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Cardinals vs. Twins: Opening Day series preview · Cardinal Territory: A St. Louis Cardinals Podcast

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Hey friends, welcome back to Cardinal Territory.
• 0:07
  Speaker 2: I'm your host, Katie Wu and with me is the
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: one and only Dan Hayes, the Twins writer for the
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: Athletic Great Teammate even better friend of mine. We have
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: two technically opening day shows for you this week. One
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: will be with Bernie that's coming out on Wednesday. But today, Tuesday,
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: March twenty fifth, Dan is so kind to share his
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: outlook for the Minnesota Twins and what we can expect
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: on opening Day on Thursday.
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: Dan, how are you.
• 0:34
  Speaker 3: I'm good? Oh you left off on my title. I'm
• 0:36
  Speaker 3: now the president of Hot Dish Networks. It's just it's
• 0:41
  Speaker 3: a new president CEO.
• 0:42
  Speaker 4: I just took. I took a leadership role on just
• 0:45
  Speaker 4: this week.
• 0:46
  Speaker 3: It's an inside joke for Twins fans who are probably
• 0:49
  Speaker 3: not watching, but yeah, it's a They have some amazing
• 0:53
  Speaker 3: television networks that were you know, they're MLB. This year
• 0:57
  Speaker 3: they're streaming on MLB, so we have all Bunyan television
• 1:01
  Speaker 3: is a real thing, Like I had to together day
• 1:04
  Speaker 3: or put that on social media the other today, they
• 1:06
  Speaker 3: were the first network to sign up to guarantee Twins television.
• 1:10
  Speaker 3: So exciting times. I am now the president and CEO
• 1:13
  Speaker 3: of Hot Dish Networks. It's pretty incredible week here, so
• 1:17
  Speaker 3: excited to you know, come celebrate in Saint Louis.
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: Well, unfortunately that title did not make the very celebratory
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: graphic that I made for you in the last five seconds,
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: So sorry about that. Well, Dan Hayes, I am just
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: thinking you are still in Florida. From the looks of it,
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: looks like you're in like the Twins media press box
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: right now.
• 1:37
  Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, hanging out? What's that?
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: Will you get to Saint Louis.
• 1:45
  Speaker 3: I will get to Saint Louis sometime around eight o'clock
• 1:48
  Speaker 3: Tuesday night.
• 1:49
  Speaker 4: Yes, eight o'clock. Yes, should be very exciting.
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: I will have a double buckpisode already for you after
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: the media media day to Wednesday. I have no idea
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: what data is or what is going on, and I
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: am running out of time to get ready for opening Day.
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: I don't know if you feel the same.
• 2:07
  Speaker 4: Yet.
• 2:07
  Speaker 3: It's running tomorrow morning. It'll run around the same time
• 2:11
  Speaker 3: this airs. I haven't written my season preview yet, so yes,
• 2:15
  Speaker 3: running out of time. This is what spring training is.
• 2:17
  Speaker 3: It's a mess at the end, it's a cluster at
• 2:19
  Speaker 3: the end.
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: Yes, And I thought with like a couple of built
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: in days, I would be able to have my life together.
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: I do not, so hopefully the Cardinals and the Twins
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: are shaping up a little bit better than we are,
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: because but I mean, what if you expect from us?
• 2:32
  Speaker 4: Come on?
• 2:33
  Speaker 3: They know they just like that's why everybody just generally
• 2:37
  Speaker 3: laughs when they see us, and they know that the
• 2:40
  Speaker 3: show that's about to unfold when when we arrive, say
• 2:45
  Speaker 3: what you want?
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: We are at least entertaining. Let's let's talk a little
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: bit about the upcoming baseball series. Nothing says baseball season
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: like an interleague series to start the year. Cardinals will
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: have Sunny Gray against Pablo Lopez for the Twins on
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: a Thursday of three fifteen, and start off day Friday
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: and then day games on Saturday and Sunday. Dan, what's
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: been the story for the Minnesota Twins. What do the
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: Cardinals need to know coming into this first series of
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: the year.
• 3:11
  Speaker 3: I you know, like the injuries that popped up a
• 3:14
  Speaker 3: little bit here at the end of camp for the Twins.
• 3:16
  Speaker 3: Royce Lewis won't play, brooks Lee won't play. They're both
• 3:19
  Speaker 3: going to start on the IL rock Stewart went on
• 3:22
  Speaker 3: the al. That's not necessarily as unexpected, but that's been
• 3:25
  Speaker 3: the story for the Twins for a long time.
• 3:27
  Speaker 4: Just the fact is can they stay healthy?
