Cardinals Offense Coming Alive — Are They Really Sticking With Libby In The Rotation?

Andy and Brenden of the KTGR Big Show discuss the Cardinals recently surging offense and then get into the topic of Matthew Liberatore seemingly slated to start again for the club when they take on the Cubs on Saturday.

Tune into the Big Show on KTGR.com weekdays from 4 to 6 pm CT for conversation about the Cardinals, Mizzou, Chiefs and more!

Join this channel to get access to perks:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCS7FSJTHB_Qxep6KItyJbQ/join

I’d say Brendan it’s not just one thing but the fact that certain hitters have come up big in certain spots is a huge driving force to what’s happened over the last week and a half right just those improvements at the plate yeah what the Cardinals are now getting offensively from they’ve said one through nine you could maybe nitpick a little bit and say there are still some guys that are not quite where they want to be but largely I mean it’s a lot more 1 through n than it was couple of weeks ago at this point where guys like Alec Burleson have emerged and you feel like if he’s in your number five spot in the lineup every day you’re like okay that’s pretty good he’s got a 786 Ops now for the year you feel nice about that you feel great incredible about what Mason win is bringing to the table he’s been hidden for average all season long but now you’re starting to see a little pop from his Bat I still can’t get over the Home Run swing from yesterday that he basically just golfed out to left field he’s his play coverage is impressive man he can slap a double down the right field line and figure out a way to to keep it steered in Fair territory and then he can turn around and do what he did yesterday and golf one out to left his Ops now up to 780 batting average at 295 if not for showa imanaga who I think the Cardinals will see this weekend Mason win would be really having a good conversation to top the Rookie of the Year discussion I still think there are some other names that are going to be in the mix but Mason wi I mean he continues to do what he’s doing you talk about Elite defense at Short Stop an Ops if he can push it closer to 800 hit maybe bat 300 and steal 20 25 bases that is a well-rounded game and he is really coming to life for the Cardinals and then there’s other guys like like Lars nupar and Nolan Gorman are guys that for a while we said oh my gosh you kind of write them off they have ops’s in the 500s and they’re they’re just not producing it seems like Lars nupar is taking at least one walk every game lately if not he’s coming up with a big RBI hit Nolan Gorman you’re seeing a little bit more consistency from the power he’ll still have his strikeouts but yeah I mean that’s I just talked about four or five different guys that’s kind of the nature of what it’s been for the Cardinals sure you want to see more from ronado powerwise yes you want to get Goldie going but I mean the Cardinals are getting it done right now with other cast and crew from this lineup and it’s been a lot of fun to watch as the Ops is for the team rise from 500s 600s to a lot of guys in the 700s now which is a lot better of a place to be yes the middle has been rising to the top a a little bit more and that’s what has happened for the Cardinals to at least have a lineup that you know you’re not going to have a bunch of dead spots in like it seemed early in the season like starting pitchers could navigate so well around the Cardinals lineup with how other guys were not stepping up and filling their roles I don’t know if it’s necessarily I mean it I don’t think that’s because Paul goldsmid has struggled but it maybe is due to why when gold smith started to come out of it a little bit he hasn’t necessarily emerged you know as the same type of MVP player that we had seen him in the past because they had more ways to maybe pitch around him or or other guys in the lineup weren’t as threatening and and now that they are I think that can allow Paul gold Schmid a guy like him to to maybe see more pitches that he knows how to deal with and can and not press as much and not have to think that it’s just all on him yeah I mean I don’t know what the mentality of goldi is I’d like to think that he’s able to and and in you know conversations you you hear the guy talk you think he’s able to take it one day at a time and truly not let those sorts of outside factors have an impact on him but at the same time you know the pedig you you know your your bank account you know you know what you get paid every week it’s it’s a lot on a guy to say I’ve got to be the one to carry it when the team as a whole is not performing it would be easy for a guy like gold Schmid to look at that and say yeah I’m probably if not the reason I’m one of the biggest reasons at least to know why the team’s not performing that being said though I you look at some of the pitches that Goldie has been getting out on I still feel like that element of pressing is very much present in his game like he’s not he has not turned a corner he is still struggling uh just to be totally clear like Ops sub 600 he’s not in a spot where he wants to be and it’s a lot of those kind of flailing it outside pitches and sometimes it strikes in the zone that he just kind of swings through so we’ll see if he’s able to find another gear I think if he doesn’t at some point over the next few weeks it at some point you do have to think all right what’s it look like for Paul goldi to maybe not play every single day or to move down in the lineup like if the Cardinals are in the mix it’s going to be more of a conversation than like last year Adam way wght was