3.28.21 SB_S

SUNDAY • 03.28.2021 • S

CORNERSTONES Reenergized Arenado ready to rock with Goldschmidt as Cardinals’ new ‘dynamic duo’ PAGE 2

PHOTOS BY COLTER PETERSON, CPETERSON@POST-DISPATCH.COM POST-DISPATCH PHOTO ILLUSTRATION

Hitting coach Albert talks about his vision, pressure

Some of MLB’s best-ever corner infield pairings

BenFred: Flaherty could carry Cards to great heights

Hochman: The future is now for rookie Carlson

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S2 • ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

BASEBALL PREVIEW

M 1 • SUNDAY • 03.28.2021

THE NEWEST DYNAMIC DUO Pairing of Arenado with Goldschmidt is a fusion of two leading, all-around players

COLTER PETERSON, CPETERSON@POST-DISPATCH.COM

Paul Goldschmidt, left, and Nolan Arenado talk baserunning before the start of a spring training game earlier this month in Jupiter, Fla.

BY DERRICK GOOLD

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

JUPITER, Fla. — The sound of St. Louis that stuck with Nolan Arenado, tradition harmonized with expectation for a choir of 40,000 strong, makes for such a good, archetypal tale he told it again recently over dinner.

Arenado was playing third base, which he does as well as anyone ever, and dove to spear a grounder, stealing a hit at Busch Stadium. After the familiar gasp of disbelief came the unexpected ovation.

What stood out to Arenado about fans standing up to applaud is why he tells the story — it’s the kicker — and why the same story resonates for a different reason with the Cardinals.

He was a visiting player.

Winter had become a season of cold shoulders in recent years with shivers of doubt for the Cardinals, from costly additions who didn’t connect with the club to notable stars who chose to visit but play elsewhere. That began to thaw in 2019 when All-Star Paul Goldschmidt agreed to a five-year extension before playing a game in St. Louis. Then came news this winter of a rock star in Colorado who was ready to head from the mountains for Busch.

The Cardinals focused on acquiring Arenado, even at the risk of “a lost offseason,” said executive John Mozeliak.

A blockbuster months in the making dispelled recent years of rejection and validated almost two decades of contention, nearly a century as baseball royalty.

That ovation sensation Arenado later described — “My God, this is a baseball town” — echoed the statement his trade affirmed: By golly, it still is.

The Cardinals had what Arenado wanted.

Arenado was whom the Cardinals needed.

“I felt like our fanbase saw a level of complacency with us,” said Mozeliak, president of baseball operations. “I think at times people questioned are we still desirable, and I hope this says, ‘Yes.’ …

We understand that the Cardinals are an important brand in our industry, and how do you continue to build that brand? You look at how our offseason transpired — the re-signing of Adam Wainwright, make the trade for Nolan, and then re-signing Yadier Molina. We felt that would elevate us not just from a team standpoint but to being true players in a competitive industry.

“All those types of players are iconiclevel players for an iconic brand.”

The Cardinals begin defense of that brand and their 130th season in the National League on Thursday in Cincinnati.

For the home opener on April 8, the Cardinals will host about 15,000 fans due to pandemic protocols. The club recognizes it must reanimate a restless, frustrated fan base. Mozeliak saw that in emails this winter that asked if the team was “really serious about winning.” With 13 consecutive winning seasons, the Cardinals remain good, but overdue for great.

Seeking a fifth NL Central title in nine years, the Cardinals also enter their 10th season since their 11th World Series title.

Reigning champions, the Los Angeles Dodgers creep closer with their seventh as aspiring usurpers to the NL’s all-time throne.

The Cardinals re-signed two pillars of the present, Molina and Wainwright, and have the cornerstones of their immedi-

ate future in Arenado and Goldschmidt.

Less than two years after his eightyear, $260-million extension with the Rockies, Arenado became disenchanted with Colorado’s shrinking ambition and requested a trade. No-trade protection meant he held the cards. The atmosphere Arenado coveted, Goldschmidt had, saying: “I just took it as a given that this organization was going to do everything it can to win every year.” Arenado’s arrival is affirmation for the Cardinals that they are what they believed they still were.

“He’ll be a megastar there,” said a rival.

“He’s so content and happy, he looks three years younger,” said a friend.

“I can’t believe we haven’t had him for the last 10 years,” Wainwright said.

The pairing of Arenado with Goldschmidt is a fusion of two leading, allaround players from the NL. Manager Mike Shildt called them a “dynamic duo.”

They have the potential to be the mightiest Cardinals corner combo since Scott Rolen embraced Albert Pujols as they won the 2006 World Series.