• 3:30
  Speaker 3: Will they Byron Buxton Carlos Carres had planner fasciatus in
• 3:33
  Speaker 3: each foot the last couple of years. Royce Lewis has
• 3:36
  Speaker 3: missed so much time. It's really going to be the
• 3:39
  Speaker 3: defining factor for the twins. Can they stay healthy? And
• 3:41
  Speaker 3: last year with Sonny Gray gone, the rotation really fell
• 3:46
  Speaker 3: apart because of the injuries. You know, they traded for
• 3:49
  Speaker 3: Anthony d. Sclaffani. He didn't ever throw a pitch for them.
• 3:53
  Speaker 3: He got hurt in spring training. Chris Paddock was sort
• 3:55
  Speaker 3: of he was coming off of eighteen combined innings and
• 3:59
  Speaker 3: rehabbing and pitching in twenty twenty three. They were expecting
• 4:02
  Speaker 3: him to throw like one hundred innings. He made it
• 4:04
  Speaker 3: to eighty. Then he went out for the season, and
• 4:06
  Speaker 3: then Joe Ryan went down. So injuries have really crushed them.
• 4:10
  Speaker 3: I mean, all of a sudden, they had three rookies
• 4:12
  Speaker 3: in a Pennant race and that's why they went twelve
• 4:14
  Speaker 3: and twenty seven down the stretch. They had no Korea
• 4:16
  Speaker 3: for a while after he made the All Star team.
• 4:19
  Speaker 3: So if they can escape the injury bug, this is
• 4:21
  Speaker 3: a really talented team. But at the you know, it's
• 4:24
  Speaker 3: not a great start just to see those injuries. But
• 4:27
  Speaker 3: at the same time, they're still a very healthy team here.
• 4:29
  Speaker 3: The rotation is probably benefiting from the fact that all
• 4:32
  Speaker 3: those guys got hurt last year. I think the rotation
• 4:34
  Speaker 3: is one of the stronger ones in the Ale Center.
• 4:38
  Speaker 3: In the Ale Central, definitely is it probably even projects
• 4:41
  Speaker 3: it would be a top ten rotation in baseball. So
• 4:44
  Speaker 3: they're in decent shape, but they're still a little bit
• 4:47
  Speaker 3: beat up coming in and you know that's gonna we'll
• 4:50
  Speaker 3: see what they're capable of.
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: I feel like the Cardinals and the Twins have at
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: least last year a bit of a similar path, right
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: They've been eight for the Twins last year, Cardinals Brady
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: three to seventy nine, cut like right around five hundred.
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: The Ale Central ended up being very competitive and Central
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: not so much. But when you're looking at all the
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: divisions in baseball, I think the Ale Central and L
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: Central are usually the ones that are kind of like
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: on the lower level of the pedestal. No one's really
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: talking about them, and the Twins have a bunch of
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: issues kind of going on off the field, are looking
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: to sell the team. How what do you think of
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: Twins fan morale coming into the season, and how does
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: the threat or the looming sense of the team being
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: sold impact that.
• 5:33
  Speaker 4: Yeah, we just did that poll, that fan poll with
• 5:37
  Speaker 4: the athletic.
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: And I think I do that one.
• 5:39
  Speaker 4: I kind of. I didn't either.
• 5:42
  Speaker 3: I did not know, but I think they did some
• 5:44
  Speaker 3: based off fan morale and based off van morale. The
• 5:47
  Speaker 3: Twins were picked forth in the division, which you know,
• 5:50
  Speaker 3: I mean, honestly, if they if they're healthy, I think
• 5:53
  Speaker 3: they win this division. But it just speaks to where
• 5:56
  Speaker 3: the fan base is. Two years ago, Twins fans rejacked
• 6:00
  Speaker 3: like they had won their first playoff series in twenty
• 6:03
  Speaker 3: one years. They won their first playoff game since two
• 6:05
  Speaker 3: thousand and two ls or two thousand and four in
• 6:09
  Speaker 3: the playoff game. But you know, they draw sellout crowds.
• 6:13
  Speaker 3: They look like they're kind of going places. And then
• 6:15
  Speaker 3: ownership cut payroll by thirty million dollars going into last season,
• 6:18
  Speaker 3: which was one of the reasons Sunny Gray ended up
• 6:21
  Speaker 3: with Saint Louis was because the Twins just had no
• 6:24
  Speaker 3: way they could afford him.
• 6:25
  Speaker 4: They it wasn't even.
