Sonny Gray Spins A Gem, Pham Stays Hot In Win Against TB! Are They Really Bringing Goldy Back?

the St Louis Cardinals needed a win in the worst way and sunny gray delivered as the Cardinals try to keep Pace in the playoff chase this is Lockton Cardinal you are locked on Cardinals your daily St Louis Cardinals podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day hey there Cardinal fans I'm JD hat and I'm a national radio Sports Anchor born and raised in the lbe and a lifetime Cardinals fan and I'm your host for lockon Cardinals part of the lockon podcast Network covering your team every day you can follow me on Twitter X at JD Sports Radio you can follow the podcast at lore Cardinals I do want to thank those of you who make lock on Cardinal your first listen every day we're free and available wherever you get your podcast we're also on YouTube so make sure you stop on by like subscribe comment hit the notification button so you know when new episodes posted this is a show serving Cardinal nation and giving the fans in baseball all of the info about the birds on the bat today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel make every moment more as the playoffs wind down the Sports Stop sporting like we want them to but this summer FanDuel is hooking up all customers with a boost or a bonus daily that's right there's something for everyone every day all summer long visit fel.com to get started so the Cardinals came into Tuesday's game having lost four of their last five things were not good the players and the coaches are frust frustrated the fans are beyond frustrated and many of them already believing that the uh the season is done people are not pleased and they're like n it's over wake me up in the spring blah blah blah blah blah uh a lot of people think they're out of the playoff Chase uh ran a poll recently on X asking if the Cardinals will make the playoffs simple answer is either yes or no and to me it seems like the negative crowd is usually the more vocal and outgoing of the groups when it comes to doing stuff like that on uh on X uh but the numbers don't lie all right we had 75.2% of the vote say no they said no they said no they're not gonna make it they're out they're done they're cooked um and I can see why so many people feel that way I I do because I I really see both sides of it there's the fan side of me that obviously wants the Cardinals to make the playoffs and no never give up you know there's plenty of time left but then there's the realistic side of things when you see how good some of the other teams in the National League are right now uh it's going to be difficult you know the pitching is struggle the offense can't hit with runners in scoring position some of them just aren't hitting at all doesn't matter if anybody's on base or not and the Cardinals have a very very very very very tough schedule ahead of them the rest of the way with Siri coming up against you know you got the Rays now who are not a horrible team they traded a lot of Pieces away so they not exactly the same team that uh got them to where they are right now but you got to face them then you get the Royals Dodgers Brewers twins Padres and Yankees in the month of August all of those teams are currently playoff teams whether it's by Leading a division or by a wild card spot so August sucks as far as the schedule goes so getting a win against the Rays which is one of the few teams that you're playing that isn't really playing for anything despite having traded away a ton of pieces at the deadline including swapping Sean Armstrong for Dylan Carlson they've got more wins than the Cardinals had going into this game so this was something that needed to happen they needed to beat the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday you had to get this thing turned around and when those types of moments pop up during a season it's kind of nice to have your staff Ace on the hill to try and give you that push in the right direction and that's exactly what the Cardinals had on Tuesday night when Sunny gray took the mound now it didn't start off great for for one Sunny gray uh things got bad quickly two hitters into the game Cardinal are down two to nothing after a walk and a home run by Josh low on a hanging curveball and you know we all probably did the same thing you probably let out a sigh you probably were like h here we go again right that's what you were thinking I was too I'm I'm not ashamed to admit it I'm like oh boy this is not what you needed and sunny had to throw 30 pitches in that first inning to get out of there with giving up just two runs so um not ideal not ideal and with the offense struggling it probably felt more like five to nothing to uh everybody that was as at Bush Stadium and uh probably to the players too they like boy we're in this hole already so bottom of the first inning the Cardinals uh they actually get the bases loaded uh they actually work a few counts and you get Mason wi against the double and then you get walks to Wilson cont trus and