Arenado and Goldschmidt have 11 Gold Glove awards combined, including eight consecutive by Arenado. Since Arenado’s debut in 2013, his 235 homers and 760 RBIs lead the NL. Goldschmidt is second with 221 and 720. Goldschmidt signed the Cardinals’ largest contract, at $130 million, until they acquired Arenado’s contract.

The trade sending Austin Gomber and several minor-leaguers to Colorado was so complex it nearly came apart multiple times. Mozeliak was optimistic Jan. 29, nauseous Jan. 30, and “euphoric” Feb. 1. In a text, Arenado described how he was “a little nervous” at the physical — because the desired move was so close he didn’t want “anything getting in the way.”

“I think he wanted to be a Cardinal more than just desiring to be traded,” said Joel Wolfe, Arenado’s agent at Wasserman. “He had a very short list of teams, and that list was the Cardinals and then everybody else was in third or fourth place. Nolan was committed to being a Cardinal from the very moment we started discussing trade. The whole attitude and vibe there are so important to Nolan. He’s going to be the Cardinals’ lead guitarist.”

He’s carried the tune in his ear since that ovation. Friends, like Matt Holliday, repeated a familiar refrain about the fit.

Birds of a feather finally flocked together.

“They wanted me. And they are extremely competitive every year. That is something that drives me,” Arenado told the Post-Dispatch. “I want to be a part of a group with a great history, a great tradition. This year the expectation is the same as it always is — we need to be really good, again.”

••• The playing surface at the home ballpark for Colorado’s rookie-ball affiliate in Casper, Wyo., was so rocky that the manager of the team called it “the worst in the world.” A scout likened the bad hops to playing on the moon, but with gravity. The Pioneer League’s best team in 2009, the Orem Owlz, did not take infield practice on Casper’s field, ever.

Arenado did, daily.

The second youngest everyday player in the league at 18, Arenado aimed to catch 20 consecutive groundballs. A

gnarly ricochet off a rogue rock and he’d start over. Back to zero.

“He was talking baseball, he was thinking baseball, he’s breathing baseball, he’s sleeping baseball, and that’s it,” said Tony Diaz, Casper’s manager that year. “He loved to compete when the game started. But he took true joy in making every play in practice. That’s how he separated himself from good players to great player.”

Arenado liked to finish with a flourish. Diaz hit the last groundball as a twohopper a little bit to Arenado’s right. The teen would catch the ball behind his back, spin counterclockwise, and throw to first.

“That was the icing on the cake after work,” Diaz said.

Pretty snazzy for a future catcher.

At least that was Colorado’s plan.

Although arriving in the long-distance, short-season, no-frills Pioneer League on different teams from different routes but out of the same draft in 2009, Arenado and Goldschmidt carried similar scouting reports.

At best, they were uncertain. Some were unkind. All underrated them.

The Rockies were unsure if the 59th overall pick’s bat would grow with third base or if he’d grow out of it. They intended to move him to catcher that fall.

“His muscular build and howitzer arm appear to fit best behind the dish,” wrote Baseball America. Selected 246th overall by Arizona out of Texas State, Goldschmidt had power but scouts questioned his athleticism.

“They didn’t pass the eye test,” an evaluator recalled.

They aced every other one.

Playing to prove he could stay at third, Arenado hit .300 for Casper with 15 doubles and 18 strikeouts in 203 at-bats — a revelation for a pro debut. With Missoula (Mont.), Goldschmidt led the league in home runs (18) and slugging percentage (.638) and had 62 RBIs in 74 games.

The two corner infielders who willed and worked their way into prospects in the Pioneer League next met in the National League in 2013.

They were All-Stars together in 2015.

They finished in the top five for the NL MVP in 2017.

Once questioned, Arenado’s defensive acrobatics became legend.

“We would see Arenado six times a year over the past (eight) years and he would do something in those six games where you would say, ‘Well, nobody else is going to make that play,’” Cardinals pitching coach Mike Maddux said. “This might happen twice in the six games. Just the fact that we’re going to see this guy a full season of what he can do. You’re thinking, ‘Man, we could get used to this.’”

Imagine the ovations.

Goldschmidt’s 45.1 career Wins Above Replacement and Arenado’s 39.1 rank second and third, respectively, from their draft. The alpha went 25th overall: Mike Trout (74.6).

“I think the Cardinals struck gold to have both of them,” said Diaz, a coach with Minnesota who served as Colorado’s first-base coach and watched kindred spirits become stars. “The similarities they have are how they prepare, how they study the game, their approach, and how much drive they have. I don’t know if you can quantify the impact on the young players who are a part of the future there. Those two have made them

better already without taking the field officially.”

