St. Louis Cardinals MLB Notebook – Week of March 14-20

photo: Jack Flaherty (Sam Navarro/USA TODAY Sports)

The St. Louis Cardinals signed a left-handed hitting outfielder but lost two pitchers due to injury. The club won its first two spring training games. Our history feature highlights the 1985 National League Champion Cardinals.



Spring game recaps

Friday, March 18 – Cardinals 4, Astros 2

In the first game of the shortened Grapefruit League season, the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the visiting Houston Astros at Roger Dean Stadium. Veteran right hander Adam Wainwright got the start and gave up one run on two hits in two innings pitched. He struck out one and walked none. Five pitchers followed Wainwright to the mound. Genesis Cabrera, T.J. McFarland, and Kyle Ryan each pitched a scoreless inning. Aaron Brooks tossed two scoreless innings with five strikeouts. Matthew Liberatore surrendered one run in two innings of relief. Cabrera took the win.

Aaron Brooks

The Astros got on the board first in the second inning. The Cardinals scored two in the third to take the lead on a two run single by Nolan Arenado. In the fourth Andrew Knizner thumped a two run home run to run up the score to 4-1.

The Astros made it 4-2 in the fifth. Neither team scored in the final four innings. The Cardinal offense had three hits, the Knizner long ball, the RBI single by Arenado and a single by Paul DeJong.

The Cardinals are 1-0 in Grapefruit League play.

Sunday, March 20 – Cardinals 6 at Mets 4

The Cardinals defeated the New York Mets at Port St. Lucie on Sunday. The starting lineup remained the same on the road as it was in Friday’s game at home. The Cardinal offense wasted no time and brought three runs home in the first inning on a home run by Dylan Carlson. Paul Goldschmidt drew a walk and Tyler O’Neill singled to left field. Carlson blasted a three-run long ball over the left center field wall to make it 3-0.

Dylan Carlson

The Mets responded in the second inning with one run against starter Miles Mikolas. The Cardinals made it 4-1 in the fourth when Goldschmidt popped a solo home run to left center.

The score remained at 4-1 until the seventh inning. The Mets brought it closer with two runs on a fly ball to right field that just missed the glove of Lars Nootbaar.

In the eighth the Cardinals added a run to increase the lead to 5-3. Nootbaar tripled and scored on a single by Jordan Walker. The Mets made it a one run game again in the bottom frame of the eighth.

In the ninth the Redbirds added an insurance run. Juan Yepez singled then advanced to second on a passed ball. Nootbaar drove in Yepez on a single. The Mets rallied in the bottom of the ninth and got two runners on but could not get them home. The Cardinals took the win 6-4.

Miles Mikolas pitched two innings and gave up one run on two hits. The right hander fanned three and walked one. Six pitchers followed Mikolas, beginning with Drew VerHagen who tossed two scoreless innings. Nick Wittgren and Jake Walsh followed with a scoreless inning each. Zach McCallister surrendered two runs in the seventh, and Trent Baker relinquished one run in the eighth. Junior Fernandez tossed a scoreless ninth to earn the save. Mikolas got the win.

The Cardinals are 2-0 in Grapefruit League play.

 

Cardinals sign free agent OF Corey Dickerson

On Friday, March 18 the Cardinals announced the signing of free agent outfielder Corey Dickerson to a one year contract. The deal can reach $5 million through incentives.

Corey Dickerson

The 32-year-old Dickerson has six years of major league experience with six teams, most recently in Toronto. The left handed outfielder was drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the 29th round in June of 2009. He made his debut in Denver on June 22, 2013.

Dickerson is capable of playing all three outfield positions but has played primarily in left field where he earned a Gold Glove while playing with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2018.

The left hander has a career .845 OPS against right-handed pitching and most recently slashed .282/.329/.450 with 4 home runs and 15 RBI in 46 games with Toronto.

It is expected that Dickerson’s role will be as a designated hitter and pinch hitter off the bench and will likely get some playing time in the outfield as a fourth outfielder.