Paul goldmit which brings up Nolan arado uh five pitch walk to Willie six pitch walk to Goldie most of them weren't even close to being strikes not even close not really around the Strike Zone all that much so probably a good idea to make the pitcher prove that he can throw strike before you swing at something right right am I crazy or should that be the the mental thought process going into that a bat that is not what Nolan arnado does arado swings at the very first pitch which happens to be a slider down and out of the zone so it's not it was within where the plate was but it was low well below the strike zone and I'll be nice I'll give him credit he hit the ball hard 103.6 miles per hour off the bat but it's double play ball to the third baseman inning's over once again I do not understand what Nat is thinking there is a slider what you were looking for is that what you were you were going oh I hope he throws me a slider who said has that and I know Nat's been in his career a very very very good lowball hitter but I can't sit here and tell you that that was the smart thing to do just because the ball was low especially when the guy just walked two dudes ahead of you and is having trouble finding the Zone again like in the Cub series when Assad was having trouble throwing strikes two and0 on arado and he bails him out by swinging at something not even close to the strike zone this was another case where you've got a pitcher who's fighting it he's on the ropes why are why are you helping him why are we swinging at that now if this had been like a fast ball and it been lower portion of the zone and Nat took a swing at it I I wouldn't feel quite as bad but we're talking about a breaking ball out of the zone like I just cannot wrap my head around it and you know the same excuses get put up like well he's trying to do too much he's trying to hit an eight-run Homer but he's got to be better than that he's supposed to be smarter than that and he's just not he keeps taking terrible at bats in situations where the Cardinals need him to come through now later on in the game he came up and he was very patient had learned I think from what happened in that first bat was very patient worked the count finally got him to come over to the over the plate with an off speed pitch and caught a lot of the zone and he ripped it into center field it was beautiful I just need NATO to be a little more patient a little more selective I'm not trying to just pick on him but these are the abats that stand out to me when I watch these games and it just recently it's been him when there's ran scoring position where something just like I'm like how huh why are we doing this it baffles me it baffles me sometimes anyway luckily for the Cardinals they still had eight Innings to go it's two to nothing at this point we're going into the second inning we're going to talk about the rookies who stepped up and the very interesting ending to this game because um you'll see what I'm talking about we'll get into it next on lockdown cardos order 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supplies from supplyhouse.com real people real service are you watching Fox Sports or ESPN on your TV all day and have to turn it down because they keep shouting then make the switch to elect on sports today it's better for you it's a free 247 sports streaming Channel and it is programmed for you every single day to bring you the biggest stories but you don't have to worry about the screaming that's the good part uh brings you can't miss analysis opinions news streaming 247 on YouTube or the free Amazon Fire TV channels app it's part of the lock on podcast Network your team every day a reminder you can catch every pitch of the Cardinal Hometown broadcast with SiriusXM just download the sxm app and search the word Cardinals all right Cardinals are down two to nothing at this point it's second ending so no not not a time to really freak out like it sucked that the uh Bases Loaded didn't work out hasn't worked a lot out very recently uh and that's you know it's rough because hitting with Runners and scoring position it's been a problem all year it's been a real big problem recently and to see the first inning in the way it did is a bomber but you get to the bottom of the second inning and it's the bottom of the order that's coming up but the Cardinals just had a ton of Youth in the lineup tonight which I kind of enjoyed I I know we got some moldies but goodies on the Cardinal roster right now and a few of them obviously have to play every single day but you've also got kind of a bright f when you look at things from a different angle all right you've got Mason W leading off right 22 years old Alec Burson batting sixth Nolan Gorman back in the lineup there tonight good to see him again batting seventh Pedro pz was eighth Victor Scott the second and the number nine hole that is five of your nine hitters in the lineup on Tuesday uh 25 years of age or younger for those of you counting at home so nice right uh and the rookies