Worthy: Gray and McGreevy remind us that all spring training starts are not equal
Cardinals pitcher Michael McGreevy throws while practicing on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025, at the team’s practice facility in Jupiter, Fla.
Christian Gooden, Post-Dispatch
JUPITER, Fla. — Only spring training presents the type of starting pitching dichotomy the Cardinals put together in a pair of Grapefruit League games on Friday afternoon, one at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter and the other at Clover Park in Port St. Lucie.
The club’s opening-day starter and veteran right-hander Sonny Gray took on the Houston Astros in Jupiter, his standing with the club as secure as possible and his position atop the rotation cemented before he picked up a baseball this spring.
Meanwhile rookie right-hander Michael McGreevy took the mound in the notorious wind tunnel the New York Mets use as their spring training home ballpark, one last attempt for the rookie to leave an impression on the Cardinals and force his way onto the roster.
Each pitcher took the mound for their final start of spring training, the final dress rehearsal before the season starts on Thursday. Because it’s spring training, their respective starts could mean everything or nothing at all.
Gray, 35, called his previous start the “most spring training game I’ve ever been a part of in my life,†a reference to the fact that he came out in the middle of an inning and re-entered four separate times. Ultimately, Gray reminded reporters that the outing “did not matter.†A spring training ERA of 13.97 entering the day sure has Cardinals fans hoping that spring training doesn’t matter. Otherwise, it could be a tough summer.
Meanwhile, McGreevy, 24, has used this spring to make his case for inclusion in the club’s starting rotation. The 2021 first-round draft pick has appeared in just four regular season MLB games (three starts), and the Cardinals entered camp with five established starters aside from McGreevy. The 1.54 ERA he produced this spring only helps bolster his hopes of breaking camp with the big club.
If we were giving their respective spring performances theme songs, Gray probably would have to get Metallica. Why? Because he’s healthy and get his work in and “.†McGreevy, on the other hand, would have to go with something like ASAP Ferg or perhaps Creed. You know, because he’s on a “ or because he’s making the case for the Cardinals to take him “.â€
The Cardinals still have not shared details about their starting pitching plans since manager Oli Marmol acknowledged that they were still considering a six-man rotation earlier this week. While McGreevy has been a favored choice of some to make the rotation, including this writer, Marmol has not given an indication one way or another.
Notably, left-hander Matthew Liberatore is listed as the probable starter for Saturday’s spring training game. A former starter who found a good fit in the bullpen last year, Libertore has been stretched out this spring and could be part of the discussion if the Cardinals use a six-man rotation.
Friday, Gray pushed his way through 4²/³ innings against the Astros. He allowed five earned runs on seven hits, including a pair of home runs, and he struck out five. He gave up four runs in the second inning, three came on one swing by Chas McCormick — the third hit in the first four batters of the inning for the Astros.
Gray then gave up a two-out double off the center field wall by Jeremy Pena, and that prompted bench coach (manger for this split squad game in Jupiter) Daniel Descalso to remove Gray from the inning. Gray re-entered at the start of the next inning.
Pena homered off Gray to start the fifth inning, and that marked the eighth home run of the spring allowed by Gray in four starts.
“As a veteran player, you are using spring training as a build to opening day,†Descalso said. “As a younger player, you may have to maybe use it as a way to make the team, as a way to open some eyes, as a way to get on the radar of the coaching staff.
“You can treat certain players differently depending on what their status is with the team and how many years they’ve been going about this. So not everyone uses spring training for the same reasons.â€
Meanwhile, McGreevy didn’t give up a hit through three innings. He worked around a Jose Fermin throwing error in the first inning on a grounder that should have ended the inning. McGreevy didn’t face Mets stars Francisco Lindor or Juan Soto, but he handled the rest of the Mets regulars including slugger Pete Alonso.
McGreevy tossed five scoreless innings with four strikeouts and no walks. He allowed just one hit, and he lowered his ERA this spring to 1.08 as he capped what Marmol described as a “super positive spring.â€
Asked before the game whether this spring training was about confirming the staff’s observations of McGreevy from late last year or about him proving he’d made progress, Marmol said he wanted to see both.
“I think you’re always wanting to confirm what reports are and what we saw live in St. Louis, but continuing to build on it,†Marmol said. “So I think it’s a combination of both, him continuing to develop consistency with the left-handers — I’d say a little bit of both.â€
Gray and McGreevy certainly weren’t using spring training for the same reasons. For the record, McGreevy held right-handed hitters to a .100 batting average this spring and left-handers batted .233.
That’s certainly something he’ll need to keep working to iron out, and he’d hardly be the only starter working to iron some things out in the big leagues this season.
Kolten Wong inducted into University of Hawaii’s Circle of Honor
St. Louis Cardinals second baseman Kolten Wong gestures to the bench after he doubled driving in what would be the winning runs in the top of the ninth inning during Game 1 of the National League Division Series between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Atlanta Braves at SunTrust Park in Atlanta on Thursday, Oct. 3, 2019. Photo by David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com
David Carson
Just a Big Island boy who lived out his baseball dreams. is the newest member of the UH ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ Circle of Honor!
— Hawaii Baseball (@HawaiiBaseball)
Kolten Wong, one of the University of Hawaii’s most successful baseball players, has been inducted into the school’s Circle of Honor, UH officials announced Friday.
Wong, who grew up in Hilo, hit .358 in three years with the Rainbow Warriors. A first-round pick by the St. Louis Cardinals, Wong went on to play 11 Major League Baseball seasons.