obviously not healthy not producing all of those things but they kept running him out there because he’s a veteran player and he’s trying to get 200 wins and at a certain point it just didn’t matter for the Cardinals because they were you know they were cooked well if their season’s not cooked but Goldie is they may have to make some adjustments that they they weren’t really forced to reckon with with Adam wi R but I still think it’s May so I’m going to give Goldie some more time before I start saying yeah bench him for Burleson have somebody else DH for the time being though it is something that’s in the back of your mind if they do kind of fall off right offensively as a team when it’s a Well oiled machine things are going good you’re not really worried about the the couple guys that aren’t producing but he is still batting third he is still kind of the the the guy that’s supposed to be the engine for the offense so we’ll see how they handle that in the the days and series and weeks ahead that’s a tough decision too right it’s not very easy to to try and maneuver uh Paul gmi’s playing time based off of how he might be performing if you are in fact in a playoff push it’s just I don’t know I don’t know I don’t want to be the one to make that decision to say hey we need to sit Paul gmid a little bit more often than we would because we are maybe a few games up over 500 and we’re trying to P push for one of these playoff spots I mean it it wouldn’t seem like this is the type of team that you would have to make that type of decision with but I guess here we are it’s been a weird start to the year for the Cardinals and I guess we shouldn’t bring anything off the table for the rest of the season but I just it confounds my logic of how of how we’ve seen the Cardinals operate over the years yeah I mean I just don’t I don’t think it’s time to do it yet and you can move them down like today and they’ve done it but then they moved him right back up to number three and he’s kind of been toiling away he’s sitting 211 his Ops is 594 but when you think about like wi Nar arnado burles Brenan Donovan Nolan Gorman all these guys have better Ops better numbers than Paul goldi so if you were to bat him seventh I just it may look weird it may be a weird sensation to write his name so low down in the lineup if you’re Allie marmal but I I’d be fine with it starting right away just because I feel like if anything you could shake something loose with him and try to give him a different look but if you’re you know seventh in Ops in the daily lineup to to be bat and third every day maybe something that they have to think about but to be clear like we’re spending a lot of time talking about it now it’s not something they have to really worry about this specific day in time this specific week because the offense at large has been doing its job they’ve been a top 10 offense if you look at all the various Statistics over the past 15 days that’s kind of where they’ve been and it it’s what we asked of them at the beginning of the season and now that they’re doing it that’s I think what has caused us to look at the Cardinals in a different way give us your thoughts on the Cardinal offense 875 ktgr here on the Big Show at 4:14 and you know when we talk about Paul goldi moving up and down the lineup or what the Cardinal should do there you know I kind of like Mason win as the leadoff at least for now right maybe looked good last night going looked good yesterday afternoon that’s for sure two for four hit the Homer I don’t know like maybe explore that a little bit more well Donovan had a nice two and Donovan couldn’t come up with RBI hits too he had two RBI in the the second game yesterday he’s a guy I like at the leadoff spot though too and I wonder if with that whole notion of they like doing left right left right I think it’s you know I understand why you do it but it’s kind of bogus if it’s not working couldn’t you do win one two no no I mean Nar is going to bat second that’s just what I was getting ready to say though is like because you have Nar there because they like that when batting first would actually reintroduce that concept if you got Goldie or arado whoever bat in third then it’s at least right left right I don’t know how I don’t know if you’re extending that like are you putting Gorman cleanup I don’t think that you want like they’ve been willing to move younger players down in the lineup and maybe not the veteran struggling that’s sort of been the the tenor of the way they’ve handled things for me though I like Donovan Nar batting onew and I obviously wi is doing a great job too I just am not sure if you don’t bat win all the way at the top where do you find the the spot to slot him in it’s been like a he’s batting way down at the bottom or he’s all the way up to the top I don’t know like I think you could play with it a little bit if you want they they tried large Nar at Times batting third because they wanted to go left right left and I just don’t think that really works I don’t think Gorman batting third works so maybe yeah you could flip it on its head go Mason win and you know Donovan doesn’t care where he hits he’ll figure it out he he’ll be fine wherever he is that’s the thing and I mean wins your stolen base threat too so I mean it’s that’s all the more reason to try and give him more at bats more chances to be on base and it it might seem a little bit because I know Donovan has worked in that spot I mean and and I get his numbers are down a little generally I like him up there generally he’s a he has been a good lead off Hender for the Cardinals and I don’t doubt that he would be bad at it if they all of a sudden say Hey