no idea where Steven Matts is going to be,
16:00
Speaker 1: where Andre Pimonte is going to be, if Michael McGreevy
16:02
Speaker 1: is going to slide in there. And for the first
16:04
Speaker 1: time in a while, there are there are like six
16:07
Speaker 1: I would call them Plan A options, and there are
16:10
Speaker 1: a ton of Plan b's that could easily make their
16:12
Speaker 1: way in. So you're thinking Matthew Liberatory, you're thinking Zach Thompson.
16:15
Speaker 1: I wouldn't quite put Quinn Matthew's on that list just
16:18
Speaker 1: because you know there's no real need to rush in.
16:21
Speaker 1: But he has a great spring, and you know anything
16:24
Speaker 1: can happen. I just I'm cautious, right because there's never
16:29
Speaker 1: a spring no matter what team you are. Where all
16:32
Speaker 1: seven of your projected starting pictures, you know, the five
16:35
Speaker 1: that you think are going to come in and the
16:36
Speaker 1: two you have in for emergencies leave healthy. So you
16:40
Speaker 1: know death is going to get tested at your rotation
16:42
Speaker 1: at some point for the first time. I think the
16:45
Speaker 1: Cardinals have knock on Wood a good amount of depth
16:48
Speaker 1: to cover them if God forbid, an injury does happen.
16:51
Speaker 1: Miles Michaelis is a guy that I'm interested to see
16:54
Speaker 1: how he shows up to Spring. We know the last
16:57
Speaker 1: two years did not go well. After his All Star
16:59
Speaker 1: came in twenty twenty two. He's on the final year
17:02
Speaker 1: of his contract and I had fans for the most part,
17:04
Speaker 1: are just like, why why is he back in the rotation?
17:08
Speaker 1: We know what he is. Correct, It's not been a
17:11
Speaker 1: good two years from production wise, but there is a
17:13
Speaker 1: durability standpoint about Miles Michaelis that I think is so undervalued.
17:17
Speaker 1: You know, this is a picture being able to take
17:19
Speaker 1: the ball every five days or whenever you need it
17:22
Speaker 1: and then post, which is what he does. That's going
17:25
Speaker 1: to go wonders for a team that could be relying
17:27
Speaker 1: on some unproven talent like the mcgreevi's of the world.
17:30
Speaker 1: You know, Polante has proven himself to an extent, but
17:32
Speaker 1: he's certainly not going to be able to log the
17:34
Speaker 1: amount of innings that we saw Miles Michaelis, Kyle Gibson
17:38
Speaker 1: do last year. Sonny Gray, we talked about being an ace.
17:41
Speaker 1: He's not necessarily one that goes super deep into games
17:44
Speaker 1: all of the time. He's usually like your six innings
17:46
Speaker 1: quality start gett him out of there. So I understand
17:49
Speaker 1: opening the season with a proven veteran that can throw six,
17:53
Speaker 1: seven eight innings each start, certainly like the quality of
17:56
Speaker 1: those innings to be a little bit better. And that's
17:58
Speaker 1: why I think Miles the spring is so important. They
18:00
Speaker 1: can see that if that quality doesn't means will indeed
18:03
Speaker 1: turn around.
18:04
Speaker 2: Yeah, and then like I said, like with the scene,
18:06
Speaker 2: with the strategy, is with with really getting our first
18:08
Speaker 2: look at what this new new regime is going to
18:12
Speaker 2: be focused on. You saw you mentioned that you saw
18:14
Speaker 2: a lot of new faces in the in the building, Uh,
18:17
Speaker 2: just in the past twenty four hours. But that's what
18:19
Speaker 2: I'm gonna be interested to see. Is you know got
18:21
Speaker 2: you mentioned Mike Michael, Mike Miles michaelis what happens when
18:26
Speaker 2: he's not when he's not able to post, what happens
18:29
Speaker 2: when you know, aside from injuries, the performance isn't there
18:33
Speaker 2: for one of these guys. How is the front office
18:35
Speaker 2: going to approach that, what's going to be their strategy?
