Latest / Cardinal Territory: A St. Louis Cardinals Podcast / Jordan Walker DESERVES All-Star nod, Kyle Leahy back to bullpen? What's next for Nolan Gorman?

Transcript

Jordan Walker DESERVES All-Star nod, Kyle Leahy back to bullpen? What's next for Nolan Gorman? · 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 our old buddy John Denton of Roundtable Sports.
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: It's no former professional athletes on the panel today, just
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: my buddy Denton. And by the way, John Denton just
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: did a very nice piece for Baseball Digest on Jordan Walker.
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: So we're going to talk a little Jordan Walker while
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: we show some of your handiwork, John.
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: So that looks really nice. But Jordan Walker right now, beautiful? Right,
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: that's beautiful.
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: There's an All Star push for this guy in Saint Louis.
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: You know why, because he deserves to be a National
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: League All Star. Tell me about the season he's putting together.
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: You look, he's up.
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: There, home runs, what is he second third? RBIs play outside.
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: Had a little blit last night losing the ball, but overall,
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: really good defense. His arm in the outfield, people don't
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: want to run on it. That's a game changer. Tell
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: me why Walker should be an All Star and make
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: the case for him.
• 1:12
  Speaker 3: Yeah, Jimbo, I mean, it's one of the best comeback
• 1:14
  Speaker 3: stories I've seen in a long time. I mean, Matthew
• 1:17
  Speaker 3: Libator said it best. He said I've seen less break
• 1:20
  Speaker 3: fewer break athletes more than Jordan has gone through. Like
• 1:24
  Speaker 3: what he's gone through. It was crazy depths that he
• 1:27
  Speaker 3: went through. And you know, to see him back on
• 1:29
  Speaker 3: top now and finally living up to the potential that
• 1:32
  Speaker 3: everybody had for him, it's amazing. I mean, you know,
• 1:35
  Speaker 3: you mentioned some of the numbers, but go inside the metrics.
• 1:38
  Speaker 3: I mean fastballs. Last year he hit two twenty five.
• 1:42
  Speaker 3: This year he's hitting two ninety three off speed pitches.
• 1:45
  Speaker 3: Last year one seventy five. Now he's hitting three forty one.
• 1:50
  Speaker 3: I mean, his ground ball rate is lower than the
• 1:52
  Speaker 3: major league average. He's barreling balls twice the rate of
• 1:56
  Speaker 3: anybody in baseball. So it's a it's amazing the transformation
• 2:01
  Speaker 3: that he's done. And Jim, it's no coincience that Casey
• 2:04
  Speaker 3: Chenowick is here in Saint Louis now. You know, last
• 2:07
  Speaker 3: year when he had the appendicitis, was working his way back.
• 2:11
  Speaker 3: They sent him to Springfield to work with Casey, and
• 2:14
  Speaker 3: Casey said, you know, I was part therapist, I was
• 2:16
  Speaker 3: part coach. Casey's got him more closed at the plate.
• 2:19
  Speaker 3: He's got him a little closer to the plate. He's
• 2:22
  Speaker 3: got his feet closer together. Casey pulled up high school
• 2:25
  Speaker 3: footage and showed him what he did in high school,
• 2:28
  Speaker 3: and that's helped him because you know, Jordan's one of
• 2:31
  Speaker 3: those guys. He didn't want to think at the plate.
• 2:32
  Speaker 3: He wants some simple stuff and with him, it's like
• 2:35
  Speaker 3: a one movement. You know, his balance is better. He's
• 2:39
  Speaker 3: still kind of chasing pictures if you look at the number,
• 2:41
  Speaker 3: he's still chasing as many pitches as he did last year,
• 2:43
  Speaker 3: but his balance is so much better. He's a little
• 2:45
  Speaker 3: closer to the plate, and you know he's seeing incredible
• 2:48
  Speaker 3: result so far.
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: I asked Nolan Arnado about Walker. He was amazed considering
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: everything Walker went through. A lot of people didn't think
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: he'd make it back low and bold. He's back in
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: better than ever. And one of the things about Walker,
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: even on a night where he's not hitting homers or
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: crushing doubles, he'll get a couple of hits. You know why,
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: because he hits the ball so hard infielders don't have
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: a chance to move.
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: This guy should be an.
• 3:14
  Speaker 3: All Star, Yeah, no doubt about it. I think there
• 3:18
  Speaker 3: was a stat last night he hasn't gone longer than
• 3:20
  Speaker 3: three games without a hit all season. You know, Jim
• 3:23
  Speaker 3: I thought it was impressive. He had the great start
• 3:25
  Speaker 3: early on, he had that stretch where he hit like
• 3:27
  Speaker 3: seven home runs and eight games or whatever, and then
• 3:30
  Speaker 3: he went through the dip, and you know, everybody was
• 3:33
  Speaker 3: curious to see, is it over?
