- This topic has 1,001 replies, 48 voices, and was last updated 2 hours, 9 minutes ago by
.
-
Posts
-
In this week's podcast, @kyler416 and I cover early season news across all levels of the #stlcards system. Players highlighted include Crooks (p), Jordan, Hansen, Rincon, Cijntje, Franklin, Doyle, Lin, Ortiz, Galle, Brayden Smith and more. https://t.co/YaoXyuUJ8M pic.twitter.com/oGAy3k1KIo
— Brian Walton (@B_Walton) April 8, 2026
A solo appearance.
Episode 60 is LIVE! Featuring @B_Walton! @Cardinals minor league affiliates are off to great starts and we highlight several of the early season standouts! If you enjoy this episode and want to hear more, Subscribe! https://t.co/f3tr911E91
— viva el birdos (@vivaelbirdos) April 13, 2026
In the podcast, @kyler416 and I cover a lot of pitching ground, including Hunter Dobbins and the #stlcards rotation, Winquest, Hansen, Doyle, Franklin, Sparks, Van Dyke, Galle, Hence, Molina and more. Position players discussed include Crooks, Davis and Joshua Baez.… pic.twitter.com/b7lmNZHa8v
— Brian Walton (@B_Walton) April 15, 2026
Only able to watch a few minutes here and there at the moment so maybe you go more into it. But I am completely out on a 6 man rotation. Pallante and Leahy havent shown they deserve a rotation spot. And going to 6 just makes the pen short one man while they still have to cover the 4 or 5 inning starts from Leahy and Pallante. That then will worsen the pen performance. Dobbins should get the spot of the one of Pallante or Leahy that is performing worse.
Yes, we discussed further some of the tradeoffs. It may or may not change your mind, but hopefully, it at least gives you something to think about.
I’m still not a fan of it. The pen is going to have to cover a lot of innings down a man and they don’t have enough Memphis shuttle worthy players. With a stretch like that with a 6 man, they would maybe even be forced to call anyone on the 40 man who can throw up but Hence definitely isn’t ready.
If they want to use 6, maybe do it with a one time through where say Leahy gets his start, then the next day Dobbins gets called up with Leahy returning to the pen when rested enough and sending down a RP for Dobbins. That gets a little longer rest for the other SP while not being a full 6 man.
Interesting discussion in Hence today too about his attack angle. Curious what Kyle’s thoughts would be on Hence’s horrible appearance today. I didn’t watch so unsure if he was clearly working on something.
What have Brian and Kyle watched Chase Davis games this year on offense? Sounds like from last week he was passive but curious on more depth. His stat line looks much better. Some of his batted ball data looks much better like a 10% decrease in his GB rate. But is he simply not swinging at all? I know that has been his problem on the past. FG shows he has dropped his swing % down even further to 33.0% and his caught looking strike % has went up as well to 18.1%. Does he ever swing at first strike or does he always just watch the first few pitches?
I cannot say for certainty that Davis does not ever swing at strike one. But even back to college, he was willing to take a walk rather than swinging away. In some situations, I can understand that. But not always. I’ve spoken to coaches frustrated that in run producing situations, Davis can be passive at the plate. Maybe some of the underlying numbers are shifting a bit, but even if so, the results seem comparable.
. @kyler416 and I open with challenges with relief and defense in the #stlcards system. Players discussed include Chase Davis, Doyle, Mathews, Van Dyke, Suarez and Franklin. Stuff+ was touched on, we previewed our upcoming new no. 1 prospect and debated what an accelerated rebuild… pic.twitter.com/TCLOTYhiz8
— Brian Walton (@B_Walton) April 22, 2026
Thanks very much for going deeper on Chase Davis. I was really down on him in my off-season ranking as he was passive and hit too many grounders. I do agree with Kyle that he is very talented and the tools are there if he can put it together but we need to see some progress on him being more aggressive.
Rainiel does seem like the clear new #1 choice. He has performed very well in Peoria and is young for the level. He hasn’t had as many loud performances yet, but he is very consistent and has a very good overall line. Really good to hear about his arm looking better and the blocking and game calling hopefully will improve over time as I imagine game calling is the hardest to develop aspect of catching.
One way or the other, no one is to blame for this but me. Either from my writing or from my tweets, it’s all on me. It was cool to get the chance, and this was always going to be the outcome, I believe https://t.co/YlwSP1ti5o
— Kyle Reis, 58% Neanderthal (@kyler416) April 27, 2026
The thing about spending the latter parts of you post-teenage years trying not to have a heart, then the years that follows not having a heart, is that your heart hits back in a big way when you get older and let your guard down.
