Are The Cardinals, Dare I Say … Good?!

On episode #17 of “Low Hanging Fruit” Charlie Marlow & Brenden Schaeffer analyze all things St. Louis Cardinals & MLB.

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#mlb #stlouiscardinals #willsoncontreras

what’s up everybody this is lwh hanging fruit I am Charlie Marlo that is the great Brendan Schaffer we took last week off I was out of town but we’re back and oh what a time to be back Brendan schaer because dare I say these St Louis Cardinals could they be kind of good what do you think they look good I think maybe that’s what they needed is uh us to take a week off from the podcast hold them accountable by not even talking about them for a week and then off they go winners of eight of their last 10 as we sit down here to uh to chat on what is it Wednesday night Wednesday night feels like uh Keith Chuck what day is it Tuesday it’s uh it’s Wednesday night okay so look you you have the the the really bad weekend against the Brewers but then it ended on a nice win on the Sunday and then you roll into the angels and you win that series and then the bow Sox come to town and you win that series and I know a lot of people you got to find something to complain about so it’s like hey they can’t finish off they can’t sweep anybody oh here come the Orioles the Orioles are really good the Cardinals are going to get smoked in this series and the exact opposite happens and then they take the one thing that we can complain about Brendan which is they don’t sweep anybody and they throw that narrative away so you got to love it the Cardinals they’re they’re feeling it they’re coming coming back in some of these games like we’re starting to see an offense that I think most people thought hey this would be a pretty dang good offense Brendan we seeing these things finally it took a a month or so yeah I think back to couple weeks ago at this point Kyle Gibson was the starter and it was during that I want to say it was during the seven game losing skid or right up against the beginning of it where he was asked about hey guys are kind of going through it you guys are kind of struggling offensively you’re not a hitter but there in the Cardinal Clubhouse No Hitters were around and so we’re going to ask you about it because you’re the guy that that’s standing here but he kind of took it upon himself to sort of go to bat for the position players and say those guys are good they’re going to come around and something he said like at the time it felt a little bit silly a little bit uh presumptuous but he said you know there’s a lot of teams out there that are going to be glad that they played us over the first 40 games of this season and then there’s a lot of other teams that aren’t going to be as excited to play us over the next 120 and it was kind of like all right that’s a nice little quote but that’s kind of the way that it’s broken down the Cardinal offense has really turned it on and you look over the past couple of weeks I don’t know you can pick your arbitrary end point and beginning point of the current streak but they’ve been sort of that top five offense in a lot of the different categories over the course of what they’ve been doing the last 10 games are eight and two I think even before that as they were starting to maybe come out of it offensively against Milwaukee what was so darn upsetting about that series is they were losing the games even though they were keeping it kind of close and the the bullpen would blow it here and it wasn’t that they were playing as badly anymore but nobody cares about that when you’re as far below 500 as the Cardinals were and be honest with before going into that Sunday game against Milwaukee did you think they were maybe a game away from firing some some pretty prominent people because I thought it could come at any moment in time and for them to go on the run that they’ve gone on since has been nothing short of impressive honestly yeah so I I think it’s fair to say for the offense finally whatever it took four or so games into it they’re starting to look like the offense that most people thought before the season and and still look as I’m looking Paul gold Schmid’s Ops is still under 600 noan Aron’s is under 700 which isn’t which isn’t terrible but still three homers you got to think I know I know we always say this but when the weather gets warm or maybe when the cicas go away I don’t know for people that AR yeah for people by the way for people who aren’t in St Louis the cicas are just insane right now they’re the loudest I’ve ever seen in my entire life it’s it’s absolutely crazy but just kind of looking through I mean obviously Wilson contas is hurt but Alec burlson he’s he’s hit pretty much the whole season Mason win has been very impressive you have yvon Herrera Nolan Gorman obviously had had a big game uh in the first game of the uh I guess we’ll call it a double header there was rain delays all over the place LS Nar um there’s some guys still that you you want to get going here you know Brendan Donovan would be one of those guys but uh there’s there’s a lot of proven Commodities and there’s a lot of young talent and look when the Cardinals were really bad early in the season I still thought there’s just there’s no way this offense is going to be this bad now I said they’d be a top 10 offense so maybe I’m wrong there so maybe it ends up being more middle of the pack but there’s just no way that over 160 too unless this team look if they were to sell off which I don’t think is going to happen okay maybe they become a terrible offense but I just I can’t believe that when you look at the names in the back of the jerseys that this is not going to be at least the middle of the pack offense and we’re starting to see that yeah that’s what we thought originally and I think the problem was just everybody slumping at the same time I would make the case that Paul Goldman is still going through it for him to be a sub 600 Ops is not what you want but because everybody around him is suddenly performing it’s not that glaring of a situation last 15 days or is it games last 15 days according to mlb.com Cardinal ranked seventh in Ops and Ninth and run scored so they’ve been that top 10 offense for the last couple weeks is that something they can sustain beyond that and keep in mind like the majority of that Wilson Ceres has been out so I feel like that moment where he was was injured and you knew it was going to be a long time before he’d come back was where I sort of said yeah I dip below 50% today like I don’t know that this Cardinal team’s making the playoffs if I had to say today probably not and then they went on the losing streak and you felt Vindicated there but after8 out of 10 like I’m right back around that 50% line where I could certainly see it and I know that’s funny because it’s like well they’re still below 500 and it’s just one little run throughout a season but also they’re like a game back of a wild card spot maybe a game and a half if the Padre’s I think they’re beating the Reds tonight but like that’s that’s in Striking Distance and the Cardinals are by no means out of it so I think what they’ve done over this eight out of 10 stretch is that they’ve made it to where we’re not talking about well if they trade this guy what could they get maybe they like you’re at least thinking in terms of this being a six-month season instead of a a six week season like for a while you kind of thought that it might be which is I think good news for Cardinal