Latest / Cardinal Territory: A St. Louis Cardinals Podcast / Padres/Cardinals Series Preview

Transcript

Padres/Cardinals Series Preview · Cardinal Territory: A St. Louis Cardinals Podcast

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: The Podres and Cardinals meet for the first time this
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: year in a series that is very likely to have
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: implications for the nationally wild card race. We have you
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: covered here on a special Friar Territory Cardinal Territory Crossover edition.
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: I'm Kyle Blazer, joined by the fabulous Katie Wu, Cardinals
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: beat writer for The Athletic and host of Cardinal Territory.
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: Most importantly fellow son Devil Katie forks up Always.
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, we were so in sync there. I
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: knew you were going to do that.
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: Oh yeah, I have to got to always, Katie. Thank
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: you so much for joining us. This is going to
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: be an interesting series. The Potters are a team that
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: is fighting for a wild card spot. They've been kind
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: of on the fringes most of the year. They've been
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: playing well recently, the Cardinals a little bit behind them.
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: What are you going to be watching for this series
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: and how do you see this playing out?
• 0:53
  Speaker 3: Well?
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: This is such a such a difficult series to kind
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: of predict. It's a four game series right ahead of
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: the trade deadline with the two teams where I think
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: the Padres are more inclined to buy this year. The
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: Cardinals are kind of still straddling that fence on what
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: they should do. This was supposed to be a transitioneer
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: for Saint Louis. As I'm sure most baseball fans are aware.
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: They weren't necessarily supposed to compete this year, but they did,
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: and they really performed outside of expectations in the first half,
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: and then July hit and they kind of came crashing
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: back to reality. That has not been a good month
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: for them, especially their rotations. So President Basball Operations John
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: Mozaeloc has said ahead of his this will be his
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: last season in this position for the Cardinals. Has said
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: he's willing to wait up to seventy two hours before
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: the trade deadline to fully decide if the Cardinals will
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: incrementally buy or soft sell. And the Padres very much
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: have the Cardinals' fate in their hands here.
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: Yeah, And on the Potter's side of things, A J.
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: Preller has said he's going to let the team determine
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: what he does, whether they buy a little bit, whether
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: they buy aggressively or at one point it looked like
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: that might even mean so the Potters have been playing
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: much much better in July. There was a stretch where
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: they were coming real close to back down a five hundred.
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: After that hot start, they were falling six seven, eight
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: games behind the Dodgers in the division. They've been picking
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: it up a little bit. They finished well before the
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: All Star break, went six and four on a home stand.
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: He took two of three from a Phillies team that, frankly,
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: the Potters hadn't been beating teams with winning records for
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: over a month. So it was a good sign there
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: opening against the Nationals, coming out of the break winning
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: two of three. So it's interesting because you're right, these
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: two teams entering the month seem like they might be
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: fighting each other. It seemed like they were kind of
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: in the same place. With the way the month has gone,
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: the Potters have certainly moved more into Hey, they look
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: more and more like sure buyers now, like so the Cardinals.
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: It definitely seems like it's a little more on that
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: line and maybe even trending more towards the cell side.
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: Now, that's where I'm inclined to believe that they are.
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: And there are so many bubble teams this year, especially
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: the trade deadline, and the National League is such a
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: perfect picture of this because you have so many teams
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: that are just kind of hovering right, maybe not in
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: division contention, but in that wildcard group. And then look
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: at the American League ANDKHW, so many teams maybe you know,
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: two three games under five hundred, but still very much
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: in the mix for the wild cards. So it's made
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: for a very complicated trade deadline. And the Cardinals have
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: a ton of players that I think would provide a
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: lot of interest to contending teams. They have many relievers
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: that have performed really well. Of all the things to
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: complain about for the Cardinals, the bullpen hasn't really been
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: one of them. But they've yet to decide again a
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: direction on where to go. But we'll see where what
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: happens with this podcast seem I think anytime the Projects
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: and Cardinals play, it's dramatic. We'll get to this, I know,
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: but the Mike Schiltz relation here makes things a little
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: bit more personal as well. It's just very complicated time
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: to be a Cardinals fan because for so so many
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: years you were used to the Cardinals just contending no
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: matter what, and now all of a sudden they're going
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: to have a new front office takeover in twenty twenty six,
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: Hein Bloom, formerly of the Red Sox, will take over
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: for John mosey Lock. The Cardinals are taking a step back,
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: you know, they're cutting payroll. They're trying to revert back
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: to being a draft and development club, which is what
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: they were doing when they were in their prime. From that,
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: they got away from the Cardinal way, if you will,
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: so as they try to find their way back, that's
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: kind of what sparked this transition season. In the first half,
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: they had a ton of players maybe outperform expectations. Their
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: starting rotation was really good. The Cardinals, stop me, if
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: you've heard this before, have a pitch to contact pitching
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: staff and that has really caught up to them in
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: June and July. Coming into this month, Cardinals starters have
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: an ERA over seven collectively, so that has really led
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: to their drop off in their wins lately. So I
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: think the Cardinals are leaning more towards the soft cell,
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: but again nothing definitive. It's really hard for this organization
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: to sell than it just once in almost two decades,
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: so it's going to take a pretty significant drop off
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: for them to go all the way. But I do
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: think with the way things stand, hanging into this series.
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: The most likely path of this Cardinals team is that
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: soft cell route.
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and that's why the series is going to be
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: so fascinating. You could see this be the series where
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: the Padres kind of kicked the Cardinals hard over that
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: line where it's like, Okay, you're definitely sellers now. You
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: could also see maybe if the Cardinals have a good
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: series against the Podres, they may stay in it.
• 5:05
  Speaker 3: A little bit.
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: And also the Potters will have to take a look
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: at what they feel like they can really accomplish, Katie.
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: In terms of on field matchups, you mentioned the Cardinals'
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: pitching staff. That's been a real, real struggle for them recently.
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: The Potterys offense has been their weak spot the entire year.
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: Now they've been hitting better recently. I feel like from
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: the Potter's perspective, that's going to be the key matchup
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: to watch. You trust the Pottery's pitching staff to, you know,
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: hold most of their opponents in that three four run range.
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: It's just a matter of, okay, is their offense going
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: to score two runs or five runs? Because that's really
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: the range they've been in most of the year, and
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: a lot of times it's not been enough to win,
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: but there's also been some times they pulled out these
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: one nothing two to one three two wins. So I
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: do feel like from the Potter's perspective, the matchup to
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: watch is the Potterys lineup versus Cardinals pitching staff.
