Cardinals make first free-agent move to bolster bullpen with local product Phil Maton
FILE - New York Mets pitcher Phil Maton throws against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the seventh inning in Game 4 of a baseball NL Championship Series, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024, in New York.
JUPITER, Fla. -- With three weeks of spring training remaining before opening day at Busch Stadium and three weeks to make decisions on the bullpen, three weeks to explore any last-minute trades, three weeks to stir the offense, and three weeks to make that first free-agent move of the offseason, the Best Podcast in Baseball considers camp with a pair of threes.
Three up.
Three down.
Post-Dispatch sports columnist and instant offense for Jeff Gordon joins baseball writer Derrick Goold to discuss three ups of spring (players who have stood out) and three downs (trends of note), and all of that leads to the one major lineup dilemma looming over the team. Manager Oliver Marmol likes to say it will take a larger room to come to a conclusion on some of the defining decisions of March. This is a look at how those talks could go.
Gordon joins the podcast from St. Louis, while Goold is in Jupiter covering spring training for the Post-Dispatch's constant Cardinals coverage.
The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is in its 13th season. It is a production of the ÁńÁ«ÊÓÆ”, , and Derrick Goold.
ÁńÁ«ÊÓÆ”
JUPITER, Fla. â After growing up a Cardinals fan in Chatham, Illinois, and spending nine years in the majors, what's waiting another few months to sign with the club?
Phil Maton, a Central Illinois and St. Louis-area kid who became a veteran late-inning reliever, signed a one-year deal with the team Thursday and was in the clubhouse before the team made the official announcement. The team did not reveal financial terms of the agreement, but a source said Maton will receive $2 million.
This is the Cardinals' first major-league signing of the offseason.
"We were trying to look for depth," said John Mozeliak, president of baseball operations. "We do feel like going into this season we have put together a lot of flexibility in our bullpen. Phil even last year before camp started was someone we were trying to sign. Obviously, we didn't. He was out there. For the last month or so I've been keeping a pulse on the market and ultimately we got to a place where we were comfortable.
"I believe he'll be an ideal addition for us," Mozeliak continued. "Just having some veteran presence in our bullpen, because it is a younger bullpen."
Maton grew up near the unofficial border between Cardinals Nation and Cubdom, and he said he became a Cardinals fan because he "had no choice." His parents were fans of the Cardinals.
He was also a youth during the heady Albert Pujols and NLCS years.Â
The Cardinals made the move for Maton to fortify the late-inning options and see the right-hander as sliding into a role similar to Andrew Kittredge a year ago. Maton, who turns 32 later this month, is 19-15 in his career with five saves and a 4.16 ERA. He has postseason experience with Houston, and last season he had 18 holds for a career high to go with a 0.84 WHIP in the final 31 games with the Mets.
He made six postseason appearances for the Mets this past October and has 26 career relief appearances in the postseason.Â
Maton will wear No. 88 and begin workouts with the Cardinals immediately.
He has been throwing in Arizona while awaiting offers from teams.
The Cardinals plan to have Maton in a simulated game on the backfields by early next week and that will make it possible for him to appear in at least one Grapefruit League game before the team heads north for the regular season.
To make room on the 40-player roster for the right-hander the Cardinals did not move any player to the 60-day injured list. They designated lefty Bailey Horn for assignment.
This is a breaking news story and there will be more coverage at .
As next CBA negotiations loom in 2026, Tony Clark says the union is concerned by trends but mentioned proposals made to spur small-, mid-market spending.Â
June 7, 2010 -- Glenwood pitcher Phil Maton pitches during a Class 3A supersectional game between Triad and Glenwood at GCS Ballpark in Sauget, Ill.
Chris Lee clee@post-dispatch.com
Chris Lee
Worthy: That report on pitching injuries only made me more suspicious of MLB's motives
JUPITER, Fla. â Sure, this may be an overly cynical view. Iâll own that. It just seemed like Major League Baseball knew it was ramming through rules changes, such as the pitch clock, that raised objections from players and the MLB Players Association, so it got out in front of the pushback.
