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Can Cardinals combat left-handed pitching? · Cardinal Territory: A St. Louis Cardinals Podcast

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: It's Friday, June twenty seventh.
• 0:06
  Speaker 2: Welcome back to Cardinal Territory, and dare I say, Bernie,
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: I'm a little disappointed after the Cardinals' latest four.
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: Game set against the Chicago Cubs.
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: They split the series, and you and I both said
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: that we'd be okay if the Cardinals and Cubs split
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: the series, and then what happened. Saint Louis played two
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: thrilling games in Game one and two, and fell very
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: flat in games three and four. So I'm a little
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: disappointed now. I didn't expect them for a four game sweep,
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: of course, but I also thought they would score more
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: than one run in their final twenty three.
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: Innings of that series. But I was mistaken. Welcome back
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: to Cardinal Territory and happy Friday, Katie and Bernie. Back
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: with you.
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: I am in Cleveland this weekend. I will we rejoin
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: the team in Pittsburgh on Monday. But with plenty of
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: things to talk about still, let's start about that series.
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: Bernie. Your thoughts on a series split against the Cubs.
• 0:55
  Speaker 3: You know, my position on the four game series is,
• 0:57
  Speaker 3: like you, I go in expecting that there will be
• 0:59
  Speaker 3: a split, right, because it ain't easy to win even
• 1:03
  Speaker 3: three out of four games, Okay, can happen. So anyway,
• 1:05
  Speaker 3: I thought, well, Cubs are better team to two split.
• 1:07
  Speaker 3: That's probably my expectation. But I think I said I
• 1:11
  Speaker 3: think I said on this show, but I can't remember
• 1:14
  Speaker 3: for sure, but I know I said it maybe in
• 1:16
  Speaker 3: one of my lousy videos. But the it's kind of
• 1:22
  Speaker 3: how it plays out. Like in other words, if the
• 1:24
  Speaker 3: Cardinals had lost the first two games of the series
• 1:28
  Speaker 3: and then they battle back and they win the final
• 1:30
  Speaker 3: two and they get a split, you're like, hey, that
• 1:32
  Speaker 3: feels like a victory because it could have been so
• 1:34
  Speaker 3: much worse. Well, the exact thing hot happened. I mean,
• 1:37
  Speaker 3: the Cardinals scored sixteen runs and hit seven homers in
• 1:41
  Speaker 3: the first two games. You know, the Cubs were just
• 1:44
  Speaker 3: kind of what's the word, you know. I'm not going
• 1:48
  Speaker 3: to say they were knocked down or out, but they
• 1:51
  Speaker 3: were kind of like whoa, you know. And then the
• 1:54
  Speaker 3: Cardinals come out the final two games and do absolutely
• 1:57
  Speaker 3: nothing and they don't score. They you know, Boyd and
• 2:02
  Speaker 3: Immenaga are good, don't get me wrong, tip of the
• 2:05
  Speaker 3: cap and all that, but come on, I mean, they
• 2:09
  Speaker 3: hit one oh five against those two starters just did nothing, nothing,
• 2:14
  Speaker 3: and they didn't score a run against the Cubs bullpen
• 2:16
  Speaker 3: the entire series. And yesterday they had well in the
• 2:20
  Speaker 3: last two games, they had a chance to get into
• 2:23
  Speaker 3: the Cubs bullpen and do something, and yesterday's game was
• 2:27
  Speaker 3: certainly winnable, but like you said, they just went flat.
• 2:31
  Speaker 3: And so in that context, it was a really disappointing
• 2:35
  Speaker 3: four game series because it should have been better, and
• 2:38
  Speaker 3: they let an opportunity slip away. And when you got
• 2:42
  Speaker 3: the Cubs lined up, you can't let them slip away.
• 2:45
  Speaker 3: You gotta knock them down when you can.
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a good Cubs team, and we'll get to
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: this later on the show. But you're right about Boyden
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: showed a what do they have in common? They're lefty
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: starting pitchers, and that the Cardinals just are not fair
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: or stacked up currently with the way they're roster looks
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: to compete well against lefty pitchers. But Bernie, I think
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: you're spot on here. It was disappointing because it could
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: have been a lot better, especially.
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: After the first two games.
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: Game two Tuesday, the eight to seven win, Mason wins
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: scores from second base on a sack fly Nolan Arnatto
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: saving the game with clutch defense. I mean, that's as
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: fired up as the team had been all season. So
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: then to come out on Wednesday and Thursday, and you know,
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: Wednesday's games are going to happen every now and then,
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: just a clunker from the start Thursdays was frustrating and
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: showed it looked great. I mean, there's a reason that
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: he's one of the aces in the National League. Coming
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: back from the IL. There was really nothing they could
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: do about him, and that Cubs bullpen is very underrated.
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: It's very very good Danny Palencia. We saw him. I mean,
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: that is nasty, from the slider to hitting one on one.
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: They have their own Ryan Helsley out there in the ninth.
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: But I agree with you, Bernie, it was you know,
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: I know we said we'd take the split, but in
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: a series like that, when you win the first two
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: games in such exciting fashion and you put yourself in
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: a position to take the series and make up some
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: ground in the NL Central, neither of those things happened.
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: So the good news is the Cardinals will play the
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: Cubs again one week from today.
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: They just began.
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: They are beginning today a three city road trip Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Chicago,
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: so they have a chance to avenge themselves if you will.
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: We'll see how that goes though, because this Cub's team
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: is very very good.
• 4:17
  Speaker 3: Yeah, and you know the one thing too, like, you know,
• 4:20
  Speaker 3: it would be great if the Cardinals can go into
• 4:21
  Speaker 3: regular field and win two out of three. I'm not greedy.
