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But is it even possible to be one of the leading forces behind a World Series team and win the NL Most Valuable Player award anonymously?

Former Cardinals third baseman Terry Pendleton, who won his own MVP with the Atlanta Braves in 1991, said without any deliberation or a hint of wavering that he’d never seen anyone play better over the course of a single season than McGee in 1985.

“That is something a lot of people don’t understand, and nobody talks about it,� Pendelton said. “Willie, in 1985, won the National League MVP and was silent. He did it quietly. And folks will look up and go, ‘Wow. Willie McGee won an MVP award?’ That’s how quiet he did it. But he did it every day. Everyday there was something new. There was something special.�

Pendleton spoke with reporters in a meeting room at the Live! By Loews downtown hotel on Friday morning. He’s one of several members of the 1985 team in St. Louis this weekend as the Cardinals celebrate the anniversary of the pennant-winning club.

That season, a 26-year-old McGee led the NL in batting average (.353), hits (216) and triples (18). Yes, 18 triples. He won an NL Gold Glove as an outfielder, claimed a Silver Slugger award, earned an All-Star selection (the second of his career), and he also led the Cardinals in runs scored (114).

McGee’s 56 stolen bases were tied for fourth-most in the majors, though they were second on his own team to MLB leader Vince Coleman (110).

If there’s any doubt about the “value� McGee brought to his club that season, the website credits McGee as having led the NL in what has become an all-encompassing popular modern metric: Wins Above Replacement (WAR).

McGee’s 8.2 WAR put him well ahead of sluggers like Atlanta’s Dale Murphy and Cincinnati’s Dave Parker, who each bashed more than 30 home runs. Imagine that, an MVP who dominated the game and hit just 10 home runs all season. That seems preposterous in today’s baseball climate.

McGee, now an assistant to the president of baseball operations for the Cardinals, had an type season 16 years before Ichiro ever stepped on an MLB field.

In fact, the numbers from their respective MVP seasons have an eerie similarity. Ichiro won the AL MVP in 2001 with a .350 batting average, 242 hits, eight triples, 56 stolen bases and eight home runs. He also won a batting title, a Gold Glove, a Silver Slugger and was an All-Star that season.

Ichiro’s WAR that season was 7.7, so McGee still would’ve edged him out.

With McGee there was no signature backflip or “Wizard� moniker like , nor did he have the regular jaw-dropping displays of speed that folks remember about Coleman.

Though McGee’s exploits and mannerisms still remain memorable to those who were around him on a daily basis.

“Willie wasn’t as fast as Vince (Coleman) in probably a 60-yard race, but from first to third I think Willie was the fastest guy I ever played with,� former Cardinals workhorse starting pitcher John Tudor said. “He’d get into that lean and — we still give him a hard time about the lean (laughing).

“Kenny Dayley saw him today and Willie leaned to give him a little hug, and Kenny said, ‘Careful Willie. You get into that lean now and you may fall over.’�

McGee was as impactful as all get out, but the spotlight wasn’t for him. Teammates recognized his influence and don’t forget it.

“Defensively, Willie was outstanding,� Tudor said. “Willie was the quiet leader. Willie never said anything. He still doesn’t.�

But how does such a masterful season, like the one McGee had in 1985, fly under the radar?

“The reason I think it was so quiet is because Willie is who he is,� Pendleton said before looking up and pointing to the television cameras and microphones and added, “This right here, he’d never want to do. It’s just not him.�

Pendleton also recalled a story of McGee’s behind-the-scenes influence on him, specifically, as a young player.

Pendleton, a California native like McGee, stayed at the hotel near the ballpark when he first joined the team. He recounted how McGee grabbed him one day and told him he wasn’t staying at the hotel anymore.

McGee told Pendleton he had a spare bedroom with a phone hooked up for Pendleton to use, and McGee didn’t give Pendleton the option to say no.

“It’s all yours and there’s no maybe,� Pendleton recalled McGee saying. “Get your stuff. Get in the car. We’re going.�

McGee even gave Pendleton a spare car key so Pendleton could use his car whenever needed. All McGee asked was to make sure the car always had gas.

One Sunday after a day game, the two were heading home from the ballpark and the gas tank was near empty, and Pendleton started to panic.

“Luckily, we made it to the gas station,� Pendleton said, remembering the event vividly four decades later. “He probably won’t tell you this, but I got a speech the whole way. The whole entire way.�

Not long after Pendleton and several of his former teammates spoke to reporters, McGee finished up his obligations for the Cardinals and started down a hallway in the hotel.

True to form, McGee headed for the elevator without stepping foot in that meeting room with the cameras and microphones. Always polite, McGee greeted a few reporters in the hallway, exchanged brief pleasantries, and shook their hands before he exited.