18:37
Speaker 2: How are they going to get creative? I think there's
18:39
Speaker 2: a lot of room for creativity. I think we're going
18:41
Speaker 2: to get a glimpse of what the future for Saint
18:44
Speaker 2: Louis and the Saint Louis Cardinals organization looks like under
18:47
Speaker 2: him and Bloom And so hopefully we get an idea
18:51
Speaker 2: here in spring. And I, like I said, it's hard
18:54
Speaker 2: because it takes a few weeks, and it's really not
18:57
Speaker 2: until we get into the season and maybe a couple
18:59
Speaker 2: of weeks into the season where we see some bullpen rolls,
19:02
Speaker 2: where we see what the starting pitching is going to
19:04
Speaker 2: look like once these guys are going into the sixth
19:06
Speaker 2: and seventh inning. But yeah, I'm interested just to see
19:09
Speaker 2: what this new strategy, what their focus is going to be,
19:13
Speaker 2: and how they're going to be able to create wins.
19:15
Speaker 2: And I know as fans, we're all looking forward to
19:18
Speaker 2: that an organization that has done a good job of
19:22
Speaker 2: winning and we've been disappointed the last couple of years.
19:24
Speaker 2: But we're still just on the by a hair on
19:28
Speaker 2: the winning side of a one hundred and sixty two
19:30
Speaker 2: game season. So you know, I don't think we have
19:32
Speaker 2: an opportunity to improve on that. But the floor for
19:35
Speaker 2: the Saint Louis Cardinals has always been pretty high.
19:37
Speaker 1: Yeah, and look again, it was an eighty three win
19:40
Speaker 1: team last year, they had a great bullpen. The majority
19:43
Speaker 1: of that roster minus Paul Golschman Andrew Kuntrid is coming back.
19:48
Speaker 1: Let's go back to the bullpen, because I think that's
19:49
Speaker 1: so fascinating. We've got they got Helsley, Brian Helsey, who
19:52
Speaker 1: by the way, is still rocking that stash. We'll see
19:54
Speaker 1: how long that lasts. And you already know he's going
19:57
Speaker 1: to be a closer in the ninth inning. The Cardinals
20:00
Speaker 1: to shape the rest of their bullpen I think is
20:02
Speaker 1: up in the air. To me, it's the most wide
20:04
Speaker 1: open competition of camp and well, I know that they
20:07
Speaker 1: were contemplating signing a veteran reliever to kind of shot
20:09
Speaker 1: up those Indians. They didn't do that. We talked about
20:11
Speaker 1: maybe Stephen Mattz being an option there. I think there's
20:15
Speaker 1: a way the Cardinals can and make this, you know,
20:18
Speaker 1: to be clear, do a good job in this of
20:21
Speaker 1: filling their rotation entirely internally either their bullpen, excuse me,
20:24
Speaker 1: and having that bullpen still be very effective comparative to
20:27
Speaker 1: last year. Because now I don't want to diminish the
20:29
Speaker 1: loss of Pittridge. That's that's huge. He was invaluable as
20:32
Speaker 1: the setup man, you have Jojo Romero from the left side.
20:35
Speaker 1: I thought Ryan Fernandez and his rookie year was really impressive.
20:38
Speaker 1: He took some major strides, especially in the second half.
20:41
Speaker 1: As a rule five guy, you've got to you know,
20:43
Speaker 1: you can't get sent down because then you're gonna get
20:45
Speaker 1: you risk being returned to your club. You have to
20:47
Speaker 1: find a way to stay in the majors and produce.
20:49
Speaker 1: And he did that and even got some high leverage
20:51
Speaker 1: stuff in August and September as the Cardinals kind of
20:54
Speaker 1: branched away from competing and looked more towards the transition year,
20:57
Speaker 1: and he did pretty well. Matthew Libertore said, will be
21:00
Speaker 1: stretched out as a starter, but that's pretty common practice.
