00:00We also, of course, had a lot of afternoon baseball, which included a just disgusting
00:08Reds loss to the Cardinals, who just keep winning at the Great American Ballpark, 10-9.
00:15And it's funny, Craig, you and I were talking about, well, they just can't hit.
00:18I mean, the Reds can't hit.
00:20And feast or famine with the Cincinnati Reds.
00:23It's either nine runs, 10 runs, or they score next to no runs.
00:28And hitting wasn't a problem here today.
00:32Defense was the problem.
00:33But ultimately, here we go again with the Cardinals winning another game.
00:37What's going on here?
00:39Cardinals are, you know, sort of in it.
00:43You know, I reference fan graphs a lot in the percentages because they tend to go up and down.
00:48It's very similar to, like, the stock market or Calci or Polymarket, I suppose.
00:51But, you know, the Cardinals are right around that 10% mark, Joe, to make the postseason because I think
01:00they look at it and still have a lot of games against Milwaukee and the Cubs.
01:03Those are really two good teams that are probably going to be in the playoffs.
01:06They have to play them.
01:07And Pittsburgh's not bad.
01:10Cardinals are a big surprise for me.
01:11This is one that I got wrong at the beginning of the season.
01:14I thought they'd be in a total rebuild and look toward the future.
01:17But you mentioned Marmol yesterday on the show, the manager.
01:21He's obviously done a good job.
01:22Their pitching is very much a throwback pitching staff.
01:26They throw in the low to mid-90s and just pitch to contact and get out.
01:30Their defense has been great.
01:32Mason Wynn is very good, obviously.
01:34Jordan Walker's had a very good season.
01:36Alec Burleson's had a career season for them.
01:39I didn't see that coming as well.
01:41And I guess the question is, you have to ask yourself, can they just hang in in the month of
01:45September?
01:46I still don't think they make the postseason, but you've got to give them credit for the season that they've
01:52had.
01:53And, you know, the one thing about them is that the decision, like assuming we have a full 162 next
01:59year,
01:59I'll probably double back down against the Cardinals next season and just say that was a little bit of fluky
02:05of what they're doing this year.
02:06Because I still look at that roster and wonder how it's being done.
02:10And I think they want it to sort of go in a rebuild.
02:13I mean, they did trade Dustin May at the deadline, who was probably their best pitcher at the time.
02:20And so they even knew that they needed to do it.
02:22But I guess, Joe, they couldn't have seen this breakout for Burleson and this breakout for Walker.
02:27You know, like those were just two major offensive slugging forces that you couldn't have predicted,
02:33especially Walker, by the way, at the beginning of the season.
02:35This guy's been toiling around, up and down, minor leagues back.
02:38All of a sudden became the guy that thought he would be a couple of years ago.
02:42So 66 and 63, if they play 500 ball the rest of the season, the Cardinals will not make the
02:50postseason.
02:50So that's important to know because they're going to have to, I think,
02:56probably play a minimum of four or five games over the rest of the season to catch Arizona and to
03:05catch San Diego.
03:07If the Cardinals were in the American League, they'd be like a lock for the playoffs right now.
03:11But they are not.
03:12Credit to them, though, Joe.
03:14I can't take anything away from the season that they have had.
03:17And, you know, certainly for my Marlins, seeing the Cardinals win today is a little daunting here.
03:24Miami's odds after that loss last night under 5% now to make the playoffs.
03:29And I'm going into the weekend here with pre- and post-game against Washington.
03:33We start to prepare for these shows today, what we're going to talk about this weekend.
03:38And we're doing a lot of prospect talk tomorrow on the show after getting swept by Phillies.
03:43That's the way it goes.
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