• 4:23
  Speaker 3: Two out of three would be fine, be good. But
• 4:27
  Speaker 3: it also that also means you can't screw up in
• 4:29
  Speaker 3: Cleveland or Pittsburgh, because you know, if you lose two
• 4:33
  Speaker 3: out of three of the Indians whatever reason you sorry
• 4:37
  Speaker 3: Guardians every now and then, I say that, if you
• 4:39
  Speaker 3: lose two out of three in Cleveland and then you
• 4:41
  Speaker 3: go in Pittsburgh where they did lose the series earlier
• 4:44
  Speaker 3: this year, you know, somehow you get beat there, you
• 4:47
  Speaker 3: lose two out of three or whatever. Well, you know,
• 4:49
  Speaker 3: if you go beat you go to Chicago and win
• 4:51
  Speaker 3: two out of three regular fields, it's like kind of
• 4:53
  Speaker 3: like so what you know, because so they can't mess
• 4:56
  Speaker 3: up before they get there.
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and Cleveland's a good team. Pittsburgh is eighteen, but
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: Cleveland is a very good team. So that should be
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: a good test for them over the weekend. You have
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: your race on the mountain to the sunny graye at
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: night that go sunny, Miles Libby in Cleveland, and then
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: Pittsburgh gonna have to take care of business. It's still
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: a division mashup. I know that the Pirates have not
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: been good and have really taken a turn since the
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: Cardinals last played them, but you can't count anyone out,
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: and then you hope to do better in Wrigley over
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: Fourth of July weekend.
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: A couple of roster moves that happened through that series.
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: Garrett Hansen claimed off waivers from the Reds, Jose Berrero
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: Gfad Jose Fermen recalled Jordan Walker placed on the injured list.
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: We're putting out good vibes for Walker dealing with some appendicitis.
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: Ali Marmel said Walker actually had to spend the night
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: in a hotel, I mean not an hotel, excuse me,
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: in a hospital during the series. So we hope that
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: Jordan Walker is okay on the men's to recovery. It
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: sounded like he was doing much better on Thursday morning,
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: but he would not be able to play for at
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: least a week. Hence the ilstint that is retroactive to
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: June twenty third, so we will see hose for me
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: as the twenty six man. Garrett Hampson looks like he'll
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: start in center field against lefty's.
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: Victor Scott is.
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: Swinging the bat better overall, and this is going to
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: be a work in progress with him, so I get it.
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: But Hampson does hit lefties pretty well.
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: I know that nobody did over the series against Chicago,
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: but we should see him start in center field Onay's.
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: Victor Scott is not and that leaves Barrero dfade, so
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: doesn't really impact the overall playing picture too much. One
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: thing I could not fit on the banner is that
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: Lars Nubar was out for the last forty eight hours.
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: I'm sure that did not help with the offensive production.
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: He took a what's the word, I always mess this
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: up anti inflammatory shot in his intercostal area, so around
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: his ribcage on Tuesday, so he's down for forty eight hours.
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: Top to Olie Marble on Thursday afternoon, he said the
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: plan is for newbar to go to Progressive Field to
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: go through all the normal pregame stuff, all the normal tests,
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: and their plan is.
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: To have him back in the lineup today, so that
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: should help. But yeah, Cardinals bench a little thin right
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: now without Jordan Walker, who just can't seem to catch
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: a break. And we'll see Garrett Hampson when needed, I guess.
• 7:07
  Speaker 3: Yeah. Garrett Hampson's an interesting player. I kind of enjoy
• 7:10
  Speaker 3: watching him play in the same way that I enjoyed
• 7:13
  Speaker 3: watching Michael Sianni play. And I'm saying that with I
• 7:19
  Speaker 3: don't know if I'm attempting a joke here. I'm not
• 7:23
  Speaker 3: joking about either one of them, but it's almost like, well,
• 7:27
  Speaker 3: they went out and found their right handed hitting version
• 7:31
  Speaker 3: version of Michael Sianni. I mean, they're basically the same guys.
• 7:34
  Speaker 3: One hits left, one hits right, and they both can
• 7:38
  Speaker 3: go get the ball. I mean, you know, so Hampson
• 7:40
  Speaker 3: I think is a smart pickup. They clearly and every
• 7:43
  Speaker 3: Cardinals fan knows this. They clearly had to do something
• 7:46
  Speaker 3: better than to go with Jose Barrero in center field
• 7:49
  Speaker 3: as the right handed option because they weren't going to
• 7:52
  Speaker 3: play Newt bar much in center field and I don't
• 7:55
  Speaker 3: blame him, so, you know, and Hampson might be that
• 7:58
  Speaker 3: extra reliever they need too. I mean, that was a
• 8:01
  Speaker 3: pretty good emergency reliever job the other night.
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: I mean, three pitches, three outs At that point, I
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: think pace of play matters the most to me, So
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: thank you, Garrett.
• 8:10
  Speaker 3: Yeah that's right. So yeah, I feel really bad for Walker,
• 8:15
  Speaker 3: you know, because he he really had it gone. I
• 8:19
  Speaker 3: mean he really had it going about the ten ten
• 8:21
  Speaker 3: or twelve games before he got he suffered the wrist injury.
• 8:25
  Speaker 3: And since he's been back, we talked about it last week.
• 8:27
  Speaker 3: Although I think I cheated him out of a base
• 8:29
  Speaker 3: hit once he got off the IL three for eighteen
• 8:32
  Speaker 3: now appendicitis. I mean, it's just like there always seems
• 8:36
  Speaker 3: to be the you know, a bad moon rising over
• 8:38
  Speaker 3: this guy. I mean it's just he just can't get
• 8:40
  Speaker 3: a break. And yeah, there's just setback after setback. So
• 8:45
  Speaker 3: this is shame, But most importantly is his health. I
• 8:48
  Speaker 3: hope he's doing better.