Even 40 years later, the catalyst for the 1985 NL championship still bows out of the spotlight.

Why?

It’s like Pendleton said, “Because Willie is Willie.�

Don’t fixate.

Move on.

Long season. Clunkers happen. Don’t look back. Turn the handle. Flush.

A dud of a game when a depleted lineup fails to produce a hit until the fifth inning and the pitchers allow 18 hits by the end of the eighth has all the makings of a flushable evening, and yet there were the Cardinals on Friday after their 8-2 loss to the San Francisco Giants going not so fast. A team at a different spot in the standings might “flush� the loss. The Cardinals, with their emphasis on development and eyes on the horizon, talking about doing something else.

Learn.

“Regardless of where you’re at in the season or what you’re competing for, you still don’t want to just flush a game,� manager Oli Marmol said. “You’ve got to learn from. I understand what you’re saying. There are certain games where you’re just like, ‘Hey, forget it, keep going.’ With as young guys as we’ve got you have to make the most of every opportunity and make sure you’re not missing an opportunity to teach or grow. There are still games where you don’t want to say, ‘Don’t worry about it. Keep going.’ There are certain moments you can learn from.�

How that takes place, Marmol explained, requires digging beyond the line score and deeper into the box score. They’ve got to go granular.

“You have to individualize it,� he said. “And not get frustrated with the overall result.�

On Thursday night, catcher Jimmy Crooks went to pitcher Michael McGreevy’s apartment to watch football. ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ were together when the lineup for Friday’s game went out to players and read how they would be reunited from their starts together earlier this season for Class AAA Memphis. A “let’s goâ€� was likely said. Or two. McGreevy said Crooks left earlier than expected so he could start working on a scouting report to bring to the right-hander at the ballpark the next day.

Crooks’ preparation has already impressed the major-league staff in his first week with the Cardinals, and detail-oriented, individualized lens Marmol mentioned after a loss like Friday’s is a fit for how to view the rookie battery.

“This is part of our future,� Marmol said.

Crooks came prepared and helped McGreevy navigate a raucous start to the game by the Giants and some of the pitches that weren’t behaving. Crooks also broke up Carson Seymour’s no-hit bid and the shutout in the fifth inning. Crooks led off with a single and scored a few batters later on Victor Scott II’s RBI single. Scott’s diving catch on a line drive into the left-center gap keep the fourth inning for erupting more on McGreevy. But how the right-hander got to the fourth inning was a sign of the details, the improvements that Marmol mentioned.

In the first inning, McGreevy tucked a curveball under the zone, and San Francisco star Rafael Devers was able to pry it up for a solo homer. Three innings later, McGreevy went even lower with a pitch, and Devers elevated it too for an RBI single. Two snappy pitches below the zone and two base hits for a top big-league hitter.

“Baseball is a very cruel game,� said McGreevy (6-3). “I was like, wow, that’s an incredible swing on a good pitch. Tip the cap. The second one was even lower and even farther out — three balls down — and he hit it. That’s when you get a little more frustrated.�

Devers was not alone.

Three pitches after Devers’ solo homer in the first, Willy Adames hit a sweeping slider for a solo homer and a quick 2-0 lead for the Giants. Thirteen pitches into his start McGreevy allowed three extra-base hits and two runs, and he got one visit from pitching coach Dusty Blake and Crooks. From there, McGreevy found some traction. He struck out three in the span of seven batters, and he was able to retire the Giants in order in the third without the ball leaving the infield.

The Giants arrived in St. Louis after scoring 25 runs in three games at Coors Field. In four of their past six wins, the Giants scored at least 10 runs.

They surged for four runs against McGreevy in the fourth inning with five hits. He allowed nine hits total in four innings — and four went for extra bases.

“This is a guy who lives on the ground,� Marmol said. “They did a nice job of not doing that.�

Beneath the surface statistics, the individualized and detailed lessons for McGreevy could be pitch use or pitch movement. The right-hander described how he wasn’t able to locate his four-seam fastball consistently, and there were times he was also unable to get the preferred movement on his cutter. The cut fastball is a pitch that snaps bats at its best and finds barrels at its worst. McGreevy threw a dozen of them and got four swings and misses on them.

He also had four cutters put in play — at an average mph of 95.6.

“I just wasn’t locating it up and in,� McGreevy said. “I was at the top of the zone. It being up and away gives lefty that split-second longer to stay on the ball and at least put it in play.�

McGreevy allowed six runs on nine hits in four innings.

Yet, he was detailing what went awry with one pitch.

This wasn’t a flush.

This was a study.

The Cardinals trailed 6-0 before Crooks got them their first hit, and offense could be scarce all weekend against the Giants. The Cardinals are playing without four of their opening day starters. Willson Contreras began his suspension Friday, and Nolan Arenado, Brendan Donovan, and Alec Burleson will miss the entire series due to injuries.