here in the second in they deliver with two outs pedri Pawz has great a bat hits a single into into left field that brings up Victor Scott thei who then blasts a two-run shot into the Cardinals Bullpen that is his first major league home run very nice very nice goes into the Cardinal Bullpen uh ties the game up at two and you know we had heard about the changes that Victor Scott II has made uh with his Approach at the plate uh he's doing the leg kick thing and really kind of what what he calls being more athletic with his with his batting stance and stuff and it is working out man because over the last few games uh counting at Memphis and then here in St Louis like he just looks like a completely different person he's not Swinging with all arms he looks he looks smooth and he looked confident looks really confident so um so that's working out great obviously so Mason wi circles the bases hits the Dinger and you know everybody's very much excited they're they're trying to get the curtain call because it's his first one ever um and while that is happening your next hitter is another rookie Mason went so you got three rookies in a row batting in this inning he gets plunked on the very first pitch and now brings in the Cardinals hottest hitter in Tommy fam who was definitely not a rookie and the crowd is still buzzing over the Victor Scott home run all right everybody's still excited about that you get the hit by pitch and then the very next pitch is Tommy fam hitting the home run into the rais bullpen in left field to make it a 4 to2 ball game and you're just like oh my gosh three pitches two home runs four runs scored so to steal a a phrase from Chip Cary an absolute Ambush by the Cardinals uh meanwhile you've got Sunny gray who is absolutely dealing at this point he has settled in nicely ends up firing off seven Innings allows two runs on four hits he strikes out six Andrew krid gets into this game he throws a clean inning which brings us to Ryan Hesley in the ninth inning and per usual things get a little bit hairy all right I don't know what it is with why when the Cardinals have a multi-run lead they cannot seem to hang on to it and they have to make it a one-run game it's unbelievable and it's so stressful uh but it what's the worst thing you can do right lead off walk when you're a picture I mean I guess you can give up a home run but leadoff walks are always a big problem when it comes to a closer in the final inning and that's exactly what Hy does he gets ahead of his hitter and then ends up losing him it's lead off walk and then you get a single on a little flared right field and now you got first and second with nobody out and you got me chewing my nails didn't need the stress on my birthday uh but he gets the next two hitters gets pop out gets strike out then breaking ball gets hit for a two- out single to left field moves the tying run into the scor position now we're all freaking out Hy's now gone three and two on the next hitter which is Taylor walls and this is where the ending is just kind of goofy gets him to ground the ball up the middle it deflects off Ryan Hy's right butt cheek it goes over to Mason wi who was trying to cut across the middle already because he thought that's where the ground ball is going to go so it hits Hy's right butt cheek I feel like I'm doing the zi roer film from JFK it changes directions it's the Magic Bullet it changes directions off the butt cheek goes to Mason win slows down in velocity obviously after it hits Hy's ass and wi has to pick it up and just rips a cannon over to first base to Gold Schmid gets the runner by a step Cardinals win the game four to three just silliness like why oh why does it always have to be so difficult at the end I don't know but at this point are we gonna complain or can we just say yay win we gotta win so that's great and it feels even nicer because it was on my birthday today so uh that makes it all that much better for me uh Greg gets his 11th win of the season ellsley with his League leading 35th save Tommy fam goes two for four with what ends up being the game-winning home run when he hit that one that put him up by two but that ends up being the game-winning RBI with him scoring on his own home run he's now batting 379 with an Ops of 1.59 since getting traded back to St Louis so for comparison because stats can get dorky and nerdy from time to time and I get that but Ops a 1.59 for Tommy fam since being traded League leader in Ops this year is the Yankees Aaron judge we know how much damage that dude does he's at 1. 