21:03
Speaker 1: You want pitching death early in spring because there are
21:05
Speaker 1: just so many games and so many Indians to cover,
21:08
Speaker 1: and not everyone is ramped up obviously to go six
21:10
Speaker 1: right out the gate. But he's one of those players
21:14
Speaker 1: that if you know, you build him up and you
21:16
Speaker 1: can easily bring him back to two three Indians, that's,
21:19
Speaker 1: you know, a no brainer. Who else, though, can fill that.
21:22
Speaker 1: I'm looking at guys like Gordon Grisepo, who, by the way,
21:26
Speaker 1: will be a guest on Cardinal Territory, Trevor. I forgot
21:29
Speaker 1: to tell you that, but that's next week. So we're
21:31
Speaker 1: very excited for Gordon and there's a bunch of NRI guys.
21:35
Speaker 1: Nick Anderson he interests me. He is signed to a
21:37
Speaker 1: non roster invite. Most recently pitched for the Royals. He
21:41
Speaker 1: was a dude for the race back in twenty nineteen.
21:43
Speaker 1: Can one of those guys step up? I love the
21:47
Speaker 1: first week because you go when you go to the
21:49
Speaker 1: backfields and guys are throwing, you know, three four bullpens
21:53
Speaker 1: at a time, and you're just watching and you can
21:55
Speaker 1: tell by the pitching coaches and the instructors who's throwing well.
22:00
Speaker 1: Who's surprising. Last year was Riley O'Brien who just lit
22:03
Speaker 1: up track man, lit up their analytics and there was
22:06
Speaker 1: a buzz about him for like three straight days because
22:08
Speaker 1: they thought they found something. Now, obviously Riley had a
22:11
Speaker 1: tough season, he spent most of it hurt, but he's back.
22:14
Speaker 1: And every year there's a name that we're not thinking
22:16
Speaker 1: of that forces themselves on the scene. And we're gonna
22:20
Speaker 1: find out that name in the next couple of days.
22:21
Speaker 1: So I'm excited about it.
22:22
Speaker 2: Let's go. That was trentor Rosenthal back in the day,
22:25
Speaker 2: bursting on the scene, creating a buzz. But you're right.
22:28
Speaker 2: I mean, you're gonna be in the thick of it, Katie.
22:30
Speaker 2: You're gonna get an idea of who they're excited about.
22:34
Speaker 2: And it really is all about first impressions. If I'm
22:37
Speaker 2: a Gordon gricefo if I'm a Nick Anderson, even Quinn
22:41
Speaker 2: Matthews for all purpose sake, I mean, if you come
22:44
Speaker 2: in and you create that buzz and you ride the way,
22:47
Speaker 2: build some momentum, who knows, they could get real interesting
22:50
Speaker 2: as the team gets ready to break camp, and I'm
22:53
Speaker 2: all for one of these guys getting a crack at
22:55
Speaker 2: the roster that we didn't necessarily expect.
22:57
Speaker 1: Quinn Matthews, quirky dude, great talent. This happened for the
23:00
Speaker 1: first time ever today. I'm walking to the backfields and
23:02
Speaker 1: I've walked past field one and Quinn's playing catch And
23:06
Speaker 1: I've never had a player stop what they're doing playing
23:09
Speaker 1: catch and turn around and talk to me and be like, hey,
23:11
Speaker 1: how are you?
23:12
Speaker 2: What's going on?
23:13
Speaker 1: Is how was your Springmen? Like okay, you know, pictures
23:15
Speaker 1: and players are so locked in but he was so casual.
23:18
Speaker 1: He's to me a total pitcher, you know what I mean?
23:21
Speaker 2: Left hand?
23:22
Speaker 1: Yeah, You're a total left handed pitcher. And I just
23:27
Speaker 1: think the excitement around him is deserved. The hype is deserved.
23:30
Speaker 1: It's been a while since the Cardinals really had a
23:32
Speaker 1: solidified homegrown pitching prospect. I think the last one that
23:36
Speaker 1: I think the organization was really excited about was Jack Flaherty.
23:40
Speaker 1: Could that be Quin Matthews this year? We will find out, Trevor.
