Latest / Cardinal Territory: A St. Louis Cardinals Podcast / Joshua Báez slowing down, Burly and Leahy SHINING, Cards rolling

Transcript

Joshua Báez slowing down, Burly and Leahy SHINING, Cards rolling · Cardinal Territory: A St. Louis Cardinals Podcast

0:07
Speaker 1: Hello everybody, and welcome to another edition of Cardinal Territory.
0:13
Speaker 1: Jim Hayes with one of our favorites. You know, it
0:16
Speaker 1: was Big City Matt Adams and Matt, I gotta tell
0:19
Speaker 1: you you look great. Thank you for coming on. We
0:22
Speaker 1: got a lot to talk about, but I wanted to
0:25
Speaker 1: start with this because look, you've had the nickname Big City.
0:29
Speaker 1: It's a great nickname. Everybody loves it. I remember talking
0:33
Speaker 1: to you about it when you first came up to
0:35
Speaker 1: the big leagues. But I'm thinking of changing your nickname.
0:38
Speaker 2: But it's up to you.
0:40
Speaker 3: I'm I'm gonna stop you right there, because you're the
0:44
Speaker 3: one that whenever I first came up, you threw it
0:47
Speaker 3: out there to the public and ask people what my
0:49
Speaker 3: nickname should be, and we got we got things back
0:51
Speaker 3: like Jumbo Pepsi, Big Mayo.
0:53
Speaker 2: No, we're not changing the nickname. We're sticking with Big City.
0:58
Speaker 1: You have to hear me out. I have to hear
1:00
Speaker 1: me out because time, time moves on and things change.
1:05
Speaker 2: And uh, I.
1:06
Speaker 1: Want to call you big Media because you're doing a
1:10
Speaker 1: lot of stuff now, Big Media. Can you tell us
1:13
Speaker 1: what you're doing, because I think folks like to catch.
1:15
Speaker 3: Up yeah, I just uh, I I dig the I
1:20
Speaker 3: dig the consideration on the on the nickname part, on
1:23
Speaker 3: the nickname change. But I I'm gonna hear you out
1:27
Speaker 3: on it tooche Cat. But we're gonna we're gonna stick
1:31
Speaker 3: with Big City for the time being. Uh that's what
1:33
Speaker 3: people know me as. So we're not gonna. We're not
1:35
Speaker 3: gonna change it up just yet. But uh, doing a
1:38
Speaker 3: lot of stuff with the Cardinals, uh, the alumni, doing
1:41
Speaker 3: a lot of appearances in the in the community, giving
1:43
Speaker 3: back down at the stadium. I'm around the guys a lot.
1:47
Speaker 3: So that's that's been a lot of fun. And then
1:50
Speaker 3: got it, got my every Friday throughout the rest of
1:53
Speaker 3: the season, got my Big City Breakdown segment with Channel
1:56
Speaker 3: four k O v Uh. That's been fun. Been doing
1:59
Speaker 3: the The Fight Show with Randy Cherricer, hopping on here
2:03
Speaker 3: periodically with you, kat So.
2:04
Speaker 2: Yeah, doing a lot of media.
2:06
Speaker 3: Stuff, dipping my toe in that world outside of the game,
2:09
Speaker 3: but still staying around the game that I love and
2:13
Speaker 3: talking baseball and talking Cardinal baseball.
2:16
Speaker 1: You're doing great at it, by the way. I just
2:17
Speaker 1: want to tell you that, so I thought you'd be
2:20
Speaker 1: a perfect guest today because you were a guy that
2:25
Speaker 1: came up with a big power pedigree and you went
2:29
Speaker 1: through some of the stuff Joshua Bias is going through
2:33
Speaker 1: right now. So for the background of it, your first
2:37
Speaker 1: big league homer May twenty seventh, twenty twelve against the Phills,
2:43
Speaker 1: Chad Qualls, I believe you took him deep. So I
2:46
Speaker 1: wanted to ask you about this because Bias, he didn't
2:50
Speaker 1: just like knock on the door right, He broke down
2:52
Speaker 1: the door. Three homers in his first three at bats,
2:56
Speaker 1: did some no one else had done right as a
2:58
Speaker 1: big leaguer. He came up with the power pedigree like
3:02
Speaker 1: you had thirty four homers this season in Triple A
3:06
Speaker 1: since then over seventeen with some strikeouts in there. Understandable,
3:11
Speaker 1: But do you remember what you were going through, especially
3:14
Speaker 1: as a power hitter coming up. No one, no one
3:17
Speaker 1: wanted to be taken deep by the by the young
3:21
Speaker 1: guy who has the power pedigree. So tell me, first
3:24
Speaker 1: of all, the pressure of a young guy when you
3:27
Speaker 1: came up. There was a lot of hubbub about this guy,
3:30
Speaker 1: you know, brings them a power back. We need the
3:32
Speaker 1: power back, and then you got to deliver. So as
3:35
Speaker 1: a young guy, tell me like what you were wearing,
3:38
Speaker 1: because there has to be a lot of pressure associated
3:40
Speaker 1: with that.