“This is amazing to be in the Circle of Honor, †Wong said. “To get my (jersey) number retired (in 2017) was incredible. It was something I never expected. When I went to UH, it was just to play for my state. It wasn’t for me to make any accolades. But to get that (number retirement), and be from here, and be rooted in Hawaii like I am now, and then to get this, you can’t ask for anything better.â€
He credits his father, Kaha Wong, for helping develop his baseball skills. The elder Wong, who played at USC, is a travel-ball coach and owner of a Hilo-based baseball academy.
“My dad is the pillar of Hilo baseball,†Wong said. “There’s nobody else in Hilo who’s done what he’s done for the kids there. I think he had a streak of 15 years straight of getting a kid drafted. … Just to see from our small little island what my dad was able to accomplish, obviously starting with us, and then continuing that trend … no one gives him enough credit for what he’s done.â€
Wong and his brother, Kean, who also played in the big leagues, benefited from their father’s training.
“Any type of garage or open space we had, we had batting cages out there.†Wong recalled. “My dad started a hitting facility when I was in middle school. It was kind of in the middle of two buildings. He put a cement slab down. We had a cage, and gray tarp over the cage, and that’s how it started. It’s crazy to think we came from that to being in the big leagues, being at the University of Hawaii.â€
Wong said he grew up following such UH players as Matt Inouye and Jon Hee. “When you grow up in Hilo, (UH is) the dream, †Wong said.
Although he received offers from Arizona and Arizona State, among several Division I programs, he committed to UH when he was a sophomore in high school. “That’s how excited I was to go there, †he said.
Cardinals' Sonny Gray uses final spring training start to work with 'different' attack plan
JUPITER, Fla. — Coming out of his final start of a spring training, in which he posted a 12.56 ERA in 14¹/³ innings, Cardinals opening-day starter Sonny Gray feels the beginning of the regular season could do him “wonders.â€
So too may a “different†plan of attack with a pitch mix that has been absent his typical fastball velocity.
How he responded following his second-inning struggles Friday against the Astros provided a chance for Gray to show how he could navigate that as he prepared for his assignment on Thursday, when the Cardinals open their season at Busch Stadium by facing Minnesota.
After surrendering a three-run homer to Chas McCormick and being replaced by a minor leaguer after a double from Jeremy Pena in the following at-bat, Gray retired nine of the next 10 batters he faced. The lone batter who reached base was Pena, who homered off Gray to begin the fifth inning.
Cardinals starting pitcher Sonny Gray, left, and catcher Ivan Herrera talk after finishing a bullpen session on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025, at the team’s training facility in Jupiter, Fla.
Christian Gooden, Post-Dispatch
“I just felt like maybe I started pitching and manipulating my pitches and manipulating my shapes,†Gray said after allowing five runs on seven hits and striking out five batters in 4²/³ innings in a 5-3 loss to the Astros in a split-squad game at Roger Dean Stadium. “I just started trying to pitch a little bit and not be as stubborn as this is what I do. I just started pitching a little bit. And that’s what I’m saying. That’s what it may look like for a little while.â€
Through four starts this spring, Gray allowed 20 runs and 23 hits in 14¹/³ innings. Six of the 23 hits he surrendered were home runs. On Friday, Gray’s average fastball velocity sat at 91.7 mph, which represented a 1.7 mph dip from what his fastball averaged a year ago, per Statcast.
When talking about the dips in his velocity, Gray, 35, said an injection he received at the end of last season for right forearm flexor tendinitis “just pushed everything back†for him over the offseason. He said the injury that cut last season short has not been an issue this spring.
“I think that was probably the difference, right? Clearly, that’s not jumping off the charts right now,†Gray said. “I think there are times throughout the course where you’re like ... you’re not as worried about executing a pitch. You’re just like, ‘All right, throw this ball hard.’ Have it come out and it’s not always there right now. For whatever reason, I don’t know. Physically, I feel good.â€
On Friday, Gray worked around a pair of singles in the first inning to complete a scoreless frame. But in the second, he allowed singles to two of the first three batters he faced before allowing the homer to McCormick. That was followed by Pena’s double and led Gray to be removed from the inning. Minor leaguer Andrew Marrero finished the inning.
When he returned to the game in the third inning, Gray collected two strikeouts and induced a groundout to retire the side in order. He followed that by forcing Brendan Rodgers to fly out, McCormick to ground out, and Jose Altuve to ground out.
Gray got ahead of Peña 1-2 in their encounter to begin the fifth inning, but an 80-mph curveball on the fourth pitch of the at-bat was lifted to center field for a 424-foot solo homer.
Gray then retired Isaac Paredes and Yanier Diaz on groundouts. He capped his spring training with a swinging strikeout of Astros prospect Cam Smith.
The five strikeouts matched a high for Gray this spring. He struck out five batters on Sunday vs. Miami — an outing in which Gray remained in the game until the fifth inning but retired nine of the 19 batters he faced. Gray was replaced by a minor league pitcher in the second, third, fourth, and fifth innings of the outing vs. Miami.
Of the 80 pitches he threw against Houston, Gray’s changeup and four-seam fastball each accounted for 23% of his usage. His sweeper made up 20% and his curveball was used 14 times for an 18% usage rate. After throwing 10 fastballs between the first two innings, he used eight when he took the mound in the next three frames.
The adjustments gave him a chance once in spring training to see how his pitch mix can help him as he deals without his usual fastball velocity.
“I will find a way. There’s no doubt in my mind about that. I will find a way. It just might look a little different than what I’m used to,†Gray said. “… I do think that will come back. It’s just after the second (inning) I was like, ‘All right, let’s figure out a way while it’s not here. Let’s figure out a way to do it differently while it’s not here.’ I’ve always been able to manipulate a baseball and do that. I mean, we’ll see though. We’ll see. I definitely will figure it out.â€
Former Cardinal Kyle Gibson was open to retiring. Then the Orioles came calling.
