photo: 2026 Winter Warm-Up opening (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)
Press interviews from Day 1 of the St. Louis Cardinals Winter Warm-Up on Saturday, January 17, 2026. You can read short synopses or listen to Cardinals players in their own words.
Day 1 of the two-day 2026 St. Louis Cardinals Winter Warm-Up opened on Saturday morning, January 17 at Busch Stadium and Ballpark Village. The assembled fans were greeted by cold, flurries and windy conditions typical for January.
The most popular presentation on Day 1 had to be Chaim Bloom’s main stage event, following a Q&A session with the media. The president of baseball operations also signed autographs. Manager Oliver Marmol did the same.
Signing sessions, one or two hours each, with these current and future Cardinals players, were scheduled on Saturday: Liam Doyle, Jimmy Crooks, Gordon Graceffo, Jordan Walker, Nathan Church, Joshua Baez, Blaze Jordan, Richard Fitts, Ivan Herrera, Quinn Mathews, Matthew Liberatore, Andre Granillo and Riley O’Brien.
Also signing for fans are Cardinals alumni including Al Hrabosky, David Eckstein, Matt Adams, David Freese, Daniel Descalso and Jon Jay. The latter two are also current Cardinals coaches.
Before or after they sign for fans and in some cases take questions and answers from fans, players meet with team physicians and are also brought to the media room for individual Q&A sessions.
Following are selected interviews held during the St. Louis Cardinals Winter Warm-Up on Saturday, January 17, 2026. I summarize them and follow with the audio for those who want to listen to the full content.
Check back this afternoon and evening as additional content is added throughout the day.
Nathan Church and Jonathan Baez (11:13)
JB: Just getting on 40-man roster is amazing. Gives him more reassurance.
JB: Attributes his 2025 breakout to more mental cues and that he did not do too much different physically.
NC: Focusing on getting better in areas he did not do so well. Fastballs at top of zone. Working with Brant Brown on keeping his swing short.
JB: Organization involved more every year. More personalized plan. Trying to make in season changes same night doesn’t work well. Get to reset/play around if off-season.
NC: Not trying to put up power numbers. Focus on sync, training room, cage. Understanding body better.
JB: Stole more bases by getting to know pitchers better. Identify patterns, tendencies. Know count, score, situation.
Blaze Jordan (12:55)
Super excited to have family and friends at first game with Memphis. Bloom was one of first calls after trade. Feels wanted.
More pressure coming home for the first couple of weeks of games.
Pujols is one of his favorites. Went to World Series game in Texas when he hit three home runs. Met him a few years later.
Needs to work on getting power numbers up, more athleticism, quickness, mobility. Work in gym, bat speed. Working hard on defense at first base and third base. Already improved. Wants to do more. No one has mentioned outfield.
Wetherholt is a special player. Learned from how he works day in and out.
Also talked about fishing, past connections with Walker and Winn and his High School Home Run Derby success.
Oliver Marmol (31:06)
Changes bittersweet but some really good conversations. Transactions done right. Will remember Arenado comments.
Chaim did good job connecting. Coaches have made trips to meet with guys.
Changes = opportunity. Players fired up. Their time is now. Ton of enthusiasm. Compete to win together. Learning how to win together. Guys below needed playing opportunity.
Excited for Masyn Winn and Victor Scott to get to next level.
Burleson to hone in on strike zone. He does leadership differently, Not loudest, but has credibility. Very confident of him playing at first base.
Still some moving pieces at third base. Gorman can get at-bats.
Herrera in good spot. Taking catching seriously, bought into curriculum. Starting throwing one week ago. Will be hitting in a few days. Elbow chips were a problem for his throwing. Will be hard to evaluate in spring. Acknowledges catching roster questions.
Left field – hard to answer today. Nootbaar making good progress, but it is still early. Moving parts.
Will not be announcing all jobs are open. Wouldn’t be smart. Will clearly define guys they believe in.
Wetherholt mindset is special. Carries himself well. Definitely has a chance of making roster out of spring camp. He would be comfortable at second base (if Burleson is gone).
Will be different ways to construct lineup. Will be creative. Optimize daily. Balanced lineup.
On rotation. May. McGreevy and Liberatore to take next stop. Will see what Leahy can do. Lay eyes on new guys.
Last year, tried to be smart about building guys up because a lot of injuries occur early. Used six-man last April.
Mentioned without a question now excited he is about Scott.
Winn feels better than he has for a long time. Feeling hungry. Will be more aggressive. Offensive ceiling high.
Scott didn’t have season he wanted. Very process focused on getting better.
Noticed huge line outside stadium before opening. Cool to see excitement in young group,
Have talked about his contract, but asked that Bloom speak about it.
Gordon Graceffo (9:28)
Fine tuning his new kick change. Strange grip. Wants to even his splits out. Was fastball usage heavy in 2025. Threw changeup in past, but lost it with changing mechanics.
Make money pitching out of stretch with guys on base in close games. Pens focused on stretch.