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: Was it just luck?
• 3:37
  Speaker 3: Alec Burlson even said he said that showed him more
• 3:40
  Speaker 3: than anything, the fact that Jordan didn't put his head down,
• 3:43
  Speaker 3: He kept working, he believed in what he was doing,
• 3:46
  Speaker 3: and he's dug himself out of a couple of these
• 3:48
  Speaker 3: little lulls. And that tells you more than anything, because
• 3:51
  Speaker 3: it would have been easy for Jordan to throw his
• 3:53
  Speaker 3: hands in there and say, oh, well it was good
• 3:55
  Speaker 3: while it lasted. I guess I'm going back to the
• 3:58
  Speaker 3: old thing.
• 3:58
  Speaker 4: You know.
• 3:59
  Speaker 3: Jordan dug his way out of this. And you know,
• 4:01
  Speaker 3: we always talk about he's got a great support system
• 4:04
  Speaker 3: at home. He's got a dad who went to MIT,
• 4:06
  Speaker 3: He's got a mother who went to Harvard. His mother
• 4:09
  Speaker 3: got her masters had washed you with there in Saint Louis,
• 4:13
  Speaker 3: you know, so he has a great support system. He
• 4:15
  Speaker 3: is a very intelligent kid. He's working his butt off
• 4:19
  Speaker 3: every day. Now he's preparing more than he ever has.
• 4:22
  Speaker 3: He's killing relievers because he's doing the homework now, He's
• 4:25
  Speaker 3: not surprised when he sees pitches from relievers. He knows
• 4:29
  Speaker 3: what they're going to throw him. So, you know, Oli
• 4:31
  Speaker 3: marmau has given him so much credit to Brent Brown
• 4:33
  Speaker 3: and Brandon Allen and Casey Chenowith. But Jordan is doing
• 4:37
  Speaker 3: the work and you know he deserves to be in
• 4:38
  Speaker 3: the All Star Game, no doubt about it.
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: So a rough one for the bullpen last night kind
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: of been an ongoing thing. John Sponson gave it up
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: a little bit. He had been really lights out since
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: he came back from Memphis, a guy who had a
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: huge role last year. But that's kind of been a theme.
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: And the Cardinals at this stretch have a lot of
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: games coming up, no off days for a little while,
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: and I just wonder the bullpen can can it make
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: it through because even the guys who were, you know,
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: in the circle of trust have taken on a little water.
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: Just your thoughts on where the bullpen is right now?
• 5:21
  Speaker 3: Yeah, Jim, I think the circle of a circle of
• 5:24
  Speaker 3: trust is a little fluid right now. You know, you
• 5:26
  Speaker 3: never know from day to day who's in who's out.
• 5:29
  Speaker 3: Who would have thought that this team would say, Wow,
• 5:32
  Speaker 3: where would we be without George Soriano. I mean, that's
• 5:36
  Speaker 3: a huge plus mark for hind Bloom finding him trading
• 5:40
  Speaker 3: for him early in spring training from the Nationals. Yeah,
• 5:43
  Speaker 3: it's one of those things. I mean, Jim, I think
• 5:46
  Speaker 3: probably twenty five of thirty major league teams are going
• 5:49
  Speaker 3: through this. Somebody told me a long time ago, if
• 5:52
  Speaker 3: you're a reliever, that's likely because you failed as a starter.
• 5:56
  Speaker 3: I mean, nobody grows up wanting to pitch the fifth
• 5:58
  Speaker 3: or sixth inning. You're in that role for a reason.
• 6:02
  Speaker 3: It's one of those things where Ali has to roll
• 6:04
  Speaker 3: the dice every night. And you know, I've kind of
• 6:07
  Speaker 3: been shocked by Swans Funton. I thought he was ready to,
• 6:10
  Speaker 3: you know, maybe really take a big step. I think
• 6:13
  Speaker 3: I wrote before the season he was the reliever to watch.
• 6:16
  Speaker 3: It's been shocking to see him struggle because he's a
• 6:19
  Speaker 3: sharp guy and he's got good stuff. But I think
• 6:23
  Speaker 3: he's in a spot now where he doesn't trust his stuff.
• 6:25
  Speaker 3: He's nibbling too much. Arnatto last night laid off a
• 6:29
  Speaker 3: couple of really good pitches and then he had to
• 6:32
  Speaker 3: come in the zone, and even if it's ninety eight
• 6:34
  Speaker 3: miles an hour, major league hitters are going to hit that.
