photo: Bill DeWitt Jr. and Bill DeWitt III (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)
The conclusion of the 2024 St. Louis Cardinals Winter Warm-Up charity event at Busch Stadium and Ballpark Village arrived on Monday with the final group of presentations and autograph signings scheduled.
Among the popular final day presentations in the main tent included a double-header DeWitt session with Chairman Bill Jr. and President Bill III and a separate session with manager Oliver Marmol. They also met with the media with those details below.
Autograph sessions with these current Cardinals were scheduled on Monday: JoJo Romero, Dylan Carlson, Michael Siani, Ryan Helsley, Tommy Edman, Steven Matz, Packy Naughton, Lance Lynn and Willson Contreras. Skipping the event in 2024 were Paul Goldschmidt, Miles Mikolas and Nolan Arenado, though pre-signed items from Goldy were available for purchase.
Among Cardinals alumni signing on Monday were Tony LaRussa, Andy Van Slyke and Daniel Descalso.
Typically, before or after they sign, the individuals meet with team physicians and are brought to the media area for a question and answer session.
Following are my notes from selected interviews held during the St. Louis Cardinals Winter Warm-Up on Monday, January 15, 2024. Along with my summary is the audio for those who want to listen to the full content. There are multiple hours of it!
Oliver Marmol (34:33)
Started on changes to pitching support late last season with Dean Kiekhefer. DC MacLea also joined. Using a lot of technologies. More info so increasing staff makes sense. Wasn’t enough to go around before. Want coaches available to coach up (less experienced pitchers). If head is in computer all day, miss opportunities.
Daniel Descalso is a winner. Came through organization together. Had eye on him before. Super relatable. Wants guys who have future as manager, who could replace him. High stakes environment. Want best people around.
New pitchers. Every move made with purpose. Put life in clubhouse. Create clubhouse where we trust each other. Hope this leads to fewer innings out of pen. Not the roller coaster with rookies.
Had many conversations with Molina. Hoped he could be in dugout a lot but time is not right for him yet. Hopes he will work with catchers and he is hungry to learn ins and outs of MLB coaching. Hopes he will be around more than not.
Donovan is not as much leadership as being vested and having buy in. Care about team or self? Donovan cares about winning. He’s a Cardinal. Invested in self and challenged others to do the same.
If he had to narrow focus to one thing, it is to trust each other.
Will be nice to have entire team together at one time, but no change to spring schedule and routine.
Contreras wants to get better every day and Yadi will help him.
Learned a lot about himself last year. Tested character. “I need to be better. Last year was unacceptable.”
Continuity going into spring. Guys know where they stand so can build team.
Victor Scott is confident kid. Haven’t been around him a ton. Exciting player.
On steals, if success rate is high, will take chance. No change in strategy. Depends on players.
With another year of experience and health, offense will be top five in MLB.
His contract status not a motivation, or what was he doing years one and two? Wants to make StL win.
Mikolas motivated. Not happy about last year. Making adjustments.
Matz had best six weeks at end of season. Best I’ve seen him.
Winn is really good defender. Enables Gold Glove center fielder (Edman). Winn doesn’t scare, embraces competition. Hope he takes hold.
Brought pitchers in who can miss more bats. He likes that. Purpose behind every player added. Can do multiple roles.
Kittredge not being high maintenance is helpful. Any innings, no ego. Can give him the ball whenever needed.
Asked Oquendo to make Walker his special project. “Can you wear him out?” Oquendo embraced it. Worked in Jupiter this winter. Get him ready for spring and Willie (McGee).
Offseason conversations. How well can you take downs? Trust. Grinding in one direction. Sustainable culture. Trust starts with honest two-way communication. Will hear word “trust” a lot. If guys don’t want to be accountable, they don’t fit here.
On defense, good to have versatile guys who can give days off, but also good to know shortstop and center fielder will start every day.
Daniel Descalso (19:41)
Working on spring training plan. Nice to get to Winter Meetings to meet people and getting to know systems for the information he needs. Different orgs have different systems. They had none when he played.
Also reaching out to players.
Will challenge Marmol. Needs differing viewpoint.
Trust is huge part of equation. Has to earn it as new guy.
Last year was tough. Get back to playing Cardinals baseball and deep October run that fans are used to.
Had nice gig in Arizona. Set own schedule. Wouldn’t have left for any opportunity.
Goldy is least talked about superstar in MLB. Runs down line, prepares, does little things, leads by example.
Molina was one of favorite teammates. Played through injuries. All he wants is to win.
Wants 26 guys who want to win. Either be part of group or be somewhere else.
Everyone has to look in mirror about 2023. Not all on Oli, but he is in front every day. We all need to hold to high standard. Set high expectation.
