Talking About Birds: A St. Louis Cardinals Podcast

The show is cursed. Last week's audio came out haunted, three Cardinals hit the IL in a matter of days, and Nate and Ben have made peace with the grudge ghost now living in the podcast. Between hauntings they cover a tired, banged-up team still hanging around the wild card: Masyn Winn's season-ending thumb, Josh Baez's wildly unlucky start, and a Kyle Leahy who's quietly pitched like an ace for two months. Down on the farm, Rainiel Rodriguez keeps mashing, and the Cardinals now have baseball's second-best farm system. Plus Pirates and Dodgers previews, the Astros' bizarre firing of Dana Brown, and a new game about ballpark calories. 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

Joshua Baez made maybe the greatest MLB debuts of all time — three home runs, three different pitches, three different parts of the ballpark. Nate and Ben soak it in, then dig into a Cardinals team that's back above .500 and squarely in the wild card hunt: Jordan Walker solving the slider, Alec Burleson leading baseball in a brand-new defensive stat, and a rotation that keeps winning while defying every metric. Down on the farm, Rainiel Rodriguez is climbing toward the top of prospect boards. Plus Phillies and Orioles previews, a very strange batch of league news, and the return of an old friend. 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 hovering around .500 and mostly out of the race — but the offense is waking up at the perfect time. Alec Burleson is launching bombs, Ivan Herrera is crushing everything again, and José Fermín looks like the next guy about to break out. Nate and Ben dig into all of it, plus why Kyle Leahy is quietly the ace of this staff and what's gone wrong with Matthew Liberatore. Down on the farm, Nolan Gorman is destroying Triple-A with a new swing. Plus Cubs and Reds previews, Tim Anderson's retirement, and our Draft Day check-in at the three-quarter mark. 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 sold at the deadline — Dustin May and JoJo Romero are Brewers, Lars Nootbaar is a Diamondback, and the returns are genuinely exciting. Nate and Ben break down the four prospects coming back, why the Dustin May signing worked out about as well as it possibly could have, and the catching logjam Bloom still didn't clear. Plus: Quinn Mathews makes his MLB debut, Tink Hence gets a surprising DFA, previews of the Rockies and Phillies, the Harrison Bader drunk-scooter saga, 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

It's the last episode before the trade deadline, so next week's Cardinals might look completely different. Dustin May has pitched his way into a real trade chip, and Lars Nootbaar, Ivan Herrera, and even Masyn Winn could all be on the move. Plus: the offense is somehow leading baseball in hard-hit balls in July and still can't score, Blaze Jordan quietly became the best third baseman on the team, and previews of the Blue Jays and Yankees. 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 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 .

The Cardinals are 24-17 with the fifth best record in baseball. Power rankings have them in the top 10. The playoff odds just passed Cincinnati. So we ask the question: are they actually good, or are we about to get burned again? The offense is legit. The bullpen has stabilized. The defense is elite. And the pitching, somehow, has a 2.62 ERA in May, third best in MLB. Michael McGreevy in particular is doing something fascinating, and Ben breaks down a stat called Location+ that might explain why he keeps outperforming his underlying numbers. Jordan Walker just turned 24 and is a top-20 player in baseball by fWAR, top 10 by offensive WAR alone. JJ Wetherholt is tied with him at 1.8 fWAR to lead the team. We talk about why Walker shouldn't exist at that size and speed, why JJ's power has been the biggest rookie surprise, and the trade deadline question looming over everything. Plus: the Pozo situation has gotten absurd, Lars Nootbaar starts his rehab assignment Friday, George Soriano's slider and changeup are becoming elite, Rainel Rodriguez is climbing prospect lists at 19, Brian Torres has a .453 OBP at Triple-A and deserves a look, and Ben ran the Rockies 5K, puked mid-race, high-fived Dinger, and then had a 9am beer. On the league side: the Guardians traded for Patrick Bailey, the CBA negotiations have started, Bobby Cox passed away at 84, and we debate whether you'd ever vote a reliever for the Cy Young. 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 have the seventh-best offense in baseball. Ahead of them? Houston, Detroit, Atlanta, LA, New York, and that's about it. We dig into what that means for a team that was supposed to be rebuilding, and why this version of winning feels more sustainable than anything we've seen in the last few years. Jordan Walker now has 35 games of this, and it's the longest and the best he's ever played. The power is real, the walks are climbing, and teams are going to have to start deciding whether to pitch around him. Alec Burleson just won NL Player of the Week, and the top four of Wetherholt, Herrera, Burleson, and Walker is starting to look like something you build around for years. We also recap the annual fishing tournament, where Ben fished for maybe an hour total, almost placed, and then retired for the weekend. Nathan Church and Victor Scott's diverging paths, Nolan Gorman's expected wOBA climbing, the Willson Contreras situation in Boston, Cesar Prieto's call-up, Lars Nootbaar's rehab timeline and where he fits in the lineup, Hunter Dobbins' MLB debut, and the Ramón Urías elbow injury. On the league side: Carlos Correa needs season-ending ankle surgery, Tarik Skubal is out two to three months with loose bodies in his elbow, Garrett Crochet hits the IL with shoulder inflammation, and the Red Sox somehow have five starting pitchers on the IL at once. 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 .