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: I hope so too, Cardinals hope that he'll be back
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: maybe towards the second.
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: Half of this road trip. So those are your roster
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: moves for the week. I didn't even get into the
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: pitching sponsor's up. I knew that was happening after McGreevy
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: went down for his spot start. So more about McGreevy
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: and basically, I really do want to talk about this, Bernie,
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: because I think it's really interesting. The cardinals against lefty
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: pictures lately not trending in a good direction.
• 9:13
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• 10:18
  Speaker 1: All right, I.
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: Saw the stat on Twitter, so thank you to at
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: Jacob e underscore STL for posting the Cardinals verse left
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: handed pitchers last series hit point zero eight three slash
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: point one O two slash point one oh four.
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: Bernie, is that good?
• 10:34
  Speaker 3: No, it really isn't. And you know it. It continues
• 10:40
  Speaker 3: a trend and we're talking about it a little bit
• 10:42
  Speaker 3: before we started recording. But you know, the Cardinals in
• 10:45
  Speaker 3: the first month in the season against left handed starting pitchers,
• 10:48
  Speaker 3: they did really well. Actually then in May they didn't
• 10:54
  Speaker 3: do as well, but they were okay, it was okay.
• 10:57
  Speaker 3: But in June they're not doing well at all and
• 11:00
  Speaker 3: left handed starting pitchers. But probably yeah, as Jacob said,
• 11:04
  Speaker 3: you know, it probably also applies to left handed relievers,
• 11:07
  Speaker 3: but especially starting pitchers. Like this month, opposing team starting
• 11:12
  Speaker 3: pitchers have a three point seven lefty starting pitchers a
• 11:16
  Speaker 3: three point seven o e RA this month, you know,
• 11:18
  Speaker 3: and the Cardinals have just been completely owned by guys
• 11:21
  Speaker 3: like Abbott and Shoda and Boyd and Kershaw and the
• 11:28
  Speaker 3: kid over in Kansas City, the Big amerind. I mean,
• 11:32
  Speaker 3: they've just been really shut down by good lefty starters,
• 11:37
  Speaker 3: and to their credit, I mean, they have had some
• 11:40
  Speaker 3: good performances against lefty starters too. I don't want to
• 11:42
  Speaker 3: pretend that, you know, they they're just completely feudal against
• 11:46
  Speaker 3: lefty starters. They're not. We saw them beat up on
• 11:48
  Speaker 3: some of them earlier, but particularly this month. Whenever they
• 11:53
  Speaker 3: have a you know, a kind of a solid or
• 11:56
  Speaker 3: better left handed pitcher starting against them, it's been a struggle.
• 12:00
  Speaker 3: It has really been a struggle. So I think we
• 12:05
  Speaker 3: know there are some reasons for that.
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: Yeah, there are being without Yvon Herrera right now. That's
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: certainly one of them. No Lars Nubar for the two
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: games against the two lefties. Look, I know Nubar is
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: a lefty hitter, but he's never been super splitty. It
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: hits lefties just fine. No, Jordan Walker plays into that.
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: I know it hasn't been going super great for Walker
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: at the plate, but when you are facing two good lefties,
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: you want as many righties in your lineup as possible.
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: Uh. We've talked a.
• 12:29
  Speaker 2: Lot about Nolan Gorman and Alec Burlison being better against
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: lefty pitching this year, and they are, but still not
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: to the extent that someone like Evon Herrera would be.
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: Let me pull up Evon Herrera's UH splits this year,
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: give me one moment against lefty pitching. Yvon Herrera versus righties,
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: the eight oh seven ops versus lefties. He's hitting three
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: thirty three with an OPS of one point one point
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: eight nine. So we talked when he went down about
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: Herrera being the most impactful bat. That's true on both
• 12:57
  Speaker 2: sides of the ball, or both sides of the mound,
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: i should say, but it's definitely true against lefties. So
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: being without Herrera really minimizes the offense. Walker again could
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: be a big bat against lefties, even if he is
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: struggling a little bit. So now you're relying on guys
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: like Gorman and Burlison when the matchups aren't super favorable.
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: The reason that we didn't see Scott in there, and
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: why we saw Hamson twice is because you just can't
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: have five lefties going against a lefty starter when your
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: production is so bad.
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: So just being without some key bats.
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: It's not like Garrett Hampson, while I think he's a
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: solid twenty five to twenty six man player, is not
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: going to make or break your offense there. And then
• 13:33
  Speaker 2: you have some guys like you know, your big right
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: handed bats, Arenado, Contreris Controras had a good series but
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: couldn't really get a lot going offensively. So Mason Wynn
• 13:41
  Speaker 2: really the only guy that I thought had some good
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: at bats against the two lefties from the right handed side.
• 13:47
  Speaker 2: Just goes to show how much the Cardinals miss Yvon
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: Herrera's bat. I know that Gorman and Burlson have done
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: a nice job picking up the slack against righties, of
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: course they have. But when you see a lefty starter,
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: that's when I think you can see some cracks in
• 13:59
  Speaker 2: the offense start to miss Yvon Herrera, There's.
• 14:02
  Speaker 3: No doubt about it. And some of the right handed
• 14:04
  Speaker 3: hitters this month have not been good against lefty pitchers.
• 14:08
  Speaker 3: And I looked up once stat for you know, for
• 14:10
  Speaker 3: something I was going to do, didn't I didn't. I
• 14:14
  Speaker 3: didn't end up using the stats A happy to use
• 14:17
  Speaker 3: the ear So we're talking about left handed pitching right now.
• 14:20
  Speaker 3: This starters and relievers. Okay, starters and relievers. This month,
• 14:25
  Speaker 3: Cardinals right handed batters against left handed pitching one hundred
• 14:30
  Speaker 3: and ninety six plate appearances a two forty six average,
• 14:36
  Speaker 3: lousey on base percentage, and his slugging percentage is about
• 14:39
  Speaker 3: three eighty. So is there about ten percent below league average?