3:41
Speaker 3: Yeah, definitely were in that pressure jacket for sure. Whenever
3:44
Speaker 3: I first, you know, get caught up. And you know,
3:46
Speaker 3: it took me a week to get my first big
3:48
Speaker 3: league homer. This guy saw it, did it on his
3:51
Speaker 3: first pitch of his of his major league career. So
3:56
Speaker 3: just within that week, uh, you know a lot of
3:59
Speaker 3: I was chasing a lot of stuff because I was
4:01
Speaker 3: I was stressed, had a lot of pressure.
4:05
Speaker 2: So yeah, the pitchers knew that I was, I.
4:07
Speaker 3: Was anxious in the box. I was chasing a lot,
4:10
Speaker 3: so they didn't really have to throw me a strike.
4:12
Speaker 3: And that's wherever I that's where I leaned on my
4:14
Speaker 3: my hitting coaches, So I you know, knew that I
4:18
Speaker 3: needed to make adjustments within that first week, and you know,
4:21
Speaker 3: ended up getting some some balls over the middle part
4:23
Speaker 3: of the plate. And then you know, a week later
4:25
Speaker 3: at home against the fields, was able to knock one
4:27
Speaker 3: over the fence and kind of shoulders dropped a little bit,
4:31
Speaker 3: was able to take a deep breath and kind of
4:33
Speaker 3: felt like I settled in a little bit, which I
4:36
Speaker 3: I think, you know, bias has shown that. You know,
4:39
Speaker 3: after that first day hitting those three homers, he got
4:42
Speaker 3: a little taste of reality. Pitchers started, you know, nibbling
4:45
Speaker 3: on the corners, balls underneath the zone. So he's gonna
4:49
Speaker 3: have to make those adjustments pitched a pitch at back
4:52
Speaker 3: to a bat in game, adjustments which you know have.
4:55
Speaker 2: To have to be made at the big league level.
4:57
Speaker 3: But outside of the few strikeouts he's had since day
5:01
Speaker 3: one in the big leagues, he's hit the ball hard,
5:04
Speaker 3: he's had some bad luck. You know, he's he's squaring
5:07
Speaker 3: balls up. So I think he looks good in the box.
5:09
Speaker 3: I think he just has to kind of take a
5:11
Speaker 3: deep breath and get back to doing what he was
5:13
Speaker 3: doing at the Triple A level.
5:15
Speaker 1: Yeah, he had to make adjustments at the Triple A
5:17
Speaker 1: level because he had some strikeouts, and you know, pictures adjust.
5:22
Speaker 1: But that's the whole thing to me. You talk about
5:24
Speaker 1: baseball being a game of adjustments, and I've seen it
5:27
Speaker 1: with JJ weatherhol Like when you first come up, I
5:30
Speaker 1: guess pictures have a book on you, Like they think
5:33
Speaker 1: you can pitch, they can pitch you this way. Then
5:35
Speaker 1: you adjust. Then they're always adjusting, right, So it's not
5:39
Speaker 1: just oh, I made this adjustments everything solid because they're
5:42
Speaker 1: going to readjust and it's a cat and mouse game.
5:45
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a it's a game within the game for sure.
5:49
Speaker 3: Like you said, you're you feel like you made it once.
5:52
Speaker 3: You once you made that that first adjustment, and then
5:55
Speaker 3: you know, those pictures are watching video of that night's
5:57
Speaker 3: game seeing that you made that adjustment. Okay, where can
6:00
Speaker 3: we go next? Where's his next toll? And they attack that.
