Latest / Cardinal Territory: A St. Louis Cardinals Podcast / Give Alec Burleson The Bag, Strong Outing For Matthew Liberatore, WBC To Blame For Paul Skenes?

Transcript

Give Alec Burleson The Bag, Strong Outing For Matthew Liberatore, WBC To Blame For Paul Skenes? · Cardinal Territory: A St. Louis Cardinals Podcast

• 0:06
  Speaker 1: Hello everybody and welcome to another edition of Cardinal Territory.
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Jim Hayes in the guest bedroom. Lance somewhere in his house.
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: And Kyle Gibson is in the shop.
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: What's he wearing? Lance, what's he wearing?
• 0:20
  Speaker 3: He's reminiscing on the team that last sent him home.
• 0:23
  Speaker 3: The team that told him to go home finally. Go
• 0:27
  Speaker 3: home to your family. We don't want you anymore. We
• 0:29
  Speaker 3: don't want you anymore. Go home to your family.
• 0:32
  Speaker 4: Yeah. You know, let's see. I guess it's not quite
• 0:36
  Speaker 4: the year anniversary. I did make it.
• 0:39
  Speaker 5: I'm a couple months past that, but I'm working in
• 0:41
  Speaker 5: the shed. It's a little cooler here in St.
• 0:43
  Speaker 4: Louis.
• 0:45
  Speaker 5: Nothing against the Orioles, but if this one gets a
• 0:47
  Speaker 5: little dirty, it's okay. So it's got a couple oil
• 0:50
  Speaker 5: stains on it already. But would you rather me take
• 0:54
  Speaker 5: it off? I wouldn't be tarps off because I have
• 0:55
  Speaker 5: a shirt underneath it, but we can get rid of
• 0:58
  Speaker 5: it if it's going to distract you.
• 0:59
  Speaker 4: No, it's good. We want you to get cold.
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: We want everyone to be comfortable on this show.
• 1:04
  Speaker 6: All right.
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: The Cardinals wrapping up a three game set as we
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: speak in Pittsburgh. Before we get started, can I just
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: throw this out there? Derek Gould did a piece for
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. We talked to Alec Burleson about
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: an extension. We've talked about it on this podcast before.
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: We think, isn't it time? I'm, Kyle, you're moving, so
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: I'm going to start with Lance. You're making me dizzy. Lance,
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: is it time to give Alec Burleson the bag already?
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: Give him the bag.
• 1:39
  Speaker 3: I think we're going into first year are correct, if
• 1:42
  Speaker 3: I'm not mistaken. So this is the time frame for
• 1:46
  Speaker 3: an extension. And then so I think when he kind
• 1:51
  Speaker 3: of is screams spring training extension for what they've got
• 1:55
  Speaker 3: going on. see where you spend in the offseason, see
• 1:59
  Speaker 3: how your lineup, your ball club comes together. You know
• 2:03
  Speaker 3: what your ARB numbers are going to file at and
• 2:04
  Speaker 3: stuff like that. Here's the truth of the matter. Everybody's
• 2:08
  Speaker 3: waiting to see what the new CBA looks like, if
• 2:11
  Speaker 3: there's going to be a max number of years that
• 2:13
  Speaker 3: you can extend stuff, stuff like that. They're trying to
• 2:16
  Speaker 3: get everything capped on the owner's side. So I think
• 2:21
  Speaker 3: that's where you see some of this stuff going to wait. But, yeah,
• 2:25
  Speaker 3: when you get to spring training, Age-wise, you know, he's
• 2:28
  Speaker 3: going to be 28 next year. So if you're looking
• 2:30
  Speaker 3: at the four- to five-year range, gives you that 32 number,
• 2:35
  Speaker 3: I think that is a safe bet for the Cardinals
• 2:40
  Speaker 3: to extend through that, see what that first year R
• 2:44
  Speaker 3: vial number is on both sides, and then you build
• 2:47
  Speaker 3: the five-year extension off of that. So these things take time.
• 2:54
  Speaker 3: No one wants to play there. play their cards or
• 2:57
  Speaker 3: show their cards right up front. We've got to wait
• 2:59
  Speaker 3: until spring training, see what the new CBA looks like,
• 3:02
  Speaker 3: and then go from there. But, yeah, it screams four
• 3:05
  Speaker 3: or five-year extension right in the middle of spring training
• 3:09
  Speaker 3: next year. I think that's when you'll get it. For
• 3:12
  Speaker 3: his side, their side, or Cardinal's side, there's no need
• 3:15
  Speaker 3: to do it until then, to be honest with you,
• 3:17
  Speaker 3: especially with everything that's going to go on with the CBA. But, yes,
• 3:22
  Speaker 3: I think that the extension– is there, and then that's
• 3:26
  Speaker 3: when the time to do it is.
