Latest / Talking About Birds: A St. Louis Cardinals Podcast / Jordan Walker is My Son and My Dad

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Jordan Walker is My Son and My Dad · Talking About Birds: A St. Louis Cardinals Podcast

• Room recording - Apr 8, 2026 === [00:00:00] [00:00:00] Nate: Hello everybody and welcome back to talking about Birds. The only Cardinal podcast that like Matt Sard has a fun name, but otherwise kind of sucks. My name is Nate Heininger and I am joined by my cohost then Samor. [00:00:14] ben: Is our name fun? I always kind of thought it was confusing and bad. If you have an idea for the opening bit, text or leave us a voicemail at 8 4 8 48 birds. And thank you to the frequent contributor who texted that in, whoever you are, wherever you are. Uh, thank you. Um, nice to return back to good, opening bits. Um, is our name fun? I think it's fun. [00:01:00] Okay. [00:01:00] Nate: I think it's fun. Is it good? [00:01:02] ben: Yeah. [00:01:03] Nate: That's a like, I think objectively, no, [00:01:07] ben: Yeah. [00:01:08] Nate: I think like [00:01:09] ben: From like an SEO standpoint, it's bad. [00:01:12] Nate: It, it really misleads you and as to what the show is going to be about. Unless you very narrowly understand that Cardinal fans will frequently refer to the Cardinals as the birds or the red birds or [00:01:27] ben: Yeah. But, but also, like, I think in the sports world, when people say Go birds, they're mostly referencing the Philadelphia Eagles. [00:01:36] Nate: Yeah. Or I would've thought Atlanta Falcons. So, but maybe that's just because of last week's opening bit. [00:01:43] ben: Yeah. I think, aren't they? They're the dirty birds, maybe. [00:01:46] Nate: Uh, yeah. I don't know. I truly don't [00:01:49] ben: Couldn't tell you. That's a, uh, just a guess. Yeah, [00:01:52] Nate: that is why [00:01:53] ben: that's [00:01:55] Nate: appended our name with a St. Louis Cardinals podcast, [00:01:59] ben: right. [00:01:59] Nate: [00:02:00] so it's more clear as to what it is. [00:02:03] ben: It's, it's good to be descriptive right at the, you know exactly what you're getting, [00:02:08] Nate: yeah, I mean, we are talking about birds and they come up quite regularly on this show. [00:02:13] ben: which makes me think the name is good. [00:02:16] Nate: It's actually, I'm, I've gone full circle. [00:02:18] ben: Wow. Glad we talked about this. [00:02:20] Nate: Yeah. Hamon. I have a, uh, I've got a holiday hot take for you. [00:02:24] ben: Okay. [00:02:26] Nate: I know you hate holidays, but I think this one will be in your wheelhouse. [00:02:29] ben: Oh my Easter's kind of a nothing, you know, I don't even register it really, but yeah. Keep, [00:02:35] Nate: so [00:02:36] ben: yep. [00:02:37] Nate: Easter is the second best candy holiday. [00:02:43] ben: Okay. [00:02:43] Nate: about that? [00:02:44] ben: Um, well, I actually, I have a, uh, you see this, uh, little carrot shaped, uh, satchel I have on my desk right now. Uh, my mother was in town and she arrived with some, uh, [00:03:00] candy in this carrot shaped, uh, satchel bag thingy. And yeah, I've been crushing candy since Sunday. Um, the best, I mean, Halloween's number one with a bullet, right? No, [00:03:11] Nate: said [00:03:11] ben: no question. There [00:03:13] Nate: clearly Halloween. [00:03:14] ben: you, I feel like I eat a lot of candy around Christmas. Um, yeah. [00:03:20] Nate: think Christmas is a contender, as is Valentine's Day. [00:03:23] ben: But I guess you, you, you do the eggs, right? With the kids. You do the eggs and, and, and where, you know, how I grew up, how you grew up is plastic eggs with candy, and then maybe two or three of those eggs have a dollar bill in them. And that's, you know, that's a good time. So, yeah, I think, I think I agree with you. Easter is the second best candy holiday. What a bold stance you've taken. [00:03:52] Nate: Well, I, so, yes, uh, you and I had identical childhoods, and I am of course passing on that childhood to my [00:04:00] children. Uh, we had our, uh, plastic Easter egg hunt this weekend, um, which I don't think is obviously particularly unique to our upbringing or anything, but, [00:04:09] ben: No, [00:04:10] Nate: uh, a core staple of our, uh, Easter festivities. [00:04:15] ben: right. [00:04:15] Nate: I think it's actually, so, so there is the acquisition of candy, uh, in a fun way, which for kids makes it a good Easter. Easter or the second best candy holiday. But even for adults, and I think it comes back to the eggs, but in a different way. The egg shape is a fun form factor for candy as well. [00:04:36] ben: It is. Um, I, I had, as part of my little satchel of goodies that I received, I had some cookies and cream egg shaped Hershey things. [00:04:48] Nate: Yeah. [00:04:49] ben: They were hidden. They were good. [00:04:51] Nate: Cadbury Eggs. Classic [00:04:53] ben: Classic. I love a love a Cadbury, you know, bunnies drop those eggs. Did you know that? At least that's in their, [00:05:00] their iconography. It's, it's bunnies pooping the eggs out, [00:05:03] Nate: It's a whole, yeah, it's a whole thing that we've just [00:05:05] ben: so [00:05:06] Nate: for a long time. And I think we're treading on comedy from like the fifties here. If [00:05:10] ben: yeah. [00:05:10] Nate: too far into what's the deal with these bunnies and they're eggs. [00:05:14] ben: So, so Nate, you call me a holiday hater, right? But what you don't know and, and, uh, what I do know, so my, my mom came out for, uh, this, this week and mo mostly for opening day, but it happened to fall on Easter as well. [00:05:32] Nate: out Vicki. Great [00:05:33] ben: Sh [00:05:33] Nate: opening day game there in Colorado. [00:05:35] ben: it was over within the first 15 minutes, the Rockies gave up about seven runs before they even got an out. It was rough. Michael Lorenzen, shout out. Um, but I, uh, my mom had wanted to go up to the mountains, um, and I thought, what better way to celebrate, uh, going up into the mountains than to do the Georgetown Loop Railroad, which is a little train that goes around the mountains, uh, from one town to another. And [00:06:00] because of the time of year, they were doing what they call the bunny train. So it was an Easter themed train ride, and we got photos, uh, with a handsome cowboy who had a tooth gym. Uh, we sat down and took photos with a bunny rabbit. [00:06:16] Nate: People have such different lives, you know? [00:06:21] ben: um, so yeah, I, I'll, I'll share some pictures maybe in the, in the bird scored, but, uh, I did Easter festivities and I planned it. [00:06:29] Nate: Okay. All right. Well, uh, maybe, maybe you're, you're entering into a new era here. Your, your holiday era. [00:06:37] ben: Oh, God, I hope not. [00:06:39] Nate: well, we do have to report on one other thing you did over this weekend, or at least in between our last episode and this episode. Um, we ended last week's episode, uh, breaking down Aramark's shittiest new products. [00:06:52] ben: yeah, [00:06:53] Nate: and that included the pizza donut, [00:06:56] ben: yeah. [00:06:57] Nate: to on the podcast, [00:07:00] that you would, 'cause you were going to two games, that you would acquire a pizza donut [00:07:05] ben: Yep. [00:07:06] Nate: back to us. And, uh, I guess I'll turn it over to you for this groundbreaking report on the pizza donut. What have you got for us? [00:07:13] ben: Yeah. First off, uh, I think the most important data point is that it is a hot item. It is hard to get. I tried getting it on an opening day, sold out. [00:07:22] Nate: Wow. [00:07:23] ben: I tried getting it. I went to the game last night, Tuesday night, and we show up to the thing, probably the second or third inning, something like that, after the Rockies took the lead. Let's go. By the way, the Rockies have a positive run differential right now, and they are not last place in the West. Just calling that out. Let's go rocks. Um, I get in line, they sell out. I have to wait five or 10 minutes for them to make me a new one and, and to hand it over. And I will say the benefit of. [00:07:55] Nate: real. Just, uh, just, uh, waiting for a fresh [00:08:00] pizza donut at Coors [00:08:01] ben: I, [00:08:02] Nate: is, uh, a real high watermark, I think. [00:08:05] ben: I just, I said to Mary last night, I was like, if it wasn't for this stupid podcast, I'd be eating a pretzel right now. So I, I sat there, waited, we were watching the game on the tv, like a couple of idiots that Rocky's hit a home run, which was a bummer. We missed out on that. [00:08:22] Nate: Yeah. [00:08:23] ben: but anyways, uh, I gotta get my donut. So the benefit though is it was piping hot, [00:08:30] Nate: Well, [00:08:30] ben: um, [00:08:30] Nate: you said it's a hot item and my initial thought was, I wasn't sure if it, I assumed it was served warm because it's, it's pizza, but [00:08:38] ben: yep. [00:08:38] Nate: you know, I could see, maybe it's something they let sit to cool a little while and it served more like lukewarm. But this [00:08:44] ben: No [00:08:44] Nate: this is coming at you piping hot? [00:08:47] ben: hot melted cheese. They layered the pepperonis on thick. There's probably like 10 pepperonis on each donut, which I. Happy about. [00:08:55] Nate: Yeah. [00:08:56] ben: pesto on top. That was pretty good. Um, and the donut [00:09:00] was like relatively light and fluffy. Um, my only disappointment was that it was not glazed. I expect the donut to be glazed, so you got a salty and sweet thing, but it was really just like kind lightly sweet bread with pizza toppings on it. So I, I, I gave it like a mid review, like two and a half, three stars out of five. [00:09:20] Nate: Okay. [00:09:21] ben: The only real complaint that I have about it is, and I think this is the reason that pizza donuts don't exist, is because donuts have a hole in the center of 'em, right? And you layer a bunch of sauce and cheese and toppings. So what happens is a bunch of the toppings just go through the hole and onto your plate. So they were just pouring down through the middle. So you had to really like, had to angle it and, you know, and make sure it was, it was not easy to eat. [00:09:50] Nate: there are some good, like if you get a, um, like a good cake donut, it can be a thicker donut that I can understand might set, uh, [00:10:00] handle the weight of cheese and sauce and whatnot. But I think typically for a, a type of glazed donut, what you're really looking for, like you said, is light, fluffy, aish, even, uh, and so not a great scaffolding for, uh, a bunch of heavy stuff. [00:10:16] ben: Now I was, I was covered. It, it was like cheese and pesto and, and sauce and, uh, donut all over me. It was, [00:10:23] Nate: Which, [00:10:24] ben: it was sloppy. [00:10:25] Nate: Standard Tuesday evening for you. [00:10:28] ben: I mean, now in today's world with pizza donuts, I can make that happen. But before I was having to do that at home, you [00:10:34] Nate: You're, so you're getting one of these at a time, is that right? It's [00:10:38] ben: get two for, I think it was like eight 50 or something like that. [00:10:42] Nate: Okay. That's actually, I was fully expecting you to say like 1699 for two of 'em. [00:10:48] ben: I actually thought like I would prob, like if I'm actually hungry, usually when I go to a game I'll just get like a pretzel and a beer or something like that. But if I'm actually hungry, I will probably get the pizza, pizza donuts again. 