photo: Zack Thompson (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)
The St. Louis Cardinals closed out the 2024 Grapefruit League with a 2-3-1 week and 11-12-5 overall. Left-hander Zack Thompson will start the season in the rotation for Sonny Gray. Our history feature returns to the shortened spring of 2022.
Spring Training game recaps
Monday, March 18 – Off day
Tuesday, March 19, 2024 – Cardinals 1 (split squad) at Mets 3
In one of two split squad games on Tuesday, the St. Louis Cardinals lost to the New York Mets at Port St. Lucie. Starter Lance Lynn pitched 3 1/3 innings, gave up two runs on three hits, struck out four and walked four.
Joseph King and Leonardo Taveras combined to get the final two outs of the fourth inning. John King threw a scoreless fifth. Ryan Fernandez, Nick Robertson, and Wilking Rodriguez followed with one inning each. Robertson yielded the third Mets run.
St. Louis’ offense scored one run on five hits. No Cardinal had multiple hits. César Prieto drove in the only St. Louis run. There were two extra base hits, a triple from Ivan Herrera and a double by Alec Burleson.
On the base paths, Prieto was caught trying to steal home. Michael Siani was caught at second base.
Tuesday, March 19, 2024 – Cardinals 11, Marlins 10 (split squad)
In the other split squad game, this one at Roger Dean Stadium, the Cardinals edged the Marlins in an 11-10 Tuesday slugfest. Starter Kyle Gibson pitched five innings, gave up eight runs, five earned, on nine hits, struck out two and walked one.
Andrew Kittredge surrendered two runs in the sixth. JoJo Romero, Riley O’Brien, and Kyle Leahy each tossed a scoreless inning.
Willson Contreras was 2-for-2 with three RBI. Matt Koperniak was 2-for-4 with two RBI. Dylan Carlson plated three.
On the base paths, Jared Young was caught stealing.
In the field, Brendan Donovan made a throwing error. Nolan Arenado had a fielding miscue. Koperniak had two outfield assists at second base.
I tried to tweet this live today, but didn't get the job done. Enjoy this video of The Cardinal Nation's #stlcards no. 5 prospect, @Victor_Scott2. This second inning play may have saved another run from the ledger of starter Kyle Gibson. https://t.co/BYtYRsws4F
— Brian Walton (@B_Walton) March 19, 2024
Wednesday, March 20, 2024 – Cardinals 13 at Nationals 4
The Cardinals battered the Nationals in a 13-4 blowout on Wednesday evening in West Palm Beach. Starter Steven Matz pitched four innings, gave up three runs on six hits and struck out three.
Ryan Helsley tossed a scoreless fifth. Giovanny Gallegos and Chris Roycroft each threw a scoreless inning. Trent Baker surrendered one run in the final two relief innings.
Dylan Carlson went 2-for-4 with four RBI on a grand slam. Matt Carpenter was 2-for-2 with an RBI. José Fermín was 2-for-4 with two driven in and two runs scored. César Prieto was 3-for-5 with three RBI and two runs scored. Alfonso Rivas plated a pair.
Carlson and Fermín each hit a long ball. Carpenter, Rivas, Alec Burleson, and Willson Contreras doubled.
Holy smokes! Victor Scott just brought back a HR ball to deep left center at West Palm. His 2nd web gem in two days. #stlcards over Nats 9-3 in 5th.
— Brian Walton (@B_Walton) March 20, 2024
Rise UP! 🤯#ForTheLou pic.twitter.com/m1pewPwEhO
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) March 20, 2024
Thursday, March 21, 2024 – Cardinals 1, Astros 9
The Cardinals fell to the Astros in a 9-1 contest in West Palm Beach on Thursday. Starter Zack Thompson pitched four innings, gave up two runs on six hits, struck out two and walked two.
Andre Pallante threw a scoreless fifth. Josh James surrendered five runs while recording only one out. Matt Svanson secured the final outs of the sixth inning. Alex Cornwell yielded one run in two innings of relief. Cade Winquest allowed one run in the ninth.
The quiet St. Louis offense scored one run on four hits. Ivan Herrera drove in the sole run for the Cards.
On the base paths, Brendan Donovan stole his second base. Masyn Winn was picked off and caught stealing.
In the field, Winn made a throwing error and Nolan Arenado had a fielding miscue. Herrera had a passed ball.