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: Let's talk about the Cardinals. So they won last night,
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: which is good news. They won 5-1, and Libby, who
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: was coming off a good start, had another good start.
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: He goes 5-2, gave up one run, had six Ks,
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: no walks, which I think is a big deal for Libby.
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: Seemed like he was getting ahead in counts, and I
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: hope Libby, does he get one more start? I don't
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: know if it works out, but I guess he doesn't because.
• 3:55
  Speaker 4: They got four more games left.
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: But this is it.
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: But to finish up strong, we're Libby people. We're Libby people.
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: We're happy for that guy because we think he can
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: find it again. Yeah, and we've kind of talked about
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: it all year. I think if you break down his
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: stats throughout the year, you're looking at two-thirds of his
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: starts are in the quality category, right? And that's part
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: of being young and figuring out the next step. Does
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: he have four years in the major leagues? Yes, but
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: he hasn't had, this is his second full year really
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: doing it.
• 4:29
  Speaker 3: The numbers are what they are this year, ERA wise
• 4:32
  Speaker 3: and stuff like that. We keep the ball in the
• 4:34
  Speaker 3: ballpark a little bit more. We get ahead a little
• 4:36
  Speaker 3: bit more. We get ourselves in pitchers counts. That comes
• 4:39
  Speaker 3: with confidence, game planning and doing it. I think we've
• 4:44
  Speaker 3: all kind of, Put him in the same category as Palante.
• 4:48
  Speaker 3: We're now going into our third year of starting. So
• 4:52
  Speaker 3: next year is the year where I hope to really
• 4:54
  Speaker 3: where we see the step forward where he can become
• 4:57
  Speaker 3: a bona fide number three, right? If he becomes anything
• 5:01
  Speaker 3: more than that, that is awesome. But we need you
• 5:04
  Speaker 3: to be a solid number three starter that we can
• 5:07
  Speaker 3: count on taking the ball, which he stays healthy. So
• 5:09
  Speaker 3: that's number one thing that he's already got. Now we
• 5:12
  Speaker 3: figure out how to make that a, hey, how are
• 5:14
  Speaker 3: you a high three ERA guy, and we can average
• 5:18
  Speaker 3: six innings a start and kind of keep the blowup
• 5:22
  Speaker 3: games out of there. And then that's all it is.
• 5:25
  Speaker 3: You look at some of his starts. If he keeps
• 5:26
  Speaker 3: some of the blowup games out of there, which is
• 5:29
  Speaker 3: his one-third bad ones, you turn half of those into
• 5:33
  Speaker 3: salvageable quality starts, he's right in that ballpark. So that's
• 5:37
  Speaker 3: the next phase. He's going to be 27 next year. it's,
• 5:41
  Speaker 3: it's kind of one of those things where, Hey, you know,
• 5:45
  Speaker 3: some of the stuff needs to be cleaned up, but
• 5:47
  Speaker 3: the stuff is there. And the two thirds of the
• 5:50
  Speaker 3: games this year have been what you need from a starter.
• 5:53
  Speaker 3: Now it's figuring out how to make that other third,
• 5:56
  Speaker 3: a little less ugly. There's really no, I say, and
• 5:59
  Speaker 3: then I think learning experience of what he's felt this year,
• 6:02
  Speaker 3: he'll be able to take that in the off season
• 6:04
  Speaker 3: and go from there. So keep ball in the ballpark,
• 6:06
  Speaker 3: walk a few less guys, give yourself some better counts.
• 6:08
  Speaker 3: And then those, those games don't get as ugly. So,
• 6:10
  Speaker 3: I think he's going to be all right.
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: I'm with you.
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: So, Jay, do you ever find yourself crashing in the afternoon,
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: needing a boost, but not wanting to have caffeine that
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: you know is going to ruin your sleep?
• 6:23
  Speaker 6: Oh, yeah, definitely. I found myself on the golf course
• 6:25
  Speaker 6: a lot lately. And sometimes, you know, it can be
• 6:28
  Speaker 6: long days out there. So I reach in my golf bag.
• 6:30
  Speaker 6: I keep the ultra focus pouch right here with me,
• 6:33
  Speaker 6: keep it in my golf bag. And it's part of
• 6:36
  Speaker 6: my golf bag, as I said.