'cause it's eight, eight and a half [00:11:00] bucks, something like that. And it's, you get two little pizzas and I felt satisfied. It was good. [00:11:04] Nate: Would you put it over, uh, like the, the classic nachos or something like that? [00:11:12] ben: would put it over. When I think classic nachos, I'm thinking cheese, salsa, uh, and jalapenos. I would put it over that. But when you're talking about the, like the, the, the jumbo nachos or whatever with all the fixins. Oh, I love the fixins. [00:11:26] Nate: oh, giving them voxin. [00:11:29] ben: Then I would, I would take those nachos over the pizza donuts. Yeah, [00:11:32] Nate: Yeah. Okay. I, I mean, that's honestly better than I expected the review to [00:11:36] ben: me too. [00:11:37] Nate: I was thinking it was going to immediately be Nate, they were horse shit, you [00:11:42] ben: Yeah, [00:11:43] Nate: Um, so I guess [00:11:45] ben: better than I expected [00:11:46] Nate: Yeah, [00:11:47] ben: I got my ice ne. Next time I go to a Rockies game, they have a purple boozy ice cream that comes in a helmet, and that is the next thing I'm going to try. The only problem is on the product description, they [00:12:00] do not tell you what kind of booze and what kind of flavor the purple ice cream is. So it's a bit of a mystery, but I'm gonna go for it. [00:12:06] Nate: malt liquor and, uh, [00:12:09] ben: flavored ice cream, [00:12:10] Nate: Yeah. And, and I was gonna say ground up, uh, D Barney, the dinosaur. Um, [00:12:16] ben: it does look like a little dinger poo. I'm, I'm not gonna lie. [00:12:19] Nate: Yeah, I should have said the actual purple dinosaur related with the, the Rockies, not, um, a different purple dinosaur. Wow. All right. Well thanks for being our man on the ground on [00:12:30] ben: That's right. [00:12:31] Nate: really, really incredible work you're putting in. Um, [00:12:35] ben: Shout out, Rob. I did that for Rob. Shout out. Bird scored. I got you dog. [00:12:39] Nate: Very good. Um, shall we talk about the St. Louis Cardinals? [00:12:44] ben: I guess [00:12:45] Nate: Yeah, I think so. [00:12:47] ben: we must [00:12:48] Nate: I think we just gotta jump right into, uh, to [00:12:51] ben: the Cardinals currently have a worse run differential than your Colorado Rockies. How do you feel about that? [00:12:56] Nate: not great ham bone. Um. [00:13:00] I mean, I think we're starting to see it really where this team is good and where this team is, is bad. Um, and the where the team is bad side of things not lend itself well to a good positive run differential. [00:13:18] ben: no. [00:13:19] Nate: but let's start with where the team is. Good. Um, unequivocally the most exciting part about the first, uh, two weeks, not even two weeks of St. Louis Cardinal Baseball. Uh, and that is the, frankly, explosion of Jordan Walker, like across the board. [00:13:41] ben: Yep. [00:13:42] Nate: Um, I mean, we're seeing, well, we're gonna run through some stats here, but we're seeing power like we've never seen before. We're seeing hard contact consistently like we've never seen before. We're seeing launch angle like we've never seen before, I think [00:14:00] we're seeing some defense that we've never seen before. Um, he's come out of the gates like an entirely new player, uh, and everything is backing it up. It looks amazing. And he's like, I I, I'd have to look, 'cause I know Otani had a home run because night, but like yesterday he was leading Tani and Aaron Judge in F four to start the season, which, you know, small sample size, small sample size, but still, if it had, was never a moment in the season where I thought you would say that, let alone like 11 or 12 games into the season. so start. What do you, what do you see in Ham Bone? [00:14:41] ben: I agree with everything you said, and I think the defense is maybe the most surprising thing. Like he's making great plays left, right, forward and back. Like he's, he's really approaching the defensive side of the game completely differently. He looks so much more comfortable, but he [00:15:00] just looks so much more comfortable everywhere. He, he looks more comfortable at the plate on the bases in the outfield. I feel like he's got more confidence with his arm. This year we saw an amazing throw where he hit a hundred miles per hour and, and, uh, got Javi Baez at the plate. And I think, I can't remember if we were talking about this and the bird scored, or maybe I was texting somebody about this, but I was talking to somebody about this, that he is. Um, he seems a lot more emotionally invested in the games, and I think that's because he is actually having fun and he is contributing to the Cardinals. Like he has four home runs right now and extremely limited appearances. I believe he had six home runs all of last year, [00:15:42] Nate: Yeah. [00:15:43] ben: I think his, pardon me, the. The emotional side of the game, the, the play style, the base running, the, I mean everything has, look, he looks like a completely different player and it has me thinking, 'cause obviously we were like [00:16:00] shitting all over his spring training performance and talking about how she should be in AAA and he needs to succeed somewhere. The only thing that makes sense is that the Cardinals clearly have more data than us and they saw the stat casty swing angle, uh, like under the hood data, and they decided that he had made a real change. We talked about that a little bit last week, about his like ideal swing angle percentage and um, you know, how, how he's impacting the ball as opposed to in years past. I mean, we saw two. Backside home runs since we last chatted, where he put on like a, b, B plus swing was a little bit beaten by the ball, but because he swings so hard and he's so powerful and because he was getting under the ball just enough, they lifted out to go over the right fielder's head. Like, I don't know. Have we ever seen that from Jordan Walker? [00:16:53] Nate: And his 459 foot grand slam was also [00:17:00] on an inside pitch that I didn't think he got all of like, I don't think we've actually seen yet a like barrel, like a a, they play against miles. Michael s here [00:17:12] ben: Yeah. [00:17:12] Nate: hours. [00:17:13] ben: Yeah. [00:17:14] Nate: maybe, maybe we'll see it, uh, in between, uh, this episode and its release date. Uh, 'cause boy he loves an 88 down the middle, but I, we all these home runs have come off of swings that have yet to really look like the type of solid contact that you'd expect. He's just so damn strong that when he, when he's making just good contact, it's leaving the ballpark. It's really wild. And he had also, um, I know you were at Rocky's stadium last night, so I don't know how much, how close you were [00:17:44] ben: I watched. I watched the condensed game when I got home. Yeah. [00:17:47] Nate: Did you see his, so he almost had a game winning what would've probably been double in the ninth that Jacob Young ran down, [00:17:54] ben: Yeah. [00:17:55] Nate: opposite field. Hard hit, looked like he barely got any of it. It [00:18:00] screamed out to right center. Um, and I think the most telling thing of that entire game though, and, and really of this two weeks of play, is that in that at bat, uh, he missed, he swung through, um, or maybe he followed it back a little bit, a high center fastball. And he basically went like, fuck, you know, and like, really like sl and he spun around real quick and he walked outta the box and he got back in the box and. I don't think I've ever seen him show unemotional, uh, let alone one that extreme in the box, like in such a critical moment. And then like two or three pitches later, he, he, you know, cranks one to right field that gets caught, but is a, is a really well hit ball. So there's something in there that, um, you know, we, we had heard reports that, you know, he's carrying more now, which is insane to us as, as, [00:19:00] uh, you know, observers, how anyone could get to his level without truly caring. But there, he's a monster human with monster innate athletic abilities. Uh, you know, maybe it's like me and roasting you, you know, like it just comes naturally. And if I actually even cared, it would be. Um, like who knows you, you maybe emulate if I actually did it, with any real care and attention. Um, so I think it's probably like that. I think I'm probably like Jordan Walker in that way. Um, so now that he really cares, um, we're seeing it. We're seeing it show up on the field. [00:19:34] ben: Okay. Um, sure. Dude, what? I don't know. I lost you halfway through that. I. [00:19:40] Nate: too. [00:19:40] ben: Fucking bullshit. Um, I know I do. I, I, I, I mentioned that earlier. I, I do think that he, he seems more, I, I don't know if it's cared. It's just like, I, I, it would make sense to me that if you are having. Results. If you are not being completely overmatched, if you are [00:20:00] not trending to be statistically the worst player in baseball, that you're probably having a little more fun. And that also probably means when you're not succeeding, it's, it, it's stinging a little bit more. You're, you're locked in. He is enjoying himself, playing Major League baseball and maybe other than his first, his rookie season, maybe this is the first time we're seeing this in the last couple of years. So I, I think there's definitely something to that. Um, I think there's something to Ali. Uh, and, and the squad moving him up to hitting fourth already. I, I like that move with, uh, him and Gorby and then going to Mason win. I think that probably just makes more sense from a run production standpoint. And I think it make, you know, you, you feel pretty good about one of those three guys getting on base in front of Jordan Walker. And I think we should see a decent number of two run home runs. Um, yeah. I just to go back to that Grand Slam in Detroit. I, I thought that that was the fact that it