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: Well, based on how the Cardinals rotation has looked as
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: of late, I think five ranned runs is more likely
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: than two and not been good for Saint Louis because
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: they have We've gone over this for years with the
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: Cardinal's staff. The names have changed, but the strategy has not.
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: They have for so long been so big on the
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: pitch to contact, and manager Alli Marmal says, this a
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: lot you live and you die by the pitch to contact.
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: You're just hoping that these balls hit are at people,
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: and that's uncontrollable. And you know, you have Sunny Gray,
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: who I think has has thrown some really nice games
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: with the Cardinals lately, but certainly has not put forth
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: the numbers overall from a season standpoint that the Cardinals
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: would have wanted him to. You have Eric Fetty, who
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: struggled of late, Miles Michael the same thing on a
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: plante Matthew libertore are two young guys, but still not
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: a lot of swing and missing their game. Michael McGreevey
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: might be up in the rotation, might not be. He
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: actually grew up a Padres fan, so I'm sure he
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: would love to pitch against San Diego. And while he's
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: probably one of your better options for the rotation right now,
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: he still is a pitch to contact guy. So the
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: Cardinals just love to play with fire with their rotation.
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: They did a nice job in the first half of
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: limiting damage, but in June and especially July, the wheels
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: have really come off, and this is a rotation that
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: has just not really given the offense much of a
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: chance to stay in the game. We'll take it back
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: to the Diamondback series. Last weekend. They went Polonte, Sunny Gray,
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: Miles Michaelis, and by the third inning of each of
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: those three games, the Cardinals were completely out of it.
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: Polante allowed I believe six or in runs, Sunny Gray eight,
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: Miles michael Is four five. Excuse me. And when you
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: have an offense that has is missing a lar's mow bar,
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: like the Cardinals, will be no Nolan Gorman h and
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: a Nolan Arnatto that has really struggled this season. It
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: doesn't builde well for success when the rotation is consistently
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: giving up that many runs early in the ball game.
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and the Padres are an offense that does not
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: strike out very often. This is a team that really,
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: really really prides itself on making a lot of contact.
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: There's not a lot of power here, not a lot
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: of home runs. We have a pitch to contact pitching
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: staff against a contact heavy offense in a lot of ways.
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: The Cardinals defense and how it performs might be what
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: kind of tilts the series a little bit here. The Padres,
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: when they are right, and they have been up and
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: down with this all year, are a team that plays
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: an aggressive, kinetic style of baseball, constantly on to move,
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: a lot of hit and runs, a lot of stolen bases,
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: just continually putting pressure on defenses, even aggressive sens on
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: first to thirds or scoring from second sack flies. There
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: have been more than a few times you could see
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: outfielders surprised runners going and as such the throws off
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: line are late. The Potters really thrive on putting pressure
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: on opposing defenses and more often than not eventually they crack.
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: Defense is something for the Cardinals that over the years
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: has been really inconsistent. There's a point in the mid
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: twenty tens they were one of the worst defensive teams.
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: The elldmis das at shortstop years were unwatchable, and then
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: they got a really, really, really good defense when you
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: had Aeronado and Goldsmith on the corners, things were getting better.
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: How has this team's defensive performance been this year, because
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: I do think that's going to come up this series.
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: Just given the pitching style of the Cardinals, the hitting
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: style of the Padres, and just type of game they
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: like to play.
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: Well, I think this Cardinals defense, especially on the endfield,
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: is pretty rock solid. Nolan Arnatto might not be having
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: the offensive year that he wants, but he has put
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: on some vintage performances at the hot corner. I love
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: watching Cardinals Padres because you see two of the best
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: third basemen in the game and Nolan Arnada Manny Machado
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: going at it, so it makes for some great times
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: at third base. Mason went as a stud defensively at shortstop.
• 9:17
  Speaker 2: Brendan Donovan, the Cardinals lone All Star, is really transformed
• 9:20
  Speaker 2: into and above average second baseman, and Wilson Contreras, who,
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: as you may recall the Cardinals signed to be a catcher,
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: is no longer a catcher. He's there every day first
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: baseman and he's done a fantastic shop at first base.
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: So the infield has been pretty locked down the Cardinals
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: behind the plate an average. The outfield is where things
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: might get away from you. They have a stud in
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: center field and Victor Scott the second he can really
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: go get it. But without Larsmy Barr again in left
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: field he's on the injured list with some RiPP discomfort,
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: the Cardinals will turn to Alec Burlson and Jordan Walker,
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: guys that did not project to be true outfielders still
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: at work in progress. I think Burlson deserves a ton
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: of credit for how he's handled that move locker. He's
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: played in just less than sixty games. Because it's been
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: on the injured list twice this year. It's been a
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: slow and steady development for him. So well, okay, you
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: said it. Potters don't strike out a lot. They hit
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: the ball, put in a play a lot of contact.
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: If they just keep it on the infield, the Cardinals
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: have a chance. But it goes back to our original point.
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: You can't control where these balls are hit too, So
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: this could be a pretty big series for the Padres
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: offense and could essentially put the nail on the coffin
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: of the Cardinal season.
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and we're starting to see some really key components
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: the Potters offense pick it up. After struggling most of
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: the year. Xander Bogart's people were ready to run him
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: out of San Diego. He was objectively one of the
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: worst hitters in baseball, with an OPS in the mid
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: to low six six hundreds most of the year. He's
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: been on fire recently. He's been rocketing doubles into the
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: gaps like his Boston days, a couple of home runs
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: here and there. Manny Michild's been great all year Finanta
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: Teest Junior, great start, terrible, terrible seven week stretch. He's
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: been coming out of it. We're seeing more consistent contact
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: from him. Crona Worth is starting to, you know, hit
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: doubles into the gaps again, which is his game. So
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: I do think it's gonna be an interesting time just
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: because the Potters offense again, it's still not great. You
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: see them. They busted out for seven runs against the Nationals,
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: then they struggled to score the next day, and then
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: they scored eight. And they've had a couple of these
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: games where it's like, oh, maybe they're figuring it out,
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: and then they'll score one or two runs for two
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: of the next three games. So it's not consistent yet,
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: but I do think it'll be interesting. You know, it's
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: funny you mentioning all these names. During my time at
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: Baseball America, the Cardinals were one of my systems, so
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: I wrote up all these guys coming up to the minors,
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: and you know, it's funny. I wrote the Cardinals Devil
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: Magic cover story, and Brendan Donovan is certainly the next
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: chapter of that. It's amazing how it just keeps going.
