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Cardinals Opening Day Roster Decisions: Does Victor Scott make the team? · Cardinal Territory: A St. Louis Cardinals Podcast

0:05
Speaker 1: Cardinals fans. Hi, Hello, it's been a minute, but I
0:08
Speaker 1: am glad to be back with you all on this
0:10
Speaker 1: Friday morning slash afternoon. Life comes at you fast during
0:14
Speaker 1: the final week of spring training, as I seem to
0:16
Speaker 1: forget every year. But the good news is that in
0:19
Speaker 1: six short days the twenty twenty five season will officially
0:22
Speaker 1: be underway, and I for one, am pretty excited about that.
0:26
Speaker 1: Cardinals Opening Day Thursday, March twenty seventh, at Bush Stadium
0:29
Speaker 1: against the Minnesota Twins. Sunny Gray was named the Cards
0:32
Speaker 1: opening day starter earlier in the week, No surprise there,
0:36
Speaker 1: and he'll take on his former team and former teammate
0:38
Speaker 1: Pablo Lopez, the Twins opening day starter three fifteen Central
0:42
Speaker 1: time start. See you there. So disclaimer, this is a
0:47
Speaker 1: boring beat writer episode, but only because I think the
0:49
Speaker 1: looming decisions for Saint Louis they're pretty interesting and they're
0:53
Speaker 1: most likely going to be finalized over the next couple
0:55
Speaker 1: of days. Slowly but surely, the Cardinals opening day roster
0:59
Speaker 1: is taking shape, and we have a pretty solid idea
1:02
Speaker 1: of what the core of position players will look like.
1:04
Speaker 1: We also have a pretty solid idea of what the
1:06
Speaker 1: bullpen will look like and we mostly, you know, the bench,
1:09
Speaker 1: which does project to be somewhat fluid. First, a little
1:13
Speaker 1: bit of some news this morning. I feel a little
1:18
Speaker 1: pretentious plugging my stuff. I don't know if I love this,
1:21
Speaker 1: but whatever. Jose Forman has made the Saint Louis Cardinals
1:24
Speaker 1: opening day roster. Per sources, He'll serve as the backup
1:27
Speaker 1: utility role contact bat off the bench, so he's beat
1:30
Speaker 1: out non roster invite Jose Barrero for that spot. Cardinals
1:33
Speaker 1: hope to finalize their twenty six man roster before they
1:36
Speaker 1: break camp on Sunday. Yes, they have that exhibition game
1:39
Speaker 1: in Memphis on Monday, but Ali Marmal has said throughout
1:41
Speaker 1: the week he hopes to have his squad ready to go.
1:44
Speaker 1: The Cardinals will leave Jupiter Monday the twenty fourth, fly
1:47
Speaker 1: into Memphis, play a quick game, and then fly that
1:50
Speaker 1: night to Saint Louis. Off day on Tuesday, workout on Wednesday,
1:54
Speaker 1: and then we're going to hit the ground running. So yeah,
1:57
Speaker 1: all right, why why for me? Well, he's really taken
2:03
Speaker 1: some great bats over the last week. He's played virtually
2:06
Speaker 1: all around the diamond, and he's just had a really
2:07
Speaker 1: solid camp. And while I think him and Barrero came
2:09
Speaker 1: in pretty evenly matched for me and has I think
2:14
Speaker 1: earned it for what this roster is looking for. Burrow
2:16
Speaker 1: has done well and he's certainly jumped on the radar
2:19
Speaker 1: of the staff, and for a while I had him
2:21
Speaker 1: making the roster over for Mean Again, Barrero is a
2:24
Speaker 1: non roster invite, and you know it's going to cost
2:26
Speaker 1: a forty man spot to add him there. Obviously, could
2:29
Speaker 1: the Cardinals have sixty days Zach Thompson to make room.
