The sea shanty of perpetual rebuild: How Cardinals can avoid echoing Pirates
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Throngs of Cardinals fans got accustomed to seeing successful baseball.
The Cardinals got accumstomed to seeing throngs of fans.
Now both are facing the prospects of neither.
That's how ÁńÁ«ĘÓƵ sports columnist Jeff Gordon puts it when he joins baseball writer Derrick Goold for this brand new Best Podcast in Baseball. The two staff writers for discuss the stunning lack of attendance for a four-game visit from the Pittsburgh Pirates, and how the Pirates sure do have plenty of power pitching, but they also present a cautionary tale for the Cardinals about the gravitational pull of the perpetual rebuild's black hole. There are ways for the Cardinals to pull out of that outcome.
Goold likens the situation to a space launch. Sure, the Cardinals can spend time engineering and building a homegrown shuttle, but eventually it's going to take the booster rockets from spending on outside help to get it off the ground and out of low-hovering orbit.Ěý
In its 13th season as one of the first and most widely heard podcasts on baseball and the Cardinals, the Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored weekly by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the ÁńÁ«ĘÓƵ, , and Derrick Goold.
ÁńÁ«ĘÓƵ baseball writer Derrick Goold joined columnist Jeff Gordon to discuss the pitching gap between the Pirates and Cardinals.
Two of Masyn Winn's RBIs in 7-5 victory came after a young reliever had misplaced two leads, and that's just an example of what manager Oli Marmol said is 'needed' to improve.
Jimmy Crooks, Cesar Prieto joined the Cardinals in Cincinnati and will likely start Sunday's series finale as Alec Burleson, Yohel Pozo go on injured lists.
Necessity reveals recently added power reliever's audition for future role: Cardinals Extra
CINCINNATI — Even in the bullpen — perhaps especially in the bullpen — necessity becomes the mother of experimentation and sometimes revelation.
Attempting to avoid using two right-handed setup relievers, Kyle Leahy and Riley O’Brien, manager Oli Marmol had to navigate late innings in Friday night’s close game with relievers not often used in such high-leverage spots for the Cardinals this season. Jorge Alcala is still in his first month with Cardinals organization and was last seen pitching the eighth inning of a game the Cardinals trailed by five runs at the time. Yet, there he was in the sixth Friday, tasked with holding fast to a one-run lead.
“It’s one of those things where there’s higher ceiling than some others, so you want to continue to take a look at how he handles different layers of pressure and go from there,” Marmol said. “When we first got him, we knew we wanted to inch him into kind of seeing what he’s capable of in a scenario like (Friday). It’s leverage. But it’s still early. Depending on availability you can test it even further — in the seventh or eighth.”
And they will.
Alcala and Ryan Fernandez, a setup reliever a year ago, were thrust into pivotal moments of Friday’s 7-5 win against the Reds because the other right-handers were unavailable. Fernandez collected the save — the eighth different reliever to get a save this season for the Cardinals — for a scoreless 10th inning that included a strikeout. In this season of “runway” and opportunity for young homegrown players, they represent and highlight an alternate stream for talent collection. The Cardinals are fishing there too for future upside.
Fernandez was claimed out of Boston’s organization in the Rule 5 Draft in December 2023. Earlier this month, the Cardinals claimed Alcala off waivers from Boston. They’ve made a similar move to get O’Brien.
The stuff caught the Cardinals’ attention.
The openings on their roster gave them the opportunity to see if they could unlock it.
In his office Saturday, Marmol was asked if Alcala fit under the “runway” umbrella — auditioning now for a future spot with the Cardinals and not just a depth move to complete 2025.
“He has to,” Marmol said. “You look at teams in our division and outside of our division, and they’ve done a really nice job of getting players who aren’t homegrown and having them contribute at a super-high level. You have to do it all. You have to grow your own dudes. You have to bring some guys from the outside and still have them be really good for you. You have to be able to capitalize on all of it.”
Alcala flashed his power potential Friday.
Jordan Walker made a sliding catch on a line drive for the final out of Alcala’s scoreless inning. But the pitch that got the liner was a 99.1-mph fastball — the swiftest pitch in the game. Alcala mixed that with a curveball that topped out at 85.8 mph with a sharp break that averaged 41 inches. Two of the outs he collected were lineouts. That was partially because of his focus was throwing strikes to improve upon walk rates that have troubled outings with other teams. Of his 11 pitches, seven were strikes Friday.
“The most important thing for me right now is attack the strike zone,” Alcala said in Spanish. “I feel I’ve been doing that the right way. My plan right now, in my mind, is attack the strike zone and stay healthy.”
For his work Friday, Alcala received his third hold of the season and first with the Cardinals. Since being claimed off waivers on Aug. 7, Alcala has made seven appearances for the Cardinals. In 6 1/3 innings he’s struck out six, walked two, and allowed one run — on a homer. He has a 1.42 ERA, though before Friday he’d only pitched in one game when the Cardinals were leading. And that was when they had a five-run lead and another arm available before the inning went sideways.
Friday was a different kind of assignment and one that hints at future looks.
“He’s definitely got stuff,” Marmol said. “The velo, the breaking — they’re real. So, we’ll continue to take a peek at it.”
Prieto, Crooks debut in a pinch
Let the record show that Cesar Prieto arrived in the majors before his luggage did.
The Cardinals infielder, promoted from Class AAA Memphis on Friday afternoon, entered Friday night’s game as a pinch-hitter in the 10th inning to make his major-league debut. Jimmy Crooks, who was also promoted Friday, debuted at catcher, taking over behind the plate for the final two innings and the extra-inning win and save. His catching gear made it to Cincinnati along with him.
Somewhere between Oklahoma City, a stopover in Chicago, and his afternoon arrival in Cincinnati, Prieto’s luggage lagged behind him — arriving Saturday morning, he said.
Its absence was not on his mind as he returned to the hotel late Friday.
“A lot of emotions when I was walking back to the hotel,” Prieto said in Spanish as translated by bullpen catcher Kleininger Teran. “All that went through my mind was all the process I went through to make it and finally that I made it. I was feeling really happy.”
Prieto and Crooks are expected to start Sunday’s series finale.
A native of Simpatia in Cienfuegos, Cuba, Prieto defected in 2021 by sprinting away from Cuba’s National Team as his teammates entered a Florida hotel and making to an awaiting car. He signed with the Orioles and was traded to the Cardinals in July 2023.
“When I made a decision to come to this country, I was really committed to play in the big leagues,” Prieto said Saturday afternoon. “That was the first thing that went through my mind.”
Scott & Springfield’s record pursuit
Center fielder Victor Scott II began his weekend rehab assignment Friday night with the Cardinals’ affiliate that is chasing a franchise record.
Scott started in center field and hit second for the Class AA Springfield Cardinals, and he went 0 for 3 with a strikeout. He was expected to be back in the lineup Saturday night at Hammons Field as he prepares for a possible return to the majors in the coming week.
While in Springfield, Scott was part of Friday night’s 5-4 walk-off win in the 11th inning and one more stride toward an S-Cards milestone. Already a first-half division winner in the Texas League and guaranteed a berth in the upcoming playoffs, the Cardinals’ Double-A team is nearing a franchise record for wins. The victory Friday was the S-Cards’ 77th of the season, three shy of the club’s highest win total in its 21 seasons.
At 77-47, the S-Cards are 10 games better than any other team in the Texas League, and they have a two-game lead for the second-half division title.
Extra bases
The extra-inning victory Friday against the Reds was Marmol’s 314th win as manager in St. Louis. … Garrett Hampson scored the eventual winning run in Friday night’s 7-5 victory and di so as a pinch-runner. Hampson leads the majors with eight runs scored as a pinch-runner this summer. … Shortstop Masyn Winn’s three-RBI night Friday also made him the first Cardinal this season with at least three hits with runners in scoring position in the same game.
ÁńÁ«ĘÓƵ baseball writer Derrick Goold joined columnist Jeff Gordon to discuss the pitching gap between the Pirates and Cardinals.
5 ways (maybe 6) Cardinals 'picked up' each other and rebounded repeatedly in win vs. Reds
CINCINNATI — An assignment in the lesson plans for the Cardinals’ second semester syllabus to prepare and identify players for next season and beyond is to urge them to strive to be aggressive, to stride to make a play and determine what’s possible, not settle for what’s in reach.