JUPITER, Fla. -- With three weeks of spring training remaining before opening day at Busch Stadium and three weeks to make decisions on the bullpen, three weeks to explore any last-minute trades, three weeks to stir the offense, and three weeks to make that first free-agent move of the offseason, the Best Podcast in Baseball considers camp with a pair of threes.
Three up.
Three down.
Post-Dispatch sports columnist and instant offense for Jeff Gordon joins baseball writer Derrick Goold to discuss three ups of spring (players who have stood out) and three downs (trends of note), and all of that leads to the one major lineup dilemma looming over the team. Manager Oliver Marmol likes to say it will take a larger room to come to a conclusion on some of the defining decisions of March. This is a look at how those talks could go.
Gordon joins the podcast from St. Louis, while Goold is in Jupiter covering spring training for the Post-Dispatch's constant Cardinals coverage.
The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is in its 13th season. It is a production of the ÁńÁ«ÊÓÆ”, , and Derrick Goold.
ÁńÁ«ÊÓÆ”
If the MLBPAâs loudest arguments are based on health and player safety, then it makes sense to have a panel of experts and physicians weigh in with a document that tells everyone all the other reasons pitchers get hurt.
I mean, thatâs the sort of thing Iâd use if were I MLB and wanted a ready-made rebuttal. As soon as anyone claims that the increased pace and shorter rest for pitchers might lead to injuries, Iâd just produce that document to refute those assertions.
Because Iâve got that cynical side to me, I couldnât pass up the chance to ask MLBPA Executive Director Tony Clark, who has raised objections on the grounds of health and safety in the past, about that MLB report on pitcher injuries. I wondered whether he had a similarly cynical view of the reportâs intentions.
âI try to be a glass-half-full guy, I try. I really try,â Clark said standing on the patio behind the major league clubhouse at the Cardinals spring training facility on Wednesday morning. âSo a report that suggests what we already know is an issue isnât much of a report.
âThe question becomes: How do you address the challenges weâre seeing in our game, understanding that theyâre multifaceted?â
In case youâre not familiar with MLBâs answer to The Warren Commission Report, the league commissioned a study in the fall of 2023 with the stated intention to âidentify factors that have contributed to increases in pitcher injuries and recommend future areas of study to reduce injuries and improve health for players at all levels of baseball.â
When you phrase it that way, it sure makes MLB sound like a benevolent organization concerned with research that will benefit the game at various levels.
Conversely, I just seem like a hater.
However, that report released this past December served more like a survey â one that included more than 200 people such as former players, orthopedic surgeons, trainers, biomechanics specialists, player agents and club officials â than it did a definitive quantitative analysis.
This report concluded the issue is complex and has many factors. It also concluded that âthe most significant causesâ were likely increased velocity of pitches, an emphasis on optimizing âstuffâ and the modern pitcherâs focus on âexerting maximum effort while pitching in both game and non-game situations.â
In other words, all the things you probably expected.
OK, letâs get cynical again for a moment. The executive summary of the report included the following passage:
âSome experts speculated on the potential influence of other factors on the short-term increase in injuries over the past several years, including the lasting effect of COVID-impacted seasons, the introduction of the pitch clock, and perceived inconsistencies in the surface grip of the baseball.
âThere was not sufficient consensus or evidence to establish a link between these other factors and pitcher injuries, but we will continue to monitor these issues to determine whether there is any additional evidence to support these theories over time.â
Interesting how those âspeculatedâ other factors that donât have sufficient consensus or evidence included several things that have prompted players to publicly voice their concerns and complaints.
And yes, the pitch clock is included. Hmm, interesting.
Everyone all together now in your best Mel Allen voice, âHow about that?â
While Iâm clearly bringing hateration and holleration to the dancery (shout out to Mary J. Blige), Clark took the high road and continued to focus on the bigger picture.