• 6:36
  Speaker 3: And Arnatto hit it last night. And you know, we've
• 6:39
  Speaker 3: seen Ryan Stannick throw the ball ninety nine miles an hour.
• 6:42
  Speaker 3: But I think it was Bobby Cox who said that
• 6:44
  Speaker 3: major league hitters can catch up to a jet airplane
• 6:47
  Speaker 3: if they had to. So, you know, it's a matter
• 6:50
  Speaker 3: of these guys having more confidence and attacking. We've seen
• 6:53
  Speaker 3: it with Andre Polante last season he lost his confidence completely.
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: He was nibbling.
• 6:59
  Speaker 3: This year, if he's on the attack more, he's landing
• 7:01
  Speaker 3: his secondary stuff. The Cardinals have to get the you know,
• 7:05
  Speaker 3: the Jojo has to get back to landing his stuff,
• 7:07
  Speaker 3: and Swonson has to you know, not nibble so much.
• 7:11
  Speaker 3: And you know, the one I'm kind of worried about,
• 7:14
  Speaker 3: Riley O'Brien started is better than anybody in baseball. First
• 7:17
  Speaker 3: thirteen appearances, Riley O'Brien didn't give up a run. Last
• 7:21
  Speaker 3: twenty appearances, he's given up twelve runs, and I think
• 7:24
  Speaker 3: seven of those are multiple times. So yes, they're issues.
• 7:28
  Speaker 3: But I would say other than the Braves and maybe
• 7:30
  Speaker 3: the Dodgers, there's twenty eight other teams that are going
• 7:33
  Speaker 3: through kind of nightly bullpen issues when you don't know
• 7:36
  Speaker 3: who you can trust and who you can't.
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: Even when O'Brien gets through it a couple of walks,
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: and for guys that are closers, they're not supposed to
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: be putting guys on base. Another concern is Matthew Lebator,
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: who lasted one in two thirds innings, got hammered in
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: his last start. Now, they might have been some pitch
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: tipping going on there. The Cardinals were looking into that
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: and to change some things for him, And I talked
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: to Libby about it, and Libby said, look, I know
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: what I did. I know how to fix it. I
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: flushed it. And I think that's the right attitude. Social
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: media folks are kind of going after Libby. The Cardinals
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: believe from their metrics, the metrics that you and I
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: don't see. Tell them, tell them that this is part
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: of the process and he will be better by going
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: through it. Your thoughts on what Libby is as we
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: talk at.
• 8:30
  Speaker 3: This moment, Yeah, Jim, I think Libby can handle this.
• 8:33
  Speaker 3: Like he is very mature, Like he is very polished.
• 8:37
  Speaker 3: He knows who he is as a pitcher. It's rough.
• 8:39
  Speaker 3: I mean the other night in Kent City, everything he
• 8:42
  Speaker 3: threw balls, strikes hard, stuff off speed, curbo, everything got hit.
• 8:48
  Speaker 3: So you hope that was just a one off and
• 8:51
  Speaker 3: he can get over that. But yeah, the numbers are
• 8:53
  Speaker 3: not pretty right now. I mean he's allowed fifteen home runs.
• 8:57
  Speaker 3: I think that's tied for fourteenth in the league. And
• 8:59
  Speaker 3: it's it's right e's and it's lefties. You know, I
• 9:03
  Speaker 3: think sometimes pitchers get caught up and chasing v loow,
• 9:06
  Speaker 3: chasing swinging miss. We saw Libby after about his fourth
• 9:10
  Speaker 3: or his start, he started really chasing that swing and miss,
• 9:14
  Speaker 3: and he piled up big strikeout numbers. I think he
• 9:16
  Speaker 3: struck out nine twice. He's throwing his slider harder. He
• 9:20
  Speaker 3: picked up a little bit of miles an hour on
• 9:22
  Speaker 3: his fastball, but you know with that, maybe he lost
• 9:25
  Speaker 3: his command and he's not hitting his spots as well.
• 9:29
  Speaker 3: It's you know, it's been rough lately because righties are
• 9:32
  Speaker 3: taking him deep. Lefties are taking him deep, and you know,
• 9:35
  Speaker 3: Libby should be tough enough, he should be mature enough
• 9:38
  Speaker 3: at this point in his career to get through a
• 9:40
  Speaker 3: lineup a third time. I mean, how many times have
• 9:42
  Speaker 3: We seen him pitch really well for four four and
• 9:45
  Speaker 3: a half innings and then he sees the lineup the
• 9:47
  Speaker 3: third time. Like I said earlier, he's very mature. He's
• 9:51
  Speaker 3: a very intelligent guy. He's just got to figure out
• 9:54
  Speaker 3: how to get over this hump, Like you can't get
• 9:56
  Speaker 3: tripped up every single time facing a lineup three times through.