you gotta drop down and then at some point that there comes a time where they have to bring him back up I I don’t think he would lose that value as a leadoff hitter by putting him fifth or sixth I mean it’s just you know it’s something that I think can you can allow Mason win a chance like depending on what his future could be with the Cardinals that could be the role that he carbs out for himself going forward yeah a little bit more traditional too in terms of you mentioned stolen bases and that’s what we think about historically leadoff guy has good speed and and makes contact high average um but you know they’ve looked at Brendan Donovan and said look whatever his speed is which he did to have the little league home run the other day but generally he’s going to get you on base a walk is almost as good as a a base hit and in many cases it’s exactly as good as a base hit depending on anybody being on base or not but Newar I like batting up there and he’s done a nice job up there you know and and Burleson’s another left-handed bat so you could think about all right how high do you want to move him up in the order like there are ways to do it to get all these guys up there but what’s interesting is that they did do it with win yesterday in a game where Donovan also started because before that I think way had only been moved up to the top when Donovan was on the bench and it was Gorman in the lineup I could be wrong about that but I think that is interesting that they’re like no Donovan’s playing he’s just not the leadoff man today it’s Mason wi and if he has a when he has a two for four game like that and scores a couple of runs it wouldn’t be that surprising to see oi marble maybe go back to that well more frequently we’ll see we’ll see but I think whatever you’re doing with the lineup right now it’s not you’re right you don’t feel like it’s just an absolute Cavern in seven of the nine spots it’s almost Maybe three spots at times where you’re kind of iffy on it you know Pedro pz hasn’t done a lot as the catcher but ion Herrera when he’s behind the plate is is a pretty good bat for you we know Michael canani is you know he’s he’s going to be your nine-hole batter and if he’s pushing for a 600 Ops I think you can live with that and then the guys in the middle arnado and goldia what does that look like arnado at least gets base hits but he hasn’t really been powerful so I don’t know I almost would like to see a lineup where you move both those guys down and really shake it up but I don’t know that all marble is going to be inclined to do that right now while things are going so well so you just might ride the ride the the hot streak and and kind of keep it simple stupid don’t do too much to try and change something that’s already presently working for the first time all year so give us your Cardinal thoughts 875 ktgr here on the Big Show at 418 Paul is here on the ktgr hotline now Paul what you got hey guys uh yeah uh uh as far as the manager goes when they had the losing streak I’m not the biggest fan of the manager but uh apparently the players must like him because they’ve done well since the losing streak so I think that bootes well for the rest of the year hopefully and we have hope now that I think since the last things but my question is to Brendan is uh since Matt is out have they decided on who’s going to take his place in the pitching staff because like you said litor should be a reliever not a starter and I think you’re spot on on that appreciate the call Paul here on the Big Show ktgr I think Libby’s back in that spot it would seem right it’s kind of like a week by week basis still but he’s I expect him to start Saturday I think that’s worse than any either scenario yeah of him being a starter or relever so yeah I don’t I’m not fond of it either and I think they would be best served to just make a decision but like I guess if their standing decision is it’s still going to be Libby then you know that that in and of itself is a decision but it seems like they’re not announcing it right like they’re still listed as TBD I just checked the team website as we’re talking here it’s still listed officially TBD for Saturday we’ll know by tomorrow but he threw a bullpen session on Wednesday that would indicate he’s going to be set up to go for the game Saturday I’m I’m they’re kind of dancing around it but like you said like it’s weird to dance around it just make a decision my so they’ve done this for a few turns through through the rotation with Steven mats out I don’t know that matz is like imminently returning either so it’s not going to be a problem that goes away to me I would do a call up I would call up Palante or I would make a move to put Gro on the 40 man and I would I would do it especially like all right Saturday’s going to happen with Libby if it doesn’t go well then it’s very clear you just need to probably change course this was a an ill faded attempt from the beginning when you’re taking a guy who’s not built up to start and then just trying to do it on the Fly I don’t think it’s been successful he does have really rough numbers against right-handed batters if I’m the Cubs I’m stacking every righty against him on Saturday and just let the chips fall where they may but yeah I think Gro is a guy that like you might as well find out about at certain point before he has to go to uh the you know he’s going to be rule five eligible soon anyway so see what he’s about maybe he can unlock something at the major league level that’s just been a little bit dormant in the minors is it likely I don’t know but I think you’re looking for five innings and three runs that’s all you really need from that five