âObviously, there was some conversation last year about changes to the pitch clock,â Clark said. âOJK, well thatâs one part of the equation. There are myriad of moving pieces there that are a part of why are our guys finding themselves less able to stay out of the training room than not. Those things go back to the system that theyâre playing in before they get to professional ball, whether thatâs high school or even prior or even collegiately.
âAll of it is a part of the conversation. All I can tell you is weâre seeing more and more pitchers get injured. And when that happens, itâs not a positive that lends itself to thatâs just the way things are and should be. Thatâs not how they should be.â
Clark also referenced the MLBPA trying to âappreciateâ the philosophy guiding MLB clubs and their approach to pitching. He suggested that the game is putting pitchers in harmâs way.
Clark even cited a personal example. His son, Aeneas Clark, is a pitcher at the University of Missouri who is currently attempting to come back from an arm injury.
âWatching our professional guys go through it, watching on a personal front my son go through it and watching a lot of his teammates go through it, this is a multifaceted issue thatâs going to require some folks to take it a little more seriously, I think, than what weâve taken it (and) with an eye on trying to shift it or change it â if itâs going to happen,â Clark said.
Clark surely doesnât have a magic solution, and heâs always going to look at issues from a playerâs perspective, but Iâd bet on him being more genuinely invested in addressing this issue than an industry that increasingly seems to considers it a best-case scenario when players are interchangeable parts.
Sorry. There it goes again. I guess my cynical side is just overwhelming on this subject.
JUPITER, Fla. -- With three weeks of spring training remaining before opening day at Busch Stadium and three weeks to make decisions on the bullpen, three weeks to explore any last-minute trades, three weeks to stir the offense, and three weeks to make that first free-agent move of the offseason, the Best Podcast in Baseball considers camp with a pair of threes.
Three up.
Three down.
Post-Dispatch sports columnist and instant offense for Jeff Gordon joins baseball writer Derrick Goold to discuss three ups of spring (players who have stood out) and three downs (trends of note), and all of that leads to the one major lineup dilemma looming over the team. Manager Oliver Marmol likes to say it will take a larger room to come to a conclusion on some of the defining decisions of March. This is a look at how those talks could go.
Gordon joins the podcast from St. Louis, while Goold is in Jupiter covering spring training for the Post-Dispatch's constant Cardinals coverage.
The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is in its 13th season. It is a production of the ÁńÁ«ÊÓÆ”, , and Derrick Goold.
ÁńÁ«ÊÓÆ”
JUPITER, Fla. â The sluggish free-agent marketplace and the lack of spending in some unexpected corners of the standings, such as the Cardinals spending zero so far on major league additions to the 2025 club, has the attention of the players union as the calendar turns closer to another round of bargaining negotiations and a potential work stoppage.
âRest assured, because we track all 30 teams all the time, when a team that has historically functioned a certain way suddenly finds them functioning different, yeah,â union chief Tony Clark said Wednesday when asked by the Post-Dispatch if the Cardinalsâ lack of spending caused any alarm.
âWe pay attention to it. We pay attention to it.â
Clark and fellow officials with the Major League Baseball Players Association, including former Cardinals pitcher Andrew Miller, visited the Cardinals clubhouse Wednesday on an annual tour of spring camps.
The Cardinals are the only club of the 30 yet to sign a player this offseason to a major league contract, and they have cut payroll significantly after two decades of steadily raising it, if not dramatically from year to year. The Cardinals point to a reduction of their broadcast rights fees as a reason, and they expect a drop in ticket sales, though opening day March 27 at Busch Stadium is trending toward a sellout, per the team. Two revenue streams that allowed the Cardinals to spend beyond their market size â âpunch above their weight,â as an executive put it â are squeezed for 2025.
The union, Clark said, appreciates market size as a constant (even growing) factor in spending and is eager to revisit proposals the MLBPA made in 2022 to reward teams like the Cardinals for success in the standings and spending in the marketplace.
