how many thousands of words will this be? let’s see…
I just missed the Home Run Derby and All Star Game because I do not have any subscriptions outside of Fanduel currently, and I had to work during the first few innings. No big loss, since this is a week to contemplate the draft picks, take a few days off from the daily grind of baseball watching, and wonder what will happen during the next two and a half months of regular season games. But I would still have liked to watch these events at a bar or wherever. It’s the closest thing we have to a postseason feel in July. It is only an exhibition game and doesn’t determine anything important other than American or National bragging rights. But it still feels like a Big Deal. It’s The All Star Game.
I have never been real into the ASG to be honest. At least since the American League started winning almost every year. Whenever that was, I tuned out of watching, and probably didn’t have access to the game. It used to be on the major networks. That made it seem more important. Today, I just cannot prioritize watching the All Star Game. I barely had time to watch postseason baseball back in 2022. Blink and you would’ve missed their performance, anyway.
The Cardinals are 5 games over .500 during the All Star break. They are where we didn’t really want them to be, but kind of knew they would be here: we cannot tell if this should be a buyer or a seller. They are on the cusp. Maybe they should do nothing. But that feels like a missed opportunity. Who has a no trade clause that will waive it? Anyone’s guess. This doesn’t feel like a team that gives up, so I think you would have to probably only trade players that do not have no trade clauses. So I don’t know what they do here. Would you upgrade if you had to bet on this team right now? I think I would only do it if the perfect deal emerged.
There is still time for the season to shape up: Diamondbacks, Rockies, Padres, Marlins. Maybe they can get back into the wild card race. They’re only 1.5 games out.
The 2025 draft has come and gone, and the Cardinals drafted one Liam Doyle. The Cardinals were lucky to snag Doyle, some saying he could’ve been as high as a #2 pick. This draft was a bit peculiar with Eli Willits going at #1. The Nationals made history by picking the youngest #1 of all time, with Willits at 17 years old. A strange high floor pick as the first overall pick.
Even stranger, the Angels selected Tyler Bremner with the #2 overall pick. He wasn’t expected to crack the top ten. Just unpredictable if nothing else! Much, much higher pick than expected. The Mariners made it back to back pitchers by selecting someone a little more predictable: Kade Anderson. And then of course someone eventually had to pick Ethan Holliday, and that was the… Rockies. I am not sure which would be weirder, them selecting him 4th or us selecting him 5th. It is as if he was destined to play where his father played at. Maybe Ethan will be a Cardinal after playing for Colorado a while! Ha.
Which brings me to the part of the article I have been thinking of all this time. Just getting warmed up here. I am happy with the Cardinals pick of Liam Doyle because he looks like just as entertaining as any of these top picks, but he also seems a little crazy! I am a fan that has been watching for decades, I want to see something different. And Liam Doyle definitely seems that. An insane looking fastball chucked with the whole body. He seems like a nightmare for anyone trying to manage the health of a pitcher. That means he’s a gamble. The ceiling is almost removed with this guy.
The floor for the 2025 Cardinals pick is a wild and crazy closer type, so long as his unorthodox pitching style doesn’t have him collapsing to the floor. We are good. This was a solid, exciting pick. But who could they have picked instead? Who was left?
Seth Hernandez. A pitcher some considered the best talent in the draft. We will find out what we missed there. Could have dodged a bullet, since he is a high school arm. But still, I wonder how much they considered… nah, they wanted a college arm. Solid choice.
And being that Liam Doyle is from the vaunted Tennessee Volunteers pitching program, that almost certainly had a big effect on the pick, and this draft for the Cardinals. Back in high school where he played for Pinkerton Academy in New Hampshire, Doyle was 15-2 with an ERA of 0.68. His K/9 was exactly 18. Doyle’s college career was nothing like this at first, but after transferring to University of Tennessee, everything aligned for Liam. He has struck out 14 batters in a game not once but twice, and one of those times he struck out 14 in 5.1 IP while giving up only 2 hits.
But there were other players on the board besides a high school pitcher: shortstop Aiva Arquette who had an OPS of 1.115. The Cardinals had about 5 good shortstops to choose from, but I’m glad they selected a pitcher. After JJ Wetherholt from last year, it just makes sense to get a top pitching prospect to match. The Cardinals could have picked Jamie Arnold, but I think Liam Doyle will be better. There was a third baseman available who can hit named Gavin Fien, often called a pure hitter, as well as other players who could possibly be raking at the hot corner in the not too distant future.
It’s Poll Time!
Liam Doyle was ranked #8 before the draft so to some it might have come as a surprise to see the Cardinals draft him ahead of #3 and #4 ranked pitchers Seth Hernandez and Jaime Arnold, but lefty Arnold’s delivery could be viewed as even more problematic than Doyle’s, and Hernandez is a right handed pitcher as well as pre-college, so not very comparable. I vote that the Cardinals made the right pick at #5 with Liam Doyle, especially since they seem to prefer college arms to high school. Makes sense.
That said, who the hell knows who will end up being the best starting pitcher between Hernandez, Arnold, and Doyle. Maybe they’ll all be closers, heh.
I could see the argument for going after a third baseman, except that you would have to pull an Angels move there, and pick not the best player on the board, by any stretch. Sure the Cardinals could have picked Seth Hernandez, but this year’s draft did not feature premier prospect third basemen.
The rest of the Cardinals draft seems to have gone so well that I am sure another writer who can focus in on the rest of the picks, will handle writing about it much better than I can. Ryan Mitchell was the Gatorade Player of the Year in Tennessee. So there’s that.
Player Profile from PerfectGame.org
And let’s not forget Tanner Franklin. You could see Franklin as insurance to Liam Doyle’s throw with your whole body delivery style. This link has some video of how Tanner Franklin pitches. He hides the ball well, has a quick delivery that seems minimal effort compared to Doyle, but still sits at 94-98 and has peaked out at 102 mph! In fact his average pitch velocity is well above MLB average. What a good find, in my opinion.
And who knows, maybe Jack Gurevitch will be the next Goldy. 89th pick overall and the Cardinals 4th pick during the 3rd round in the 2025 draft. Tanner Franklin was a Competitive Balance Round B pick, or what I’d like to call Round 2.5.
Now, the All Star Game is over, and the end result is: tie. Or swing-off? Ok, that’s the ticket.
https://www.mlb.com/news/nl-wins-2025-mlb-all-star-game-decided-by-derby-like-swing-off
I wish I could have watched this one just for novelty factor alone! Kyle Schwarber won the All Star Game by way of home run derby? Ok, whatever. Still sounds fun! For an exhibition game. Strange days indeed. I’ll just be happy the NL won.
Brendan Donovan had 2 hits in the 2025 All Star Game. That’s pretty cool. It’s a good day.
You will have to wait until 8:40 CST for more baseball. I’ll be recapping that night, late nite style. Maybe see you in the gamethread. Until then, I can’t wait to see everyone’s comments about the draft, and the trade deadline, and whether or not we still stand a chance. I think we probably do.