Every Cardinal in the lineup was also someway in a position different from when they started the season. Masyn Winn was at shortstop, just as he was on opening day, but he hit cleanup. Around him were two fielders who began the year at Class AAA Memphis and Nolan Gorman making his first start of the year at first base.

Available reasons to dismiss Friday’s result or ample reasons to learn from it.

Marmol gave other examples of what can be mined from a ragged game like Friday’s. There were two double plays not turned, and in the seventh inning a fly ball that dropped between multiple Cardinals turned into a run when Jung Hoo Lee tripled for his third of four hits in the game. The game, Marmol explained, is only part of the evaluation. As he moves from position to position, Thomas Saggese — who started at third Friday — has been working before games to improve his fielding regimen. That ranges from when and where he takes groundballs to how he fits it into his overall pregame preparation.

He got feedback on that and any other plays immediately after the game from coach Stubby Clapp on Friday night.

Within the eighth inning, there was another individualized lesson plan. Reliever Chris Roycroft entered to face Devers and the heart of the Giants’ order. Roycroft buzzed a 97-mph sinker past Devers for a strikeout. Roycroft struck out Adames with a cutter. The two players who socked homers in the first inning turned back to the dugout against the Cardinals’ right-handed reliever. From two batters, Roycroft got two strikeouts. He would eventually strike out the side, but not before he couldn’t lockdown the inning with two outs.

He allowed two hits — a double and an infield bounder — and sandwiched a walk between them. That loaded the bases and the inning became wobbly. Roycroft went back to how he started the inning. He shoved fastballs, alternating between sinker and cutter through a six-pitch at-bat against Casey Schmitt. Five of the pitchers were strikes. The last one as a sinker biting low and in that Schmitt swung over.

The inning could have been a flush.

It turned out to be a lesson.

“There are little details that as we’re speaking right now they’re going over with (players) inside,� Marmol said. “So you’re looking at small details like that and making sure progress is being made. And you keep moving forward.�

Giants 8, Cardinals 2

San Francisco AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

Ramos lf 6 1 2 0 0 0 .269

Devers dh 4 1 2 2 1 2 .256

Adames ss 5 1 1 2 0 1 .230

Smith 1b 5 0 2 0 0 0 .287

Chapman 3b 4 1 1 0 1 1 .234

Lee cf 5 2 4 1 0 0 .267

Schmitt 2b 5 1 2 1 0 3 .241

Gilbert rf 3 0 1 1 1 1 .264

Bailey c 5 1 3 1 0 1 .219

Totals 42 8 18 8 3 9

St. Louis AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

Nootbaar lf 4 0 0 0 0 2 .240

Herrera dh 4 1 1 1 0 0 .283

Gorman 1b 4 0 1 0 0 0 .220

M.Winn ss 3 0 0 0 0 1 .253

Hampson ph-ss 1 0 0 0 0 1 .103

Crooks c 4 1 1 0 0 1 .182

Saggese 3b 3 0 1 0 1 0 .250

J.Walker rf 4 0 0 0 0 2 .215

Scott cf 2 0 1 1 0 0 .225

Fermín 2b 3 0 0 0 0 0 .281

Totals 32 2 5 2 1 7

San Francisco 200 400 200 — 8 18 0

St. Louis 000 010 010 — 2 5 0

LOB: San Francisco 11, St. Louis 5. 2B: Smith 2 (12), Schmitt (13). 3B: Lee (11). HR: Devers (16), off McGreevy; Adames (27), off McGreevy; Herrera (14), off Beck. RBIs: Devers 2 (41), Adames 2 (78), Gilbert (11), Bailey (43), Lee (49), Schmitt (33), Scott (36), Herrera (54). CS: Gilbert (1). SF: Gilbert. DP: St. Louis 1.

San Francisco IP H R ER BB SO ERA

Seymour, W, 1-2 5 2 1 1 1 2 4.25

Gage 1 1 0 0 0 2 2.33

Beck, S, 1-1 3 2 1 1 0 3 5.11

St. Louis IP H R ER BB SO ERA

McGreevy, L, 6-3 4 9 6 6 1 3 4.68

Graceffo 2 3 0 0 1 1 5.45

Fernandez 1 4 2 2 0 0 8.87

Roycroft 1 2 0 0 1 3 6.32

Granillo 1 0 0 0 0 2 4.71

HBP: Beck (Scott). T: 2:36. Att.: 25,837.

But he can only get right in the major-league lineup.