I've never been more thankful for the support…— Kyle Reis, 58% Neanderthal (@kyler416) April 28, 2026
That’s a tough one Kyle. Life can be a minefield. Tt reminds me of a friend’s response when he ran over a speed bump with a position that had involved some visibility. He also didn’t know the instigating occurrence. He said you almost have to not do social media, except the job involves doing social media and so does life.
Kyle is Kyle and he wasn’t going to change for any employer. He made it clear up front that he was going to continue to be active on social media. Whatever the reason, it is MLB’s loss.
Sad to hear that about Kyle. I agree Brian it is MLB’s loss. The only reason I had subscribed to the newsletter was for Kyle’s writing and without him already unsubbed. Kudos to Kyle for sticking true to who he is.
Kyle is fun to listen to and has some great insight. However, sometimes Kyle can get into a lane that probably shouldn’t be shared with everyone on social media via twitter. He knew this going in. MLB should have been aware of this when they hired him. Heck – even Kyle acknowledged this after he was hired that it might not last long. I’m sure someone at MLB decided rightfully or wrongfully that they no longer wanted him representing their brand. I understand why they made that decision. But they should have known that going into this. I still thoroughly enjoy listening to Kyle and love his takes on Wednesdays with Walton and Reis. But there were times in the past where I would tune out of his Prospects After Dark podcast when the shows became a lot more about vices than about baseball.
Sorry to hear the bad news about Kyle.
No better way to get back on the positive side of things than with a (Tuesday) Wednesday With Walton and Reis, which I am very much looking forward to on my commute tomorrow morning.
Nothing to cover this week on the pod! We start with @kyler416's recent change, then top minor leaguers his followers are following. We discussed #stlcards OF and bench options going forward, specifically Torres, Prieto and Jordan. Pitchers covered include Mathews, Doyle and… pic.twitter.com/4pWJOJNDsr
— Brian Walton (@B_Walton) April 29, 2026
The OBP and low K% for Torres and Prieto are the biggest reasons I would like to see them in St. Louis. Having more runners on base ahead of Wetherholt, Herrera and Burleson would be nice to see. Saggese and Scott need to go down to Memphis to get their hitting straightened out.
The only thing I don’t know is how good are Torres and Prieto, defensively. If Scott is sent down, someone has to back up Church in CF.
In the podcast, @kyler416 and I discuss many players including Ryan Mitchell, Tink Hence, numerous April Pitcher and Player of the Month contenders including winners Ty Van Dyke and Tai Peete, Blaze Jordan and St. Louis roster dynamics, Tanner Franklin and more.… pic.twitter.com/IMDxkbd9W7
— Brian Walton (@B_Walton) May 6, 2026
Good discussion on Blaze. The team chemistry aspect is a good area to consider. I do know Scott very clearly has good relationships with guys like Walker.
Interesting to see Kyle mentioned Burly as well and said some other site had for Blaze. Kyle has some good insights and I understand what he is saying about Burly really struggling in the bigs at first and Blaze maybe needing time to prep for those. I am unsure if the AAA pitchers and even just gameplay prep of AAA will give him as many opportunities to be tested with those flaws. But maybe more time there we will see if he gets exposed which is actually a good thing to make him adjust.
I’ll also say I don’t project Blaze to be as good as Burly has been since 2025. Burly has worked to improve in quite a few ways and that has helped him be an above average hitter. Who knows if Blaze can make improvements to get there as he tracks much more like early Burly.
I think Kyle is underselling how well Rainiel has done in A+. He has a 157 wRC+ while being young for the level which is much more than “staying afloat”. I realize slash stats aren’t all that predictive of MLB performance especially at the A+ level. But his underlying stats do show more as Rainiel is waking almost as much as striking out and is avoiding the K for the most part. He is pulling the ball in the air and hitting line drives a lot which bodes well for future power output. The swinging strike rate has been manageable.
I don’t think Rainiel is ready for a promotion yet looking closer and acknowledging he did have some struggles for a weekish. But I have full faith based off what I have seen at least his offensive side of the game is develop enough he should spend a couple of months in Springfield this year.
Today, from Noon – 2 on the Iowa Sports Radio Network with @imKenMiller & @trentcondon
12:30 @WildJoeRadio #mnwild
1:30 @ScottAgness #wnba 🏀
1:50 Trent's Picks presented by @CircaSports https://t.co/Vpmy7r8Gxt
— Miller & Condon on The Iowa Sports Radio Network (@MillerAndCondon) May 7, 2026
In the podcast, @kyler416 and I never get to The Cardinal Nation’s new Top 50 Prospect List as we cover recent news, starting with the promotions of Rodriguez and Gurevitch, the #stlcards org’s Pitcher and Players of the Month, three releases, Doyle, Baez, Franklin and more.… pic.twitter.com/c3wttWSxqm
— Brian Walton (@B_Walton) May 13, 2026
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.