fans I know some people were and this is a little backwards to me but almost rooting for chaos and and the the bottom to fall out so they could fire people and maybe get a fresh start but I think there is enough Talent on this team with the number of guys that they’ve got like five or six guys with a 700 Ops now and none of them are ronado and gold so if it tells you about the depth of the lineup and what they thought it could be one through N I think that’s kind of what you’ve been seeing recently and maybe it’s something they can sustain maybe not but at least they’re going to keep it interesting exactly and at minimum I think you need to give the Cardinals credit for for riding the ship for for not quitting and I think you could make the argument you know when I say A Team quits last year I mean clearly guys aren’t showing up and trying to lose but I think collectively last year it was a a horrible especially a pitching staff and you can make the case that they kind of mailed it in and not just the players I mean organizationally and then look when when you trade everybody at the deadline you literally are mailing it in and you have Adam way W making starts for his 200th win it was just a different it was a different deal last year I I do think look to me Ali marol still needs to prove himself he’s still in early on in year three but but he has he has steered this thing guys aren’t quitting on him I’ve said the whole time look I I don’t know if alli’s going to be a good manager or not but however you feel about alyar mole it’s still way more on John moso and the front office in terms of of what happens to this team this year and and like you said look I I know some people probably were or still are maybe even rooting for hey we need this team to fail to make wholesale changes but do you really want to see that for two straight Summers do you really want to have the last two months of another season not matter at all and I will say this though there might be some people in the comments that are saying okay okay Charlie and Brendan let’s get all excited about a team that five games five games out they’re a game and a half out of the third wild card maybe they get in and they lose in the first round that’s my I don’t even know what that voice is I think that’s how they talk yeah no I don’t I don’t know no that’s somebody that’s somebody criticizing us I get that listen we all agree the bar has been lowered but we’ve done a thousand shows on that we’ve complained and bitched for a thousand shows right now things are going well so let’s also not be such big haters like look they’ve had a dang good two weeks and I hope it continues so I’m not going to be the guy that focuses on all the negatives because we’ve done that for months and months and months right now it’s looking pretty good it is and and I I think again just because the guys that the Nolan Gormans and the large n bars of the world Mason wi you can throw in there as well when those guys along with Goldie and ronado are just absolutely dmats at the plate there’s it’s just so noticeable throughout your lineup but Nar has been taking his walks he made you could say maybe a season changing catch today I still cannot believe he tracked that down and made that play against the wall on right field like they’re they’re showing some good signs there are still some concerns for sure the pitching is looking maybe more concerning in the rotation than it has for a while they still don’t know what they want to do with that fifth starter spot um but now maybe a day where look coming into this oral series you’re thinking I’ll just win a game maybe the fact that they’re able to sweep it and do it the way they did with the contributions from the bullpen in particular is suddenly that a unit that you’re feeling better about like up and down the team you can nitpick and find your your spots that you’re still a little bit concerned about but then you could also make some arguments like well Jordan Walker’s not even back yet what if he comes back and becomes the guy he was last year and what if Wilson contras comes back at the All-Star break like there are an there’s enough here to where I think if you if you’re inclined to do so if you would like to be along for the ride and think hey maybe this summer could turn into something I think the the pieces are there and the record is even almost there now to where you don’t have to squint too hard to see like all right there is some Talent assembled here now what are they going to do about it how are they going to play and then is is this front office going to recog I that there still are holes on this team and it would be incumbent upon them to fix them in July if the Cardinals are still in the mix at that point yeah and I I think they will be look it’s also and this is where I’m I’m trying to be positive and it and it sounds negative you have to be really bad to not be in the mix you know what I’m saying that’s why last year was so rare for the Cardinals and look at the teams ahead of them in the wild card so right now wild card is Braves Cubs Padres but basically the Cardinals are tied as of now we’re recording this at what 8:26 central time but the Cardinals are are tied with four other teams one and a half excuse me they’re one of four teams they’re tied with three other teams one and a half games back it’s the Diamondbacks it’s the freaking Pittsburgh Pirates Cole B’s Pittsburgh Pirates the Giants so it’s like hey these aren’t World beaters and and again I just want everybody to know that in saying this nobody nobody’s saying the Cardinals are all of a sudden World Series contenders nobody’s saying the Cardinals are a team that going to go on this amazing run but but I feel like we’re at least seeing the team that we thought they would be and remember that’s a team that most people thought was what 82 83 84 85 wins okay maybe you’re that team but by the way you’re digging out of a huge hole though right they look like that that team that’s maybe 84 wins but you got to dig out of a freaking hole of the first quarter of the season that’s that’s a big part of it yeah like you can’t ignore what the record was nine games below 500 before they started turning things around because that’s how they were playing but I think we all looked at that the lineup in particular I know we keep harping on it but we looked at that aspect and said well what are the odds of that staying the way that it was bottom five in virtually every category that matters when you’re when you’re in the Batters box I I think we all kind of recognize there’d be a turnaround but the question was is it going to be that they play at a were the 15th best offense in baseball the rest of the year that kind of pace or do they sneak back up and play a top 10 top eight Pace to get him the 14th overall or whatever it ends up being and like even that could end up being enough depending on how much they get out of the pitching but it’s not something that should have anybody excited about oh this means World Series there’s still room for that I think it would take very targeted moves at the deadline though in conjunction with if you had 25 five questions about the team like 23 of them being answered in a positive way between now and October because there’s there’s a bunch of things that we could ask about you could look down the list and ask about players and say well do you get a more consistent Gorman who gives you the power but less of the disappearing for weeks at a time