“I just have to get out there and show who I am, just show that I’m healthy, hitting the ball hard again,� Arenado said. “Those are things I’m going to have to do.�

Arenado rejoined the Cardinals at Busch Stadium on the field Friday and he’ll be with the team throughout the weekend to continue his recovery from shoulder tendinitis and a jammed finger. If his weekend workouts go well and Arenado’s arm feels strong throwing, he’ll head to Class AA Springfield as soon as Tuesday to begin a rehab assignment there. Arenado said his goal is to return to the Cardinals on Sept. 15 when they host Cincinnati. That will give him 12 games — one home stand and one road trip — before the regular season ends.

After finishing with a workout Friday, Arenado said he has been able to hit without pain in his shoulder or finger. He’s getting his arm in throwing shape after resting it for weeks.

“I haven’t been on the IL a whole lot in my career,� Arenado said. “There’s always this guilty feeling that you feel when you’re missing games that was hard to get through. My body didn’t feel right. I can’t just play through like I used to. I did a poor job of that this year — of not realizing what I was feeling, dealing with it, and getting past it.�

Arenado said the “mistake I made� this season was not going on the injured list when he first jammed his finger and trying to play through it.

The Gold Glove-winning third basemen went 5 for 12 in a series sweep at Cleveland, but during a late-June game against the Guardians he jammed a finger on his throwing hand. In the subsequent weeks, Arenado described how the finger affected his throws. It was also causing him trouble in the batting cage, where he adjusted his grip on the bat and that gradually put additional strain and pain on his shoulder. In the next 17 games, as he tried to play to and through the trade deadline, Arenado batted .167 with a .200 slugging percentage. In 60 at-bats he had two doubles and no homers.

“I just think you try to play through things, and I just try to do the right thing,� Arenado said. “I was playing good defense. I was helping the team win in that part. The offense was sliding.

“If I hit the ball off the end of the bat, it would just vibrant the finger and that would swell up a little bit,� Arenado continued. “I wasn’t playing well. I didn’t want to use that as an excuse. I feel like I’ve played through worse injuries before. I couldn’t have the proper swing, couldn’t have the proper leg adjustment and movements that I needed. So it was time to stop.�

Arenado went on the injured list July 30.

By moving his rehab to Jupiter and the Cardinals’ Roger Dean Stadium complex, Arenado had access to the team’s fielding practice field and a training facility he uses there as well as a personal trainer in Florida who he works with.

The Cardinals attempted to trade Arenado this past offseason to save salary and give him a chance to play for a team that’s closer to contending. He invoked his no-trade clause to veto a deal the Cardinals hatched with Houston. Arenado, 34, has two years remaining on his contract, including a $15 million salary for 2027 that the Cardinals added on to his deal to make the trade possible back in 2021. Arenado spent most of the past 12 months uncertain where he would play the next 12. What direction the Cardinals take this offseason with their All-Star third baseman will be determined by ownership and his no-trade clause, and it will be led by new president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom.

How that discussion starts will coincide with how Arenado gets to finish the year.

“I would like to show that I’m healthy and be on the field for a few weeks,� Arenado said. “I don’t want to sit out the whole thing. I don’t think that’s good. … The goal was definitely to go down there and play this year. Coming back and playing.�

Contreras’ reduced suspension begins

First baseman Willson Contreras will miss the entire three-game series with the San Francisco Giants after Major League Baseball ruled on his appeal Friday. Contreras’ initial suspension of six games was trimmed to four games and he began serving it Friday. The Cardinals will play shorthanded for the weekend, and he’ll rejoin the club Tuesday in Seattle.

Contreras received the suspension for his furious reaction to an ejection Aug. 25. Contreras had to be separated from umpire Derek Thomas by manager Oli Marmol and bench coach Daniel Descalso. Contreres insisted that he did not say the vulgar phrase that prompted the ejection. The umpires told a pool reporter that Contreras said “vulgar stuff� on the field, and that he made contact with an umpire.

Contreras also threw a bat onto the field that clipped hitting coach Brant Brown.

With Alec Burleson injured and Contreras suspended, the Cardinals plan to play Nolan Gorman at first base through the weekend.

Pozo back, but Crooks to catch

When he attended his first meeting with a pitcher he was about to catch in the big-league game that night, rookie Jimmy Crooks showed up with preparation he had done before and some suggestions he could back with that preparation. Marmol was impressed — and wants to see even more of that in the closing weeks of the season.

The Cardinals brought backup catcher Yohel Pozo back from the concussion list to the active roster Friday, but he’ll be used more as a pinch-hitter off the bench.

Crooks will continue to split time at catcher with Pedro Pages.

“The way I’m thinking about it is I would like to see Crooks several times before the season is over,� Marmol said. “I’d like to see more, a little bit more of it. He’s prepared well. His attention to detail has been really good up to this point. I’d like to see that over a decent amount of games. You only speak up if you’re confident. You’re only confident if you’re prepared. And the fact that he’s done his homework to the degree that he has, I like the approach. So seeing it over time is going to be important.�

Minor moves

Rainiel Rodriguez, at only 18, made his High-A debut Thursday and went 3-for-5 with four RBIs for the Cardinals’ Peoria, Illinois, affiliate. A year removed from winning the Triple Crown in the Dominican Summer League, Rodriguez, a catcher, has scaled three levels this season to reach the Cardinals’ third-highest affiliate.