âWe recognize there are cities that are less populated than some other cities,â Clark said. âHaving a system that reflects that and then rewards the team that may be in a small market or mid-market for having success makes sense to us. Rewarding them for doing well, rewarding them for continuing to invest in their club, rewarding in a way whether itâs financial and/or otherwise to help continue to grow in the market theyâre in â those are things weâre very interested in and we proposed. There wasnât as much interest on the other side.â
The Cardinals are one of the final four teams for Clark and his crew to visit, and the meeting went almost twice as long as the scheduled hour.
Topics of discussion at various clubhouses have included pitching injuries and informal feedback on the spring use of the Automated Ball Strike system. Clark said he usually can tell where the union and Major League Baseball is in its bargaining âcycleâ based on the conversations.
The current CBA, partially negotiated during a stretch of residency at the Cardinals complex in Jupiter, expires after the 2026 postseason, and both sides appear to be bracing for a chilly beginning.
The last CBA came at the end of a 99-day lockout. And this past winterâs free agency â with select teams splurging and more teams trimming â sets the stage.
âDisappointing when the industry is growing and yet less and less teams appear to be interested in being the last team standing,â Clark said. âThat is a concern. And so we saw teams function a certain way early on. We see some teams functioning a certain way early on (in CBA). We see teams functioning differently now. Is that a trend? Or is that a blip? That remains, perhaps, a bit to be seen. But the idea of being in an industry that is growing and teams having the wherewithal to continue to improve their club deciding not to is a concern.â
Where Cards stand
The Cardinals surpassed $200 million in spending on their 40-player payroll for the first time in 2024. That offseason, a second consecutive starting earlier than hoped with the team out of the postseason, began with a news conference announcing a new direction, a pivot toward youth and reduced payroll.
The Cardinals were braced for a significant hit to their broadcast rights with partner Diamond ÁńÁ«ÊÓÆ” Group in bankruptcy court. They lopped off $30 million alone by declining options on players, and they trimmed more than $50 million total if you include the departure of Paul Goldschmidt.
The Cardinals renegotiated their TV rights deal at a 23% trim and are still unsure what the hit will be in ticket sales. Their cut to their big league payroll was larger than that percentage, and they attempted to drop more by trading Nolan Arenado. The Cardinals have increased spending on player development with an expanded staff and facilities.
In the current CBA, the Cardinals have the fifth-lowest market score of the 30 teams, and that number is used for revenue sharing and competitive balance draft picks.
Because revenue sharing is also based on all teams paying the same percentage of their local revenue and then splitting the total pool, the Cardinals spending less in 2025 changes their return.
Cardinals President Bill DeWitt III said the teamâs approach this year to is to build a more efficient contender as free-agent costs rise. Asked if the league needed a salary cap for markets like his to compete, DeWitt said the Cardinals have been âable to without one.â
âWeâre going to compete whether there is a new framework, the same framework, whatever it is,â DeWitt told the Post-Dispatch in January. âAll the things that weâre doing now, no matter what the system is, there is going to be a premium on drafting and developing.â
The union proposed in 2022 a way they thought would boost a marketâs ability to do that.
Among the ideas tabled by the MLBPA during the previous CBA negotiations was tying draft position to market score instead of entirely to standings. A team with a smaller market score would draft higher than a larger-market team with the same record, a source with knowledge of the proposal described. There was also a proposal for an additional draft pick â for a team receiving revenue sharing that made the postseason and for a team receiving revenue sharing that finished above .500, even if it did not make the postseason. Under that structure, based entirely on market score, the Cardinals would have received a bonus pick for a winning record in 2024.
âWeâve tried to introduce things that we think would beneficial,â Clark said.
Rewarding mid-market teams with draft picks could increase prospects and prospects to trade for those clubs but not address the disparity of spending top-end talents.
Cardinals broadcast Chip Caray asked Clark on Wednesday if realignment by market size or economics would benefit the game. He offered Tampa Bayâs presence in Yankeesâ division as an example. (The National League Central has four of the five smallest markets.)
Clark countered with another topic on the CBA horizon: expansion.
