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Lance Lynn reacts to the Marmol extension! Cardinal's future and more! · Cardinal Territory: A St. Louis Cardinals Podcast

0:07
Speaker 1: Hello everybody, and welcome to another edition of Cardinal Territory.
0:11
Speaker 1: Jim Hayes alongside Lance Lynn High Lance. As you know,
0:15
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0:35
Speaker 1: Territory all right. Over the weekend, the Cardinals announced that
0:39
Speaker 1: Ali Mormal is getting a two year extension with a
0:43
Speaker 1: club option for twenty twenty nine. Olli is a smiling,
0:48
Speaker 1: handsome guy, usually with his hat backwards, and he's in.
0:53
Speaker 2: His fourth year managing the Cardinals.
0:56
Speaker 1: So a lot of people had called it a reset, Lance,
1:00
Speaker 1: you were one of the first guys to call it
1:02
Speaker 1: what it is, a rebuild. So you have a young
1:05
Speaker 1: team and a young manager who's tasked with developing that
1:10
Speaker 1: young talent you've you've played for Ali, it seems like
1:14
Speaker 1: it's the right thing to do.
1:15
Speaker 3: Your thoughts, Yeah, no, I think that when you look
1:19
Speaker 3: at what they're doing. They've had dialogue for the last
1:23
Speaker 3: two years. Why why mister Bloom was kind of going
1:26
Speaker 3: through the minor leagues to see the things that they
1:28
Speaker 3: needed to revamp. So I think that with that dialogue
1:33
Speaker 3: what they're doing. Ali's background as a minor league manager,
1:37
Speaker 3: as a guy who ran the spring training complex for
1:41
Speaker 3: years as he was, you know, ascending through the organization
1:44
Speaker 3: as a manager, and then you know, first base coach,
1:47
Speaker 3: bench coach too. He's you know, he said, every spot,
1:50
Speaker 3: he knows what's expected. He knows, you know, a lot
1:53
Speaker 3: of these new things that they're bringing in. He knows
1:56
Speaker 3: some of the old ways that have worked. So he's
1:59
Speaker 3: gonna be able to mesh all those together while also
2:02
Speaker 3: putting together a team that you're trying to build for
2:04
Speaker 3: the future. So he's going to have a good opportunity now,
2:08
Speaker 3: in my opinion, to really put his you know, footprint
2:11
Speaker 3: on this team, his stamp on the organization, because when
2:15
Speaker 3: he first came up as a manager, it was a
2:16
Speaker 3: win now type of mode. Now he gets to kind
2:20
Speaker 3: of go back to his roots a little bit and
2:23
Speaker 3: then re revamp what the Cardinals are all about here
2:26
Speaker 3: moving forward in the you know, in the hind Bloom
2:29
Speaker 3: area and and where the Cardinals are going to go
2:31
Speaker 3: in the future with some of their updating through the
2:34
Speaker 3: minor leagues of you know, all the things that they've
2:37
Speaker 3: incorporated with, you know, trying to get up to date.
2:41
Speaker 3: I guess, so it's going to be a good fit.
2:43
Speaker 3: I think. I also think it gives him the clout
2:46
Speaker 3: that he needs in the clubhouse. There's nothing worse than
2:48
Speaker 3: having a manager that you know, might be at the
2:51
Speaker 3: end of his contract on a hot seat while you're
2:53
Speaker 3: going through rebuild. You know, some of these young kids
2:55
Speaker 3: might you know, be like, oh, well, I don't know
2:57
Speaker 3: if he's gonna be my manager. That's off the tape.
3:00
Speaker 3: So now it's you know him and I'm can go together,
3:03
Speaker 3: you know, hand in hand and go see this thing through.
3:06
Speaker 3: And I think that's, you know, very good for both
3:09
Speaker 3: sides or all sides here.
3:11
Speaker 1: He didn't just get the extension with a club option bill.
3:16
Speaker 1: Do what Junior said at the news comeras in Florida,
3:19
Speaker 1: we want people to know that Ali is our manager
3:22
Speaker 1: long term. As you point out, if you're a lane
3:24
Speaker 1: duck manager, don't make the job easier.
3:27
Speaker 3: For you in the club house, right, No, especially with
3:30
Speaker 3: a young team and a rebuild. Right if you have
3:32
Speaker 3: a lame duck manager, if things get a little you know,
3:36
Speaker 3: tight throughout the year, a kid's not playing the way
3:38
Speaker 3: he wants to or this or that, and you're asking
3:41
Speaker 3: him to do something he might be uncomfortable with. But
3:43
Speaker 3: that's also the learning process. You could get some backlash if,
3:47
Speaker 3: you know, if things start going bad. But when you
3:50
Speaker 3: know all these you know on board and signed up
3:53
Speaker 3: for the next three years with an option, that's a
3:56
Speaker 3: huge weight off of his back. But it's also gives
3:59
Speaker 3: him the clout that he needs to go do his
4:01
Speaker 3: job at the at the best. You know that he
4:03
Speaker 3: can do it, and then you know, bring these guys
4:05
Speaker 3: along and he's going to be able to hold him accountable.