you know does gold Schmid rebound to even League average like you could ask a bunch of different questions and most of them would have to be answered in a positive way and you’d need some trades I think before we’re going to call this team a contender for the World Series but like he said we’ve done the whole notion of the the bar being lowered and it it just is what it is at this point let’s see if they can get into a wild card might just be the summer that we’re talking about and I guess it’s better than 71 and 91 so we we’ll talk about it and have to just let that be what it is and then talk in the offseason about how they can get back to maybe where they’ve been in past years yeah and we’ll see what happens with with Stephen Mass but right now if we are looking forward to the trade deadline you at least have a very obvious need in terms of the fifth starter it’s clearly not working with Matthew Liberator I understand giving him a shot I I get it and that first that first spot start what did he go three and two3 whatever it was and he was pretty good yeah right and then so the last I looked when he when he pitched last I was looking up his splits and I believe his Ops against at the time for righties was over 900 and uh this is breaking news Brendon there’s a lot of right-handed batters in baseball so it’s pretty easy to stack a lineup I mean most teams can stack a lineup of righties for damn near the whole freaking lineup there’s just look Matthew Libor he had a nice role in the pen there’s just no way you’re going to be a successful MLB starter if you’re allowing an Ops of of over 900 to right-handed hitter so they need to figure that out I’m gonna ask you what you think is going to happen but also I think that was one of the issues there is it didn’t just hurt the rotation it it hurt the bullpen it was hurting you multiple ways it was also creating these I’ll call them 2023 starts because every start ended up being three Innings whatever it was and all of a sudden you’re asking a ton from your pen and now you have a pen without Liberator who was pretty who was pretty Dependable for a while so what do you think of that spot and what do you think the Cardinals will do or should do yeah and the frustration too with that is that you were basically volunteering to have those 2023 type of starts because you knew he was on a 50 pitch and a 60 and a 70 pitch count did somewhat okay in the game where he had 60 pitches but then in the most recent one was 70 he got into trouble early and when it happens and you know you’re on a prescribed pitch count it’s not really possible to battle your way out of it like a Kyle Gibson might he could give up some runs early but can still save the pen by going six we’ve seen that from him before and that you were setting up Liberator to fail essentially and that’s my problem with it I don’t know that we know for sure that Liberator can’t ever be an MLB starter um the comparison I would make is that the couple times they’ve let him try it’s always like he’s building up as he goes which is never really a good way to do it and they’re going to go well in between he can also be a reliever and then he’s gonna come back on short rest like that’s what just happened within his he he’s done three starts the second one was after three days of rest and I know he only pitched to like four batters but you’re there’s just something about aren’t you trying to get the most out of a player a young player that could be developing ascending and you’re going to continue to put him into these spots to me that’s counterproductive doesn’t make a lot of sense but the point you bring up about the splits honestly built up or not that’s a problem and so that would maybe be the thing that would lend me to believe it’s not as much like a like a Jordan Hicks when the couple times the Cardinals let him try to start it was okay yeah build up as you go and then two weeks later we’re going to punish you for that and say well he can’t go deep enough it’s like well you you were hand handcuffing the competition the whole way and then he goes to the Giants and it’s like oh this he is able to do this with a decent Runway and a little bit of patience so I but the the righty thing is is fair and it’s actually I was looking up the splits as you were talking it’s been even worse than that now it’s a 1044 Ops against right-handed batters and a 361 Ops against lefties so he’s been unbelievable getting lefties out it would seem to me that that’s an eighth inning setup man or a closer that could throw the ninth inning if you’ve got lefties that are coming up like that’s that’s the kind of role that his splits suggest that Matthew lior could serve a little tougher in the three batter minimum era of Major League Baseball but yeah that’s an issue that they’re going to have to correct and yet it seems as though he’s going to start on Saturday against the Cubs Charlie in those brand spanking new the L uniforms for the city connect he’s going to be on the mound it seems because I saw some tweets from reporters before today’s not double header but 1.3 header that he was doing like a starters Bullpen session ahead of what would be a Saturday start even though OE marmal the last time he started sounded like yeah we’re really going to re-evaluate and by reevaluate we mean pick somebody else but what kind of indictment is that on the Cardinals and they’re they’re confident in the triaa in the the rotation down there in Memphis half of which are on the 40 Man anyway isn’t that why you have a 40 man to bring up guys when you have a need I’m not saying Liberto is going to fail on Saturday and I’m not saying that he can’t be an MLB starter I just think the way that they’ve handled this it’s like every single start isw we’re going to reevaluate and then there he is five days later still in the rotation you have a whole group of guys in Memphis are none of them good enough and if that’s the case if you don’t have confidence that they could come up and give you five innings three runs then what does that say about the development as far as pitchers are concerned in this organization which is something we’ve harped on already and I think we know what it says but it’s it’s basically a signal that that might not be changing anytime soon yeah I I think that’s fairly obvious there that they have no other options and I’m wondering I know we always hear about oh you can’t make trades or whatever until a certain time of the season but the the name that comes to mind it’s not a it’s not a sexy name but go back what is it now three seasons can’t we find the 2024 version of Wade LeBlanc you know what I’m saying just a body just a major league body somebody he he could throw to a five ER again and I’m talking about for a month or two whenever Steven matz comes back whenever you actually could make a trade let’s say and add a a a legitimate MLB starter but there’s got to be some type of Wade LeBlanc that you can pick up for a month or so I would think that gives you a much better chance to win some games or doesn’t put you in a hole where you’re trying to get 18 outs from your Bullpen every time Liberator starts yeah and I would agree with you and and the fact that they willing have done that to their Bullpen over and over knowing that lior is on a pitch count and that if anything goes wrong and he’s not particularly efficient it compounds the problem and they’ve been doing that during a stretch where they’ve had a lot of games in a row without off day it’s like