• 6:26
  Speaker 3: A conversation, it was thank you for your service, We
• 6:29
  Speaker 3: got to move on. That basically killed van morale. I
• 6:33
  Speaker 3: mean last year. Typically when a team wins a division,
• 6:35
  Speaker 3: the next year, they get a boost in payroll, and
• 6:38
  Speaker 3: you know, teams estimate it could be upwards of three
• 6:41
  Speaker 3: hundred thousand tickets, which is a significant amount of money,
• 6:43
  Speaker 3: obviously when the average fan spent something like fifty or
• 6:46
  Speaker 3: sixty bucks at the ballpark. So when you are coming
• 6:49
  Speaker 3: up short on that and they lost attendance from the
• 6:52
  Speaker 3: year before, they they dropped by twenty two thousand fans
• 6:56
  Speaker 3: from the year before. They still have not been above
• 6:58
  Speaker 3: two million fans since twenty nineteen. I'd say fan morale
• 7:01
  Speaker 3: is very low. And you know, just yesterday me Ken
• 7:05
  Speaker 3: Rosenthal Britt GEROLDI wrote a story about how the team
• 7:08
  Speaker 3: is still up for sale, how ownership might not get
• 7:12
  Speaker 3: its priced. They just rejected a one point five billion
• 7:15
  Speaker 3: dollar valuation and they're four under twenty five million in debt.
• 7:20
  Speaker 3: Fans reacted about as you would think. They're not really
• 7:24
  Speaker 3: thrilled right now that the Polout family still owns a team.
• 7:28
  Speaker 3: I think that if a sale happens, it would be
• 7:30
  Speaker 3: great for the next owners because they're not you know,
• 7:33
  Speaker 3: they're not the current ownership. And you know this current ownership,
• 7:38
  Speaker 3: Carl Pohlad bought the team in nineteen eighty four. They
• 7:40
  Speaker 3: won two World Series in eighty seven and ninety one,
• 7:43
  Speaker 3: beating the Cardinals in eighty seven. But that's a long
• 7:47
  Speaker 3: time ago, and I think that fans are just ready
• 7:50
  Speaker 3: to move on. I think the business would benefit from it,
• 7:53
  Speaker 3: and we would probably see more people come in because
• 7:57
  Speaker 3: you know, and I do take with a grain AsSalt.
• 7:59
  Speaker 4: That social media is not the barometer for everything.
• 8:02
  Speaker 3: But at the same time, you know, the vitriol on
• 8:05
  Speaker 3: social media towards the Twins and ownership.
• 8:08
  Speaker 4: Right now it's as high as it's been since I've.
• 8:10
  Speaker 3: Been here, and this is my eighth season, so I
• 8:12
  Speaker 3: know it's it's not a pretty time necessarily, and it's
• 8:16
  Speaker 3: crazy because when you look at the team, people should
• 8:19
  Speaker 3: be excited about this team. Barron Buckston looks healthy, Carlos
• 8:22
  Speaker 3: Correa is coming off an All Star season, the rotation's good,
• 8:25
  Speaker 3: the bullpen's good.
• 8:27
  Speaker 4: They will get royce Lewis back.
• 8:29
  Speaker 3: Like there's a lot to like about this team, and
• 8:31
  Speaker 3: I think fans are just kind of tuning it out
• 8:33
  Speaker 3: right now.
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: Coming from a fan base that I'm covering that seems
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: to be pretty tuned out with the overall direction of
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: the club, I get it. I think you'll be surprised.
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: I mean, have you have you done Opening Day in
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: Sant Louis before?
• 8:47
  Speaker 3: I have not, and I am looking forward to it,
• 8:49
  Speaker 3: so that should be you're here. No, they may have
• 8:55
  Speaker 3: been there before, but I have not. So I've been
• 8:57
  Speaker 3: there only for two trade deadlines. That's right, That's right,
• 9:01
  Speaker 3: John Gant walk across the hall.
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: Oh yeah, both times. The twin that you were here
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: was a Twins trade deadline. I remember the twenty twenty
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: three one. The Twins did not make a trade and
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: the Cardinals were rapid firing people up, and you brought
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: me a sandwich. This is what I'm talking about when
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: I say you're a good teammate and a good friend.
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: Because I was on fumes and I go to my
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: desk and there is a full sandwich there in the
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: press box.
• 9:23
  Speaker 4: Just recommendation. I can't I'm going to go back, but
• 9:26
  Speaker 4: you sent me to the right place.
• 9:28
  Speaker 3: Just put it that way, and I was like this,
• 9:30
  Speaker 3: trade deadlines can be terrible days, and then you can
• 9:33
  Speaker 3: cover the Twins and trade deadlines are a breeze, like
• 9:36
  Speaker 3: we have against in two years, so it's very easy.