Reestablish fundamentals in spring. Eager to get off to hot start, not measured by W/L, but playing good baseball. If mindset of all players is to win every night, the W/L record will be there and individual stats will be ok, too.
Tommy Edman (17:53)
Plans to get to spring training early to get to know new guys.
Wrist bothered him some days in 2022. Lingered into 2023 offseason on and off. July game in Miami, sharp pain in wrist. Went on IL 3-4 weeks. Imaging after season warranted surgery. Damage to cartilage and wrist bones. Don’t want to be more specific.
Not full go now. Needs to go through hitting progression. Start on tee, increase number of swings, then soft toss, etc. Wants several weeks of game action before Opening Day (but not expected to be cleared at start of spring training). Need to get to full motion and dealing with expected swelling. After surgery, was immobilized, ligaments were tight. Rebuilding from that, not surgery. Has started throwing and taking ground balls. Cleared for full lifting.
This is different offseason. Last year expected to play infield. This year focusing on length running to get to top speed and build endurance vs. sprint when infielder. Keep legs strong. Good to know he will play center field. Can do more in spring to prepare. Reads, etc.
Letting agent handle arbitration. He is focused on baseball side. “Arbitration is a terrible process.” I know I have to deal with it. Understands both conflicting sides. Haven’t been involved in any multi-year contract conversations. May discuss with hearing coming.
Definite goal is Gold Glove. Feels he can win it. Good to have more time on nuances. Biggest toll in CF is amount of running so building sprint endurance.
A year of data will provide learning on rules changes affecting steals. Will be able to take better advantage in 2024. 94 steals by Victor Scott impressive. (Reply when reminded by writer that he plays same position:) “I play a lot of positions.” Winn is one of more talented athletes. Has arm strength, but understands rhythm of game to make throws. He has a lot of ability at the plate.
Back to wrist. Hard to say how it affected his results. He did take fewer swings before game at times to avoid flareup.
Good to see multi-position guys valued across game. 2B/SS/CF are most demanding positions except catcher.
JoJo Romero (10:10)
Normal progression this winter. Knee felt better. Needed to get explosiveness in lower half.
Started throwing Thanksgiving time. Will get on mound when he gets home. Not changing offerings. Get better consistency. Felt like pieces came together last year.
Good feeling getting MLB hitters out. Doesn’t think about high leverage situations. Takes same approach. Stressful, but going in there relaxed.
Pen members feed off each other. Good vibe in Memphis. Felt what they felt. Be there for them. Be great teammate. Helsley very smart. He and Gio great help.
Steven Matz (10:28)
Got together with doctors and trainers and stuck to plan. Starting building up end of October. Had nice six week spurt of success to carry into spring. Bummer that he had little injury that set him back.
Noted he is youngest on staff and turns 33 in May. Group of starters to build off each other. Sonny is really intense. Wants everyone to watch pens. Every pen of his has intent. Worked with him in Nashville in offseason. Great addition. Lynn is workhorse. They faced each other on high school field during COVID.
Last year did not sit well with anybody. Put in a little extra work.
Goldy so consistent. Look up to him for work, family man, great teammate.
In first 10 starts of 2023, always 1-2 pitches that got him every time. The “lat thing” was a freak thing but felt was making progress before injury.
Lance Lynn (19:35)
Had great time first stint with St. Louis but didn’t think about coming back. “Baseball has a weird sense of humor.” Learned it was a business. Never go back; look ahead.
Found different ways to lead and connect and learned from different places (since). Each group different, but make both accountable and comfortable.
Figured out what didn’t work last year. Correct wrongs of last year. Pitch mix didn’t click. Threw a bunch of changes in at once.
Played with Marmol in Low-A and High-A. Same guy, wants to win. Fiery.
Cardinals baseball is being good teammate and helping guy next to you.
Didn’t miss beat with Mo. Always got along.
Last year trade. LA was down starters and needed innings, something he does well. Didn’t talk about anything else.
Talked with Cards before signing. Compared info. On same page. Open to taking help. When he came up, starters (Carp, Waino, Lohse, Westbrook) made fun if didn’t go six innings and 100 pitches. Going deep will trickle through 2024 staff. Healthy competitive fun between starts.
2011 teammates. “I am still playing and they are not!”
Sees similarities with Contreras. Everyone hates him, good for teammate.
LA opener will be chaotic. Will be a show.
Known Gray a long time. Gets better every year. Last year it clicked and all made sense to him.
On new stolen base rules. “People who couldn’t hold runners before, still can’t.” I was taught to pay attention or Yadi would yell at me.
Willson Contreras (21:15)
Forget about 2023 but learn from it.
Can’t wait to start working with new starters. They will own it if they do something wrong.