6:03
Speaker 3: So it is an adjustment to adjustment basis. At the
6:06
Speaker 3: big league level, those pictures, the books out there, the
6:09
Speaker 3: books out there before guys even get through the big
6:11
Speaker 3: leagues nowadays with with so much video, so much data
6:15
Speaker 3: being there for their you know, I just I think
6:19
Speaker 3: that you just got to believe in yourself. He's got
6:22
Speaker 3: to get back to believing in himself doing what he
6:24
Speaker 3: did at the Triple A level and carry. You know,
6:27
Speaker 3: obviously he's riding the high after day one in Wrigley,
6:29
Speaker 3: you know, three homers and three of bats, but uh,
6:32
Speaker 3: you know, put some put some good wood on baseballs.
6:35
Speaker 3: You know, trust yourself, have that confidence, and you know
6:38
Speaker 3: things will things will shape out for sure for him.
6:41
Speaker 1: Yeah, and no one expects this guy to hit three
6:44
Speaker 1: homers every game, and as a young player, you know
6:46
Speaker 1: that there's gonna be some bumps in the road. I
6:49
Speaker 1: look at the guy, and he looks like a major
6:51
Speaker 1: league hitter. I think he'll get through this and he'll
6:54
Speaker 1: be a productive major league power hitter. What are you
6:56
Speaker 1: seeing from him?
6:58
Speaker 2: Yeah, I I you know, first of all, he's got
7:00
Speaker 2: the big league body.
7:01
Speaker 3: He's tall, he's you know, he's freaking jack out of
7:04
Speaker 3: his mind when he swings his back, knees almost on
7:08
Speaker 3: the ground, so you know that he's using his base,
7:10
Speaker 3: he's in his legs.
7:13
Speaker 2: I think he's going to be just fine.
7:14
Speaker 3: I think, you know, the strikeout thing is going to
7:17
Speaker 3: carry with him until he proves to everybody that he
7:19
Speaker 3: can make those adjustments. But I'm excited to see how
7:23
Speaker 3: this guy's big league career shapes out.
7:26
Speaker 1: And you know what I mean, big league power hitters
7:28
Speaker 1: strike out a lot. That's just part of the way
7:31
Speaker 1: baseball is. There's no question about it. When you watch
7:36
Speaker 1: a young guy like that, do you think about your
7:39
Speaker 1: old career in those early days when you first came up.
7:42
Speaker 1: Does that bring back memories for you?
7:44
Speaker 2: Yeah? I think watching him.
7:46
Speaker 3: You know another one that you know, takes me back
7:49
Speaker 3: to the good old days, is watching Burley, watching Burley's
7:53
Speaker 3: at bats, because you know, we're both power hitting, left
7:56
Speaker 3: handed first baseman. I really really enjoy watching early play.
8:01
Speaker 3: But yeah, watching watching the young guys, this whole team,
8:03
Speaker 3: Watching this whole team takes me back, you know, to
8:07
Speaker 3: my time with the Cardinals and we had a great
8:09
Speaker 3: group of young guys as well that we were just
8:11
Speaker 3: going out and having fun. So yeah, you know, I'm
8:13
Speaker 3: able to insert myself back into those memories and in
8:16
Speaker 3: those moments and and kind of relive my career watching
8:20
Speaker 3: these guys play the game the right way.
8:23
Speaker 1: I'm just curious where that first home run ball off walls,
8:26
Speaker 1: where it is, where you have it presented in your
8:29
Speaker 1: man cave? Do you have that ball on display somewhere
8:33
Speaker 1: in your compound in your.
8:34
Speaker 3: Yeah, I wouldn't go compound quite yet, Kat, But uh
8:39
Speaker 3: I we got a wine cellar downstairs with some memorabili
8:42
Speaker 3: in it, right off my my wife's studio gym. So yeah,
8:47
Speaker 3: it's uh, it's in a case, it's you know, it's
8:50
Speaker 3: got an inscription on it, so it's it's definitely uh, definitely,
8:54
Speaker 3: you know, proudly displayed uh in uh in Big Cities
8:59
Speaker 3: wind cellar, that's for sure.
9:01
Speaker 2: All right.
9:02
Speaker 1: We're gonna call it a man cave because it doesn't
9:04
Speaker 1: sound tough enough to call it a wine cellar. Big
9:07
Speaker 1: city has a man cave. Hey, by the way, great
9:09
Speaker 1: time of year, and if you're looking for stuff to do, right,
9:14
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9:16
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9:26
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9:30
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9:34
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9:35
Speaker 2: Of course we do.