After hitting .373 with a 1.344 OPS in 20 games for the Cardinals’ rookie-level club in Jupiter, Florida, Rodriguez moved to the main field and Low-A Palm Beach, where in 60 games he hit .249 with a .498 slugging percentage and 13 homers to go with an .871 OPS. While with the PB-Cards, the catcher had almost as many RBIs (43) as strikeouts (48).

Rodriguez is considered one of the top hitting prospects in the Cardinals’ system and he’s one of the top teenage prospects in all of the minors.

As it preps for the postseason, Springfield set club records this past week for most consecutive wins (nine) and most wins in the regular season (80). The S-Cards already secured a playoff berth with a first-half division titles, and their 80 regular-season surpassed the club record of 79 set last year. The S-Cards began in 2005 and have been the Cardinals’ Class AA affiliate ever since.

Injury updates

Burleson (wrist) has not had any limitations or soreness after rounds of batting practice over the past few days and could be back in the lineup when he’s first eligible Monday in Seattle. The Cardinals believe if his weekend work goes well, Burleson will not need a rehab assignment before jumping back into big-league games. … Brendan Donovan (toe, groin) continued to increase his baseball activities and hitting work with an eye on starting a rehab assignment some time in the coming week. It’s possible his timeline overlaps with Arenado at Class AA.

The Cardinals return to catcher Yohel Pozo to the active roster from the seven-day concussion list. Pozo has been able to participate in baseball activities in the past several days. To create an spot on the active 28-player roster, the Cardinals optioned infielder Cesar Prieto to Class AAA Memphis.

Alec Burleson is not eligible to return from the 10-day injured list, leaving the Cardinals without both of their usual first baseman during Contreras' suspension. Third baseman Nolan Gorman is likely to start at first. Any other move to replace Contreras or bring up a first baseman would require clearing another spot on the roster.

Contreras was initially suspended six games for his actions on the field Aug. 25 that included furiously arguing with the home plate umpire. Contreras had to be restrained by manager Oli Marmol, bench coach Daniel Descalso, and others. Contreras tossed a bat behind him and toward people as he left the field. That bat glanced off hitting coach Brant Brown.

Contreras told his manager, the team, and the media that he vehemently denied saying anything foul to provoke home-plate umpire Derek Thomas. Contreras said he responded so angrily when Thomas ejected him for, in Contreras' words, saying something he did not say.

Crew chief Jordan Baker told a pool reporter that Contreras was ejected for saying "vulgar stuff."

“There was contact made," Baker added after the game when talking to a pool reporter. "We’re going to review the tape and what the office sends to us, and we’ll send it in, send the report in to Major League Baseball and let them handle that part of it.�

Contreras leads the Cardinals with 20 home runs and his smooth transition to first base from catcher has been one of the highlights of the season for the club.

His absence means the Cardinals' lineup will lack All-Star Brendan Donovan, longtime cleanup hitter Nolan Arenado, leading hitter Burleson, and the team's home run leader. Arenado and Donovan are, like Burleson, on the injured list.

This story will be updated.

What the final stretch of this regular season presents also draws parallels to what it could mean in the long haul for the 25-year-old rookie, as he sees it as a stretch where he can “set myself up for a good foundation next year.�

Set to make his first start of September on Friday when the Cardinals welcome the Giants to Busch Stadium for three games to finish their penultimate homestand of the season, McGreevy entered the final month of the regular season as one of a handful of rookies on the Cardinals’ active roster.

Here’s a glance at what three rookies, including McGreevy, look to take with them from the final month of the 2025 season:

Making refinements over the final stretch

McGreevy slid into the Cardinals’ rotation for the final week of the regular season last year and followed the brief showing with a successful spring training that positioned him as the Cardinals’ top starting depth in Class AAA to open the year.

Looking back at what a sample of the majors showed him, McGreevy noted the experience of pitching in higher-leverage games and adapting to a five-man rotation as opposed to a six-man rotation in the minors was part of the learning experience.

“It was good to get the feet wet, and now that I’m here, it’s nothing out of the ordinary,� McGreevy said.

McGreevy’s experience last September, when he made two starts, totaled 13 innings and allowed four runs, provided a launching point for a spring training during which he pushed for a big-league rotation spot by posting a 1.08 ERA in 16 2/3 innings.