St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Kyle Gibson throws a pitch in the fourth inning on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in a game against the Seattle Mariners at Busch Stadium.
Zachary Linhares, Post Dispatch
BRADENTON, Fla. — Kyle Gibson went into 2024 knowing if he didn’t pitch well, that would be it.
In his late 30s, Gibson signed a one-year deal with the Cardinals, just a short drive from his home in the St. Louis area. If that’s how he went out, playing close to home with his wife, Elizabeth, and their four children, that would be OK, he thought.
“I was content with it,†Gibson said in the Orioles’ clubhouse Saturday morning after signing with the team the night before.
But he did pitch well. In 30 starts, Gibson posted a 4.24 ERA, his best since he was an All-Star in 2021, and a .251 batting average against, the third lowest in his career. That didn’t result in teams clamoring over Gibson this offseason, though.
The longer he went with only minor league contract offers with invites to spring training, the more he started to think he’d thrown his last pitch. Gibson joked with his agent each time a starting pitcher signed, texting him, “OK, I gotta be next,†but the days, weeks and months went by.
“I kind of knew if the right opportunity came up, then I’d have a decision to take it or not,†Gibson said. “If opportunities didn’t come up, then you’re telling me I have to stay home with my kids and wife? OK, that wasn’t going to be a big deal. That was going to be a lot of fun, too.â€
About a month ago, Gibson and his wife talked about what teams he should be open to signing with, especially considering he’d join late in spring training. If it couldn’t be a team in the Midwest, they both agreed on one team that made sense: Baltimore.
“As we talked about Baltimore, this was a place that we really enjoyed,†Gibson said. “We know the clubhouse really well and it was one of the places where we thought, if there’s somewhere to play after playing in St. Louis, this is one of those places that would be pretty special and fun to be a part of.â€
A week later, Mike Elias called.
After Grayson Rodriguez went down with an elbow injury, the Orioles were without one of the best pitchers in their rotation, raising questions about whether they’d have enough rotation depth to make it through if the injury bug struck again this season. Elias reached out to Gibson’s agent to discuss the possibility of a reunion, and an offer came through last week.
After battling the flu along with three of his four kids, Gibson agreed to the one-year, $5.25 million contract Thursday and it was announced Friday night.
“Obviously, I was pretty excited,†Gibson said. “This was a place that was pretty special for my family in 2023.â€
The only downside of signing up for another year in the show is Gibson knows the extra dad time he got last year and this winter is ending. Last season, he was “spoiled†with being able to spend more time with family — taking them to school on night games and tucking them into bed after day games.
“I think that was probably some of the hardest part,†he said. “I kind of not quite reserved that it was over, but I had been pretty content spending some time with the kids. So leaving them Thursday night was pretty tough.â€
Gibson started opening day for the Orioles in 2023, winning 15 games and posting a 4.73 ERA. He pitched a team-high 192 innings and no American League pitcher started more games than his 33 that season. But his contributions as a leader in a young clubhouse were perhaps greater than those on the field, helping guide the team to a 101-win season.
Gibson was so respected in Baltimore that teammates still talked about him last year and this spring. Charlie Morton, a 41-year-old starter the Orioles signed this offseason, said the younger pitchers on the staff all raved about Gibson.
“Everyone that I’ve talked to — I mean, guys were talking about Kyle to me when I first got here,†Morton said. “ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ were like, ‘Oh yeah, Kyle was this guy in the clubhouse. Gibby was one of the best guys I’ve been around. A great teammate.’â€
Gibson knowing he would jell with the Orioles’ clubhouse was a factor in him saying yes to the contract offer.
“Every time you join a new team, you’re kind of playing it out in your head. ‘What’s the locker room like? How am I going to fit in? What’s the dynamic going to be?’†Gibson said. “One of the questions I got was how do I think about joining camp this late and joining a team late. This was an easy question for me.â€
Gibson said he’s thrown about four bullpen sessions of between 50 to 70 pitches. Manager Brandon Hyde said Friday that the right-hander will need several weeks to be ready to pitch in big league games.
Gibson believes he’s “ahead of schedule†compared with how he’d normally feel beginning spring training. He hopes it won’t take a full six weeks for him to get ready.
“Try to do a little bit of a normal buildup, but I do think I have the ability to speed it up,†he said.
Whenever he does arrive, Gibson will be asked to do what he’s always done: Eat innings, mentor teammates and help the Orioles win ballgames.
Liberatore earns start as McGreevy finishes his pitch for rotation: Cardinals Extra
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — The day after Michael McGreevy affixed an exclamation point to his springlong attempt to force the Cardinals’ consideration of a six-man rotation, another candidate who shoved his way into the conversation gets to start his claim.
Matthew Liberatore will make his first start of Grapefruit League play this spring on Saturday and seek to build upon an impressive camp that has the Cardinals rethinking the plan to use him in relief.
The Cardinals’ Matthew Liberatore throws on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025, at the team’s training facility in Jupiter, Fla.
Christian Gooden, Post-Dispatch
“He’s come in behind guys, and we’re giving him the opportunity to start his own game – the way we set it up weeks ago, and we’ll follow through with that,†Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said Friday at Clover Park after a 3-2 loss to the Mets on a split-squad day. “I’m looking forward to seeing him take that start.â€
Asked what the lefty could do in one day to sway the decision, Marmol smiled.
“He’s had a tremendous camp,†the manager replied.
The Cardinals intend to finalize their 26-player roster for opening day ahead of their departure from Florida on Monday morning for an exhibition game that night in Memphis. The Cardinals have few decisions yet to make — center field stands out as Victor Scott II homered for a fourth time this spring. He has had a “phenomenal†camp, per the the manager. Scott is dueling Michael Siani for the last position player roster spot.