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: But you mentioned Jordan Walker in the outfield, and that
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: was a situation where there was even a series in
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: San Diego. I remember, I think you were there too,
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: and we talked abou him, and it was it was
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: hard to watch it. You really felt for the kid
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: because he just clearly did not have anywhere near the
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: time or skill development needed to be an even playable
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: majorleague outfielder. He'd barely played the position before they brought
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: him up. How has he developed a an outfielder. Has
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: there been improvement there?
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: There's been improvement. One of the cardinals big off season acquisitions.
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: I say that was just a little bit of start
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: because they've wont but.
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: From Filmton counts right, he's.
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: Actually a great signing. Hey, if you're gonna sign one player,
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: make it a good one. Cardinals revamped their coaching staff
• 12:26
  Speaker 2: and they brought in former Cardinal John Jay and he
• 12:29
  Speaker 2: has worked for former Padre, that's correct, I thought. So
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: he's really helped Jordan Walker adjust to the outfield. And
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: the Cardinals never projected Jordan Walker to be a gold
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: Glove right fielder, but it is so much better than
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: where it was last year or two years ago. Offensively,
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: he's still working through the same struggles and again with
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: the two separate sins on the injured list, he just
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: hasn't seen a lot of playing time. He should see
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: consistent playing time with Nolan Gorman and Larsy Bar on
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: the injured list, but it just kind of baffles mind
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: on his whole development through the Cardinals minor league system,
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: and I mean, I don't even know how they got
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: here with him, and it really kind of makes you
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: feel like it's a little unfair for Jordan Walker, who
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: had such a promising career as a top prospect, a
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: first round draft pick. And you know this because you
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: followed his career in the minor leagues. To give him
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: just six weeks tackle maate to the outfield and then
• 13:23
  Speaker 2: call him up to the twenty twenty three opening day
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: roster well before he was ready, send him down when
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: he was one of the top performing offensive players, and
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: I just thought they completely mismanaged his entire early career.
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: Now they've given him plenty of opportunity this year to
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: go out and try to be better, to produce more,
• 13:41
  Speaker 2: to be a better outfielder, be a better hitter, and
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: he hasn't really seized too much of that. While we've
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: seen progress, he still hasn't panned out to the player
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: the Cardinals had hoped he would be. I think that's
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: multifaceted blame to go around, but it's just been a
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: really perplexing situation to watch how Jordan Walker has unfolded
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: over the past couple of years in the organization.
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: Basically, the Cardinals took a page out of the Potter's book. Hey,
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: let's bring a guy up when he's nowhere near ready
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: put him in a position he's barely played, watch him flounder,
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: give him inconsistent playing time, send him back down with
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: his confidence wreck and wonderful, I'll ever beat the same player.
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: It worked with Jackson Merrill, and it's filled with about
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: ten other guys. So they really did do kind of
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: the classic Potters move and bring that guy up before
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: he was ready, and then when he struggles, almost not
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: bailing on him, but not considering the same player. Katie,
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: before we wrap up here and gets our quick break,
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: I want to talk about the other side, real quick Potters'
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: pitching staff versus the Cardinals offense again. This Potters' pitching
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: staff's been top ten in baseball all year and everything
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: ra strikeouts, whip opponents average. And that's been with Michael
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: King on the shelf, you Darvish on the shelf most year,
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: Joe Musk rove out for the after having Tom and
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: John surgery, Dylan sees his struggle on most of the year.
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: So it's really been top to bottom the entire staff.
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: It's been a great bullpen and a lot of guys
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: have stepped up in the rotation. Against the Cardinals offense,
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: what should we be watching for there.
• 15:05
  Speaker 2: You know, the Cardinals in the early part of the
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: season had a very relentless approach and they might not
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: have gone to the starter, but back when their rotation
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: could keep games within reach, they were really good at
• 15:15
  Speaker 2: chipping away against the bullpen. So this is not a
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: team that's going to outslug another team by any means.
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: The Cardinals don't hit a lot of home runs. They
• 15:23
  Speaker 2: usually have a pretty good plate approach, not a lot
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: of strikeouts in there. But they're kind of going through
• 15:28
  Speaker 2: a low offensively too. It's just not been a good July.
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: The one player that I think has really figured things out. Look,
• 15:35
  Speaker 2: Brendan Donovan's going to hit for average. Alec Carlson's going
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: to hit for average. The one guy you do not
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: want to see at the plate with runners on is
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: Yvon Herrera, and he was protected to be the catcher
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: of the future, and I've notice seen the pattern here.
• 15:48
  Speaker 2: He's no longer catching. He will strategically be only the
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: DH going forward for the rest of the season. He's
• 15:55
  Speaker 2: had two lower half injuries. The Cardinals want to keep
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: him healthy, and there were some defense of concerns, specifically
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: with this throwing arm behind the plate. Before those injuries. Anyway,
• 16:04
  Speaker 2: he is the only hitter right now that I feel
• 16:05
  Speaker 2: like it was truly locked in for the Cardinals. Now,
• 16:08
  Speaker 2: of course, Saint Louis is going to come home up
• 16:10
  Speaker 2: to Bush Jadium after three games at Course Field, So
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: if one field is going to maybe change your offensive approach,
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: it's going to be the one. But if you can
• 16:18
  Speaker 2: pitch around Yvon Herrera, you can get to pretty much
• 16:21
  Speaker 2: anyone in the sign up right now. They're just not
• 16:22
  Speaker 2: seeing the ball very well.
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: You know, it's funny. It just goes back to show
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: catcher development. I wrote Yvon Herrera up in the Cardinals
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: Top thirty when he was in the DSL, and at
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: the time, hey, this is going to be a really
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: good defensive catcher. You know, the broad back, the sturdy build,
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: you know, the mind for it, and oh, by the way,
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: he can hit two. But he was definitely a guy
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: they love as a defender and the fact he could
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: hit was a bonus. And again we saw that shift
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: over the course of his tenure. And again, trying to
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: figure out how catchers are going to develop is probably
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: the hardest thing to do, even more so than pitchers
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: or skinny shortstops. Whether or not they're going to fill out.