9:37
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9:41
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9:44
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9:49
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9:55
Speaker 1: so let's talk a little Cardinal baseball right now. One
9:59
Speaker 1: thing about this ball club that we saw early on
10:01
Speaker 1: is they punch back. And that's cliche, except this team
10:06
Speaker 1: always punches back. They get knocked down, they get off
10:10
Speaker 1: the mat.
10:11
Speaker 2: Right.
10:11
Speaker 1: It looked right around the trade deadline that they were
10:14
Speaker 1: exhaling and that might be all she wrote. Not the case,
10:19
Speaker 1: because you're playing really good baseball, played some really good
10:22
Speaker 1: teams during that stretch too, three games over five hundred.
10:26
Speaker 1: There are three games now out of the wild card.
10:30
Speaker 1: This is a team that's sold a lot of important
10:32
Speaker 1: pieces at the deadline to build up their Stockpilo, young talent.
10:37
Speaker 1: Just your sense of where the Cardinals are and what
10:40
Speaker 1: you're seeing from them right now, Big City.
10:43
Speaker 3: I love this team, you know, like you said, Kat,
10:46
Speaker 3: they're never out of it and they're always fighting back.
10:49
Speaker 3: No matter what the run differential is with this team,
10:54
Speaker 3: they're always clawing back until that last doubts recorded. These
10:58
Speaker 3: guys are in it, in it to win it, and
11:01
Speaker 3: like you said, they're three games out of the wildcard spots,
11:04
Speaker 3: so anything's up up for graduate now. This is an
11:07
Speaker 3: exciting time of the season, about a month and a
11:10
Speaker 3: half left of the regular season, and you know, some
11:12
Speaker 3: of these teams that are ahead of them, they're playing
11:15
Speaker 3: so you know, they carry their own future. They keep
11:21
Speaker 3: playing the style baseball that they've been playing all season long.
11:25
Speaker 3: I think we're going to see this Cardinal team in
11:28
Speaker 3: a wildcard spot going into the postseason. So yeah, super
11:31
Speaker 3: excited about this team. Uh, super excited with what him's done.
11:35
Speaker 3: You know, after the trade deadline, we got the number
11:38
Speaker 3: two ranked the minor league system in all of baseball.
11:41
Speaker 3: So you know, the Cardinals' future is you know rising
11:47
Speaker 3: for sure.
11:48
Speaker 1: It's unbelievable to me that they can make those deals
11:52
Speaker 1: and all of a sudden based on Hine's ability to
11:56
Speaker 1: acquire young town. I always say this, it's the most
12:00
Speaker 1: important currency in baseball is young, controllable talent. They've stockpiled
12:04
Speaker 1: that that minor league system while they continue to play
12:08
Speaker 1: well with the assets they have at the big league level.
12:12
Speaker 1: Right now, they're chasing San Diego. San Diego's got that
12:15
Speaker 1: dirt spot playing very good baseball, and they're also chasing Arizona.
12:19
Speaker 1: And I can see Arizona cowers get a little tight
12:22
Speaker 1: for Arizona because the Cardinals play that kind of baseball
12:27
Speaker 1: where you just don't know what you're gonna get. They've
12:30
Speaker 1: beaten some good pitchers, right and every once in a while. Look,
12:33
Speaker 1: they're gonna have a game where they make some mistakes
12:36
Speaker 1: and it's gonna cost them a little bit. But this
12:38
Speaker 1: is just a team that doesn't give up and I
12:41
Speaker 1: think that's been their mo since early on in the season.
12:44
Speaker 1: They punch back. Do you think this is the kind
12:46
Speaker 1: of team? And and the thing is too, with their
12:50
Speaker 1: starting pitching has been really solid. To me, that's the
12:54
Speaker 1: most important thing in baseball. You get good starting pitching,
12:58
Speaker 1: middle of the lineup gets hot, you're gonna scare some
13:00
Speaker 1: teams as you push towards the postseason.
13:04
Speaker 3: One hundred percent, and especially the the the way that
13:07
Speaker 3: they're playing with confidence. They've they've played it all season long,
13:10
Speaker 3: and your point, cat, they've they've done it. But you know,
13:14
Speaker 3: we've been getting really good starting pitching so far. The
13:17
Speaker 3: offense is heating up, scoring runs. Riley O'Brien on the
13:21
Speaker 3: back end of the bullpen, he's he's locked down. You know,
13:23
Speaker 3: he's leading the league or the National League in saves.