23:43
Speaker 1: Is there anything else any player that you are excited
23:47
Speaker 1: to see doesn't necessarily have to be a picture, but
23:49
Speaker 1: we can stick to the theme. But just one that
23:50
Speaker 1: you feel is like, hey, this is a big year
23:53
Speaker 1: for him. What are you looking for early on? Anyone
23:56
Speaker 1: that anyone in particular.
23:57
Speaker 2: I mean, I think it's a big year for a
23:59
Speaker 2: lot of these guys. I think a lot of guys
24:01
Speaker 2: coming off of last season. We saw it at winner
24:03
Speaker 2: warm up. They feel like there's something to prove. They
24:06
Speaker 2: want to they want to re establish what the Saint
24:09
Speaker 2: Louis Cardinals are all about. And the theme of the
24:12
Speaker 2: young guys or whatever it might be. I think everybody
24:15
Speaker 2: has their own own storyline. You mentioned Riley O'Brien. So
24:20
Speaker 2: he's a guy I wasn't aware until you just said
24:22
Speaker 2: it that he the team was excited about his analytics
24:25
Speaker 2: and and how he you know, lit up the track
24:28
Speaker 2: man last spring training. But this offseason, I've you know,
24:31
Speaker 2: watching some video guys that I wasn't familiar with. He
24:34
Speaker 2: was one that stood out, and unfortunate with the injuries,
24:37
Speaker 2: but I think, you know, he's a guy that I'm
24:39
Speaker 2: going to be paying attention to if this organization can
24:42
Speaker 2: find a way to keep him healthy, help him maximize
24:44
Speaker 2: those analytics. I mean, we know in this game analytics
24:48
Speaker 2: are are really important, and that's how you can find
24:50
Speaker 2: a diamond in the rough and maybe not necessarily a
24:53
Speaker 2: guy that's posted and put up a bunch of numbers,
24:56
Speaker 2: but if we can find a way to get him
24:58
Speaker 2: on the field and use those analytics to advantage, there
25:01
Speaker 2: might be something there. There might be and not necessarily
25:03
Speaker 2: next Ryan Helsley, but he might be a guy that
25:06
Speaker 2: really helps out this bullpen in twenty twenty five. So
25:09
Speaker 2: that's for me. What about you, Katie. I know Jordan Walker.
25:12
Speaker 1: I saw him today. He was at the complex early.
25:15
Speaker 1: A bunch of guys have been here early. You know,
25:19
Speaker 1: I'm going to go back to Herrera because we know
25:22
Speaker 1: about the Cardinals and their offensive shoes last year. If
25:25
Speaker 1: Saint Louis trades Arnatto other than Wilson Contreras and Jordan Walker,
25:30
Speaker 1: if he figures it out offensively, you're really missing a
25:32
Speaker 1: right handed bat with thump, and that could be Evan
25:35
Speaker 1: Herrera because he's kind of a bat first catcher. And
25:39
Speaker 1: the only reason I say that is because his drawing
25:41
Speaker 1: last season really diminished his defensive value. But he can hit,
25:45
Speaker 1: he can break, he has power, He's relatively fast for
25:47
Speaker 1: a catcher. If he can find a way to, you know,
25:52
Speaker 1: have a more accurate arm to cut down the run
25:54
Speaker 1: game on opposing base runners, I think he has an
25:57
Speaker 1: edge over Pedro. Pa has to be the starting now. Again,
26:01
Speaker 1: I don't think the Cardinals have necessarily committed to who
26:04
Speaker 1: they have like in their minds as catcher A and
26:07
Speaker 1: catcher B. They could platoon. But it's a big spring
26:09
Speaker 1: for Herrera, who again looks felt so confident about his arm,
26:12
Speaker 1: was really excited to talk about some of the changes
26:14
Speaker 1: that he made. It could be a big spring for him,
26:17
Speaker 1: and I think he has a chance to run away
26:18
Speaker 1: with the starting job because they certainly need his bat,
26:21
Speaker 1: especially if Arnatto is not in a cardinal's uniform.
