Cardinals Winter Warm-Up – In Their Words: Sunday, 1/19/25

photo: Jordan Walker (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)

Sunday’s Day 2 of the 2025 St. Louis Cardinals Winter Warm-Up charity event at Busch Stadium and Ballpark Village offered an increased blast of cold as a blustery welcome to the contingent of Cardinals fans attending.

Among the popular presentations on the main stage included a panel discussion with assistant general managers Moises Rodriguez, Rob Cerfolio and Randy Flores.

Autograph sessions with these current Cardinals were scheduled on Sunday, usually the event’s busiest day: Jimmy Crooks, Luken Baker, Michael McGreevy, Quinn Mathews, Michael Siani, Matthew Liberatore, Jose Fermin, Ryan Loutos, Alec Burleson, Zack Thompson, Masyn Winn, Matt Koperniak, Andre Pallante, Pedro Pages, Riley O’Brien and Jordan Walker. Ryan Fernandez did not attend due to travel problems.

Cardinals alumni signing Sunday included Bengie Molina, Mitch Harris, Ricky Horton, Brad Thompson, Xavier Scruggs and others.

Typically, either before or after they sign for fans, the players meet with team physicians and are brought to the media area for a question and answer session. Some players also have fan and kids-only Q&A sessions.

Following are my notes from selected interviews held during the St. Louis Cardinals Winter Warm-Up on Sunday, January 19, 2025. Following my summary is the audio for those who want to listen to the full content. Video has been added thanks to Kyle Reis.

Quinn Mathews (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)

Quinn Mathews (25:45)

First visit to St. Louis.

Throwing every other day in Southern California. Last season, focus was on building velocity. This year, preparing for spring training one month earlier. Duration of season got to him physically and mentally. Need to get 7-8 weeks more out of body.

As a kid, didn’t want to be a pro player. Wanted to be an investment banker.

Don’t have goals. Don’t believe in them. Wants what is best for organization.

Lost curveball in second half of 2024. Shape lost. Became a three-pitch guy. Wants to be able to use it early in count.

Has chip on shoulder every year. 2023 was being passed over in draft. 2024 was not being drafted earlier. Proved some wrong. September end did not go as well as he thought it should. Some think I am not as good as I think I am.

Liked Jon Lester when young. Pitch and compete, not overpowering. Later, Max Fried, tall and lanky. Better stuff than me. Never met him.

Stunk on Opening Day 2024 walked something like six batters. Stanford and College World Series had him prepared. Similar memories as Jimmy Crooks (Oklahoma).

On youth movement, Detroit’s oldest player last year was 28. Maybe I can help StL sooner.

Changes in player development focus not seeing yet. Lifting program didn’t change, which was his biggest focus in the offseason.

Mom pushed academics. Stanford high standards. As pro, first time to go 100% into baseball.

Velocity is cool. It helps but doesn’t make you a great pitcher. Trial by error, make mistakes and learn.

Slider stuff started to change during season. Horizontal break shrunk but added velo helped success against right-handed hitters.

Likes crypto. It’s my pastime. Mom took most of money (signing bonus) and put it in safe stuff. But I put small chuck in Bitcoin.

On BA Pitcher of the Year, if you need validation, then you will struggle. Still had 10 bad starts out of 28. Need self-confidence and had great catchers and defense behind him.

Crooks is “the man”. My top guy as a human being. Hit it off.

McGreevy taught him to stay true to yourself. Detail oriented prep for next start. Learned from him.

The baseballs changed from AA to Triple-A. Automated balls and strikes were great in Low-A, but Triple-A zone smaller. Hitters win more challenges.

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Ryan Loutos (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)

Ryan Loutos (8:13)

Wintered in Elmhurst, IL. Was engaged. Winter prep same as always.

Threw more sliders and changeups later in 2024. Has very low spin rates, 1600-1700 RPM. Have to be creative in creating movement. Four-season still his best pitch.

Lowering arm slot to get ground balls. Changeups to get left-handed batters better, away from them.

As closer at Memphis, refined mental game. Feel pressure and execute pitches.

Expect to be in long relief with St. Louis. Opportunity is there. Confident in what he can do.

Jose Fermin (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)

Jose Fermin (5:39)

Went to winter ball to work on outfield play but ended with minor glute inflammation. He is 100% now. Team asked him about OF, but he wanted to do it before. Played it in Triple-A and liked it. Haven’t worked with Jon Jay yet.

Training in Tampa.

Goal in spring training is to win it all. Team looks different in 2025 with focus on younger guys. We’re ready.

Main focus in hitting is to stay behind the ball. There is more velocity in MLB pitching.

Defensively prepared to move all over. Takes balls at 2B, SS, 3B and OF.