spot and maybe grao is a guy that can give it to you I certainly think Palante it might not be pretty but is a guy that could give that to you every fifth day whereas right now Liberator I think there may it’s either too many holes in his game where whatever it is against right-handed batters he’s not able to adjust right now or you could just take it at face value of they didn’t have him built up and they thought it was going to be successful even though he wasn’t able to to go 95 100 pitches it’s just not fair to lior in that spot and he was doing well as a reliever so you’ve basically tanked all of momentum by making this move so generally I’m going to let Saturday play out but if it doesn’t go well Saturday I just I don’t understand why announce it that day just say yeah we’re going to move Libby to the bullpen where you can you can do messaging that’s not ripping a player right they just they they seem clueless at times for how to approach these matters just need a little bit of of a PR bump of hey you know we really love lior and what he brings in the bullpen we think that’s going to make our team so much better and we’re going to give somebody in Memphis who’s really been working for their opportunity a chance it’s all you have to say it’s you have to do and yet we’re weeks and weeks into this and we haven’t seen it so I think that’s Saturday I think it will be Libby unless something changes but after that you know if it’s not going well just make a make a roster move it’s it’s it’s okay you can make a roster move that’s why those guys in Triple A are there for depth for the big leag Club yes and and I just don’t I don’t like what it would do to Libby mentally when you you put him back into this rotation spot when you know that uh should he be a starter should should he be a reliever it just puts more pressure on him and it’s just I if he’s in that spot against Saturday I just I foresee nothing more than just him struggling to get through four Innings again like that’s just what you’re gonna sign up for I feel like if you if you make that happen so I mean if he proves me wrong great and and the Cardinals have a solid starting option that they can turn to possibly going forward if it means he’s more efficient with his pitches against a team like the Cubs that will be ready for him and knows how to knows how to hit against him I mean it’s then it’d be icy on the cake but I just think that’s the road that we’re going down here is that the Cardinals eventually have to fess up and say okay fine we’re wrong on this let’s bring somebody up and I just wish they would have made that decision earlier with with Matthew Liberto I mean I wish if they were going to have Libby try to be a starter they would have allowed him to go build up but at the same time as he was getting that shot Zack Thompson was in the miners trying to build up Palante was trying to build up maybe they didn’t want Rush Sam robertsa and the first time he pitched he had the 50 pitch outing lior went like three and two3 and was really efficient really good and been like trying to chase their tail on finding that version of him again the last two times and I don’t know why he can’t throw 95 as a starter when he does it as a as a reliever I don’t know why it’s 92 instead I don’t know why he conserves the energy the Cardinal would do well to try and find that out because again I I don’t think that I would damn Liberator to an eternity of only being a relief pitcher I just think that the way this was set up it was destined to maybe have uh some question marks surrounding it and the fact that the Cardinals haven’t already made a move either suggest they’re really having a lot of faith in lior which is not what I think it is because if it was that they would just say yeah he’s in the rotation why do you guys keep asking me instead they keep feeding into it by not by by not announcing a daughter until the day before it’s just an absolute PR Nightmare and there’s no reason to continue doing it that way if you had ultimate faith in him the reality is they probably don’t they’re probably looking at outside outside the organization you know like a brad Keller like maybe they’re trying to make moves like that or considering them and that’s why they’ve they’ve just said as little as possible about the Libby stuff but if that’s what you’re doing and that’s how desperate you are to find something is you’re considering all options outside the org that’s a huge indictment on what you internally feel about your tripa rotation I’m not saying those guys all stink I’m saying the Cardinals are saying they aren’t any good Cardinals are saying they don’t have any faith in them otherwise they would have said oh yeah having lior as a really good Lefty believer instead of a mediocre to subpar starter and then being able to slot in another starter who might be mediocre himself but at least you’re getting a great boost to your Bullpen with what Libby was giving you and you’re finally getting something for the arose Randa deal like it just hasn’t made sense the way they’ve handled him and I I I’m not predicting anything for Saturday he could be great Saturday wouldn’t surprise me City connect uniforms a lot of fun a lot of people in the ball park it’s going to be a packed house but if it goes badly one more time they can’t possibly run it back for for an additional turn through I just don’t see it yeah that’s the trouble here so can they get it done with Matthew Liberator on Saturday we certainly find out 875 ktgr call or text us with your uh thoughts on the Cardinals as they get set for their series with the Cubs we’ll talk more about the Cardinals and Royals their percentage