was 96 mile an hour fastball. It was high, and inside it was a right-handed pitcher. And then he went, it was [00:21:00] a little, almost one 14 off the bat, 459 feet, like you said, basically to dead center in one of the hardest home run ballparks in the bigs. Um, that it was just impre and it looked like he flicked the bat at it. It, it was very, very impressed. And to see him be able to do that against a right-handed pitcher, I was, I was very, very pleased by that. Um, I also want to talk about, um, and I'm gonna dump a little water on Jordan Walker, but, uh, let me just finish my statement and you'll, you'll see where I'm coming from. Um, so those are all amazing things to talk about. Jaywalk is currently rocking a 4 34 WRC plus. Against lefties, meaning he is, uh, four times more productive than the average hitter against lefties in this early season. Uh, a little over four times. Um, and he only has an 88 [00:22:00] WRC plus against right-handers. So obviously, um, that's really helping him out and punishing left-handed hitters, I mean, that's what you would expect a big slugging righty to do. Most good righty hitters absolutely destroy left-handed pitchers. You know, you go look at Paul Goldschmidt, uh, over his entire career. Um, however, I, I don't think it's anything to be totally worried about. First off, it's an 88 WRC plus, which is not a 60 WRC plus, which he has done in the past. Um, I also think it's worth noting that, you know, we have so few at bats that we're looking at right now. Like a good chunk of those at bats are coming off of like Drusen, Kodi, Sanga, Devin Williams. Like those are not the easiest assignments. You know, Koai Senga, his SAP fastballs sitting 98, 99, uh, when the Cardinals saw him, we, you know, we know who Drew Rassmuson is. Even Joe Boyle looked pretty good against the Cardinals. So, um, he's had some tough assignments. I, I also think it's worth noting that while, uh, [00:23:00] um, he is a left-handed pitcher, that Walker had a nice game against Mber Valdez. So I, I don't think it's, you know, I, I think that he'll balance out. Obviously he's got an advantage with lefties right now, but I, I think that he'll, he'll balance out and have a good season. But important data point that he is [00:23:17] Nate: Yeah. [00:23:18] ben: okay against righties so far. He hit that home run like we were talking about, but is other worldly to start the season against lefties so far? [00:23:28] Nate: Yeah. So the conversation came up in the bird scored of, is it time to start hopeful about Jordan Walker [00:23:36] ben: Yeah. [00:23:37] Nate: Um, and I think the answer is unequivocably, yes. I don't think we've ever seen him, attack the ball like this, maintain these sorts of played approaches, even for this small of a sample size. He has had very good games in the last two years. There was that five for five game against the [00:24:00] Yankees. he's had two home run games in the past, but it's almost always, uh, like bookended by, uh, like really bad games right around it. And something clicked or all of his balls hit straight down, happened to find holes in those games. Um, he's consistently hitting the ball hard and hitting it up. Now that said, I still think it's very fair to say he has been one of the worst players in baseball for two years. So I need to see a little bit more before [00:24:35] ben: Oh, for sure. [00:24:36] Nate: all in on Jordan Walker's one of the best hitters in baseball, right? So, um, I look for any reason to be positive and optimistic. And right now, Jordan Walker's been the most fun part of the 2026 St. Louis Cardinals. It certainly looks like he's made the adjustments needed, but the league will also adjust [00:24:56] ben: Yeah. [00:24:57] Nate: we'll see what happens when he slumps. We'll see [00:25:00] what happens when the league figures out where his, uh, where the holes in his bat are and start to exploit it. He's still very, very young, um, and I expect there still be extended periods of failure as he adjusts and readjusts. But what this little sample size has done for me is fully reinvigorated my belief that Jordan Walker can do it at the big league level. Uh, and I'm back all in on like. him in right field. He's the right fielder for the rest of the year. And let's see where this goes. [00:25:34] ben: Yeah. And, and I think we can be confident in that sense because, you know, we're, I'm looking at his, his Statcast page right now, he only has 64 competitive swings. It's a low number. Um, you know, he had 680 last year, but he has made changes that you would assume are sustainable. Just the, the swing profile, the, [00:26:00] uh, the ideal attack angle has maintained where it is, the launch angle has remained where it is the, the highest of his career. Um, you know, the, the things that Jordan Walker, Jordan Walker can't control. How Dev Williams pitched to him, but he can't control the shape of his swing and the direction of his swing and the angle of his swing. Um, and we already know that he has a God-given talent to swing the bat faster than anybody else in baseball. And I do think when you take all of those things to an, uh, to account that even if he does start to get beat, and if the league starts adjusting to him, he has the kind of power and now the swing shape where he's just going to run into 30 home runs. Like he, those, those backside home runs he hit this week, which I don't know, maybe Aaron Judge and a couple other guys hit backside home runs that way outside of the zone, flinging they're bat at it. It, I, I really do think that just based on that, unless the strikeouts start [00:27:00] creeping up way over 30%, um, that he's just going to hit 30 home runs, it, it, it's just going to happen. Um, I guess. [00:27:08] Nate: Crazy. [00:27:09] ben: health, assuming he doesn't start striking out a thousand times, um, uh, you know, I, I, I feel pretty good about that all of a sudden, um, control what you can control and everything will come. You know, the funny thing is, is that he's, uh, uh, his expected numbers are even better than his actual numbers right now. So, uh, yeah, I, I feel ready to get excited. I'm a little worried about the right-handed pitcher problem, um, but the fact that he has other sides of his game all of a sudden, like base running and defense makes it him like infinitely more playable and watchable. [00:27:45] Nate: Yeah. I'm really curious. We have seen one stolen base so far and frankly he just keeps hitting the ball hard and not having a lot of opportunity at first base with nobody on second. Um, but I'm really interested to see if, if they have him run [00:28:00] more. 'cause he's very, very fast too. Uh, which would just be [00:28:04] ben: crazy is. He's so fast, but he also takes long strides. So like on, on like replay, it does not look like he's moving very fast. And then you look, you know, under the hood and he's one of the, got one of the fastest sprint speeds in the game. He's a freak. [00:28:20] Nate: he, it's a, yeah. Total freak show. [00:28:22] ben: Nate, when do we start talking about extensions? [00:28:27] Nate: Sawing Jordan Walker. Um, well, yeah, I mean, if he does this for two months, he just added like a hundred million dollars to his net worth. [00:28:39] ben: Yeah. Yeah, he did. And let's, let's hope that's the case. [00:28:44] Nate: Yeah. Um, well let's talk about the other extension candidate. Uh, who has been another piece of this fun young offense? Uh, JJ Weather Holt does not have necessarily the, the theatrics that we've seen [00:29:00] from Jordan Walker. Um, but if it weren't for Jordan Walker, I think JJ would be like the talk of the Cardinals right now. And I mean, he, he still is to some degree, don't get me wrong, but like Jordan Walker is, is really obviously the focus right now. Uh, but Jor, uh, but JJ. I don't know what more you could ask for from a guy in his first, uh, two weeks of Major League baseball. Ben, you wanna run us through, uh, some of the numbers? [00:29:27] ben: He's, uh, this last week since we, we chatted last. He's got five walks against five strikeouts, which I think is crazy. He has a three 80 OBP on the season, A one 20 WRC plus, of course, limited games and everything like that. He's already got three stolen bases. What has all of that stuff? You know, we've been pretty confident about J's bat basically since the day he was drafted, or at least that was, uh, kind of the, the line on him. Um. What I have been really impressed by watching him, em every day for two weeks is [00:30:00] the range and his athletic ability at second base. I, I a hundred percent see why people went from doubting him, being able to stick it short to, oh no, this kid can play short. He is, he is fast, he's got a good arm. I think his ball transfers are really good and he is, um, I don't know why he kind of, maybe it's 'cause he is a little short and a little stocky. Like he's not short and stocky, but you know what I mean. Like I didn't, he just doesn't look like a, I don't know. But he is deceptively athletic to me, watching him play defense, seeing the amount of range that he has had so far, according to outs above average in the snack cast metrics. He has the best range of any second baseman in baseball so far. We'll see if that holds up over the season. [00:30:41] Nate: Yeah. [00:30:42] ben: um, you take that excellent second base defense. Excellent eye, just enough power. I mean, he's, he's looking. Like one of the better second basemen in baseball this first two weeks. [00:30:56] Nate: Right out of the gates. Yeah. I don't [00:31:00] really have much more to add. Just like he's, he's meeting expectations. If not, I, I should say he's meeting expectations of what we hoped he would become, and he is doing it out of the first two weeks. Um, so I guess you'd say he's quite exceeding most expectations for a rookie. Um, so [00:31:19] ben: I think that I, I think the, the ability to earn five walks in one week in your second week of playing in major league baseball is kind of shocking. Like, I, I don't, I can't remember a cardinal in recent memory doing anything like that. I don't think many rookies in general do anything like that. Um, I wonder if it's. His eye and his ability. I wonder if teams don't wanna groove him anything and they would rather attack other guys in the lineup. Um, if he's grinding in the mouth that like what it is. But I, I find [00:32:00] that to be kind of amazing. [00:32:02] Nate: Well, that was like, that was the piece of. Uh, evidence that really everyone b uh, centered their confidence in his plate approach on, right? Like, if anything else, this guy's gonna come up and see the ball well