Zack Thompson (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)

Zack Thompson (9:39)

Nomadic offseason. St. Pete Beach then Sarasota. Threw outside every day. Reconnected with college pitching coach which led him to Sarasota facility. Ball is coming out well, delivery smooth.

In 2024, didn’t plan on leaving after one month and not coming back. Had rough first month. Worked rest of year to get stretched out. Lost weight, lost range of motion. Affected his performance. Lowest hanging fruit was to work on movements.

Have had opportunities here, but didn’t take it and run with it. Mental game, three years of ups and downs. Stick to work. Kicked in face at times with Memphis. Stay with it.

Didn’t know how to be a reliever until MLB. Tricky to switch but have experience with it.

Changing way to use lower half. Was too much on right hip.

His wave of players have come and gone in some cases. Next wave is coming – Mathews, McGreevy, Graceffo, etc…  All the guys he came up with have been able to stick. Weird shift.

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Luken Baker (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)

Luken Baker (8:33)

Offseason workouts at TCU. Focus on consistency, refine and improve. 2023 was his first tough year. 2024 learned how much one at-bat could change outcome of games. Have the preparation down. Good to see what he is doing is working.

Didn’t have a lot of RBI in 2023, so worked hard to focus on getting RBI. Take better at-bats with RBI focus and other numbers tick up, too.

Make practice harder than game. Pitchers give just one pitch to hit per at-bat. All at-bats are the same if you treat them that way.

We have a lot of really good players. Think we’re going to win a lot of ballgames.

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Masyn Winn (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)

Masyn Winn (17:25)

Has home in Jupiter, went to Houston for holidays. Working on speed with track coach. Wants to steal 30-40 bases. Turn singles to doubles and doubles to triples.

Doing treadmill drill with machine off called hamster runs. Lot of stretching, sprinting and work on acceleration.

His 2024 started strong. Had a couple of rough patches as expected. Needs to make fewer errors. Like to improve on 15 home runs and improve on everything.

Team still has Sonny and hopefully still Nado. What Sonny says goes. Have chemistry from last season and building on that.

Walker still best player he saw in minors. Hope he will be middle of the order batter. He wants to make his Mom and Dad proud.

St. Louis welcomed me with open arms. Would like to be guy who plays in same city for a long time like Yadi.

Losing is worst feeling in the world. Will compete and hate the guy on the other side.

Hardest thing making adjustments is making other adjustments. Opponents now have had a year to review his results. Need to make adjustments on the fly.

“Contreras is a dog, man.” Plays like 24 years old. Plays angry. He was our best hitter by a large margin last year when healthy.

Defensively, his first step acceleration can be better. Lateral quickness is like stolen base skill.

For batting, mechanically needs to get off the back leg, per coach Brendan Allen.

Oliver Marmol is great. Not afraid to tell you what you don’t want to hear. Also offers praise.

Can’t think of another person I’d rather play on the left side with. I earned his respect last year and relationship went to new level. One of favorite teammates ever.

Success as two-strike hitter is because scared to strike out.

Still thinks about pitching every day. They put Crawford in instead because they knew I wouldn’t throw 45.

The back is great. They figured out how to keep it healthy last year.

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Michael Siani (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)

Michael Siani (8:45)

Worked in Sarasota and Bradento with IMG after Thanksgiving. Wants to take quality at-bats. Improved middle to late season hitting to all fields.

Keeping same mindset that I belong. Show abilities in different ways. Felt like I deserved to be here. Knew I had it in me.

Can help team in multiple areas. Making adjustments key. Bounce off veterans and coaches. Consistently getting at-bats important.

Great to compete with Victor Scott. Put best foot forward.

His brother is in the Pirates system. Special to work with him in the offseason.

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Jimmy Crooks (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Naiton)

Jimmy Crooks (9:40)

Gets along very well with Quinn Mathews. He’s the dude. Made my job easier. He is a left-handed pitcher for a reason (quirkiness).

Working with hitting coach in Wichita, Kansas. Didn’t know about swing path until turned pro.

Takes pride in catcher defense. See all the field. Position players. Be big brother to pitchers. Separates hitting from defense.

New catching coordinator should help a lot. Already had Zoom with Ethan Goforth.

Hitting approach is gap to gap and run into a couple. Hadn’t done well against LHP. Worked on it in 2023-2024 offseason.

Showed more power in 2H 2024. Separated hands.

Victor Scott was his roommate in Peoria. Would try to throw him out 100 of 100 stolen base attempts. Might not get him every time.

Will be happy wherever my feet are at.

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Michael McGreevy (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)

Michael McGreevy (10:04)

Super happy with 2024. Year started slow, great coaches and flipped script. Didn’t think he’d make St. Louis but from June 1 on, the season turned around. Pitching coach Darwin Marrero has been his mentor. Made strides with cutter. Consistent location.