On the pitching side, the Cardinals are weighing the benefit of a six-man rotation, long reliever, and Liberatore’s role. They have had long discussions in the past week about how to organize a six-man rotation for the opening weeks of the season. The front office previously said that Liberatore will break with the major-league club: role TBD.
With Chris Roycroft winning a spot on the right side of the bullpen and only 14 pitchers remaining in camp the final contest, with everyone healthy, centers around McGreevy, long reliever Kyle Leahy, and Liberatore’s role.
“I’m really looking forward to seeing ‘Libby’ start,†the manager offered.
McGreevy continued to set the bar Friday.
The right-hander pitched five scoreless and efficient innings against the Mets. He needed only 58 pitches to get through the 15 outs, and he had to trot out to the bullpen to reach the targeted pitch count for arm stamina. Of McGreevy’s 15 outs in the game, 12 either came via strikeout (four) or groundout (eight). McGreevy got seven swings and misses, five on his slider. And he pitched around two errors before upshifting into a relentless attack on the strike zone.
Of his final 20 pitches, 17 were strikes.
He got six outs on them.
“He’s poised,†Marmol said. “He’s got a really good demeanor out there and that is going to really serve him well for a long time. Just because he’s not sped up by things. He continues to attack and knows what gives him success and he doesn’t shy away from it. A couple of errors. Balls that were misplayed. And unfazed. Unfazed.â€
McGreevy, the Cardinals’ first-round pick the 2021 draft, is building off three superb starts last season in the majors, including an eight-inning gem at San Francisco to close the year.
Liberatore is coming off a season in which he found his groove in relief, rising into a higher-leverage role from the left side late in the season.
The centerpiece prospect of the 2020 trade with Tampa Bay that included Randy Arozarena, Liberatore start spring training with seven nearly perfect innings. In five appearances, all in relief, the lefty has struck out as many batters (seven) as he’s allowed hits (seven).
Leahy began spring on a starters’ schedule but has moved into relief and struck out 13 batters against seven hits in 11 innings and seven appearances.
The Cardinals organized their starters for this final stretch of exhibition games around the assignments for the opening series, which begins Thursday at Busch Stadium. Sonny Gray has been named the opener and Erick Fedde will start the second game. Liberatore’s start on Saturday slides in between those two and the wish to keep Gray and Fedde on five-day rest.
Andre Pallante is in the rotation to start the year, a team official told the Post-Dispatch. He has his schedule rewritten so that he starts Monday in Memphis and neither he nor Fedde go an extended time between starts.
Arenado, McGee
on backfields
Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado returned to the backfields for at-bats Friday so that he could get them by the bulk. Arenado hit second in almost every half inning played in a simulated game with Cardinals minor-leaguers. That gave him a chance to see many pitches without having to wait his turn in the lineup or play the field in an exhibition game.
Arenado has been doing this routinely to work on his timing and swing.
One of the coaches watching the game from foul territory was Willie McGee. The Cardinals great has been in minor-league camp for most of the past week, and it’s the start of his new role in the organization. McGee, a major-league coach the past several years, has moved into a special advisor role that reduces his travel schedule and allows him to work more as an instructor with the youngest players.
Winn returns to lineup
After missing a few days of work because of a sore right wrist, shortstop Masyn Winn returned to the lineup and leadoff slot Friday against Houston in Jupiter, Florida. Winn went 0 for 4 with a strikeout to drop his spring batting average to .089. In exhibition games, Winn four singles, three walks and he’s struck out 13 times. He’s been hitting leadoff in part to get him as many at-bats in games as possible.
Marmol agreed with the description the shortstop has shown frustration.
“And that’s OK,†the manager said. “That is what gives him that edge and that success — it’s being hard on himself. He’s catching up to where he wants to be with the bat. Just continue getting as many at-bats as possible is going to be important. He didn’t start off the way he would have liked. I have a lot of confidence in what he’s going to be able to do once the year starts.â€
Edmonds, red jackets, etc.
Jim Edmonds, the former All-Star outfielder and broadcaster, headlines the list of Cardinals Hall of Famers expected to attend opening-day festivities at Busch Stadium. He mused on a local sports-talk radio show that he might not attend, but when the team revealed its schedule participants he was the first red jacket listed along with National Baseball Hall of Famers Ozzie Smith, Tony La Russa, Ted Simmons, and Scott Rolen.
Other team Hall of Famers expected to be present include Chris Carpenter, Jason Isringhausen, Ray Lankford, John Tudor, Jose Oquendo, and a recent inductee Matt Morris.
Reliever Phil Maton’s next appearance is set for a Grapefruit League game, likely on Saturday, to also allow him to pitch in Memphis on Monday.
Infielder Nolan Gorman missed both games Friday because of flu-like illness.
One of the teams in the minor-league game Arenado played in featured top prospect JJ Wetherholt, who had a snazzy play as a second baseman when a ball pinballed off the pitcher.
Prospect performances force Cardinals to decide between playing in Memphis, sitting in St. Louis: BPIB
While typing the introduction to a brand new episode of Best Podcast in Baseball, I'm sitting in the press box at Clover Park in Port St. Lucie, Florida, having just watched rookie Michael McGreevy carve through the Mets lineup, pitch around two errors, and finish his impressive spring trianing with five scoreless innings.
Meanwhile, down in Jupiter, Florida, Victor Scott II has homered. Again.
McGreevy and Scott personify the decision the Cardinals are going to have to make weighing whether it is better for their future to have a deserving player sitting in St. Louis or playing in Memphis. That's the crux of quesitons facing the Cardinals as they crystallize their roster before leaving Florida for the start of the regular season and opening day Thursday against Minnesota at Busch Stadium.Ìý
The final Best Podcast in Baseball from Florida centers on that choice -- sitting in the majors, playing in the minors -- and what is best for the players, what is best for the team, and what is a true reflection of the promised "transition" and youth movement?
