ST. LOUIS — When Whitey Herzog is talking baseball, you listen.
Herzog may not have managed a Major League game for 30 years, but he's still as sharp as ever when it comes to Cardinals baseball.
5 On Your Side sports director Frank Cusumano recently sat down with Herzog to discuss the current state of the Cardinals. Here's what Whitey had to say:
On the key for Cardinals as playoffs near:
"I think the key to the Cardinals is getting the best 13 pitchers healthy before the playoffs start and then I think they've got a heck of a chance. Because they're deeper and have more really good middle relief pitchers than anybody else. And Mike's had to use some guys that I know he'd like to put other people in. So their record is deceiving," Herzog said.
On Goldschmidt's hot start:
"Last year Goldschmidt struck out about 165 times. And he's cut that down right now. He's cut his strikeout ratio to about 1 per every 6.5 at-bats. That's a big jump. That means he's more relaxed. Last year early in the season they were throwing a lot of fastballs by him. His on-base percentage is phenomenal. He's got 14 walks in 80 at-bats. That's something that didn't happen to him much last year because he struck out an awful lot. But he's more relaxed and more selective," Herzog said.
On Matt Carpenter's struggles:
"Carp's a very intelligent kid. I know he's pressing, I know he's looking... But I am surprised to be honest with you after the way he played last year going from 30 home runs to 12 and then now he's hitting under .200 again. That surprises me. Because he's a much better hitter than that," Herzog said.
On Dylan Carlson's call up
"First of all, he came up at an inopportune time. No minor leagues, might have been different if he were playing every day at AAA. And unfortunately he got off to a bad start, about 3 for 30 or something like that, and had opportunities to drive in runs... But there's a lot of things I like about him. First of all he's been pressing something terrible, secondly they're throwing him a lot of off speed pitches and curve balls.... But he's not over-matched. He doesn't have a pitch weakness that I don't think he won't overcome. I really think he's going to be a fine ballplayer," Herzog said.
On the ageless wonder, Yadier Molina
"Yadi amazes me... and I'm not gonna talk about his age... he amazes me because he's an amazing player. But the funny thing with Yadi, even the games he catches after night games he seems to have his best games offensively. But right now I really think Yadi should have a day off. There's some balls getting by him that wouldn't get by him. I don't think that his arm strength.. his arm may be a little tired... Let's just give him a rain out or a day off and I think that would help him in that respect. But he's an amazing athlete. He loves to play. It's pretty darn nice to have a 38-year-old catcher that's still at the top of his game and tells the manager he wants to be in the lineup every day," Herzog said.
You can hear more from Herzog, including his thoughts on Adam Wainwright's revival, Jack Flaherty's dominance and why he likes watching Tommy Edman and Harrison Bader in our full interview.