That push does sometimes require a net to still win.
“That’s needed,” manager Oli Marmol said late Friday night in his office. “I want these guys to stay aggressive. If they’re going to error on one side, be on the aggressive side, so we can talk about it and grow from it rather than being timid. But it takes other guys picking you up when that happens. We did that.”
The Cardinals squandered three leads but seized the most important one — the final one — in the 10th inning and fended off the Cincinnati Reds, 7-5, at Great American Ball Park. A throwing error by Reds All-Star Elly De La Cruz on what could have been the final out of a scoreless 10th inning opened the way for the Cardinals two score twice. Ryan Fernandez struck out De La Cruz to end the game a few minutes later. But before getting to that exchange in the 10th inning, the Cardinals had several seesaws throughout the game that would define the game.
A misstep on the bases was followed by a home run for a lead.
A costly flinch that cost a run was followed by a lockdown reliever.
Young reliever Gordon Graceffo lost the lead (twice).
Masyn Winn picked him up with hits to assert a lead (twice).
Winn had three hits and three RBIs, including the two-strike single in the 10th inning that secured the Cardinals’ insurance run.
Catching prospect Jimmy Crooks made his major-league debut as a defensive sub for the ninth inning and was there to shepherd Fernandez through the 10th to pick up the bullpen. Each time a Cardinal did something that appeared to turn the game against them, another Cardinal was there, as baseball clubhouses say, “to pick each other up.”
“That was a big part of it,” Marmol said.
Here are five (or maybe six) examples of how it happened:
Walker, et. al., picked up by Pages
The Cardinals’ first-inning lead did not survive the bottom of the inning, and they were just about ready to run themselves out of tying the game in the top of the second.
With runners at the corners, Jordan Walker broke from first to either take second, if permitted, or buy time for Thomas Saggese to skedaddle home from third to tie the game. Walker had just reached first on an error, and the Cardinals were willing to push to see if they could invite the Reds into some more chaos. Aggressive, per instructions.
But Walker pushed toward second instead of turning back into a rundown.
He was caught stealing, and the Cardinals had a runner still at third with two outs.
Within a few pitches, they had the lead anyway. Pedro Pages drove a two-run homer into the second-deck of seats beyond left field. Pages’ 10th home run of the season flipped the Reds’ early lead and gave the Cardinals the 3-2 edge while also bringing home the run the baserunning play almost left stranded.
Liberatore picked up by strikeouts
The in-game education of Matthew Liberatore began in the third inning as the Reds opened with a leadoff walk and a single before the lefty could get an out.
His escape hatch from that trouble that allowed him to pitch a scoreless inning was striking out cleanup hitter Miguel Andujar. What followed in subsequent were other strikeouts that similarly neutralized Reds’ rallies — one before the mushroomed and the other before it even began. In the third, Liberatore got ahead and set up Andujar with a 93.7-mph sinker. The lefty has been working on maintaining his velocity deep into his pitch count, not just deep into games. The Cardinals have unlocked a physical part of his delivery to help him be more consistent, and consistent velocity makes his off-speed pitches more effective.
Consider the changeup.
Ahead in the count to Andujar, Liberatore dropped an 88.8-mph changeup to the lower edge of the strike zone. Andujar swung over it for a key strikeout.
“Changeup strikeout was cool,” Liberatore said. “I don’t get many of those. A true swing-and-miss changeup down in the zone for a punchout in a big situation — that was awesome.”
In the next inning, the Reds got two on with two out and that brought up leadoff hitter TJ Friedl. Liberatore again set up the at-bat with a 93.1-mph sinker. He went to the pitch that he’s been workshopping the past week — the slider — and got Friedl swinging at an 86.2-mph breaking ball. Liberatore cut to the chance in the fifth and struck out the first two batters. Four innings after homering off Liberatore, Noelvi Marte nicked a 92.3-mph fastball for a foul tip and a strikeout. Four innings after doubling against Liberatore, De La Cruz took a 76.6-mph curveball for a called strike three.
That came after Liberatore flashed him a 93.2-mph fastball.
“Timely strikeouts are huge,” said Liberatore, who struck out those four and allowed three runs on eight hits in five innings. “Those are four really good at-bats for me. I felt like I executed. I don’t know how many pitches it took for all four of those strikes, but if it was 15, I felt like I executed 13 out of those 15. In those situations, I happened to string together a lot of executed pitches.”
Graceffo picked up by Winn (twice)
Thrust into pivotal innings because the Cardinals sought to avoid high-leverage right-handers Kyle Leahy and Riley O’Brien on Friday, rookie Gordon Graceffo had trouble from the opening moments of his first inning. De La Cruz greeted him with a triple and scored on a single to knot the game, 4-4, all before Graceffo could get his first out. In the eighth, Ke’Bryan Hayes hit a solo homer off Graceffo to erase the one-run lead he had coming in.
Each time Cincinnati answered the Cardinals’ lead against Graceffo, Winn was a part of snatching it back.
In the top of the eighth, Winn got ahead 3-0 against reliever Nick Marintez. The Cardinals had a runner at third base and also had already failed to bring him home with fewer than two outs. Winn remained aggressive with the 3-0 count and missed on consecutive pitches from Martinez. The full-count pitch, Winn pulled to left field, and it hugged the left-field line to drop down fair and for an RBI double and a 5-4 lead.
The Cardinals’ Nathan Church reacts as he scores as Willson Contreras reaches first on a throwing error by Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz during the 10th inning on Friday.
Carolyn Kaster, Associated Press
Hayes’ homer leveled the game again, and in the 10th, just after De La Cruz’s error allowed Nathan Church to break the tie by scoring, Winn added to it with a third two-strike hit of the evening and a second time reclaimed a lead for Graceffo.
“Really good night for him,” Marmol said. “That’s one of the things he does really well. He gets down to two strikes and puts the ball in play. He’s a tough out. That was a big part of how we came through. He took some really, really good at-bats in some key moments.”
Fermin picked up by Svanson
In the ninth inning, Pages’ second extra-base hit of the game got the potential go-ahead run to second base and offered the Cardinals a chance to pull ahead before the Reds dragged them into bottom of the ninth or extra innings. Jose Fermin replaced Pages at second base as a pinch-runner.
Fermin was eager to take advantage of a read on the pitcher and steal third, but a flinch on a pitch when he didn’t go may have given him away.
He was promptly picked off.
The description Marmol gave of talking about and learning from missteps happened late Friday night in the Cardinals’ clubhouse. Marmol mentioned the flinch to reporters as a possible reason for the pickoff, and at the same time third-base coach Ron “Pop” Warner was talking to Fermin about the same thing. If there’s a giveaway, expect the pickoff.
Fermin’s out on the bases proved less costly only because of what Matt Svanson did next. The right-handed reliever got two of his three strikeouts in the ninth inning to keep the Reds from capitalizing with a walk-off win. Svanson’s scoreless ninth shoved the game into extra innings and limited any fallout from Fermin’s run.
Bullpen picked up by Fernandez
Down the two arms they wanted to rest and running out of options as the game hit the 10th, the Cardinals turned to Fernandez to save the lead Winn’s third RBI and De La Cruz’s error combined to provide. The right-hander most of last season as the Cardinals’ setup man, and he spent all of this season in Class AAA Memphis because of early struggles.
To avoid pressing other relievers into the game, Fernandez had the 10th — and likely would have finished it regardless of how turbulent it got.
By rule, the Reds started with a spontaneously generated runner in scoring position.
Fernandez complicated the inning by walking the leadoff batter.
Staring back at him from behind home plate was Crooks — the same face he’d seen so often at Class AAA Memphis and was now two innings into his big-league career. Crooks debuted at catcher in a tie game on the road, but at least he had a familiar pitcher on the mound. Well, mostly. Fernandez had something new for him — a changeup. The right-hander said later that he “wasn’t really throwing that, so he didn’t really know to call it.” That’s why Fernandez shook off so many pitches. The battery sorted that out on the job.
With the tying run on base, Fernandez retired three consecutive Reds.