âIn a world where you have 32 teams vs. 30 teams then there is an opportunity to reimagine a lot of things,â Clark said. âWeâll see what it looks like. ... We think there is an opportunity, and we hope there is another opportunity to engage on how best to support teams that donât find themselves in some of the larger markets.â
Catcher Pedro Pages sees progress with changes to batting stance: Cardinals Extra
Cardinals catcher Pedro Pages grounds out during the fourth inning of a spring training game against the Astros on Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025, in Jupiter, Fla.
JUPITER, Fla. -- With three weeks of spring training remaining before opening day at Busch Stadium and three weeks to make decisions on the bullpen, three weeks to explore any last-minute trades, three weeks to stir the offense, and three weeks to make that first free-agent move of the offseason, the Best Podcast in Baseball considers camp with a pair of threes.
Three up.
Three down.
Post-Dispatch sports columnist and instant offense for Jeff Gordon joins baseball writer Derrick Goold to discuss three ups of spring (players who have stood out) and three downs (trends of note), and all of that leads to the one major lineup dilemma looming over the team. Manager Oliver Marmol likes to say it will take a larger room to come to a conclusion on some of the defining decisions of March. This is a look at how those talks could go.
Gordon joins the podcast from St. Louis, while Goold is in Jupiter covering spring training for the Post-Dispatch's constant Cardinals coverage.
The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is in its 13th season. It is a production of the ÁńÁ«ÊÓÆ”, , and Derrick Goold.
ÁńÁ«ÊÓÆ”
JUPITER, Fla. â About a week before he stepped into the batterâs box Wednesday in a spring training start against the New York Mets, Cardinals catcher Pedro Pages adopted a new stance that has made him stand a âlittle tallerâ and with his hands a âlittle higherâ when heâs up to bat.
The adjusted stance is part of a process that has come with help from Cardinals hitting coach Brant Brown, assistant hitting coach Brandon Allen and game-day planning coach Packy Elkins and began with the 26-year-old bringing his elbows in and closer to his body. After using Tuesday to take swings on the back fields to continue gaining timing with his changes, Pagesâ in-game at-bats provided some satisfaction.
In a 2-0 loss to the Mets in Jupiter, Pages doubled to right-center field on a ball that jumped off his bat with a 104.1 mph exit velocity and lined out to center field on a ball that produced a 102.3 mph exit velocity, per Statcast. The 26-year-old lined out in his third at-bat, too.
âItâs good to feel those at-bats,â Pages said. â(With) all the hard work we put in the cage and being able to get some type of result in the field is what you want. It makes you feel better about it. I have all the trust in what Iâm doing right now.â
Following a rookie year in which he led Cardinals catchers in games behind the plate with 66, Pages is in spring training competing against Ivan Herrera for the clubâs starting catching duties. He and Herrera form the duo the Cardinals will lean on in 2025 now that Willson Contreras has shifted to first base.
Pages began 2024 as Class AAA Memphisâ starting catcher but was recalled to the majors in early May when Contreras fractured his left forearm, and he remained with the big league club through the end of the season. Pages batted .238 with seven home runs and a .657 on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS). Rated as a defense-first catcher while coming up through the minors, Pages ranked in the 75th percentile and in the 67th percentile in framing, per Statcast. He threw out 14 of the 75 stolen base attempts against him.
âWhen youâre Pages and you slide into that spot, you have to be extremely prepared to get buy-in as quickly as heâs gotten,â Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said before Wednesdayâs game. âCredit to him, heâs done exactly that. Heâs continuing to work with (Brown) on the offensive side of things. I actually like where heâs at offensively and the types of swings heâs taking (and) the approach heâs bringing in every day. Itâs been good.â
Against the Mets, Pagesâ double to begin the sixth inning gave the Cardinals their first base runner of the game and accounted for one of their two hits on the afternoon. The double gave Pages his fourth hit in 20 at-bats (a .200 average) in the Grapefruit League.
Pages caught all nine innings, including the five innings logged by starter Miles Mikolas, who allowed one run.