Since moving fully into the Cardinals’ rotation after the All-Star break, McGreevy has gone 6-2 with a 4.15 ERA and totaled 47 2/3 innings through eight starts. He’s completed six or more innings in seven of his eight starts and had a 3.50 ERA in six starts across August.

He’ll start his September by facing the club he ended the last game of the regular season against last September. The start offers him a chance to make minor adjustments he’ll look to carry into the offseason.

“The body feels good. Arm feels fine. Mechanics feel a little bit off. It’s nothing that’s terrible that’s screwing me over. I just want to make sure I clean those up, end strong, on a good note,� McGreevy said.

Working through leverage

For rookie reliever Matt Svanson, strong health was noted as a priority for what he hopes September brings. So too are more opportunities to pitch in spots he’s grown into.

“Finish off the season strong (and) finish it healthy are the two main aspects, and then really just getting more experience in the high leverage roles,� Svanson said.

Protected from the Rule 5 Draft last winter after a strong season as Class AA Springfield’s primary closer, Svanson owns a 2.03 ERA and has struck out 51 batters in 48 2/3 innings out of the bullpen this year. He’s secured three holds, which have come across his previous six appearances. The most recent hold by Svanson came Tuesday after he threw a scoreless seventh and eighth inning in a 2-1 win over the Athletics.

Svanson’s outing lowered his post-All-Star break ERA to 0.79 over 22 2/3 innings. He extended his streak of allowing zero runs in relief outings of two or more innings to eight consecutive such outings, tying the 26-year-old rookie for the longest streak in the majors this season of consecutive scoreless outings that consisted of two or more innings.

The right-hander described a feeling of added comfort in key spots as opportunities come his way, as well as growth in how he pitches to opposing hitters.

“When you’re down, you’re just attack, attack, attack every time,� Svanson said. “And now it’s like, ‘Hey, this guy’s not a good matchup for me.’ Two outs nobody on, maybe I could pitch around him a little bit. See if I can get him to chase. See if I can get him to hit my pitches.�

Being a ‘sponge’

In the majors for the first time in his career, Cardinals catching prospect Jimmy Crooks looks to keep a similar approach to what he had as a non-roster invitee to big-league spring training earlier this year.

He wants to be “a sponge.�

“I get to learn a lot more about the pitchers and how to handle them. ... I’m just trying to take as much information I can get and apply it to what I do with my routine and what I need to do with my studying and report stuff for all these guys and help them make their job less stressful than it already is,� Crooks said.

Called up to the majors Aug. 28 when catcher Yohel Pozo was placed on the 7-day injured list because of a concussion, Crooks would have been in consideration for a promotion when rosters expanded in September, even if an injury didn’t open a roster spot.

The Cardinals’ top catching prospect at the start of the year, Crooks spent this minor league season as Class AAA Memphis’s primary catcher. He hit .274 with a .337 on-base percentage and a .778 OPS in 98 games before his promotion.

Now in the majors, Crooks has started two games while alternating starts with Pedro Pages. The setting provides the Cardinals coaching staff a chance to get eyes on Crooks ahead of 2026. For the 24-year-old Crooks, he’ll look to treat each game opportunity in the majors like every other game he played before making his MLB debut.

“It’s the same game, just a bigger stadium, bigger lights, and that’s how I treat it,� Crooks said. “The hitters are better, but we’ve got to figure out around that because hitting is hard, and I know that for a fact. But it’s just been cool and not letting the environment get too big for me.�

“I hadn’t gotten that a lot recently,� Liberatore said. “It kind of been cutter-ish. To get a bad-looking swing on one of them in the zone really turned that light switch on for me.�

Start by start, bullpen session by bullpen session, Liberatore has been working to layer each outing with an improvement from the previous one. A few weeks ago, his goal was to sustain his velocity deeper into the game, and when he did that toward his 50th pitch of the game the goal in his next appearance was to hold it until the 70th. The slider has been an ongoing focus as the lefty sought to reclaim the pitch’s shape and stop it from misbehaving as a cutter.

He had the familiar slider at his fingertips Wednesday, and it made his curveball play better and his fastball ride more effective in a 5-1 victory against the Athletics. Liberatore (7-11) pitched 5 1/3 innings and struck out seven. He got seven swings and misses on either his curve or his slider, and of the 29 he threw 13 were called strikes or swings and misses.

The Athletics did not put one of those 29 pitches in play.

After finishing the third inning with a called strikeout on a slider that froze the Athletics’ Lawrence Butler, Libertore peeked at the pitch traits and saw it had the break and shape he’d been seeking.

“It finally clicked,� Liberatore said. “When I’m getting swings on it like I was tonight it’s a different ballgame. … I feel like I keep taking steps in the right direction every time out. I feel like I finally put it together for an entire outing instead of two to three or four innings.�

If building-block comments like that and others about prospect Jimmy Crooks “getting looks� or Nolan Gorman “taking reps� from the Cardinals sound familiar as September begins, they should.