157 so you're getting Aaron judge like production since Tommy fam has come over so since putting on the Cardinal uniform he is 11 for 29 two home runs now three doubles a triple nine ribbies five runs scored he's played pretty good in the Outfield too there been somebody that obviously they like in the clubh house so uh not too shabby not too shabby with the uh Tommy fam acquisition uh as far as the standings go the Cardinals remain six back of Milwaukee who just beat the snot out of the Braves right now 10 tonight 10 to nothing the Braves uh they're reeling man they've now slid to the third wild card spot the Padre's and Dbacks stay hot with wins so the Wild Card spots are are situated this way you got Padres then the Diamondbacks then the Braves then it's the Mets who were a game and a half out who just beat the Cardinals six to nothing on Monday then you've got the Cardinals who were three games Back Then followed by uh Pirates and the Giants who both lost on Tuesday but it's not all sunshin and rainbows uh at the end of this game because there are some things we got to point out because there are still some struggles going on here the team was 0 for six with runners in scoring position on Tuesday so by my calculations and I'm not uh a great mathematician but that makes them now 3 for 38 with runners in scoring position since the beginning of the Cub series three for 38 that is a 79 batting average 79 they are now hitting 231 with runners in scoring position which is 27th in the league ahead of the Cubs the Rays and the White Soxs they're Ops with runners in scoring position is 641 second to last ahead of only the White Sox who congratulations it's done the White Soxs uh broke their 21 game losing streak on Tuesday they beat the Oakland A's who I don't know if you guys heard this but the A's were trolling them at least the people that are running the music I I can't say that the team itself asked for them to do this but the the A's were playing a Taylor Swift song called 22 before the game started kind of predicting that they were going to lose their 22nd in a row oh how Karma will get you won't it and how are the A's trolling anyone by the way they're about to be homeless they're going be playing in a their home games in a triaa stadium in West Sacramento for the next three years it's not like this is some oh yeah You' be here for a couple three years they're gonna be doing that so kind of funny that the white sock sna their streak against the A's after uh get trolled a little bit in pregame so uh back to the Cardinals hitting with runners scoring position still broken Wilson contras 0 for three tonight he's now batting 95 in the month of August does not have an RBI Alec burison continues to scuffle uh over three hitting 105 with One RBI in August Nolan Gorman got the start on Tuesday he did have a single in four a bats with one strikeout we're really hoping he turns things around we're at the point now where I'm starting to feel sorry for because there are I mean imagine he what he could be providing for this offense you know with the with the power and stuff and it has been so bad that he hasn't been getting any playing time whatsoever where they're pinch hitting Brandon Crawford in key situations over Nolan Gorman who's got 19 home runs on the year and 50-some RB but they can't trust him to put the ball in play so good to see him get a single and get some playing time tonight I hope uh he's on he's on the road back to being the guy that we know he can be uh Paul goldi was 0 for three with a walk he is now 0 for his last 17 Again not great with calculations but that's a zero batting average in his last five games and he's hitting 136 in August with seven strikeouts now Goldie has had a really really really rough year we know this right we're all aware of it we know it's been tough and most people think that the Cardinal should just move on from him at the end of the season when his ract is up but recent news says that that's not exactly a given right now I'll discuss that next on lock on Cardinals I love sports I love them so much that I never want them to stop and when the sports aren't sportsing like I want them to it can be a bit of a downer but FanDuel lets me keep the sports going whenever I want all I got to do is open up the app dream up some bets anytime I'm in the mood to get into some sports uh NFL preseason getting underway obviously we're all getting excited for that college football not too far off uh obviously the Olympics still going on we're it's getting close to the end though but it's still they're still happening uh and of course you've got baseball the pennant chases the Wild Card races all of that's going on right now and the summer FanDuel is hooking up all customers with a boost or bonus daily that's right there's something for everyone every day all summer long all you need to do is head over to fanduel.com lockon and start making the most out of your summer whether you're betting on the Cardinal or against the Cardinals we've got some people who aren't so happy with them and think they're just going down the toilet so uh if you feel that way that against them maybe you can make some money off of that here's your chance to uh to prove us all wrong so uh check it out for yourself on FanDuel that's fanduel.com lockon FanDuel the official sports betting partner of Major League Baseball thank you for making locked on Cardinals your first listen today for your second listen enjoy the locked on MLB podcast host Paul Sullivan