4:08
Speaker 3: You know, it's not it's not easy to hold you know,
4:11
Speaker 3: with they're grown men because they're all over you know,
4:14
Speaker 3: twenty one to you know, twenty five years old. But
4:17
Speaker 3: it's it's hard to hold him accountable and they don't
4:19
Speaker 3: know if you're going to be there for a long time.
4:21
Speaker 3: Now that's gonna you know, that's not the case. Now
4:23
Speaker 3: all he's got the extension. Now you can hold him accountable.
4:26
Speaker 3: He can push through and as an organization they can
4:28
Speaker 3: go forward and know what to expect and and he's
4:31
Speaker 3: going to be able to hold those kids accountable. And
4:33
Speaker 3: that's that's huge for what you're trying to do.
4:36
Speaker 1: So I've been around Ali for a little while. He
4:39
Speaker 1: strikes me as a guy who is brutally honest. Like
4:43
Speaker 1: I know, the players like him will play for him
4:46
Speaker 1: and respect him, But he can also be brutally honest,
4:49
Speaker 1: like he'll tell me, that's an awful question. You're a
4:52
Speaker 1: horrible reporter, tough but fair, right, I'm just curious you
4:56
Speaker 1: played for the guy. Give me an honest assessment behind this.
5:00
Speaker 1: What it's like playing for Ali Marl.
5:04
Speaker 3: I think it's the best of all worlds. Really, you know,
5:06
Speaker 3: like I said, he holds you accountable. He tells you
5:09
Speaker 3: what he expects from you, what you're doing right. He
5:12
Speaker 3: pats you on your butt and tells you you're doing
5:13
Speaker 3: the job you need to do. And he also, you know,
5:16
Speaker 3: make sure he knows you know what you're what's expected
5:19
Speaker 3: of you, what you're supposed to be doing day to day.
5:22
Speaker 3: When you do something wrong, he corrects it, you know.
5:25
Speaker 3: But he also has your back on the field. He's
5:28
Speaker 3: not afraid to get thrown out and get an umpire's face,
5:30
Speaker 3: you know. But all of it all all. He likes
5:33
Speaker 3: to win, man, he likes to compete, and he likes
5:35
Speaker 3: everyone to show up every day do their job, and
5:38
Speaker 3: then when they're not doing their job, he wants to
5:40
Speaker 3: correct it. And when they are doing their job, you know,
5:42
Speaker 3: they get the pat on the butt they need. So
5:44
Speaker 3: he's got everything covered. And he's a good communicator. He's young,
5:48
Speaker 3: you know, he's good. He's able to relate with everybody
5:51
Speaker 3: on a you know, all kinds of different levels and
5:53
Speaker 3: that's a huge part of a clubhouse and being able
5:56
Speaker 3: to keep it, keep it going right. You have you know,
5:59
Speaker 3: twenty six guys from different parts of the country, of
6:01
Speaker 3: the world at all times, and he's able to speak
6:04
Speaker 3: I say, all those languages. But it's a different type
6:06
Speaker 3: of you know, each kid or each person you know,
6:09
Speaker 3: has a different way that they go about in different
6:11
Speaker 3: you know, terminologies that work for him, and he's able
6:14
Speaker 3: to understand each person the way they work and how
6:17
Speaker 3: to you know, really relate to them so he can
6:19
Speaker 3: get points across and also you know, push them in
6:22
Speaker 3: the right direction. Some of these young kids don't like it,
6:24
Speaker 3: but you look at his and like, say, Mason's their
6:28
Speaker 3: way that they've grown their relationship over time, and you know,
6:31
Speaker 3: he's made Mason earned things, which you have to earn
6:33
Speaker 3: things in the major leagues. But now he's giving Mason
6:36
Speaker 3: the right to take over and do some things in
6:40
Speaker 3: a leadership role because Mason has done those things and
6:42
Speaker 3: you don't always like him, but it also makes you
6:44
Speaker 3: a better player and a better teammate, a better person
6:47
Speaker 3: for it as you're growing through those things. So he's
6:49
Speaker 3: got that ability to help players, you know, evolve in
6:52
Speaker 3: that in that category.
6:54
Speaker 1: In fairness, in a sense, there was a little headbutting
6:56
Speaker 1: between Mason, who is a leader in that clubs of ours,
7:00
Speaker 1: in Ali, but as you point out, they're on the
7:04
Speaker 1: same page now and it's almost like they're one, which
7:07
Speaker 1: tells you both guys adapt.