2:32
Speaker 1: That was certainly a possibility, but ultimately not a decision
2:34
Speaker 1: they felt like they needed to make. Why for Mean,
2:37
Speaker 1: I think the skill set again compliments this bench a
2:40
Speaker 1: little bit more, you know what for me and that
2:42
Speaker 1: you're going to get league average defense and you're going
2:44
Speaker 1: to get contact in your in bats based on how
2:46
Speaker 1: the Cardinals bench is stacking up Luke and Baker from
2:49
Speaker 1: the right side, a combination of Alec Burlison and Nolan Gorman,
2:52
Speaker 1: depending who's starting from the left, and of course whichever
2:55
Speaker 1: of Ivon Herrera and Pedro paj Has is not starting
2:57
Speaker 1: that day. Going with contact and defense here makes sense,
3:01
Speaker 1: especially with the Cardinals prioritizing offense. They feel like they
3:04
Speaker 1: have their their power bats, especially with Baker for me
3:08
Speaker 1: and can play around the diamond. You don't need him
3:10
Speaker 1: to be a gold glove shortstop behind Mason when you
3:12
Speaker 1: just need serviceable defense and he can get you that.
3:14
Speaker 1: So he will be on the roster of the club.
3:16
Speaker 1: Has not announced that officially, but they should ideally soon.
3:21
Speaker 1: All right, two big questions over the weekend with three
3:26
Speaker 1: technically four four games left, oh five because of the
3:29
Speaker 1: Memphis game. The two big questions that the Cardinals need
3:32
Speaker 1: to answer. Who's making the rotation and who's the centerfielder.
3:36
Speaker 1: We're recording this ahead of friday'split squad games. Sunny Gray
3:39
Speaker 1: takes on the Astros here in Jupiter in a minute,
3:41
Speaker 1: while Mike McGreevey gets to start in Port Saint Lucie
3:44
Speaker 1: against the Mets. Victor Scott has the home game, Michael
3:46
Speaker 1: Siani has the road start. My friends, the centerfield competition
3:49
Speaker 1: is as tight as advertised. Yeah, let's dive into here
3:54
Speaker 1: from what we're seeing from Victor Scott. So first, this
3:58
Speaker 1: is not like a bold statement by any means, but
4:01
Speaker 1: what a great camp Victor Scott has had so far.
4:06
Speaker 1: And this is the question that we've been asking pretty
4:08
Speaker 1: much since the start of spring, is he going to
4:10
Speaker 1: make the roster? And maybe because I've covered the Cardinals
4:14
Speaker 1: for about five years now, and there always seems to
4:16
Speaker 1: be a scenario where there's a clear answer that makes
4:21
Speaker 1: a lot of sense, and then there's an answer that
4:23
Speaker 1: doesn't really make a lot of sense. And ninety nine
4:25
Speaker 1: percent of the time this organization does the option that
4:27
Speaker 1: doesn't make a lot of sense. So I don't know
4:29
Speaker 1: if we're like trauma bonded or if we're just used
4:32
Speaker 1: to kind of having to look at things the other way,
4:35
Speaker 1: then I think we normally should. So for a while
4:39
Speaker 1: I was convinced that Victor Scott would not make this roster,
4:41
Speaker 1: and we talked about this on the Athletic. It just
4:46
Speaker 1: came down to how the Cardinals are looking at viewing
4:49
Speaker 1: their lineup and their position players. So for Victor Scott,
4:54
Speaker 1: who again has had a great spring, the way what
4:57
Speaker 1: the organization was laying here was what was more important
5:00
Speaker 1: his long term development or short term goals. The Cardinals
5:03
Speaker 1: are looking at center or platoon, center field. We know this.
5:06
Speaker 1: We know Lars new Bar is going to see some
5:07
Speaker 1: reps there. We know that the organization has promised continuous
5:10
Speaker 1: at bats. To take your pick, Jordan Walker, Nolan Gorman,
5:13
Speaker 1: Alec Burlison, Brendan Donnovan, Mason Winn. Go down the list.
5:16
Speaker 1: Those guys are going to play every day. Obviously, your
5:19
Speaker 1: corner guys contraras Arnatto, they're going to stay there too.
5:22
Speaker 1: So in order to ensure the maximum number of adbats,
5:25
Speaker 1: especially for the lefty, So you're thinking, Donnie Gorman and Burlison,
5:29
Speaker 1: you have to put new Bar in center for you know,
5:33
Speaker 1: I don't want to say the majority of time, because
5:35
Speaker 1: the Cardinals have not said that, nor do I think
5:36
Speaker 1: that's their plan. But a good amount of time you'll
5:38
Speaker 1: see new Bar in center. So does that make sense
5:42
Speaker 1: for even if it's a seventy five to twenty five platoon,
5:45
Speaker 1: does it make sense for Victor Scott to ride the
5:47
Speaker 1: bench for some of those games where he could be
5:48
Speaker 1: playing every day in Memphis? I guess his play this
5:54
Speaker 1: spring has ultimately forced that question to be answered, because
5:59
Speaker 1: I no longer think that that's gonna be the issue.