• 6:38
  Speaker 5: Yeah, and so what are some of your favorite effects
• 6:40
  Speaker 5: of the Ultra Pouches?
• 6:43
  Speaker 6: Definitely, you know, gives me a little bit of focus,
• 6:45
  Speaker 6: that little bit of energy that I'm looking for, and
• 6:48
  Speaker 6: obviously not having any caffeine in it is always a
• 6:50
  Speaker 6: plus for me, so I enjoy those things. Ultra is
• 6:53
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• 6:56
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• 7:00
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• 7:13
  Speaker 1: So Kyle Leahy goes, and he's the guy we've talked
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: about this to. He's on an innings limit, pitch count,
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: whatever you want to call it. And I think he's
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: struggling with it. So he's pitched pretty well when he's
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: going three innings. Last one wasn't great. And he said
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: it's hard to assess because I don't, again, he's not
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: complaining because he has faith in the staff because they
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: made him a reliever into a very good starting pitcher.
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: But like now I think today he's going to go,
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: he's a 12 pitch limit. He'll pitch to two batters. Maybe,
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: I don't know what it is, three innings, I'm sure.
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: But it's hard to manage. You talk to him about
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: it and he's like, yeah, I didn't have this. And
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: I didn't know how much time I'd have to try
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: to figure it out. So I went with this.
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: For a starting pitcher who's used to doing it a
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: certain way, that's a pretty big challenge.
• 8:06
  Speaker 3: Yeah, and I think that in this stint, when you
• 8:08
  Speaker 3: know it's going to be short spurts like it is,
• 8:11
  Speaker 3: you just need to treat it as a relief outing.
• 8:13
  Speaker 3: Go get as many outs as quick as possible. You're
• 8:18
  Speaker 3: not going to hold things off for the second, third
• 8:20
  Speaker 3: time through like you would as a normal start and
• 8:22
  Speaker 3: stuff like that. And that comes with the territory. I
• 8:25
  Speaker 3: think this is going to be his last start today.
• 8:27
  Speaker 3: So hopefully they kind of just say, hey, I'm guessing– 140,
• 8:33
  Speaker 3: if he can get, I mean, if he can go
• 8:34
  Speaker 3: four or five innings tonight, well, you're at 143 for
• 8:38
  Speaker 3: going into next year. Then you can jump up to
• 8:40
  Speaker 3: the one, hopefully the 160 mark, 170 if he has
• 8:45
  Speaker 3: a great year. So number 30 start today. So that's
• 8:50
  Speaker 3: a good year after never doing it and being in
• 8:53
  Speaker 3: the bullpen. But he has started in the past and
• 8:56
  Speaker 3: all that. But there is not a whole lot of
• 8:58
  Speaker 3: fun when you know Hey, I'm on, I'm going to
• 9:00
  Speaker 3: be out of here pretty quick. And you're just like,
• 9:03
  Speaker 3: you're trying not to give up a run, but you're
• 9:05
  Speaker 3: trying to like feel your way through it. And it
• 9:08
  Speaker 3: is a start, but it's technically like a, an opening.
• 9:10
  Speaker 3: You're technically an opener. There's really no other way to
• 9:13
  Speaker 3: say it. So it is an uncomfortable feeling, especially with
• 9:16
  Speaker 3: the way he was throwing the ball before this all started. Um,
• 9:20
  Speaker 3: so he's just got to go, Hey, I'm going to
• 9:21
  Speaker 3: go get as many ounces. They're going to let me
• 9:23
  Speaker 3: get as quick as possible. And I'm not going to
• 9:25
  Speaker 3: worry about, uh, what I need to show or not
• 9:29
  Speaker 3: show to get through the lineup later. I just need
• 9:31
  Speaker 3: to go get it done and use my best stuff
• 9:34
  Speaker 3: or what I have. When you're leaving the bullpen, what
• 9:36
  Speaker 3: do I have? Go use it and be done with today,
• 9:38
  Speaker 3: and then I'll worry about other stuff later.
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: And his numbers are good, so obviously they curtail at
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: the end because of the innings limit, and plus the
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: adjustment in the early on.
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: He had to figure some things out. Then he went
• 9:50
  Speaker 2: on a tear.
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: So if he's healthy, his arm feels great, he says,
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: and he's been a guy who loves– taking the baseball
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: and when he was in the bullpen he didn't mind
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: going three consecutive games if he's healthy next year gets
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: a little support give me some numbers like what can
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: he be with the stuff he has.