now they’re obviously getting the off day tomorrow they had one last Thursday but in the midst of their stretches before that they really didn’t get time off and so it was just a weird process um one name you mentioned I don’t know if anything’s become of him yet I don’t think I’m I’m Googling don’t think he’s been picked up it may be kind of gross to pick up the castoffs from this team but like Brad Keller of the white sock was designated and if you’re talking five innings three runs I think that’s probably his middle name just yeah that there’s not a lot of risk granted what does it admit publicly about your organizational pitching death if you are scooping up Brad Keller the castoff from the Chicago White Socks like he wasn’t good enough for them and you’ve got a whole Memphis rotation guys with big league experience and you’re going no no no you guys stay there look pretty in Memphis we’re gonna go for Brad Keller I mean that probably doesn’t send a great message but it might just be true like if if you’ve gone this long and you don’t believe in what you have down there to the extent that you’re you’re just reluctantly throwing Liberator every five days it’s not fair to him because he’s not built up like a stter it’s not fair to Oli marmal because he’s losing one quality relief pitcher although John King as a lefty has really stepped it up but it’s just like a bunch of different factors where you go is this really what they’re doing every single time Libby starts the postgame happens and you think okay they’re going to make a different move and then he’s he’s right back out there I I hope he shoves on Saturday so that we can really get confused but it does seem a little bit curious the way that it’s gone the last couple of turns through yeah I’m rooting for him I I hope he does well but it it’s funny you said if you were to sign basically Brad Keller that you’re you’re admitting defeat almost or you’re you’re admitting that the plan is not working Triple A but we like we know it’s not you know what I’m saying at this point look but then you’d actually have to DFA Michael McGreevy like you know just have to do it you know what I mean yeah I get that but like everybody knows I mean it’s it’s the old saying actions speak louder than words it doesn’t matter what any of them say it doesn’t matter and and look I understand you have to play the pr game it doesn’t matter what Ali says it doesn’t matter what John mosak says in this in this sense we all know that when we’ve seen now I’m looking at his game log that lior has made what three starts he hasn’t gone more than three and two thirds he’s allowed four earned runs in his last two times out we know if you roll that guy out again that’s a clear message that this is our our best option we have right now we we actually think that right now that’s still a better option than the guys in Triple A so at look I I really don’t think like I I think everybody has to have a certain sense of of of arrogance to have a big job like I think I think John mosac has a healthy amount of arrogance I do I think that’s one of his issues actually over the last couple years but I don’t think he’s so arrogant that he wouldn’t go get the team help because it’s a bad look and I know I know you’re just throwing that out there but like it’s so obvious it’s so obvious that they have nobody else yeah would you want to know the funniest possible name that I that I could come up with that is maybe not all too unrealistic it’s Zack funny well no wouldn’t that be funny anybody like and by the way again I started this conversation with saying find me the 2024 version of Wade LeBlanc this is not going to be a sexy name it’s going to be a 31 to 36 year old dude who was probably good seven years ago but like you said could give you five innings and allow three earned runs most of the time out and just give you a shot yes and by the way a little bonus if it were that grank and the reason I bring him up four days ago there’s like a MLB trade rumors was talking about he was throwing and like keeping active he’s not on a team he’s 21 strikeouts short of 3,000 if I’m Zack ranky I am picking up the phone and just trying to get any job to get to 3,000k but he’s also maybe not that kind of guy that cares about that I don’t know but how funny would that be after all the years if the Cardinals were to sign Zack ranki and he pick up K number 3,000 as a cardinal just like it would just be bizarre to me so I want it to happen okay be because we’re having fun now I mean we’ve we’ve had fun the whole time but now I have another name for you who’s the guy who’s the guy that’s always always linked to the Cardinals because he had this beautiful home somehow in Missouri that I think he donated to a charity Cole Hamil has Cole haml officially retired because for like 10 straight Years everybody said Cole haml was gonna be a cardinal because I think his wife might be from do they live in Springfield or something and they had a huge house and they gave it to a char I remember reading a story like that I don’t know but dude he hasn’t pitched in like five years I don’t think he’s I don’t think he’s coming back he last five years he last logged a stat in 2020 and he only pitched one game that year wow that’s he’s 40 I mean but could he get you five and three maybe you know like we’re not asking a lot and I’ve seen people say hey 44 year old Rich Hill is still trying to he’s still trying to find a job but like again multiple years ago or last year he like eight ER like you could probably just do a little better than that but I don’t know I don’t know it just FS me you know what I would do you asked what I think the Cardinals will do is throw lior on Saturday and keep kicking this can down the road you know what I would do if I wanted to go the route of just really going bold and trying to just maximize The Vibes right now you could be really risky and go Tink hence I don’t even know if he’s like pitched in the last couple days I personally wouldn’t do it but if you wanted to just having him make his debut against the Cubs I think it’s a national TV game in the city connects to me would just be a recipe for a lot of entertainment value so that’s one path the other Fork is basically the Mortal opposite of that and it’s actually what I think makes some sense I’ve seen Andre Palante get outs as a big Leaguer as a starting pitcher before it’s not sexy but I think Andre Palante could get you five and three because he’s going to walk three but all of them will will be erased on double play balls and he’s being built up down in Memphis I’m not saying that that’s your savior but I’m saying like who’s got a better shot to give you five and three right now him or Libby Libby might have a better shot to get you seven and one but it’s going to be one out of every 10 starts and you’re going to go hey can you bottle that whatever you did today can you do it forever and he’s not going to be able to Palante is just kind of gonna five and three I think Palante as long as he’s built up and available which I he’s been pitching for length in Memphis I think that would be a short-term answer that he’s already on the 40 man you could put Libby in the role that that he’s really useful in and then John King could be your third Lefty he’s pitching great like I think it improves the bullpen and stabilizes that fifth spot so colante it maybe you didn’t expect me to say that but that’s my answer no that that makes a lot of sense okay let’s go off the field