• 10:00
  Speaker 3: He has enough pitches to be able to get over
• 10:02
  Speaker 3: that hump.
• 10:04
  Speaker 2: So you talk about process.
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: Another guy that the Cardinals are sticking with and not
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: moving him back to the bullpen is Kyle Lady, who
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: pitched very.
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: Well last night six and a third scoreless.
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: The Cardinals said internally he is making improvements. You might
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: not see a game to game, but we are sticking
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: with the process. And last night Kyle lay was at Stanton.
• 10:27
  Speaker 3: He really was Jim. When you talked to Oli Marma,
• 10:29
  Speaker 3: He'll tell you the smartest guy in that room is
• 10:32
  Speaker 3: Kyle Layy. I mean Kyle Lee. He can throw seven pitches,
• 10:35
  Speaker 3: he can throw eight pitches. He has all the arsenal,
• 10:39
  Speaker 3: you know he and last night was good to see.
• 10:41
  Speaker 3: I mean he powered through the third time through the
• 10:43
  Speaker 3: lineup like that has really bothered him. And you know
• 10:46
  Speaker 3: fans a lot of times will say, oh, you've only
• 10:48
  Speaker 3: thrown seventy pitches, why are you wearing down. It's not
• 10:52
  Speaker 3: about the pitch count, it's about the times facing the order.
• 10:56
  Speaker 3: And he, you know, he said himself he has enough
• 10:59
  Speaker 3: pitches he'd be able to get through that. And he
• 11:01
  Speaker 3: pushed through that last night and pitched into the seventh inning.
• 11:04
  Speaker 3: That was a big hurdle for him. Now, Jim, I'm
• 11:07
  Speaker 3: a little bit I'm in the minority here. I think
• 11:11
  Speaker 3: Kyle Lahy could help this team more out of the bullpen. Yes,
• 11:14
  Speaker 3: he's made strides as a starter, and yes he's helping
• 11:18
  Speaker 3: him as a starter now, but the Cardinal's biggest issue
• 11:22
  Speaker 3: is that that bridge reliever to get the ball to Jojo,
• 11:25
  Speaker 3: to get the ball to Riley. I think he could
• 11:27
  Speaker 3: help this team more with a switch back to the bullpen.
• 11:30
  Speaker 3: There are no indications that they're going to do that.
• 11:33
  Speaker 3: Nobody has mentioned that, but personally, I think he would
• 11:36
  Speaker 3: be better as that you know, sixth seventh inning guy,
• 11:39
  Speaker 3: because he can give you multiple innings. You know what
• 11:42
  Speaker 3: you're going to get from him. It's kind of a
• 11:44
  Speaker 3: short burst thing where he's not having to go through
• 11:46
  Speaker 3: the lineup multiple times. You've got Quinn Matthews, You've got
• 11:49
  Speaker 3: Bryson Motts, some of those guys at Triple A, Hunter
• 11:53
  Speaker 3: Dobbins has pitched well. I think in the long term,
• 11:57
  Speaker 3: and I think the Cardinals will consider this at some
• 11:59
  Speaker 3: point you call up one of those guys to be
• 12:01
  Speaker 3: your fifth starter and lay he can give you more
• 12:04
  Speaker 3: value out of the bullpen. And that's just my opinion.
• 12:07
  Speaker 3: You know, whatever that's worth. But I think if they
• 12:10
  Speaker 3: can make that move, it could clear up a lot
• 12:12
  Speaker 3: of their bullpen issues.
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: Look, I think he would be a big piece out
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: of the bullpen. One of the things about him, outside
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: of the fact that he's smart and throws six seven pitches,
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: he always wants the ball. He'll never complain if he
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: has to pitch a couple of days in a row,
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: even three. He's got one of those guys that has
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: the rubber arms. But we'll see, because right now it
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: seems like they're not ready to make them move, But
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: we are going to move toward a break. When we
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: come back, we'll talk about the new beef here. Lower
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: part of the lineup, you're watching Cardinal Territory of the
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: Found Territory Network.
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  Speaker 1: Problems with the Cardinals offensively earlier in the season was
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: that they weren't getting any production from the bottom part
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: of their lineup. But they have beefed it up recently
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: and one of the key guys who has been on
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: fire since he came off the IL is Nathan Church.
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: His numbers since coming back are great, and he added
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: the dimension getting walks. This is what he didn't do
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: early in the season, didn't do last year, but it's
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: something the Cardinals were urging him to do. Be a
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: little patient, take your walks, and he's embraced it. He's
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: walking more and he has been a big plus in
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: a lower part of the batting.
• 14:23
  Speaker 3: Or Yeah, Jim, they really like a lot about him.