••• When a trade seems particularly unlikely or problematic, Mozeliak jokes to his staff: “If I squint hard enough I can see a deal.”

Some, like Goldschmidt, leave him wide-eyed.

Others — wince.

In the past six offseasons, the Cardinals have had highly publicized misses.

Jason Heyward, after a year in St. Louis, dismissed an “aging core” for a similar offer from the Cubs. David Price chose Boston. The Cardinals raced to trade for Marcell Ozuna, while Milwaukee waited for Christian Yelich, risking Miami not moving him. The Cardinals needed their mojo back.

As part of their sales pitch to Giancarlo Stanton, the Cardinals constructed a website showing their system’s depth.

A meeting in a suite paid for by Marlins president Derek Jeter didn’t woo the slugger, but did inform his agent — Wolfe, a former Cardinals farmhand and Arenado’s agent. The Cardinals first talked to the Rockies about Arenado late in 2019. Not even a squint could spot a deal. This offseason, the Rockies looked for a deal. The Cardinals did not blink.

“If we weren’t finding the right type of fit then we might have been dealing with the narrative of a lost offseason,” Mozeliak said. “And that poses other challenges.”

Like, a fan malaise?

“Potentially,” Mozeliak said. “We were focused on the long view, not just this moment in time. We were willing to risk potentially not getting something done and having to face the music.”

To complete the trade, Colorado covered $15 million of Arenado’s 2021 salary and Arenado deferred the other $20 million. A year and a second opt-out was added to Arenado’s contract. Arenado, 29, can become a free agent after this season or after 2022. Wolfe said Arenado has been struck by how “the Cardinals were so confident they could convince him this was a great match once he was here.”

That is their model, their continuity.

During a past Gold Glove dinner, Arenado spoke to Cardinals great Ozzie Smith and heard about how the Cardinals welcome former players back to spring training as guests, even coaches.

Generations of Cardinals come and come back, and the expectations never change and each group, Smith to Molina, add to structure that supports success.

As they inherit the lead, Arenado and Goldschmidt have heard how ovations for champions are the loudest of them all.

Those traits that made the Cardinals so appealing to them are now theirs to enhance.

“You want to talk about carrying on the legacy of Yadi and Waino?” Goldschmidt said. “Those guys are prepared.

That’s carrying on the legacy. It’s not an accident that Nolan is so good because that’s what he does. That’s what we want to keep going. Every time you step on the field or show up here, we understand there’s a responsibility that goes along with being a Major League Baseball player and being a Cardinal.

“You want to live up to that.”

Derrick Goold @dgoold on Twitter dgoold@post-dispatch.com

03.28.2021 • SUNDAY • M 1

BASEBALL PREVIEW

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH • S3

DYNAMIC DUOS Through the past century of Cardinals history, a span that links the right-left MVP combo of Rogers Hornsby and Stan Musial to the golden gloves of Ozzie Smith and Yadier Molina, decades can be defined by duos, a pair of Redbirds as synonymous with the club as the ones on the jersey. As cornerstones Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado begin a decade they can shape, the Post-Dispatch looked back at the most influential tandems in Cardinals history, sorting them by Wins Above Replacement.

— Derrick Goold

1920s Record: 822-712 (.536) NL Pennants/World Series titles: 2/1 (1926) Rogers Hornsby, INF (63.9) & Jim Bottomley, 1B (28.9) RBI king “Sunny Jim” supplied the first run, Hornsby applied the final tag of the World Series Game 7 upset .

Hornsby won the 20s Triple Crown.

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Enos Slaughter, left, and Stan Musial

*

1930s Record: 868-665 (.566) NL Pennants/World Series titles: 3/2 (1931, 1934) Dizzy Dean, RHP (39.9) & Joe Medwick, OF (39.0) Gas House Gang wasn’t braggin’ if they could back it up.

Righty went 134-75 with 2.99 ERA and MVP . Plucky “Ducky” Medwick won ’37 Triple Crown.

Ozzie Smith, left, and Willie McGee

Feared pitcher and fleet out1990s fielder elevated the Cardinals Record: 758-794 (.488) Record: 960-580 (.623) back to prominence and NL Pennants/World Series NL Pennants/World Series radically changed baseball by titles: 0/0 titles: 4/3 (1942, 1944, 1946) decade’s end.