How they act upon the strong springs by McGreevy and Scott will say more than any quote from the Cardinals.
Post-Dispatch sports writers Derrick Goold and Jeff Gordon explore the final Cardinals' roster choices and much more much in the sixth episode of the 13th season of the Best Podcast in Baseball.
Gordon also provides a forecast for the reception the Cardinals will receive upon returning to St. Louis.
The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ, , and Derrick Goold. It's available weekly throughout the season.
The Cardinals history that's front of mind during other years or weighing on the shoulders of other seasons is now in the hands of the players in the locker room.
A lengthy interview before his exit, Cardinals president of baseball operations discusses his tenure, the perpetual search for an edge and "poetry" of the game.
Hochman: 5 things that must happen for the Cardinals to make the playoffs in 2025
Can a team that is transitioning toward the future ... that didn’t sign one free-agent starting pitcher or hitter ... that plans to give young bats plenty of at-bats ... that has a lackluster rotation ... and that has one player who hit 20-plus homers last year (and that was 21) ...
Actually make the playoffs?
I mean, no. Probably not.
But the men in the stadium are going to at least try. Those actually wearing the Cardinals uniforms, from manager Oliver Marmol to the mop-up guy, will pour their everything into this season. After all, they can’t help what hand they’ve all been dealt.
But for this Cards team to advance to October, well, a lot has to go right. Here’s my realistic take on five things that could happen (again, could) for the Cardinals to crack (crash?) the postseason:
An offensive outfield?
In 2024, Cards outfielders slugged .378, which ranked 23rd in Major League Baseball (St. Louis was 19th in 2023). But there is a world in which the Cards can significantly improve their ranking.
Of course, it starts with Jordan Walker. He must hit more balls off the ground. And with a new hitting coach and new approach, there’s optimism (at least from this seat on press row). Consider this: In 2024, Walker had baseball’s fifth-fastest average bat speed of players who put at least 100 balls in play. Not a bad starting point.
And Lars Nootbaar should start most games, too. Not that he’s not a slugger, per se, but this is a guy who profiles as a producer when healthy — per Baseball Savant, he ranks in the top 12% of hitters in average exit velocity, hard-hit percentage, xwOBA, walk rate and chase rate.
Fedde and Gray, pray for rain?
Look, I have little faith in Miles Mikolas having anything more than an average year. And it’s easy to be skeptical about fellow starter Steven Matz. But what happens if Erick Fedde and Sonny Gray each have All-Star seasons? A dominant 1-2 punch can change the trajectory of a season. And consider that in all of baseball last year, Gray finished second in strikeouts per nine innings (10.9) to Cy Young Award winner Chris Sale (11.3). And Gray was seventh in strikeouts to walks and in fielding independent pitching.
Meanwhile, per Baseball Reference, Fedde finished fifth of all pitchers with 5.6 wins above replacement (WAR). So yeah, some optimists could say both guys have the potential to be elite. But I’m not necessarily going to proclaim it — especially because both starters struggled in the first few weeks of spring games.
Maximized Nolans?
Two of the most disappointing hitters in the National League last year were Cardinals (well, four if you add Walker and Paul Goldschmidt). Yes, as has been well documented, Nolan Arenado had his least-powerful offensive season, and Nolan Gorman set a franchise strikeout-rate record.
OK, so Arenado believes he still can slug. You want to give a future Hall of Famer the benefit of the doubt. And as for Gorman, if he (somehow) figures out how to reduce the strikeouts, he’s a 30-homer guy.
If both Nolans reach realistic ceilings this season — paired with the mashing Willson Contreras in the middle of the lineup — the team could be in the hunt.
Stabilized stable of relievers?
Ryan Helsley is perhaps the best closer in the NL, if not all of baseball. And Ryan Fernandez, JoJo Romero and John King are among the relief returnees from last year’s bullpen, which had a 3.64 ERA (fourth-best in the NL). The addition of Phil Maton (the lone free-agent signing of the offseason) provides even more firepower.
And Marmol and his pitching department proved they can manage a ’pen well. That ERA might be hard to match, but the Cards could have a very intimidating group of relievers yet again.
Bold gloves?
Marmol particularly appreciates good defense — and its value in winning baseball games. The skipper could field a very strong defensive lineup with Arenado at third, Masyn Winn at shortstop, Brendan Donovan at second, Pedro Pages at catcher and Michael Siani or Victor Scott II in center. As they say, you want your best defense to be up the middle.
It remains to be seen how the lineup will look weeks (if not months) into the season. The Cards could deploy a defense that changes games. But, of course, that could affect the offense.
Still, with new coaching additions and evolving players, the Cards should improve defensively overall. Last year, the club finished 17th in Fangraphs’ primary defensive metric.
The bottom line
Well, there you go — five ways the Cardinals can go from average to awesome. It’s asking quite a lot, though. Hard to see it all happening.
Still, that’s the fun of the season. You jump on board and go along for the ride. I think the ride will end in September (if not sooner).
But try telling that to a Marmol or a Nootbaar or a Winn — these guys are confident and competitive and expect to win.
This article is part of the St. Louis Cardinals season preview section, which will be in print on Sunday, March 23.
Cardinals outfielder Lars Nootbaar looks for a pitch during live batting practice on Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025, during spring training at the team’s practice facility in Jupiter, Fla.
Christian Gooden, Post-Dispatch
Finding the way back: Can Cardinals honor their past by fast-forwarding to future?
JUPITER, Fla.Ìý— From notes he’d jotted down on various sheets, Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol drew his thoughts together onto one 8½-by-11-inch piece of blank copy paper, no lines, and mapped out in pen the direction he wanted to set for the 2025 St. Louis Cardinals.