• 10:11
  Speaker 3: I think you're looking at i mean i think you're
• 10:14
  Speaker 3: kind of looking at him If you could get him, Palante,
• 10:17
  Speaker 3: and Libby all to be in the realm where they're
• 10:20
  Speaker 3: going to make 30 starts, which they all are right
• 10:22
  Speaker 3: around that this year, give or take, and they can
• 10:24
  Speaker 3: all be 165-plus innings with a 4-4-1-5 ERA, that's awesome.
• 10:35
  Speaker 3: There really is no end. People are going to be like, well,
• 10:37
  Speaker 3: what do you mean? These guys don't project as aces.
• 10:41
  Speaker 3: So I think that's the main thing that we need
• 10:43
  Speaker 3: to realize. Can they pitch to that level? Yes, but
• 10:46
  Speaker 3: they are not, I mean, baseball terminologies aren't projected to
• 10:50
  Speaker 3: be those kind of guys. They're projected to be mid-rotation guys.
• 10:55
  Speaker 3: So those are mid-rotation numbers. And when you have multiple
• 10:59
  Speaker 3: mid-rotation guys that you can trust, then you win a
• 11:03
  Speaker 3: lot of games throughout their regular season. And I think
• 11:06
  Speaker 3: everyone can contest what the Cardinals need to be a
• 11:10
  Speaker 3: bona fide playoff team is they need frontline starters because
• 11:13
  Speaker 3: they have everything else rotation-wise that they need to have
• 11:16
  Speaker 3: successful rotation throughout the year. They need an ace or
• 11:22
  Speaker 3: multiple top rotation guys because they have everything else they need.
• 11:26
  Speaker 3: So if you slate him, Libby, I mean, you're looking
• 11:30
  Speaker 3: at him, Libby, and Palante, and McGreevy, all in the
• 11:35
  Speaker 3: rotation next year, and if you can get me a
• 11:38
  Speaker 3: bona fide ace to go with those, I'm in a
• 11:39
  Speaker 3: real good spot starting next April, in my opinion. So
• 11:43
  Speaker 3: that's where I'm at with them.
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: That makes sense. Paul Skeens, that's the guy the Cards
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: are facing today, again, as we speak. Numbers not as
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: good as they were last.
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: Year, and I don't know, it was last week, he said, yeah,
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: the velo's down, and he thinks it might be because
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: of the World Baseball Classic. You're a guy who pitched
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: in that I've always had concerns when a pitcher goes
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: to the World Baseball Classic because, and you know better
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: than me, but you guys are such creatures of habit
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: that once you take a guy out of his normal routine,
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: sometimes bad things happen.
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: Your thoughts?
• 12:22
  Speaker 3: So I understand what he's saying, and I went through
• 12:25
  Speaker 3: this similar thing myself after the WBC. Probably had one
• 12:30
  Speaker 3: of my worst years of my career In all aspects.
• 12:35
  Speaker 3: Still end up throwing 190 innings and almost striking out 200,
• 12:39
  Speaker 3: but I think I led the league in home runs
• 12:41
  Speaker 3: giving up. I just wasn't able to stay sharp or
• 12:47
  Speaker 3: be sharp day in and day out. You kind of
• 12:52
  Speaker 3: feel fatigued from the get-go, and you can never catch up,
• 12:55
  Speaker 3: especially if you don't go on the IL for a stint.
• 13:00
  Speaker 4: So I.
• 13:02
  Speaker 3: loved my WBC time. I wouldn't have traded in for anything.
• 13:06
  Speaker 3: If I were ever to have gotten the opportunity again,
• 13:08
  Speaker 3: I would have changed some things to prepare for it differently.
• 13:12
  Speaker 3: And I would have changed some things of how the
• 13:14
  Speaker 3: season went. I think guys that go and pitch in
• 13:17
  Speaker 3: the WBC, especially for starters, you have to, I think
• 13:23
  Speaker 3: you need to go six man for them the first
• 13:26
  Speaker 3: month of the regular season. But I also think six
• 13:29
  Speaker 3: man to start the regular season is best for every
• 13:32
  Speaker 3: guys not only because the ramp up from spring training
• 13:36
  Speaker 3: to the regular season is is there the difference of
• 13:40
  Speaker 3: what you call dead arm and stuff like that is
• 13:42
  Speaker 3: is real to start a year no matter what you
• 13:45
  Speaker 3: have build up for spring training that first um juice
• 13:48
  Speaker 3: of the regular season the first you know traveling and
• 13:51
  Speaker 3: doing all that it eats actually a little differently and
• 13:54
  Speaker 3: then once you're able to get into may and all
• 13:57
  Speaker 3: that you start getting in a rhythm so April usually
• 14:00
  Speaker 3: kind of beats people up anyways. And then when you
• 14:02
  Speaker 3: start a little sooner because of the WBC, and then
• 14:05
  Speaker 3: you're just, you just never catch back up.