and draw walks like we don't know about quality of contact yet. We don't know about power, both near term and long-term projections. We don't even really know about his major league level defense. All of these things were questions coming into the season, um, and we're starting to get answers to those. But the one thing that everyone felt very confident about is he's going to see the ball well and he's [00:32:41] ben: Okay. [00:32:41] Nate: a consistent plate approach. And yeah, it's immediately like in his very first game, he was looking confident at the plate. [00:32:49] ben: Yes. Kind of scary. I, I do think power is gonna come for him. Um, and, and probably this year, but I will [00:33:00] say if this is the player that JJ weather hold is like, sign me up. I'm, I'm good to go. We can just keep this rocking for the rest of the year. [00:33:06] Nate: Yeah, I, I said it many times coming into the season, like to 15 home runs for, for JJ Weather, Holt this season should be seen as a significant success. I think his ceiling higher than that as far as power goes, especially as he gets into is, uh, middle twenties. You know, this guy's still very young. Um, we hopefully will see more, um, you know, peaking in the twe in the mid twenties. But, um, even right now, 10 to 15 with this played approach, with this walk rate, with hopefully a bunch of stolen bases in good defense, he's immediately an incredibly valuable player. [00:33:44] ben: Yeah, it's, um, it's fun [00:33:47] Nate: Yep. [00:33:48] ben: are they're the same age, is that right? Is are JJ and Walker the same? [00:33:52] Nate: Yeah, I think it's [00:33:53] ben: They are, [00:33:54] Nate: four months older than, than jj or it's the other way around. [00:33:57] ben: yeah. That's funny how that [00:34:00] works. Um, yeah, JJ [00:34:02] Nate: called up when you're 19 or [00:34:04] ben: Yeah. Maybe they shouldn't have done that. [00:34:07] Nate: maybe. [00:34:08] ben: Yeah. J JJ Walker, Wynn and Sujay are all like basically 23 and a half [00:34:17] Nate: Yeah. [00:34:18] ben: kind of fun. [00:34:19] Nate: let's note on to JC real quick. Um, as expected, he's been getting some starts. Uh, I was a little surprised that it was in left field, but. Uh, you could say it came outta left field, but, uh, [00:34:31] ben: Wow. [00:34:32] Nate: not any other spot for him right now, um, with both how we weather hold's doing and how, um, Gorman kind of doing [00:34:42] ben: Gonna say, what, what, what are you talking about? [00:34:46] Nate: we got, yeah, well let, we don't need to talk about Gorman right now. He had an incredible play last night though. You saw [00:34:52] ben: Sure. [00:34:53] Nate: right? [00:34:53] ben: I did. [00:34:54] Nate: play. [00:34:54] ben: Yeah, [00:34:55] Nate: Um, and was he three for four last night? I think [00:34:57] ben: I think he did. I think he had a couple of [00:35:00] knocks. [00:35:00] Nate: Yeah. Um, but so JC was looking a little rough to start, but, um, he's been, he's had a few, uh, few pretty good knocks, uh, recently. [00:35:09] ben: I, I feel like he's starting to come online, you know, like he's such a mystery to me because when we first acquired him from the Rangers and he just like went super saying, and he could not get out. He was hitting for average and for power and playing shortstop and kind of all over the place. Um, you know, I don't know if he's that guy or not. I, I do think that the bat looks pretty fast and, and I think that, uh, well, I guess I know that he made a great play out in the left field in the National series when he threw. Out, uh, who, whoever that was at Home plate and really kind of, I think shocked the whole stadium or at least the nationals with, uh, his ability to do that. But yeah, you know, like he's a Toolsy guy. I think that his at bats have looked a lot better recently. He is starting to exercise a little bit of patience [00:36:00] and like, I don't know what to thi say to this guy, but he's clearly a, a, a pretty freaky athlete. And like I said, he swings [00:36:06] Nate: athlete, man. [00:36:09] ben: Okay. Doing a What are you doing? [00:36:13] Nate: I don't know, we call people freaks, but calling em pretty freaky is just, it's like, it feels very different. [00:36:19] ben: Mm. All right. Um, what was I saying? [00:36:25] Nate: I just, I just stunned to ham bone into, into silence here. [00:36:30] ben: you thi say things that are so good. It's so smart and so insightful that I don't know how to keep going. [00:36:37] Nate: That's so sweet of you to say. Thank you. [00:36:39] ben: Um, we're nice to each other now. That's, that's the new show format. We're nice. Nate wears hats now. [00:36:47] Nate: The show's bad now. [00:36:49] ben: Um, [00:36:52] Nate: Yeah. I got my cool hat now. [00:36:53] ben: I don't know how you, is that thing painted on that big ass? No. In ears. You [00:37:00] freak. [00:37:00] Nate: Fuck you. You got a big head too. We actually have the almost identical size heads. [00:37:06] ben: Yeah, but I'm much larger of a human being than you are, so it looks normal. [00:37:10] Nate: Well, it's my giant, uh, megamind. [00:37:14] ben: Great. You and a doles Garcia, the two mega minds. Um, alright, so jc I'm liking it. Nate. Um, bat speed, defense. All of it. So far so good. I do think that we should talk about Victor Scott and Gorman. Um, VS. Two has not walked yet. Um, he does look good in center. I'll give him that. And Gome is starting to fade. It's, it's only one week, but I don't, he just like, I want it to work. [00:37:47] Nate: Yeah. [00:37:48] ben: And it's obviously, it's, it's, it's easy to be like, why don't you just do what Walker's doing? When Walker is, was kind of in the same spot, if not worse last year and is coming out and he looks like a completely [00:38:00] different player. Um, but Gour me, I mean, I don't know. I'm, I'm not, it's just not looking good. The eye test isn't working. The under the hood test isn't working. None of it's looking good yet. [00:38:12] Nate: Yeah, I'm not ready to give up hope yet. In fact, obviously just a moment ago I was like, eh, you know. Um, but yeah, right now he is got an expected woa of 0.281, which is 30th percentile. Um, you know, best thing I can say when we look under the hood is that, uh, his chase percentage is, uh, at 25%, which is 75th percentile in the league. but he's still striking out at a 28.6% clip. Uh, and we're just not seeing the, the real power that we, that you would hope that would come with. Like, I know that's not a horrible strikeout percentage, um, but if you're [00:39:00] doing that, you gotta be doing other things. Um, he's not quite there yet. [00:39:03] ben: I just don't see any changes that he has made. And maybe there is something may, maybe it's even a mental change or something like that, but when I'm looking at the numbers, all the numbers that we have available, I don't see anything that should make me feel like he is made a significant change or that he's turning the corner or that he is, uh, redone his swing or his approach or anything like that. It is all samie. Um, and we're getting samie results and I, I just like, there, I have nothing to grab onto, you know what I mean? Like what, what am I supposed to get excited about this approach or this new look, Gorman or, or anything like that. There's, there's nothing. [00:39:46] Nate: Yeah. I mean, you know, again, he's looked better at third base than I expected. Um, last year, uh, in his little time there while ADO was hurt, um, you know, they didn't [00:40:00] really breed a lot of confidence and I'd say so far this year in the, in the shots that he is had, he's looked pretty good, which has been nice, um, giving me more confidence over there. Uh, but from a plate to point a plate approach standpoint, right. And, and this has always been the story for him is, periods of elite power hitting, uh, you know, intensity and then extended periods of striking out and looking like he doesn't really have a plan up there. [00:40:31] ben: I did find I'm, I'm just kind of as we're talking, looking through his batta ball profile numbers and everything like that. I did find a change from, uh, uh, previous seasons to this season [00:40:43] Nate: Yeah. [00:40:43] ben: and hi. [00:40:44] Nate: grinning leading into this makes me think this isn't gonna be a change that we like. [00:40:48] ben: Well, it's just an interesting one. I don't know if it's even necessarily bad, but his out of zone contact percentage, meaning the times that he swings the pitches out of the zone and makes contact for his career, has been about 45%. [00:41:00] This year it is 22%. Um, which is a huge change. [00:41:06] Nate: is that good or bad? [00:41:08] ben: Well. [00:41:09] Nate: contact, you're probably not making the best kinds of contact when you're making out zone contact. Um, so is it better to swing and miss on an out of zone pitch, or is it better to make that contact? I, I truly don't know. [00:41:24] ben: I don't know. Um, I, I would have to dive into this number to understand it. Maybe he's just swinging way less out of the zone and when he is, you know, in this, maybe it's like, maybe there's like eight swings that we're looking at for data points here. So, [00:41:37] Nate: Yeah. [00:41:37] ben: but that's, that's the only difference I can find in his first two weeks of games. Uh, may, maybe there's more to come. Uh, maybe it is mental, maybe it's harder to show up on a FanGraphs page than, uh, um, something that I'm trying to find. But yeah, so far, um, not great. Need to see some more power from gor me [00:41:58] Nate: Yeah. Well, [00:41:59] ben: that's just the [00:42:00] only way he could make it work. It's the only thing he is bringing [00:42:03] Nate: yeah, [00:42:03] ben: and, and find defense. Yeah. [00:42:06] Nate: Uh, we saw its impact on the game a couple times this, this last week where, you know, there were a couple games where Walker didn't do anything. And in those games, Gorman also didn't do anything. Uh, and it just completely deflates the, the lineup when, at that time, I think it was either the five, six hitters, maybe they were four or five already. Um, but like the, the offense just fell flat when, when those guys were striking out. [00:42:30] ben: Yeah. And then back to Victor. You know, um, the good news is he is one of the better defensive center fielders in baseball, so that really goes a long way of making him watchable and playable. But like I said, he hasn't taken a walk yet. Um, he kind of swings a wet noodle up there He is, got a, uh, 59 WRC plus. Um, none of the numbers really look great. I, I, I have enjoyed, [00:42:55] Nate: been, so [00:42:56] ben: uh, the