Trade and Acquisition Rumors

There are no trade or acquisition rumors to report.

Transactions

  • 3/18 The Cardinals signed free agent OF Corey Dickerson

Injury Report

  • RHP Alex Reyes (frayed right labrum) has been shut down from throwing for four weeks and has received a stem cell injection in his shoulder. Reyes will begin the season on the injured list and could be out for as long as two months.

Alex Reyes

  • RHP Jack Flaherty (right shoulder) had imaging done on his shoulder which revealed inflammation as well as a small tear called a SLAP tear (superior labrum and posterior). Flaherty told the media the tear has been there for several years and is unrelated to the inflammation. Flaherty received a PRP injection in the shoulder and will be shut down for two weeks. Like Reyes, Flaherty will start the season on the injured list. The length of his stay is undetermined at this time.

Jack Flaherty

  • RHPs Ryan Helsley and Junior Fernandez, who were placed on the 60-day injured list in September 2021 are reportedly healthy and ready to play for 2022. Both pitchers are competing for a spot in the bullpen. Fernandez suffered a lat strain late in the 2021 season and Helsey was put on the injured list with elbow issues and had surgery on his left knee.
  • C Yadier Molina has not reported to spring training due to personal issues. He is scheduled to report on Monday, March 21.

Looking Ahead

Spring Training games have begun. The Cardinals played their first game against the Astros on Friday, March 18, winning over Houston 4-2. They will play 14 more games before coming north to begin the regular season. The Cardinals begin the regular season at home on April 7 against the Pirates. The complete schedule can be found here.

The end of the lockout brings the Hot Stove back, with teams rushing to complete their rosters before the regular season begins. The Cardinals have added two new pitchers, Drew VerHagen and Nick Wittgren, and within the last few days have signed outfielder Corey Dickerson. RHPs Zach McCallister and Aaron Brooks were signed to minor league contracts with an invite to spring training.

The new date for submitting arbitration salary figures is March 22. Arbitration hearings will be conducted during the season. The Cardinals have seven arbitration eligible players. Four of the seven are remaining three, Tyler O’Neill, Giovanny Gallegos, and Dakota Hudson, are first year arbitration eligible.

The Rule 5 draft has been cancelled and will return in December of 2022.

Blast from the Past

This week Blast from the Past concludes the series on the top Cardinals teams in franchise history. The top four teams were dominated by teams of the World War II era. This last series installment advances forward four decades to a World Series team that lost a heartbreaking series in seven games to their cross-state American League rivals.

Whitey Herzog

The 1985 St. Louis Cardinals finished their season with a record of 101-61 and a first place finish in the National League East Division. The team was managed by Whitey Herzog and the GM that season was former player Dal Maxvill. The 1985 team played their home games in Busch Stadium II.

The primary starting position players for the 1985 team were C Tom Nieto, 1B Jack Clark, 2B Tom Herr, SS Ozzie Smith, 3B Terry Pendleton, LF Vince Coleman, CF Willie McGee, and RF Andy Van Slyke.

Starting pitchers for this team were John Tudor, Joaquin Andujar, Danny Cox, Kurt Kepshire, and Bob Forsch. The bullpen included current Cardinal broadcaster Rick Horton, Ken Dayley, Jeff Lahti, Bill Campbell and Neil Allen. Todd Worrell was also part of the Cardinal bullpen, and he played a role in an incident that set the stage for the team’s World Series loss.

The 1985 team finished 3 games ahead of the second place New York Mets, a 98 win team. The Cardinals biggest lead in the season was four games and they spent a total of 89 days in first place.

Willie McGee

The top offensive player for the 1985 team was CF Willie McGee, who won the 1985 NL batting title with an average of .353 in 1952 games. McGee led the NL in hits with 216 and triples with 18. He was named the NL MVP that season and was also honored with an All Star selection, a Silver Slugger award in CF and a Gold Glove in CF.