13:28
Speaker 3: You know, he's hot right now. I just I think
13:30
Speaker 3: if if you can continue to click on all cylinders
13:34
Speaker 3: like they are right now, starting pitching, offense, defense, you know,
13:37
Speaker 3: he got Mason and JJ up the middle of that
13:39
Speaker 3: that ball on the ground up, the middle of that
13:40
Speaker 3: ball is getting caught and somebody's getting thrown out at
13:42
Speaker 3: first base.
13:43
Speaker 2: With those two, outfield is locked down.
13:46
Speaker 3: So, you know, I'm really really liking where this team's
13:49
Speaker 3: at right now, going in into the last month and
13:52
Speaker 3: a half of the season, and and they're playing great baseball.
13:55
Speaker 3: They're taking care of the baseball and defense, they're moving runners,
13:58
Speaker 3: they're pushing runners across the plate, they're just they're you know,
14:01
Speaker 3: Allie and his staff's got this team right where they
14:03
Speaker 3: need to be moving forward to the postseason.
14:07
Speaker 1: And back to the pitching. You know, they had a
14:10
Speaker 1: lot of young guys that aren't used to going the
14:13
Speaker 1: full boat, full season as an MLB starter. This is
14:17
Speaker 1: a time where it's supposed to be heaving and era's right,
14:22
Speaker 1: not the case. Let's talk about Kyle Lady. He goes
14:26
Speaker 1: five innings yesterday, pitchcount gets high, so he only goes five.
14:31
Speaker 1: They're watching these guys innings anyway, but it's five scoreless.
14:35
Speaker 1: This guy has ten straight games, ten straight games where
14:39
Speaker 1: he's given up two earned runs or less. We're talking
14:42
Speaker 1: about an ERA of about one point three maybe, And
14:45
Speaker 1: this is a guy who's in his first year as
14:48
Speaker 1: a starter in Major League Baseball. How impressive has he been?
14:51
Speaker 2: Yeah? Super impressive.
14:53
Speaker 3: I think he's one of those guys that you know
14:57
Speaker 3: when it's his start day, guys are chomping at the
14:59
Speaker 3: bit to get out there and get the game started,
15:01
Speaker 3: to play, play some defense behind him because they know
15:03
Speaker 3: that the stuff's there, it's it's gonna be a quality start.
15:08
Speaker 3: So yeah, super excited with what he's put together this
15:11
Speaker 3: season so far. Like you said, last ten ten games
15:15
Speaker 3: in a row, two runs or less. He's not one
15:17
Speaker 3: of those guys that's going to overpower you, but he
15:19
Speaker 3: knows how to pitch. He stays on the corners, his offspeeds,
15:25
Speaker 3: you know, electric. I just I think this is a
15:27
Speaker 3: guy that really really understands how to get big league
15:30
Speaker 3: hitters out, and it's showing throughout the course of the
15:34
Speaker 3: especially those last ten games that he's put up. So
15:37
Speaker 3: I'm really excited with what Kyle's done so far this
15:40
Speaker 3: year and look forward to what he can do the
15:42
Speaker 3: rest of the season.
15:44
Speaker 1: He's also one of those guys, he told me, has
15:46
Speaker 1: always had like a rubber arm, and we're up to him.
15:48
Speaker 1: When he was in the bullpen, he pitched every day.
15:51
Speaker 1: They wouldn't let him, so he loves this. His arm
15:53
Speaker 1: is strong, and he told me some about learning to
15:57
Speaker 1: be a major league pitcher. He said, you know, from
16:00
Speaker 1: the other guys in the rotation, from Dusty Blake and
16:03
Speaker 1: the coaching staff, He's learned about nutrition, He's learned how
16:07
Speaker 1: what sleep he needs. He said, he changed everything. And
16:10
Speaker 1: he said he can't even remember who he was when
16:14
Speaker 1: he was a bullpen guy, and he was a pretty
16:16
Speaker 1: effective bullpen guy. But that's I guess part of what
16:19
Speaker 1: you have to do to get to the next level
16:22
Speaker 1: in Major League Baseball. You probably went through that too
16:25
Speaker 1: as a hitter. Knowing the grind of the season, you
16:28
Speaker 1: better change around some things if you want success.