The game ended on De La Cruz’s strikeout.
The finishing pitch?
A changeup.
Fernandez picked up the save, his first of the year.
“I’ve been catching him for awhile this whole year, so he knows how I call him, and he knows what I want to do,” Crooks said. “I trust him. He trusts me. Whenever that situation came up, we’re not worried about it.”
ÁńÁ«ĘÓƵ baseball writer Derrick Goold joined columnist Jeff Gordon to discuss the pitching gap between the Pirates and Cardinals.
An excerpt from the Post-Dispatch's weekly baseball newsletter, Write Fielder, that rethinks how to award the batting title to reflect an era without .300 hitters.
Masyn Winn's third RBI and third hit of the game comes after costly Elly De La Cruz error misses third out, opens the way for the Cardinals to win series opener.
For Crooks and Prieto, their first appearance will be their major-league debut. Burleson (wrist) and Pozo (concussion) will miss road trip, timetable TBD.
Cardinals seize on Reds' error in 10th inning to overcome their missteps in 7-5 victory
CINCINNATI — The Cardinals had their share of mishaps and missteps along the way Friday night, but when Cincinnati committed a costly error in the 10th inning, they seized on it.
Reds All-Star shortstop Elly De La Cruz charged what should have been an inning-ending groundout from Willson Contreras that sent a tie game into the bottom of the 10th with Cincinnati one swing or a pair of bunts away from winning. De La Cruz threw the ball on the run, sidearm, and low, and first baseman Spencer Steer didn’t dig it. That play allowed Nathan Church to score from third as the extra-inning bonus runner, and it kept the inning alive for the Cardinals to add on.
Masyn Winn did with his third hit and third RBI of the game to send the Cardinals to a 7-5 victory against the Reds at Great American Ball Park.
The Cardinals misplaced three leads in the first nine innings but reliever Ryan Fernandez held firm in the 10th. The Reds got the tying run on base before Fernandez retired three consecutive opponents.
With Jimmy Crooks at catcher and making his big-league debut, Fernandez struck out De La Cruz to end the game and secure his first save of the season.
The Cardinals got the go-ahead run into scoring position in the top of the ninth with Pedro Pages’ double – his second extra-base hit of the game. Any chance at a rally stumbled into a costly mistake when pinch-runner Jose Fermin was picked off taking his lead.
The pickoff proved less costly when reliever Matt Svanson (3-0) plowed through the bottom of the ninth to force the game into extra innings.
That’s how it went in the later innings for the Cardinals.
A leak, a trip, a lost lead or lost chance to take a lead – and then a teammate with the pickup.
Reliever Gordon Graceffo gave up leads in each of the innings he appeared to allow Cincinnati to force a tie game into the ninth inning.
In the seventh, Elly De La Cruz’s leadoff triple led to a quick run against Graceffo before he could get an out. That tied the game, 4-4. Masyn Winn seized the lead back with his second RBI of the game. In the top of the eighth, the Cardinals’ shortstop got ahead in the count 3-0 against Reds reliever Nick Martinez. Winn went aggressively after the next two pitches and missed to get the count full. On the sixth pitch of the at-bat, Winn pulled a fly ball to left field that hugged the line and dropped for a double.
Winn’s RBI scored pinch-runner Garrett Hampson for a 5-4 lead.
It was gone with a swing in the bottom of the inning.
Ke’Bryan Hayes, who the Reds acquired from Pittsburgh at the trade deadline, drilled a solo homer off Graceffo to center field to again level the game.
Matthew Liberatore held the Reds to three runs on eight hits through his five innings. He started the sixth but did not get an out. The lefty struck out four, and when he left the mound had the Cardinals in the lead.
Liberatore spins timely strikeouts
There was only one perfect inning from lefty Matthew Liberatore, but it was how he limited the trouble in the other innings that showed where he’s making strides as a starter.
Throughout the past month, as the innings have mounted and his first full season as a big-league starter got older, Liberatore has worked to maintain his fastball velocity deeper into his pitch counts. At the same time, he’s been working on consistency from his slider – everything from how he uses it, to how he holds it, to the results he gets from it. The goal of it all has been to miss more bats and be more consistent with his best stuff.
In the third, there was a flash.
A leadoff walk and a follow-up single put Liberatore into a jam, and he was able to defuse it with a strikeout. Liberatore set up cleanup hitter Miguel Andujar with a 93.7-mph sinker before finishing the at-bat with a plunging 88.8-mph changeup that slipped to the lowest edge of the strike zone. That and two lineouts got him out of the third without allowing a run. He finished the fourth with a strikeout on an 86-mph slider that was also set up with a sinker. That stranded two Reds on base.
Liberatore then began the fifth with consecutive strikeouts.
Four innings after he homered of Liberatore, Noelvi Marte saw a four-seamer, a slider, and a curveball to fall behind in the count. He nicked a 92.3-mph fastball on the strikeout. Liberatore followed that with a snappy curveball that De La Cruz took for a called strike 3. Liberatore set up that breaking ball with a 93.2-mph four-seamer – holding the velocity and landing the breaking ball.
Welcome to leverage, Alcala
With the Cardinals preferring to avoid using two prominent right-hander relievers, Jorge Alcala emerged from the bullpen and into arguably his highest-leverage spot yet as a Cardinal.
Liberatore started the sixth inning, but when he allowed a home run and a single to the first two batters, the Cardinals sought relief.
Spencer Steer greeted Liberatore in the sixth inning with a solo homer that shaved the Cardinals’ lead down to a run. Catcher Jose Trevino followed with a single that put the winning run on base. That ended Liberatore’s evening and began Alcala’s first significant audition as one of the right-handers the Cardinals can turn to in a bind and rely on his power fastball.
He entered a one-run game in the sixth inning.
The tying run was on base.
He walked the first batter he faced.
But the inning spun in his direction from there. The Reds’ No. 9 hitter dropped a bunt to push his two teammates closer to home with one out. Alcala gained some traction in the inning when he was able to get a popup from leadoff hitter TJ Friedl. With two outs, came the deciding play of Alcala’s inning – and he needed every inch that 6-foot-7 right fielder Jordan Walker could give him.
Marte ripped a 99.1-mph fastball from Alcala for a line drive to right field. The ball left Marte’s bat at 103.6 mph. Walker got the needed jump on the sinking liner and slid to pluck the out just before it reached the ground and did more than tie the game.
Cardinals push out to lead
The Cardinals’ answered the Reds’ rally to take their first lead with a powerful counterpunch.
In the second inning, Thomas Saggese sneaked a double into the left-field corner. A fielding error by De La Cruz put another Cardinal on base briefly before Walker was thrown out trying to steal second. That robbed the Cardinals of a run when catcher Pages drilled one of the next pitches from Zack Littell into the second deck of the left-field seats. Pages’ 10th homer of the season lifted the Cardinals to a 3-2 lead.
The scored again in the third inning after two singles and a catcher’s interference loaded the bases for shortstop Winn.
He poked a single to right to propel the Cardinals to a 4-2 lead after three.
After Winn’s single the bases were still loaded with only one out, but all three of those baserunners were stranded when Littell retired the next two batters. That began the stretch of more than four consecutive innings without a Cardinal reach base.
Littell retired 14 consecutive Cardinals before yielding the mound.
No. 2 hitters swap homers
It’s what happened after the No. 2 hitter for each team hit a home run that gave the Reds the lead after the first inning.
The second batter of the game, Cardinals designated hitter Ivan Herrera tagged an opposite-field homer into the seats at Great American Ball Park for the first run of the game. It came on the first pitch he saw in his at-bat, and the lead provided did not survive the first inning. His counterpart in the Reds’ lineup, No. 2 hitter Marte, drilled the second pitch he saw in the game for a game-tying homer.
Marte pulled a home run that traveled an estimated 444 feet.
Herrera’s 11th homer of the season took the lead, Marte’s 12th homer of the season tied the game, and the Reds weren’t done in the bottom of the first. De La Cruz doubled immediately after Marte’s homer. He took third on a single, and then he scored on a sacrifice fly for a 2-1 lead before Liberatore regained control of the inning – and rode that control until the Cardinals had reclaimed a lead.