• 14:43
  Speaker 3: When you have you have a definite platoon split advantage opportunity,
• 14:48
  Speaker 3: and your right handed batters can't do better than that
• 14:50
  Speaker 3: against lefties, that's a problem. I mean, that's got that's
• 14:54
  Speaker 3: got to be better than that if possible. But you know,
• 15:00
  Speaker 3: I was surprised to look at the season long stats
• 15:03
  Speaker 3: and see like for for example, I had no idea
• 15:06
  Speaker 3: that Mason win his splits are not good. This is
• 15:10
  Speaker 3: the whole season. They're not good against left handed pitching.
• 15:13
  Speaker 3: And I was surprised by that for some reason.
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: Yeah, because he likes hitting against lefties.
• 15:16
  Speaker 3: Yeah, And you know, and you know there's there's other
• 15:20
  Speaker 3: guys that maybe hit for average, but there's not much
• 15:22
  Speaker 3: power they you know, said jac And I'm not blaming him,
• 15:26
  Speaker 3: but he hasn't been able to really do much against
• 15:28
  Speaker 3: left handed pitchers. And you know, there's a couple other
• 15:31
  Speaker 3: guys too, I mean, Pa, he's who had for a
• 15:34
  Speaker 3: time there, you know, it was pretty good against lefties.
• 15:36
  Speaker 3: I'm thinking more like last year. But he's he's been
• 15:39
  Speaker 3: pretty bad against him. They just haven't had I mean,
• 15:42
  Speaker 3: Poso can hit lefties and and you know, but but boy,
• 15:49
  Speaker 3: von Herrera, gosh, his numbers against lefties, as you just
• 15:53
  Speaker 3: offered up. Guy's just a beast, he really is. I
• 15:57
  Speaker 3: hope that he's not. This is not going to be
• 16:01
  Speaker 3: a recurring thing where he gets hurt a lot. I can't.
• 16:05
  Speaker 2: I really hope not. Because he's we talked about this
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: last episode. I'm not sure what his long term position is.
• 16:11
  Speaker 2: They don't need to figure that out right now in
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: the middle of June during this reset season. But his
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: bat place and we know that and talk to Yvonne
• 16:18
  Speaker 2: a couple of days over the series where he said
• 16:21
  Speaker 2: he feels good. I know, he put on Twitter that
• 16:22
  Speaker 2: he's running the bases doing some work, so that's really good.
• 16:26
  Speaker 2: He does not think it's going to be six weeks,
• 16:27
  Speaker 2: so that's also really good.
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: But that's not official.
• 16:29
  Speaker 2: Of course, you wait for the training staff to say
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: something and for the organization, but for Herrara to be
• 16:33
  Speaker 2: out running the bases before games. Being able to go
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: in and do some light work, that's an encouraging sign
• 16:38
  Speaker 2: in the right direction. Maybe he'll be back after the
• 16:41
  Speaker 2: All Star break, that would certainly be a win for
• 16:43
  Speaker 2: the club. But right now, in this stretch leading into
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: the Midsummer Classic, which I can't believe, Quickside Brandt. The
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: Cardinals played their eighty second game on Thursday, Bernie. That
• 16:52
  Speaker 2: means we are over halfway into the twenty twenty five season,
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: and if I did my math correctly, the first time
• 16:58
  Speaker 2: I would have had this episode be the half point
• 17:00
  Speaker 2: check in, So that's actually going to be on Sunday. Sorry,
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: it is insane to me that we are halfway through
• 17:07
  Speaker 2: the year. I do not every year goes quick, but
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: this year specifically, but for Herrera, I hope he's back
• 17:14
  Speaker 2: sooner than later, because you're looking at guys likes JC
• 17:17
  Speaker 2: to step up, and I like to JC. I think
• 17:19
  Speaker 2: that he has a lot of talent. He has a
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: lot of skill. I still think he's pretty raw and
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: his acclamation to the big leagues is going to take
• 17:26
  Speaker 2: a lot of time. So why I believe the hype
• 17:30
  Speaker 2: is real and I believe he can be an impact
• 17:31
  Speaker 2: major League player. I'm not sure if he's one hundred
• 17:33
  Speaker 2: percent ready for that yet, so he's kind of in
• 17:35
  Speaker 2: here as a matter of circumstance.
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: Again, Garrett Hampson Jose for me, and those are your
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: depth pieces.
• 17:40
  Speaker 2: You're really looking at your starting nine with some increased
• 17:43
  Speaker 2: playing time for Alec Wilson and Nolan Gorman to carry
• 17:46
  Speaker 2: your team through the All Star break. And we know
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: how important the first two weeks of July are as we.
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: Shift to trade deadline mode. So we'll see if the
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: Cardinals can stay afloat now without walk or two and
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: hopefully without new bar today. But we'll see the good
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: news for US Saint Louis looking ahead at Probable's shout
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: out PR staff member Chris Tuno for this. The Cardinals
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: will only face one lefty against Cleveland.
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: That's going to be on Sunday, Logan Allen. He's five
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: and five with a four two five ERA. He'll take
• 18:12
  Speaker 2: on Matthew Libertor. That game is on Roku. A lot
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: of weird broadcasting this series, Apple TV Tonight Roku on Sunday,
• 18:21
  Speaker 2: Apple TV again Friday July fourth, and Sunday Night Baseball
• 18:25
  Speaker 2: on ESPN at five, ten, not six oh eight. Like
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: normally that is for Cardinals Cubs on Sunday at Wrigley Field.
• 18:32
  Speaker 2: And I can't think of a more unfortunate scheduling than
• 18:36
  Speaker 2: getting the Sunday night game as the very last night
• 18:39
  Speaker 2: of your ten day road trip.