• 14:07
  Speaker 4: So I think that's the way it sounds.
• 14:08
  Speaker 3: Like I, he's saying that he's exhausted without saying he's exhausted.
• 14:12
  Speaker 3: And it started earlier this year. And cause that, I mean,
• 14:15
  Speaker 3: your juices get flowing and then you can just kind
• 14:17
  Speaker 3: of never get back to even, um, you always feel
• 14:21
  Speaker 3: like you're, you're just, you're just trying. And, uh, it's like,
• 14:24
  Speaker 3: and you have a good one. And it's like, man,
• 14:25
  Speaker 3: I feel it got me again. So I get what
• 14:28
  Speaker 3: he's saying, but, I don't think he would trade it in.
• 14:31
  Speaker 3: I think he's saying, it got me. But I think
• 14:33
  Speaker 3: if he gets the opportunity to do WBC again, I
• 14:35
  Speaker 3: think he does it, but he also is prepared for it.
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: So in the last episode when we were all together,
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: I think we were talking about the fact that the
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: Cardinals had two of the minor league teams in the postseason. Springfield, juggernaut,
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: they lost in the title game. Memphis is in the postseason.
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: And somebody said, might have been you, that those are
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: things you need to build on. You love to see that.
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: because you want your young players to experience post season.
• 15:03
  Speaker 2: How important is that Lance?
• 15:05
  Speaker 3: I think it's huge. I think you look at my
• 15:07
  Speaker 3: time in St. Louis when we were a playoff team
• 15:09
  Speaker 3: every year, the minor league system, every team or something
• 15:14
  Speaker 3: like that was in a playoff or winning championships. Um,
• 15:17
  Speaker 3: I think that systems have gotten away from creating winning
• 15:23
  Speaker 3: cultures in the minor leagues. They create a showcase, um,
• 15:27
  Speaker 3: individualized prospect, like there's no other way to say it,
• 15:34
  Speaker 3: type of system. So if you can create winning whilst
• 15:38
  Speaker 3: elevating your game and preparing your game for the big leagues,
• 15:42
  Speaker 3: that makes the big leagues less of a challenge because
• 15:47
  Speaker 3: you are prepared to play team baseball, prepare yourself to win,
• 15:53
  Speaker 3: but also take care of others. Baseball is a team sport,
• 15:56
  Speaker 3: but it's also a very individualized team sport. So you
• 15:59
  Speaker 3: have to figure out how to teach these guys not
• 16:01
  Speaker 3: to be selfish dicks, but also be good teammates. But
• 16:05
  Speaker 3: you also want to have a little dick in them
• 16:09
  Speaker 3: too so they don't get beat. So I think it's
• 16:11
  Speaker 3: good for everybody. You learn to win. You learn to
• 16:14
  Speaker 3: take care of yourself. You learn to take care of
• 16:15
  Speaker 3: your teammates. And that seems to be the route they're going.
• 16:18
  Speaker 3: And hopefully they keep that up. And then these guys
• 16:20
  Speaker 3: can kind of seamlessly– show up to the big leagues
• 16:23
  Speaker 3: and be ready to win and be able to contribute
• 16:25
  Speaker 3: instead of getting to the big leagues to say, let's
• 16:28
  Speaker 3: see what he's got. It's get to the big leagues
• 16:30
  Speaker 3: and it's hit the ground running because we're trying to
• 16:33
  Speaker 3: win the division. And that's what it was when I
• 16:35
  Speaker 3: came up. John Jay, Descalzo, Alan Craig, Freeze, we all
• 16:40
  Speaker 3: just kind of showed up. Shelby Miller, Joe Kelly, Walker,
• 16:43
  Speaker 3: we showed up ready to win instead of showing up,
• 16:45
  Speaker 3: let's see what you got. Hopefully we're getting back to, hey,
• 16:49
  Speaker 3: these guys are showing up ready to win because we
• 16:51
  Speaker 3: know what we have.