AKA suly he does not like being called Paul solivan by the way so don't do that if you're gonna write to him or talk to him suly it's what he likes to go by he's here though to uh provide National expertise daily with his trademark humor to help you get ready for the MLB playoffs here in the dog days of summer prepare for the fall classic with Sully who has it all covered every single day on locked on MLB with which is available on YouTube or wherever you get your podcast part of the lock on podcast Network your team every day we need to get a uh Crossover with Su I would love to get his thoughts on what he thinks about what the the Cardinals have done and are doing right now maybe we wait till they heat up a little bit more before we bring him then and he starts tearing us apart but uh let's talk about Paul goldshmid uh bringing Paul goldshmid back or not to be or not to be that is the question right do you bring him back or do you say thank you for your service and move on with your lives uh this is a question that most Cardinal fans have probably pondered over by now uh I want to look at both sides of this real quick because there there are reason why reasons why you would want to cut the cord and let it go and there's also reasons why bringing Paul goldi could make sense though if you bring him back um let's start with the good two years ago he's your league MVP right goes Bonkers threatens to win a Triple Crown in 2022 has the unfortunate struggles in the playoffs against the Phillies but all the Cardinals did nobody hit them except for Juan YZ so um that was a a sour end to what was a pretty fun year in 2022 you had you know Goldie doing his thing you had Albert Pooles going for 700 arnado was crushing the ball as well uh it was a lot of fun for the most part it just ended badly um so you got that which is not that long ago 2022 it's not like this is six seven years ago that we're talking about um as a person there is probably none better than Paul goldshmid right a model player and citizen in our city uh everyone loves this guy he's a hard worker puts in the time and the effort to be the best he can be like you're always seeing him doing the extra work in the cages and out in the field he doesn't complain just goes in does his job day in Day Out a perfect guy a perfect guy on your baseball club but since that big season things have dripped dripped things have dipped dramatically which it happens to most athletes at some point or another unless you have peeds helping you out but most people there's they hit a spot and then the end is near uh it's just a little bit shock that after being so good just two years ago how far things have fallen so his numbers that year in 2022 when he was the NL MVP hits 3177 35 home runs 115 ribbies uh his obps 404 the slugging 578 Ops 982 and 141 strikeouts okay incredible stuff now we knew there was going to be regression in 2023 nobody expected Paul goldshmid to do that again you knew they were going to come down a little bit I think they fell a little bit farther than a lot of people thought they would because 2023 was a disaster for the Cardinals he hits 266 25 home runs 80 ribbies OBP down to 363 the slugging down to 447 the Ops down to 18 the strikeouts go up to 161 which is the third highest amount he has ever struck out in the season in his career now we're here in 2024 and this is where the cliff happens batting average down to 228 17 home runs 43 RB on base percentage 288 he's not walking at all slugging 384 Ops down to 672 and he's already at 135 strikeouts he's about to if he plays rest of the year and he stays the way he is he is going to shatter his most strikeouts ever in a career in one season might shatter that so it feels like when you think about things and you're like oh man you hate seeing them struggle but it feels like the Cardinals are coming to the end of a contract at the right time perfect time would have been last year right before you got to this one but this is when you're like all right well you know we we did the best we could and this is the guy you are now and we're gonna move on but what if I told you that they might want to bring him back and if they do bring him back there's a chance he would have to come back at $17.6 million did you just spit out your drink if you were drinking something or your food you might have but that's how it is according to Derek G during his chat on stltoday.com and reported by JT bite I think it's bite or buite at Redbird rant.com we haven't had him on maybe we can work on that and try to get JT on to talk about this stuff but um according to them the Cardinals are going to talk to Goldie after the season to gauge his interest in a new contract now the reason I said $17.6 million in this article that JT did it says if the Cardinals want to resign gold before allowing him to reach free agency like if they wanted to work something out before that they are only allowed to cut his salary by a maximum of 20% meaning Goldie's minimum salary in 2025 would be 17.6 million because