Friday, March 22, 2024 – Cardinals at Marlins (cancelled)
Friday’s game was cancelled due to day-long rain in the area.
Saturday, March 23, 2024 – Cardinals 2, Nationals 2
In the Cardinals final home game of the spring, they tied the Nationals 2-2 at Roger Dean Stadium on Saturday. Starter Miles Mikolas pitched five innings, gave up one run on six hits and struck out three.
Matthew Liberatore threw a scoreless sixth. JoJo Romero and Andrew Kittredge each tossed a scoreless inning. Riley O’Brien surrendered one run in the ninth.
St. Louis’ offense scored two runs on five hits, all singles. No Cardinal had multiple hits. Alec Burleson and Thomas Saggese drove in the team’s two runs.
In the field, José Fermín made a throwing error. Nolan Gorman had a fielding miscue. Jordan Walker had an outfield assist at second base. Mikolas picked a runner off first base.
Sunday, March 24, 2024 – Cardinals 4 at Astros 9
In their final Grapefruit League game, the Cardinals lost 9-4 to the Astros at West Palm Beach on Sunday. Starter Lance Lynn pitched 4 1/3 innings, gave up six runs on seven hits, struck out five and walked two.
Chris Roycroft surrendered one run in 2/3 of an inning of relief. Andre Pallante yielded two runs in the sixth. Ryan Helsley and Giovanny Gallegos each tossed a scoreless inning.
St. Louis’ offense scored four runs on seven hits. R.J. Yeager was 2-for-2 with two RBI. Jacob Buchberger and José Fermín drove in the other two runs. Yeager and Nolan Gorman had the only extra base hits, each with a double.
In the field, Buchberger made a throwing error and Thomas Saggese had a fielding miscue.
Spring Training Big Picture
The Cardinals ended the Grapefruit League schedule with a final-week record of 2-3-1. Their overall Grapefruit League record is 11-12-5. The Cardinals will finish spring training with two games against the Cubs in Mesa, Arizona on Monday and Tuesday.
The top hitters by OPS in the last seven days are Matt Koperniak (1.250), R.J. Yeager (1.250), Dylan Carlson (1.189), Matt Carpenter (1.150), Alec Burleson (1.100), Willson Contreras (1.069), José Fermín (1.033), Ivan Herrera (1.000), and Alfonso Rivas (.929).
Miles Mikolas has the best starter ERA over the last seven days at 1.80. Second-best is Zack Thompson at 4.50. Veterans Steven Matz, Lance Lynn, and Kyle Gibson all had poor starts.
Bullpen strugglers include Josh James (1/3 inning), Cade Winquest, and Andrew Kittredge, with only the latter slated to make the team.
With two games remaining in spring, the final roster for Thursday’s Opening Day is coming soon. The question marks appear to be the final bullpen spots and the outfield. The fifth starter to replace the injured Sonny Gray has been named, Zack Thompson. With Tommy Edman and Lars Nootbaar starting the season on the IL, at least one outfield spot will likely go to Alec Burleson. Michael Siani should get the other. The final bullpen spots remain up in the air.
Trade and Acquisition Rumors
There are no trade or acquisition rumors to report.
Transactions
3/21: 5 NRIs reassigned to minors camp. RHPs Kyle Leahy, Wilking Rodriguez, Cs Wade Stauss, Nick Raposo, OF Matt Koperniak. 38 40-man players and three NRIs remain in camp.
3/23: Four 40-man players optioned out – RHP Nick Robertson, 1B Luken Baker, 1B/OF Alfonso Rivas, 1B/OF Jared Young. 2 NRIs sent down: IF Cesar Prieto, OF Victor Scott. 34 40-man players and one NRI remain in camp.
Injury Report
Five Cardinals are expected to open the season on the injured list, but none are yet official. These assignments can be backdated up to three days prior to March 28’s Opening Day.
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CF Tommy Edman (arthroscopic wrist surgery) will begin the regular season on the injured list. Edman has been bothered by inflammation and not a structural issue. Edman has not yet begun hitting drills.
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LF Lars Nootbaar (two non-displaced rib fractures) injured himself trying to catch a fly ball in the outfield. Nootbaar took swings for the first time on Saturday. It is hoped the outfielder will be cleared to hit soon, but he will start the season on the injured list.