because you mentioned the city connect jerseys twice now yeah so so coming up this weekend big series you got the Cubs you got the city connects and also I think this is pretty cool now when I was thinking about the uh the Joe Buck and Chip Carrey doing a game together it it clearly makes perfect sense that it’s the Cubs because of their their uh you know father’s um grandfathers uh history there I’m thinking I would I would do that game in like a boring game on a Tuesday right versus the Pirates but it’s the Cubs so you understand I think that’s really cool and then also so I want your take on that but also the city connects I’ve never been a person that really car as much about jerseys I really don’t like I’ll say okay that Jersey is cool that one isn’t I’m never going to get mad about it it seems like some people think that it it was kind of too bland what’s your take I mean I saw Mason wi said you probably could have done more had a little more fun give me your opinion I saw I don’t know if it was real I guess it probably was but a screenshot of Instagram of Wilson contas saying not good like just basically saying there they didn’t like them um I was not surprised at all with how they looked like if you were going to say the Cardinals are going to agree to participate in something silly and fun and a little bit off the cuff like for instance the Yankees aren’t even getting City connects so you think about the the the classic teams and the classic jersey Aesthetics I think the Dodgers did one but it’s like basically just in Japanese and not that off-the-wall because they have you know multiple star Japanese players and that was probably an obvious branding opportunity so you’re going to do it the Cardinal aren’t going to say no we abstain we’re going to participate but you can’t do it without having the birds on the bat on the uniform so that’s evidently what bill thewit I third said I think I saw that in a Hawkman story where he said you know that was the thing that he pushed for so okay they’re not really understanding the assignment you’re allowed to do anything you want City connect do anything you want and they view it just a very traditional organization as we know that you have to almost kind of keep certain tenants to your uniform aesthetic that you can’t Veer away from okay okay so with that being said I think they did almost about as much as as you would expect them to do I like the little it’s kind of like pin stripey with the rivers it’s kind of hard to see in pictures I guess it pops up better in person but you get red that’s kind of fun the L I get it it feels like everything they do has to be Nelly related I don’t know they like Nelly or John Ham it’s going to be you know that one of the two of them is gonna be involved maybe John Goodman like they they kind of have the old classics the tried and TRS that they go they go back to the well on the hats the STL I think are fine it’s like a nod to 1921 or something before they had the interlocking STL that’s fine but then I saw Polo aseno the Spanish broadcaster post on Twitter from the team store they have like an alternate City connect cap that actually looks really really cool and is a little bit different it’s got the Flur to Lee on it I think they should have leaned more into the Flur Lee more into the city flag more under the arch they could have done a little bit more with that but as it stands I do think they’re slick I think they look nice the little pinstripe down the side of the pants the the stripe I think looks nice it’s very it is it’s bland it was safe it wasn’t risky which is all the things that I would believe that you would get in a Cardinal’s alternate uniform knowing that bildt the third is still going to have his fingerprints on it and say we have to kind of adhere to kind of what we’ve done around here for for all of history all that being said I think they’re inoffensive and solid I’ll give them like a six and a half out of 10 I wouldn’t have expected a thing to be different about them they went very safe and I think it’s fine yeah as I look at them again as you’re talking I me I don’t hate them again I don’t really care probably too much red now it reminds me of that uh that Prince Charles painting that they unveiled uh a couple weeks ago that just made no sense on that yeah yeah yeah it’s also it is funny I know and and we can talk about bildt’s comments to uh to Martin kilin it is and I know that was a couple weeks ago but we didn’t do a show last week and I I look I I like BW3 but it is it’s so funny and it’s so Cardinals that like we have have to put the birds on the B like it’s the one time that you’re allowed to do something different it’s just the one time you’re just going to wear it few games and then and you even said then they had an homage to 1921 like only the Cardinals will be like we have a one-time deal to do something cool we’re not really gonna Veer that far and we’re gonna we’re gonna honor something from hundred years ago that’s so Cardinals that I’m actually glad it happened because that’s that’s what the Cardinals do yeah no it was they were very predictable I think in the way it went down which is again it’s like fine they’re going to sell plenty of jerseys I think they look I I do like how they look and I think there is an element of this to like when you think about other teams that have unveiled theirs and the public scrutiny of like oh this is hideous this is heinous this is no good the Cardinals there was no way that that anybody was going to have that reaction I don’t think nobody was going to say oh my gosh can they can they even put that on a uniform it’s just doesn’t make any sense like it’s sensible within the aesthetic that it is it’s very very safe they were not going to take risks with it um I think they do have the FLIR on like the shoulder or the sleeve patch whatever it’s called that’s nice I think you could have been willing to do more but now that we know what the answer is it almost feels as though it couldn’t have gone any other way very c as you said okay so now that I’m really looking at it though I have to say I like the the Flur they have some they have some hoodies that look and they have some hoodies with short sleeves with the Flor Del leite looks pretty cool I guess I hadn’t until you until you talked I hadn’t seen the hat and I’m gonna I’m gonna make it hot take here I don’t like the hat at all the STL hat yeah and it looks like it’s almost like bones that looks stupid and and again this is coming from somebody who doesn’t have hot takes I I guess I never paid attention to the Hat I was focused on the Jersey which I thought was okay the hat is stupid oh have you seen but have you seen Polo asencio he posted the like from the team store the the alternate hat I don’t know how else to describe it I think it’s just one that they’re selling maybe they wear it during batting practice maybe they don’t wear it at all but it was a few days ago I’ll find it and send it to you because it actually it’s got the arch and the Florida Lee and STL it’s got the L on the side it like it’s got a lot going on which I appreciate if you if you get a Twitter DM will you get it quick I guess that’ll be the way I’ll send it to you so yeah it’s been be more or you can just go to Polo’s page and scroll down be more willing to do something a little bit off thewall and if it if it doesn’t go well and people don’t like it then so what but I think they they just are so in their heads about making sure that they