7:09
Speaker 2: It's a good thing to see.
7:11
Speaker 1: But I will say that you, Matt Holliday, Kyle Gibson
7:16
Speaker 1: have all sort of been critiquing the fact that maybe
7:21
Speaker 1: the Cardinals lack in veteran leadership outside the young guys
7:25
Speaker 1: or leaders. So does that make Ali's job harder easier?
7:31
Speaker 1: How what impact does that have on Ali being able
7:35
Speaker 1: to reach the team?
7:37
Speaker 3: Well, I think that that's what your coaching stats for too,
7:39
Speaker 3: when you have guys like Daniel Descazo, John J. W. Clap,
7:42
Speaker 3: you know, uh, you know, Pop Warner, You've got You've
7:45
Speaker 3: got the guys that have done a lot of different
7:47
Speaker 3: things in this game and have worked in a lot
7:50
Speaker 3: of different ways. So I think this year is going
7:53
Speaker 3: to put a lot of emphasis on those coaches being
7:56
Speaker 3: being doing a good job of being able to communicate
7:58
Speaker 3: with players and show them of the way. But then
8:01
Speaker 3: you have to let those players naturally take over the
8:03
Speaker 3: clubhouse on their own. You can't force the clubhouse a
8:07
Speaker 3: certain way. You got to give them the ability, give
8:10
Speaker 3: them the uh, you know, the instruction to make them
8:14
Speaker 3: the best they can be. But they have to be
8:15
Speaker 3: able to go prove it in that clubhouse day in
8:17
Speaker 3: and day out. So they've got a lot of coaches
8:20
Speaker 3: they can bounce stuff on, you know, the manager of
8:22
Speaker 3: the coaching staff. The organization is gonna you know, they
8:25
Speaker 3: have their their guidelines that they you know, they expect,
8:28
Speaker 3: you know, a certain professionalism. And then as long as
8:30
Speaker 3: the manager holds those accountable, and then the clubhouse learns
8:34
Speaker 3: the police itself, I think it can. I mean, I
8:37
Speaker 3: think it'll be fine. Those are those things that kind
8:39
Speaker 3: of come and go as the season goes on. But
8:42
Speaker 3: you have a you have a good group in there,
8:44
Speaker 3: a good young group. We have Lars, you have Mason,
8:47
Speaker 3: you have Burley. Those guys are are really good workers,
8:50
Speaker 3: but they also like to win. So when you have
8:53
Speaker 3: both of those kind of you know, personalities inside you,
8:57
Speaker 3: it makes for a good uh the ability to be
8:59
Speaker 3: good leaders. They're not hey, do what I tell you,
9:02
Speaker 3: but I'm not going to do what I'm preaching. These
9:04
Speaker 3: guys are working every day. They want to be the best,
9:07
Speaker 3: and they're not afraid to you know, expect that from
9:10
Speaker 3: other people around you either, when even when they're young
9:12
Speaker 3: at age. So I think they'll be all right. They've
9:15
Speaker 3: been around to for a couple of years now, so
9:17
Speaker 3: it's not like they're coming up trying to take over
9:20
Speaker 3: a clubhouse with you know, no service time. These guys
9:22
Speaker 3: have proven some things and proven they belong and they've
9:25
Speaker 3: also are you know, they got good character behind them.
9:27
Speaker 3: So I think all in all, it should be should
9:29
Speaker 3: be all right in the clubhouse.
9:31
Speaker 1: So I tend to be optimistic about things, like I
9:35
Speaker 1: think this team might be all right. I'm not saying
9:39
Speaker 1: that they're going to win the division or anything like that.
9:41
Speaker 1: But I think they could provide some entertainment for the fans.
9:45
Speaker 1: But obviously a young team that has to develop on
9:49
Speaker 1: the fly. So my question is, and you've been on
9:51
Speaker 1: teams that have struggled mightily, how difficult is it for
9:56
Speaker 1: a manager, say, even when when you're with the team,
9:59
Speaker 1: it's going to to get a lot of wiggle room
10:01
Speaker 1: because it's a young team. But if things hit the
10:05
Speaker 1: fan and there's a really bad stretch, which is bound
10:08
Speaker 1: to happen at some point, how difficult is it for
10:11
Speaker 1: a manager to help his team understand that this is
10:15
Speaker 1: part of their development and they got to keep moving forward.
10:19
Speaker 3: Yeah. No, I think the main thing is you've got
10:21
Speaker 3: to have a process day in and day out to
10:23
Speaker 3: make sure you know or the guys know what's expected.
10:27
Speaker 3: You know, day in and day out, here's how we're
10:28
Speaker 3: going to prepare for this picture as pitchers, here's how
10:31
Speaker 3: we're going to prepare for our starts as relievers. Here's
10:33
Speaker 3: what we're expecting. And you just preach the process and
10:36
Speaker 3: keep doing it over the course of a year, things happen.
