Meet Me At Musial: A St. Louis Cardinals Podcast

It's been a miserable stretch for the Cardinals, so bad that the recording equipment last time out didn't want to have any part of a conversation about them.  It's been disciplined, however, and Daniel (C70 At The Bat, @C70) and Allen (Red Dirt Redbird, @amedlock1) are back to talk about this 3-12 stretch.  Not that they have any answers, but they ask plenty of questions.  Why not change up the lineup?  Will the bullpen moves from this weekend make an impact?  When can we expect Alex Reyes?  All of this and...well, more of this...waiting for you inside!

It's always fun to catch up with Kyle Reis of Birds on the Black and Prospects After Dark fame.  (Find him on Twitter @kyler416.)  Daniel (C70 At The Bat, @C70) sits down with one of the foremost authorities on the Cardinals minor league system to talk about certain prospects but also to talk about a couple of things that have been bugging Kyle.  Major League Baseball is doing a worse job of letting folks connect with Minor League Baseball.  Is there a reason for that and how is that impacting what Kyle does?  The Cardinals have been making some different decisions lately when it comes to development.  What is going on there?

And then we get into Nolan Gorman and Official Prospect of the Blog Dylan Carlson.  Would you expect anything different?

The Cardinals are on the top of the world, or at least the NL Central, posting 20 wins already this season.  While they dropped one to the Nationals right before the guys recorded this, Daniel (C70 At The Bat, @C70) and Allen (Red Dirt Redbird, @amedlock1) talk about how good this team is right now and how much fun they are to watch.  They get into the soaring offense, the improving rotation, and the lock-down bullpen.  Who goes when Luke Gregerson gets back, for instance?  The guys also touch on some older news, including Carlos Martinez's bullpen destination, Alex Reyes's broken hand, and the Cardinal Hall of Fame selections.  Hopefully this makes up for missing last week!  Fare thee well, Peter Mayhew.  WOHARGHHGARRGRH!

With the culmination of the Marvel Cinematic Universe coming this week to a theater near you, Allen (@amedlock1) and Daniel (@C70) decided to do a little drafting, divvying up the movies that have come before as if they could only watch those that they selected.  Which movie went first?  Which character is most represented early on? And which movie gets left out entirely from the 21 potential selections?

After listening to the show, we want your opinion!  Find @MeetMeAtMusial on Twitter and weigh in on which host drafted the strongest roster of movies.  Tweet us with your thoughts and tell us where we went wrong!

Daniel (C70 At The Bat, @C70) is struggling with allergies but that does mean that he and Allen (Red Dirt Redbird, @amedlock1) aren't going to talk about the Cardinals.  The Redbirds have their issues as well, mainly focused on the starting rotation.  Should Dakota Hudson stay in that group of five?  What kind of reinforcements do they have and should they be looking to them?  The guys also talk about the debuts of Ryan Helsley and Lane Thomas, the resurgence of Marcell Ozuna, and their thoughts about the Mexico series.  Look for a bonus episode coming next week!

Let's just get this out of the way--the guys do NOT talk about the new Star Wars trailer, but you probably guessed that because the show is only an hour long.  Instead, this week Daniel (C70 At The Bat, @C70) and Allen (Red Dirt Redbird, @amedlock1) invite in Alex Crisafulli (Birds on the Black, @alexcards79) to talk about all things Cardinals.  With a sweep of the Dodgers under their belts, it truly is #TimeToFly for these Redbirds.  What takeaways were there from the LA series?  What looked good, what didn't?  There's a lengthy discussion about Yadier Molina, some concerns about Michael Wacha, praise of Paul DeJong, and thoughts on the upcoming Mexico series.  So much good stuff, you'll forgive us for not talking about Rey's backflip over the TIE Silencer.  (Seriously, though, did you see that flip?)

A week under our belts and the Cardinals...well, they are about as confounding as they were last year.  There's plenty of things for Daniel (C70 At The Bat, @C70) and Allen (Red Dirt Redbird, @amedlock1) to poke around about after seven games, including the home opener.  Why is Mike Shildt keeping the same lineup when it seems to be less than optimal when it comes to producing runs?  Is the strikeout phenomenon worrisome?  Should Alex Reyes be pitching out of the big league bullpen?  While there are a lot of negative things out there, the work of the bullpen (especially John Brebbia) comes in for commendation.  Come listen in as the guys talk about the first week!

The season has started!  We've got baseball almost every day now which is a beautiful thing.  After three games in Milwaukee, what have we learned, if anything?  Daniel (C70 At The Bat, @C70) and Allen (Red Dirt Redbird, @amedlock1) talk about Saturday's loss in some detail before branching out to some overall thoughts on the beginning of the season.  While Paul Goldschmidt's three homers are mentioned, that's not the focus of the majority of the conversation.  Is this bullpen for real?  Who on the offense has impressed?  Are there concerns that might be starting to flare up?  Again, all of this is based on three games so it will probably be very dated very quickly.  So you better listen soon!

We're almost there, folks.  Less than one week separates us from actual, real, meaningful baseball.  That doesn't mean that news takes a hiatus, though.  Far from it!  Daniel (C70 At The Bat, @C70) and Allen (Red Dirt Redbird, @amedlock1) talk about the third extension of the spring, the biggest of the bunch.  Paul Goldschmidt will be a Cardinal for six years--how great is that, how surprising was the timing of the move, and what are the potential risks?  Then the guys take on some recent roster moves, including the selection of a backup catcher and the DFA of Chasen Shreve.

After a brief time out to talk about Jose Martinez's new coffee venture with Primos Coffee (https://primoscoffeeco.com/collections/retail/products/cafecito-mug-specialty-coffee-12-oz-bag) the guys then break down the team and the division as part of their season preview.  That runs the time a little long but hopefully you'll find it interesting and informative.  And if not, feel free to tell us about it!

While it seems like only yesterday Daniel (C70 At The Bat, @C70) and Allen (Red Dirt Redbird, @amedlock1) got together to talk about the Cardinals, it's actually been a work week and the Cardinals' bats haven't been working.  With less than two weeks to go in the spring, is it OK to start being concerned?  The guys go over the pros and cons of that as well as the issues with the fifth starter spot.  Should John Gant or Dakota Hudson get that slot?

After a detour about the new rules coming down the pike, they wrap it up talking about Jedd Gyorko and what his injury and return from it means for the team.  Everything's back to normal and we hope you enjoy!