Starts for 2 promoted prospects a peek at 'who can be part of our future': Cardinals Extra
CINCINNATI — Jimmy Crooks had precisely 6 minutes before his pre-game catcher-pitcher meeting with his Class AAA Memphis teammate to plot Sunday’s game plan against Oklahoma City. He intended to use as much of that time as possible to review scouting reports and his notes while listening to some “get me right” music from rapper Future.
That was when manager Ben Johnson poked him until he took off the headphones.
“Why aren’t you in there?” Johnson said.
Crooks was sure he had slightly more than 5 minutes now.
He started to explain.
“I’m just messing with you,” Johnson said. “You’re going to the big leagues.”
Crooks and Redbirds teammate Cesar Prieto hopped on different flights Friday morning to reach the same destination by that afternoon — the majors. The Cardinals promoted Crooks and Prieto from Class AAA Memphis to take two spots on the active roster for players going on the injured list.
The Cardinals’ leading hitter with his .286 batting average, Alec Burleson, went on the 10-day injured list with persisting pain and inflammation in his right wrist. Burleson received an anti-inflammatory injection in the joint that was going to require at least 48 hours of inactivity, and the Cardinals did not want to play short through the coming week. Catcher Yohel Pozo took a foul ball off the helmet during Thursday’s game. He was able to finish the game, but on Friday he entered concussion protocols and went on the seven-day concussion IL.
Both Burleson and Pozo are expected to only require the minimum stay on their different IL before returning to the active roster, manager Oli Marmol said.
When they do, rosters will have expanded to 28 players.
The Cardinals had two openings on the 40-player roster and did not need to make any other corresponding moves to bring Prieto and Crooks to the majors. If only their flights to Cincinnati were that direct.
Crooks connected through Denver on the only flight the Cardinals could get him, and Prieto connected through Chicago to reach Cincinnati. They arrived at the same time and were both greeted with hand clasps and hugs from many of their former Triple-A teammates now in the Cardinals’ clubhouse. Marmol said he plans to start both Crooks and Prieto — two left-handed batters — on Sunday in the series finale against the Reds.
Prieto will start in the middle infield to get Masyn Winn a break from back-to-back day games Sunday and Monday as he manages an injured right knee.
“I’d like to get them in there and take a look,” Marmol said. “Those are guys who can be part of our future. I’d like to really be able to look at Crooksy and have a better idea what we have going into the offseason.”
Prieto, 26, came the Cardinals from Baltimore at the trade deadline in 2023. In 404 at-bats this season for Triple-A Memphis he hit .295 with a .359 on-base percentage and an .807 OPS. He must be protected this winter from the Rule 5 draft, so the Cardinals were already measuring him for a spot on the 40-player roster. A non-roster invite to major-league spring training this past season, Prieto made a strong impression for how he improved his defense during the camp.
Marmol said the reports from Memphis said that improvement continued.
“Probably the most improved player down there,” Marmol said. “How he came into the season to the adjustments he’s made and where he’s at. Compared to everybody is what I’ve been told. Has made some really good adjustments, some that we can see on the daily basis.”
Crooks, 24, was the Cardinals’ fourth-round pick in 2022 out of Oklahoma, and a year ago he was putting the finishing touches on his .321 average, .908 OPS, and MVP season in the Texas League. This summer, spent entirely at Class AAA, Crooks has hit .274 with a .441 slugging percentage and a .778 OPS at the highest affiliate. He’s made improvements defensively and thrown out 29% of baserunners who attempt to steal.
An improvement he wanted to make was exactly what he was doing when Johnson tapped him on the shoulder. He wanted to prepare better for games to be a source of comfort for catchers, Crooks explained.
He had to adjust that a little bit Sunday.
His first call was to his parents, who had just made the 3 1/2-hour drive from their home in Texas to Oklahoma City. They stayed to watch the Redbirds’ game and then hopped on the road to complete a 13-hour drive to Cincinnati. Crooks’ brother Dylan, who was recently drafted by the Colorado Rockies, was in Arizona, but he surprised his brother by showing up in Cincinnati in time to attend Friday night’s game.
Crooks said he never did make that meeting Sunday.
“At first, I was in a little bit of shock — I’m going to miss this pitcher’s meeting,” Crooks said. “It’s going to shock the others that are going.”
They understood.
He had to pack his gear for Cincinnati.
Scott begins rehab in Springfield
Outfielder Victor Scott II started in center field and hit second for the Class AA Springfield Cardinals on Friday night as he speeds his way back from a sprained ankle. Scott is set to spend a few weekend games on a rehab assignment with the Cardinals’ Double-A affiliate. Unless needed earlier due to injury, Scott will be considered for a return to the active roster Monday, the day it can expand to 28.
Scott rolled his ankle when trying to rob a home run from Aaron Judge during the New York Yankees visit to Busch Stadium earlier this season.
Coordinator Steinhorn departs
The Cardinals’ minor-league hitting coordinator Russ Steinhorn revealed on social media that the team notified him that he would not be returning after this season. Steinhorn joined the Cardinals to help major-league hitting coach Jeff Albert modernize and advance the overall system the Cardinals had for developing hitters. That included outfitting hitters and affiliates with improved technology as well as establishing and maintaining organizational ethos for hitting and hitter development.
During the past six seasons, Steinhorn played a role in the program that players like Masyn Winn, Jordan Walker, Alec Burleson, and others entered into and advanced in on their way to the majors.
“As I prepare to take the next step in my journey, I want to first express my deepest gratitude to the incredible group of players I’ve had the honor to be around,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “The relationships built in the clubhouse, cages and on the field are ones I’ll always carry with me.”
The Cardinals’ minor-league system is nearing its second offseason guided by two of incoming president of baseball operation Chaim Bloom’s first two hires, assistant general manager Rob Cerfolio and farm director Larry Day. A goal of the past year was to expand staff and improve facilities while harmonizing with development at the major-league level.
St. Louis Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol speaks with the media on Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025, after a win over the Pirates at Busch Stadium. (Video by Ethan Erickson, Post-Dispatch)
3 keys for Matthew Liberatore as he, Cardinals open series at Reds: First Pitch
The most consistent aspect of Matthew Liberatore's performance in recent months has been inconsistency.
Liberatore starts Friday at 5:40 p.m. in the series opener as the Cardinals face the Reds in Cincinnati.
After an emergent first two months of the season, Liberatore has had an up-and-down three months since. With that in mind, here are three keys Friday to a more up than down outing for Liberatore.
No free bases
In his last outing, LiberatoreĚýgave up four earned runs in 4 1/3 innings, though only one of those runs scored while Liberatore was in the game. He was lifted when he walked the bases loaded. Those three walks are the most in a game in his last seven starts.
Compounding that problem, he also permitted a career-worst four stolen bases.
Cincinnati's Great American Ball Park is a hitter's park, so there's no room for walks and stolen bases if theĚýleft-hander Liberatore (6-11, 4.27 ERA)Ěýis to have success.
Velocity concerns
Liberatore's average fastball velocity in his last start remained about 1.5 miles per hour slower than it was in the first three months of the season. It has dipped even further at times this season as Liberatore's mechanics have fallen out of sync.
With only two four-seam fastballs thrown at under 92 miles per hour, Liberatore showed improvement last time out. He had done so 23 times previously in August.
Getting deeper into the game
With an average of just over four innings pitched per game over his last seven, this may be the toughest task for Liberatore.
The Reds play in a very hitter-friendly park, but at home they rank in the bottom half offensively. Additionally, Great American Ball Park favors lefties more than righties, so Liberatore being a lefty plays into his favor in that park.
Lefty starters have a 3.70 ERA at GABP this season vs. 4.36 for right-handers.
Jimmy Crooks, Cesar Prieto called up: Before the game, the Cardinals promoted catcher Jimmy Crooks and infielder Cesar Prieto to make their debuts. To make room, the team placed outfielder Alec Burleson (right wrist inflammation) on the 10-day injured list and catcher Yohel Pozo on the 7-day concussion list.
Reds start newcomer:ĚýFor the Reds,Ěýright-hander Zack Littell (9-8, 3.62 ERA). He is a trade deadline acquisition who has a 3.92 ERA in four starts with Cincinnati.