Molina will help him and everyone. Will pick his brain.
Good opportunity to create winning team with Gray. I came here to win. Can’t replace Waino and Yadi, but create our legacy one step at a time.
Will give 120% in 2024 and wants to play in 140 games.
Lynn has same attitude as I. Have to be careful with it (laughs). Love way he attacks.
Learned from last year to simplify things. Tried to do more than I should. Better in second half. Last year was rollercoaster. Didn’t say anything. I know what they want and we are on same page. No regrets.
Hard transition from Molina. Everyone wants him on their team. Hall of Fame player. Not trying to copy him.
Surprised Cards let Knizner go. Good relationship. Lot of responsibility with Herrera. I am up for it. He was distracted first time up. Different guy when returned. Refocused on getting better.
Bench coach is huge responsibility. Knew Descalso was a smart guy from time together in Chicago.
Lineup has no holes in it. Nine good at-bats. Need younger guys to own team and win games.
Wainwright was role model on not giving up.
Ryan Helsley (6:35)
Offseason was good. Started throwing earlier. Goals same – healthy and help team win. Talked to training staff and Dusty (Blake) on how to keep last month’s progress. Long toss more, throw more frequently, not as much down time. Scherzer among those who support this.
A little relieved that contract went smoothly compared to last year (when he went to arbitration). Had to leave camp and come back. Would give Edman advice not to take it seriously.
Now 6th MLB season so one of the older guys in pen. Mentor and help others along with Gio (Gallegos).
Will pitch back to back days or go multiple innings. I can do anything to help the team win.
If starters can go deep then only 2-3 innings for pen. Spring can’t mimic season. Have to establish routine, help adjust and stay healthy.
Dylan Carlson (7:17)
(Carlson had the interesting opportunity to speak while the DeWitts stood off to the side, waiting for their turn.)
Lot of rehab. Different pace, slower, more intentional. Focused on ankle. Led him to swing, body movement clean up. Fully cleared two weeks ago. Didn’t want to leave in boot and on crutches. Now rested and feel confident. Range of motion affected him. Any doubt makes it tougher. Already tough enough. We took care of it. All behind now.
Got tested last year. We survived. Will see benefits individually and as team.
Working on how to consistently put in best position in box. Differs from sides of the plate (as switch-hitter). More work to do on left side (against RHP). Get rid of bad habits. Sometimes compensation/adjustments don’t help.
Had conversations with Marmol. Work in progress. Evolving, ongoing.
Bill DeWitt Jr. and Bill DeWitt III (40:03)
Mo and team fixed holes. Good position to be competitive in division and league.
Both BDW Jr. and Mo came to same conclusion when Bloom became available that he could help. Big and small market experience. Team has been together a long time. World changes. Get different perspective.
Big markets have advantage and they are taking advantage of it. We try to compete. Nature of the game. Give them credit.
Will get full payment from Bally this year. Gives us a year to best monetize rights. Think we can do well in future.
Draft and develop is the Cardinals model and pick spots in free agency. We can compete with anybody. Have drafted based on performance vs. physical tools. Look at balance? Got good prospects in trades. Try to do a better job in drafting and development.
Committed to payroll. Not impacted by Bally. Know we would get to 80% at worst. May affect future.
Very positive about Oli. See how year goes but expect he will continue after this year.
Mo and group looking at free agent market for relievers. Would be nice if we could acquire more.
Mo saying he would add three starters was easy to say, but hard to do. Was early and aggressive.
Anytime Molina here, it is a big plus. But not full time.
Bloom not a part of Mo future discussion. Get a fresh look at Baseball Ops. We have a more beefed up staff. Mo move to President (of Baseball Ops seven years ago) didn’t change his role.
(Long discussion about post-Bally alternatives.) If rights return to Cards next year, do they partner with Blues or go with MLB or third party? Either way can fix fan access problem created by provider dropping RSN or no in-market streaming.
Likely direct to consumer streaming model coming next year or beyond. For fans, it will get better soon.
Need to better understand their market, which did not need to worry about with long-term Bally deal. Market much greater than St. Louis. Lost subscribers mean lost ability to follow team. Got to fix eyeball problem first.
Jupiter renovation pushed back another year.
In 2023, what could go wrong, did go wrong. Baseball is that way. TLR said getting off to fast start affects season. Ticket department agrees.
Happy with 2024 ticket sales so far. Started slow but picked up with early moves. Sell 70-80% of tickets before Opening Day. Last 20-30% difficult.
Payroll more fluid than we may think. Can adjust as numbers come in during season. Dry powder.
Trying to put good enough team on field to get into playoffs and do good things in playoffs.
Earlier related articles
Cardinals Winter Warm-Up – In Their Words: Saturday, 1/13/24
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