don’t do anything they don’t step out of bounds that that’s kind of how you end up with the with the STL I don’t know how the STL is a look in person it to me not really offensive on screen but maybe they’ll be okay maybe they’ll be terrible I don’t know you like the other hat decent I like it better I don’t love it like I could see how they don’t want to wear that on the field but I see how it’s maybe maybe a cooler cap for for the kids to wear around town yeah I don’t know I almost think on that you could just do FLIR Le you know okay so again this is coming from somebody who as I said earlier I don’t really care about the uniforms as much as a lot of people the more I look at the Jersey the more I’m saying it’s okay the more I look at the hats the more I think they’re bad you’re upset okay not upset I mean I don’t care but they’re not good well this has been your uniform talk I know people were waiting for us to weigh in before they made their purchase decisions and so now they’re going to be able to they’re going to be able to get that done okay let’s go back about what 10 days or so the BW 3 comments to Martin kilcoin I put it on uh my YouTube and a lot of people you know the funny thing is I always this is where I have a tangent before I even make my point yeah I always find this funny about how media is consumed so for example Martin does that interview long interview I think it’s 27 minutes long the first 20 or so minutes are all about Stadium funding which is pretty interesting if if you’re into that now you got to really sit down and think about it and it it’s it’s kind of a lot of numbers but if you’re into that type of thing it’s it’s not something you hear from a lot of ownership groups to really tell you what’s going on and then the end of it maybe just five six minutes I don’t know was was BW3 talking about this team and and the the quote that got everybody going was basically saying and he brought this up himself he said I’m paraphrasing but I chuckle when when folks say oh we got to not show up to send ownership a message and he goes look we just take the revenue from the ticket sales and put it right back into the team and and this is not maybe interesting to folks but like Martin put that on the radio it was on Scoops with Danny Mack it was a bunch of different places but then until I took that one I think it was a a minute and 45 seconds and put it out on Twitter that’s when everybody went crazy about it like it’s just weird that like a really interesting tidbit can be 23 minutes into an interview and and nobody will write about it or talk about it you almost have to give people you literally have to just put it on a platter for people that that’s true it just really is you have to put it on a platter for people and also there is maybe a and this is a little inside baseball but there might be a sense of like once it’s once it’s out there that public it’s not like it’s being hidden within somebody’s podcast and I don’t want to step on his toes because maybe it’s you know once it’s out there people kind of feel like it’s more fair game to maybe pick up on it rather than be the one to publicize it if it’s not their original content I don’t know if that’s maybe part of it or not but like once Charlie does it it’s like all right this is in The Ether now people are talking about this people can weigh in my I eventually weighed in and the reason it took me so long was because I needed a cardinal off day because I’m doing podcasts about every game and needed an off day to talk about it but no it is it is kind of interesting and I think you see that you can see that a lot of places like there will be that get reported um the the Nolan Gorman popcorn thing for instance like I know that John Denton wrote about it once and then like three weeks later it appeared in something different and then that’s when I saw like everybody talking about it and of course JD was mad like I wrote about this three weeks ago but like that’s just sometimes the way it goes I don’t know if there’s always any Rhyme or Reason to it but um certainly you know wanted to make sure Martin got his credit because I thought it was a really good and interesting interview with kind of a lot of insight into all that other stuff but yeah that the part where I think you know I think bd3 stepped on it a little bit there stepped in it I should say um that’s it it didn’t sound good the sound bite didn’t sound great even if it didn’t have like any nefarious undertones intended it sort of looks like you’re kind of kind of looking down on on the fan base and there was some parts in there about you know the the hardcore fans versus the the the Casual fans the implication being like you have to keep coming to the stadium where you can’t really consider yourself a hardcore fan like I don’t think I think generally he does a really good job I think that was a moment where you’re the sound bite got him you know what I mean yeah yeah and it’s funny by the way I’m I’m giving all the credit to Martin and that’s where I was like dude why aren’t people talking about this you know I mean this is really you gotta have a YouTube brain to be able to bring it out of it because oh my God this is something and nobody else really did until you thought to repackage it in that way the next three four days the next 3 four days that’s all anybody talked about surrounding Cardinals throughout that whole weekend and this is yet another tangent but it kind of reminded me not not exactly but I remember I was covering a Rams game years ago during the Jeff fiser era and somebody can look this up I think it was against don’t get mad at me I think it was the Washington Redskins but it could have been another team maybe it was a different team no you know what you just you just wanted okay no no here’s why I think it was the Washington football team so what Jeff Fischer did was I don’t know if you remember the story I already know where you’re going with this now for the captains for the captains he rolled out every player that they drafted in the RG3 trade okay and this is this is the funny part folks I promise there’s going to be a payoff although it might not be as good as I think the most hilarious thing about it this is in front of thousands of people there millions of people watching brandan nobody picked up not one person not one media member picked up on the fact that Jeff fiser purposefully for the captains rolled out everybody in the RG3 trade as kind of a little bit of a troll job I was in I was in the locker room this is why it was a road game I saw Jeff fiser go up to Jim Thomas who at the time was you know we all love JT covered the Rams forever then he covered the blues Jeff fer had to tell Jim Thomas what he did like twet it please think about that think about that Jeff fer I mean look I like Jeff fiser wasn’t the greatest coach here but we’ve had worse but like he did a a cute little troll job and nobody even picked up on it and he had to go and freaking leak it himself to the media yeah because he KN you know he wanted it to be talked about otherwise why would you go through the trouble of doing it and I found the Jim Thomas tweet uh the names are so funny I know this is not a a 2014 St Louis Rams podcast but the if you just think about the names in that trade and how it wasn’t really that big of a troll because they they got mostly just like just some random guys and a couple of known players Kind of a Funny aspect of that anyway that’s the best tangent we’ve