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: So it's good to see him hitting and hitting well.
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: But it just as soon as you said that just
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: made me chuckle because there's a long list of guys.
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: Oh he's a great catcher, no doubt, backstop and then
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: gets the Major just like eh, actually maybe more dh
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: first base catcher. You know, they all they all work
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: out differently, all right, Katie, we have a lot more
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: to talk about, including a familiar a common tie if
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: Palders and Cardinals have with Mike Scheldt, how he's remembered
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: in Saint Louis, and frankly, how Cardinals fans think of
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: him compared to Alie Marmal. We're going to take a
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: quick break here a word from our sponsors. Dive right
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: into that.
• 17:29
  Speaker 4: You know about the best place to buy, sell, trade,
• 17:32
  Speaker 4: or look for that special card in your world. It's
• 17:35
  Speaker 4: called Arena Club and aer Kratz just went through a
• 17:37
  Speaker 4: little slab pack experience and you went big. You went
• 17:40
  Speaker 4: for the Ruby pack.
• 17:42
  Speaker 3: I love it. I love clicking on the Ruby Pack
• 17:44
  Speaker 3: and knowing that I'm going to open something that is
• 17:47
  Speaker 3: going to be epic. H I got a cal Rican
• 17:49
  Speaker 3: Junior autographed one of forty two. I'm keeping it right now,
• 17:54
  Speaker 3: but I would love to have it in my hands,
• 17:56
  Speaker 3: so I might even have him send it to me
• 17:57
  Speaker 3: already graded everything taking care.
• 17:59
  Speaker 4: Of that's right. You want to hang it up and
• 18:01
  Speaker 4: stare at it all day, go for it. But if
• 18:03
  Speaker 4: you're in there to get something else or to sell
• 18:06
  Speaker 4: it away, you can do that. They've got the buyback program,
• 18:08
  Speaker 4: or you can put it on the marketplace yourself. Tons
• 18:11
  Speaker 4: of options. This is where the best cards live. It's
• 18:13
  Speaker 4: arenaclub dot com. Slash foul and use the code foul
• 18:17
  Speaker 4: for twenty percent off your first slab pack. Or if
• 18:20
  Speaker 4: you'd like to purchase a card, twenty percent off your
• 18:22
  Speaker 4: first card, purchase again. Arena club dot com slash fo
• 18:26
  Speaker 4: u L use code fo u L.
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: All right, Katie. Mike Scheltz, Potter's manager came up through
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: the cardinal system. He was their manager in Johnson City
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: in the Appy League. Worked his entire way up through
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: the cardinal system each level, made it to the majors,
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: became their interim manager, and eventually their permanent manager. Led
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: the Cardinals the postseason all three years he was their manager,
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: and then very surprisingly was fired after the twenty twenty
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: one season. The timing of it in particular was shocking
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: because the postseason was still going on. How was Mike
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: Schult viewed and remembered in Saint Louis.
• 19:04
  Speaker 2: Well, I'll tell you a quick story about when Mike
• 19:05
  Speaker 2: Shult was fired. If you recall, it was Game five
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: of the NLDS Giants Dodgers and it's a no news day.
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: MLB has this rule where on playoff games, your teams
• 19:18
  Speaker 2: are supposed to limit their news unless you get express
• 19:21
  Speaker 2: permission from the Commissioner's office. So I am well aware
• 19:24
  Speaker 2: of this news coming off my first year as a
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: B reporter. I said, you know what, I'm going to
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: go treat myself. I'm going to go to Target. I'm
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: gonna leave my phone in the car and I come back.
• 19:33
  Speaker 2: I checked my phone. I see you have like twenty messages,
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: and I'm like, that's aggressive. I'm going to Starbucks Starbucks
• 19:38
  Speaker 2: drive through, and my phone will not stop bringing and
• 19:40
  Speaker 2: I was like, why is going on? And I pull
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: up my phone out of the console and I see
• 19:45
  Speaker 2: a bunch of texts like did Mike Schult just get fired? Oh?
• 19:48
  Speaker 2: Pull out? I didn't get the Starbucks. I ordered, it
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: didn't get it pulled out of the drive through and
• 19:53
  Speaker 2: everyone and then by that point the news had been
• 19:55
  Speaker 2: public and it was just a shock all around. And
• 19:59
  Speaker 2: while the detail else behind that still are pretty murky
• 20:02
  Speaker 2: and we don't know the full story, I will say
• 20:05
  Speaker 2: the lack of clarity as to why Mike Shultz was fired,
• 20:07
  Speaker 2: especially because of the reasons you mentioned of him being
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: the you know, came up through the organization. He was
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: like a Cardinal's lifer. That has really led to I
• 20:17
  Speaker 2: think an unfair evaluation of Oliver marmal because Cardinals fans
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: had felt a certain way about Mike Shultz, who brought
• 20:24
  Speaker 2: them a ton of success, who came up and really
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: oversaw the player development system before it started to crumble.
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: Because there have been a lack of clarity about why
• 20:31
  Speaker 2: exactly he was fired, it's given Oli Marble I think
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: not a very fair platform as well, because fans were
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: conditioned to be skeptical about fire. And then, of course
• 20:40
  Speaker 2: Ollie Marmel manages twenty twenty two, albur Pooles comes back
• 20:43
  Speaker 2: yondare Molina's last year, they make the playoffs, and then
• 20:46
  Speaker 2: it's just a complete fall from grace over the last
• 20:49
  Speaker 2: three years. So Cardinals fans are very much invested in
• 20:52
  Speaker 2: what Mike Schiltz is doing in San Diego because they
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: feel like they still haven't gotten the full story or
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: the full answer as to what went down here in
• 20:58
  Speaker 2: Saint Louis and his successor well, I person don't think
• 21:02
  Speaker 2: Alli marmal is done a bad job. I don't think
• 21:04
  Speaker 2: he's had very many rosters that would have led to success.
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: Every day, there's just kind of a general sense of
• 21:10
  Speaker 2: being turned off by him because whatever happened with Mike
• 21:13
  Speaker 2: schilt John Mosaelac and the Cardinals is not yet been
• 21:16
  Speaker 2: publicly made. It just kind of makes it all around
• 21:19
  Speaker 2: murky situation here.