• 14:27
  Speaker 3: I mean, you know, he's a young, excitable, aggressive kid.
• 14:31
  Speaker 3: He wants to make everything happen right away. They're trying
• 14:34
  Speaker 3: to convince him. Every hitting coach in that dougout is
• 14:37
  Speaker 3: trying to convince him. You have to be more patient,
• 14:40
  Speaker 3: you have to be more selective at the plate. I mean,
• 14:42
  Speaker 3: Nathan Church has had a really good season, but he's
• 14:45
  Speaker 3: in the bottom two percentile in baseball and chase rate.
• 14:49
  Speaker 3: He's chasing forty four point four percent of the time.
• 14:52
  Speaker 3: Imagine if he can cut that down ten percent, how
• 14:56
  Speaker 3: much better he's going to be if he's swinging that
• 14:57
  Speaker 3: good pitches, swinging a strikes. So you know, there was
• 15:00
  Speaker 3: a thing in Minnesota the other day when he walked.
• 15:03
  Speaker 3: He turned the dug out and said, I walked, I walked.
• 15:06
  Speaker 3: But you know, now he's been back, he's actually picked
• 15:09
  Speaker 3: up five walks. I think his own base percentage is
• 15:12
  Speaker 3: four twenty nine, which you know, that's night and day
• 15:15
  Speaker 3: compared to what it was early in the season when
• 15:17
  Speaker 3: he was playing left field filling in for Lars. So
• 15:20
  Speaker 3: you know, he's hitting two sixty nine, which they love.
• 15:23
  Speaker 3: If he can just swing at better pitches and be
• 15:25
  Speaker 3: more selective at the plate, he's gonna draw a handful
• 15:28
  Speaker 3: of more walks. He's gonna get better pitches to hit.
• 15:30
  Speaker 3: So he wants to be good. He's very hungry, he's
• 15:34
  Speaker 3: very aggressive, but some of that has to be torn
• 15:36
  Speaker 3: down at the plate and stop chasing bad pitches so much.
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: Really good defensively in center field, really good, and also
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: on the base pat If you talk about aggression, it
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: seems when he's on teams tighten up because that guy
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: can fly and he's aggressive. Another guy that the Cardinals
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: added recently is Blase Jordan, who everyone knows about from
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: social media. When he's a kid hitting five hundred foot homers.
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: The question was can he play third base? So they
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: brought him up. He's hitting and he's playing really good
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: defensively at third base, which I'm not sure everyone including
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: the Cardinals expected.
• 16:17
  Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, Jim, there were a lot of whispers throughout
• 16:19
  Speaker 3: the organization. Yeah, but you know, yeah, he's having a
• 16:23
  Speaker 3: good season at Memphis, but we don't see him as
• 16:25
  Speaker 3: a third baseman. Yeah, he's you know, crushing the ball
• 16:28
  Speaker 3: at Memphis, but he can't do it here. Blazes cleared
• 16:32
  Speaker 3: that up. Now, it's a small sample size. I think
• 16:34
  Speaker 3: he's played eleven games, but the guy's putting the ball
• 16:37
  Speaker 3: in play. I think he has four strikeouts so far
• 16:41
  Speaker 3: in eleven games. Jim, that's you know, so big for
• 16:44
  Speaker 3: this organization to have somebody at the bottom of the
• 16:46
  Speaker 3: lineup put the ball in play. Last night, you know,
• 16:50
  Speaker 3: driving that ball to right field the game in Kansas
• 16:54
  Speaker 3: City when they were way down in the ninth you know,
• 16:56
  Speaker 3: he plunked that double in right field to keep to
• 16:59
  Speaker 3: push the carry the line past the baton and you know,
• 17:03
  Speaker 3: and it's been shocking to see him play third base.
• 17:05
  Speaker 3: He's really held his own and you know, jim I
• 17:08
  Speaker 3: think there's something to that. You know, thirteen fourteen, fifteen
• 17:11
  Speaker 3: year old, he was hitting home runs in major league ballparks.
• 17:14
  Speaker 3: He's not blown away by this. He's not uncomfortable. He's
• 17:18
  Speaker 3: not you know, have the big eyes looking at the
• 17:20
  Speaker 3: third deck and that sort of thing. He's been in
• 17:23
  Speaker 3: major league environments his whole life. It took him six
• 17:26
  Speaker 3: years to get here, so I think he's, you know,
• 17:29
  Speaker 3: really trying to grasp this opportunity. But he's been a
• 17:32
  Speaker 3: positive on offensively and defensively so far. That's and that's
• 17:36
  Speaker 3: really helped the bottom of the order because when Jimmy
• 17:39
  Speaker 3: Crooks is hitting the ball the way he did and
• 17:41
  Speaker 3: the ninth in and last night, and Blaze is putting
• 17:43
  Speaker 3: it in play and Church is not chasing bad pitches,
• 17:47
  Speaker 3: then that's putting people on base for the Weatherholts and
• 17:49
  Speaker 3: the Herreras and the Walkers and the Burlesons.