They’re just out of season.

They usually bloom every March.

As the Cardinals emerged from the trade deadline with an eye on 2026 and not a focus on 2025, the emphasis increasingly has been on preparation, not just for that evening’s game or that weekend’s series but for what the club can look toward next season and beyond. The descriptions of players working on specific things or getting the opportunity to work toward specific things as opposed to winning (period, full stop) shares phrasing and verbiage from spring training.

“That’s fair,� manager Oli Marmol said Wednesday afternoon when presented with the comparison. “Especially if we’re looking at this properly as continuing to build toward when we can show up everyday knowing we’re going to win. You have to keep that mindset of the final line not being the whole story. Libby is a part of that. There are things he can do today that are encouraging that don’t tell the whole story of hits and runs allowed or innings pitched.�

An example: The shape of his slider.

On average, Liberatore’s slider Wednesday reached 85.6 mph, topping out at 86.7 mph. It had an average spin rate of 2,622 revolutions per minute and an average induced vertical break (that is without gravity) of 3 inches, 2 inches better than the season average. That movement – which is more sweeping than sharp and “cutter-ish� – opened the effectiveness of his curveball and gave him a breaking ball to challenge left-handed batters.

He got ahead 0-1 with a slider to Athletics first baseman Nick Kurtz, the favorite to win the American League Rookie of the Year Award who hit his 28th home run of the season later in Wednesday’s game. Ahead 1-2, Liberatore delivered another slider, at 86.7 mph, and Kurtz fouled it off. The next pitch was the curveball that snapped off Liberatore’s fingers at 77 mph and landed for a ball. Then, from the same level as the curve, Liberatore let ride a 94.2-mph sinker that Kurtz took for strike three.

“The curveball was a good pitch for him,� Marmol said. “When the slider has the shape that it did today, that’s also tough. He can land both spins of the curveball and the slider that hasn’t been there at times. And the shape hasn’t been what he’s wanted. So he has just the curveball. Today, he was able to use all of it.�

Against an Athletics’ lineup that ambushed starter Sonny Gray on Monday and had its aggressiveness used against it Tuesday by Miles Mikolas, Liberatore confounded them. The lineup that’s the most eager to swing and strikes and the first pitch were spectators to Liberatore’s pitches.

His first three strikeouts were all looking.

“They didn’t really see it,� Liberatore said. “If they’re not pulling the trigger on stuff in the zone with two strikes … It was definitely an aggressive lineup. They swung at a lot of stuff in the zone. The big breaking ball they weren’t able to pick up too well.�

Liberatore is hardly alone in how the Cardinals are reviewing, scrutinizing, and even describing his September with spring undertones.

Just in the past two weeks, the Cardinals have described sticking with right-hander Andre Pallante in the rotation so that the can continue refining and testing pitches at the major-league level for feedback he would not get at Class AAA Memphis. Marmol and hitting coach Brant Brown spoke extensively Tuesday about what they want to see from Jordan Walker when it comes to his preparation before the game with his swing and against specific pitches for his approach.

Crooks is set to get starts in the coming week or so for more experience with the big-league staff, just as a young, rising catcher gets in Jupiter, Florida.

“I think you have to keep that (spring mindset) as somewhat of a filter,� Marmol said. “Part of what you’re doing in spring is you’re truly just developing certain a skillset. … This is different because you are preparing (to win). Right now, there is a hitters meeting and they’re preparing to execute a certain game plan, and then you evaluate whether they did that or not by the hits column and doubles and homers and win or lose. So there is an aspect of spring. I still want to win.

“There is a certain level of execution that needs to take place in order for us to win,� Marmol said, “and they’re preparing to do that right now.�

And then there is the post-op that every player gets about every facet of the game. While Marmol spoke to the media in the daily post-game press conference, infielders gathered with coach Stubby Clapp to review video of plays and discuss where or how they were handled correctly. Thomas Saggese described Wednesday afternoon how those conversations have helped him see the game from the viewpoint of other positions, and he gave examples of how Clapp and he would look at video of a play and discuss an angle he could have taken or footwork he needed to implement the next time.

Gorman has been going through similar reviews, and the drills he’s doing at third base with coaches are similar to ones he’d be doing in spring to prepare for the position.

Gorman has improved his throws in the past week due to those drills, and at a pivotal moment in Wednesday’s game he was able to rush on a grounder, throw on the go, and land a dart that kept the Athletics from scoring a key run. The A’s challenged the play only to see replay confirm Gorman’s throw was true and ahead of the runner. Saggese has been working on the time of his bounce to the ready position, and he was right there to make a play up the middle for the final out of Wednesday’s win. All of that was fruit for Clapp’s recap.