Look at movement on Trackman and iPad of kick change. But hitters will tell him all he needs to know. 2021 was first time using Trackman. Data is awesome.
Fun to have new pitch in spring training, which is tough because hitters know him.
More velo last year was a confidence thing. Make it more consistent.
His role may depend on what they need.
Looking forward to pitching in Yankee Stadium. Family had season tickets. Mariano Rivera was his favorite.
Corralled his emotions early, but let it show when more comfortable.
Quinn Mathews (14:14)
Offseason focus outside of baseball. Preparation for season same.
Lot of things didn’t pan out in 2025. Focus strayed. Should have paid more attention to advice given early on by Sonny Gray. Keeping details private for now. He was Gray’s “dog” in camp last year. Gray is his own machine.
2026 is new year.
Never dealt with lingering injury before. First time in career he could not take health for granted. Never had to sit out before. Tyler Glasnow uses term “mound traumas”. Wants high expectations.
Hopefully more strong minded and handling failure better.
Was first guy sent down last spring. Joked that he hoped to stick until second cuts this year.
Striking out Vlad Guerrero was awesome opportunity, but swinging and missing in spring training likely not important to him.
Not thinking about StL rotation today, Just day to day, Not thinking that far ahead.
100% arm health. Feeling good about mechanics right now. Didn’t know where baseball was going last year.
Liam Doyle (11:17)
Main focus is getting body ready for spring. Stay in shape, maintain body mass, muscle.
Matt Pierpont (director of pitching) gave him schedule. Throwing 4-5x per week. Already threw a bullpen.
Going to Jupiter tomorrow.
Has fun playing villain role. Likes to think he has different mound personality.
From Southern New Hampshire. Went to Red Sox games. Liked to watch Chris Sale. Likes to emulate Max Scherzer. Adam Sandler went to his high school one year.
No inning target in 2026 that he knows of.
Cards made it clear he will be a part of their future. Says he will beat Tanner Franklin to MLB. TF also going to FL this week.
Jimmy Crooks (9:05)
Taste of MLB in 2025 was fun. Added more fuel to fire in offseason. Get stronger, quicker, work on hitting. Joked he is going to get a couple of bags (steals).
In past, just went out and played. Now working on mental side, slowing game down.
Focusing on lower half, core. Throwing and hitting all start from there.
Want to take more walks and not go after everything.
Good core catching group. Help each other. Has been a sponge.
Bond with pitchers starts in spring. Mathews working on confidence. Love him to death. Worked his butt off. Dog on mound. Both learned to handle mental side. Wants Mathews to not overuse the heater and use his mix of pitches more.
This spring will be quicker and easier.
Jordan Walker (15:57)
Returned to Jupiter a week and a half ago. Adapted Driveline program and worked at Cressey.
Basestealing confidence via studying pitchers better. Learned from Jon Jay and Scott.
Goal to get to spring training at 260 pounds. Was 265-267 last year. Feel better lighter.
When hitting off backside, has better results. Not roll over pitches with top spin. Org. has asked for more consistency.
Can’t anticipate MLB struggles. Tough to deal with. Good family and teammates.
Wetherholt also hit a few times at Cressey. Level headed, not fazed. Learn from him to relax at-bat. Looks so easy.
Haven’t thought about where he will hit in the lineup.
Offseason Facetime sessions with Brant Brown where he hits live and goes through drills while the coach watches. Brown does not sugar coat. Knows body movements well.
Feels he is moving a lot better on defense. Been throwing. Will work off machine in Jupiter with Jon Jay.
Was not surprised Masyn Winn won the Gold Glove.
Was down a week with the flu – fever, etc.
Matthew Liberatore (13:38)
Always tried to prep as starter. Less stressful to prepare that way if switched later.
Happy how he finished 2025. Wish he had an extra month. Started throwing better last two starts. Had mid-season lull which was foreign to him. Led to trial and error. Learned he could compete when not at best physically.
Put on a few extra pounds to help endurance.
Spent three hours with Kyle Leahy recently talking mechanics and pitch grips. Most similarly-minded pitcher on the team.
Focus most on execution especially in two-strike counts. More swing and miss will result. Hitters smell blood in water if confidence is lacking.
Gray recommended moving hitters feet and make them uncomfortable.
Valuable lessons learned through different pitching roles.
Goal in 2026 is to throw 170-180 innings but no ERA, K, win goals. More process oriented. Has execution measures by pitch with goal of 70% or better.
As seven year old, wore #32. Dad linked to Josh Hamilton (hitter) and Sandy Koufax (pitcher). Asked for number after Matz traded.
Would be super cool to start Opening Day. Who wouldn’t want that?
Chaim Bloom (39:29)
Fanbase expects need to change and have gotten behind it.
Never stop trying to win. Can’t let that distract us. Wants to see core progress in front and behind curtain. Wants to see moving down path.
Offseason calendar is pretty late. Spring training is close. Ideally, the club would be set by the start of spring training. May be moves around margins of club, waivers, guys with no options, etc. later.
Donovan’s impact on the club adds layers (of complexity?).