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: So that's super fun.
• 18:42
  Speaker 2: If you would like to watch the Cardinals, it will
• 18:44
  Speaker 2: be difficult over the next week and a half.
• 18:47
  Speaker 4: You know.
• 18:47
  Speaker 3: And listen. I think Roku's really good, like you know,
• 18:52
  Speaker 3: and it's free and all this other stuff, but they
• 18:55
  Speaker 3: have some interesting programming, it's clean, they operate it really well.
• 19:00
  Speaker 3: I'm assuming they're going to do a little better this
• 19:02
  Speaker 3: time though than that first game to get just I
• 19:05
  Speaker 3: think it was like kind of funny. I'm not slamming them.
• 19:07
  Speaker 3: I'm just saying it's you know, they go to three
• 19:10
  Speaker 3: or four times in the game they go to the
• 19:11
  Speaker 3: commercial break, and the commercials keep playing and playing and
• 19:15
  Speaker 3: playing and playing, and I'm like, well, wait a minute.
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: Miss multiple abouts.
• 19:19
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm like wait a minute. Then, you know, and
• 19:21
  Speaker 3: then they come back and it's like two outs. It's like,
• 19:23
  Speaker 3: what what happened? You know? So I don't know. So
• 19:26
  Speaker 3: my point is is like, yeah, with all this shuffling,
• 19:29
  Speaker 3: around of where games can be seen. You know, it
• 19:32
  Speaker 3: also increases the possibility that there will be some problems.
• 19:36
  Speaker 3: So anyway, but I know it, Listen, I know what
• 19:39
  Speaker 3: Baseball's got to do it, So I'm not getting on
• 19:40
  Speaker 3: any kind of soapbox. I know that baseball has got
• 19:43
  Speaker 3: to squeeze as much TV revenue as they can because
• 19:46
  Speaker 3: that's where that's where teams make money, really a lot
• 19:49
  Speaker 3: of their money. And so but man, I just everybody,
• 19:53
  Speaker 3: I just wish. And it's easy for me to say, uh,
• 19:56
  Speaker 3: because I'm hardly great at my job, but I just wish,
• 19:58
  Speaker 3: like all the people that want to broadcast baseball, you know,
• 20:01
  Speaker 3: just if you want to go in and do that, man,
• 20:04
  Speaker 3: that's great, but be good at it, be really good
• 20:07
  Speaker 3: at it. So that's all.
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: That's all. Just be good. Just be better. That's what
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: I tell my broadcast friends as a joke. They always
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: say we'll be excellent, and I say, well, be better,
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: but don't grab do a wonderful job. And obviously they do.
• 20:20
  Speaker 2: You guys all know how I feel about that broadcast duo.
• 20:23
  Speaker 2: All right, right back to it for our final segment.
• 20:24
  Speaker 2: A very quick message first from Arena club.
• 20:27
  Speaker 4: By Now you know about Arena club by sell trade,
• 20:30
  Speaker 4: open up slab packs to get a card that you
• 20:32
  Speaker 4: don't think you could get usually.
• 20:34
  Speaker 3: But the grails will tell you that.
• 20:35
  Speaker 4: For example, there's an Aaron Judge Rookie card in this
• 20:39
  Speaker 4: week's slab packs, so make sure you check those out.
• 20:41
  Speaker 5: No doubts, those are what you want.
• 20:43
  Speaker 3: The grails you're in.
• 20:44
  Speaker 5: Judge Grail is awesome, graded traded if you want, tell
• 20:48
  Speaker 5: you how much it's worth, whatever you want to do.
• 20:50
  Speaker 5: And I'm a big Michael Jordan Fanily my twenty three
• 20:52
  Speaker 5: shirt on there's a Michael Jordan Grail in there that
• 20:54
  Speaker 5: I'm looking forward to.
• 20:55
  Speaker 4: Try to get twenty percent off your first slab pack
• 20:57
  Speaker 4: or card purchase at arenaclub dot com. Use code foul.
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: Okay, Oh I did it right?
• 21:06
  Speaker 2: Nice that when I said okay, that was to buy
• 21:08
  Speaker 2: me some extra seconds in because I didn't do it correctly.
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: But here we are firing on a Friday. Andre Polante
• 21:15
  Speaker 2: didn't have his best stuff yesterday. He battled a four
• 21:17
  Speaker 2: seam command, which is pretty unusual. That is his best pitch.
• 21:20
  Speaker 2: That's usually what he builds his entire arsenal around. But
• 21:22
  Speaker 2: I thought he did a nice show of staying in
• 21:24
  Speaker 2: the ball game. It certainly wasn't his fault that the
• 21:26
  Speaker 2: Cardinals lost. He can't win if you don't score. But
• 21:29
  Speaker 2: this has been a reoccurring theme. I wrote about it
• 21:32
  Speaker 2: on The Athletic last night on what Polante's long term
• 21:35
  Speaker 2: future is. I don't know why we do not discuss
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: Andre Polante the same way we do Matthew, Liberator, Bernie
• 21:40
  Speaker 2: when it comes to runway and finding out what you
• 21:43
  Speaker 2: have in a starting pitcher. My gut tells me it's
• 21:45
  Speaker 2: the unpredictability of his nature as a groundball pitcher, similar
• 21:50
  Speaker 2: to guys like Eric Fetti, Miles Michaelis and even to
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: some extent Michael McGreevey groundball pictures every now and then
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: are just going to.
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: Have a bad outing.
• 21:59
  Speaker 2: So maybe that makes Andre Polante maybe an unfair target
• 22:03
  Speaker 2: of why is he still here?
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: He's still here because I think there are plenty of us.