6:02
Speaker 1: I think Victor Scott has played his way and deserves
6:04
Speaker 1: to be on the opening day roster. The Cardinals have
6:07
Speaker 1: not made a decision over Himmer Sianni yet, but I'm
6:10
Speaker 1: sensing a vibe change, and my last roster projection for
6:13
Speaker 1: the Athletic I wrote Scott would not make the roster
6:16
Speaker 1: and Sianni would. I'm changing my mind. If I had
6:18
Speaker 1: to write another roster projection today, I would put Sianni
6:21
Speaker 1: in triple A and Victor Scott on the roster. But again,
6:25
Speaker 1: this is a conversation that the Cardinals are continuing to
6:27
Speaker 1: have and will probably not be finalized until Sunday. But
6:30
Speaker 1: let's look at how this would work if Victor Scott,
6:32
Speaker 1: the second is on the roster. I think should the
6:36
Speaker 1: Cardinals line up the way that I think that they
6:38
Speaker 1: do against Pablo Lopez on Thursday. You're gonna have Mason
6:42
Speaker 1: Wynne leading off shortstop. Then I'm not quite sure where
6:46
Speaker 1: they're gonna slot the lefties, but my gut feeling tells
6:48
Speaker 1: me Lars Nwfarr will hit second, He'll play left. Then
6:51
Speaker 1: you got Contraras's at first, Ronado at third. I would
6:55
Speaker 1: I like Herrera in the five hole, but with the
6:58
Speaker 1: lefty righty split, I can see Donnie going there, then
7:02
Speaker 1: Herrera six, Donovan's at second base. By the way, this
7:05
Speaker 1: is my prediction Herrera catching Gorman the DH walker eighth
7:10
Speaker 1: right field, and then Victor Scott the second batting ninth
7:13
Speaker 1: playing center field. Obviously, Sonny Gray takes the hill. That's
7:17
Speaker 1: my prediction, and that's why I think the Cardinals' most
7:21
Speaker 1: frequent lineup will be to start the season. We talked
7:24
Speaker 1: to Allie marmal a lot this week about how he
7:27
Speaker 1: envisions running the lineup, whether he's will see a platoon
7:30
Speaker 1: with the catchers, how he's going to mix in at bats,
7:33
Speaker 1: and I asked him, you know, in years prior, you
7:36
Speaker 1: were not afraid to shake up the everyday lineup. There
7:38
Speaker 1: was a pretty heavy lefty rity platoon. There was, you know,
7:41
Speaker 1: a clear lineup you could expect against lefty starters and
7:43
Speaker 1: righty starters. But there was also, like we saw in
7:46
Speaker 1: twenty twenty three, too much mixing and matching did not
7:48
Speaker 1: vote well for consistent success. So how is he going
7:51
Speaker 1: to balance that along with ensuring all the advats that
7:54
Speaker 1: he promised to others? He said, there are benefits to
7:57
Speaker 1: guys showing up and knowing where they're playing and hitting
7:59
Speaker 1: in the lineup every day, but there are also advantages
8:03
Speaker 1: to platooning and mixing and matching to optimize your lineup
8:05
Speaker 1: based on who you're facing. I don't think you have
8:07
Speaker 1: to fully commit to one or the other, so and
8:10
Speaker 1: I don't think the Cardinals are going to fully commit
8:12
Speaker 1: to one or the other. When it comes to the
8:14
Speaker 1: catching situation, I think you're going to see a pretty
8:16
Speaker 1: heavy mix of Herrera and Pedro Bajaz. But I do
8:19
Speaker 1: think that to start, Herrera is going to get the
8:22
Speaker 1: nod because of the big emphasis on offense. So if
8:26
Speaker 1: you're going to emphasize offense in most of the positions,
8:28
Speaker 1: Victor Scott will be just fine. If he hits the
8:31
Speaker 1: ball like he did this spring. I think his averages
8:34
Speaker 1: up to three seventy three. He has an ops over
8:36
Speaker 1: eleven hundred, slugged two homers, one on Monday, one on Wednesday.