26:24
Speaker 2: Come up in your day, I agree, and we're going
26:27
Speaker 2: to be singing the praises of drive line if depending
26:29
Speaker 2: on this strowing or how do you look?
26:30
Speaker 1: How do you?
26:31
Speaker 2: How is this stowing today?
26:32
Speaker 1: So he uh through nine total times, three times third,
26:36
Speaker 1: three times a second, three times to first. I worked
26:38
Speaker 1: very hard today, as you could tell the throws a
26:42
Speaker 1: second there's significant more pop. I felt like they were,
26:45
Speaker 1: you know, the ones to third and first. It's hard
26:47
Speaker 1: to draw sample size off just nine throws, but the
26:50
Speaker 1: ones the second were much more accurate. And again, you know,
26:52
Speaker 1: you don't want to overdo it on the very first day.
26:54
Speaker 1: But he was pretty excited about it. So I'm going
26:56
Speaker 1: to go and talk to uh more people, assuming they
27:00
Speaker 1: run away from me, and try to figure out a
27:01
Speaker 1: little bit more about Herrera and the changes he made
27:03
Speaker 1: him what they want to see. But I can't even
27:06
Speaker 1: begin to tell you how excited the organization is and
27:08
Speaker 1: having a catching coordinator. They have not had one since
27:11
Speaker 1: the Audio A. Molina days because you didn't need one.
27:14
Speaker 1: But this hire is long overdue. Here Here's how I'm
27:17
Speaker 1: going to leave our loyal listeners of Cardinal territory. I'm
27:21
Speaker 1: going to leave you with some words of wisdom. If
27:23
Speaker 1: you're looking for a reason to be optimistic about this
27:26
Speaker 1: twenty twenty five team. I'm not going to sit here
27:28
Speaker 1: and be like, oh, you know, you never know, they
27:30
Speaker 1: could win ninety games, they could surprise some people. I'm
27:32
Speaker 1: not going to hit you with all the cliches. I
27:34
Speaker 1: am going with what I think is true. This twenty
27:37
Speaker 1: twenty five season has the opportunity for the next Cardinal's
27:41
Speaker 1: cores to start to form. And if you're not quite
27:44
Speaker 1: sold that the twenty twenty five roster in itself can
27:47
Speaker 1: win this year, I don't blame you. I am going
27:51
Speaker 1: to try to convince you that some pieces here can win,
27:56
Speaker 1: and at the bare minimum, the pieces that excel here
27:59
Speaker 1: will be a part of what, you know, the next
28:02
Speaker 1: Memphis Mafia or the next Cardinals team that I think
28:05
Speaker 1: would really embody what Saint Louis Baseball is about. And
28:08
Speaker 1: I asked this question a couple of times to guys
28:10
Speaker 1: that want and warm up like you will have the
28:12
Speaker 1: opportunity to be the next face of the Cardinals, right
28:15
Speaker 1: like if you're Mason Winn, Brendan Donovan, Lars Mubart, Jordan Walker,
28:19
Speaker 1: go down the list. This is your chance to start
28:22
Speaker 1: being a part of that mission. And if you know, again,
28:25
Speaker 1: if you're not necessarily sold on the roster, the coaching staff,
28:28
Speaker 1: the front office, can you at least be sold on
28:31
Speaker 1: some of these players and their futures. I think that's
28:34
Speaker 1: something to look forward to. And I don't know if
28:38
Speaker 1: it's me excited just just thinking about how we could
28:40
Speaker 1: be witnessing the beginning of something new. And I know
28:43
Speaker 1: it's better rough two years in Saint Louis. I know
28:46
Speaker 1: maybe that this Pitches and Catchers day might feel a
28:48
Speaker 1: little different to others. I get it, But we do
28:51
Speaker 1: have the opportunity of maybe seeing the next Core start
28:54
Speaker 1: to come to Fruition this year, and so that's different
28:57
Speaker 1: and different doesn't always have to be bad.