10:40
Speaker 3: But if everybody kind of holds down and kind of
10:44
Speaker 3: knocks down, what they need to do day in and
10:46
Speaker 3: day out. Those processes will help those downtimes. But like
10:51
Speaker 3: you said, there's going to be some ups and downs
10:53
Speaker 3: this year, and that comes with good teams too. You
10:55
Speaker 3: go through skids throughout the seasons. But they're creating a
10:58
Speaker 3: new identity out of how to play the game in
11:01
Speaker 3: Saint Louis with you know, with what's been taken over.
11:04
Speaker 3: So now it's just make sure you stay in those processes.
11:07
Speaker 3: If you do have a downside, like the manager of
11:11
Speaker 3: the front office, the coaching staff can't just flip it
11:14
Speaker 3: just because you know they panic. It's like, hey, here's
11:16
Speaker 3: what we see is going to be successful. Here's how
11:19
Speaker 3: you're going to be successful individually, and here's how we're
11:22
Speaker 3: going to be successful as a team. It's just going
11:24
Speaker 3: to take time to build that thing, and you've got
11:26
Speaker 3: to get your reps at the major league level. But
11:28
Speaker 3: if you keep preaching what you are, what you preach,
11:31
Speaker 3: and do what you say every day, those things will
11:34
Speaker 3: take care of themselves as long as people don't start
11:37
Speaker 3: flipping and pointing fingers, and I don't think they will.
11:39
Speaker 3: I think they're they're lined up coaching staff all the
11:42
Speaker 3: way to the top of that organization. Now it's just hey,
11:44
Speaker 3: which players are going to buy in? And the ones
11:46
Speaker 3: that don't buy in are going to be the ones
11:47
Speaker 3: that are pushed out the door when it comes time
11:50
Speaker 3: to go for the winner. Right, So these young kids
11:53
Speaker 3: got to buy in or you're going to find yourself
11:55
Speaker 3: in another organization because they have a plan, and if
11:57
Speaker 3: you want to be a part of that plan, you
11:59
Speaker 3: better you better get on board with what they're preaching,
12:02
Speaker 3: or you'll find yourself in an organization. It's not always
12:04
Speaker 3: greener on the other side.
12:06
Speaker 1: Yeah, they're going to be watching everything. Everything about this
12:09
Speaker 1: year's team is going to be under a microscope.
12:12
Speaker 2: You know. I think it.
12:13
Speaker 1: Wasn't too long ago that we saw an infusion of
12:16
Speaker 1: young general managers now president of baseball ops wearing their
12:21
Speaker 1: quarterzips right and being more.
12:23
Speaker 2: In touch with the analytics side.
12:25
Speaker 1: Now we're seeing managers like Ali, young guy no major
12:29
Speaker 1: league experience, plenty of baseball experience in the minor leagues
12:32
Speaker 1: and has done everything pretty much with the organization. But
12:36
Speaker 1: I'm wondering how there's still some old school thinkers who
12:41
Speaker 1: would not accept a manager who didn't have major league experience.
12:45
Speaker 1: Because we're seeing more of that around baseball.
12:48
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean I think nowadays, you know, there's probably
12:51
Speaker 3: over half the managers in the league. And I didn't
12:53
Speaker 3: play in the major leagues, but when you have a
12:56
Speaker 3: like Ali, I mean Ali got all got up to
12:58
Speaker 3: double A as a player. He was a what fifth
13:01
Speaker 3: or sixth round draft pick, so he's been in a box,
13:04
Speaker 3: he's been on the field, he's had cleats on. So
13:06
Speaker 3: that does go a long way with certain things. But nowadays,
13:10
Speaker 3: with every you know, there's so many different ways to uh,
13:14
Speaker 3: you know, get the things you need to get across
13:16
Speaker 3: as a as a player or as a manager. To players,
13:20
Speaker 3: you don't really it doesn't really matter anymore. I think
13:24
Speaker 3: back in the day, it was like, hey, you're not
13:25
Speaker 3: gonna tell me what to do because you've never done it. Nowadays,
13:28
Speaker 3: these guys are taught at a young age. A lot
13:30
Speaker 3: of the players coming up are taught from people that
13:32
Speaker 3: never played. A lot of the you know, the sabermetrics
13:37
Speaker 3: and a lot of the you know, learning how to
13:38
Speaker 3: do pitch mixes and stuff like that, or are people
13:41
Speaker 3: that are are figuring things out that more more science
13:45
Speaker 3: and stuff like that, and they're teaching guys that are
13:48
Speaker 3: athletic how to do it. So I think a lot
13:50
Speaker 3: of that stuff's more welcomed because it's a different way