• 22:07
  Speaker 2: There's plenty of upside to Andre Polante, And as Alie
• 22:10
  Speaker 2: Marmel said to reporters before Thursdays start, I will do
• 22:17
  Speaker 2: the censored version of this. Here's what we have in
• 22:20
  Speaker 2: the Athletic. A lot of talk about well because people
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: want McGreevy in the rotation. Everyone wants magreev in the rotation.
• 22:26
  Speaker 2: You and I include it, And the logical thing would
• 22:29
  Speaker 2: be because they cannot DFA Miles michaelis so stop asking me,
• 22:33
  Speaker 2: and they are maybe going to trade Eric Fetti will see.
• 22:36
  Speaker 2: I see a lot of fans thinking that logically, all right,
• 22:39
  Speaker 2: we'll just move Polante to the bullpen or moving to
• 22:40
  Speaker 2: Triple A. Here's why that's not gonna work. Here's what
• 22:43
  Speaker 2: Ali Marmel said about that. You have a guy that
• 22:46
  Speaker 2: has a unique pitch that's understanding how to pitch at
• 22:48
  Speaker 2: the big league level. If you send Polonte down to
• 22:51
  Speaker 2: Triple A, he will cut right through that league. His
• 22:53
  Speaker 2: next step in his career is understanding how to continue
• 22:56
  Speaker 2: to combat big league hitters. He's not working on anything
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: specific that reps at a lower level will do him
• 23:01
  Speaker 2: any good.
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: And I completely agree with that.
• 23:04
  Speaker 2: The Cardinals need Andre Polante at the major league level
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: because they need to see how he can continue attacking
• 23:10
  Speaker 2: especially right handed hitters. It's why he went back to
• 23:13
  Speaker 2: the miners last year so you could develop that sinker.
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: It's why he's working on a pitch mix that is
• 23:18
  Speaker 2: vastly different than what he's ever used before. Yesterday he
• 23:21
  Speaker 2: had the most even pitch mix of the season. I
• 23:23
  Speaker 2: went back and checked with his four pitch arsenal mixed
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: in the slider and the curve ball. That's something that
• 23:28
  Speaker 2: he'd never really done in his career, and he has
• 23:30
  Speaker 2: admitted he'd been averse to.
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: I think we're seeing some trends in the right direction.
• 23:34
  Speaker 2: And if the whole primary point of the season was
• 23:37
  Speaker 2: indeed extending opportunity to guys to see where they fitted
• 23:40
  Speaker 2: in the future, you continue doing that with Andre Polante
• 23:43
  Speaker 2: because all things considered, he's been just fine. It's just
• 23:46
  Speaker 2: been a couple of rough outings that I think fans
• 23:48
  Speaker 2: get frustrated at. But if we're going to extend all
• 23:51
  Speaker 2: this opportunity to Matthew libert Or who's been great, we
• 23:53
  Speaker 2: should do the same with Andre Polante. That's why the
• 23:56
  Speaker 2: Cardinals are sticking with him, because they don't get fueled.
• 23:58
  Speaker 2: They need to make a decision on Michael mcgree.
• 24:00
  Speaker 3: Bernie your thoughts, well, I think Liberator is in a
• 24:03
  Speaker 3: different category than Polante because the Liberator has got more stuff,
• 24:07
  Speaker 3: He's got more ways to get a hit her out.
• 24:08
  Speaker 3: He's more imposing on the mound. He can throw it
• 24:10
  Speaker 3: by guys. He's ground balls. He's not real splitty. But
• 24:16
  Speaker 3: you know, if you look at Libertor, to me, he
• 24:18
  Speaker 3: was the best starting pitcher they had in the first half,
• 24:21
  Speaker 3: even with that little rut that he was in there,
• 24:23
  Speaker 3: because he had the best fielding independy ra He had
• 24:26
  Speaker 3: the lowest walk rate allowed, the lowest home run rate allowed,
• 24:31
  Speaker 3: the best strike that walk ratio. He was better than
• 24:33
  Speaker 3: Sunny Gray and all those things. So I think Libertors
• 24:36
  Speaker 3: just I just put him on a different level now.
• 24:39
  Speaker 3: And that doesn't mean, like y'all, he's good to go
• 24:42
  Speaker 3: for the next five years. But I think, you know,
• 24:45
  Speaker 3: we're seeing a guy that's got a lot of ways
• 24:47
  Speaker 3: to dominate hitters. Polonte doesn't. I mean, he's got to
• 24:51
  Speaker 3: be a grinder. I really admired the way he pitched
• 24:54
  Speaker 3: yesterday because at one point when he was he was
• 24:58
  Speaker 3: battling I think it was final inning, and you know,
• 25:01
  Speaker 3: I'm like, my gosh, that guy, like somebody rush out
• 25:06
  Speaker 3: there and like take his temperature. I mean, this guy's
• 25:09
  Speaker 3: like ready to keel over. I mean just was working,
• 25:13
  Speaker 3: working like a maniac, and he just looked so hot
• 25:16
  Speaker 3: and bothered, right. But my only problem with Polonte and
• 25:20
  Speaker 3: I listen, I understand the overall message. I do, I
• 25:23
  Speaker 3: really do, because I don't. I don't know how much
• 25:26
  Speaker 3: he would benefit going to the miners and by the
• 25:28
  Speaker 3: other way. And I've been hard on Polante, But his
• 25:30
  Speaker 3: last four starts, if we're gonna we're gonna go bottom line,
• 25:33
  Speaker 3: his last four starts, he's got a two point ninety
• 25:35
  Speaker 3: five E or A. So he has pulled his performance up.
• 25:38
  Speaker 3: And you are right, he will always be kind of
• 25:40
  Speaker 3: a captive to to added ball loock on ground balls.