ever had though I mean are we talking like Alec ogal tree who who who out Ogle tree is one how many many one two three four five six in the the the Jim Thomas tweet six were named so that wouldn’t be Jason Smith right no no no no no um was it like Tavon Austin no no no no no the Rams actually traded up to get Tavon Austin I can’t believe 10 years later we’re talking Rams on this podcast I like these type of questions no there’s some Rams Fans they like this stuff so Ogle tree yeah okay was it somebody like was it like Joe havenstein or something no but there is an offensive Lenin offensive lineman I I assume this has to be it’s Robinson that has to be Greg Robinson right I would think because Greg Robinson was what the number was he the number two pick he was number two the next year I say oh yeah big time uh how about Jenkins little bit big Jenkins name if you can defensive end he’s a defensive end this guy was around for a while this one Brockers Michael Brockers um running back not that big of a name and I think had some some actual some issues after off the field issues after no not also true no Isaiah ped no I don’t know did he have offield z z stac there’s only one more yeah Zack Stacy oh god dude there’s one more wide receiver who was who was accidentally shot at one point dude when you when you start to name and you didn’t by the way you didn’t even mention jorris Jenkins who has his own issues yeah okay so wait a wide receiver guy was shot but was I don’t think it was even his fault I think wrong place wrong time for this guy and he was shot I think so I’m gonna look it’s not the dude it’s not the dude from Appalachian State right was it Brian Quick not Brian Quick no this guy went to w Virginia it looks like oh okay so that was um it was not a stemman Bailey was the other one okay this is a random tangent we spent five minutes on this and I couldn’t be having more fun than I’m having here’s the thing there’s like there’s people that have dropped off and they’re not even watching anymore but the people who are I think that this is for them so this is fine no listen we do this on the radio every once in a while because oh yeah I have kind of a good memory but like I like going back and because you said this I promise we’ll get back to baseball folks but stemman Bailey his college statistics here I’m finding him right here I think he had some insane amount like 30 touchdowns in college the senior year I’m trying to find it for you st Bailey okay hold on Stan Bailey College remember he had really good hands right maybe let me fine I promise I promise folks just give me one second here while you look let me answer a question that I didn’t answer before about chip car and Joe Buck uh that’s coming up on Friday night I totally glossed over the question he asked me to it once though great interviewing technique um I’m actually oh my gosh I was giving you the cover you needed I you okay go ahead okay stemman Bailey in 2012 yeah with uh West Virginia had 25 receiving touchdowns so I believe that was Gino Smith right 25 receiving touchdowns okay sorry go ahead we’ll get off the Rams and tell me about Joe Buck I like I like I have to interrupt this Joe Buck take for some info on stman Bailey’s 2012 Collegiate touchdown total I think it’s really cool obviously Cardinal Cubs makes it more interesting the Cardinals writing in on a winning streak makes it more interesting but Joe Buck hasn’t been in a in the local TV Cardinals Booth since 2007 I think it is like it’s been a while he’s had this whole career he’s not even doing baseball now but was the voice for for the World Series for you know like my generation uh just that’s that just ubiquitous with the World Series for so long and I think there’s a little bit of interest from him to maybe like career Twilight toward the end maybe do something like that a little more often because he’s talked about how he doesn’t really miss baseball but what he misses is like the grind of being with a with a team and doing the bus trips and doing all that to where like you’re actually ingrained with the team which is something didn’t get to do with Fox when he was just doing one game a week or just doing the World Series so I don’t think he really misses that I think he misses like the relationships that you can build when you’re in that broadcaster role with the local team I don’t know how many years down the road it would have to be but I bet he would be I bet that’s something that he would always think could be interesting later but anyway I think he’s I think Joe Buck is fantastic so I’m excited for Friday yeah I’m a big Joe Buck fan and I I don’t know if I’m disagreeing with you but here’s what I’m what I’m saying I don’t remember his contract I think it was released I think Joe Buck’s making what like $75 million over five years whatever it is ESPN and think about that gig you’re doing a great game once a week on a Monday with Troy Aman you can fly in private and fly out so you’re gone for one or two days you can be back with your family the entire rest of the week you’re going to cool cities each time Big Time NFL games you’re staying at the rits or the the Four Seasons if I’m Joe Buck I have no want to ever go back to the Grind of everyday baseball but if I could do five games a year if I could do five fun games a year as kind of a novelty keeps me in the game maybe it’s it’s games I’m already in St Louis anyway I think he has a place in Cabo that he goes a lot I think a couple years ago he was on that Manning cast you know doing it from Cabo so if I’m Joe Buck and you have that money and you got look he’s got kids and then he has younger kids now as well yeah no I hear you that’s a grind like give me five games or three whatever it is couple games no he’ll not he’ll never probably do a full season but like I also wonder too like once you’ve done it all is there any just satisfaction in in especially it would probably have to be the right circumstance too for him to even be involved more than a five games like the manager is someone he’s really tight with or you know what I mean like just the broadcast Partners whatever but I just think that it’s cool to hear him talk on different podcasts about how like that’s the thing that he appreciated about baseball and like when you have everything else in the world and you’re doing the the biggest game of the week and all the things you just said in the NFL it can be fun to maybe reminisce on a podcast and say I kind of really miss that but then maybe the unspoken part is I’m never going to go back to having to do that because I am in a in a very very fortunate spot with with the gig that I have but I think he does an awesome job and people you know don’t like him because they hate my team and all this stuff where they just don’t understand like how it goes how it works when you’re in that National gig and I think when you hear when you hear him talk out of any other context he’s like really down toe and really kind of an interesting introspective guy so anyway I think it’ll be really good I think I’m I’m expecting good things on Friday and I’m sure that that him and Chip will deliver yeah and I’m speaking for Joe Buck now but if I were him if I had done I mean did he do 20 30 World Series whatever he did he did a lot yeah so if you if you’ve done 20 plus World Series the top of of the line for baseball to me if you’re not going to do that I would rather do something like if I was him I’d probably have more fun doing one of these alternate