8:41
Speaker 1: If again, I think I've said this before, if this
8:43
Speaker 1: was a performance based camp, we wouldn't be talking about it.
8:46
Speaker 1: The way of the way of the development for him
8:48
Speaker 1: is still a key here. But personally, I don't know
8:51
Speaker 1: how the Cardinals cannot take him after the spring. I
8:54
Speaker 1: don't know what kind of message that would be sending
8:56
Speaker 1: to him. He has been working out in Jupiter since
8:58
Speaker 1: November came down, has been with John Jay every single day.
9:03
Speaker 1: I'm going right here Friday, May March twenty First, I
9:08
Speaker 1: think Victor Scott makes the roster, so we'll see lots
9:11
Speaker 1: of other roster things to discuss over the week. It's
9:13
Speaker 1: kind of been a little crazy back and forth week,
9:16
Speaker 1: such as the nature when the big final decisions come.
9:19
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10:31
Speaker 1: Okay, so more froster decisions. The most pressing question outside
10:35
Speaker 1: of centerfield is if the Cardinals will utilize a six
10:39
Speaker 1: man rotation to enter the year. This was floated to
10:41
Speaker 1: us by Ali on Monday. Still kind of no clarity
10:45
Speaker 1: on what that looks like. As much I'm a Mike
10:49
Speaker 1: mcgreeby truther as we know, there are many players that
10:52
Speaker 1: I'm in on. Jordan Walker, Mike McGreevey's on there, and
10:55
Speaker 1: if again, if this is a club based on performance,
10:57
Speaker 1: he should be in the starting rotation. This is the
11:00
Speaker 1: situations though, where I think, even more so than the
11:03
Speaker 1: Victor Scott situation, outside circumstances are really gonna matter in
11:07
Speaker 1: the decision here. So the Cardinals six man rotation, let's
11:10
Speaker 1: go with the ones that we know are going to
11:11
Speaker 1: be in there. Sonny Gray, Eric Fetti, Miles, Michael List.
11:14
Speaker 1: Those are probably your three starters against the Twins next week, which,
11:18
Speaker 1: you know what, it's so fun to like talk about
11:19
Speaker 1: series that are gonna matter. This is I just get
11:21
Speaker 1: excited thinking about it. If the pitching schedule stays on track,
11:24
Speaker 1: which looks like it will, those three will be in there.
11:27
Speaker 1: Andre Pilante has not shown are not pitched in a
11:30
Speaker 1: Great Fruit League game in about a week or so,
11:32
Speaker 1: but he's been working on the backfield staying on track.
11:34
Speaker 1: It's a weird kind of schedule for the back end guys.
11:37
Speaker 1: I expect him to be in the rotation. No decisions
11:40
Speaker 1: haven't made there yet. I think what the Cardinals are
11:43
Speaker 1: weighing here is how best to use Matthew Libertor, and
11:49
Speaker 1: that kind of hinges on if they're going to use
11:50
Speaker 1: a six man rotation to start the year or not.
11:53
Speaker 1: Matthew Libertor, I think has been the most impressive pitcher
11:55
Speaker 1: across the board in Cardinals camp this year. He has
11:57
Speaker 1: looked nasty. They brought him up as a starter or
12:00
Speaker 1: stretch him out as a starter, because one, it's much
12:03
Speaker 1: easier to cut innings down than ramp them up, obviously,
12:07
Speaker 1: but two they realized last spring, and this is something
12:10
Speaker 1: Livy realized as well. When he stretches out as a starter,
12:13
Speaker 1: he just gets better, command better, feel, better reps and obviously,
12:16
Speaker 1: think about how many Indians you're thrown as a starter
12:18
Speaker 1: compared to a reliever. He felt, even if he was
12:20
Speaker 1: coming in as a reliever as a multi inning guy,
12:22
Speaker 1: that coming out as a starter allowed him to get
12:24
Speaker 1: his stuff right quicker and more effectively. And we're certainly
12:28
Speaker 1: seeing that it's been a great camp for Libby. What
12:30
Speaker 1: the Cardinals are weighing here is has he best served
12:33
Speaker 1: as a starter or can he repeat that success? And
12:37
Speaker 1: he looked really good in the second half of last
12:39
Speaker 1: year as that longman swingman in relief kind of situation.