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: You're saying that players that go through stuff bring real
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: experience into it as opposed to guys that just check
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: the right boxes on the computer screen in terms of
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: how to rate a prospect, right?
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: That's what you're saying.
• 17:07
  Speaker 3: You can spin it, exit velo it, launch angle it,
• 17:11
  Speaker 3: all you want, but some of that shit don't matter
• 17:14
  Speaker 3: when it's trying to win games.
• 17:17
  Speaker 2: Kyle, welcome back.
• 17:18
  Speaker 4: We were.
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: just talking about the experience factor for young players in
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: the minor leagues.
• 17:24
  Speaker 4: I've heard you the whole time, Jim. I don't know
• 17:26
  Speaker 4: what happened. I sat in one spot. You kicked it
• 17:29
  Speaker 4: to Lance on the Burley extension. I heard the whole thing.
• 17:31
  Speaker 4: You got a free subscription, baby. You got a free
• 17:33
  Speaker 4: subscription to my show. You guys have been doing a
• 17:36
  Speaker 4: lot of great work today.
• 17:38
  Speaker 5: I mean, I've been able to sit here and tighten
• 17:40
  Speaker 5: some bolts and get my, get our seven-year-old Ross on
• 17:44
  Speaker 5: her car ready and, I thought you guys have nailed it.
• 17:46
  Speaker 5: I mean, I wouldn't have said anything different than Lance,
• 17:48
  Speaker 5: quite honestly. I was intrigued by the World Baseball Classic talk.
• 17:51
  Speaker 4: That was great.
• 17:52
  Speaker 5: And I've been here the whole time. George was just
• 17:54
  Speaker 5: waiting for the time to slide me right back in.
• 17:57
  Speaker 2: All right. Let me ask you this.
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: And then before we head to our final break, I
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: was curious about this as I was formulating the plan
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: for this show. When you're in the minor leagues, and
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: I'll go back to you, Kyle, because you barely spoke
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: because you were cleaning stuff and repairing stuff or whatever
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: it is.
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: But when you're in the minor.
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: Leagues, do you look at a guy and go, that
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: guy is it or look at a guy and go,
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: that guy will never be in the show.
• 18:26
  Speaker 2: Can you tell as you're climbing the.
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: Ladder of the minor leagues, are there certain guys, you know,
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: he's going to make it.
• 18:34
  Speaker 2: He ain't going to make it.
• 18:37
  Speaker 4: I think there are guys.
• 18:38
  Speaker 6: Yes.
• 18:38
  Speaker 4: Yes.
• 18:39
  Speaker 5: That you see that when you're playing against them, you
• 18:43
  Speaker 5: see a difference in the players, right? And I think
• 18:47
  Speaker 5: some of it could be just when you catch that
• 18:49
  Speaker 5: guy in his career. I think some of it could
• 18:52
  Speaker 5: be the day that you see him. You know, I
• 18:56
  Speaker 5: think it could be different all along the way, but
• 18:59
  Speaker 5: I've also seen guys who I've.
• 19:00
  Speaker 4: Said, man, this guy's going to be a really good
• 19:02
  Speaker 4: big leaguer.
• 19:03
  Speaker 5: And then the team never gives him a chance and
• 19:06
  Speaker 5: he never makes it. And You know, we've seen guys
• 19:09
  Speaker 5: that have said, man, I don't know how this guy
• 19:10
  Speaker 5: is going to play in the big leagues.
• 19:11
  Speaker 4: It could be interesting.
• 19:13
  Speaker 5: And then he goes up and he does really well.
• 19:15
  Speaker 5: I think the moral of that story is the big
• 19:19
  Speaker 5: leagues are different than the minor leagues. And some guys'
• 19:23
  Speaker 5: game translates very well to the big leagues, maybe not
• 19:27
  Speaker 5: as well to the minor leagues, and vice versa. So
• 19:31
  Speaker 5: that's where I think, like, you know, the Twins had
• 19:33
  Speaker 5: a guy in the minor league for the longest time.
• 19:34
  Speaker 4: His name was Jake Reed.
• 19:35
  Speaker 5: He ended up playing in the biggest with the Dodgers
• 19:37
  Speaker 5: and I think maybe a couple other teams. Every year
• 19:40
  Speaker 5: in AAA, he had a sub-2-5 ERA out of the bullpen.
• 19:43
  Speaker 5: And sometimes it was sub-2. And the Twins never gave
• 19:47
  Speaker 5: him a chance. And I don't remember the reasoning.