• 9:41
  Speaker 3: I'm just sitting there going all right, I'm nothing going
• 9:44
  Speaker 3: on today because that team was so debt and they
• 9:46
  Speaker 3: still won the division. They weren't going to make any
• 9:49
  Speaker 3: moves and we knew it. Those are good days. Those
• 9:51
  Speaker 3: are those are nice trade deadlines. And then then there's
• 9:53
  Speaker 3: the one like last year where we were in New
• 9:55
  Speaker 3: York and you know, just getting to City Field is
• 9:58
  Speaker 3: a is a hike because of where it's located and
• 10:02
  Speaker 3: transferring trains and all that stuff, and man, they didn't
• 10:06
  Speaker 3: make a move last year and fans were just extremely
• 10:09
  Speaker 3: disappointed that the club was too. So yeah, yes, hopefully
• 10:14
  Speaker 3: I think this year we're at home and I can't
• 10:17
  Speaker 3: remember who's in. But if I'm inundata with trade stuff
• 10:21
  Speaker 3: because the team hasn't sold, well will, it could be
• 10:25
  Speaker 3: a very interesting trade deadline this year.
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: So you're you're talking to someone who did not have
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: to do one single thing over the off season except
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: hang out with you at the GM meetings and the
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: winter meetings and one of us got concussed.
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: I'm not going to say.
• 10:38
  Speaker 4: That's probably why I have this job with Hot Dish
• 10:41
  Speaker 4: Networks now is.
• 10:43
  Speaker 3: I created it in the in the throes of a concussion,
• 10:47
  Speaker 3: and that was a freak rainstorm that we all ran into.
• 10:50
  Speaker 3: It was very, very interesting few days in San Antonio.
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: Who would have thought what a place, Dany. Is there
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: a couple of former Cardinals, former Yeah one, former Cardinal one,
• 11:00
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• 11:02
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• 12:07
  Speaker 1: All right. I gotta ask you. I know he was
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: one of your favorites in twenty twenty three. It has
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: not been. It was not a good spring for Sunny Gray.
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: I'll go ahead and read his spring training stat lines
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: with the preface that yes, it's just spring training, but
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: still this is alarming. Four games, four starts, twelve five
• 12:23
  Speaker 2: six ERA twenty earned runs in fourteen and a third innings,
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: and he did not complete five of his last seven
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: innings and his second to last spring start, he appeared
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: in five innings he completed one. I have never seen
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: a pitcher get pulled from four consecutive innings. The most
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: concerning thing for me, Dan is that Sonny's blow has
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: been sitting ninety ninety one. I mean, he topped out
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: at ninety one to seven in his final spring outing
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: of the year, and then, to his credit, came and
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: met with reporters and was, as you know, very candid
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: and honest about what was going on. He said, you know,
• 12:57
  Speaker 2: obviously the ball is not exploding out of my hand
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: right now. What I like to be rearing back throwing
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: ninety three ninety four obviously, absolutely, but that's not happening
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: right now. He said, I might just have to pitch
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: a little different until the velo comes back. What's your
• 13:10
  Speaker 2: read on Sunny Gray when he was with the Twins
• 13:13
  Speaker 2: second in al Cy Young voting, what was he doing well?
• 13:15
  Speaker 2: And does the velo concern you?
• 13:18
  Speaker 3: I mean, if it stays that way in the season,
• 13:20
  Speaker 3: and obviously he can get a little bit from adrenaline,
• 13:23
  Speaker 3: but if he's saying that, obviously he's focused on it
• 13:27
  Speaker 3: himself too. You know, the first year the Twins got
• 13:31
  Speaker 3: him was right after the lockout ended and he was
• 13:34
  Speaker 3: behind schedule, and I know he had told the Reds
• 13:39
  Speaker 3: and like, I can't remember how it worked out, but
• 13:42
  Speaker 3: he showed up having.
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: Is that you or me?
• 13:50
  Speaker 4: In the press box? Here. Okay, okay, great that it's
• 13:58
  Speaker 4: not canceled.
• 13:58
  Speaker 3: It's just gonna cancel our per spring training. Like they
• 14:06
  Speaker 3: made the trade for Sunning the weekend of the lockout ending,
• 14:10
  Speaker 3: so he came on like two days notice. He was
• 14:13
  Speaker 3: well behind schedule, So I sort of remember what it
• 14:16
  Speaker 3: was like when he was off and he was searching
• 14:18
  Speaker 3: for a lot of that season, he got hurt a
• 14:21
  Speaker 3: couple of times, he dealt with stuff, and then the twenty.
• 14:23
  Speaker 4: Twenty three version was so different. It was just strong.
• 14:26
  Speaker 3: It was great velocity, unlike unbelievable season that got him
• 14:31
  Speaker 3: that contract and basically pitched him out of the Twins
• 14:33
  Speaker 3: plans because they they were in such a spot. There
• 14:36
  Speaker 3: was no way he got three and seventy five right
• 14:39
  Speaker 3: from the Cardinals year. They just couldn't afford to do that.