Records: St. Louis is 66-69 after splitting a four-game home series vs. Pittsburgh. Cincinnati is 68-66 after the Dodgers handed the Reds their first series sweep of the season.
How to watch Cardinals at Reds
When:Ěý5:40 p.m. Friday
Where:ĚýGreat American Ball Park in Cincinnati
TV/radio: FanDuel ÁńÁ«ĘÓƵ Network Midwest (); KMOX (1120 AM and 104.1 FM), other stations in the as well as .
John King, LHP (mid-back strain): King’s back injury is believed to be related to the left oblique strain that landed him on the IL near the end of July and kept him sidelined through the first three weeks of August. King tried throwing before Tuesday’s game and felt discomfort and underwent imaging. A timeline for his recovery could become clearer later this week, Cardinals manager Oli Marmol said, but King said he believes the injury wouldn’t sideline him through the rest of the season.ĚýUpdated Aug. 28
Nolan Arenado, 3B (right shoulder strain):ĚýArenado is set to return to St. Louis “over the next week” and be reevaluated by team doctors to determine the next steps in his recovery from a right shoulder strain.ĚýSince landing on the injured list Aug. 1, Arenado has done his rehab at the Cardinals’ complex in Jupiter, Florida. He’s progressed to taking swings, throwing and going through baseball activities on back-to-back days.ĚýHow Arenado progresses in the next week could determine his timeline.ĚýUpdated Aug. 28
Brendan Donovan, 2B (sprained toe/left groin):ĚýAn injury sustained before the All-Star break persists and is likely contributing to soreness in his leg and groin, the infielder said recently. The Cardinals placed him on the 10-day injured list Aug. 18 retroactive to Aug. 15. He’s begun hitting off a tee, taken swings through soft toss, and reportedly felt progress in his groin. As of Wednesday, Donovan was continuing to make progress toward a point where he’s free of pain. There is no timetable for his injury recovery. Updated Aug. 27
Victor Scott II, CF (sprained left ankle):ĚýScott, who sprained his ankle Aug. 16 while trying to rob a home run from Aaron Judge, left St. Louis to join Class AA Springfield (Missouri) on Thursday, where he is set to go through pregame activities before potentially playing in a rehab game Friday.ĚýUpdated Aug. 28
Masyn Winn, SS (knee):ĚýA late scratch Sunday ahead of the series finale after feeling discomfort in his right knee, Winn returned to the lineup Monday and described himself as “day-to-day” while he deals with the injury. Winn has been playing through the soreness for most of the season, and he has a daily regimen that involves treatment and training for the knee. He underwent an MRI of the knee on Monday that showed improvements, Marmol said. Winn received an anti-inflammatory shot during the All-Star break to alleviate some of the pain. He said Monday the injury will require him to play through pain.ĚýUpdated Aug. 25
Zack Thompson, LHP (shoulder, lat strain):ĚýLefty starter remains on a throwing program in Jupiter, trying to overcome some setbacks as he increased the intensity of his throws through the course of the season. He's visited St. Louis for evaluation to monitor if the injury worsens. Thompson has been sidelined since the start of March and was transferred to the 60-day injured list in early April. There is no timetable for his return to the mound.ĚýUpdated Aug. 6
Cardinals promote prospects Jimmy Crooks, Cesar Prieto; place Alec Burleson, Yohel Pozo on IL
CINCINNATIĚý— The Cardinals will promote catcher Jimmy Crooks and infielder Cesar Prieto to the majors, and both players are set to join the club Friday afternoon before a series against the Reds opens at Great American Ball Park.
St. Louis Cardinals catcher Jimmy Crooks reacts prepares for an at bat during live batting practice on Friday, Feb. 14, 2025, as spring training continues at the team's practice facility in Jupiter, Florida.
Christian Gooden, Post-Dispatch
For both players, their first appearance in a game will be their major-league debut.
The openings on the roster are created by Alec Burleson going on the 10-day injured list due to inflammation in his right wrist, and catcher Yohel Pozo goes on the 7-day concussion list. The Cardinals will make those moves official Friday afternoon as the team reports to the ballpark.
Crooks and Prieto were expected in Cincinnati on Friday afternoon.Ěý
Prieto will wear No. 31. Crooks will wear No. 8.
Burleson left late in Thursday's game as he continues to deal with pain in his right wrist. That caused him to miss a game on a recent road trip. Catcher Yohel Pozo was able to finish the victory against the Pirates after being struck on his mask, but the Cardinals planned to re-evaluate him Friday.
The Cardinals have potentially two injured list moves to consider.
As a result of their trade deadline maneuvers, the Cardinals had two openings on their 40-player roster for both prospects to be added without need for another move.
Crooks, 24, has spent the year at Class AAA Memphis, where he's hit .274 with a .337 on-base percentage and a .441 slugging percentage for a .778 OPS. He offers a left-handed-hitting complement at catcher, and in 98 games for the Triple-A Redbirds he's hit 14 home runs with 79 RBIs. Crooks is considered one of the top catching prospects in the minors. He's thrown out 30 runners on the bases in 102 stolen base attempts against him.
Prieto, 26, has also spent the entire season with the Redbirds, and the left-handed-hitting infielder has hit .295 with a .359 on-base percentage at the Class AAA level. He has 28 doubles and nine home runs in 107 games for a .448 slugging percentage and an .807 OPS. Prieto made a strong impression during spring training with the major-league staff because of the scope and versatility of his game and the numbers of ways he could contribute reliably.ĚýĚý
Crooks won the Texas League MVP in 2024 with the Class AA Springfield Cardinals. Prieto was acquired by the Cardinals from Baltimore at the 2023 trade deadline as part of the Jack Flaherty deal.
Both of the moves are coming ahead of expanded rosters. On Monday, teams can shift to a 28-player roster, up from the 26-player active roster for games.
At 91, this usher is the beloved guardian of umpires at Busch Stadium
Vito Adamo, 91, held out his palm in front of a man nearly a foot taller and many pounds heavier to stop him in his tracks.
“Hold on, sir!” he says. Adamo guards the umpires’ locker room area at Busch stadium. No one without a badge or authorization gets by him.
Vito Adamo sits outside the umpires room after the St. Louis Cardinals game against the San Diego Padres in Busch Stadium in St. Louis on Friday, July 25, 2025.
Eli Randolph, Post-Dispatch
Adamo redirected the man to where he needed to go. He waved and smiled at the regulars who look for him at every home game.
Even at 91 years old, Adamo exudes energy, warmth and an unshakable work ethic. He’s become an unofficial mayor at the stadium, a steadfast guardian of the MLB umpires and a familiar face for players and frequent visitors.
On this particular Sunday, Adamo arrived at the stadium at 3:45 p.m. to work the Cardinals night game against the Chicago Cubs. A rain delay meant he would be getting back to his home in Weldon Spring later than usual.
“Hoping to leave by midnight if everything goes all right,” he says, strolling the maze of hallways through the restaurant and media room, past security and back to his station.
“You weren’t at your normal perch,” a co-worker says, as he walked by. “I missed you.”
Even when he’s gone for a few moments, people notice.
Adamo thought working as an usher at the stadium would be a fun retirement gig. Now, he’s been a fixture at the Cardinals home games for 27 seasons. He takes the responsibility of his position very seriously.
“I watch the door. I have the key,” he says. “I have to keep my eye on this sensitive area.”
This may be his final season. It’s getting harder for him to wake up for Mass at 8 a.m. after getting home at midnight or later the day before.
His goal this season was to make it to every single game, but a recent fall has landed him on the injured list.
Still, he’s not willing to call it quits just yet.
Finding a way back to downtown
Adamo was born in St. Louis at Missouri Baptist Hospital and grew up in a tight-knit Sicilian community near what is now the Dome at America’s Center. His parents emigrated from Sicily. ÁńÁ«ĘÓƵ worshiped at Our Lady, Help of Christians, where priests spoke Italian and the nuns came from Italy.
He attended CBC High School in Clayton, then St. Louis University, and he joined the ROTC program. He earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration and later a graduate degree in management and finance from SLU. He also served in the U.S. Air Force for three years.