bunting. I think bunting is fun. Bunting [00:43:00] for, for, for base hits is fun. Um. [00:43:03] Nate: this year too. The [00:43:05] ben: Yeah. [00:43:06] Nate: bunting bonding for hits. Um, I love it too. Who doesn't love it. But you do wonder how sustainable that is as a, uh, as like a career move. Like, I'm the guy who bunts for hits. [00:43:18] ben: Yeah. Um, I also think, like, I feel like there's a hitter in there. I feel like he can hit. Um, [00:43:27] Nate: the thing, right? [00:43:28] ben: yeah. [00:43:28] Nate: pro, that was why we were supposed to be so excited about him, was that not only does he, Play elite defense, but in there somewhere is this like 20 home run bat if he can just unlock it. [00:43:45] ben: Yeah. Um, [00:43:47] Nate: zero of that. [00:43:49] ben: we've seen zero of that. Um. Yeah. Yeah. I, I, you know, it's, it's still very early. I'm not signing off like, like I said, just the defense alone. He kind of keeps himself [00:44:00] relevant. So it's not the end of the world, but it hasn't been great. And I think I might agree with you maybe too much bunting may, maybe, maybe pull back on that a little bit. Um, yeah. May [00:44:14] Nate: Yeah. [00:44:15] ben: get like tough lefties. Go for it. Maybe that's when it makes sense, but, uh, yeah, maybe a little less. [00:44:21] Nate: Uh, yeah. Well, I guess let's, let's move into the pitching the really exciting part of the last week. [00:44:29] ben: Yeah. [00:44:31] Nate: I don't know how, what do you, how do you want to frame this? What do you want talk about from the pitching side? [00:44:35] ben: I think we had a pretty rough run through the rotation, uh, since last we spoke Nathan. Um, and that's kind of everybody. Is, is sort of to blame for that. Um, I, I guess let's talk about the bad really quick and then we can talk about other stuff. But, um, may, obviously his second start did not go as planned, [00:45:00] uh, first at bat in the game, he takes a colt, Keith, uh, grounder off the ankle. Um, and, you know, it's, it's really hard to know how much that actually affected his performance, that game that, that game. He ended up giving up 700 runs. Um, really never looked great, but was very clearly visibly injured and in pain by a hard ground ball that happened at like the third pitch of the game. So I don't know if, if. I, I think the optimistic side of me just wants to throw that start away and look to the next one and, and like, you know, the stuff is still, like, it's still high octane stuff. Um, so I kind of wanna just keep betting on that until I run outta patience for it. I, I suppose. [00:45:51] Nate: I mean, one way or another, whether we like it or not, I think we're going to see a Justin May start as long as he is healthy, until he's [00:45:57] ben: Yeah. [00:45:58] Nate: a St. Louis Cardinal, uh, which [00:46:00] is the right move. Like [00:46:01] ben: Right. [00:46:02] Nate: especially coming outta spring. He hasn't come in, he hasn't been healthy for years. Uh, that like we came outta the first start saying, well, it wasn't great, but let's give him some time. Uh, and then this start, you could say, well, he almost had his leg, uh, amputated. Um, you know, right at the beginning of the game. Um, like, do you remember, uh, I, I remember from our shared childhood, you guys had the VHS of pa, the Patriot, and you and I would watch that a lot. Remember when that guy gets hit in the leg with a cannonball? [00:46:32] ben: Oh, yeah. I'm a huge Mel Gibson guy. You know that? [00:46:35] Nate: Yeah, we, we love Mel Gibson on this show. Um, one of our best, [00:46:40] ben: I haven't seen that. Yeah. I haven't seen that movie in a long time. Um, [00:46:44] Nate: one that's like burned in my memory. I think we watched it a lot at your [00:46:48] ben: yeah, [00:46:48] Nate: for some [00:46:49] ben: it was a, a Civil War movie. Right? [00:46:52] Nate: Um, American Revolution. [00:46:54] ben: It was American Revolution. Okay. I, yeah, it's been, it's been a while. I don't [00:47:00] know. [00:47:01] Nate: I mean, I guess there were Patriots in the Civil [00:47:03] ben: Yeah, that could be any, any war movie that has American or any soldier, and it could be called The Patriot. Really? [00:47:09] Nate: That's true. But I, yeah, it is [00:47:10] ben: Do you know what a patriot is, Nate? [00:47:12] Nate: uh, it's a type of Jeep, I think. [00:47:16] ben: I was gonna say Tom Brady. Um, both nailed it. Um, yeah. Anyways, uh, let's talk about Matthew Lior. Okay, that was cute. Uh, Matthew Lior, again, kind of shaky results. Not totally amazing, not totally terrible. Um, I don't know if I have much. [00:47:39] Nate: me of last year's liberator. [00:47:41] ben: Yeah. [00:47:42] Nate: for several innings, one bad inning. It kind of all falls apart, and then he is outta the game. Not too long after that, [00:47:47] ben: Yeah. Baseball's hard. I do think liberator is good, but like we don't have a lot to talk about. 'cause it was, yeah, like you said, we kinda saw this start a bunch [00:48:00] of times, especially the end last season. Um, his second half was, I feel like very uh, uh, similar to how this game went. Um, yeah. Okay. We'll leave that there. Lehe. Let's talk about something slightly better. Lehe ended up going five innings. He walked a couple, got some nice strikeouts, only gave up a few earned run. I think it was only two earned runs. Um, are you buying it from Kyle Leahy's experiment as a starter so far. [00:48:30] Nate: I'm not ready to say like, yes, like let's lock him in. I get it. Um, but I am starting to see some of the point of the whole thing. I've talked about liking the slider. Um, yeah, like you blur your eyes a little bit, you can see where a, a good starter exists in this [00:49:00] I don't really think we've seen it yet. Um, but I, I, I am, I'm starting to understand that the, the design here, I will say, if you look at, at Statcast, uh, it's mostly incredibly, incredibly blue. Uh, he [00:49:17] ben: Yeah. [00:49:17] Nate: uh, 96 percentile extension, which is interesting and it doesn't get talked about a lot, but some of the best pitchers in baseball have very good extension. So that's interesting. Uh, but it's usually paired with some other things too that are, uh, quite, quite important. [00:49:33] ben: Yeah, I, I think, you know, the slider can be good so far this season. The sinker actually graded out as his nastiest pitch, um, extension. That's an interesting thing that I was not aware of. But I think what it comes down to in his first couple of starts is he is just walking too many people and he is not getting the strikeouts. Like you can get away with some walks if you're also, you have the ability to strike some guys out [00:50:00] when you really need to. Not sure he's that guy. Maybe it's something that he will grow into starting in the major leagues. It's still a new thing for him. Um, we are only looking at 10 innings so far, but it's 10 innings and five strikeouts and five walks, and that's a pretty shitty ratio, you know? Um. [00:50:18] Nate: ratio is a really good, metric for identifying underlying numbers. Like guys with elite KBS are the best pitchers in baseball and guys with poor kbs are not good. And it doesn't actually matter. you can have a great KBB and still not strike out a lot of guys. [00:50:39] ben: Yeah. [00:50:40] Nate: so it doesn't mean you have to be an elite strikeout guy to have a good ratio. Um, but a one-to-one doing it. [00:50:50] ben: It's the, the way that the ball is being, uh, uh, the, the hitters are hitting him is very pales. Um, [00:50:58] Nate: Yeah. [00:50:59] ben: hitting over [00:51:00] 50% hard hit baseballs. The launch angle is like very, very low. Um, but they're hitting the shit out of it. They're hitting the shit out of it into the ground. And the same way that, I don't believe that that's sustainable for Andree, I don't believe it's sustainable for, uh, Kyle a, but I, I do think that he probably has a little bit better of tools to maybe turn that around. And I think you can, you can rock a power sinker and a nice slider and have some good success with that and use your tertiary pitches to kind of keep guys off balance. But he has not found the, the, the combo of pitch usage and control that has allowed him to be effective And, um. If the stuff was like 10% better, I would be arguing a lot differently, but it's a little low octane and, um, just not super exciting. [00:51:58] Nate: yeah. Well. [00:52:00] I think we're, we're gonna see some change something mixed up with the, uh, rotation here pretty soon. 'cause Hunter Dobbins had a rehab start, uh, either last night or the night before, and it went pretty well. He went five and a third, so I think he's gonna be up and in the rotation, uh, very, very soon. [00:52:22] ben: Yep. [00:52:23] Nate: Um, so, uh, whether we get the six man, the piggyback, the, a replacement, I don't know. We'll find out. Um, but we're gonna likely see, I'm assuming, uh, we'll see [00:52:36] ben: Yeah. [00:52:36] Nate: sort of rotation shuffle here pretty soon, [00:52:38] ben: Um, since you dipped down into the minor leagues really quick, I did want to call out Jimmy Crooks and Blaze Jordan are having insane starts to the triple A season right now. Dunno what to bake of that, but, uh, blaze Jordan is going full blaze and Jimmy Crooks is hitting everything. Um, so I I, and you know what, now [00:53:00] that I'm saying this, I did realize that I, I think I said in the Bird Squad that I was planning a Pozo rant. I'm gonna take a real quick second for a Pozo rant. He has absolutely no place on the big league. You're having Yvonne Herrera is starting enough games. You are obviously happy with the defense that Pedro Paes is bringing and you're feeling enough confidence to start Yvonne Herrera at Catcher a couple of times a week. Joso Pozo has no place on this roster. I'm not a Pozo Pozo. [00:53:32] Nate: no, listen. Ham Bone being a true Pozo bozo means loving him enough to let him go. Saying no, no to Pozo [00:53:42] ben: Oh, that was, that was bad. He has seven plate appearances. Nate, [00:53:46] Nate: Disagree completely. Um, [00:53:49] ben: you disagree that he has seven plate appearances or that that was bad. [00:53:53] Nate: the latter. [00:53:56] ben: Okay. Um, yeah.