Talking About Birds: A St. Louis Cardinals Podcast

The Cardinals have lost four in a row and each one hurt in a different way. They gave away a 7-0 lead to the Diamondbacks. Riley O'Brien hit a guy to bring in the winning run against the Angels. And underneath all of it, the offense has fallen off a cliff — 28th in baseball over the last 30 days, with Jordan Walker and the Furminator the only Cardinals hitting above average.

Meanwhile the pitching staff has quietly been top ten over that same stretch. Development or luck? We dig in with the deadline coming up. Plus: John Mozeliak joins the ESPN booth and says absolutely nothing, a Reds and Cubs preview, Who Charted?, and the worst fishing story ever told on this show.

Have a question or comment for the show? Text or leave us a voicemail at: (848) 48-BIRDS (848-482-4737)

Talking About Birds is listener supported on Patreon. Support the show and join our private discord server at: www.patreon.com/talkingaboutbirds

Jordan Walker is the first Cardinal in history to win the Home Run Derby. He beat Kyle Schwarber in Philly, hit four in a row off the magenta ball to close it out, and looked like the coolest person in the building while 40,000 people booed him.

JJ Wetherholt signed an 8-year, $112.5 million extension. Kyle Reis joins us to break down the entire MLB draft — Trevor Condon at 13, a 17-year-old shortstop named Rocco Maniscalco at 50, and why Kyle calls it the best Cardinals draft class since 2020. Plus: who gets extended next, MLB's salary cap propaganda ads, and much more!

Have a question or comment for the show? Text or leave us a voicemail at: (848) 48-BIRDS (848-482-4737)

Talking About Birds is listener supported on Patreon. Support the show and join our private discord server at: www.patreon.com/talkingaboutbirds.

Play Nate's game at: https://crossonym.com/

Jordan Walker is an All-Star. Twenty-one home runs, a 142 wRC+, and the breakout is officially real. Meanwhile, JJ Wetherholt — 9th in fWAR among all position players — got snubbed, and we have thoughts.

The Cardinals lost four straight to the Brewers, who are perfectly built to expose this team's weaknesses. The wild card picture is tightening, the trade deadline is approaching, and the Pirates somehow have higher playoff odds despite being behind in the standings. Plus: Verlander retires, Kyle Leahy can't be explained.

Have a question or comment for the show? Text or leave us a voicemail at: (848) 48-BIRDS (848-482-4737)

Talking About Birds is listener supported on Patreon. Support the show and join our private discord server at: www.patreon.com/talkingaboutbirds.

The Cardinals are 44-38 and the playoff picture is getting tight. Playoff odds dropped from 55% to 33% in two weeks, the Cubs are surging thanks to Pete Crow-Armstrong's MVP-level June, and seven games against Chicago and Milwaukee are about to define the trade deadline conversation.

Rainiel Rodriguez might be the best prospect in baseball. He's 19 years old, crushing Double-A with a 1.023 OPS in June, and hitting opposite-field home runs that look like a lefty pulling them. Plus: the bullpen had its worst month of the season, Burleson is the unluckiest hitter alive, Liberatore bounced back, and John Mozeliak is somehow the Angels' new interim GM.

Have a question or comment for the show? Text or leave us a voicemail at: (848) 48-BIRDS (848-482-4737)

Talking About Birds is listener supported on Patreon. Support the show and join our private discord server at: www.patreon.com/talkingaboutbirds.

Play Nate's game at: https://crossonym.com/

JJ Wetherholt is on pace for a better rookie season than Albert Pujols in 2001. He's got the best June of his career, he's 7th in fWAR among all position players, and he's a legitimate MVP candidate. C70 joins us to talk about what that means.

Masyn Winn is showing signs of life, Nathan Church looks like a different hitter since coming back, Blaze Jordan has already eclipsed Gorman's season production, and the bullpen is falling apart. Plus: the Home Run Derby is changing formats again, Quinn Matthews might be close, and we close with You Income You Lose Some — guessing career earnings of Cardinals legends.

Have a question or comment for the show? Text or leave us a voicemail at: (848) 48-BIRDS (848-482-4737)

Talking About Birds is listener supported on Patreon. Support the show and join our private discord server at: www.patreon.com/talkingaboutbirds.

Play Nate's game at: https://crossonym.com/

The Cardinals are 40-31 with a 55% chance to make the playoffs, and the trade deadline conversation just got real. Do you trade Dustin May and JoJo Romero, or do you owe it to Walker, Burleson, and the rest of the young core to go for it?

Alec Burleson is the fifth-best hitter in baseball against right-handed pitching. Josh Baez hit four home runs in one game. Blaze Jordan is already looking like an upgrade at third. And Andre Pallante might actually be a different pitcher now.