13:53
Speaker 3: of looking at it. And you still need the guys
13:55
Speaker 3: that played a little bit too, because there's a different
13:58
Speaker 3: there's a different way that you have to deal with,
14:00
Speaker 3: you know, failure in this game. And when you've when
14:03
Speaker 3: you failed a little bit playing the game at any
14:06
Speaker 3: level you can, you can relate with players and they
14:08
Speaker 3: like that too. So you just got to have that
14:10
Speaker 3: fine line. Right when a guy's never played and tells
14:13
Speaker 3: you how easy it is, that's the guy that pisses
14:14
Speaker 3: you off, so that that's the one that is the
14:17
Speaker 3: tough one. But on everything that I've been a part of,
14:20
Speaker 3: I've not had any of those instances where it's like, hey,
14:24
Speaker 3: this game's easy if you just do it this way,
14:26
Speaker 3: and you're like hey, man, like you don't know how
14:28
Speaker 3: hard this game is because you never played it. They've
14:30
Speaker 3: done a good job of saying, hey, here's ways that
14:32
Speaker 3: we think this can help you individually be the best
14:36
Speaker 3: player you can be, and now tell me how you
14:39
Speaker 3: can incorporate that game and let us help each other
14:41
Speaker 3: together and sand instead of being like hey, you're gonna
14:44
Speaker 3: do this and like it. That's where you get like
14:46
Speaker 3: kind of the backlash. You're like, hey, man, you don't
14:48
Speaker 3: even you've never done that, so you don't understand what
14:51
Speaker 3: I'm going through. It's not as easy as the computer
14:54
Speaker 3: or the you know whatever, the thing that you you know,
14:57
Speaker 3: cook this up on says it is. So there's a
14:59
Speaker 3: fine line there. But I think a lot of people
15:02
Speaker 3: are more getting information and giving it to players to
15:05
Speaker 3: see how they can incorporate it in their game. And
15:07
Speaker 3: that's the that's kind of the change that's been good
15:09
Speaker 3: for these players. Now it's hey, I've done all this,
15:12
Speaker 3: but now how am I going to compete with it?
15:13
Speaker 3: That's for the next space for these young kids.
15:16
Speaker 1: So you mentioned earlier Ali has his players back, and
15:20
Speaker 1: I agree with that one hundred percent. But I'm just wondering.
15:23
Speaker 1: I don't have the stats in front of me. But
15:25
Speaker 1: Ali gets thrown out of games a lot. What does
15:29
Speaker 1: that mean to players? Because he's not like if you're
15:31
Speaker 1: ever near the dugout and hear the stuff he's yelling
15:34
Speaker 1: at the umpires, it's pretty harsh. What does that mean
15:38
Speaker 1: to players when the manager isn't trying to be polite
15:42
Speaker 1: or politically correct and tells it like it is and
15:45
Speaker 1: we'll get tossed if he needs to get tossed. What
15:47
Speaker 1: does that mean for you guys?
15:49
Speaker 3: Well, I think the main thing is you feel like
15:51
Speaker 3: they care. You know, I'm not saying that managers that
15:53
Speaker 3: don't get thrown out and don't care, but there's a
15:56
Speaker 3: sense of fireman like, Hey, this means something to him.
15:58
Speaker 3: He's in it with us. He's not to sit here
16:00
Speaker 3: and let us get screwed over or anybody push us around.
16:03
Speaker 3: He's gonna get in there and he's gonna he's gonna
16:05
Speaker 3: fight for us if somebody's chirping on the other team
16:08
Speaker 3: or something like that. He's not afraid to stand up
16:10
Speaker 3: for his player. If the umpire he feels like the
16:12
Speaker 3: umpire's giving you a raw deal, he's gonna make sure
16:14
Speaker 3: that umpire knows that we think it we're getting a
16:16
Speaker 3: raw deal. So you say some of his stuff's harsh,
16:19
Speaker 3: I think that's just good old fashioned banter day to day.
16:22
Speaker 3: None none of it ever hurt my feelings or made
16:25
Speaker 3: my ears perk up a little bit. It was just,
16:26
Speaker 3: you know, just basic talk the way I see it.
16:29
Speaker 3: But other people think differently, But you know that comes
16:32
Speaker 3: with me too. Some of the things I say might
16:34
Speaker 3: be harsh, but I just call that basic, you know,
16:37
Speaker 3: communication on my level. Yeah, you guys are both harsh
16:41
Speaker 3: when talking to me, and I really appreciate that you're
16:44
Speaker 3: both in agreement on that. Oh, now the truth is harvish.
16:47
Speaker 3: That's the way we live in now. God, participation trophies everywhere.
16:51
Speaker 2: Listen. I just try to just keep it real. Just
16:54
Speaker 2: try to keep it real.