Cardinals shortstop Masyn Winn signs autographs for fans on Monday, Feb. 17, 2025, after batting practice on the first day of full-squad workouts during spring training at the team's facility in Jupiter, Fla.
Christian Gooden,Post-Dispatch
He wrote a notion repeated later by several playersÌý— “everybody loves an underdog storyâ€Ìý— but also outlined the “messy, hard, and uncomfortable†work it takes to earn that love. In the clubhouse and in front of the full squad this spring, that single sheet in hand, he wanted to get to the point.
For decades, the Cardinals and their fans have started seasons with championship expectations befitting the logo on their front and history at their back. This season, they’re trimming payroll, trying to steer toward youth and “doing something historically we’ve never done,†the manager said later.
A club usually aiming to live up to its past now insists its focus is on the future.
Marmol sought to address the present.
“The only people who get to define that,†he said this past week when asked about his message to the team, “are in the room right now.â€
When the Cardinals welcome the Minnesota Twins to Busch Stadium for opening day March 27, more than facing a former World Series opponent will feel disorienting. The Cardinals begin their 134th season in the National League openly acknowledging the pursuit of a 12th World Series championship is not their divining rod, even after a pennant drought of a dozen years, six without a playoff series win and two with nary a trickle of postseason appearances. The current front office, under president of baseball operations John Mozeliak, is preparing the organization for next season's front office, overseen by president-in-waiting Chaim Bloom. There is an emphasis on player development when it comes to spending and Bloom's concentration in ’25.
The Cardinals called their approach a “reset†all winter. By spring, it had been renamed a “transition.†Pick a "re-" word for this rebranding. Just don’t call it a rebuild.
Maybe it’s their gap year.
“This transition is going to be about a youth movement, and it is going to be about giving players opportunities,†Mozeliak said. “It will have a different feel to it. Maybe the language has changed. But the hope hasn’t. It’s not always what you spend. It’s not always who you sign. It’s not always who you trade for. Sometimes it’s about what do you have and what do you do with it.â€
Reacting to a reduction in broadcast TV fees and braced for reduced ticket sales due to a reluctant fan base, the Cardinals dropped payroll by nearly 20%. ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ were prepared to cut more.
In the clubhouse listening to Marmol’s opening statement were zero major league free-agent additions and three veterans with no-trade clauses the Cardinals explored dealing to jump-start a “transition.†When asked if they wanted to go elsewhere, two of themÌý— opening day starter Sonny Gray and catcher-turned-first baseman Willson ContrerasÌý— said they “would prefer not to,†as Bartleby the Scrivener might. The winterlong search to trade Nolan Arenado to a contender became another of Herman Melville’s characters.
Arenado vetoed a deal to Houston. When Boston signed Alex Bregman to a whale of a deal and talks with the Yankees submerged, the 10-time Gold Glove-winner reported to camp a few days early. He planted his cleats at third base. A strong start could still carry him to another team.
His strong start could carry a team.
"We know in our hearts that last year wasn't something as a team to be proud of, and we have to go out and play better," Arenado said. "And if we play better than we did last year, you never know what’s going to happen."
The bottom-line directive of this season for the Cardinals is to determine the leading players for the two-, three-, four- or more-year plan to reestablish the birds on the bat’s perch in a National League veering into plutocracy. As Marmol stated: “We can’t (get) to the end of this year and still have question marks on certain guys.â€
Who will become clear.
What is already: The next six months belong to the players in the room.
“People always want the team to invest and get the best player they can for the most money,†Contreras said. “Which is fine. But we also have a lot of talent in this group. We have a lot of high-energy guys in this group. We just need to let them play comfortable, let them be who they are and let them become who they want to be.
“That’s what I’m betting on,†Contreras continued. “It’s not the team that spends the most money. It’s the team that is willing to make sacrifices on the field, to stick together day in and day out, to grow together and that is the team has good chemistry and talent.â€
He nodded in the direction of the other All-Stars.
“We decided to stay and compete,†Contreras said. “And we’re not giving up.â€
Vibe check
All in their St. Patrick’s Day green caps, outfielder Lars Nootbaar and the Cardinals infielders lined up on the far edge of the turf field nearest their clubhouse Monday morning. A pitching machine stared at them 40-50 feet away, ready to spit short hops.
Let the games begin.
Masyn Winn missed one to his backhand, trotted back in line and did five pushups. Contreras and Arenado missed back-to-back backhands. Before getting in line, they stopped, dropped and rolled out five pushups. When he mishandled a toss back to the bucket, coach Stubby Clapp put down his glove and did five pushups. What started in February as a contest between Contreras and Alec Burleson at first base with pushups after each misplay spread to other infielders and drills and now the coaches.
“The general vibeÌý— as the kids sayÌý— is a good sense of togetherness,†starter Miles Mikolas laughed.
“Playful accountability,†Marmol said. “There is a certain demeanor, edge to them that is natural to who they are. Guys are being themselves. And collectively, when they do that, you have a pretty youthful, electric, fun-to-watch group. The vibe of camp has been detailed but loose. For a young player, that’s the place to be.â€
The Cardinals are not quite as young as they initially planned, but they are younger-ish. The starting rotation, led by Gray, remains one of the eldest with four members 32 or older. The average age of opening day pitchers dipped from 30.8 last year (fourth-oldest) to 29.8. The position players fell from 27.7 (12th) to 26.5. There could be 14 homegrown players on the opening day active roster, up from 11.
Moves not made this winter did create a tug-of-war in spring between aging stars aching to win and a pledge to let the kids play. A common thread from evaluators on opposing teams:
“It's hard to tell what direction they are really going?†said an AL scout.