12:43
Speaker 1: Steven Mattz has had a really good spring as well.
12:46
Speaker 1: How ironic that him and Miles Michaelis have by far
12:49
Speaker 1: been the best looking starters in the Grapefruit League for
12:51
Speaker 1: the Cardinals, and I think if Matt's was faltering a
12:54
Speaker 1: little bit or didn't look as strong or as healthy
12:56
Speaker 1: as he does, that there would maybe be more of
12:58
Speaker 1: a conversation internally of flipping Libby and Matt. So Matt
13:02
Speaker 1: wuld being the bullpen Libby to start, But because Matts
13:04
Speaker 1: has looked so effective, it's really kind of thrown a
13:07
Speaker 1: wrench in what is best to do for this rotation.
13:10
Speaker 1: Here's why I'm not super into a six man rotation,
13:12
Speaker 1: and I promise I'm gonna get into y McGreevy factors
13:14
Speaker 1: in here. Just it's a long winded explanation. This is
13:16
Speaker 1: where my mind is at. I think I've lived, like
13:18
Speaker 1: the last fifty days it felt exactly the same, So
13:21
Speaker 1: bear with me. So now I already lost my train
13:27
Speaker 1: of thought. What were we talking about Libby? Okay, With
13:30
Speaker 1: the Cardinals specifically, they opened the season with three off
13:34
Speaker 1: days in their first fifteen games, so it doesn't really
13:37
Speaker 1: necessarily bode well for a six man rotation schedule. I mean,
13:40
Speaker 1: there were times, I think two seasons ago where the
13:42
Speaker 1: Saint Louis opened up with like four consecutive road trips
13:45
Speaker 1: on the West Coast and everyone was exhausted. That would
13:47
Speaker 1: have made sense for a six man rotation to start
13:49
Speaker 1: the year. I'm not sure if that makes a lot
13:51
Speaker 1: of sense in terms of making sure guys are on
13:53
Speaker 1: their regular schedule, getting enough reps. Sure, a little bit
13:55
Speaker 1: of extra rest in April early or yeah, early April
13:58
Speaker 1: was probably a good thing, but I'm not sure if
14:01
Speaker 1: it's the best, if it's set up the best to
14:03
Speaker 1: utilize the six man rotation. I also think that no
14:07
Speaker 1: matter which six pitchers are going to be in there,
14:09
Speaker 1: Michael McGreevy is unfortunately going to be the odd man out.
14:11
Speaker 1: You look at the pitching depth in Memphis, and this
14:13
Speaker 1: is also kind of what's factoring into with Libby. There
14:16
Speaker 1: are not a lot of options. When Drew Rohm went
14:19
Speaker 1: down in the beginning of spring, he was not on
14:21
Speaker 1: the roster, but he was certainly being or on the
14:23
Speaker 1: forty man I should say he was certainly being looked
14:25
Speaker 1: like as a depth option, though didn't chance same thing
14:29
Speaker 1: with Zach Thompson. A couple weeks later he went down
14:32
Speaker 1: with the latch strain, and no, he was not really
14:34
Speaker 1: necessarily competing for a spot on the opening day roster,
14:36
Speaker 1: but he was supposed to pack some depth that the
14:39
Speaker 1: Cardinals were counting on if needed in triple A. With
14:41
Speaker 1: those two down, making sure that you have ample starting
14:45
Speaker 1: pitching stretched out in Memphis matters the most here, and
14:49
Speaker 1: without someone like Michael McGreevey interriple a, the second starter
14:52
Speaker 1: gets hurt. Who do you have down there right now?
14:54
Speaker 1: If you're Saint Louis that you feel comfortable ready to go?
14:57
Speaker 1: Gordon Gricepa was optioned last week stretched back out as
15:00
Speaker 1: a starter, But that's going to take some time to
15:02
Speaker 1: ramp back up because he's only been pitching in you know,
15:05
Speaker 1: two consecutive innings, hasn't really gotten to three yet. It's
15:08
Speaker 1: going to take some time. Semmer Versa's there if you
15:11
Speaker 1: need it, but there's no like. The Cardinals an't going
15:15
Speaker 1: to rush up Quin Matthews if he's not ready. There's
15:16
Speaker 1: no there's no reason to do that. They're not going
15:18
Speaker 1: to rush up tank. Hence, Takoa Robi has looked great
15:21
Speaker 1: this spring. He's someone I'm keeping an eye on, but
15:23
Speaker 1: he hasn't pitched more than forty Indians in two years,
15:25
Speaker 1: so they're certainly not going to rush him up either
15:27
Speaker 1: McGreevey has performed well enough to break camp. He is
15:31
Speaker 1: a twenty twenty one first round draft pick out of college.