Better diet and sleep. Improved body mass.

175 innings pitched in 2024. Improved each year (he cited annual totals from memory). Goal for 2025 is 200 IP.

Mathews ran out of gas at end of season and lost his mind. Tried to help him.

Pitched in relief in college and did when arrived with St. Louis initially. Will play any role. Wants to get outs.

Definitely does not want to have slow start in 2025. Come into camp hot.

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Jordan Walker (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)
Riley O’Brien (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)

Jordan Walker and Riley O’Brien (18:43)

JW: Focus on getting back to 2023 swing. Working with Brant Brown on it. Get more contact. Hand placement is greatest thing. Hands were too far back. Hands were closer to body in 2023. Second part is to get into lower half like in 2022. Find out what feels best for me.

Jupiter is wonderful. 70 degrees all the time. Hitting with Mike Antico, and Pedro Pages before winter break. Will start live BP when back in Florida.

RO: Elbow injury led to lost time in 2024. Offseason focus is to get body healthy. Strengthen shoulder and forearm.

JW: Wasn’t happy with offense last year. Worked with Jon Jay a few times, but main focus is offense. Made second half changes last year that were not for the better. Open stance. Brown asked him what he saw and how he felt. Liked that.

I like hitting. Always have. Liked my weight at end of season. Maintain flexibility. Feel more fluid.

Hope one day to be leader. Donnie has it locked up for young guys. Learn from him and Sonny.

I want to produce. Have high standards. Pitchers are smart. Making adjustments. Learn pitchers’ tendencies and how they attack. Made chances for worst in 2024. Brown brought metrics and data. Have driven ball in RF gap before – so why not in 2024?

RO: With healthy season, can have big impact out there. Kittredge was big guy to lean on. Second year, have friends, no stress. Focus on work.

JW: Energy brought by new coaches, Brown and Jay. Winn has positive outlook through ups and downs. Being in each other’s corner is important. Look up to him. Great motivator.

Super excited to face pitchers next week.

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Matt Koperniak (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)

Matt Koperniak (7:22)

Playing for manager Albert Pujols in winter ball was eye opening. Just wanted to play more.

Trying to get stronger, faster. More bat speed helped power increase. Focused on more elevation.

Versatility helps. Get comfortable at each outfield position. Played most in left. A little in center last year. More in right.

Got close with Nick Raposo. Both are northeast guys.

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Alec Burleson (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)

Alec Burleson (16:21)

Bought house in Greenville, NC. First time played more than 150 games in 2024. Maintain training, weight.

Make point to produce all season. Felt was struggling at back of 2024 season. 2024 was learning experience. Really pleased with first half.

Learned from Lance Lynn, Goldy. He, Donovan and Gorman took it in last year. Talked to them a lot. Want to figure out best way to get guys to jell. Donovan is a pro. Like he has been in league 10 years. Encouraging others. Learn from him.

On reset, like Sonny Gray said, we will be better than people expect. Sonny will stay on top of it.

Feels more natural and comfortable at first base but will play outfield if they need him for a day or two. Will play anywhere but hope he doesn’t have to pitch again.

Don’t go up looking for walks. Not a focus. Tried it but wasn’t good at it.

Coming into 2024, it didn’t look like he would have opportunity but started opening day. Going into 2025, have more confidence. I can do it with a high level of consistency.

On reset again, will be an unconventional locker room. That is a challenge. Get guys to pull together and buy in. Players are ready to play.

Went with Donovan to Gorman’s wedding. Hit with Brown while down there. Brown sent Gorman videos. This is his fifth year playing with Gorman. Gorman is pretty excited.

Need Contreras in lineup every day. Masyn and I on top, he’s no. 3.

Told Brown he doesn’t need a lot of info to be ready to hit.

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Andre Pallante (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)

Andre Pallante (11:43)

Made a lot of progress with sinking fastball. Happened when optioned out. Looking forward to full spring training to see how it works.

Working on all four pitches. Have thrown two pens already. Keep throwing pens and build endurance. Hard to work on four pitches in pens.

Velocity, location improves later in games. Grateful for opportunity to start.

Arbitration is a very small part. Agent takes care of it. Will play out.

Got out of 24-Hour Fitness, where he trained last three year. Working with athletes in other sports, soccer and football. More explosive.

Goal is 200 innings. Preparing for that.

Super proud. Path had bumps. Learned from mistakes.

Wants to increase two-seam usage up in zone. Wants another pitch vs. left-handed batters. Instead of 95% fastballs. Also plan for changeup later but will establish four-pitch baseline first.

Kyle Gibson taught him to plan between starts. Wainwright mental side, never gave up. Lynn said to be the same person all the time.

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Cardinals Winter Warm-Up – In Their Words: Saturday, 1/18/25

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