• 14:43
  Speaker 3: Because with where he is age wise, I think they
• 14:47
  Speaker 3: were they believe he could do it. It's not a
• 14:51
  Speaker 3: question of whether or not he could do it. It's
• 14:53
  Speaker 3: just the if you know, time caught up with him.
• 14:56
  Speaker 3: They could not afford that big of a loss, you know,
• 14:59
  Speaker 3: having this gray that was not healthy, not throwing as well,
• 15:04
  Speaker 3: and so they opted to move on. They just really
• 15:06
  Speaker 3: had no choice when he is on, when he's really going,
• 15:10
  Speaker 3: he was so electric.
• 15:11
  Speaker 4: I mean he gave up I think eight home runs
• 15:13
  Speaker 4: that season. It was whatever.
• 15:15
  Speaker 3: His home run rate was the lowest in forever. It
• 15:18
  Speaker 3: was the lowest in baseball that year. He was just
• 15:22
  Speaker 3: incredible the entire way, and you could see the difference
• 15:26
  Speaker 3: between locked in him, healthy him, and the different version.
• 15:30
  Speaker 3: He was still a really good pitcher. In twenty twenty two,
• 15:32
  Speaker 3: he had like a three twenty four eure. He just
• 15:35
  Speaker 3: had trouble going past five innings and Rockabald Delhi had
• 15:39
  Speaker 3: to pull him a bunch because he just didn't have
• 15:41
  Speaker 3: the legs under him for most of that season. So,
• 15:43
  Speaker 3: I mean, Sonny's an honest guy. For him to say
• 15:48
  Speaker 3: that it's not there one, you know he'll figure out
• 15:51
  Speaker 3: a way around it because he just is a hell
• 15:53
  Speaker 3: of a pitcher and a hell of a competitor. So
• 15:56
  Speaker 3: even working with diminished velocity, I think he can still
• 15:59
  Speaker 3: get out. The spring training numbers definitely are alarming. I
• 16:04
  Speaker 3: still always put it least a little bit. I want
• 16:08
  Speaker 3: to see it in that first outing before I make
• 16:10
  Speaker 3: any judgments. Because so many guys don't work with game plans.
• 16:14
  Speaker 3: There's no scouting reports, and so you never know if
• 16:17
  Speaker 3: a guy really is truly working on stuff, and maybe
• 16:19
  Speaker 3: he's trying some stuff out. It'll be interesting to see
• 16:22
  Speaker 3: on opening day. It's not the easiest way to make
• 16:25
  Speaker 3: your to try and break out of something, to go
• 16:28
  Speaker 3: out there and opening day with the you know, entire
• 16:32
  Speaker 3: crowd are and everybody looking for a tone setter to
• 16:34
  Speaker 3: the season. It's a you know, it's a big test,
• 16:38
  Speaker 3: and obviously facing the Twins, you know they're not totally
• 16:42
  Speaker 3: at full strength, but they still have a really good
• 16:44
  Speaker 3: lineup going right now, and it should be kind of
• 16:47
  Speaker 3: interesting to see because you know the difference. If he
• 16:50
  Speaker 3: is on man, he can be a difference maker and
• 16:53
  Speaker 3: if he's not, obviously it can be hurting a team's chances.
• 16:58
  Speaker 2: I like how you said Sonny Gray gave up eight
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: home in that twenty twenty three season. He also gave
• 17:02
  Speaker 2: up eight homers this spring, and they were loud, they
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: were very loud. But I think you're right, and I
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: like what you say about Sonny, who is going to
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: figure out a way to get things done even if
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: the Vello isn't there, And that's what he talked about
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: with us last weekend and Jupiter. He said, yeah, it's
• 17:16
  Speaker 2: gonna look different. But if you looked at how he
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: ended his last start against the Astros this spring, first
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: two innings not good. He didn't get out that second
• 17:22
  Speaker 2: inning and I was like, here we go again. But
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: in the third inning, he completely switched up his pitching plan.
• 17:28
  Speaker 2: His sequencing was different. He threw thirty seven pitches, only
• 17:31
  Speaker 2: six of those were four seam fastballs, so we just
• 17:33
  Speaker 2: kind of used the sweeper, mix the all the breaking pitches,
• 17:36
  Speaker 2: mixing a curve ball every now and then, and it worked.
• 17:38
  Speaker 4: He got out.
• 17:39
  Speaker 2: So yeah, I think that Sunny Gray can go out
• 17:41
  Speaker 2: there on Thursday and still perform. You know, I don't
• 17:43
  Speaker 2: really think he cares who it's against. Sure, it's his
• 17:45
  Speaker 2: former team. I think he cares that it's the home opener,
• 17:49
  Speaker 2: it's opening day. You want to be the tone setter,
• 17:51
  Speaker 2: Like you said, do I expect him to light up
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: the radar gun?