15:34
Speaker 1: Rarely do you see first round draft picks out of
15:37
Speaker 1: college take four years to get to the majors. If
15:40
Speaker 1: you're basing off what he's done this spring in last year, again,
15:43
Speaker 1: he deserves it. But the depth of the organization is
15:47
Speaker 1: going to matter more here than I think performance. So
15:49
Speaker 1: I think mcgreevy's out of that six man look, and
15:52
Speaker 1: the Cardinals will continue to contemplate what that means for
15:54
Speaker 1: the six pitchers we already talked about. On the other
15:57
Speaker 1: side of the pitching picture, the bullten seems to be
16:00
Speaker 1: pretty set. Let's just go off the top of the
16:04
Speaker 1: head the obvious ones that we know. Ryan Helsley, he's
16:06
Speaker 1: back to close, Phil Mayton shook and should get into
16:09
Speaker 1: a great prood League game in the next couple of days.
16:12
Speaker 1: He's gown on the backfields. He looks fine. The Cardinals
16:14
Speaker 1: were not necessarily worried about him ramping up. Neither was
16:17
Speaker 1: he He's been in the league for about nine years.
16:19
Speaker 1: I think you trust him and take his word on
16:20
Speaker 1: if he's going to be ready, and it certainly looks
16:22
Speaker 1: like it. Mayton's gonna have a little bit of a
16:24
Speaker 1: versatile role here. I think he's best suited as the
16:27
Speaker 1: setup man behind Ryan Helsley from the right side, but
16:30
Speaker 1: he also has an ability to go multiples. He can
16:33
Speaker 1: pitch back to backs, he can pretty much do everything.
16:36
Speaker 1: It's four consecutive years where he has appeared in at
16:38
Speaker 1: least sixty five games, and that was a trait The
16:41
Speaker 1: Cardinals really coveted that veteran experience and durability, John, have
16:45
Speaker 1: you heard those phrases before with this organization. From the
16:49
Speaker 1: left side, Jojo Romeril, He's looked dominant the spring, same Jojo.
16:52
Speaker 1: The key for Jojo will be staying consistent. He was
16:55
Speaker 1: stellar in the first half, haven't had a sub three
16:58
Speaker 1: ERA or less than fifty games, and the second half
17:01
Speaker 1: it looked like he had run out of steam. His
17:03
Speaker 1: ERA balloon in the second half to over five and
17:06
Speaker 1: only appeared in twenty two games there. So that will
17:08
Speaker 1: be the key for Jojo this year is just making
17:10
Speaker 1: sure he can remain consistent and if he can, Cardinals
17:13
Speaker 1: will be fine. Ryan Fernandez is also an option from
17:16
Speaker 1: the right side as well. John King same one was
17:20
Speaker 1: last year. And then I think it's going to come
17:25
Speaker 1: down to Kyle lay and Chris Roycroft both making the
17:28
Speaker 1: opening day roster for the first time, and those guys,
17:31
Speaker 1: Chris Roycroft has looked like a completely different pitcher. He
17:34
Speaker 1: looks confident, he looks effective. I mean we were joking
17:37
Speaker 1: around like, Okay, he needs to let someone on or
17:39
Speaker 1: walk a batter or something so we can see how
17:41
Speaker 1: he can pitch himself out of traffic, because he really
17:44
Speaker 1: hasn't had to do that yet. And then Kyle Layy
17:47
Speaker 1: has really impressed the pitching staff this spring. It's because
17:50
Speaker 1: he can do so many things. He is not Overlea
17:52
Speaker 1: Sploody can he has a pitch for rieties, he's a
17:55
Speaker 1: pitch for lefties, he can pitch multiples, he can pitch
17:57
Speaker 1: back to back. So you have another less experienced for
18:00
Speaker 1: of a film maton. But certainly someone of the Cardinals
18:02
Speaker 1: want to see more of. This goes into the youth
18:05
Speaker 1: movement thing, if you will, which I'm still not sure
18:07
Speaker 1: is an actual thing, but we'll find out. And that bullpen,
18:10
Speaker 1: given how good it was last year, it really matters
18:14
Speaker 1: that it can repeat that same success, and I think
18:17
Speaker 1: that it will. I The one area of the Cardinals
18:21
Speaker 1: roster that I don't have a ton of concerns about
18:24
Speaker 1: is the bullpen. So in about a month when the
18:26
Speaker 1: bullpen's terrible, come back to this episode and tell me
18:28
Speaker 1: that I don't know what I'm talking about, because that
18:30
Speaker 1: will probably happen. Last thing, bench rolls, who does what?