Having gone from the catcher in spring training in line to start in Class AAA to being one of two contenders for the starting job in the majors, Pages feels last yearâs run in the majors helped him progress in game planning with the major-league pitching staff. It also showed him where he needs to make strides for consistency at the plate.
The changes heâs made with the help of Cardinals coaches to create more space with his swing and âsimplifyâ how he loads to the ball provide a start.
âI think itâs getting better,â Pages said. âI went up to the back fields yesterday and got some more at-bats. I think by doing that, just getting more reps, more timing with it, I think itâs going to work out in the long run. Iâm happy with it right now.â
Walker continues baseball activities
Right fielder Jordan Walker continued baseball activity Wednesday by taking fly balls off the bats of his teammates during batting practice on a backfield, going through a running progression and mimicking baserunning as he continues to work through a left knee injury. There is no set timetable for Walkerâs return to game action. Marmol said the coming days will help to assess the 22-year-oldâs status.
Walker has not appeared in a game since exiting early from a road game March 4 against the Washington Nationals when he jammed his knee as he stepped on a sprinkler cover while tracking down a fly ball.
Extra bases
Infielder JJ Wetherholt, the Cardinalsâ top prospect, was reassigned to minor league camp. Wetherholt, 22, began his first spring training as a non-roster invitee to Cardinals camp.
The former seventh overall pick appeared in 10 Grapefruit League games before his reassignment. He collected two hits in 20 at-bats, stole three bases, and drew six walks. One of his two hits was a home run, which came in his first Grapefruit League debut on Feb. 23.
He stuck exclusively to shortstop when playing the field.
Right-handed pitching prospect Tekoah Roby was optioned to minor league camp after throwing two scoreless innings and striking out four batters vs. the Mets. Roby, 22, collected 10 strikeouts and allowed three runs in nine innings in the Grapefruit League.
The Cardinals plan to start prospect Michael McGreevy on Friday against the Mets in Port St. Lucie, Florida. Andre Pallante is listed as the Cardinalsâ probable Saturday starter against the Blue Jays at Roger Dean Stadium.
ST. LOUIS â Ticket sales for the Cardinalsâ home opener are on track with last year, team officials said, after a getting off to a sluggish start.
Swaths of seats remain empty as fans watch a game in the fourth inning between the St. Louis Cardinals and San Diego Padres on Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024, at Busch Stadium.Â
Laurie Skrivan, Post-Dispatch
As of Wednesday, about 2,900 tickets remained unsold for the March 27 game against the Minnesota Twins. The matchup will mark the official start to baseball season in St. Louis and will be celebrated at the stadium with giveaways, Clydesdales and Fredbird.
âItâs like an unofficial holiday,â Anuk Karunaratne, Cardinalsâ senior vice president of business operations, said. âWeâre on pace for it to be a full ballpark.â
In late February, as many as 13,000 open seats at Busch Stadium, which has 46,000 seats and some standing room tickets. But the availability continues to drop as Opening Day nears â as expected, said Karunaratne.
In fact, according to the Cardinalsâ MLB ticket , over 1,000 seats were sold from Monday to Tuesday.
How quickly home opener tickets sell varies season to season, he said. âItâs tracking very similar to last year in terms of pacing, I would expect based on how things are progressing to be similar to last year.â
Given that the team is coming off of another below-average season, demand wasnât as high as, say, when the Cardinals had just been in the playoffs or World Series, Karunaratne said. Still, St. Louis fans are passionate and the teamâs Opening Day traditions will draw a crowd no matter what, he said.
Home-opener ticket sales have always come in at over 45,000 sold, except for 2020 and 2021 when the COVID-19 pandemic prevented full capacity.
In 2023, the team sold 47,649 tickets for its first home game, but after a losing season that number fell to 47,273 for Opening Day in 2024.
The Cardinals finished seventh in Major League Baseball in attendance per game in 2024, their worst ranking since 2004 and down from second two years earlier.