[00:54:00] Yeah, he doesn't have a hit. He is worth negative 0.2 war. Uh, he has no real placement on this team. I do think that Blaise Jordan would be a better addition to this roster. Right now, I'm not sure that he's ready, but I still think that he would bring more, um, to the team than Pozo ISS bringing. And I, and I think we need to recognize that Yvonne Herrera is catching and he is looking good. It's all fine. He obviously does not have as good of an arm as Pedro Pa Hayes. That's okay. But if he's your backup dh backup catcher in primary dh, that's great. We love that [00:54:35] Nate: Bozo's got a go-Go. [00:54:37] ben: bozos gotta go, go. If PA Hayes gets injured, you just lose the DH for the rest of the game. That's a fine scenario. That's not gonna happen. Very. It might happen once this year. Um, I'm totally fine with that risk. Take that risk and get him out of here. Um, okay. [00:54:55] Nate: It's a [00:54:55] ben: sh. Yeah. Shout out Nathan Church as well for, for that. Really [00:55:00] clutch do last night? [00:55:01] Nate: Oh, we meet on Sundays. Uh, yeah, there's a, we should Nathan Church. Uh, well, a Faab establishment has not, um, hit the ball particularly well this year, but that was quite a game saving home run, which you'll love to see it, folks. Um, so, uh, all hail, we're we're, we're good. [00:55:22] ben: Okay. [00:55:23] Nate: Um, there's been a few transactions this week. They're all pretty minor, but I think for sake of reporting the news, do you want to just run through these real quick? [00:55:34] ben: Yeah, the Cardinals and the Red Sox finally finished the sunny gray trade and the cardinals get right-handed. Picture another picture from the Red Sox. Nate, Patrick Gale is, I think how you pronounce it. Uh, this kid is, is pitched in hay. Uh, he's 22 years old. Um, that's all they got. He, he's got [00:55:52] Nate: Yeah. [00:55:52] ben: of. Seven major or professional innings, uh, pitched so far.[00:56:00] Um, he went to Mississippi, uh, where he pitched almost no. Oh my God. Is this true? In 2024 and 2025, he pitched four innings and seven innings respectively, at least according to FanGraphs. Um, so this guy's got like 20 innings on his arm. That can't be true anyways. Um, he was a 17th round pick in 2025. He is now a Cardinal. The Cardinals also optioned Chris Roycroft to the Memphis Redbirds, and they brought up Jared Schuster. Um, you know, I've been complaining about, uh, Roy Croft for a minute. The guy just cannot get, cannot strike anybody out. Um, I don't think it's a, I. Skill thing. I, I think it's a, it, like he's got the stuff he throws 97 withy. He can get people out, but it's, it's a brain thing. It's, he needs to figure out the, uh, [00:57:00] it's that whitest kids, you know, uh, where they, [00:57:02] Nate: thing. [00:57:03] ben: they order this soup that cures brain cancer. [00:57:05] Nate: Brain cancer, curing soup. Yeah. He is like, oh, well I'll, I'll have that. [00:57:09] ben: I'll have that. [00:57:10] Nate: yeah. I want that one. [00:57:13] ben: Chris Roy Croft does not have brain cancer. Brain cancer is not funny. But that, that sketch is funny. Um, happy to see him down and happy to see Schuster up. [00:57:22] Nate: that little [00:57:22] ben: I don't, I don't, I'm not getting canceled. I'm not getting canceled. Okay. [00:57:26] Nate: dude, you were so close. That [00:57:27] ben: Actually, I'm un cancelable. I've decided that [00:57:30] Nate: be ungovernable. [00:57:32] ben: I think I'm too important for the economy to be canceled. [00:57:37] Nate: Too big to fail. [00:57:38] ben: big to fail. Uh, the Cardinals traded Nick racket, um, to the Baltimore Orioles for Braden Smith, who was his second baseman, and another guy I have never heard of. Nathan. [00:57:52] Nate: Yeah. Yeah. That's why I said these are all minor moves. Like, uh, we're, we're bullpen shuffling here by trading racket to bring in this guy. [00:58:00] Um, we'll see. None of this is particularly impactful to the game right now. I mean, the roycroft one, we'll see Schuster, we'll see. Um, but this is just the start of a season of what I imagine is going to be dozens of [00:58:17] ben: Yeah. [00:58:18] Nate: edge moves. [00:58:20] ben: Yeah. This, this is funny too. Uh, so he was only drafted last year, so this probably explains this, but he has 17 games, played as a professional, another, uh, a, a young, young. Untested little kiddo. He, he did. Okay. He played a full season at Oklahoma State last year. That's good. Put up a one 12 WC plus. [00:58:40] Nate: um, he has learned, he's, he's like a holiday guy, [00:58:45] ben: Oh, [00:58:46] Nate: holidays have worked with him. [00:58:48] ben: all right. Um, you'll love to see it, don't you folks? [00:58:51] Nate: Oh, we love that. [00:58:52] ben: Alright. That's the transactional news. Oh, and I did just want to note, um, with a couple of weeks of baseball having happened, the numbers are [00:59:00] in the Cardinals have been the third worst in challenges so far. They are, uh, they have 15 challenges. Six have been successful. 40% rate. Um, woo. [00:59:11] Nate: I don't know. We saw it in the game last night. Actually. Both teams used up all their challenges by the sixth thinning [00:59:18] ben: Yeah, [00:59:19] Nate: and there [00:59:19] ben: I [00:59:19] Nate: there were no more left for them. So there had looked good in the spring. Um, I don't know if it's just, you know, [00:59:27] ben: think he's too emotional. Nate, he's too, he's too jacked up. He's too into it. [00:59:31] Nate: Yeah, I actually, I wanted to talk about this a little bit. I'll try to keep it quick, but I have you seen this happened a number of times now where the player has challenged the call and has like, basically already began taking the action, uh, as to what they believe it to be. Um, essentially like Ozzy Albee's was certain it was ball four, not strike three. So he tapped his head and started walking to first base. Uh, and then it turned out to be true and he was like already [01:00:00] at first base by the time it was done. Uh, I think Schwarber did something similar. Um. think they're going to end up making it, uh, that you're not allowed to do that. Uh, [01:00:11] ben: Um, [01:00:11] Nate: are flexing big time on umpires right now, and I don't think it's good for the game. And [01:00:20] ben: oh. [01:00:21] Nate: on an umpire, but if you actually want the challenge system to remain for a long time and not just ultimately become fully automated, uh, then they need to make it where the players have to like stand there respectfully, uh, because the umpires are, are like, it's not, they're looking bad right now, uh, across the board from the players. [01:00:43] ben: I, I think the, the, yeah, I, I get this thing that you're saying. I kinda like it though. I think it's kind of fun. I also like the new, the new world that we're living in is, even if you piss off an umpire, they can't, they have no recourse. 'cause you have ch unless [01:01:00] you run outta challenges and then they can, they can get you. But I do think Nate, um, and, and you know how I feel about the a BS system and I think this is the right step in the way baseball should go and should stay. Um. I think it's too late. Pandora is out of the box. Uh, full. A BS is coming very soon. I don't know when, but it, it's happening. There's no way It's not happening. [01:01:22] Nate: I, because I agree and that's why I think if you actually want this challenge system to be the law of the land for a long time, then they're going to need to make a bunch of rules about how it's handled and how people [01:01:33] ben: I, [01:01:34] Nate: the whole thing. [01:01:35] ben: I don't, [01:01:36] Nate: are getting, uh, strutted on big time and [01:01:38] ben: I don't think that that is gonna make [01:01:40] Nate: yeah. [01:01:41] ben: you, you could, even if the players apologized and bought a Rolex every time they challenge, I, I think the, the cat is out of the bag. We are trending towards full a BS. It's gonna happen sooner than it is gonna happen later. Um, but it is, it is happening. It'll be a full a [01:02:00] BSI think a little, the, the umpires will wear a little headphone in their ear [01:02:04] Nate: it [01:02:04] ben: they will hear. [01:02:05] Nate: in Japan. [01:02:06] ben: They will hear a ball strike call and they will just relay that it is, I think the way that this has gone, um, it's just some, it's, it's a matter of fact it's happening, [01:02:17] Nate: Yeah. Some of these ums are just getting clowned on left and right by these guys. Uh, so I, I think I agree. Or like, either they'll just switch to full a BS soon or we'll get some, rule changes that stop letting them, they get clowned on. [01:02:30] ben: which stinks because man, I think the, the challenge system has been super successful and provided a lot of fun conversation. I've seen two games IRL so far. The challenge system in the ballpark is exciting. The fans are into it. Um, so I I I will be sad and I will lament the day that it goes away and full a BS takes over and I will be arguing against that until it happens. I'm telling you right now though, it is 100% happening. [01:02:58] Nate: Yeah, I [01:03:00] agree. All right. We're gonna talk about the upcoming series. We're gonna touch on some league news, and we will of course play a little game. But before we get to that, we wanna remind our listeners that this show is listener supported on patreon.com, patreon.com/talking about Burge, where you can find access to all the different ways and levels to support the show directly, uh, supporters of any level. Get access to our private chat server. It's on Discord. It's called the Bird Scored. We've been talking about it all episode. It's be, it's become a major part of the community around the show, and it's a really good place to go and talk to other Cardinal fans and listeners of the [01:03:38] ben: I don't even use other baseball social media anymore. [01:03:41] Nate: Me neither I, if I ha if I want to talk to someone about what's happening in the cardinal game, I'm going straight to the bird scored. Uh, and there are others in there as well that are doing it. Uh, and it's just like a chill place to talk about what's actually happening in the game with other humans who are there and having fun and not whatever the hell, uh, all of the social media platforms are [01:03:59] ben: I [01:04:00] also, I post pics of me eating donuts in there. So if that, if you're that kind of freak, come check it out. [01:04:05] Nate: Mm-hmm. Uh, we're looking at adding a feet tier for, you know, peoples, that's a big thing I think. [01:04:11] ben: Yikes. [01:04:14] Nate: Yikes. Uh, you know what? I'm not yikes. Maybe people want that. [01:04:18] ben: We have good feet. Come on. [01:04:20] Nate: y I'm al I'm telling people all the time, I've got great feet. a Greek toe hand bone. How about that? Um, so you can find that all at patreon.com/talking about birds. We also appreciate anyone who leaves us a review on their favorite podcast platform, uh, that really does help. And of course, now's a great