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: Definitely not.
• 17:54
  Speaker 2: But I do think given where he's at in his career,
• 17:57
  Speaker 2: and when he's accomplished, he's earned at least the the leash,
• 18:01
  Speaker 2: if you will, or the benefit of the doubt, where
• 18:03
  Speaker 2: he's gonna I think he'll be able to figure it
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: out now if the Velo after two or three stars.
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: I'm a person where I need to see three stars
• 18:09
  Speaker 2: from a starting pitcher in the regular season before I
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: make any kind of definitive analysis. If the Velo doesn't
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: come up after that third start, then I'm becoming concerned.
• 18:18
  Speaker 3: Yeah, absolutely, I mean, and it's funny guys work themselves
• 18:22
  Speaker 3: into the shape. Currently Bailey over with the Twins is
• 18:24
  Speaker 3: going through sort of the same thing. He's six foot nine,
• 18:28
  Speaker 3: he's a big dude, and he's talked about how his
• 18:30
  Speaker 3: mechanics are out of whack and the ball just isn't
• 18:32
  Speaker 3: coming out of his hand the way he is.
• 18:34
  Speaker 4: But he's a pitcher, and I think Sonny's just a pitcher.
• 18:37
  Speaker 3: And you know the difference when they have spin, when
• 18:39
  Speaker 3: they can manipulate the ball, when they can manipulate batter's
• 18:43
  Speaker 3: eyes with different locations, and he knows enough tricks. And
• 18:47
  Speaker 3: it's funny you say that he doesn't care about the team.
• 18:49
  Speaker 3: He's played for so many teams at this point you
• 18:52
  Speaker 3: just don't get hung up on that kind of stuff.
• 18:54
  Speaker 3: And he's such a fascinating guy, especially with the way
• 18:58
  Speaker 3: he talks in his interviews. It's funny to those were
• 19:02
  Speaker 3: some of my favorite interviews. In the second year was
• 19:04
  Speaker 3: so much better when he knew us a little more
• 19:07
  Speaker 3: and it was you got to know him, he got
• 19:09
  Speaker 3: to know you, and it was you know, coincided with
• 19:14
  Speaker 3: one of the best seasons of his career. So it
• 19:16
  Speaker 3: was a fun version of Sonny to see, especially because
• 19:19
  Speaker 3: he had been so stressed in twenty twenty two being behind.
• 19:23
  Speaker 3: You could tell he was like worried about performing for
• 19:26
  Speaker 3: a new team, and it was a different version in
• 19:29
  Speaker 3: twenty three. So, yeah, if anyone can adapt, they'll be him.
• 19:33
  Speaker 3: And it'll be interesting to see what Pablo Lopez can
• 19:36
  Speaker 3: do on the other side, because he numbers wise, his
• 19:38
  Speaker 3: eras are on six six. He didn't have the greatest spring,
• 19:42
  Speaker 3: but the Twins say, man, he's throwing the ball electric.
• 19:44
  Speaker 3: He's just working on stuff. So, you know, seeing what
• 19:47
  Speaker 3: he can do and if he can have his his
• 19:50
  Speaker 3: era catch up to his FIP, which was you know,
• 19:53
  Speaker 3: a half point different last year. There was some bad luck,
• 19:57
  Speaker 3: but the strikeouts were down. You know what Pablo gives
• 20:00
  Speaker 3: the Twins on opening day and going forward is a
• 20:02
  Speaker 3: huge thing for them because he has the potential to
• 20:05
  Speaker 3: be a top fifteen pitcher in last year. He's more
• 20:07
  Speaker 3: in the thirty range and they need someone to assume
• 20:10
  Speaker 3: that top fifteen role like they had from Pablo in
• 20:12
  Speaker 3: the second half of twenty three and heads from Sunny
• 20:15
  Speaker 3: that entire season.
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: Well, we got one more player we got to check
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: in on.
• 20:20
  Speaker 2: I was talking with a couple of my scribe friends
• 20:23
  Speaker 2: in Saint Louis and we were talking about who was
• 20:25
  Speaker 2: going to get the large the loudest standing ovation on
• 20:28
  Speaker 2: Thursday last year the Cardinals opened against the Marlins, and
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: it was after their disastrous twenty twenty three season.
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: Vibes were low and no joke the player.