16:31
Speaker 3: One hundred percent, and like that's you know, I wish
16:33
Speaker 3: I would have done it sooner. But you know, going
16:36
Speaker 3: into that offseason before the twenty seventeen season, I lost
16:40
Speaker 3: thirty eight pounds, you know, thirteen percent body fat. Changed
16:44
Speaker 3: up my my you know, my weightlifting routine started, pilates,
16:48
Speaker 3: you know, started eating right, started taking care of my body, started,
16:52
Speaker 3: you know, taking a little bit more seriously than what
16:54
Speaker 3: I did the past few years. And you know that
16:57
Speaker 3: that changed the course of my career. I prolonged my career.
17:00
Speaker 3: So having this guy do this the first year as
17:03
Speaker 3: a starting pitcher, it's gonna be huge for his career.
17:07
Speaker 3: You know, it's all about coming up with that right routine,
17:10
Speaker 3: figuring out what works for you, because what works for
17:12
Speaker 3: Kyle is not gonna work for Livy, you know, and
17:15
Speaker 3: so forth, so on and so forth. So you know,
17:18
Speaker 3: it's really really shows the you know, the maturity that
17:21
Speaker 3: he went through to get to where he is today,
17:25
Speaker 3: figuring out that routine and figuring out what works for him.
17:28
Speaker 1: Earlier on, you mentioned you know how you kind of
17:32
Speaker 1: look at Burley and think about yourself. Let's talk about
17:35
Speaker 1: Alec Burlison, who's putting together a remarkable season. Look, Walker
17:40
Speaker 1: is too. There's a bunch of guys that I think
17:42
Speaker 1: had their coming out party this year where we see
17:45
Speaker 1: what they are as major leaguers. Burley had a bad
17:49
Speaker 1: game yesterday. He only had one hit.
17:51
Speaker 2: How dare he?
17:52
Speaker 1: But the numbers are ridiculous. To eighty nine to twenty
17:55
Speaker 1: one Homers leeds the league with ninety two. Ribby's three doubles.
18:01
Speaker 1: And here's the thing. I think, big city and you're
18:03
Speaker 1: a first baseman by trade. This guy scoops everything. This
18:07
Speaker 1: guy makes the right throw when the first basement's called
18:10
Speaker 1: a bunk to throw, which isn't all that often. I
18:13
Speaker 1: think he's gonna be a gold Glover. What do you think?
18:16
Speaker 3: I I think he absolutely should get that gold patch
18:19
Speaker 3: on his glove. I you know, I'm I've always been
18:22
Speaker 3: this way. I'm envious of left handed first basements because
18:25
Speaker 3: they just make the position look so smooth and so easy.
18:28
Speaker 3: And you know that that one. You know, that position
18:31
Speaker 3: is not easy at all. You're involved in pretty much
18:34
Speaker 3: every play, but uh, Burley can. Burley looks like he
18:37
Speaker 3: can do it in a sleep out there. Like you said,
18:39
Speaker 3: he's putting together a great, great year, both offensively and defensively.
18:44
Speaker 3: The biggest thing is, you know, the trust that you
18:48
Speaker 3: know his fellow infielders have when they throw the ball
18:50
Speaker 3: to him. Like you said, he can pick anything. You know,
18:53
Speaker 3: Blaze had one yesterday where you know, is is a
18:57
Speaker 3: tough short hop, maybe too hot over there to first
19:02
Speaker 3: and Burley just made it, made the pick like it
19:04
Speaker 3: was nothing. So when when you have a guy at
19:07
Speaker 3: first base that can pick it those you know, second
19:10
Speaker 3: basement shorts out third base, they know, let me just
19:13
Speaker 3: get it in his vicinity and that that's going.
19:14
Speaker 2: To be an out. So yeah, super super excited.
19:19
Speaker 3: For the season that Burley's putting together, and you know,
19:21
Speaker 3: hopefully he can continue this on the last month and
19:24
Speaker 3: month and a half of the season, and you know,
19:26
Speaker 3: put together a great, great season both offensively defensive, get
19:30
Speaker 3: that gold glove, get Ano their silver slugger, and help
19:33
Speaker 3: this team get in the postseason.
19:36
Speaker 1: So I think I don't think he's gonna get enough
19:39
Speaker 1: credit defensively because he's a big guy. He looks like
19:43
Speaker 1: a power hitting first baseman. You went through that too,
19:46
Speaker 1: where people, wow, he's not an athlete. Look, I saw
19:49
Speaker 1: you do this thing with Cam Jansen for a radio
19:52
Speaker 1: station that's now.