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RHP Sonny Gray’s (right hamstring) imaging revealed his hamstring strain is mild. Gray threw to live hitters on Saturday and looked good. The next step will likely be a simulated game in extended spring training in Jupiter. Gray will start the season on the injured list but could rejoin the Cardinals during the Phillies series in St. Louis that begins on April 8.
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RHP Keynan Middleton (right forearm strain) has been shut down for 10 days and will begin the regular season on the injured list. It is hoped the stint on the IL will be for the minimum of 15 days, but that feels optimistic.
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LHP Drew Rom (left bicep) will begin the season on the injured list. He has been shut down from throwing. Rom could resume throwing next week.
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LHP John King was out of action for several days due to a stomach illness.
Looking Ahead
Spring Training is almost over. The Cardinals played their final game in Florida. They travel to Arizona for two games with the Cubs to end spring training.
Steven Matz is scheduled to make the start against the Cubs on Monday. Kyle Gibson will make the Tuesday start.
The Cardinals will then head to Los Angeles to begin the regular season on Thursday, March 28 with a four-game series against the Dodgers. The starting rotation has been set. Miles Mikolas will make the Opening Day start. Zack Thompson will go Friday, followed by Lance Lynn on Saturday. Sunday’s starter will be Steven Matz.
The Cardinals end the road trip in San Diego with a three-game set beginning April 1. Kyle Gibson will start Monday.
St. Louis’ home opener will be on Thursday, April 4 against the Miami Marlins. It should be Lynn’s turn.
Blast from the Past
Spring Training is winding down, with just two games left on the schedule. Blast from the Past continues to look at past spring trainings. In this installment, we look at a spring training that departed from the usual scheduling due to outside circumstances.
Last week we remembered the shortened spring training of 2020. In this final installment of the series, Blast from the Past looks at 2022 spring training, which was delayed by a labor dispute.
The website Baseball Cube has spring training stats going back to 2006. The roster for the 2022 Cardinals spring training consisted of 46 position players and 31 pitchers.
The primary position players in 2022 were Yadier Molina, Paul Goldschmidt, Tommy Edman, Nolan Gorman, Nolan Arenado, Tyler O’Neill, Harrison Bader, Lars Nootbaar, and Albert Pujols.
Pujols signed with the Cardinals for his final year in the major leagues. He retired at the end of the season along with teammate Yadier Molina. Bader was traded mid-season to the Yankees.
Other position players of note include Andrew Knizner, Dylan Carlson, Brendan Donovan, Paul DeJong, Alec Burleson, and Ivan Herrera.
Starting pitchers included Adam Wainwright, Miles Mikolas, Steven Matz, and Dakota Hudson. Jack Flaherty missed most of 2022 with shoulder issues. The fifth starter was a revolving position held at times by Jake Woodford, Zack Thompson, Matthew Liberatore, and others.
The full 2022 spring training roster can be found here.
2022 spring training season did not start at the usual time. At 12:01 am on December 2, 2021, a work stoppage was instituted by Major League Baseball. The Collective Bargaining Agreement expired without an agreement being reached for a new one. This work stoppage, also called a “lockout,” continued into mid-February 2022, when spring training was set to begin.
The lockout continued into March with no end in sight. Negotiations continued daily but many issues were disputed and thus unresolved. Active negotiations took place at the Cardinals spring training facility, Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, Florida. Cardinals’ 1B Paul Goldschmidt participated in those negotiations along with players from other teams on behalf of the MLBPA.
On March 1, MLB cancelled the first two series of the regular season. Negotiations heated up and on March 10, MLB announced an agreement had been reached.
Opening Day was delayed until April 7. Spring Training officially began on March 11 in both Florida and Arizona.
The first game of the shortened spring training was March 18 and the last on April 5. The Cardinals played 15 spring training games against only the four other teams with spring training camps on the east coast of Florida, the Marlins (who share the Cardinals facility), the Mets, Astros, and Nationals.
In Oliver Marmol’s first spring as manager, the Cardinals logged a 9-5 record, tops in the Grapefruit League.
Goldschmidt led the team with four home runs and a 1.629 OPS. Paul DeJong drove in nine.
Miles Mikolas posted a 2.08 ERA in three starts but Dakota Hudson finished his spring at 7.20.
The regular season began on April 7, with three games against the Pirates at Busch Stadium.
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