18:34
Speaker 1: I got to wrap this up because we've got a
18:36
Speaker 1: game to get to the bench is going to be fluid.
18:39
Speaker 1: We know this. I say Alec Burlison as the left
18:42
Speaker 1: handed bench off the bat, knowing that he's still going
18:44
Speaker 1: to get consistent in bats. But for the sake of
18:46
Speaker 1: like how the opening day lineup is going to look,
18:49
Speaker 1: We'll slot Burlsson in there as the lefty bench bat,
18:52
Speaker 1: but he's going to play almost every day. Luke and
18:55
Speaker 1: Baker has all but insured himself a spot on the roster.
18:58
Speaker 1: Fantastic spring. The Cardinals to not have a right handed
19:01
Speaker 1: bat pretty much off the bench all of last season,
19:03
Speaker 1: and it really plagued them, made it so easy for
19:05
Speaker 1: opposing managers to game plan against Ali Marmal really put
19:08
Speaker 1: him in an unfair position, if I'm being honest. So
19:10
Speaker 1: Luke and Baker's got that power that slug from the
19:12
Speaker 1: right handed side. That's cool to see we've talked about
19:15
Speaker 1: for me. And then of course whatever the bench looks
19:18
Speaker 1: like with the catcher, I mean, I think that's going
19:21
Speaker 1: to vary depending on matchup. I don't see even though
19:25
Speaker 1: this is probably the best overall lineup, I don't see
19:27
Speaker 1: in everyday lineup where Herrera and Pahz are both in
19:29
Speaker 1: there at the same time. It's just too hard to
19:32
Speaker 1: switch out. And if you have a catcher get hurt,
19:34
Speaker 1: God forbid, then what does that bench look like. It's
19:36
Speaker 1: really slim. Brendan Donovan can do it all, but I
19:38
Speaker 1: don't think the Cardinals want him back there as an
19:40
Speaker 1: emergency catcher. And yeah, sure they have Wilson Cturist, that's
19:43
Speaker 1: not something that they want to do. So guys, we're
19:47
Speaker 1: getting close. We're getting closer and closer to seeing how
19:50
Speaker 1: this roster is going to look. I know what I'll
19:53
Speaker 1: be watching. It will be the six man rotation discussion
19:56
Speaker 1: and it will be the center field battle. But yeah, well,
20:01
Speaker 1: we should have some clarity over the next couple of days.
20:03
Speaker 1: We should also have some more news with this podcast
20:06
Speaker 1: here at Cardinal Territory. Some we're doing like a rebrand
20:10
Speaker 1: of sorts, and it sounds garay, but it's actually gonna
20:12
Speaker 1: be really fun. So I'm looking forward to having more
20:15
Speaker 1: fun announcements about the cadence of the show, a special
20:18
Speaker 1: guest we're gonna get on, and just kind of the rebrand.
20:20
Speaker 1: Before the regular season, we knew this was a trial
20:22
Speaker 1: and error podcast, but I think now that this is
20:25
Speaker 1: our twenty fifth episode, I think we are figuring things out.
20:28
Speaker 1: So yes, short, but it's sweet today. We're gonna have
20:31
Speaker 1: a lot to talk about over the next few days,
20:32
Speaker 1: and then before you know it, we're gonna be talking
20:33
Speaker 1: about baseball that matters. So fire me up. We'll be
20:37
Speaker 1: back probably before we break camp one more time to
20:40
Speaker 1: talk about those pending roster decisions. Until then, I'm Katie Wu.
20:44
Speaker 1: Thanks for tuning in. We will talk soon.