Adamo joined McDonnell Aircraft in 1959 and stayed for 40 years, eventually working under Boeing after the merger. He met Kathleen, an Irish young woman, through work and reconnected with her on a flight. She had left McDonnell to become a flight attendant for Eastern Airlines.
“We got reacquainted,” he says. They married in 1977. When Adamo retired from McDonnell in 1999, he and Kathleen bought season tickets for their beloved hometown team.
One of his friends mentioned that they were hiring at the ballpark.
“I was always at the games, and he knew I needed something to do,” Adamo said.
He was offered a job in guest services. The first year Adamo worked all positions as an usher, but he soon found his spot with the umpires. There are 81 home games a year, and he tries not to miss a single one.
He and his wife were married for 43 years before she died in 2020.
Vito Adamo walks through the a tunnel leading to the field entrance to watch the game during the St. Louis Cardinals game against the San Diego Padres in Busch Stadium in St. Louis on Friday, July 25, 2025.
Eli Randolph, Post-Dispatch
Connecting with the umps
After he retired, the Adamos had bought a place in Florida, where they spent the winters. Vito would head down there as soon as the season ended. In 2011, the Cardinals were 10 and a half games out of a playoff spot in late August. Adamo packed up and headed to Florida to join his wife.
The team defied the odds and through a dramatic last-day wild-card clinch, they made the playoffs. Adamo flew back to St. Louis to work the games.
Rich Rieker, an MLB umpire for 10 years and now senior director of umpire development, never let Adamo forget that early departure. He’s teased him about it for the past 15 years.
“He was always there with a smile,” Rieker says. Several umpires described Adamo as a welcome sight since they travel six to seven months out of the year. Being greeted by him outside their locker room was a familiar and friendly way to start the night.
“We knew Vito would be there,” Rieker says.Ěý
Ron Kulpa, an MLB umpire originally from St. Louis, says he enjoys seeing the love Adamo brings to his job. When Kulpa meets former umpires in other cities, they tell him to give their regards to Vito.
“That’s how special he is to all of us,” Kulpa says. He makes sure to take care of the umpires’ families when they come to games and he ensures the umpires get to the locker room safely. Then, he tells them when it’s time to get on the field, and he’s there to walk them off the field.
“It’s a blessing to see him every time we come to a series in St. Louis,” Kulpa says.
Matt Gifford, vice president of stadium operations, has known Adamo for as long as he’s worked there.
“He has a passion for his responsibility,” Gifford says. “My guess is that most people don’t know how old he is because of how vibrant he is.”
Vito Adamo shows off his new shoes to his friend and coworker Byron before his shift starts before the St. Louis Cardinals game against the San Diego Padres in Busch Stadium in St. Louis on Friday, July 25, 2025.
Eli Randolph, Post-Dispatch
Super aging
For much of the 20th century, aging implied cognitive and physical decline.
“There was a time in the early 1900s when we thought the only pathway to aging was to get old and get senile,” says Emily Rogalski, professor of neurology and director of the Healthy Aging & Alzheimer’s Research Center at the University of Chicago. Over time, researchers realized that dementia and changes in cognition were abnormal aging.
Rogalski studies super agers — people over 80 whose memory performance rivals that of someone 20 or 30 years younger.
These are people like Betty White, who defy expectations of aging. Twenty years ago, she began studying people who were living long and living well. ÁńÁ«ĘÓƵ wanted to see what factors super agers have in common. Super agers often show physical differences in their brains. Their cortex — the outer layer — looks more like that of a 50-year-old, she says. A certain type of neuron is more abundant in their brain.
Lifestyle factors are harder to study. But most super agers endorse better social connections and mental engagement than their peers.
“Social interaction is really great for our brain because it’s unpredictable,” she says.
For 27 years, Adamo has spent his days greeting players, chatting with umpires, exchanging friendly chatter with security staff and visitors. These thousands of small, spontaneous conversations are like thousands of mental workouts.
He attributes his longevity to his Italian heritage.
“Working down at the ballpark has been a great fun job,” Adamo says. He enjoys working with all the young people. They keep him in the loop and look after him in subtle ways.Ěý
Two of his coworkers walk him to his car every night.
“Like I’m the old man, and they have to make sure I am all set before I head home,” he says, with a laugh.
It’s rare to continue working (and living) into one’s 90s. A Business Insider analysis of U.S. Census data found that about 36,000 people ages 90 and older work at least part-time. The most recent Census population estimates show that there are 2,485,692 people in the country who are 90 years and older, so approximately 1.4 percent of this age group is still working.
Adamo is part of a small but mighty sliver of the workforce.
As part of his duties Vito help to give directions and answer questions while not helping the umpires during the St. Louis Cardinals game against the San Diego Padres in Busch Stadium in St. Louis on Friday, July 25, 2025.
Eli Randolph, Post-Dispatch
Back to rehab
For all his vitality, Adamo has experienced some health challenges. About six years ago, he noticed he was having difficulty walking from the parking lot to the stadium. He was getting so tired while walking. He was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation and needed a heart valve replacement.
“I’ve got this new valve, and I’ve been doing fine for the past five years or so,” he says.
He even works the concerts at the stadium and drives himself to and from work.
Last October, he moved into a senior living community, New Perspective in Weldon Spring. He looked for a place right off the highway to make his commute easier.
Kelly Gano, executive director at New Perspective, said when she met him, he was worried about getting to work.
“He was 90, and he was concerned about driving himself to and from the stadium at 1 a.m. after a game. That tells you everything about his sense of purpose.”
She said he’s pretty popular in the retirement community. Before one of his concert gigs, she asked him what he knew about Post Malone.
“I know some of his music,” he says.
Vito Adamo cheers and claps as rapper Flo Rida's crew makes their way though the Cardinals Club during the St. Louis Cardinals game against the San Diego Padres in Busch Stadium in St. Louis on Friday, July 25, 2025.
Eli Randolph, Post-Dispatch
He even signed up for physical therapy to work on his “bum knee,” so he could walk without a cane and work on his balance.
But recently, he suffered a frightening fall. On a Monday, he slipped getting out of his bed. He fell on the floor away from his phone and away from the cord that he could have pulled to alert the staff.
He lay on the floor for more than two days. By Thursday, the cleaning staff found him. He was taken to the hospital, where he stayed for five days until they transferred him to in-patient rehab.
“I’m OK. I didn’t break anything,” he says. He admits that he’s pretty bruised up but minimizes it. “I’m in no pain. I’m feeling fine.”
His plan is to regain his strength in rehab. He missed his first Cardinals game of the season after his fall.
When asked if he thinks he might recover quickly enough to come back to the stadium before the season ends, he hesitates for a second and says, “Maybe so. Hopefully.”
Then, he brushes his own doubts aside.
“Yes, yes,” he says.
He plans on making a comeback.
Ěý
Vito's friend Rusty helps him up the ramp out of the cardinals club on the way to Vito's car after the St. Louis Cardinals game against the San Diego Padres in Busch Stadium in St. Louis on Friday, July 25, 2025.
Eli Randolph, Post-Dispatch
These baseball legends are part of St. Louis history
Best Podcast video: Pirates show Cardinals what power pitching looks like
Goold: Is it time to modernize the batting title and rethink batting average as its stat?
The following article is an excerpt from today's Write Fielder, a weekly newsletter from the Post-Dispatch that delivers behind the seams stories and builds upon the baseball coverage available here at and brings it directly to your inbox every Friday morning.
CINCINNATI — At his locker in the American League All-Stars clubhouse a month ago, Athletics slugger Brent Rooker and I spent a few minutes talking about the kind of pitching he and his Midsummer Classic teammates were going to face. The National League had just plucked a right-handed rookie who threw a pitch at 103-mph fastball for its roster, and others bring sliders at 97 mph and changeups in the 90s to the mound.
And that’s not just the All-Star Game.
That’s a Tuesday.
“It’s just that over and over and over again,” Rooker said. “I would answer your question by saying I don’t think it’s ever been tougher to hit.”
I asked him if hitters must change how they view hitting statistics or even abandon traditional measures of success like batting .300.