• 25:44
  Speaker 3: But the one problem he's had throughout his career is
• 25:47
  Speaker 3: that he's just you know, he's not good against right
• 25:50
  Speaker 3: handed pitching. And that's still true, and you know, yeah,
• 25:55
  Speaker 3: and with you know, considering all the right handed batters
• 25:59
  Speaker 3: you've face, and I think smart managers will try to
• 26:02
  Speaker 3: they won't automatically. Smart managers want automatically. So well, we
• 26:06
  Speaker 3: got to stack lefty bats against this guy. Now, all
• 26:08
  Speaker 3: you got to do is go to Baseball Reference and
• 26:10
  Speaker 3: look at his numbers against righty's to ninety six this year,
• 26:13
  Speaker 3: three sixty four on base, four to seventy three slug.
• 26:16
  Speaker 3: I mean that's got to get better because it'll be
• 26:19
  Speaker 3: like every start that he goes into it's it's like
• 26:24
  Speaker 3: it's all going to hinge on whether right handed batters
• 26:27
  Speaker 3: can smack him around. And if he can fight him off,
• 26:30
  Speaker 3: that's fine, but that's awfully hard to That's really hard
• 26:33
  Speaker 3: to do over and over and over again. And that's
• 26:35
  Speaker 3: why he had such a hard time during that one
• 26:38
  Speaker 3: stretch where his era balloon is, because right handed hitters
• 26:41
  Speaker 3: were just really messing them up. So I got mixed
• 26:45
  Speaker 3: feelings about Polante. I like him. I really appreciate his competitiveness.
• 26:50
  Speaker 3: I think he's a smart guy too, But I do
• 26:54
  Speaker 3: wonder about his upside, that's all.
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: And I think that's fair, especially as you're seen in Entva.
• 27:00
  Speaker 2: This is the first time that he's really tried to
• 27:02
  Speaker 2: change up the sequencing. I mean, when you are good
• 27:06
  Speaker 2: at what you do, Andre Polante had always come advertised
• 27:08
  Speaker 2: as a ground ball pitcher. He still has the He's
• 27:11
  Speaker 2: in the top two percent in ground ball rate at
• 27:13
  Speaker 2: sixty five percent, so clearly he's very good at getting
• 27:15
  Speaker 2: the ground ball. But as we know, there is some
• 27:18
  Speaker 2: unpredictability in ground balls. Sometimes they go through, sometimes you
• 27:21
  Speaker 2: get slugged, hard, and that happened to Polante from the
• 27:24
  Speaker 2: end of May to early June and that stretch you
• 27:26
  Speaker 2: just referenced. But I have reason to believe in the
• 27:29
  Speaker 2: upside for now, even if the numbers don't reflect it,
• 27:31
  Speaker 2: even if the box score doesn't reflect at some starts,
• 27:34
  Speaker 2: because it's the first time we've seen him really have
• 27:36
  Speaker 2: a full arsenal where he's not just a two pitch
• 27:38
  Speaker 2: guy trying to every now and then get guys off
• 27:40
  Speaker 2: with a sinker or curve ball. I mean, he has
• 27:43
  Speaker 2: really developed that sinker to be another weapon against Riti's
• 27:46
  Speaker 2: and he's using the curve ball a lot more and
• 27:48
  Speaker 2: his fastball sits ninety five. You can mix in a
• 27:50
  Speaker 2: curve ball regularly and keep writies off of that with
• 27:53
  Speaker 2: your offspeed.
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: The slider is a fine pitch too.
• 27:56
  Speaker 2: Now that four scene plays even more, and Polante has
• 27:58
  Speaker 2: a good four seamer, it's just about executing it well
• 28:02
  Speaker 2: enough to get better results against Righty's And that was
• 28:04
  Speaker 2: the whole point. The big question for Polante this season.
• 28:07
  Speaker 2: Right The big question for now far was his help.
• 28:09
  Speaker 2: The big question for Libby is what can you do
• 28:11
  Speaker 2: with a real chance. The big question for Polante is
• 28:14
  Speaker 2: what can you do against Rity's with a legitimate game plan,
• 28:17
  Speaker 2: better pitches, and a better arsenal. So I have no
• 28:19
  Speaker 2: issue with the Cardinals continuing to try that out. Michael McGreevey,
• 28:23
  Speaker 2: on the other hand, he has two options left Bernie.
• 28:25
  Speaker 2: Soon the Cardinals will need to make a decision about
• 28:28
  Speaker 2: where he's going to be for the rest of the year,
• 28:29
  Speaker 2: and it better be the Majors or we revolts.
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: It will be the Majors. They just have to find
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: a way to put him in there.
• 28:35
  Speaker 2: Oli Marmal acknowledge that decision is coming, but he said
• 28:38
  Speaker 2: the team is not quite there yet. You think about
• 28:41
  Speaker 2: what they could accomplish over the trade deadline. I agree,
• 28:44
  Speaker 2: But my hope is that we will see McGreevy more
• 28:47
  Speaker 2: consistently in the second half, and honestly, as frustrating as
• 28:50
  Speaker 2: it is, I thought he did a nice job on Tuesday.
• 28:52
  Speaker 2: You hate the five spot and the third inning, of course,
• 28:54
  Speaker 2: but he rebounded nice for two scoreless after That's what
• 28:56
  Speaker 2: you're looking at, and starts like that for young guys,
• 28:58
  Speaker 2: as how do they recover. It's in a way a
• 29:01
  Speaker 2: blessing that we haven't seen McGreevy yet because that meant
• 29:05
  Speaker 2: that no starting pitcher has gotten hurt yet as we
• 29:07
  Speaker 2: record this on June twenty seventh, the Cardinals have had
• 29:10
  Speaker 2: a remarkable string of starting pitching health and they deserve
• 29:13
  Speaker 2: a ton of props for that.
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: That just does not happen in today's game.