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I can tell you right now, Mike schilt still
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: bleeds Cardinal red to his core, still loves that franchise,
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: still loves that organization. Talks about all the great times
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: he had. I can't tell you how many times the
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: dugout after you know, official pregame availability he now us
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: talk about because I covered him when he was you know,
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: in the miners, you know, when he was coaching those
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: guys up through the miners, and it was talk about
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: all those guys he coached, his memories there and big
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: smile comes on his face. He really loved being a cardinal.
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: And there's no question that him being fired, you know,
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: it really hurt. He was very, very hurt by that.
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: I will say what he's done in San Diego, He's
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: done a fantastic job. And look, you know this, I
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: know this. Every fan base hates throne. Manager's inevitable, it's
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: going to happen. But when you take a step back,
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: Mike Shilt has done a lot of great things in
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: San Diego. He has completely changed the culture in a
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: positive way. And what I mean by that is before
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: he got there, the Padres had this bad habit of
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: sleepwalking through games, through seasons. You know, the twenty twenty
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: two season, they slept walked pretty much the whole season,
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: and then Bob Melvin yelled at them in September and
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: they woke up and went on a run. Fanal Cs
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: and the twenty twenty three team that had all this
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: star talent with Blake Snell and Josh Hater and Wonsto,
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: that was the most disinterested looking team you will ever
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: see on a baseball field. It was I mean, they
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: were sleepwalking through games. They got booed off the field,
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: after dropping series at home to teams like the Royals
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: and the Nationals. Since Mike shilt has come in, that
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: has all changed. He has changed the culture and the
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: identity of this team. This is an aggressive team that
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: plays hard, that applies relentless pressure. You never see this
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: team sleepwalking. It's little things. They are busting it down
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: the line. Guys like Manny Machado who are not known
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: for their hustle, they're hustling. There's a great attention to
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: detailed defensively situational awareness. They don't make mistakes, they don't
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: miss cut off men, they don't have ill advised throws.
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: Under Mike schilt they're a very fundamentally sound team, but
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: most importantly, just an aggressive, constantly engaged team. And I
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: do give him a lot of credit for that.
• 23:20
  Speaker 2: And that checks out because when you think about Mike
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: schultz background as someone who is so firmly rooted in
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: the Cardinals player development system, he lives and breathes fundamentals.
• 23:29
  Speaker 2: So one thing that we know about Mike Schiltz, two
• 23:31
  Speaker 2: things we know about Mike schild as a manager. He's
• 23:33
  Speaker 2: going to emphasize the heck on fundamentals and you're going
• 23:35
  Speaker 2: to see it on the field. He's also one hundred
• 23:38
  Speaker 2: percent a player's manager. He's going to do whatever he
• 23:40
  Speaker 2: can to make sure his players know that he has
• 23:43
  Speaker 2: their back, he's in their quarter, and he's going to
• 23:45
  Speaker 2: fight for him. That doesn't necessarily make him the most
• 23:47
  Speaker 2: popular guy outside of his own clubhouse, but that's not
• 23:50
  Speaker 2: his priority. His priority is his players. He's a player's
• 23:53
  Speaker 2: manager who stresses the fine details, the little things, and
• 23:56
  Speaker 2: that's what wins games. That's what made the Cardinals and
• 23:59
  Speaker 2: the Cardinals so impactful in the early twenty tens when
• 24:03
  Speaker 2: he was in their player development system, in the twenty eighteen,
• 24:06
  Speaker 2: twenty nineteen, even the weird twenty twenty COVID season, this
• 24:10
  Speaker 2: was a team that went out there and did not
• 24:12
  Speaker 2: make mistakes. Fundamentals, they were not missing a cutoff man.
• 24:14
  Speaker 2: They were going to be exactly where their charts told
• 24:16
  Speaker 2: them to be, regardless of hitter. They were going to
• 24:19
  Speaker 2: know exactly what they were just not going to make
• 24:21
  Speaker 2: dumb mistakes. So I tune into Padres games every now
• 24:25
  Speaker 2: and then I see that exact same style of baseball,
• 24:28
  Speaker 2: and I see how his players respond to his leadership.
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: Oh yeah, and none of that is surprising because that's
• 24:32
  Speaker 2: who Mike Schildt is as a manager. If there's one
• 24:35
  Speaker 2: thing you can say about him, it's that he knows
• 24:37
  Speaker 2: his clubhouse and he.
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: Knows how to run it, no question about it. And
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: you talk about protecting his players, We've seen that a
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: few times with Fanda Tatis in New York after a bad, bad,
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: bad strike two call, then Tatist seventually struck out and
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: saw him come out of the dugout in New York
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: through the glasses, through the pen, through the scorecard. It
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: is one of the more memorable and entertainment injection ejections
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: I've seen, you know, against the Dodgers again, Tatisk hit
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: for the third time in nine day span by the Dodgers.
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: Shilt came out and right away, you know, him and
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: Dave Roberts were going at each other a little bit.
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: So there's no question you protects his players from a
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: media perspective. Sometimes, you know, when a guy's really struggling,
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: you mentioned, hey, like this guy's struggling. Sometimes I almost
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: a little defensive about it. So in that sense, it's
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: you know, not always the most fun. It's like, no,
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: the guy's actually hitting. You know, one ninety eight. Like
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: we can talk about.
• 25:24
  Speaker 2: It, it's fair to ask about it. But this is
• 25:26
  Speaker 2: to him being such a player's manager. He's regardless of
• 25:29
  Speaker 2: how it looks to anyone like outside of that clubhouse,
• 25:32
  Speaker 2: He's going to protect his players. So I can you know,
• 25:35
  Speaker 2: I covered him too, I understand.
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: No, no, I remember your first year on the beat,
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: and you know it's interesting. So you know, my experience
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: with shil was was from a national writer perspective, you know,
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: with Baseball America, and same with Alie Marmal just coming
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: in doing some features, coming to so I wasn't there
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: watching them every day, but just you know, kind of
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: parachuting in. It always stood out to me how different
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: they were. Shilt very much, you know, I know it's cliche,
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: but old school players manager, you know fundamentals like you know,
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: kind of had some you know, that Southern grit to him,
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: if you will a little bit. Where Ali Marmal, you know,
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: twenty thirty years younger, you know more, kind of come
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: up through the analytics style in some ways. And it
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: always just struck me that there's one thing to fire
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: Mike schelt. I felt like they hired in a lot
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: of ways. His opposite and Olie Marmon in a lot
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: of ways. Would you say that's a fair assessment, and
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: just how have you kind of seen the difference between
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: the two.