“I would counter your question and say that fans have to adjust their expectations,” Rooker told me. “High-level hitters in this league understand how difficult it is and what good production in this day and age looks like. The fan perception – and I mean on a wide-scale basis, not everywhere – hasn’t caught up to how truly, truly difficult it is to go out there and hit .300 in this league right now. The amount of quality stuff, the depth of bullpens – and you’re not seeing guys over and over again. Starters are coming out and there’s more information on scouting reports. Teams are changing relievers. Realizing how hard it is to hit for high average is lagging behind.”
So, is it time for Major League Baseball to catch up – and rethink the batting title?
During a recent conversation I had about hitting, a member of an NL team said the talk of batting .300 is “non-existent” in the modern batting cage. “You don’t hear it,” added Cardinals manager Oli Marmol. What hitters do talk about is slug, damage, OPS, getting on base, expected numbers, exit velocity, wOBA, and other advanced metrics.
This past week, the Baseball Writers’ Association of America announced its first new award in several generations, adding a Relief Pitcher of the Year Award to the iconic group of MVP, Cy Young Award, Rookie of the Year, and Manager of the Year. The purpose of the new award, which will be given in both the AL and NL, is to recognize the changing nature of the game (finally, you could say) and the prominence of relievers too often overlooked in the modern voting for the Cy Young Award.
There is precedent for honors changing, evolving, or being added, and the batting title sure seems like it would benefit from an update.
As of Friday morning, there are five batters in the majors hitting better than .300, four of them in the American League and two of them in Toronto, Bo Bichette and George Springer. Los Angeles Dodgers’ first baseman Freddie Freeman leads the NL with a .302 average. That would be the lowest ever to win the NL batting title, dipping below Tony Gwynn’s .313 in 1988. The lowest average ever to win a league batting title came in the Year of the Pitcher 1968 when Boston’s Carl Yastrzemski hit .301.
You don’t have to squint to see the first batting title average that starts with a 2.
“Everybody wants to hit .300 with a .900 OPS,” said Alec Burleson, the Cardinals’ leading hitter Thursday with a .286 average. “I mean everybody would love to hit .300. But just the way pitching is right now, it’s really hard. It’s really hard to hit for high average these days, and so that’s why batting averages are down. I think that’s why other numbers are more important. It is hard to get hits so you want to do more with those hits when you do get an opportunity to get a hit.
“It’s part of my game so I do look at batting average,” he added when asked about high average. “I think it’s still good. But it’s not a tell-all stat.”
A great (and extreme) recent example of that comes launching out of Philadelphia, where Thursday night Kyle Schwarber made history with four home runs, the first Phillies hitter to do that in nearly half a century. In 2023, Miami’s Luis Arraez won the batting title with a .354 average. Astonishing. He paired that with a strong .861 OPS. Meanwhile, in Philly, Schwarber batted a paltry .197. Arraez had 574 at-bats, Schwarber 585. That’s due to the difference in walks, his 126 to Arraez’s 69. Schwarber powered to an .817 OPS. Drill down and their production was closer than their averages suggest. Arraez’s overall production was 28% greater than league average, Schwarber’s 21%. Schwarber had more total bases, 277 to 269.
Arraez received enough votes for the MVP to finish eighth.
Schwarber, bogged down by that .197 average, still received votes and finished 18th.
Evaluations evolve.
Here is Cincinnati, Hall of Fame-bound first baseman Joey Votto never won a batting title. If there was an honor for getting on base at a higher rate than anyone else, Votto would have seven of those titles. Similarly in St. Louis with his contemporary and fellow former MVP. Albert Pujols won one batting title. If the honor went to the greatest OPS in the league, he’d have three (2006, 2008, 2009) and not in all of the years he won the MVP.
Votto would have two.
His first would have been in 2010 when Votto hit .324 with a .424 on-base percentage, a .600 slugging percentage and a 1.024 OPS. He led the National League in every slash line category except for batting average. Colorado’s Carlos Gonzales won the batting title with a .336 average. In fact, from 2010 to 2017, the Colorado Rockies had five different hitters win the batting title. If OPS decided the title during that time, no Rockie would have won.
But Paul Goldschmidt would have.
His .952 OPS in 2013 led the NL. Michael Cuddyer’s .348 average for the Rockies won the NL batting title.
In 2018 and 2019, Milwaukee’s Christian Yelich won the batting title and also led the NL in OPS. And in the shortened 2020 season, Juan Soto did the same. Both were able to hit for high average and also do considerable damage while also making outs at a lower rate than their peers. In other words, a thoroughly productive hitter having a great season by any measure, via Baseball Savant or baseball card.
In the four full seasons since, here’s the comparison.
Batting Average
2021: Trea Turner, .328
2022: Jeff McNeil, .326
2023: Luis Arraez, .354
2024: Arraez, .314
OPS
2021: Bryce Harper, 1.044
2022: Paul Goldschmidt, .981
2023: Ronald Acuna Jr., 1.012
2024: Shohei Ohtani, 1.036
All four of those OPS leaders won the NL MVP, which is maybe the counterpoint to this question. In an era when damage gets paid and not always hit collection, why not leave an honor for the high-average hitters to chase?
Earlier this season, Post-Dispatch sports columnist Benjamin Hochman asked, “Does .300 matter?” Hochman wrote in the modern game “it’s just a bowling score.” After all, one of the most accomplished hitters in the game and reportedly by far its best bowler, Mookie Betts, has three seasons with a .300 average, one since going to the Dodgers. Hochman asked Don Mattingly, a coach on the Toronto team with two .300 hitters, and even the former batting champ with a career .307 average and seven .300 seasons echoed so many others.
“It’s tougher to hit .300,” he said.
Which is why Burleson was skeptical this week when I mentioned updating the batting title to reflect modern batting. How batters are measured has certainly changed, how batters view and evaluate their production has changed, but if it’s harder than ever to hit .300 someone who can should be recognized.
“I want to have a high batting average because it means I’m getting hits, which in turn means if I’m getting hits some are going to be doubles and homers mixed in,” Burleson said. “We could sit down and talk about this forever. It’s harder to hit in today’s game, which in turn means when you do get hits, what is the quality of those hits?”
CAN JJ SCORE CARDS A BONUS PICK?
Short answer: Yes.
Longer answer: Absolutely he can. The Cardinals’ top prospect has stormed way through Class AAA with another multi-hit game Wednesday to up his average to .336 and OPS to 1.052. That performance prompts intrigue about his arrival in the majors and impact in 2026.
Longest answer: With the current Collective Bargaining Agreement, Major League Baseball and the players’ association created a gadget by which teams that promote their prospects earlier and don’t massage service time can receive a draft pick as a reward. The Prospect Promotion Incentive (PPI) has resulted in four teams getting an extra draft pick in the top 32 picks over the past three years.
Player eligibility is based on maintaining rookie eligibility for the coming season and the preseason rankings. The player must appear in at least two of the three approved Top 100 (MLB Pipeline, Baseball America, and ESPN). Going into this season, the Cardinals had three prospects who were PPI eligible: infielder JJ Wetherholt and pitchers Quinn Mathews and Tink Hence. Wetherholt is a surefire top-10 prospect entering the 2026 season, and recent first-round pick lefty Liam Doyle is also set to be eligible. An eligible player must then do two things:
• Earn a full year of service time in the rookie season. That’s 172 days, so it means promotion on opening day or within two weeks and spending a majority of the year in the majors.
• Win their league’s Rookie of the Year Award or finish top three in the voting for the league’s MVP or the Cy Young Award.
Seattle’s Jose Rodriguez spent the entire 2022 season in the majors and netted the Mariners’ the 29th overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft. In 2023, Arizona and Baltimore each had top prospects spend entire seasons with the club and win their league’s Rookie of the Year Award. So in the 2023 draft, the D-Backs and Orioles received the 31st and 32nd pick, respectively.
But PPI eligibility does not stop with the first year if the player does not win the Rookie of the Year or rank highly in the other honors.
Players who make opening day rosters and continue to gather service time in the coming seasons remain PPI eligible and can earn the team a pick by finishing top three in MVP or Cy Young.
Cardinals shortstop Masyn Winn remained PPI eligible throughout this season. Kansas City’s Bobby Witt Jr. was a rookie in 2022. Yet, he just earned the Royals a PPI draft pick in the 2025 draft by finishing runnerup for the MVP in 2024. The Royals received the 28th pick in this past months draft.