he's making 26 this year of course if the Cardinals wait until the free agency period and allow gold Schmid to discuss contracts with other teams Cardinals and Goldie could negotiate a brand new contract all together so if he wants to stay in St Louis they can talk about things and get it done before he ever reaches free agency they could also make it easier on the Cardinals financially to wait until it's over and then come up with something new JT brings up that maybe they could talk him into coming back in a similar role to what Albert Pooles did in his final year with the team where he's kind of the platoon DH first baseman against left-handed pitchers and then Alec Burleson would take over the majority of the playing time at first base we've already discussed Burley being the uh first basan in waiting for this team although Luc and Baker hit his 30th home run at Triple A tonight game-winning walk-off home run 30 bombs down in Memphis and you just don't hear anything about them about the Cardinals going you know what we we're excited to see if luk and Baker can be that next guy maybe last year in the short amount of time that he was up they saw all they needed to see and don't think he can make it maybe they don't think he's got the bat speed for Major League Baseball but kind of wild that you're like oh man if only we had more production from the right side of the plate and you got a dude in his I guess late 20s now what is he 27 and you got him who had a Triple Crown type of year just like a year ago and then um this year has hit 30 more home runs and it's not even a even a discussion about maybe he could be somebody who could help this team anyway I digress um but Goldie is a bench bat in 2025 the idea of having that kind of a guy who's been that kind of a player on the bench for you makes a lot of sense right you need a righty bat Off the Bench but how much money are we talking about here like if you're not you're not h ing a bench bat for $17.6 million it's not going to happen because the Cardinals have their own salary cap that they kind of like to adhere to they're they're never gonna just blow money like that although I mean you had some bad contracts but you know what I mean they're not GNA just not paying somebody who's not going to play all the time 17.6 million to ride the bench on purpose um your old guy bench bads that are on this team right now Brandon Crawford Matt Carpenter are getting a combined $ 2.74 million with two million of that going to Crawford which when I say it out loud makes me want to vomit my mouth that Brandon Crawford is getting $2 million for what he's doing this year he must really be good in the clubhous anyway Goldie makes 26 million this year we already discussed that how far down would he be willing to go to come back to the Cardinals help them out financially but stay with the Cardinals to retire with the team and still be a productive part of this roster now phols if we go back a couple years Albert phol when he did that role made $2.6 million would Goldie drop that low would you go from 26 to 2.6 if you were Paul goldi kind of find that hard to believe that he would actually buy in on that um and I think somebody else would give him a decent chunk of change for two-year deal I I feel like somebody would I just do the team already's got what 25 going to sunny next year 21 to Nat 18 to contras 17.6 to michaeles 12.5 to mattz barf uh seven and a half for fatty you've got options on Gibson at 12 million Lynn at 11 uh Keenan Middleton $6 million if they choose to exercise all those um it's just something to think about it's something to think about would you take him back if he was like cool I'll take a lesser role and isn't in there every day batting cleanup like he has been for the most part this year something to think about something to think about uh for Wednesday you got Eric fety set to make his Cardinal Home debut against right-hander Taj Bradley for the Braves who very good this year by the way six and five on the year 2.71 ER which uh if he had enough Innings would be top three in Major League Baseball in er um since getting crushed by the Baltimore Orioles back on June 1st he's five- two with a 1.35 ER and 10 starts uh his most recent start he actually got roughed up a little bit by the Marlins out of all teams they scored four runs in five innings against them including two home runs so uh once again the rest of this month of August is not going to be easy Wednesday is not going to be easy tough pitcher on the Mound but he is right-handed he's not left-handed and the Cardinal have much better numbers against the right-handers than they do the lefties so maybe that'll work in their favor thank you for making lock on cardal your first listen every day if you haven't already please give us a follow on Twitter X _ cardal and at JD Sports Radio like subscribe on YouTube and help our Channel and our love for the St Louis Cardinals grow you guys are the best fans in baseball for reason I'll see you next time on lockdown cpass