16:55
Speaker 1: I think you're going to be a coach someday, so
16:59
Speaker 1: I'm gonna put the coach.
17:00
Speaker 2: Has had on you manager's head. Give me two.
17:03
Speaker 1: Things that lance Lynn has questions he needs answers to
17:08
Speaker 1: as soon as possible about this year's Cardinals club.
17:14
Speaker 3: I think the main things. One of the main things,
17:16
Speaker 3: offensively is going to be, Hey, what's our identity going
17:18
Speaker 3: to be? I think this group you can't sit here
17:22
Speaker 3: and say, hey, we need a thirty home run guy
17:24
Speaker 3: or anything like that. You've got a group of people that, hey,
17:27
Speaker 3: let's figure out how to hit. Hit our doubles, hit
17:30
Speaker 3: the ball in the gap. We got, we've got young talent.
17:33
Speaker 3: Let's figure out how to run. Let's not strikeout. Let's
17:36
Speaker 3: put pressure on defenses. The next thing, you know, we've
17:38
Speaker 3: got five or six guys that have hit twenty. Now
17:41
Speaker 3: we've got a good you know, a good team. We've
17:43
Speaker 3: got guys on base, taking their walks, taking the extra bags,
17:45
Speaker 3: stealing bases. So I think this group is athletically gifted
17:50
Speaker 3: in a sense where they can do that, where we
17:52
Speaker 3: can have, you know, multiple twenty home run guys, multiple
17:55
Speaker 3: guys that are hit a lot of doubles, you know,
17:58
Speaker 3: stretch those, you know, you reach of those doubles. Next
18:01
Speaker 3: thing you know, you know, you find yourself score more runs.
18:04
Speaker 3: You're putting pressures on pressure on people. So that's going
18:07
Speaker 3: to be one of the main things with this young
18:09
Speaker 3: offensive group. They're very talented, they really are. I think
18:13
Speaker 3: it's one of those things where they've gotten themselves in
18:15
Speaker 3: trouble in the past trying to hit home runs. So
18:17
Speaker 3: let's become baseball players knowing that, hey, we don't need
18:20
Speaker 3: to hit thirty if we can hit twenty, and next
18:22
Speaker 3: thing you know, we're not hitting two twenty, we're hitting
18:24
Speaker 3: two fifty, two sixty. The game will the game will
18:27
Speaker 3: be better for everybody in the group. You just kind
18:30
Speaker 3: of pass it to the next guy. I like that.
18:32
Speaker 3: And then defensively, I think they got a chance to
18:35
Speaker 3: be really good with especially with Mason up the middle
18:38
Speaker 3: and doing their things and Victor the way he can
18:40
Speaker 3: run down balls in the outfield. It should be a
18:44
Speaker 3: pitcher's dream in a sense where they're young, they're talented,
18:47
Speaker 3: and they're hungry to make plays, and our pitching staff it's, hey,
18:50
Speaker 3: don't be afraid of the strike zone. We got to
18:52
Speaker 3: figure out how we're going to get outs in the
18:54
Speaker 3: strike zone, and you got to figure out how you
18:55
Speaker 3: can get ahead of hitters and then put them away
18:58
Speaker 3: when you need to. But we're not you know, we're
19:00
Speaker 3: not We're not walking people, we're not giving them free
19:02
Speaker 3: base runners. We're gonna pinch pitch with intensity, We're gonna
19:05
Speaker 3: pitch with purpose, and we're not just you know, we're
19:08
Speaker 3: we've got our stuff, but we're we have got a
19:10
Speaker 3: purpose behind every pitch and how we're going to use
19:12
Speaker 3: our stuff. And every day, you know, if you're good
19:15
Speaker 3: or bad, you're saying, hey, here's what we here's what
19:17
Speaker 3: we learn today, here's our purpose behind each play, each
19:20
Speaker 3: at bat, each pitch, and hey, sometimes sometimes it's going
19:24
Speaker 3: to go our way. Sometimes it's not. But as long
19:25
Speaker 3: as we have a purpose and we're not up there
19:27
Speaker 3: free swinging or just throwing the ball towards home plate
19:30
Speaker 3: or scared to throw the ball over the plate, then
19:33
Speaker 3: then you're gonna be all right, because that's when you're
19:34
Speaker 3: gonna look up at the end of the year, and
19:35
Speaker 3: the team's gonna grow a lot, and you're gonna be
19:37
Speaker 3: winning games at the end because these guys are starting
19:39
Speaker 3: to figure out how to play together as a team
19:41
Speaker 3: and not be scared to succeed by going after people.
19:45
Speaker 2: Come me in. I like the plan.