The top starting pitcher was Tudor, who finished the season 21-8 with an ERA of 1.93.  Tudor led all of the MLB in WHIP (0.938) and Shutouts (10). He finished second in the Cy Young vote.

Andujar also won 21 games in 1985 but with an ERA of 3.40. Cox won 18 games with a 2.88 ERA.

The longest winning streak for the 1985 team seven games. They won seven games three times that season, from Aug 21 to Aug 27, Sept 13 to Sept 18, and Sept 20 to Sept 26.

The longest losing streak was four games on three occasions, from April 9 to April 13, April 25 to April 28, and Sept 7 to Sept 10.

The most runs scored by the 1985 Cardinals was 14 in two games. First on May 15, a 14-4 win over the San Diego Padres, and again on May 21, 14-0 over the Braves.

The most runs allowed was 17 on August 20 in a 17-2 loss to the Houston Astros.

The Cardinals met the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL Championship Series. The Cardinals prevailed over the Dodgers 4 games to 2. Game 5 of that series was famous for the Jack Buck call of Ozzie Smith’s historic home run in which he said, “Go crazy, folks, go crazy!” That home run was the first ever home run Smith hit from the left side.

The Cardinals advanced to the World Series against the cross state AL pennant winner the Kansas City Royals. The series went all seven games and Game 1 was played in Kansas City with a Cardinal win of 3-1 over the Royals. It was the first Saturday night game in World Series history. The winning pitcher for the Cardinals was Tudor.

Game 2 was another win for St. Louis in Royals Stadium. The Cardinals won 4-2 with all four runs scored in the ninth inning. The winning pitcher was reliever Ken Dayley. The runs scored on a single by Jack Clark and a bases clearing double by Terry Pendleton.

Busch Stadium was the venue for Game 3, which was won by the Royals 6-1. The Cardinal offense only one run off Royals ace Bret Saberhagen. The run scored in the sixth on consecutive singles by Ozzie Smith, Tom Herr, and Clark.

Game 4 in St. Louis was a 3-0 win for the Cardinals. Tudor was once again the winning pitcher. Tito Landrum and Willie McGee each hit solo home runs. Pendleton tripled to score the third run.

The Cardinals took a 3-1 series lead into Game 5 at Busch Stadium. The Royals won 6-1 against starter Bob Forsch. St. Louis scored its only run in the first inning off Royals starter Danny Jackson on consecutive doubles by Herr and Clark.

Don Denkinger, Todd Worrell, Tommy Herr

The series moved back to Kansas City for the final two games. Game Six started as a pitcher’s duel between Danny Cox and Charlie Liebrandt. The game was scoreless until the Cardinals took a 1-0 lead in the 8th inning when Pendleton singled and scored on a single by pinch hitter Brian Harper. In the bottom of the ninth, reliever Todd Worrell took over from reliever Ken Dayley. The first batter was pinch hitter Jorge Orta. Orta hit a bouncer between first and second that was fielded by Clark. Clark tossed the ball to Worrell who touched first base ahead of Orta. Instead of it being the first out, first base umpire Don Denkinger called Orta safe, even though video showed him clearly out. There was no instant replay in 1985 so the bad call stood. Though the Cardinals argued, Denkinger refused to reverse the call. The Royals went on to score two runs and won the game 2-1.

Game 7 was a disaster for the Cardinals. It was as if the controversy in Game 6 took the wind out of the Cardinals’ sails. The Royals bulldozed the Cardinals to the tune of 11 runs. Tudor fell apart and was removed in the third inning. The Royals led 5-0 at the end of the third inning, then blew the game open with six runs in the fifth inning. Five Cardinals pitchers went to the mound in the fifth starting with Bill Campbell and followed by Lahti, Rick Horton, Joaquin Andujar and Forsch.

The Cardinals would not win another World Series until 2006. The Royals did not even play in the postseason again until 2014 and won their only other World Series in 2015. Game 6 lives in infamy in Cardinal fans memories and is the source of deepening the rivalry between the Cardinals and the Royals. Don Denkinger later admitted that the call was wrong, but the damage was done.


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