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: And there's no rush for opposing pitchers. Usually most batting orders.
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: You're like, I'll get to hear. I don't have to
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: show him this pitch or that pitch can't do that.
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: He can't rest with the bottom of the order anymore.
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: Another thing about Blaze, the maturity, Like this is a
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: big bopper, right. He's always been known as a who
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: can crush baseballs, but at the plate he seems like
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: really mature. You mentioned putting the ball in the air
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: going the other way, not striking out. He looks to
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: me like more of a finished product than I expected
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: to see at this level, at least in the early stages.
• 18:31
  Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean you can tell he was
• 18:34
  Speaker 3: introduced to the game at an early age, that he
• 18:37
  Speaker 3: had some really good coaching along the way. And I mean,
• 18:39
  Speaker 3: this is a guy who committed to Mississippi State before
• 18:43
  Speaker 3: he ever played a high school game. This is a
• 18:45
  Speaker 3: guy who reclassified so he could be drafted at seventeen
• 18:48
  Speaker 3: years old by the Red Sox. I mean, he has
• 18:51
  Speaker 3: a very advanced game. And you know, Oli Marmol talks
• 18:54
  Speaker 3: about this with JJ Weatherholt. The hardest thing to teach
• 18:57
  Speaker 3: a young guy to do is to hit the ball
• 18:58
  Speaker 3: the other way. The best thing about JJ weatherhold is
• 19:01
  Speaker 3: he hits the ball the other way. And you're seeing
• 19:03
  Speaker 3: a lot of that with Blaze as well. Where he's
• 19:06
  Speaker 3: not swinging from the heels, he's not trying to crush
• 19:09
  Speaker 3: the ball five hundred feet. He will take his sacrifice
• 19:12
  Speaker 3: fly out of right field. He will plunk the ball
• 19:14
  Speaker 3: into right field for you know, a two run single
• 19:17
  Speaker 3: late in the game. And you know, I think, you know,
• 19:19
  Speaker 3: being able to drive the ball the other way and
• 19:22
  Speaker 3: stay within yourself, I think that says a lot about
• 19:24
  Speaker 3: the maturity of a kid. And we've all been blown
• 19:26
  Speaker 3: away with JJ Weatherhold's maturity. I think you're seeing a
• 19:30
  Speaker 3: lot of that with Blaze as well. Where he's been
• 19:33
  Speaker 3: in this environment. He's been well taught since he was
• 19:36
  Speaker 3: a kid, and if he was coming up and swinging
• 19:38
  Speaker 3: from the heels, you would wonder, boy, this is not
• 19:41
  Speaker 3: going to last very long. But he's very composed at
• 19:44
  Speaker 3: the plate. He's willing to hit pitches the other way.
• 19:46
  Speaker 3: And I think that says a lot about his maturity.
• 19:49
  Speaker 3: And you know, it took him six years to get here,
• 19:52
  Speaker 3: so he is not wanting to squander this opportunity one bit.
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: So he's a third right now. The other guy, Nolan Gorman,
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: started his assignment with Triple A Memphis last night. We'll
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: talk about that, but first a quick break. You're watching
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: Cardinal Territory. I'm the Final Territory Network.
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• 21:10
  Speaker 1: Gorman was struggling at the big league level, so they
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: sent him to the hitting lab for a little while
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: right to work on the swing mechanics. And he started
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: his assignment Triple A Memphis last night. Didn't start that well,
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: struck out four times and in his fifth at bat
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: RBI single. What do you think the Cardinals are looking
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: for Gorman to do with his swing, because obviously was
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: off kilter up here.
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: I don't know what they can find.
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: He talked about his process of laying off pitches, which
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: is what a lot of you know, hitters have to
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: go through. What are they looking for with Gorman right now?
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: Especially when Blaze Jordan is playing so well at third
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: base now at the big league level.
• 21:57
  Speaker 3: Yeah, Jim Gorman actually has a good eye. His walk
• 22:00
  Speaker 3: rate is not bad, but you know, I think sometimes
• 22:03
  Speaker 3: he gets a little hesitant at the plate, and in
• 22:06
  Speaker 3: this league, you just cannot be a deadpool hitter. Gorman's
• 22:10
  Speaker 3: at his best when he's driving the ball back up
• 22:13
  Speaker 3: the middle. He's at his best when he's hitting those
• 22:15
  Speaker 3: home runs to left center. I mean, the kid has
• 22:18
  Speaker 3: unreal power, Like he has better power than Jordan Walker.