• 20:38
  Speaker 2: The person who got the largest standing ovation at Bustam
• 20:41
  Speaker 2: on opening day was opposing manager Skip Schumacher and it
• 20:45
  Speaker 2: was very because it was like between him and Willie
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: McGee for loudest ovations. And I have are the writers
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: have a not so bold prediction that old friend Harrison
• 20:57
  Speaker 2: Bader is going to get the loudest ovation on opening
• 21:00
  Speaker 2: day just because we talked about, you know, the fan
• 21:02
  Speaker 2: morale in Saint Louis is not good. Same with the Twins,
• 21:05
  Speaker 2: but they love them. Sam Harrison, where does he been
• 21:08
  Speaker 2: in with the Twins?
• 21:09
  Speaker 4: This year, he's gonna play a ton. He'll get four
• 21:12
  Speaker 4: hundred played appearances.
• 21:14
  Speaker 3: One thing that they have they have two really good
• 21:18
  Speaker 3: left handed hitting outfielders in Matt Walner and Trevor Larnock,
• 21:21
  Speaker 3: but neither of them is a really good defender. So
• 21:24
  Speaker 3: Harrison Bader is going to see a lot of time
• 21:27
  Speaker 3: coming in being the defensive replacement.
• 21:30
  Speaker 4: One. He'll probably play for Byron bucks and quite a
• 21:33
  Speaker 4: bit Byron Buckston. Just with his injury history.
• 21:36
  Speaker 3: It's been imperative for the Twins to have a guy
• 21:39
  Speaker 3: to step in, and two years ago was Michael A.
• 21:41
  Speaker 3: Taylor and last year Manny Margo was not quite the guy.
• 21:45
  Speaker 3: They made a trade for him late in spring training.
• 21:48
  Speaker 3: It didn't work out. Margo was like, oh for thirty
• 21:50
  Speaker 3: as a pinch hitter.
• 21:51
  Speaker 4: It was terrible. Michael A.
• 21:53
  Speaker 3: Taylor the year before that hit twenty one homers. Wasn't
• 21:56
  Speaker 3: a very good offensive players. Ops plus was like ninety,
• 21:59
  Speaker 3: so he was below average but had power. I think
• 22:01
  Speaker 3: that batter, if he can play great defense and be
• 22:04
  Speaker 3: just somewhere around that like eighty five ninety on the
• 22:08
  Speaker 3: ops plus scale, will win over fans because his style
• 22:11
  Speaker 3: is you know, everybody loves that style of play, the
• 22:14
  Speaker 3: guy that goes and gets dirty, the guy that goes
• 22:16
  Speaker 3: and gets the ball, and the potential for this electric
• 22:21
  Speaker 3: defensive outfield has a chance. Because the Twins also kept
• 22:24
  Speaker 3: Deshaun Kearsey Junior yesterday. The three of them are basically
• 22:28
  Speaker 3: center fielders, and obviously Buckston won a Platinum Glove in
• 22:31
  Speaker 3: twenty seventeen, Bater won a Gold Glove with the Cardinals.
• 22:35
  Speaker 3: Kersey is of that ilk and so the idea that
• 22:38
  Speaker 3: at one point in the game late if the Twins
• 22:41
  Speaker 3: are ahead, all three of them are going to be
• 22:42
  Speaker 3: playing out there. That's gonna be one of the best
• 22:44
  Speaker 3: defensive outfields in baseball this year and if not, in
• 22:48
  Speaker 3: a couple of years.
• 22:48
  Speaker 4: So I think Beater should fit really well.
• 22:51
  Speaker 3: He's talked about liking the idea of coming to Minnesota
• 22:54
  Speaker 3: because it's a hockey town. I don't think he knows
• 22:56
  Speaker 3: that the wild are about third on the depth chart
• 22:58
  Speaker 3: right now because they suck, but he does. He gets
• 23:03
  Speaker 3: the mentality, and I think he thinks his style is
• 23:05
  Speaker 3: gonna fit in. It should very well. Like you knows,
• 23:09
  Speaker 3: he just has tools and fans love those kinds of players,
• 23:12
  Speaker 3: especially the ones that make nice diving catches, so it
• 23:16
  Speaker 3: should be fun to see how he fits in. That
• 23:18
  Speaker 3: was their biggest free agent edition of the offseason. They
• 23:21
  Speaker 3: only spend about ten and a half million dollars, but
• 23:24
  Speaker 3: six of it went to him, and I think he
• 23:26
  Speaker 3: definitely he doesn't have to hit a ton to be
• 23:31
  Speaker 3: valuable for this team. Of course they want him to hit.
• 23:33
  Speaker 3: They would love the guy to play. And it's funny
• 23:37
  Speaker 3: he's already talked about playing left field for the first time.
• 23:40
  Speaker 3: He's only done that, I think twice in the majors.