• 26:27
  Speaker 2: There are definitely differences between the two, but both are
• 26:31
  Speaker 2: very very similar in their passion for player development. I mean,
• 26:36
  Speaker 2: Mike Schultz scouted Oli marmal and brought Allie into the organization,
• 26:39
  Speaker 2: and Ollie rose up the ranks. I think he was
• 26:42
  Speaker 2: twenty three years old when he started managing down in
• 26:45
  Speaker 2: short season. Vallved back when that was still a thing, yep.
• 26:48
  Speaker 2: And he came up just like Schild did through the
• 26:50
  Speaker 2: cardinal system. And at one point John Mosella thought that
• 26:53
  Speaker 2: Oli Marmle would be actually a scouting or a player
• 26:56
  Speaker 2: development director or a farm director instead of a manager,
• 26:58
  Speaker 2: because he, like Shild, was so impassioned about doing things
• 27:02
  Speaker 2: the right way and promoting the game. And that's why
• 27:04
  Speaker 2: it's been so frustrating for Alli as a manager of
• 27:06
  Speaker 2: this big league club, because the organization had gotten away
• 27:09
  Speaker 2: from that, and now he's managing players who don't know
• 27:14
  Speaker 2: how to take secondary leads, who don't know how to
• 27:16
  Speaker 2: hit their cutoffs, who don't understand the importance of sinking
• 27:20
  Speaker 2: up a pitch or knowing when a picture is giving
• 27:22
  Speaker 2: a tell or things like that, things that he would
• 27:24
  Speaker 2: have made sure and Shilt would have made sure happened
• 27:27
  Speaker 2: in the Cardinals minor league system. So those are the similarities.
• 27:31
  Speaker 2: The difference is is there? You know, I do think
• 27:32
  Speaker 2: Schiltz more of an old school guy and always much
• 27:35
  Speaker 2: more of a I mean, he's just turned thirty nine,
• 27:38
  Speaker 2: I believe was the youngest manager in baseball when he
• 27:41
  Speaker 2: was hired. He's had to learn a lot as he's
• 27:43
  Speaker 2: gone through it, where Shilt had kind of done all
• 27:46
  Speaker 2: that learning and growing under the radar in the minor leagues.
• 27:50
  Speaker 2: So I think there are obvious differences. I don't think
• 27:54
  Speaker 2: it's bad in either way. I've enjoyed working with both. Obviously,
• 27:58
  Speaker 2: only had Schilt for one year, but he was easy
• 28:00
  Speaker 2: to work with, professional as always Allie. It's been four
• 28:03
  Speaker 2: years now. They have a lot of ups, a lot
• 28:05
  Speaker 2: of downs. I can literally go into his office and
• 28:06
  Speaker 2: be like, what's that big dog? What do you got
• 28:08
  Speaker 2: to say? Where I would never do that with Mike
• 28:10
  Speaker 2: Schield obviously, So some similarities in terms of how they
• 28:14
  Speaker 2: were brought up through the Cardinals organization, different managerial styles,
• 28:17
  Speaker 2: but not totally vastly different.
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: I would say, yeah, again, it's just been interesting seeing
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: how everything has played out. Again, you know, Mike Schilt
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: is bleeding cardinal red, and you know there's definitely a
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: little extra when he goes back to face Saint Louis. Yeah,
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: you know he's going to say, hey, it's just another game.
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: You know, we're just trying to win ball games here.
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: But I promise you there's a little extra self for there.
• 28:39
  Speaker 2: It's not just a regular game. It means something. And
• 28:41
  Speaker 2: that's okay, give them the situation. I totally get it.
• 28:43
  Speaker 2: I totally understand absolutely.
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: All right, Katie, I want to dive into our DraftKings
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: player spotlight with you and look at some key players
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: for this series. All right, So, starting from the potter's perspective,
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: one player, I really want to highlight his Manny Machado.
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: As we all know, he's a veteran who has a
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: track record of always being a Hall of Fame talent,
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: but for a lot of his career he said and
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: did some things that did not endear himself to the
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: wider baseball world. And look, this isn't a narrative. These
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: are objective things that happen, you know, throwing the bat
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: at Fernando about at Baltimore, and people forget what preceded
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: that was Josh Donaldson had just tagged him on a
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: regular play and Manny flipped out, threw his helmet at
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: him and started a bench just clearing incident. You know,
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: you have the you know him clipping Hazus Aguilar in
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: the NLCS, which is one of the dirtiest plays you'll
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: ever see, his Johnny Hustle comments. And just frankly, the
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: twenty nineteen season with the Potters, his first year with
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: the Padres, he completely checked out the final month, just
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: completely and utterly checked out. We have seen him grow
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: into a more consistent leader recently twenty twenty and twenty
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: twenty two, he really became a leader. You know, twenty
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: twenty that wild Card series against the Cardinals, the COVID season,
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: I covered that when the Potters that series, he was
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: the first guy to the dugout, you know, holding up
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: a tenth fan banner, showing it to you the apartment
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: buildings out beyond peck O and center field. And he's
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: really grown as a leader, and I think this year
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: it's been really impressive. He is showing a level of
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: engagement and focus and yes, hustle and energy we have
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: never seen from him on a consistent basis. We would
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: see it in flashes. But I think what's been so
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: impressive is just he's grown into realizing, hey, leading by
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: example doesn't just mean posting. He always posted, he always played,
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: he always played hurt, but it's how you play day
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: in and day out over a long season, and he's
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: been the steadying force. I mentioned this Potters offense. They
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: were bottom five in baseball for about a two month stretch,
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: but he was the one guy consistently performing, keeping them afloat,
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: and now the rest of the team's starting to heat
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: back up. I think Manny Machada deserves a lot of
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: credit for what he's done for the Potters this entire season. Yes,
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: what he's done on the field, his production, but we
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: always knew he was capable of that. It's been more
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: about what he's done the example he's setting with that energy,
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: that focused, that hustle, which goes back to Mike schul
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: You know.
• 31:02
  Speaker 2: As someone who follows the Padres and Manny Machado like,
• 31:04
  Speaker 2: from an outside perspective, I think you're spot on I've
• 31:07
  Speaker 2: always enjoyed watching Manny Machado play because of the pure talent,
• 31:11
  Speaker 2: and over the last couple of years, I would totally
• 31:13
  Speaker 2: agree with you, again from a bird's eye view, that
• 31:16
  Speaker 2: he has grown into being a leader. And I think
• 31:18
  Speaker 2: it is so important to reiterate your favorite baseball player
• 31:22
  Speaker 2: might not be the best leader. I've had to go
• 31:24
  Speaker 2: over this a lot with different veterans with the Cardinals.