The Cardinals weighed short-term jolts of yore vs. long-term growth, such as Matthew Liberatore in an impact relief role or upside starter. Victor Scott II, Thomas Saggese and Michael McGreevy had strong sprints, but their status pitted limited roles in the majors against daily development in Class AAA Memphis.
“So our mantra this offseason has been we’re going to give guys opportunities to play," Mozeliak said. "Find out what they can do for usÌý— and not see them doing it in a different uniform just to make a move.â€
From the creation of the farm system by Branch Rickey to the cutting-edge farm system of 10-15 years ago, the Cardinals remained so adept at developing players and amplifying fundamentals that rivals used “The Cardinal Way†as a compliment, not a social media punchline. That strength nourished four consecutive National League Championship Series appearances, from 2011-14, and then wilted from the industry lead. A rival executive said, "It became difficult to call them a modern organization."
The Cardinals’ player development powerhouse eroded like Ernest Hemingway once described a character going bankrupt.
“Gradually, then suddenly.â€
An explanation from ownership for the slideÌý— the lack of high draft picksÌý— is also a reason the Cardinals should have been more vigilant with innovative development. To catch up this past winter, the Cardinals spent between $4 million and $5 million more to increase staff, technology and travel for the player development group. New facilities will rise, too. This spring training had a kinetic feel to the schedule and drills, in part because of the expanded staff that gave players at all levels more coaches, more tech, more support.
An undercurrent to the upgrades is something old-fashioned: the schooling from winning.
“That has to be the aim whether it’s a transition year or not,†Marmol said. “I think you have to teach guys how to win, and you do that by winning. Now, will how you get there look a little different time to time? Absolutely.â€
The Cardinals, at 83-79, finished tied with the Cubs for second in the National League Central — Still baseball’s most hospitable division! Come visit!Ìý— and only accomplished that by outplaying their offense. The 2024 club was the lone winning team with a negative run differential and the first Cardinals team to pull off the feat in 50 years. Their 83 wins were the most ever by a Cardinals team that allowed more runs than it scored.
The Cardinals defied limited production with a heat-shield bullpen with record-setting closer Ryan Helsley and setup man Andrew Kittredge landing leads. Replacing Kittredge is vital to avoid late-game ruptures that could torch the ’25 team like they did the ’23 team.
Or the Cardinals could just score more. The Cardinals slugged a puny .342 with runners in scoring position (RISP), the lowest in the NL in 24 and their fifth-lowest since 1974.
Their .229 average with RISP was the Cardinals’ single-season low as a team since the stat began being tracked.
To be fair, the Cardinals’ .229 average and .342 slugging was similar to a Silver Slugger’s career average and slugging. Cy Young winner Zack Greinke hit .225 and slugged .335 in his career.
“I hope it’s a club that scores runs,†Mozeliak said. “I think that put so much pressure on us last year. It exhausted our pitching. It was like our pitching was always stressed. And that meant that your defense was always stressed. You’re always playing tight games. And I think from an offensive standpoint, I just think everybody was trying to hit the five-run homer trying to make up for it.â€
Enter the youth, some still as green as St. Patrick’s hats.
Brand loyalty
On their way to get tacos late after a game with Class AA Springfield (Missouri) or on the bus to the next far-flung Texas League locale or just playing an NBA video game, Jordan Walker and Winn would talk about winning as Cardinals, like they heard Cardinals do.Ìý
“You give off that energy when it’s how you feel,†Walker said of the conversations between two centerpieces of the Cardinals' 2020 draft class. “We’re going to catch somebody by surprise.â€
Their pro careers began during a pandemic, and Walker and Winn are a snapshot of the contemporary Cardinals in flux. In Winn’s and Walker’s first pro season, the Cardinals farm system had one of the lowest combined winning percentages of any franchise — ever. Helsley, the longest-tenured Cardinal, recently noted he made the playoffs in his first eight consecutive years in the organization. Few, if any, in Generation Reset have one.
A year after the Cardinals turned to older throwback starters for an immediate turnaround, they’re turning toward youth with a longer time frame.
“The message is: Compete every minute of the day,†Marmol said. “And that is creating an identity of being a team that gets better every week, every month so that May looks better than April and June looks better than May.â€
For the pitching to improve, it will need Matthew Liberatore, Ryan Fernandez, Michael McGreevy and the ascending talent Quinn Mathews. For the offense to correct, it will take a lift from Nootbaar and Walker or Nolan Gorman.
The players in that room have the floor.
The Cardinals history that's front of mind during other years or weighing on the shoulders of other seasons is now in their hands.
“Everybody in the league knows that we have a saying, ‘The Cardinal Way,’†Winn said. “That’s really just winning baseball. That could be small ball. That could be 'Whiteyball' or longball like Albert Pujols. To me, it just means being here and winningÌý— winning a lot. It’s definitely tougher with some of the teams buying pretty much everybody. You still have to play nine innings. You still have to get hot at the right time. We’ll take it from there.
“It’s baseball,†Winn concluded. “And we're still the Cardinals.â€
Lead the Way.
This article is part of the St. Louis Cardinals season preview section, which will be in print on Sunday, March 23.
Chaim Bloom, who will become the Cardinals’ president of baseball operations at the end of this season, talks with Quinn Mathews, the club’s top pitching prospect, on Saturday Feb. 15, 2025, at the team’s practice facility in Jupiter, Fla. Each will be key in the Cardinals’ immediate future.
Christian Gooden, Post-Dispatch
Cardinals infielder Masyn Winn, right, and outfielder Jordan Walker warm up on Monday, Feb. 17, 2025, before drills and batting practice on the first day of full-squad workouts during spring training at the team’s practice facility in Jupiter, Fla.