And fans responded to a lackluster season. Nearly 4,500 fewer fans passed through Busch Stadiumâs gates per game last season, the largest decline in MLB. The teamâs total attendance of 2.88 million in 2024 was its lowest in a non-COVID year since 1997.
Karunaratne said that this year might be similar to last season, with ticket sales lower than the historical average, but thatâs to be expected as the Cardinals work to âreset.â
At the conclusion of last season, Cardinalsâ president of baseball operations John Mozeliak was asked if fans delivered a message with dwindling attendance and vast numbers of empty seats.
âI understand from a fan perspective expectations are high. Iâd be lying to you if I said I didnât notice it. We certainly want to get back to creating a game-day experience that our fans appreciate and want to experience and enjoy.
âPart of that obviously is winning baseball,â he said. âPart of that is enhancing that experience.â
Ethan Erickson and Josh Renaud of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this story.
While Miles Mikolas keeps Mets to one run, Cardinals kept to two hits in shutout loss
JUPITER, Fla. â The slow spring start for the Cardinalsâ offense continued Wednesday when they hosted the Mets at Roger Dean Stadium.
A Cardinals lineup that featured most of the clubâs regulars mustered just two hits in a 2-0 loss to New York. Only catcher Pedro Pages and center fielder Victor Scott II reached base with a hit for the Cardinals.
The Cardinals were retired in order through the first five innings, the first four of which came against New Yorkâs starter Paul Blackburn. Blackburn retired four of the first six batters he faced on flyouts and needed 37 pitches â 26 of which were strikes â to get through the outing.
Nolan Gorman, who started at the designated hitter spot, produced the loudest contact of any Cardinal hitter who faced Blackburn on Wednesday.
On a 0-1 curveball hung over the middle of the plate during their encounter in the second inning, Gorman belted a fly ball that traveled 417 feet and had a 106.8 mph exit velocity, according to Statcast. The fly ball would have been a home run in 26 of 30 major-league ballparks, including Busch Stadium, but instead was caught by center fielder Tyrone Taylor.
After Blackburnâs exit, the Cardinals were retired in order against left-handed reliever A.J. Minter in his lone inning of work.
Pages became the first Cardinal to reach base when he led off the sixth inning with a double to right-center field off lefty Danny Young. Pages advanced to third on a groundout by Scott but was left stranded when Michael Siani and leadoff hitter Masyn Winn struck out swinging in back-to-back at-bats to end the frame.
Scott led off the ninth inning with a single on a line drive to right field and advanced to second with a stolen base â his fifth of the Grapefruit League. The speedster advanced to third base later in the inning when Luken Baker reached base with a walk in his pinch-hit at-bat and infield prospect Cesar Prieto drew a walk with one out in the inning.Â
A strikeout by outfielder Matt Koperniak and infielder Thomas Saggese left the bases loaded to end the game.
Nineteen games into their Grapefruit League schedule, the Cardinals rank last in team average with a .203 mark and last in total hits with 119.
Starter Miles Mikolas spun five innings and allowed one run against a Mets lineup that featured its stars atop the batting order.
Mikolas kept New York scoreless and limited to two hits and a walk through his first four innings before Francisco Lindorâs one-out single in the fifth inning scored Taylor, who doubled to begin the frame. Working with runners on first and third base and one out after Juan Soto reached via an error, Mikolas kept the Mets to the lone run by getting Pete Alonso to ground into an inning-ending double play.
Reliver John King induced two weak groundouts and notched a strikeout in his scoreless inning of relief.
Starting pitching prospect Tekoah Roby totaled four strikeouts in two scoreless innings. Roby, who was optioned to minor-league camp after the outing, had six called strikes and two whiffs in the appearance from the bullpen. Roby landed his curveball for a strike twice and collected two swings-and-misses on it.Â
Before Wednesdayâs roster move, Roby, 22, totaled 10 strikeouts in nine innings in the Grapefruit League.Â
The second run allowed by the Cardinals came on a solo homer in the ninth off righty Michael Gomez, a non-roster invitee to big-league camp.