19:54
Speaker 2: Got rest of.
19:55
Speaker 1: Soul went under, Right, But you were an athlete, Like
19:58
Speaker 1: I watched you shoot, I watch you shoot basketball, so
20:01
Speaker 1: I watch you play ping pong, do a bunch of
20:03
Speaker 1: other stuff. Right, you're an athlete. Burley's an athlete. And
20:06
Speaker 1: I think there's a stigma with let's get Look, I'm
20:10
Speaker 1: not talking to you. Guys don't look like battle arenas
20:14
Speaker 1: at first base. And I sometimes wonder do you guys
20:17
Speaker 1: get enough credit? Like Burley is an athlete. You could
20:20
Speaker 1: see him the quickness when he has to make him
20:23
Speaker 1: play at first with a tag. I don't know if
20:25
Speaker 1: he's going to get enough credit because he doesn't look
20:28
Speaker 1: like he should be that athletic. Am I wrong?
20:30
Speaker 2: Right?
20:31
Speaker 3: I mean, the the one play that you know sticks
20:34
Speaker 3: in my mind most recently was the line drive double
20:36
Speaker 3: play that he got Harper at first base. He caught
20:40
Speaker 3: the ball and he took two quick steps dove and
20:42
Speaker 3: tag him.
20:43
Speaker 2: If you're not an athlete, you're not making that play.
20:47
Speaker 3: So yeah, I think to your point, Kat, I think
20:49
Speaker 3: he you know, he does kind of he doesn't get
20:53
Speaker 3: the credit that he deserves out there at first base,
20:56
Speaker 3: but you know, watching his footwork around the bag, going
21:00
Speaker 3: into the whole, the way that he communicates with JJ,
21:03
Speaker 3: he I think he's an all around great player on
21:06
Speaker 3: both sides of the game. But yeah, I hope that
21:10
Speaker 3: more people can you know, appreciate what Burley does for
21:14
Speaker 3: the position at first base, and you know, he plays
21:16
Speaker 3: it great.
21:18
Speaker 2: So yeah, I.
21:18
Speaker 3: Hope that, you know, moving forward, that that big guys
21:22
Speaker 3: can can lose that, you know, stigmatism of being labeled
21:26
Speaker 3: a non athlete.
21:27
Speaker 2: If you're big, Burley's definitely an athlete.
21:30
Speaker 3: You know, I'm not going to my own horn, but
21:32
Speaker 3: I want to say that, you know, later on in
21:35
Speaker 3: my career, I got a little bit more athletic than
21:37
Speaker 3: what I was whenever I was heavier.
21:39
Speaker 2: But big guys can still be athletic.
21:43
Speaker 1: I got to tell you this about Burley and then
21:45
Speaker 1: where you go to break so just so fans can
21:48
Speaker 1: know who he is. Like you could talk about guys
21:52
Speaker 1: that go three for four with a homer right and
21:55
Speaker 1: they're high five. Burley is the guy focused on that
21:59
Speaker 1: one at bat where he didn't get a base hit, Like,
22:02
Speaker 1: he wears that and he's serious about some of it's
22:05
Speaker 1: for you know, some guys it's for show. Oh I
22:08
Speaker 1: should have No, he's thinking about that one at back.
22:11
Speaker 1: This guy wants to be great and he's starting to
22:13
Speaker 1: live up to him. It's fun to see. He's a
22:15
Speaker 1: fun player to watch. We're gonna take a break here.
22:17
Speaker 1: You're watching Cardinal Territory on the Foul Territory Network.
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23:22
Speaker 1: Our guest on Cardinal Territory is Big City, Big Media,
23:27
Speaker 1: Matt Adams, one of our favorites. The last thing I
23:30
Speaker 1: wanted to hit on is Brent Brown and his staff.
23:35
Speaker 1: He's the hitting coach of the Cardinals. And look, we've
23:38
Speaker 1: seen breakout years from a lot of guys, you know,
23:40
Speaker 1: including Jordan Walker. Was a process and now the guy
23:44
Speaker 1: is living up to and it's great to see I
23:46
Speaker 1: just wanted. You're a veteran of ten major league seasons.