• 19:49
  Speaker 4: It was something like, they didn't think his slider was
• 19:51
  Speaker 4: swing and miss enough.
• 19:52
  Speaker 3: I don't remember.
• 19:53
  Speaker 4: But how do you even know until you get the
• 19:56
  Speaker 4: guy up there?
• 19:57
  Speaker 2: Right?
• 19:58
  Speaker 5: Tyler Rogers, for now the Blue Jays, you know how
• 20:02
  Speaker 5: many years he had a sub 2 ERA in AAA?
• 20:05
  Speaker 5: And his brother Taylor in Minnesota is like, man, I
• 20:07
  Speaker 5: don't know why he's not getting called up. And now
• 20:09
  Speaker 5: he's working on a really, really nice career that could
• 20:13
  Speaker 5: have started four years earlier if he would have just
• 20:16
  Speaker 5: been given the chance. So it's hard to judge a
• 20:19
  Speaker 5: minor league book by its cover in a lot of instances.
• 20:24
  Speaker 2: Lance knows he can tell. How do you know?
• 20:26
  Speaker 4: Also, yes. Also, yes. Give Burley an extension. Libby threw
• 20:30
  Speaker 4: really well.
• 20:31
  Speaker 5: And I'm excited to see with a couple adjustments in
• 20:33
  Speaker 5: the offseason what he can do. Never pitched in the WBC.
• 20:36
  Speaker 5: Don't have anything to say, but Lance, I thought you
• 20:37
  Speaker 5: were spot on. All right, that catches me up.
• 20:39
  Speaker 3: Here we go.
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: All right. How do you know, Lance, when you look
• 20:42
  Speaker 2: at the guy?
• 20:42
  Speaker 4: Spark plugs are clean, by the way. Spark plugs are good.
• 20:45
  Speaker 4: I've already checked the spark plugs. I heard that. Don't worry.
• 20:47
  Speaker 4: Spark plugs are good. You're beautiful.
• 20:50
  Speaker 2: You are beautiful.
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: How do you know when you see a guy, Lance,
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: what are the tells of a guy who you think
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: ain't going to make it or is going to get
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: to the show?
• 21:00
  Speaker 3: I think we can all agree that there are probably
• 21:04
  Speaker 3: three or four guys that are, when you get on
• 21:07
  Speaker 3: a team in the minor league or something like that,
• 21:08
  Speaker 3: it's like that guy's got a chance or that guy
• 21:11
  Speaker 3: will be a big leaguer in some frame. And then
• 21:14
  Speaker 3: there's teams now that there's like, hey, that's a big
• 21:17
  Speaker 3: league tool if he's using the right thing. So I
• 21:21
  Speaker 3: think that's the main thing. It's like, hey, getting the
• 21:24
  Speaker 3: right opportunity, being healthy at the right time when somebody
• 21:27
  Speaker 3: goes down or an opportunity and being hot at the
• 21:30
  Speaker 3: right time. So I think I remember going to minor
• 21:34
  Speaker 3: leagues as a big leaguer when I was rehabbing. And
• 21:38
  Speaker 3: I saw it differently then because I saw guys at
• 21:41
  Speaker 3: the big league level. And then you can see there's
• 21:44
  Speaker 3: so much more than just on field when you see
• 21:46
  Speaker 3: how they prepare, what they are in the dugout, what
• 21:50
  Speaker 3: they are with people and stuff like that. there's a
• 21:54
  Speaker 3: full package besides whatever you want to type into a computer.
• 21:59
  Speaker 3: So I think Kyle and I can sit here and say, hey,
• 22:02
  Speaker 3: some of the computer stuff doesn't see the full package.
• 22:05
  Speaker 3: And as players, we say the numbers are good, but
• 22:09
  Speaker 3: they don't like the numbers because one little thing's off,
• 22:13
  Speaker 3: whether they don't like a pitch shape or this or that.
• 22:17
  Speaker 3: But there's so many different ways to get hits, to
• 22:20
  Speaker 3: get outs, to catch the ball, do things in the
• 22:22
  Speaker 3: major leagues that different tools can be used in different ways. So,
• 22:27
  Speaker 3: and then as players, we've seen those for the longest time,
• 22:30
  Speaker 3: you know, who the good players are right away. The
• 22:32
  Speaker 3: question is, can mentally and physically, can they hold up?
• 22:35
  Speaker 3: And some, and then as when you sit in a
• 22:37
  Speaker 3: clubhouse and you see them, you can see that side
• 22:39
  Speaker 3: of things too. So that's how you, you know, or not.