19:46
Speaker 1: Now, if you like Cardinal Territory, I'm assuming if you're watching,
19:50
Speaker 1: you do, and why not treat yourself to some gear
19:55
Speaker 1: Cardinal Territory merchandise. You can get it a Cardinal Territory
20:00
Speaker 1: shop dot com. We got the hoodies, we got the
20:02
Speaker 1: t shirts, the hats, all quality merch all the reasonable price.
20:07
Speaker 1: If you like Cardinal Territory, go ahead and buy yourself
20:11
Speaker 1: some gear.
20:12
Speaker 2: Why not do it, all right? One of the guys
20:14
Speaker 2: that you talked.
20:14
Speaker 1: About twenty homer guy at nineteen last year, Evon Herrera
20:19
Speaker 1: two eighty four batting average, and I wanted to talk
20:23
Speaker 1: about him because he's now playing in games doing a
20:26
Speaker 1: little catching.
20:27
Speaker 2: And I see through my social.
20:30
Speaker 1: Media and my interactions with other folks around talent, they
20:34
Speaker 1: think that this Horrera catching thing came out of nowhere. Well,
20:39
Speaker 1: last year he mentioned to me that he wasn't catching
20:43
Speaker 1: because his elbow was messed up. He needed cleanup surgery
20:46
Speaker 1: and he was going to catch, and he had already
20:48
Speaker 1: talked to ham Bloom about it. So this plan was
20:51
Speaker 1: in place last season. But now it does seem a
20:54
Speaker 1: little different, lance because you have a bunch of catching talent,
21:00
Speaker 1: a lot of prospects.
21:01
Speaker 3: That have emerged.
21:02
Speaker 1: You know, three of them are catchers in the top
21:05
Speaker 1: fifteen for the Cardinals top ten of prospects. You have
21:09
Speaker 1: Pie haz, he have Poso, you know Crouks is in there,
21:12
Speaker 1: Rodriguez Burnal. My question is is it as necessary because
21:17
Speaker 1: it's if your catcher hits, it's a plus.
21:19
Speaker 2: I get that, But is it as.
21:22
Speaker 1: Necessary now based on where they have some talents dot Pile.
21:28
Speaker 3: I would say no, But that also is great for everybody, Right,
21:32
Speaker 3: you want having to be in the lineup one hundred
21:34
Speaker 3: and fifty times a year. If not, you know, if
21:37
Speaker 3: you could get I mean that would be huge. I
21:39
Speaker 3: think last year, not only with the elbow thing, but
21:42
Speaker 3: his legs were bothering a little bit at times too.
21:44
Speaker 3: So if you're looking at his bat with what happened
21:47
Speaker 3: last year and all that he's hit nineteen home runs
21:49
Speaker 3: and had his numbers they did, if you can mix
21:52
Speaker 3: in DH days now because of that, and you have
21:55
Speaker 3: the catching depth that you need that you can trust now,
21:58
Speaker 3: it saves both of them and gives them bats and
22:00
Speaker 3: makes your lineup better on those lefty days too, because
22:03
Speaker 3: that slides him to the DH role and then you
22:05
Speaker 3: can use that right handed backup catcher. So from all accounts,
22:08
Speaker 3: it looks like there's a good chance they're going to
22:10
Speaker 3: carry three catchers. So my mind automatically goes to Herrera's
22:15
Speaker 3: going to DH every time against lefties, and then they'll
22:18
Speaker 3: go from there on other days. So if you're looking
22:20
Speaker 3: up at the end of the year and he catches
22:22
Speaker 3: eighty one games, let's say half the games in the year,
22:25
Speaker 3: but he can but he can DH, you know, the
22:27
Speaker 3: other ones, that's a huge win for the Cardinals. But
22:30
Speaker 3: it's also a huge win because of their depth at
22:32
Speaker 3: catching where they don't have to burn him out behind
22:36
Speaker 3: the plate and take away from his offensive production. So
22:39
Speaker 3: this could be a blessing for everything. And you're also
22:42
Speaker 3: getting the guys the reps behind the plate that they need.
22:44
Speaker 3: You're giving him enough time off of his you know,
22:47
Speaker 3: off of his feet technically to hit and concentrate on that,
22:51
Speaker 3: and then concentrate on his days that he needs to
22:53
Speaker 3: catch to be able to do both. I think it
22:55
Speaker 3: could be a huge plus for the not only the
22:58
Speaker 3: Cardinals as an all defensive group, but also those catchers
23:01
Speaker 3: that are on the team also where everybody's getting enough
23:05
Speaker 3: play to where you're not wasting a guy's time. So
23:08
Speaker 3: it could be a really good fit for everybody.
23:10
Speaker 1: I've seen Herrera kind of reinvent himself as an offensive player,
23:14
Speaker 1: worked hard, and that was a bona fide offensive threat.