• 31:28
  Speaker 2: Just because your favorite baseball player can play at Hall
• 31:32
  Speaker 2: of Fame level third base, can hit the ball four
• 31:34
  Speaker 2: hundred feet on a consistent basis, doesn't mean he knows
• 31:37
  Speaker 2: how to lead. And sometimes players have to learn that
• 31:40
  Speaker 2: as they grow through the game, and many Machada is
• 31:42
  Speaker 2: not the twenty four year old you know, very electric
• 31:48
  Speaker 2: patching a player for the Baltimore Orioles. He is an
• 31:51
  Speaker 2: established veteran face of the game for the San Diego
• 31:53
  Speaker 2: Padres with a different kind of mentality on who's supposed
• 31:57
  Speaker 2: to be in his career. And I do think Mike
• 31:59
  Speaker 2: shuld has played into that. And this goes back to
• 32:01
  Speaker 2: shelbying a clubhouse and a player's manager. But also I
• 32:04
  Speaker 2: think some credit goes to Manny for growing up and
• 32:06
  Speaker 2: acknowledging Okay, how I was younger in my career. That's
• 32:10
  Speaker 2: not going to fly. And I need to learn how
• 32:11
  Speaker 2: to be a better leader, and that might not be
• 32:13
  Speaker 2: easy for me to do. It's easy for me to
• 32:15
  Speaker 2: go out there and be one of the best their
• 32:16
  Speaker 2: basement in the game. I'm going to make it look easy.
• 32:19
  Speaker 2: I'm going to post like you said, I'm going to
• 32:20
  Speaker 2: play every single day. I'm going to be one of
• 32:22
  Speaker 2: the baseball's best players. But I need to be a
• 32:24
  Speaker 2: better teammate too. And I think over the last couple
• 32:27
  Speaker 2: of years, especially I think about twenty twenty two, he
• 32:30
  Speaker 2: has really shown that. And as the Padres you know,
• 32:33
  Speaker 2: start to be in the playoffs more consistently and starts
• 32:35
  Speaker 2: to be viewed as more of a legitimate, contending, consistent threat,
• 32:39
  Speaker 2: Manny Machada is right there. And how he carries himself
• 32:41
  Speaker 2: that's important because he's very much a base of this team.
• 32:44
  Speaker 2: You know, the Padres have a lot of stars, whether
• 32:46
  Speaker 2: it's Tatis, whether it's Jackson Merrill, whether it's you know,
• 32:49
  Speaker 2: Jay Cronaworth, go down the list, you darbish, anyone, but
• 32:53
  Speaker 2: no one is going to carry as much weight as
• 32:55
  Speaker 2: Manny Machado, So for him to recognize that and for
• 32:57
  Speaker 2: him to grow into that leadership role and try his
• 33:00
  Speaker 2: best to be comfortable with it. Again, from the long
• 33:02
  Speaker 2: distance view, I think that's really encouraging to see.
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: No question about it real quick. For you, Katie, who's
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: someone that you want to spotlight for this series? For
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: the Cardinals?
• 33:10
  Speaker 2: Ooh, well, if I knew Michael McGreevey was going to
• 33:13
  Speaker 2: start against them, just because again he grew up a
• 33:15
  Speaker 2: Padres fan love San Diego.
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: When I wrote him up out of both high school
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: and college that wrote his draft reports for b Yeah,
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: now he's definitely a so cow kid through and through.
• 33:25
  Speaker 2: Yes, he's also hilarious, but we don't know. The Cardinals
• 33:28
  Speaker 2: are not say yet set their rotation. One guy I'm
• 33:32
  Speaker 2: looking to highlight it's going to be Evon Herrera, mainly
• 33:34
  Speaker 2: because I think he's the only one worth watching offensively
• 33:36
  Speaker 2: right now. Good, but it's it's rare right now for
• 33:41
  Speaker 2: the Cardinals to have someone who comes up at the
• 33:42
  Speaker 2: plate and all of a sudden you're looking and you're watching,
• 33:44
  Speaker 2: and you're like, something could happen here. Herrera is heading
• 33:47
  Speaker 2: over four hundred with runners and scoring position this year. Again,
• 33:51
  Speaker 2: he had a calf strain so he missed a month
• 33:53
  Speaker 2: in April and a hamstring strain where he missed three
• 33:55
  Speaker 2: and a half weeks in June to early July. So
• 33:58
  Speaker 2: he hasn't always been available, but one healthy, he's an
• 34:01
  Speaker 2: impact bat for Saint Louis and he can change the lineup.
• 34:05
  Speaker 2: Don't believe me. Look at the Cardinals offensively when he's
• 34:08
  Speaker 2: not available, when he is in Aisle, it's not great.
• 34:11
  Speaker 2: So that's the guy I'm watching in this transition here.
• 34:13
  Speaker 2: As the Cardinals are looking to build around I think
• 34:15
  Speaker 2: the baseball world is starting to learn more and more
• 34:18
  Speaker 2: about who Brennan Donovan is, and I think it's safe
• 34:20
  Speaker 2: to say the Cardinals canon should build around him in
• 34:22
  Speaker 2: the future. But looking at von Herrera, what his position
• 34:26
  Speaker 2: is going to be long term, we don't know, but
• 34:28
  Speaker 2: we do know that that is real, that that plays,
• 34:30
  Speaker 2: and right now the Cardinals could really use it as
• 34:32
  Speaker 2: they try to scuffle and maybe stay above five hundred
• 34:36
  Speaker 2: in contention for the wild Card. Maybe not a lot
• 34:39
  Speaker 2: more than just Evon Herrera will dictate that, but right now,
• 34:42
  Speaker 2: if we're looking for competitive bat to watch a Seria,
• 34:44
  Speaker 2: that's going to be.
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: Herrera for me. There you go, Manny Machado and Yvon
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: Herrera the two key players to watch. That'll do it
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: for our DraftKings player spotlight real quick. Want to look
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: ahead to some of the potential pick sixes or pick
• 34:57
  Speaker 1: sixes for DraftKings. Some players who you know think might
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: be able to perform over the course of the series.