Christian Gooden, Post-Dispatch
Cardinals pitchers go through strength and conditioning exercises on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025, during spring training at the team's training facility in Jupiter, Fla.
Worthy: Cardinals doing a smart thing with Chaim Bloom but doing it in a wacky way
Chaim Bloom, incoming Cardinals president of baseball operations, waits for live pitching to begin on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025, during the second day of spring training at the team’s practice facility in Jupiter, Fla.
JUPITER, Fla. -- Cardinals broadcaster Chip Caray lobbed a compelling question into the conversation he and other members of the media had this past week with Tony Clark, chief executive of the Major League Baseball Players' Association.
Caray, a longtime presence on baseball broadcasts and third-generation Caray in that role, wondered what it would look like if Major League Baseball ditched geographic divisions and reimagined itself along economic lines. The divisions would be organized by market size, not region. Tampa Bay would be free from competing against the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox for a division playoff spot. The Colorado Rockies wouldn't have to keep pace with the wallets in the National League West, if they were in the Plaines Division with Kansas City.
It's one way to open up more spots in the postseason for markets that are increasingly seeing those routes erased.
Expansion is going to make such tinkering possible.
Intrigued, Best Podcast in Baseball host and ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ baseball writer Derrick Goold asked Caray to expand on his question in this brand new episode -- and much much much more.
This is the 80th year of a Caray calling baseball, and that puts their family up there with some of the longest tenured in the history of the game in any role, any level, or any capacity. And there is a fourth generation on the way. FanDuel ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ Network picked up the Cardinals' Spring Breakout game on March 14 for prospects, but the prospects won't only be on the field. Chip's son, Stefan, will join him in the booth to call the game and offer thoughts on many of the players he's seen before from calling minor-league games.
Prospects for the future of baseball, prospects for the future of playing baseball, and prospects for the future of calling baseball -- all in one 30 minute conversation under the son at the Cardinals player development complex in Jupiter.
The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ, , and Derrick Goold.
ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ
JUPITER, Fla. — Dorothy, Cowardly Lion, Tin Man, Scarecrow and Cardinals fans, pay no attention to that man behind the curtain. Yes, the one currently reshaping the sports franchise so closely identified with St. Louis and waiting in the wings to start a five-year contract as the head of the baseball operations department. His name is Chaim Bloom, but forget you saw him.
Perhaps a “Star Wars†reference might work better than .
OK, imagine current president of baseball operations John Mozeliak appearing every time someone approached his successor, Bloom, and waving his hand a la Obi-Wan Kenobi and uttering something to the effect of “this is not the executive you’re looking for.â€
Film analogies aside, it’s just clunky, awkward and a bit ridiculous at times to have this dynamic where Mozeliak continues running the department and making decisions in his swan song season while his appointed heir Bloom supposedly remains looped into any discussions that will impact the long term.
That dynamic only becomes more groan-worthy when the Cardinals keep Bloom muzzled from speaking publicly. Two competent executives and a shared goal, but only one has a voice? At least, only one allowed to use his voice to communicate to the fan base, followers and St. Louis community at large.
The uncomfortable feel and goofy optics make it a bit difficult to admit this, but ... I think it’s a wise approach to have Bloom focus on player development this season. For Bloom, it might be the best way for him to hit the ground running when he takes over.
After all, player development served as the major theme of that end of season news conference held last fall that featured ownership, Mozeliak and a cameo by Bloom. If the Cardinals truly plan to hang their hats on reestablishing a pipeline of homegrown talent, then player development rightfully deserves Bloom’s full attention.
That farm system will not only provide the future Cardinals, but it will provide the currency for the club to acquire players through trades. The ability to reliably and consistently replace players from within your own system will also open myriad possibilities.
The Cardinals’ ability to bolster their roster going forward will start with their farm system, and that’s worth Bloom taking time to implement changes he feels vitally necessary.
Another reason it’s beneficial to have Bloom hyper-focused on the minors is because one of the most important things an organization can do is evaluate your own prospects. If this season gives Bloom a thorough understanding of the prospects in the system, that will guide and inform his decisions in the future.
We also shouldn’t underestimate Bloom’s potential impact on the farm system. He cut his teeth in the industry through player development with the Tampa Bay Rays.
During his time with the Rays, they built a World Series team in 2008 based largely on homegrown players and players acquired in exchange for their homegrown talent. The Rays regularly punched above their weight in the same division as the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, and they did so on the strength of their player development.
During his time running baseball operations for the Red Sox, Bloom oversaw a resurgence in player development that included their farm system going from being ranked among the bottom third in the majors to the top third by his final season.
The additions of Cerfolio and Day also dovetail in an under-the-radar reason this year in waiting serves Bloom.
When he’s unmuzzled, he’ll likely deflect rather than reflect on the front office situation in Boston. The Red Sox had a large group of executives that remained in place during multiple baseball operations chiefs (Ben Cherington, Dave Dombrowski), and Bloom inherited a large group that included multiple executives at the assistant general manager level as well as top officials in player development, pro scouting, amateur scouting and analytics.
Oh, and interestingly, this offseason — one year into the tenure of Bloom’s successor Craig Breslow.
Anyway, Bloom may very well put more top-level front office officials in place in St. Louis by the time he succeeds Mozeliak than he did during his time in Boston. Not only will he have put in place an assistant GM and the player development leadership including the performance side of things, but the Cardinals are currently holding off on hiring a general manager. That’s one more senior executive Bloom could put in place by the time the Cardinals start his first season in charge.
So yes, it’s weird that the person shaping the organization’s future and who will run baseball operations in less than a year isn’t running the department now. It’s even more weird that the plan is for him to be seen and not heard.
Ultimately, it should work in the organization’s favor that Bloom will have a direct imprint on the farm system for this entire season.