• 22:22
  Speaker 3: When when he makes contact the ball flies off his bed.
• 22:25
  Speaker 3: It makes a different sound. But you know, something has
• 22:29
  Speaker 3: to change with his you know, with his swing. And
• 22:31
  Speaker 3: I think they've really tried to hammer home that what
• 22:34
  Speaker 3: you're doing is not going to work. Like I mean,
• 22:37
  Speaker 3: you can't have a wheel rate of thirty nine percent,
• 22:39
  Speaker 3: thirty eight percent. His his wheel rate is back where
• 22:42
  Speaker 3: it was in twenty twenty four when it was the
• 22:45
  Speaker 3: worst in the league. And you know, he's a smart guy.
• 22:48
  Speaker 3: He's a very grounded guy. He's he doesn't ride the
• 22:51
  Speaker 3: highs and lows. Sometimes it's hard to tell if he
• 22:53
  Speaker 3: has a heartbeat because he's so mellow.
• 22:56
  Speaker 2: But I think the.
• 22:57
  Speaker 3: Organization is trying to let him know and trying to
• 22:59
  Speaker 3: stress to him what you're doing is not going to
• 23:02
  Speaker 3: play for this team. You know, maybe Blaze Jordan having
• 23:06
  Speaker 3: success too will kind of open Gorman's eyes. And you know,
• 23:10
  Speaker 3: whatever they're trying to get him to do, I think
• 23:11
  Speaker 3: it needs to be driving the ball back up the middle,
• 23:14
  Speaker 3: driving the ball the other way. You can't survive in
• 23:17
  Speaker 3: this league being out on your front foot and being
• 23:20
  Speaker 3: a deadpool hitter. You have to hit the ball the
• 23:22
  Speaker 3: other way. You have to go with the outside pitch
• 23:24
  Speaker 3: and you know, they've had success rebuilding guys swings, and
• 23:29
  Speaker 3: you know, let's hope it works. Because Gorman's a great guy.
• 23:32
  Speaker 3: Like he is a very chill, relaxed good guy, and
• 23:36
  Speaker 3: I'm pulling for him. A couple of years ago in
• 23:38
  Speaker 3: spring training and he told me, he said, he gave
• 23:40
  Speaker 3: me one of the greatest lines I've ever gotten. He said, look,
• 23:43
  Speaker 3: this has to work. There is no backup plan. This
• 23:46
  Speaker 3: is all I have in my life. So I'm pulling
• 23:49
  Speaker 3: for him. I hope he figures it out. And you know,
• 23:52
  Speaker 3: the Cardinals are just trying to hammer home the point
• 23:54
  Speaker 3: that you have to fix this. We can't keep going
• 23:57
  Speaker 3: as you were earlier this season.
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: I'll pretty young as a player, right, so that's a plus.
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: I agree with you. A wonderful guy. I think sometimes
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: fans could misread him as aloof he's just a chill
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: guy who's a really good guy, and he does care,
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: and he's got something that most people don't have. He
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: has what they call light tower power, and he you know,
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: if he makes a few corrections, he's a thirty homer
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: guy that'll hit two forty and give you a decent
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: defense average defense at third base.
• 24:27
  Speaker 2: I'm with you.
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: I'm hoping it works out, not only because he's a
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: good guy, but you know, he should be crushing baseball
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: somewhere in the major leagues. Another guy who's crushing baseballs,
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: but at Triple A as Joshua Bias twenty five homers.
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: I mean, the numbers are through the roof. Hein Bloom
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: has said, look, he's still working on some things. What
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: do you think we're gonna see Bias at the big
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: league lift, Jim, I.
• 24:54
  Speaker 3: Think it'll be after the trade deadline. You know, the
• 24:57
  Speaker 3: Cardinals currently have an outfield that's full right now. Now
• 24:59
  Speaker 3: that not be the case after the trade deadline? Does
• 25:02
  Speaker 3: the team shop Lars Newbar? We all loved the large Newbar.