broadcasts like maybe they want the broadcast for an All-Star game or for the World Series on the secondary Channel where some guys can sit around and jeans and a and a button- down shirt and just kind of almost you know sitting around drinking beers and talking about like that I would enjoy something like that as opposed to putting the suit back on and getting up in the booth again three four five times a year I think is fun but I would I would want to do more like the Manning cast stuff like kind of do something different yeah or if you’re Joe Buck and can you know you can kind of have opportunities come your way I know he did a little bit of golf there for a minute like that just do it different sport if you’re like if you’re so inclined and it makes you happy and brings you satisfaction he could probably just kind of pick his spot in in some ways and just be doing that and just to say he did it like again how you can only be on top of the world for as long as you as long as you are and then it’s like okay what else what what can I do different to keep it interesting which like you said that you’re all about the accommodations you you come from the the local TV world and and you didn’t even want to do local sports TV anymore after you know the Rams left because that was that was kind of the cushy part of the gig so I I know like how you think and that everything you said about Joe Buck there made a lot of sense okay I was gonna I was gonna end the show but because you brought that up had to take a shot like to be no no I’d like to be very honest when I came to St Louis I was working in Lancing but look I was covering Big 10 football Big 10 Basketball like it was pretty dang fun Michigan State Tom ISO we’re covering Michigan football you’re watching games against Ohio State and Wisconsin whatnot but when I got the job in St Louis I was most excited about covering the Cardinals on an everyday basis and the Rams and I don’t dislike hockey but I’m not a hockey guy so yes when the Rams left like when I look at the sports landscape now and people might get mad at me for saying this um no I got out also because I wanted a better schedule and all that but like when I came here covering the Cardinals Non-Stop and all those Rams trips were home of the Rams that was really fun even though the Rams sucked now if it’s more Cardinals and you know a Blues team that’s not making the playoffs and it’s an MLS team which me personally look I’m I’m happy for them I don’t have a ton of Interest the battle Hawks again I’m happy for them but I’m not hugely into into Spring football so on the AJ beat okay got it no I’m rooting for them I’m rooting for them I’m just saying look this is an obvious statement the NFL is is the big boy on the Block and I’m not trying to get I’m not trying to get back into that but when you as a city lose the NFL for the second time and and maybe the last time ever I mean that is a freaking yes it’s a dagger it’s a dagger yep you’re right thanks for bumming everybody out at the end but you’re 100% right though well then we won’t end there I’ll just I’ll let you uh what do we say open your notebook and and empty it empty or not no what do you want ask me a question that’s so lazy I don’t know no you’re no it isn’t because no you’re at the games I’m not this but this week I kind of wasn’t as often so it’s been a busy week Charlie it’s been a busy week okay how about this yeah how about this the sunny gray thing some people are saying oh be a tough guy fight through it I get that a little bit like I don’t want I don’t want hold on I don’t want the George Kirby comment remember that remember what George Kirby said a couple years ago oh vaguely I remember it being kind of a firestorm what was his angle he said something like he didn’t want to go back out there after whatever it was six Innings 80 pitches pitches I’m not I’m not saying this is the same thing look to me guys also know their body they know their arm I’m okay with just if a guy thinks he’s done now if I if I was done I probably wouldn’t tell people that though I’m just being honest I probably wouldn’t say that but he’s being honest yeah and Olie said he’s done he’s done you know like when Olie gets asked about it first and then we go to Sunny so it’ already be sent but Sunny gray is just like a different cat he’s going to tell you exactly what he what he thinks and what’s going on and if you think a certain way about it then you know so be it I I think 31 pitches in that inning and just understanding his body and not wan to get hurt that’s part of it but also you know that he was not as sharp with his location in that it bad and didn’t want to compromise himself and put him in a spot no I don’t have one shred of thought that that was like that like you should have gone out there and been Bob Gibson I think that’s stupid if you’re saying that I think that’s dumb no I’m not 31 pitches in an inning miles michelas laughs at that he’s like dude I’ll throw 42 he’s like I’ll throw 42 in an inning and then still go six some somehow with a smile on my face now that was the last inning for and the way it happened too is a little demoralizing and it’s 90 degrees and it’s the first first time it’s that hot people just get so mad about like wanting to be mad about stuff and and and just on the lookout for somebody making an excuse can I harp on this like it’s stupid no that’s it was the right thing and the bullpen came in and it was you know whatever no I didn’t I didn’t think there was a problem with that personally I didn’t think you would but again you know sometimes people are talking I like to get your opinion I’ll never ask you again all right I’ll never I’ll never ask you again BR no it was good that you asked we were supposed to be able to ask the question answer them and fill time so we can get over an hour or at least close to it that’s the whole point there you go and we’re there and you might be mad at me but I’m actually because last week I was going to California for my kids allergy so it wasn’t it wasn’t a vacation I do have a vacation next week for the whole week we may have to skip next week but we’ll be right back hey by that time the Cardinal will be in first place we’re going to Sea Island Georgia Sea Island Georgia never been all right well here’s the thing Charlie will be taking it easy for a whole week my channel doesn’t sleep even when I go on trips I was texting Charlie about this I was in a wedding a couple of weekends ago and yet still found a way to post every day because I was storing them up and Blasting them out so uh youtube.com bsha for2 Charlie is lovely and will’ll put the link in the description at the bottom of this video so that you can uh subscribe to my page as well as Charlie I will and just so you know I actually do still work but it’ll be for the NASCAR car page oh the the real sport got it no not the real sport by the way people Kenny Wallace we’re having our best week ever because of that fight on Sunday Ricky Stenhouse Jr Kyle Bush it’s blowing up then you have the Koch 600 and then you have the race in St Louis the following week so that’ll be fun okay shut up soon all right yeah it’s h June 2nd whatever it is two two Sundays from now all right Brenan good stuff buddy thank you sir and thank you everybody for watching commenting liking subscribing Please Subscribe put the show in your group text put on social media share it let’s grow this thing follow Brendan’s uh Channel as well and we’ll see you when we see you