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: What bets you would make the two I'm picking, I'm
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: picking man and Machado to get a hit, and I'm
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: picking Xander Bogarts to get a hit. Both of them
• 35:08
  Speaker 1: have been excellent all or, I should say, over the
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: last month. I think just when you're facing a pitch
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: to contact offense, that's the bet I'm going to be making.
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: And once again, nothing beats you know this, You know
• 35:22
  Speaker 1: DraftKings pick six. I encourage everyone to check it out.
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: Just pick more or less on the stats for two
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: or more of your favorite players, and boom, you're in
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: the mix for some big cash prizes. Nail your picks
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: and you're heating up. Pick six brings upside with payouts
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: up to five hundred times. Pick six from DraftKings is
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: the most fun way to play fantasy sports. Download the
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: DraftKings Pick six app now and use code foul. That's
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: code foul for new customers to get a special sign
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: up offer better payouts, bigger wins only with Pick six
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: from DraftKings.
• 35:52
  Speaker 5: Gambling problem called one eight hundred. Gambler Help is available
• 35:54
  Speaker 5: for a problem gambling called eight eight eight seven eight
• 35:57
  Speaker 5: nine seven to seven seven seven or visit CCPG dot
• 35:59
  Speaker 5: organ Connecticut. Must be eighteen and over age and eligibility
• 36:02
  Speaker 5: restrictions vary by jurisdiction. Pick six not available everywhere, including
• 36:05
  Speaker 5: New York and Ontario. Void were prohibited for additional terms
• 36:08
  Speaker 5: or responsible gaming resources Seepick six dot DraftKings dot com
• 36:11
  Speaker 5: slash promos.
• 36:14
  Speaker 1: All right, Katie, just as we wrap up here, final
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: thoughts on this series and what you'll be watching for most.
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: I know for me it's probably gonna be I just
• 36:23
  Speaker 1: want to see Mike Sheld. You know, we see that
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: that extra something come out during the series.
• 36:28
  Speaker 2: I love the Padre series. I started my career as
• 36:31
  Speaker 2: a Padres intern. Shout out Ajkassavel here's my boss at
• 36:33
  Speaker 2: imobey dot com. So it's always fun to see some
• 36:36
  Speaker 2: old friends come to bush shadumkey. I still keep in
• 36:38
  Speaker 2: contact with all the writers there. Of course, Kelly, you're
• 36:40
  Speaker 2: familiar with all of them, just a great group. But yeah,
• 36:44
  Speaker 2: you know, for me, it's a little different because I
• 36:46
  Speaker 2: very much believe this series could make or break my season.
• 36:49
  Speaker 2: I'm going to go from maybe covering a contender to
• 36:51
  Speaker 2: I say contender loosely trust me, to maybe looking at
• 36:55
  Speaker 2: a selling team, and that completely alters how you cover
• 36:58
  Speaker 2: a team for the rest of the season. So for me,
• 37:00
  Speaker 2: it's not just about the series, it's about what this
• 37:02
  Speaker 2: means for the rest of the season. We said it,
• 37:05
  Speaker 2: the Padres could very much take their cardinals fate in
• 37:07
  Speaker 2: their own hands and kind of dictate what's going to
• 37:10
  Speaker 2: happen before the trade deadline, and then we'll know exactly
• 37:12
  Speaker 2: that because the Cardinals go to Petco Park the day
• 37:15
  Speaker 2: after the trade deadline birth three game series, so products
• 37:18
  Speaker 2: will get to see exactly what they did shortly after
• 37:21
  Speaker 2: the deadline. But for me, it hinges so much on
• 37:23
  Speaker 2: the next two months, more than I think I'm ready
• 37:25
  Speaker 2: to realize at the moment.
• 37:27
  Speaker 1: Now from the Potter's perspective, again, just continuing to build
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: the case to add not just a little bit at
• 37:32
  Speaker 1: the deadline, but add aggressively at the deadline. If they
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: have a good series against the Cardinals, and again they
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: have not been great on the road or against teams
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: that are above five hundred, and the Cardinals have obviously
• 37:42
  Speaker 1: been above five hundred most of the year. Potter's at
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: home are very different teams than on the road. So
• 37:46
  Speaker 1: if they sure they can go into a tough place
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: to play as Saint Louis is, especially in July when
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: it's humid as all heck, and actually pull out a
• 37:53
  Speaker 1: series win they're against a team that has been above
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: five hundred over the course of the year, it will
• 37:57
  Speaker 1: just build the case that yes, this is a team
• 37:59
  Speaker 1: worth and vesting in, or as if they go in
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: and drop three four, the calculus changes a little bit.
• 38:04
  Speaker 1: So I do think while maybe it's not as dire
• 38:08
  Speaker 1: of a series as it is for the Cardinals, I
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: do think directionally it will help establish which way the
• 38:14
  Speaker 1: Potters should go. So in a way for both teams,
• 38:17
  Speaker 1: this is going to be a very very important series,
• 38:19
  Speaker 1: and I'm sure we will see that play out on
• 38:21
  Speaker 1: the field. With the quality of baseball we see.
• 38:23
  Speaker 2: I couldn't agree more. And look, it's going to be
• 38:26
  Speaker 2: exciting either way, right because it's not just the games
• 38:28
  Speaker 2: that we're looking at. It's what it means for the
• 38:30
  Speaker 2: rest of the season. So a lot at stake over
• 38:32
  Speaker 2: this four game set APTPO Stadium.
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: Absolutely well, Katie, I think that will do it for
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: this special crossover crossover episode of Friar Territory and Cardinal Territory.
• 38:42
  Speaker 1: Thank you so much for joining me today. It's great
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: talking ball with you as.
• 38:45
  Speaker 2: Always, You too, Kyle, and hey go soon else.
• 38:48
  Speaker 1: Always all right, everyone to spin another edition of Friar
• 38:51
  Speaker 1: Territory and Cardinal Territory go ahead and gives a review
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: on Apple, YouTube, Spotify, whatever platform you're watching and listening on.
• 38:58
  Speaker 1: Follow me on Twitter, Follow Katie on Twitter. We will
• 39:00
  Speaker 1: both be covering games together when the Cardinals come to
• 39:02
  Speaker 1: La to face the Dodgers and when they come to
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: San Diego to face the Padre so you can follow
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: us together at the same games day. Once again, thank
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: you again for watching and listening. Have a good one.