• 29:16
  Speaker 3: You know, overall, the rotation's been good, and some people
• 29:19
  Speaker 3: might question that, but you know, me, I go, I
• 29:24
  Speaker 3: go down a couple layers, like the Cardinals starting pitching.
• 29:28
  Speaker 3: Going into yesterday, they had they were in the top
• 29:33
  Speaker 3: five in the majors for fielding independent era. So, okay, Bernie,
• 29:38
  Speaker 3: why do you use fielding independent era? Because it measures
• 29:40
  Speaker 3: what a pitcher can control. Like, in other words, the
• 29:43
  Speaker 3: Cardinals are excellent. They're starting pitchers, the whole team is.
• 29:46
  Speaker 3: But they they're starters. They have a very low walk rate,
• 29:50
  Speaker 3: they have a very low home run rate allowed, right,
• 29:53
  Speaker 3: and you know they they don't beat themselves per se, right,
• 29:58
  Speaker 3: And so when you just take when you when you
• 30:01
  Speaker 3: judge them based on what they can control, based on
• 30:05
  Speaker 3: fifth they're they're you know, top five in the majors,
• 30:08
  Speaker 3: I think plus they are for there they their fourth
• 30:14
  Speaker 3: or fifth in the majors in innings by starting pitching,
• 30:18
  Speaker 3: and they their average start five point five innings is
• 30:23
  Speaker 3: second best in the National League. I think it's an
• 30:26
  Speaker 3: underrated rotation. I really do agree that.
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: I agree.
• 30:30
  Speaker 3: No, well, it's true. And the only reason is because
• 30:34
  Speaker 3: you know you're gonna have these lousy starts, right, and
• 30:37
  Speaker 3: you're gonna have Polonte going through a tough stretch, which
• 30:40
  Speaker 3: he did. The Fetti Fetti is kind of very vulnerable
• 30:43
  Speaker 3: because he is actually benefited from bad of ball luck
• 30:46
  Speaker 3: better than anybody they have. So you're gonna get these
• 30:50
  Speaker 3: clunkers every now and then, but every team does has clunkers.
• 30:53
  Speaker 3: But if you just if you go beneath the surface
• 30:55
  Speaker 3: a little bit and you see that the way that
• 30:57
  Speaker 3: they limit their walks and limit their home runs. And
• 31:01
  Speaker 3: this is the one thing again I've talked about a lot.
• 31:03
  Speaker 3: I'm gonna do it one more time. You know, they
• 31:07
  Speaker 3: hit their spots as pitchers. They're starting pitchers. Number two
• 31:11
  Speaker 3: in the major leagues is starting pitchers in terms of
• 31:14
  Speaker 3: their location rating. In other words, it's called hitting your spot.
• 31:19
  Speaker 3: And the only way they can control hitters because they
• 31:21
  Speaker 3: can't strike them out. Really, other than Sonny Gray and
• 31:23
  Speaker 3: Libby to an extent, they can't miss, they can't miss
• 31:27
  Speaker 3: location a lot. They've got to be consistently precise in
• 31:32
  Speaker 3: where they're trying to locate a pitch. They do that
• 31:34
  Speaker 3: well too. See, I respect that, you know, I'm They're
• 31:37
  Speaker 3: not throwers, they're pitchers. I believe there's still room in
• 31:40
  Speaker 3: this game for pitchers, you know. You know, so maybe
• 31:46
  Speaker 3: I don't think I'm old school with that because another reason,
• 31:49
  Speaker 3: and I know, we got to wrap this up. Another reason.
• 31:51
  Speaker 3: When a when you have a rotation that is not
• 31:55
  Speaker 3: not strong in terms of strikeout punch, it also means
• 31:58
  Speaker 3: you don't have a bunch of guys throwing ninety seven
• 32:00
  Speaker 3: all the time. Those guys get hurt, they break right.
• 32:05
  Speaker 3: You have guys who you know, who pitch the contact,
• 32:07
  Speaker 3: but they do it very very well, and they don't
• 32:09
  Speaker 3: walk people, and they don't give up home runs. They
• 32:12
  Speaker 3: also stay healthy. So you know, it's just funny how
• 32:17
  Speaker 3: the how we perceive pitching, the way it's changed through
• 32:20
  Speaker 3: the years. You know, I think there's a I think
• 32:22
  Speaker 3: there's been a lack of appreciation for guys who just
• 32:26
  Speaker 3: flat out know how to pitch.
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: And they do. The Cardinals know how to pitch. I
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: think it's a great way to wrap this one up. Yeah. No,
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: the Cardinals aren't going to blow your doors down. We've
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: known that.
• 32:36
  Speaker 2: But they do an exceptional job of pitching to their strengths.
• 32:39
  Speaker 2: Like you mentioned, Bernie, no low walk rate, low home
• 32:41
  Speaker 2: run rate, and they hit their spots.
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: They have really surprised me through the first half of
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: this season. So let's see how it continues. All right.
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: Like I said, I'm not in Cleveland with the team.
• 32:51
  Speaker 2: I will rejoin them Monday in Pittsburgh, but I will
• 32:54
  Speaker 2: be working remotely.
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: My favorite series is when I'm not there but I'm
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: still working them. Yay, Bernie.
• 32:59
  Speaker 2: I will wrap with you Sunday for a series recap
• 33:01
  Speaker 2: before I hit the road again. Yeah, let's flush this
• 33:04
  Speaker 2: cub series. Some positive things to take from it, some
• 33:07
  Speaker 2: not some positive things to take from it. It was
• 33:09
  Speaker 2: a split all the way around in terms of performance, vibes,
• 33:12
  Speaker 2: all of that stuff.
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: We'll start again with a new road trip for Bernie.
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: I'm Katie. We'll talk to you on Sunday.