• 25:06
  Speaker 3: I hope he stays in Saint Louis forever, but the
• 25:07
  Speaker 3: team might shop him at the deadline. Let's all remember
• 25:12
  Speaker 3: the team traded their one All Star from last year,
• 25:14
  Speaker 3: Brenda Donovan, because they had his replacement in place in
• 25:19
  Speaker 3: JJ weatherhol You know, everybody in Saint Louis loved Brenda Donovan,
• 25:24
  Speaker 3: but the Cardinals moved on from him because they had
• 25:26
  Speaker 3: his replacement. He was younger and cheaper and healthier. You know, eventually,
• 25:32
  Speaker 3: Josh Bias could be your starting left fielder. He could
• 25:34
  Speaker 3: be your starting centerfielder. I mean the other day he
• 25:37
  Speaker 3: showed off an incredible arm through a guy out at
• 25:39
  Speaker 3: the plate. Something clicked inside of him. I don't know
• 25:43
  Speaker 3: what it was. But last season, like he was at
• 25:46
  Speaker 3: single A starting twenty twenty five and he took off
• 25:52
  Speaker 3: at Peoria, went to Springfield, led Springfield to the title
• 25:56
  Speaker 3: there and he has just crushed balls this year. He
• 25:59
  Speaker 3: still has a little bit of a strikeout rate with
• 26:02
  Speaker 3: rate issue, but he's cut that down as well. And
• 26:06
  Speaker 3: I mean, Jim he is sixty three two thirty five.
• 26:10
  Speaker 3: Imagine an outfield with sixty six, two hundred and fifty
• 26:12
  Speaker 3: pounds Jordan Walker and six three, two hundred and thirty
• 26:15
  Speaker 3: five pound Josh Bias. I mean, they look like NFL
• 26:18
  Speaker 3: tight ends playing outfield. So that could that could give
• 26:22
  Speaker 3: Cardinal fans something to look forward to for years to come,
• 26:25
  Speaker 3: because he looks to be that guy that's just on
• 26:28
  Speaker 3: a collision course with stardom. And you know, if Cardinal
• 26:31
  Speaker 3: fans have learned anything it's hey, Jordan Walker was on
• 26:34
  Speaker 3: that path too, and it took a long time, So
• 26:36
  Speaker 3: you know, they may Cardinal fans may have to be patient.
• 26:39
  Speaker 3: They don't want to push this guy too soon. But
• 26:41
  Speaker 3: I really think we could see Josh Bias up here
• 26:45
  Speaker 3: in August after the trade DeLine.
• 26:47
  Speaker 2: No room at the end right now, you're right about that.
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: I was talking to some of the current Cardinals that
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: saw Bias and the miners, and they were like, he
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: put into work because he did struggle early in his
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: minor league career and he's found some that's a credit
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: to the work ethic, also natural ability. You don't think
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: there's any chance we see him. They find a way
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: to get him. Some of bats up here.
• 27:11
  Speaker 2: Hope.
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: We don't want to see anyone get injured, But otherwise
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: you think trade deadline they'll make a pathway for him.
• 27:17
  Speaker 2: Is that how you see it? Yeah?
• 27:19
  Speaker 3: I mean Jim the knock on hein Bloom in Boston
• 27:22
  Speaker 3: was that he was hesitant that he would get paralyzed
• 27:25
  Speaker 3: sometime and not make moves. Look at what Hym's done
• 27:28
  Speaker 3: so far this season. Victor Scott's not hitting. Bring you know,
• 27:32
  Speaker 3: put Nathan Church out there, Pedro Piz was struggling at
• 27:35
  Speaker 3: the plate. Put Jimmy Crooks in there. He brought up
• 27:39
  Speaker 3: you know, he's he has not been hesitant at all.
• 27:42
  Speaker 3: He's been quick, been proactive. You know, if one of
• 27:45
  Speaker 3: the outfielders goes in the tank, or if you know,
• 27:48
  Speaker 3: Josh Bias is making it too hard for them to
• 27:51
  Speaker 3: ignore him. They were kind of trying to ignore him
• 27:53
  Speaker 3: and let him stay at Memphis and marinate all season.
• 27:56
  Speaker 3: He's making it impossible to ignore, so, you know, I
• 28:01
  Speaker 3: don't think he'll be here before the tread deadline, but
• 28:04
  Speaker 3: heinm Bloom, has shown that, you know, if this team
• 28:07
  Speaker 3: needs a fix. I think that's one of the changes
• 28:09
  Speaker 3: him has made. He's being proactive, he's being aggressive. Maybe
• 28:13
  Speaker 3: that bit him a little bit in Boston, but he's
• 28:15
  Speaker 3: learned from those mistakes and he's been aggressive. And I
• 28:18
  Speaker 3: think Cardinal fans love the moves he's made so far
• 28:21
  Speaker 3: because they've mostly all worked out.
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: Yeah, they had no question. He's taking care of business,
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: and so have you.
• 28:27
  Speaker 2: John.
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: We appreciate you joining us. Always a pleasure. You are
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: a pros pro my friend.
• 28:33
  Speaker 3: Thank you so much, Jim, thanks for having me.
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: All Right, that's gonna do it for this edition of
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: Cardinal Territory. We'll see you next time. Hopefully that episode
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: won't suck