29:00
Speaker 2: And speaking of Core, you you know, we're excited about
29:04
Speaker 2: the catching coordinator, We're excited about what seems to have
29:07
Speaker 2: a positive impact with the with the new hitting coach.
29:10
Speaker 2: But court we have Daniel Descalzo, John Jay and a
29:14
Speaker 2: special guest instructor with David Freese. Those three guys, that's
29:17
Speaker 2: a that's to me really strong, three strong core guys
29:21
Speaker 2: of what the Saint Louis Cardinals are. So you you
29:23
Speaker 2: mix that positive influence with some of this impressionable young talent.
29:28
Speaker 2: I agree with you. I mean, there's there's a real
29:29
Speaker 2: opportunity for us to see this core really emerge. And
29:33
Speaker 2: I'm in the bucket of like, let's let's definitely surprise
29:36
Speaker 2: when people. Let's have a good year, Like let's win
29:38
Speaker 2: that makes everything, that makes all the problems go away
29:41
Speaker 2: at the end of the day. Winning is good, but
29:43
Speaker 2: I'm excited to see kind of behind the scenes and
29:46
Speaker 2: what I'm a big fan of Descalza, Jay Freeze, you know,
29:50
Speaker 2: Olie Marmele, He's been a lifelong Cardinal. The impact that
29:54
Speaker 2: they have on these younger players is I think is
29:58
Speaker 2: going to be really special and very meaning for the
30:01
Speaker 2: next step that these guys are able to take. So
30:03
Speaker 2: I'm right there with you, Katie. It's something to be
30:05
Speaker 2: excited about.
30:06
Speaker 1: And you're spot on because if you're looking for a
30:09
Speaker 1: core that knows how to you know, be homegrown and win,
30:13
Speaker 1: you're looking at guys like Daniel Discuss of John Jay,
30:15
Speaker 1: David Freeze. They certainly know how to do it, and they,
30:18
Speaker 1: in my opinion, you are exactly right, are the guys
30:20
Speaker 1: to help instill this new wave. So we will get
30:23
Speaker 1: to see that in action as early as tomorrow. There
30:26
Speaker 1: will be Willpens throw on tomorrow, Trevor, there will be
30:29
Speaker 1: baseball to an extent. Every single picture should be here
30:33
Speaker 1: on Wednesday, and we'll hear again from John mozeylak On
30:36
Speaker 1: Olie Marmle, and then this thing will start to feel real.
30:40
Speaker 1: H Yeah, we made it, guys. Winter is over unless
30:43
Speaker 1: you're in Saint Louis and it's still snowing. I'm just
30:45
Speaker 1: gonna rub it in. Sorry you should, Yeah, I'm going
30:50
Speaker 1: to all right, Are you ready for Trevor? Are you
30:53
Speaker 1: ready for the baseball? Yeah?
30:54
Speaker 2: You're my boots on. I'm gonna be calling you tomorrow
30:56
Speaker 2: about three o'clock. How the boys? Look? What's going on on?
31:00
Speaker 2: Where the mits popping? You're the boots on the ground, Katie,
31:03
Speaker 2: And you know, maybe not maybe flip flops boots, maybe
31:06
Speaker 2: if you were in Saint Louis with all the pedestrians.
31:08
Speaker 2: But you're the high life down in Jupiter, Florida, the
31:11
Speaker 2: palm trees, the beach.
31:13
Speaker 1: Yes, And which is where I'm headed next hopefully it's
31:17
Speaker 1: still happy hour. Well it's only two thirty right now,
31:19
Speaker 1: that twenty of time I'm chilling for Trevor Rosenthal. I'm Katie. Well,
31:23
Speaker 1: welcome back to baseball season you guys. We've made it.
31:26
Speaker 1: I'm looking forward to sharing it with you, Trevor and
31:28
Speaker 1: to our listeners and subscribers. So we'll be back with
31:31
Speaker 1: you at the end of the week with an update.
31:33
Speaker 1: Stay tuned and lock in, guys. Baseball season is back.
31:37
Speaker 1: We'll talk to you on a plus