photo: Busch Stadium (St. Louis Cardinals)
60-man pool filled
The St. Louis Cardinals added three pitchers to Summer Camp in St. Louis this past week to cover for those unavailable. The moves increase the total to 48 players. In addition, the team announced the remaining 12 players who will fill out the roster and will be among those assigned to “Summer Camp South” when it begins at Springfield’s Hammons Field on July 16.
The three additions are LHPs Zack Thompson and Rob Kaminsky and RHP Seth Elledge.
Thompson was the Cardinals’ first round draft pick (19th overall) in the 2019 draft from the University of Kentucky. After signing, he spent 2019 primarily with the Palm Beach Cardinals of the Florida State League and is TCN’s #6 prospect for 2020. Thompson is expected to begin the season at the alternate camp in Springfield.
Kaminsky was the Cardinals’ first round draft pick in 2013. The New Jersey native pitched at Peoria and Palm Beach in the Cardinals system in 2015 before being traded on June 30 to the Cleveland Indians for Brandon Moss. The oft-injured lefty pitched in the Indians minor league system through the end of the 2019 season, after which he elected minor league free agency. The Cardinals signed him on December 12, 2019. Kaminsky is also expected to begin the season at the alternate camp.
Elledge was the 2017 fourth round draft pick of the Mariners, and was acquired by the Cardinals in a July 27, 2018 trade which sent Sam Tuivailala to Seattle. Elledge pitched in Springfield and Memphis in 2018 and 2019 and in the Arizona Fall League in 2019. Elledge is TCN’s #31 prospect for 2020. He is expected to begin the season in Springfield along with Thompson and Kaminsky.
The Cardinals also announced the remaining 12 players to fill out the 60 man pool and be assigned to the Springfield camp. They are LHP Matthew Liberatore, RHPs Nabil Crismatt, Roel Ramirez, Angel Rondon and Alvaro Seijas, 3B Nolan Gorman, Malcom Nunez, and Jordan Walker, OF Trejyn Fletcher, IF Evan Mendoza, SS/RHP Masyn Winn, and C Julio Rodriguez.
Walker and Winn are the Cardinals’ first- and second-round draft picks in the 2020 draft. Gorman and Liberatore are the No. 2 and No. 3 Cardinals prospects according to The Cardinal Nation.
Trade and Acquisition Rumors
There are no trade or acquisition rumors to report.
Transactions
- 7/9 The Cardinals added LHP Zack Thompson, and RHPs Seth Elledge and Rob Kaminsky to the 60-man player pool. All three were assigned to St. Louis camp.
For additional information:
- 7/9 The Cardinals added the following players to the 60-man player pool to be assigned to the Springfield alternate camp: RHPs Nabil Crismatt, Roel Ramirez, Angel Rondon and Alvaro Seijas; LHP Matthew Liberatore; OF Trejyn Fletcher; 3B Nolan Gorman, Malcom Nunez, and Jordan Walker; IF Evan Mendoza; SS/RHP Masyn Winn; C Julio Rodriguez.
For additional information:
Injury Report
- RHP John Brebbia underwent Tommy John surgery on June 1. He will miss the entire 2020 season.
- RHP Jordan Hicks (Tommy John surgery) will not be ready to pitch when the season opens. It is expected Hicks will be placed on the 10 day injured list. The right hander is continuing his rehab.
- LHP Genesis Cabrera, LHP Ricardo Sanchez and 3B Elehuris Montero have twice tested positive for Covid-19. They are asymptomatic and remain in isolation until they test negative twice at least 24 hours apart. Only then will they be allowed to return to camp.
- Two pitchers are not in camp for unannounced reasons. RHP Alex Reyes is in St. Louis and RHP Giovanny Gallegos remains in Mexico.
- RF Dexter Fowler was held out of Saturday’s and Sunday’s intrasquad games due to back tightness. The injury is not considered serious and he is day to day.
- UT Brad Miller has not participated in Summer Camp activities since Thursday due to heel soreness. Miller is considered day to day.
Camp News
Cardinals Summer Camp is in full swing. Three intrasquad games have been played between teams designated “Cardinals Red” and “Cardinals Blue”.
Starting this Tuesday, July 14, the Cardinals will be live streaming their intrasquad games from Busch Stadium with FOX Sports Midwest’s Dan McLaughlin on the call.
For summaries of intrasquad games as well as daily comments from camp by manager Mike Shildt, selected players and several times per week, president of baseball operations John Mozeliak, check the “Summer Camp News” thread at The Cardinal Nation’s free forum.
https://thecardinalnation.com/forums/topic/st-louis-summer-camp-news/
Looking Ahead
Five more intrasquad games will be played leading up to opening day on July 24. Though the Cardinals began camp with only intrasquad games on the itinerary, an exhibition game against the Kansas City Royals to conclude camp is reportedly in the planning stage.
An alternate camp will be held at Hammons Field in Springfield for those players in the 60-man pool who are not training in St. Louis. This camp is scheduled to begin on Thursday, July 16 and run into the fall. Roster cuts from St. Louis are expected this Tuesday in preparation for this camp.
The Cardinals’ regular season will start on Friday, July 24. The first series will be at home against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The full 60-game schedule can be found here.
Blast from the Past
This week’s St. Louis Cardinals Blast from the Past departs from the usual remembrance of games, records, trades, and the like and veers into an account of an incident that was unrelated to baseball but involved baseball players. It showcased them not as athletes but as ordinary humans doing extraordinary things.
On July 10, 1911, the members of the St. Louis Cardinals were on a train headed to Boston from Philadelphia. They had lost a game to the Phillies that afternoon and were on route to play the Boston Braves in a doubleheader the next day. The train left Philadelphia at 7:24 p.m. with the team in two Pullman cars just behind the train’s engine.
Player-manager Roger Bresnahan allegedly was furious over the team’s placement behind the engine and the noise that kept them from sleeping. There are several versions of the story, but one version was that Bresnahan made his discontent known to the conductors. When the train reached New York, the Cardinals’ cars were moved to the rear of the train. Whether this was due to the complaints of Bresnahan or for other reasons has never been made clear.
The train headed on to Boston. At 3:24 a.m. on Tuesday, July 11, the nine-car, 150-passenger train derailed at the intersection of Fairfield and Railroad Avenues in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The track there was at a 20 foot elevation. A later investigation determined that the train entered the 15 mph zone traveling at 60 mph. The train had been more than an hour behind schedule when it came into Bridgeport, likely the explanation for the excessive speed.
All but the last two cars of the train, those that housed the 22 members of the Cardinals, hurtled down an 18-foot embankment to the street below. What resulted was a mass of twisted metal and flames. In total, 14 passengers and crew were killed, some instantly, some at a later time. One of the casualties was the train’s engineer Arthur Curtis, who was blamed for the accident. At least 47 passengers were seriously injured.
Bresnahan immediately directed the members of the team to take action. All 22, some barefoot and in pajamas, climbed down the embankment to offer aid. It was reported in the papers the next day that if not for the actions of the Cardinals, many more lives would have been lost.
That day the Cardinals were not athletes, but first responders in one of the worst transportation disasters in the history of the State of Connecticut. The reshuffling of the cars, whether at the behest of Bresnahan or otherwise, was both prescient and life-saving for those 22 Cardinal heroes.
The Cardinals played the doubleheader as scheduled on July 12. The first game was a St. Louis victory and the second ended in a tie.
Bonus for members of The Cardinal Nation
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232 pages, 97,000 words, over 60 player capsules, history and much more – in both PDF and spiral-bound book versions. Foreword by Dan McLaughlin. Order your copy today!
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