• 23:43
  Speaker 3: The last time he really did it consistently was at
• 23:46
  Speaker 3: Florida in twenty fifteen or twenty fourteen, whatever year was
• 23:50
  Speaker 3: that they went on to win a national title. Michael
• 23:52
  Speaker 3: Reid played over played over him in center field. I
• 23:55
  Speaker 3: think it is Michael Buddy Reid is the guy's name
• 23:58
  Speaker 3: he played up the trip.
• 24:01
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 24:01
  Speaker 3: He He was the last guy to kind of supplant
• 24:04
  Speaker 3: Harrison Bader as a center fielder, and Baterer is talked
• 24:07
  Speaker 3: about He's.
• 24:08
  Speaker 4: Like, I'm getting used to this.
• 24:09
  Speaker 3: I know Byron Buckston's here, so I think he knows
• 24:12
  Speaker 3: what's expected of him and the Twins know. And it
• 24:15
  Speaker 3: was sort of a good fit coming in, so it
• 24:17
  Speaker 3: should be fun to see how that goes well.
• 24:20
  Speaker 2: I know what will be fun Opening Day. I know
• 24:23
  Speaker 2: you said you've never done it in Saint Louis, and
• 24:25
  Speaker 2: I have to say I've said it before. I'll say,
• 24:27
  Speaker 2: anyone who listens Opening Day in Saint Louis is something special.
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: I know that this might not be the packed house
• 24:33
  Speaker 2: that it usually is, just based on where the fan
• 24:36
  Speaker 2: base is. There are still plenty of tickets available, much
• 24:38
  Speaker 2: to the Cardinal's dismay, but the term of the whole ceremony,
• 24:41
  Speaker 2: the whole vibe around it, it will be great.
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: And what will be even better as that op Day
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: for us on Friday. That's gonna work out really well
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: for you.
• 24:48
  Speaker 3: And I possibly possibly there might be headaches, but you know,
• 24:53
  Speaker 3: like he like, it's funny that these teams played the
• 24:56
  Speaker 3: World Series and now here there are opening up on
• 24:59
  Speaker 3: or matching up Opening Day, and both fan bases are
• 25:03
  Speaker 3: kind of in the same place.
• 25:05
  Speaker 4: It is it is. It's just a weird place to
• 25:08
  Speaker 4: be because and I get it.
• 25:09
  Speaker 3: I get why fans are disgruntled. They there was a
• 25:12
  Speaker 3: TV blackout last year. They still haven't announced where they're
• 25:15
  Speaker 3: going to be on TV right now with a couple
• 25:17
  Speaker 3: of days to go.
• 25:19
  Speaker 4: Yeah, no, I know. And last year what happened was
• 25:22
  Speaker 4: the Diamondbacks, the.
• 25:23
  Speaker 3: Rockies, and the Padres were all through MLB also, and
• 25:27
  Speaker 3: their gels got announced on the last day before opening days.
• 25:31
  Speaker 3: So that's the expectation. But fans, it's just another thing
• 25:34
  Speaker 3: that they're going nuts about. It's it's not a great time,
• 25:38
  Speaker 3: and it's sort of up to this team to come
• 25:40
  Speaker 3: out here and play well and make the fans forget
• 25:43
  Speaker 3: about all that stuff and make it ancillary and just
• 25:46
  Speaker 3: you know, show they're a good team and make people
• 25:48
  Speaker 3: care about them that way, because it has not been
• 25:51
  Speaker 3: a great, pr kind of off season for the Twins.
• 25:54
  Speaker 2: Well, I know another organization we can say that about. Hey, Dan,
• 25:57
  Speaker 2: thank you so much for doing this. You can follow
• 25:59
  Speaker 2: Dan Hayes all great work on the athletic He's also
• 26:01
  Speaker 2: on Twitter slash x whatever at Dan Hayes MLB. Yeah,
• 26:06
  Speaker 2: opening day very soon. We're excited about it.
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: We'll check in.
• 26:10
  Speaker 2: I am excited to see how the Cardinals and Twins
• 26:12
  Speaker 2: fare in this three game set. I'm mostly very excited
• 26:15
  Speaker 2: to see you, my friends. So safe travels to Saint
• 26:17
  Speaker 2: Louis Cardinal Territory. We're back on Wednesday at some point
• 26:21
  Speaker 2: with Bernie Meekliss with our Cardinals Opening Day Preview segment,
• 26:25
  Speaker 2: Part two, breaking down Allie Marvel's Opening day lineup, what
• 26:28
  Speaker 2: that's going to look like, pitching plans, all that good stuff.
• 26:31
  Speaker 2: So for Dan Hayes, I'm Katie Woo. This is Cardinal Territory.
• 26:35
  Speaker 2: Thanks for watching.