Have a question or comment for the show? Text or leave us a voicemail at: (848) 48-BIRDS (848-482-4737)

Talking About Birds is listener supported on Patreon. Support the show and join our private discord server at: www.patreon.com/talkingaboutbirds.

Play Nate's game at: https://crossonym.com/

The Cardinals are 36-28, riding a five-game win streak, and Jordan Walker is on 30/30 watch. He's got 16 homers and 10 steals with two-thirds of the season left, and the All-Star conversation is getting loud.

Nootbaar is finally back and the lineup immediately looks different. Alec Burleson is the third-best first baseman in the NL by fWAR. The bench is actually working. Dustin May and JoJo Romero are reportedly on the trade block. And Nolan Gorman's strikeout numbers tell an uncomfortable story.

Have a question or comment for the show? Text or leave us a voicemail at: (848) 48-BIRDS (848-482-4737)

Play Nate's game at: https://crossonym.com/

Talking About Birds is listener supported on Patreon. Support the show and join our private discord server at: www.patreon.com/talkingaboutbirds.

The Cardinals are 31-28 after a rough stretch, but the underlying talent keeps ascending. Dustin May might be turning into an ace, the pitching staff's strikeout rate jumped from 30th to 13th in a single month, and Jimmy Crooks just got called up as the primary catcher.

We recap Blogger Day with Chaim Bloom, check in on Masyn Winn's signs of life, debate who stays when Nootbaar returns, and close with the Vibes Guys Draft — building the dream blunt rotation of the most fun Cardinals of the last 15 years.

Play Nate's game at: https://crossonym.com/ !

Have a question or comment for the show? Text or leave us a voicemail at: (848) 48-BIRDS (848-482-4737)

Talking About Birds is listener supported on Patreon. Support the show and join our private discord server at: www.patreon.com/talkingaboutbirds.

Abner Uribe struck out Alec Burleson, hit the DX “suck it” toward the Cardinals dugout while up six runs, and nearly got overturned by ABS. The lack of awareness was incredible, and we loved every second of it.

The Cardinals sit at 29-25 after a frustrating sweep by the Brewers, including Dustin May carrying a no-hitter into the eighth and still taking the loss. We talk about why May has become one of the best stories on the staff, whether he’s worth extending, and what his outing says about this team.

We also dive into Masyn Winn’s concerning offensive trends, including declining bat speed and hard contact, and whether it’s just a slump or something bigger.

Plus: Brian Torres impresses in his debut, JoJo Romero’s stuff is surging, Liberatore and Pallante keep dealing, Cubs misery, Nootbaar rehab updates, Chase Davis heating up, and the UCLA pitcher with a tiny dinosaur on the mound.

Also, Nate made a game! Check it out at: https://crossonym.com/

Have a question or comment for the show? Text or leave us a voicemail at: (848) 48-BIRDS (848-482-4737)

Have a question or comment for the show? Text or leave us a voicemail at: (848) 48-BIRDS (848-482-4737)

Talking About Birds is listener supported on Patreon. Support the show and join our private discord server at: www.patreon.com/talkingaboutbirds.

The Cardinals are 28-19 and there's a shirtless movement happening in right field. Tarps off started as one row of guys on a Friday night, expanded to the entire section by the weekend, and now the Cardinals have officially designated it as a high-energy zone. We dig into what it means, how long it can last, and whether two guys who have admittedly aged out of the tarps off crew can still appreciate it from a distance.

Nolan Gorman is having an MVP-level May. His expected wOBA in May is .427, he's leading the team in exit velocity and barrels, and his defense at third has quietly become solid. We talk about whether this version of Gorman is different from the streaks we've seen before, and what it means if the Cardinals actually have their third baseman locked in.

Matthew Liberatore had 14 strikeouts over two starts and a 7.45 ERA. That gap between his stuff and his results is the Liberatore experience in a nutshell, and a .536 BABIP might be the explanation. We talk about whether this is just bad luck or the continuation of a real pattern.

Plus: Matt Pushard is back with a completely different pitch mix, George Soriano's changeup is reaching Devin Williams territory, Victor Scott's role as a designated speed guy, Lars Nootbaar's rehab is going well, Jimmy Crooks keeps mashing, Nelson Velazquez is dominating Triple-A, Chaim Bloom dropped hints about taking on salary at the deadline, and Busch Stadium officially announced the tarps off section.

On the league side: Colt Emerson gets called up and homers in his first game, Pete Crow-Armstrong gets fined for yelling at a White Sox fan, and the Phillies are 16-5 since firing Rob Thomson.

Have a question or comment for the show? Text or leave us a voicemail at: (848) 48-BIRDS (848-482-4737)

Talking About Birds is listener supported on Patreon. Support the show and join our private discord server at: www.patreon.com/talkingaboutbirds.