23:18
Speaker 1: He's one of the guys they're going to count on
23:20
Speaker 1: this year, and if he puts in that work to
23:22
Speaker 1: better himself defensively, I think he'll be a fine defensive catcher. Well,
23:26
Speaker 1: my question is, you're a veteran pitcher. You were, you know,
23:31
Speaker 1: for many years in the league when you had a
23:33
Speaker 1: young catcher behind the plate who was still maybe learning
23:36
Speaker 1: on the fly.
23:37
Speaker 3: How much of a challenge is that it's a challenge.
23:41
Speaker 3: But nowadays with the pitch common stuff, you can call
23:44
Speaker 3: your own pitches. So I had Ivan quite a few
23:48
Speaker 3: times my last year, and he catches, he does everything
23:52
Speaker 3: he can to block the ball, and he does you know,
23:55
Speaker 3: he puts in the great effort behind the plate. He
23:57
Speaker 3: was dealing with, you know, some mechanical throwing things that year,
24:00
Speaker 3: which I think is kind of the regional for the
24:02
Speaker 3: elbow cleanup. He wasn't able to get his range of
24:04
Speaker 3: motion or get his slot where he wanted to because
24:07
Speaker 3: he didn't have that range of motion. So you knew
24:10
Speaker 3: that as a pitcher, you knew that you had to
24:11
Speaker 3: hold the runners on a little different than that because
24:13
Speaker 3: of because of what was going on with his arm then.
24:16
Speaker 3: But it's easier nowadays because of the being able to
24:19
Speaker 3: call your own pitches. You don't have to worry about, Hey,
24:23
Speaker 3: where's my young catcher at Is he taking his lass
24:25
Speaker 3: at bat with him? Is he you know? Is he
24:27
Speaker 3: is he calling this pitch because he's afraid that this
24:30
Speaker 3: runner might steal and he needs a heater to have
24:33
Speaker 3: a good jump to get that runner. You know, there's
24:35
Speaker 3: all kinds of different things, but nowadays, with being able
24:39
Speaker 3: to call your own pitches, that that kind of goes away,
24:41
Speaker 3: and then you're able to communicate and be like, hey,
24:43
Speaker 3: here's why I call this and this, so they can
24:45
Speaker 3: kind of get an ideal what you're thinking too. And
24:49
Speaker 3: it also takes the It takes a lot off a
24:51
Speaker 3: young catcher's plate when you have a veteran starter that
24:54
Speaker 3: can call his own game. So I think for myself
24:58
Speaker 3: and Gibe, we were good for him because he learned
25:00
Speaker 3: a lot of things because he was able to kind
25:02
Speaker 3: of just sit back there and be like, okay, and
25:05
Speaker 3: then he thought along with us, and then he would
25:06
Speaker 3: ask questions too when he was when we were in
25:09
Speaker 3: the dugout and stuff like that, He's like, hey, well
25:11
Speaker 3: I was thinking this and this, what are you thinking?
25:13
Speaker 3: And I was like, I called this because I was
25:15
Speaker 3: thinking that, and he's like okay, And now I think
25:17
Speaker 3: it really helped him understand some thought processes instead of saying, hey,
25:21
Speaker 3: here's the game plan, stick to it. Some of the
25:24
Speaker 3: young catchers when you're when you have a veteran starter,
25:27
Speaker 3: especially back when you didn't have PitchCom was like, hey,
25:29
Speaker 3: I'm not doing that. I know that's a I know
25:31
Speaker 3: that was the game plan. But here's what I got today,
25:33
Speaker 3: and here's why I'm doing what I'm doing, and we
25:35
Speaker 3: need to get You need to get on my page,
25:37
Speaker 3: the page that was you know, printed out before the game.
25:40
Speaker 3: You know that's that was a suggestion. Now we're up
25:42
Speaker 3: here competing and we need to figure out how to
25:44
Speaker 3: get through this together. So Pitchcom's helped a lot. Well,
25:48
Speaker 3: it's this isn't a shot at anyone. It's the last
25:51
Speaker 3: thing before we uh we let you go.
25:53
Speaker 1: What is it ironic that it's just me and you
25:57
Speaker 1: today and we started the show on time and we
26:02
Speaker 1: haven't had.
26:02
Speaker 2: Any technical difficulties.
26:04
Speaker 1: Is it you think it's it's just something that happened magically.
26:09
Speaker 3: I think you always have people of that carry shows,
26:11
Speaker 3: and then you always people that bring them down. I'm
26:13
Speaker 3: going to say that.
26:15
Speaker 1: Lance, you are a delight Thank you for your time,
26:18
Speaker 1: and that's gonna do it for this edition of Cardinal Territory.
26:22
Speaker 1: We'll see you next time for the next episode, and
26:24
Speaker 1: hopefully that one won't suck.