• 22:42
  Speaker 2: So the scene's about to wrap up.
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: The Cardinals will be in Milwaukee with the, Fester Hotel
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: that's haunted. I think we already talked about it. You
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: guys never saw a ghost there. How weird is it
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: to wrap up your season on the road? Like everyone's
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: going to get home, go somewhere. But college is a
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: little more bizarre. OK, we're done. And then everyone goes.
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: But you're leaving out of Milwaukee. You're not even back
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: in the Cardinal Clubhouse because everyone wants to jet.
• 23:12
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I think it's worse when the worst situation for
• 23:18
  Speaker 5: playing on the road is when you're like one or
• 23:20
  Speaker 5: two games out of the wild card or out of,
• 23:22
  Speaker 5: you know, making the playoffs and you got guys packing
• 23:26
  Speaker 5: up to go home just in case you lose. That
• 23:31
  Speaker 5: was the worst part for me to see. It's like
• 23:34
  Speaker 5: you're telling me that you're leaving our home city for
• 23:38
  Speaker 5: the last six games and We're down by two games
• 23:41
  Speaker 5: in the standings and you are preparing to go home.
• 23:44
  Speaker 5: I never liked that. It didn't happen a lot. I mean,
• 23:46
  Speaker 5: we might've had, you know, a year or two in
• 23:49
  Speaker 5: my career, maybe three where we were close and it happened.
• 23:53
  Speaker 5: I mean, it happens at home too. You see guys
• 23:55
  Speaker 5: packing their locker before and during the last home stance,
• 23:57
  Speaker 5: like guys, we're not out of this.
• 23:59
  Speaker 4: What are you doing? What if you need those sliding
• 24:00
  Speaker 4: shorts here tomorrow? You know? I don't know.
• 24:03
  Speaker 5: That's, that's probably the, the worst part. Cause once you're eliminated, you're,
• 24:08
  Speaker 5: It's like, okay, you start getting stuff in order to leave.
• 24:12
  Speaker 5: You're still preparing because you don't want to give away
• 24:14
  Speaker 5: innings or at-bats. But it's never the same once you're eliminated.
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: And I know everyone wants to get out of there
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: if you've been eliminated for a while. But I remember
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: being on the road. Teams didn't make the postseason. The
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: ride back to St. Louis, most players aren't on there.
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: They're gone.
• 24:34
  Speaker 2: Everyone's gone. To me, that was the weirdest part.
• 24:39
  Speaker 3: Yeah, that's interesting. I don't know if I ever finished
• 24:42
  Speaker 3: on the road where I had to fly back to
• 24:43
  Speaker 3: where we were going back home after the season was over.
• 24:47
  Speaker 4: So, yeah, that's no fun. There really is no other
• 24:53
  Speaker 4: way to say it.
• 24:54
  Speaker 3: And it's awkward, and some guys are already gone, and
• 24:59
  Speaker 3: they have flights out of there after the last game. But,
• 25:02
  Speaker 3: I mean, I guess it's no different in the All-Star
• 25:04
  Speaker 3: break when guys are waiting for the last out to
• 25:05
  Speaker 3: be done so they can go catch a flight to
• 25:07
  Speaker 3: go home. But, yeah, whenever you're not in the playoffs
• 25:11
  Speaker 3: and you're already packed up to go home before you
• 25:14
  Speaker 3: go on your last road trip, it's a failure of
• 25:19
  Speaker 3: a year. No other way you put it, even no
• 25:21
  Speaker 3: matter what. So it sucks. But, yeah, I mean, it's awkward.
• 25:27
  Speaker 3: There's really nothing to say. It's like, oh, I guess
• 25:28
  Speaker 3: I'll see you later. See you next year maybe. That's
• 25:31
  Speaker 3: kind of how it goes, especially when you're on the road.
• 25:33
  Speaker 3: You don't really get saved by it. You're just said,
• 25:35
  Speaker 3: all right, see you.
• 25:36
  Speaker 4: It's done.
• 25:37
  Speaker 6: See you.
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: Well, hopefully the Cardinals will be back in the postseason
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: before too long. And hopefully there's a season that's coming up.
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: That's the biggest hope because we love baseball. Guys, appreciate it. Kyle,
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: good luck in your races. We appreciate you catching up
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: on everything. That's going to do it for this edition
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: of Cardinal Territory. We'll see you next time.
• 25:57
  Speaker 2: Hopefully that episode won't suck.