“Those are as valuable as anything else we do,� Marmol said. “Dissect the game. What did we do well? What they didn’t do well and what are areas of improvement? And then how we’re actually going to get there.�

The meetings with outfielders take place the day after the game. Hitters meet throughout the game to discuss adjustments and then receive a breakdown of their game on their phone before then meeting with coaches before any batting practice on the next game day.

The starting pitcher will enter what Marmol calls the “feedback loop� the day after his game, and pitching coach Dusty Blake will have a detailed summary of the outing.

It goes beyond the pitching line to pitch traits, pitch sequences, and goals.

That is the stacking of improvements.

And that, Liberatore agreed when ask, can feel like spring training and increase of pitch counts and pitch use and working on pitches, outing by outing.

How the games count is the twist.

“I’m not going out in a big-league game during the season and work on something like I might in spring,� Liberatore said. “There is a difference. The trend I’ve been on has been similar but not by design. There is a little more importance and sense of urgency that comes in the season as opposed to spring training.�

Doyle will aim for around two innings, per a Cardinals official.

The Friday-night ace for Tennessee this past spring, Doyle went 10-4 with a 3.20 ERA in 95 2/3 innings over 19 games (17 starts). The Cardinals put him on the Florida Complex League roster and had him throwing bullpen sessions and other outings over the past month to manage his workload and not heap additional innings onto his shoulder after the college season.

Tanner Franklin, the Cardinals’ third pick in the draft, has appeared in two games at two levels since the draft. Doyle’s teammate at Tennessee, Franklin has a 2.08 ERA and seven strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings. His High-A Peoria debut came this past Saturday, with 2 1/3 innings.

Ryan Mitchell, a standout prep player from Memphis who the Cardinals drafted 55th overall, has been with the Cardinals' complex league affiliate and not yet appeared with a Class A team.

Doyle, 21, was the Cardinals’ highest pick in the draft since 1998, and he signed for a club record $7.25 million bonus. He touches 101 mph with his fastball, and some evaluators expect him to rise just as fast through the minors.

This is the second time in five weeks that Molina will join manager Oliver Marmol's staff as a guest coach for home games. The manager, who first approached Molina about joining his staff in September 2023, reached out to Molina several weeks ago about being a resource for young players and joining him and the coach staff in the dugout as they ran the game.

This will be Molina's second trip to St. Louis in a few weeks after going several years without visiting.

He was in the dugout as a coach for two games during a Cubs series at the start of August.

He expressed then his wish to also join them for a road series or trip.

The timing of his latest cameo to work with coaches and catchers coincides with Saturday's team Hall of Fame inductions. The club will posthumously honor Walt Jocketty, the general manager when the Cardinals drafted and debuted Molina, and present a red jacket to Edgar Renteria, the shortstop when Molina debuted. Renteria and Molina were on the 2004 team that won the National League pennant and made the first of Molina's four World Series appearances with the Cardinals.

The third honoree at the Hall of Fame will be the longtime broadcaster, former closer, and ubiquitous club ambassador Al Hrabosky.

Molina's return to the St. Louis also comes as prospect Jimmy Crooks gets his first experiences in the majors.

The Cardinals plan to activate Yohel Pozo on Friday from the seven-day concussion list. But the team is likely to carry three catchers for the closing weeks of the season so that Crooks can get familiar with the major-league staff, with major-league preparation, and audition for a spot with the major-league club in 2026. 

Molina has expressed an interest in managing a major-league club, and he's taken on some experiences to prepare for that.

Shortly after retiring following the 2022 season, Molina managed a winter ball club in Venezuela. He has recently managed winter ball teams in Puerto Rico and in the Dominican Republic, where his club played against a team managed by former teammate Albert Pujols. Molina has been named manager for Team Puerto Rico's entry into this coming spring's World Baseball Classic.

Pujols is set to manage the Dominican's national team in the tournament.

During his August visit, Molina discussed how he wanted to be a coach with a major-league club as an entry point and the timetable for when he would like to do that. His oldest son, who has committed to University of Texas-Arlington, is in his senior year of high school and will be draft eligible next July. Molina said after being with his son through his senior year is when he would he look into a full-time return to the majors.

“That’s my plan in the future," Molina said in August. "I’m concentrating on my family right now. They deserve that. In the future, I’d love to coach. ... I want to keep (being apart of baseball), keep coaching, keep grinding, and that's what I'm going to do.�

Molina won two World Series championships in St. Louis. The nine-time Gold Glove Award-winner is considered the finest defensive catcher of his generation. The fans will be able to vote Molina into the Cardinals Hall of Fame in 2026. He is eligible for the National Baseball Hall of Fame for the class of 2028.

Buster Posey, Molina's contemporary at catcher and currently the Giants' president of baseball operations, is eligible for Cooperstown in 2027.