Nathan Church hit three home runs this week and robbed another one. But the real story isn't the results — it's the underlying changes. His bat speed is up, his swing rate has jumped, and he's striking out less while swinging harder. We dig into why those numbers matter and what this version of Nathan Church means for the team long term. Iván Herrera is breaking out. The launch angle has corrected, the walks are piling up, and Ben is ready to start the extension conversation. Jordan Walker has cooled off but the process is still there — and Ben found something fascinating in the pitch data. The pitch that tortured Walker for three years is now his best pitch. But the league is adjusting with a new one, and Walker will need to adjust back. Plus: Ryan Fernandez is looking like a trade chip, the bullpen leverage ladder needs reshuffling, JJ Wetherholt continues to rake, the annual fishing tournament preview, and Ben sat behind A-Rod at a Nuggets playoff game. On the league side: the Red Sox fired Alex Cora and basically their entire coaching staff, the Phillies fired Rob Thomson, the Padres are selling for $3.5 billion, and Travis Bazzana got called up to Cleveland. 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 14-10 and playing better than most people expected. They swept the Astros, the young core is slugging — 11th in MLB in home runs — but the pitching is still the worst K/9 in baseball and the bullpen is a ticking time bomb. Masyn Winn might be waking up. Ten hits in a week, a Crawford Box homer, career-high walk rates, and three steals already on the season. We dig into whether this is the start of the offensive evolution we've been waiting for, and whether a 117 wRC+ is the version of Masyn that makes him a perennial All-Star. Jordan Walker had his first real cold stretch — 12 strikeouts in six games, no home runs since last week. But Ben digs under the hood and the underlying metrics still look real: same attack angle, same bat speed, still hitting the ball hard. We talk about why you shouldn't panic, what the strikeout rate means for his streakiness going forward, and why that full-count at-bat last night was actually a sign of growth. Plus: Nathan Church is coming alive at the plate, José Fermín played center field for some reason, Victor Scott's offensive floor is a concern, Dustin May put together his two best starts of the season, Jurrangelo Cijntje switch-pitched in an actual game, Dickie Fitts needs season-ending lat surgery, and Ben returns from Coachella with a full field report including Bob Baker Marionettes, Korean steak kimchi fries, and a disappointing Moby set. We close with a new game: Rotation Rotation, where we draft the five non-Cardinals teams we're watching the most right 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 .

Jordan Walker isn't just hot, he's the best player in baseball right now. Better than Aaron Judge, better than Ohtani, better than Bobby Witt Jr. Through 17 games he's already deleted 111 games of negative WAR from last season, and Ben is officially calling 30 home runs as the floor. We dig into why this version of Walker actually looks sustainable, and Brant Brown's "let the team be themselves" approach to coaching. The good vibes keep going on offense. Iván Herrera is on the precipice of a breakout — second in baseball in walks, xwOBA near elite, just waiting on his launch angle to come back. JJ Wetherholt had his first multi-homer game (both off lefties, one pull-side, one backside, as a 23-year-old rookie second baseman). And his defense is way ahead of where we expected. Pitching news: Shuster gets demoted Ryan Fernandez is back, Matt Pushard starts a rehab assignment (Ben is still calling Phantom IL on this and demanding accountability), and we make the case for Jimmy Crooks getting called up sooner rather than later. On the league side: Kevin McGonigle signs an 8-year, $150M extension with the Tigers (and what it means for JJ's number), Cade Horton needs season-ending UCL surgery in a brutal blow to the Cubs rotation, and we mark Jackie Robinson Day with a reminder of just how absurdly good he was on the field on top of everything else. We close with a visit from an old nemesis. 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 .