time to tell your friends and family this team. probably still gonna lose a lot of games, but you cannot deny that it is a fun team. And if you're having fun watching 'em and you're having fun listening to us, why don't you tell your friends, tell your family that they too could have more fun by following along with us. Uh, ham Bone. Where can people else, where else can people find us online? [01:04:57] ben: Is, is this good, Nate? Young, fun, and full of runs? [01:05:00] Is that good? [01:05:03] Nate: Uh, yeah, you know what? I'm feeling great right now, ham, but I'm gonna say that was good. [01:05:07] ben: All right, uh, you can follow us on all the socials we got, blue Sky Instagram, TikTok. You can watch this show on YouTube if you like to do that kind of thing. You can find all the podcast information t-shirts and more@talkingaboutbirds.com. Of course, you can email us at talk about birds@gmail.com. And as always, you can call us and leave a voicemail or send us a text message to 8 4 8 48 birds. That's 8 4 8 4 8 2 4 7 3 7. [01:05:36] Nate: I've been thinking about doing a like mailbag type thing for this show where people send in questions, uh, and we can answer 'em on the show. So if you have a question that you would want us answer on the show, it could be anything baseball related or otherwise, uh, send it in. 8 4 8 48 birds. That could be fun. Um, alright, ham bone. We've got two more [01:06:00] series baseball rolls on. I am coming up the, the red. Uh, yes. Wait, I've lost my spot [01:06:09] ben: The Red Sox are coming to St. Louis. [01:06:11] Nate: read it and I stopped. All right. The Red Sox are coming to St. Louis. a fun team. Bunch of former Cardinals here. Uh, what do we expect to see outta the Red Sox? [01:06:21] ben: They have had arguably the worst start of the season. They maybe in the entire league. They have absolutely stumbled out of the gates. There have already been chance for John Henry to sell the team at Fenway. I mean, it is, it's going poorly. Um, I, I do think that this team is better than they've started so far. Uh, you know, we've talked about their, uh, starting pitching situation all off season. They got Garrett crochet, Sonny Gray, Connolly, early Ranger, Suarez, uh, uh, riding out the, uh, the, the top of the rotation. The Cardinals will draw on Friday. Connolly early, who is a [01:07:00] very well regarded rookie pitching prospect. Uh, we'll see Ranger Suarez in game two and Brian Bayo in game, uh, or sorry, on, on Sunday. And game three, they're missing both Garrett Crochet and Sonny Gray so the Cardinals can count themselves. Lucky in missing the one two from the rotation. Um, and what's fun is we get to see Wilson Contreras come back. He's had a really nice start to the season, even though the Red Sox have overall been pretty bad. Um, a couple other plays that I think are worth calling out. This will be the first time Roman Anthony has made his way to Bush Stadium, who I think is going to be very, very, very good. I really think he is a strong young player. Um, and maybe a, an underrated player if you're not paying attention to the ales, is will you or Bray you who's come out? He's had a nice start. He is a good defender. He is got a lot of power, especially for a, a little guy. Um, but this team is interesting. They, they are weird team. They've started very poorly. Um, I do think that they are going to start, start scoring runs here [01:08:00] soon. Um, but they aren't right now. I mean, Trevor's story and Jaron Duran have really been bad to start the season. Um, I, I don't think that's gonna last all year. I don't think they're gonna be last place in the al East. [01:08:12] Nate: No, I don't think so either. They were my pick to go to the World Series, so, uh, I'm obviously pretty high on them. Um, it will be interesting to see, uh, Connolly early and Ranger Suarez are both left-handers, so we'll see if Walker can keep that absolute destruction going against those guys. I'm pretty high on early, um, still a rookie. He's had two okay starts, but the stuff is very good. So if he could put it together, it could be tough. Um, but he hasn't put it together fully yet, so maybe the colonels can take advantage of that. And I think Ranger Suarez is fine. certainly beatable though. Uh, so we'll see. But this is a good team that I think will go on a run at some point. [01:08:56] ben: Ike Ranger, I, I think he's pretty solid. [01:08:59] Nate: yeah, I think he's [01:09:00] fine. I I, he, I'm not saying he's, he's bad or anything, but I don't, you know, he's [01:09:05] ben: rangers. Your three or four is, [01:09:06] Nate: right. [01:09:07] ben: you're in a good spot. [01:09:08] Nate: Absolutely. Absolutely. Um, but at the end of the day, he's there three or four, you know, [01:09:13] ben: Sure, sure, sure. Nate. [01:09:16] Nate: sure shirt. [01:09:18] ben: Oh, uh, uh, maybe worth saying that the Cardinals, uh, they'll have. Um, oh wait, did I, uh, I clicked the wrong button. The Cardinals [01:09:28] Nate: just, we're [01:09:29] ben: will be throwing, uh, Dustin may. [01:09:31] Nate: right now. [01:09:32] ben: Dustin May in game one. Kyle Lahey in game two and Ante Pale versus bayo. There's two ground ball guys that could give up. 15 runs each. Uh, we'll, we'll see what happens there. [01:09:44] Nate: Yep. [01:09:44] ben: not the rubber match of the series. Uh, after that, uh, the guardians come to town, um, they've had a bit better of a start to the season. Um. They're, they're currently in first place in their division. And, you know, they're, [01:10:00] they're kind of doing it in the way that you would've expected that. And by that I mostly mean that Jose Ramirez is really good at baseball. Uh, and they have young pitchers, probably guys whose names you don't recognize, who are pitching extremely well for them. Um, the other thing to call out is Chase the Lauder. You know, this has been the year of the rookie. So his first two weeks at least, has been the, the, the first two weeks of the rookie Chase, the Lauder is coming out. But has he got five homers already or something like that? [01:10:26] Nate: he hit two in his first game, I think, and yeah, he's looked great. He, so the book on Chase DeLauder, it's not unlike a Byron Buxton type guy where, uh, all the tools in the world, everyone thinks he's, uh, has the upside to be just an absolute beast. But he has, even in his already incredibly young career, been incredibly injury prone. He [01:10:52] ben: Yeah. [01:10:53] Nate: to miss seasons and, and, and lengths of time, um, for all variety of, of, [01:11:00] uh, happenstance. So, uh, there's no question about his quality, it's just can he stay on the field? [01:11:06] ben: Yeah. Um, the Cardinals, uh, are, it, it'll be, uh, Gavin Williams versus Lior for game one. Joey Cillo versus Michael McGreevy for game two, and then Slade s and Dustin May for the Wednesday day game to close it out. Um, Gavin Williams, really good player. Underrated strikeout guy, solid pitcher. Joey Canino, um, he's okay, but again, underrated, kind of a strikeout guy, and I actually think Slade Zoni could, um, uh, break out this year. I, I think he has a lot of swinging and miss. He has a nasty breaking ball. These are three tough matchups for the Cardinals. [01:11:46] Nate: there's a baseball writer that I like. I've, I've talked about him on the show before, Michael Halpern, and he's been talking about batting bat speed against as a metric, which, um, one is really [01:12:00] talking about or looking at right now. Um, and it's like. Pretty much all the best pitchers in baseball have like really bad bat speed against, and then Slade or Cone or whatever, uh, cni. It's like Chris Sale, Tarek Scobel, Slade cni, you know? Um, so obviously he has a very different profile than those guys, but it's, it's interesting. [01:12:29] ben: I, I think he has the juice. I've, I've seen some of his starts. I, I, I, I did not know that, but I, I think he has the juice. I would not be surprised if he breaks out this year. I, I like the guy. [01:12:40] Nate: The implication being that you, the players just don't know what to do. Like they swing and they have like no confidence in the swing, so their bat speed drops. Um, and, you know, [01:12:51] ben: Yeah. [01:12:51] Nate: bad things happen with lower bat speed. [01:12:53] ben: Yeah. Watch, watch that curve ball, watch that change up when he comes to town, it's, it, it, it could be a tough outing [01:13:00] or he could get blown up. 'cause he also doesn't know where the ball's going sometimes. So, [01:13:03] Nate: Right. [01:13:04] ben: hopefully that's what we get that game. [01:13:05] Nate: Yep. [01:13:06] ben: I, [01:13:07] Nate: right. How about some league news? Ham bone? [01:13:09] ben: yeah. Uh, so first off, we just gotta talk about Joe Adell, um, because I know this happened a few days ago. The time this episode is coming out. But the best defensive performance I have ever seen. Joe Adell, robs three home runs in a one to Nothing game. The angels end up winning the game because of his defensive performance, never seen anything like it. And then that final catch where he is standing in the outfield bleachers or the seats or whatever it is by the foul pole there, having won, uh, or having caught that home run. Um, just absolutely unbelievable. [01:13:48] Nate: Yeah, it's those [01:13:50] ben: the best game I've ever seen from an outfielder. Yeah. [01:13:53] Nate: Yeah, it's, it's those sorts of games. I haven't even looked at it, but like, shouldn't that be worth one war? You know, shouldn't he have [01:13:59] ben: At [01:14:00] least. [01:14:00] Nate: one war from that? You know? Um, he, he saved the game three [01:14:05] ben: Yeah. [01:14:06] Nate: basically. [01:14:08] ben: The only game I could really think of that compares to that and it's uh, from a Cardinal's lens is that game. 10 plus years ago where Rick, an keel threw out two guys. I believe he was playing center field or right field, two guys at third base, I think it was against the cubbies. [01:14:26] Nate: yeah, [01:14:27] ben: still not as big of a deal as catching three home runs. But that's like, as far as just great games from an outfielder, that's all that could really come to mind. [01:14:35] Nate: yeah. That's a deep pull. I can't really think of anything else. And I think like, even with some other ones, just the one run nature of it, you [01:14:44] ben: Yeah, [01:14:45] Nate: each one of these individual home runs is game saving [01:14:49] ben: yeah, yeah. Um, alright. Uh, officially this, the news finally came out here. The Pirates have officially signed Connor Griffin to a nine year extension worth $140 [01:15:00] million. Uh, good for you. KG and the Pirates. [01:15:05] Nate: Yeah, I mean, like, you know, as compared to the broader market and contracts in general, 140 million is not that much anymore. But for the pirates and for this type of player, uh, it is pretty unprecedented. Uh, so I would say good, good job to the Pirates, uh, who are, um, just chronically, uh, poorly managed by their ownership group. So it [01:15:30] ben: Yeah. [01:15:31] Nate: nice to see them do something that involves spending money, uh, on a good player. So I imagine that Pirates fans are over the moon about this. Um, from a Cardinal lens, it certainly impacts the JJ Weather Holt extension. I will say that Connor Griffin. While drafted after JJ Weather, Holt did significantly exceed, uh, [01:15:57] ben: Yeah. [01:15:58] Nate: since exceeded, [01:16:00] um, overall ranking and expect, uh, expectations. Then a JJ Weather Holt. Um, Connor Griffin at this point is, has tags like generational and stuff like that around him, which, you know, we love jj, but it, but it's not that right? Um, and so I think this probably lifts JJ a little bit just as the price of these, like rookie extensions goes up. Um, but I, I don't think JJ would be, like, JJ should be somewhere in between the Cole Young or, uh, or yeah, the Cole Young and um, and, and Connor Griffin, like, I think he's probably a better prospect and has shown already at the Major League level better than Cole Young. Um, but he's not exactly a Connor Griffin prospect either. [01:16:47] ben: Okay. Uh, one last thing to bring up. Uh, the brewers have signed a prospect, Cooper Pratt, to an eight year extension worth 50.75 million. And Nate, I'm [01:17:00] just gonna have to pass the mic to you. 'cause I had never heard of Cooper Pratt before this deal happened. Looking at his, uh, fan graphs page and everything like that, I, I don't really get the move. Um, but the brewers get their guy, I guess. [01:17:12] Nate: I think a lot of us were quite surprised by this. So in 2024, Cooper Pratt was a rising star and somebody that a lot of people thought was, um, a future stud At MLB level 2025, that stars started to fade a little bit. Now people, he's still a relatively well regarded, um. Prospect, but certainly not one that I would've expected to receive a 8 million do or, uh, eight year extension. Now, $50 million over eight years. Like it's not gonna take a lot of value. Returned, uh, not a lot of success at the major league level for that to start to immediately be worth it. But, um, when you look [01:18:00] at the other prospects in their infield, just really surprising that Cooper Pratt, uh, is, is sort of jumping all of them with this contract. Um, in comparison to a Luis Pena, uh, Jesus Maday, uh, a Jet Williams, like, I think I would've taken all of those guys [01:18:18] ben: For sure. [01:18:19] Nate: Cooper Pratt. Um, so how he fits in long term with them, I don't know. Will he be successful at the major League level? It's a big question mark. So this was quite surprising. [01:18:29] ben: Well, the brewers trade him now that he is, uh, locked in and predictable from a cost standpoint, I, it's confusing to me. [01:18:37] Nate: Yeah, same. [01:18:38] ben: Alright, Nate. That's all the league news I got. [01:18:41] Nate: All right. Hand bone. We're gonna wrap this up with a little game. So baseball is live, it's happening, and that means stadiums are hosting wacky, unique nights that try to get you in the ballpark. I've got a list of real theme nights here at St. Louis at Bush Stadium, [01:19:00] and I've also got some fake ones. It's up to you to guess which ones are real or not in night or dream night. [01:19:08] ben: Oh, [01:19:09] Nate: Is it a theme night or did I dream it up? You ready? [01:19:14] ben: do it Nate. [01:19:15] Nate: All right, we'll start it off. Fred Bird's Garage Sale Day. [01:19:21] ben: Fred Bird's Garage Sale Day, Fred Bird's Garage Sale Day. What would that include? What would be in Fred Bird's garage? Old Cardinals memorabilia and t-shirts and stuff like that. Or jerseys from players who don't play for the uh, yeah, I'm gonna say that yes, that exists. That's real. [01:19:43] Nate: Yeah, that's right. That is absolutely right. Um, yeah, you pretty much got it. Um, don't worry. He will be there humping away. All right. Um, backyard baseball night. [01:19:56] ben: Backyard Baseball, a very famous [01:20:00] video game franchise that a lot of people like. Um, do they still make that, is that still a game? Do people care about that backyard baseball night? Uh, do they do, do they make the players. Portraits look like backyard baseball characters. Maybe that's what they do. Um, I could see that. Um, yes, that's a real thing. [01:20:27] Nate: That is right. Year two for two. All right, guy FI's, flavor town night. [01:20:34] ben: God, I wish this was real, but, um, I don't think he's a baseball guy. Is he a baseball guy? Is he a Giants fan? Um, how would you do that? No, I think logistically it's too difficult because what are you like giving out food that is not on the normal menu like that? There's a lot of No, I think that's a no. [01:20:56] Nate: All right, you got me. That's not real. All right. [01:21:00] day. [01:21:03] ben: I know that the kids like Shrek Shreks cool. Or he is come back or he is relevant or whatever. Um, donkey, uh, so on and so forth. [01:21:12] Nate: man. Everyone loves a damn parfait, [01:21:14] ben: Wow. Um, that's probably a thing. Kids like Shrek. Let's go. Shrek. Yeah. [01:21:19] Nate: no ham bone, [01:21:21] ben: Damnit [01:21:21] Nate: real. Shrek day is fake. [01:21:23] ben: damnit. I figured you would've done some dumb wordplay if you, uh, if you had created that, but, all right. [01:21:30] Nate: All right. coke night. [01:21:36] ben: Um, people love their DC I know that. Um, [01:21:42] Nate: needs a DC [01:21:43] ben: yeah, I think that's made up [01:21:48] Nate: diet. Coke Night is real Ham bone. [01:21:51] ben: really. [01:21:53] Nate: It's coming up, [01:21:53] ben: How is it celebrated? [01:21:55] Nate: I dunno, this, you'll have to go to sgl carnes.com in order to find out [01:22:00] more [01:22:00] ben: Okay. [01:22:00] Nate: Coke night. [01:22:01] ben: Fascinating. [01:22:02] Nate: Yeah. [01:22:03] ben: if anyone that listens, goes to Diet Coke, Nate, please report back to us. You can call us at eight four eight forty eight Birds please, please. [01:22:11] Nate: Um, all right. Bigfoot night, [01:22:14] ben: Bigfoot night. Um, now that seems like the kind of night that a minor league ballpark might have, um, in the Pacific Northwest, um, Bigfoot night, or is it the monster truck? Bigfoot That is it. He's from Missouri from, Hmm. [01:22:31] Nate: Is he from Missouri? [01:22:33] ben: His truck is parked somewhere in, in St. Louis. I've seen it. Um, I think he's from Missouri. Maybe I'm making that up. I think that that is the thing. Yeah. I, I buy it. [01:22:44] Nate: Uh, no. Bigfoot night is not real. [01:22:46] ben: Damn. [01:22:47] Nate: and yes, the Bigfoot Monster truck was created in Missouri. [01:22:51] ben: Oh yeah. [01:22:52] Nate: Bob Chandler built the first Bigfoot in his family garage in Pacific, Missouri in the mid 1970s. [01:22:59] ben: you go. [01:22:59] Nate: [01:23:00] How about that? Bigfoot lives in Missouri. You heard it here first. Uh, Bigfoot night was fake. How about Naruto night? [01:23:08] ben: God, I know what that is. I know that the fandom is rabid. Um, I know that there's some baseball players that love Naruto. Um, uh, yeah, sure. It's, it's real. I'm sure that's real. [01:23:21] Nate: You got it. Naruto night is real [01:23:24] ben: He runs, he runs like this, right? [01:23:26] Nate: That's the thing everyone knows, [01:23:27] ben: Yeah. [01:23:28] Nate: Um, I have to imagine there's just a whole bunch of fans who happen to be there on Naruto night going, the hell is this? Um, [01:23:36] ben: kids. [01:23:36] Nate: but we love Naruto. Uh, all right. We love Holly runs, don't we, folks? Um, last one for you. Ham Bone Costco Night. [01:23:47] ben: No, I feel like Costco doesn't really do brand deals like that. Um, like their advertising budget is nothing. Uh, so no. There's no way they do that. No, I. [01:23:56] Nate: Yeah, you're right. Costco night is not real. There will be [01:24:00] no grizzler attending, uh, the Cardinal game that night. [01:24:05] ben: Wow. Too bad. [01:24:07] Nate: you, did you see the Grizzler released a statement on Iran? [01:24:11] ben: Thank God. I assume he is a warhawk, right? [01:24:17] Nate: Yeah. He was pro. Oh man, what a, what a hell world. All right, that's gonna do it for this, this week's episode of talking about birds hand, bone. You did? Okay. You started off hot. [01:24:32] ben: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. [01:24:34] Nate: you missed a few there. You got 2, 3, 4. You got five of the eight. Correct. So, good job. That's gonna do it for this week's episode. Thank you everybody for listening. Uh, please remember to check out the Patreon and all of our links@talkingaboutbirds.com. Uh, leave us a voicemail, ask a question, make a suggestion. Leave an opening bit at 8 4 8 48 birds, and until next week, [01:25:00] I'm gonna say it. Ham bone. Let's go Cardinals. [01:25:04] ben: Season. [01:25:30] Nate: We have a theory. Our cats all like to like sit on stuff that's their color, so it's like they think they're hiding, [01:25:40] ben: I believe that, although that implies that they had a thought, which is [01:25:49] Nate: giving [01:25:50] ben: debatable, [01:25:51] Nate: a little too much credit. [01:25:52] ben: right? [01:25:52] Nate: Uh, excuse me. You know that Marcy is a time, time agent who has spent, uh, an [01:26:00] unknown amount of time traveling, uh, and, [01:26:03] ben: That does not mean that she has autonomous thought and, and, and [01:26:09] Nate: just [01:26:10] ben: wants And needs. Yeah, [01:26:11] Nate: chaos. [01:26:12] ben: yeah, [01:26:13] Nate: Could be her mom did die on the Titanic and she's trying to solve the crime and or maybe is the murderer herself in some sort of mercy killing. [01:26:23] ben: yeah, [01:26:23] Nate: right now. [01:26:24] ben: yeah. Chaos, energy. [01:26:25] Nate: Uhhuh. All [01:26:27] ben: Wait, her mom died on the Titanic, but they think it was a murder. [01:26:31] Nate: well, she died before the boat San, [01:26:35] ben: Okay. [01:26:35] Nate: so it's a perfect murder. [01:26:40] ben: Yes. [01:26:41] Nate: the Titanic's about to sink [01:26:43] ben: And you just wanna put your finger on the scale. [01:26:47] Nate: well, you kill someone, you leave their body on the Titanic. [01:26:50] ben: Sure. [01:26:52] Nate: It's a perfect crime.