Opening acts: Tyler O'Neill's bind, Jordan Walker's debut, and pitching glitches

Best Podcast in Baseball

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Sports, Baseball

4.8 • 673 Ratings

🗓️ 5 April 2023

⏱️ 65 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The season-opening home stand ended with sweep by Atlanta and the first true stress tests of the Cardinals -- one long predicted and the other completely unexpected. Once the cars had been returned to their sales lots and the Clydesdales to their stable, the Cardinals flashed a deep, persistent offense, as advertised. Jordan Walker, the 20-year-old rookie, punctuated his strong debut with his first career MLB homer. The Cardinals also had abbreviated, choppy, and messy starts from the rotation. The Cardinals leave for their first road trip of the season with rotation ERA higher than 7.00. They allowed 42 hits, and that includes five no-hit innings from Jack Flaherty. And that's not the only question lurking. Manager Oliver Marmol questioned Tyler O'Neill's effort on a pivotal play that yielded an out at the plate, and O'Neill was not in the lineup for the series finale vs. Atlanta. O'Neill defended himself, insisting it was not a lack of hustle, and he's eager to prove differently. It's not the first time Marmol has questioned a player's effort publicly, but it is the first time this season and it's earlier than ever, leading to a two-pronged test of the Cardinals: Who will lead the rotation through turbulence, and how will the clubhouse react to the O'Neill decision? St. Louis Post-Dispatch sports columnist Ben Frederickson joins baseball writer Derrick Goold at Busch Stadium to discuss. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	The best podcast in baseball is brought to you by Closets by Design.
0:05.7	Update your closet, garage, office, pantry, and more.
0:09.0	Imagine your home totally organized with closets by design.
0:12.6	Call 1-800 by design.
0:14.4	That's 1-800-by-design.
0:17.2	There's going to be a style of play that we are known for.
0:22.6	And it's going to involve effort and it's going to involve being relentless.
0:28.6	It's going to involve being smart.
0:30.6	And we're going to keep guys to that because that's how you sustain being good for a long time.
0:36.6	There's a lot of good players in that clubhouse and down below.
0:41.6	And I love competition.
0:44.9	And the last thing you want to do when you're in competition is open up a window.
0:58.6	Hello everybody. And welcome to the best podcast in baseball brought to you by closet by design of St. Louis.
1:02.3	I'm St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derek Gould joined today.
1:08.7	Reunited once again with St. Louis Post-Dispatch sports columnist, Ben Fredrickson.
1:15.6	So, Ben, what do we make of this? Swept by Atlanta. The manager and an outfielder are disputing the effort level on what could have been a pivotal run. And, oh, by the way,
1:21.9	a 20-year-old hit a home run, his first Major League home run, top prospect is with the team, has a hit in every
1:28.4	one of his games, and got his first home run against his boyhood team. Where do you want to start?
1:34.2	Well, preferably with the drama and something negative, because that's just mostly my style.
1:41.4	Sorry, Jordan Walker, you're down ballot today. Now, I just think this is the first, you know, official opening of the Cardinals season, really.
1:48.6	I mean, yeah, the Clydesdales, the Red Jackets, that's all nice, the pomp and circumstance,
1:52.9	the first pitch, you know, Scott Rowland, good job and all that.
	...

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