That pick alone had an assigned bonus value of $3,282,200.
PPI: the gift with the potential to keep on giving.
Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred, left, shake hands with JJ Wetherholt, right, after Wetherholt was selected seventh overall by the St. Louis Cardinals in the first round of the MLB baseball draft in Fort Worth, Texas, Sunday, July 14, 2024. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
LM Otero
ROMERO SCORES RARE CARD
Before he opened the baseball card pack with one of the rarest autographs he’s ever “pulled,” as collectors say, JoJo Romero’s “first big signed card” of the day was closer to home. He sorted through the cards in an early pack this past week and landed a Michael McGreevy rookie card, signed.
Cardinals lefty Romero and fellow reliever Riley O’Brien, who is also card collector, bid on some cards from Miami-based shop on their way to Florida at the start of the week, and that started a conversation with the shop, PullWax. On Wednesday, PullWax brought boxes to the Cardinals’ hotel for Romero, O’Brien, and Andre Granillo to open – and it was there that Romero pulled a Paul Skenes’ autographed card that is one of 49 available.
The limited insert was a green, refractor illustration from a TOPPS Chrome pack.
Romero’s was the top card the trio got from the boxes.
“Ended up getting a lot of Cardinals, actually,” said Romero, who also pocketed a signed Gordon Graceffo card to go with the McGreevy and Skenes cards.
O’Brien is new to the hobby, and two of his top “pulls” have been out of football card packs, he said. Added the reliever: “Been really getting into it.”
1882 vs. 1892 vs. … 1899?
New graphics debuted this past week at Busch Stadium during the Pirates’ visit and they featured sweaty bear cans with crisp, sleek logos on them. The Pirates’ can even incorporated a baseball scorebook behind the Jolly Roger logo. There was something newsworthy about the Cardinals’ can – if you look closely. It reads “Est. 1882.” That’s 10 years earlier than the club usually claims.
Well, in the interest of experimenting with new ways to tell old stories like this one, I put together a short video report (read: history lesson) for social media. Got to learn how to do some green screen work and editing. At your site of choice:
A new graphic used at Busch Stadium in August before games features beer cans with logos from the Cardinals and their opponent, and within the details of the Cardinals' logo is the phrase "Est. 1882," an example of how the club is embracing a new origin date, one that reaches back a decade from when they joined the National League in 1892 and includes a 12th championship. (Photo by Derrick Goold)
The Write Fielder drops every Friday morning around 9 a.m. St. Louis time, and in addition to a lede story like the one above it includes exclusive interviews, deep dives into statistics, crowdsourcing suggestions for the experience at Busch Stadium, and even some travelogue or other personal tidbits from venturing around the majors on the baseball beat.
Bubba Chandler, who average 99 mph on his fastball, is the latest flame-thrower to cool the Cardinals, who have faced some of MLB's hardest throwers this month.
The 2026 regular-season schedule has the Cardinals with two lengthy road trips to finish the year, no holidays at home and only 21 games at Busch after Aug. 1.Ěý
A 7-2 loss to Tampa Bay after a long rain delay featured three of the obstacles the roster construction has put the club in that the Cardinals must now manage.
Worthy: Pressure builds for Chaim Bloom to save the Cardinals, but it can't be a quick fix
Historians may gain a bit better perspective on this later, but right now, it sure feels like we’re seeing the biggest grassroots campaign built on the themes of “hope” and “change” since Barack Obama’s initial push for the U.S. presidency.
That’s the level of enthusiasm about the transition from current Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak to his successor, Chaim Bloom.
In the minds of many, Bloom’s takeover represents a new beginning as well as a shift in direction and a fresh approach. With that comes a cascade of optimism and anticipation. But expectations must also be tempered.
Hopefully, that leads up to a renewed love affair between the team and the fan base that proudly boasts the moniker of the “Best Fans in Baseball.”
I’ll count myself among the hopeful. Not for any selfish reasons or out of any personal allegiance to organization, the staff or its team.
It’s just that so many people care about this franchise, its history and its place in this community and region. There’s a distinct way Cardinals baseball connects to people and permeates daily lives in and around St. Louis.
I’d find it incredibly disheartening to watch something so thoroughly woven into the cultural identity of a place slowly fade like the light of a star that once lit up the night sky but now stays eternally dark.
At the same time, I worry we’re asking a lot of one man who will never put on a uniform, never swing a bat, throw a pitch or call for a bunt, a steal or a hit-and-run.
Somehow, Bloom is already viewed as a savior. We’ve already rested at his feet all the responsibility for reigniting a fan base, bringing people and enthusiasm back to the ballpark, rejuvenating a proud baseball city and returning a franchise to the national baseball discourse for something other than lagging attendance.
In case you missed it, an announced attendance of 17,675 on Monday night marked the smallest crowd in the history of Busch Stadium III — not including pandemic-restricted crowds.
Multiple times over the course of the past two seasons, out-of-town television and/or radio voices have commented on the surprising attendance drop in baseball-crazed St. Louis.
National voices have also weighed in a time or two, but this week reached critical mass. Not only did the low figure of tickets sold (announced attendance reflects tickets sold, not people present in the ballpark) jump out, but a member of St. Louis baseball royalty chimed in via social media.
ÁńÁ«ĘÓƵ columnist Lynn Worthy joined Jeff Gordon to discuss Andre Pallante's recent struggles on the mound and Nolan Gorman's progress at the plate.
Joe Buck from Monday’s game on X (the platform formerly known as Twitter) and compared it to the 1970s, before the Whitey Herzog era of Cardinals baseball.
“A major rebuild of roster and trust better be coming,” Buck wrote. “One can only hope. It’s coming right? Buena suerte Chaim! Rooting for you.”
Buck, who called games for Fox ÁńÁ«ĘÓƵ Midwest and the Cardinals Radio Network from 1991 to 2007, currently serves as the play-by-play announcer for the NFL’s “Monday Night Football” telecast on ESPN. He also worked as the lead play-by-play announcer for “MLB on Fox” and called a record 24 World Series.
His father, Jack, was also a legendary broadcaster who served as the voice of the Cardinals from 1954-59 and 1961-2000. The National Baseball Hall of Fame honored Jack as a recipient of the Ford C. Frick award in 1978, and he’s also immortalized in a bronzed statue outside of Busch Stadium.
In his post, Buck mentioned the pending roster rebuild. Of course, we can’t forget that Bloom will inherit a roster that still has and his sizeable contract to work around as Bloom makes decisions on what to do with the club’s young core. Bloom must also search for solutions for the organization’s debilitating lack of starting pitching depth.
Buena suerte (good luck), indeed.
Just look at this week’s visitors to Busch Stadium — National League Central foes the Pittsburgh Pirates — for an example of the uncertainty that comes with a rebuild.
A new head of baseball operations, Ben Cherington, came to Pittsburgh with a proven track record as a lead executive, and he entered preaching a focus on player development.
Cherington took over the Pirates front office after having been a part of two World Series championships as a member of the Red Sox baseball operations department (2004, 2007) and another one as the lead executive (2013). As a head of baseball operations, he shaped a World Series champion built around a homegrown core.
Since Cherington accepted the executive vice president and general manager role with the Pirates prior to the 2020 season, the club has not finished higher than fourth in the NL Central.
On the other hand, there’s the Detroit Tigers — perhaps more closely comparable to the Cardinals.
The Tigers, like the Cardinals, had already endured several down seasons before they made the change of leadership and handed the keys to Scott Harris prior to the 2023 season.
They already had a manager in place when Harris took the helm, and they had some young building blocks in their system and on their roster. Harris did not have a tear-down-and-rebuild project.
Still, it took until Harris’ second year (2024) for the Tigers to become a playoff team. This year, they’ve spent a large portion of this season with the best record in the American League.
Despite the fan frustration with the recent run of middling in St. Louis, Bloom can’t take shortcuts. He can’t try to fast-track this to appease those who desire a quick fix.
The best thing Bloom can do when he does take the big seat is provide a clear and honest message about his plans and what still needs to be done. If that means being more realistic than optimistic, I hope that’s the path he takes.
I’d rather him start off by disappointing some folks with real talk than watch him play savior.