23:50
Speaker 1: I think the hitting coach is one of the most
23:54
Speaker 1: thankless jobs in all of baseball because when the team
23:58
Speaker 1: starts hitting, no one says, hey, that hitting coach is great.
24:03
Speaker 1: But if a team is slumping offensively, everyone wants to
24:07
Speaker 1: fire the hitting coach. I've been around a while too,
24:09
Speaker 1: and I know that the hitting coach, especially this step
24:12
Speaker 1: with the Cardinals.
24:13
Speaker 2: I mean the.
24:14
Speaker 1: Video of the analytics. These guys prep every player for
24:17
Speaker 1: every at bat, and it's unbelievable the amount of work
24:21
Speaker 1: they put in. I mean, they don't show up an
24:23
Speaker 1: hour or two before. They're there all day getting their
24:27
Speaker 1: guys ready. But every hitter has their own guy. It
24:32
Speaker 1: could be a guy that coached him in college, high school.
24:36
Speaker 1: Who knows, right, how do you balance that you're a
24:40
Speaker 1: major league hitter. You're listening to the big league hitting coach,
24:43
Speaker 1: but who is your guy? Didn't you have a guy that,
24:46
Speaker 1: if you weren't in a good place at the plate,
24:48
Speaker 1: you'd call and check in with and say, what are
24:50
Speaker 1: you seeing? Who was that guy for you?
24:52
Speaker 2: Yeah?
24:52
Speaker 3: That guy was you know, he was from my hometown.
24:56
Speaker 3: You know, I grew up, started hitting lessons with him.
24:58
Speaker 3: He played minor league ball from my hometown in Pennsylvania.
25:04
Speaker 3: I started working with him whenever I was eleven years old.
25:07
Speaker 3: Whenever I you know, it was in baseball season, I'd
25:09
Speaker 3: go hit with him. So he he saw me grow, uh,
25:14
Speaker 3: from eleven years old into high school, into college, into
25:17
Speaker 3: the minor leagues, and then you know, watching watching me
25:20
Speaker 3: play you know, on TV, at at the major league level.
25:23
Speaker 3: So he understood my body, understood my swing, he understood
25:27
Speaker 3: we were able to have conversations. So the biggest thing
25:30
Speaker 3: for me that helped was my hitting coaches, you know
25:34
Speaker 3: with the Cardinals. Big Mac was my first one, and
25:37
Speaker 3: then I had Mades Benji Molina, Uh, you.
25:41
Speaker 2: Know those guys.
25:43
Speaker 3: I was able to take what they were giving me,
25:45
Speaker 3: uh and relay that with my guy. And we were
25:48
Speaker 3: all three of us, you know, me, my guy back home,
25:52
Speaker 3: and then my hitting coaches with the Cardinals.
25:53
Speaker 2: We're all on the same page.
25:55
Speaker 3: I think that's whenever the relationship works so well as
25:58
Speaker 3: a big league hitters. Whenever you if you do have
26:01
Speaker 3: your own hitting guy back home or wherever, whether it
26:04
Speaker 3: was in college or you know, wherever your past crossed
26:07
Speaker 3: to start. As long as you can communicate with the
26:10
Speaker 3: big league hitting coaches are wanting from you from with
26:13
Speaker 3: your guy, then then I think that's a great, great
26:17
Speaker 3: place to be. You know, I'm a big believer in
26:20
Speaker 3: great communication is key no matter what position you're in,
26:24
Speaker 3: whether you're a player, whether you're a coach, front office member.
26:27
Speaker 3: If you have good communication, you know you're going to
26:29
Speaker 3: get the most out of your players and and so forth.
26:33
Speaker 3: So I think that that is the biggest thing, hands down,
26:37
Speaker 3: if you have your own hitting guys and just making
26:39
Speaker 3: sure that you know you're looping the big league hitting
26:42
Speaker 3: coaches in with with what you.
26:43
Speaker 2: And your guy are talking about. That's what worked so
26:45
Speaker 2: well for me.
26:47
Speaker 1: Great stuff, Big City. I gotta tell you, every time
26:50
Speaker 1: I talk to you, I feel a little smarter. You
26:52
Speaker 1: do a great job, and thanks for coming.
26:55
Speaker 2: On, my friend. I appreciate it. Thanks for having me.
26:58
Speaker 1: That's gonna do it for this edition of Cardinal Territory.
27:01
Speaker 1: We'll see you for the next episode, and hopefully that
27:04
Speaker 1: one won't suck.