Expects Jupiter to be spring training-ready. Though not everything will be done, will have everything we need. Roll with punches.
Player development trying try to do a lot at once while also moving too slowly. Needs to be a little uncomfortable.
If we are only catching up, not trying to find the next thing, will never be #1. On its way to happening culturally. Everyone pushed out of comfort zone. Meet, get best experiences of others and put together more than the others individually had.
Will have to be a part of AI, or in five years, we will get beat.
On Jordan Walker, will find out more soon. Monitoring, Better and more engaged offseason. Encouraged where he is at. Upside is worth staying with him. Both patience and urgency. Hopes he gets 500 at-bats, but not going to give it to anyone. The lane is open for him.
On Ivan Herrera, early steps of throwing. Get better equipped to throw out guys.
Identify best guys and go get them. Added exec under Randy Flores to do this.
On Doyle modeling after Scherzer, would like that outcome. Glad he set high bar. Help him get there. Good match in intensity. Would be disruptive for him to be in big league camp this spring.
On Marmol, he keeps main thing the main thing. Hope they can work together for a long time. Thinks Oli can navigate.
On Triple-A to MLB promotions, want to feel they did not skip steps. Will still be tough up there.
On Victor Scott, offensive discussions about how to get back there and stay there. A lot of optimism.
On Masyn Winn, growing pains and success. Grow and take steps in other ways. Not in rehab mode. Ready.
In his seat, values what can be done to bring people together. Need to direct more clearly to ensure alignment. Clarity where to go and why. Targets.
On Lars Nootbaar, longer process. Doing well, no timetable. He will say ready for Opening Day.
On potential 2027 labor problems affecting 2026 decisions, don’t get too cute.
On Brendan Donovan, he has been awesome, total pro. Ideally, not (traded) during camp, but never say absolute. But this is a people business. Can’t give answer today.
On Hunter Dobbins, fielding, etc. is last step. Highest risk of reinjury. Arm-wise, he should be ready.
On big contracts elsewhere, it is MLB action above my paygrade. Landscape is different from team-to-team. Never allow it to be an excuse. Don’t get more focused on obstacle vs. goal.
Richard Fitts and Andre Granillo (18:40)
RF: Organization has been great. Drove from Boston to St. Louis this week in two days.
RF: On arm numbness, has been throwing bullpens.
AG: Struggles last season gave him plan for off-season. Fell into a lot of patterns. Kept throwing sliders.
RF: Already met entire staff over the phone. Working on a changeup and pitch usage. Going to Jupiter on the first.
AG: Players discussed fact that no Cardinal had an arm injury in 2025. Staff wants to care for you. Felt great all year.
AG: When came up, gave some hitters too much credit. Shied away. Needs to attack and get ahead. Needs changeup to complement offerings.
RF: Watching Pedro Pages catching a lot. Having conversations via text. Likes the way he moves behind the plate as I miss a lot in the middle.
RF: Had no issue with ABS at Triple-A. Umpires are very good. Misses that appear larger are only a half-inch off.
RF: Wants to be a guy who fans cheer for.
AG: Remembers well day of first win, first strikeout and first save. Only MLB player in history to do all three on same day.
Ivan Herrera (16:22)
Elbow coming along. Couldn’t straighten before surgery. Rehabbing in Jupiter. A week after pitchers and catchers report, should be good to go.
If he plays in World Baseball Classic for Panama, it will only be as DH.
Plan is for first hitting 10 days after first throwing, which is next week.
Was signing (autographs today) with Jordan, then he was done. Then Liberatore came, signed them all, and went and he (Herrera) was still signing. Fans care a lot about what he is doing with the team.
Never had surgery before. Usually starts working out the week after the prior season ends. Feels lazy sometimes because of limitations with arm. Took months before he could lift weights.
Reason he wants to keep catching. Already above average blocking and above average in receiving. Couldn’t throw because of elbow.
Designated hitter was hard. 20 minutes between action. Being in the game keeps him warm.
Show up early and work hard. Mentality 2-3 years ago was to hang around. Now wants to win with family.
Believes in himself. Told Oli last year that goal was to bat .300 and hit 20 home runs. Won’t share goals, but will be higher this year.
One of best MLB hitters vs, LHP. Wasn’t the case two years ago. So made it extra focus.
Body feels good now, but not so at end of season.
Can tell his kids he hit a home run off Justin Verlander. Other targets are Skenes, Skubal and Chapman.
Riley O’Brien (9:20)
Still feels like young guy, but realizes he is one of only a few Cardinals over 30. Building muscle, working on timing. Had more confidence in off-season.
Feels like he thrives late in games and hopes to get more opportunities.
Will pitch for Team Korea in WBC. Getting game ready earlier than usual as a result. Mom’s side of family very proud. Making plans to see him. He has never been in Korea or Japan. Reached out to Tommy Edman, who was on Team Korea before and he recommended it.
2026 team is like 2025 bullpen in second half. Guys had to step up. Helsley was perfect role model (before he left).
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