Ray Lankford, OF (36.1) & Stan Musial, OF/1B (59.0) & 1970s Brian Jordan, OF (20.1) Enos Slaughter, OF (34.3) Record: 800-813 (.496) During rock-‘em, sock-‘em Setting the pace for the 1990s, Lankford was almost a NL Pennants/World Series Swifties was The Man from renaissance talent (181 homtitles: 0/0 Donora, Pa., who won three ers, 239 steals, .847 OPS).

Ted Simmons, C (39.9) & MVPs. Slaughter had 500 RBIs and one mad dash in 2000s Bob Gibson, RHP (26.0) the 40s.

Famed battery now reunited Record: 913-706 (.564) NL Pennants/World Series in Cooperstown. Gibson 1950s titles: 2/1 (2006) started 1970s with second Cy Record: 776-762 (.505) Young. Simmons finished de- Albert Pujols, 1B (73.8) & NL Pennants/World Series cade leading all catchers with Jim Edmonds, OF (37.9) titles: 0/0 .297 average.

Not since Musial had a hitStan Musial, 1B/OF (59.9) & ter elevated the Cardinals Red Schoendienst, 2B (25.5) 1980s like Pujols. Edmonds’ arrival, Record: 825-734 (.529) A squandered decade as power and panache catalyzed integration fueled the Dodg- NL Pennants/World Series winning era ahead. ers’ rise while Musial hit titles: 3/1 (1982) 2010s .330/.421/.568 with 972 RBIs Ozzie Smith, SS (46.2) & Record: 899-721 (.555) in his 30s . Red was a sixWillie McGee, OF (22.8) time All-Star in this era.

NL Pennants/World Series titles: 2/1 (2011) Willie and The Wizard gave 1960s Whiteyball its substance and Yadier Molina, C (31.9) & Record: 884-718 (.552) style — Smith won every NL Adam Wainwright, RHP (23.6) NL Pennants/World Series Gold Glove given to a shortInfluencers codified the titles: 3/2 (1964, 1967) stop , and McGee debuted modern Cardinal Rules with in ’82, hits leader and MVP Bob Gibson, RHP (54.2) & no losing seasons, five NLCS appearances.

Curt Flood, OF (39.1) by ’85.

1940s

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S4 • ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

BASEBALL PREVIEW

M 1 • SUNDAY • 03.28.2021

ALBERT’S POWER GRAB Pressure to perform intensifies on lagging lineup, Cardinals coach’s hitting vision

BY DERRICK GOOLD

HITS AND MISSES

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

JUPITER, Fla. — The eagerness on the other end of the phone call was that of a hitter digging in, chin out and bat wagging, primed by preparation for the fastball he knew was coming.

The blunt numbers are readily available that capture the lethargic lineup the Cardinals lugged all summer and into fall. The biggest drag on the past two seasons is the biggest doubt entering 2021, so hitting coach Jeff Albert came to the telephone expecting a critical question: What is the source of optimism the Cardinals insist they see in the cage and in the data that will finally electrify on the scoreboard?

“Alright,” he enthused. “This is a great topic.”

Entering his third season with the Cardinals, Albert has overseen an overhaul of the offensive infrastructure — and underwhelming results .The Cardinals have been the lowest-scoring playoff team in each of the past two years, . In an hourlong conversation with the Post-Dispatch, Albert detailed the accelerating pulse he senses with tangible numbers and an articulated vision, not generalities. The artist’s renderings have been replaced by a framework of clarity — and candor.

“I’ve looked at this up, down, sideways — every which way possible — and it basically comes down to the power production,” Albert said. “Whether that’s slugging, isolated power, exit velo — those are the areas where we’ve been behind and we need to be more productive. But this is also a group that has that. … The numbers say what the numbers say. No one is making excuses.

We’re trying to say here’s what we’re working on. And we do have to produce results on the field.”

At the crux of the Cardinals’ issues has been the least productive outfield in the National League and two contributing factors: Young hitters who haven’t blossomed and imported hitters who stalled or regressed. Set to confront this trend are the newest outfielder with upside and latest high-dollar impact addition — Dylan Carlson and Nolan Arenado, respectively. They are the correction, effectively. Carlson has rookie-of-theyear promise to nurture and actualize.

Arenado is a zephyr of power gusting in from Colorado with MVP talent to elevate.

“We meet him where he is and he meets us where we are,” manager Mike Shildt said. “But he is the team philosophy. Living proof.”

Before Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado vault onto the list, here are the hits and misses of Mo’s moves.

HITS

CHRISTIAN GOODEN, CGOODEN@POST-DISPATCH.COM

Hitting coach Jeff Albert talks with manager Mike Shildt after a 2019 spring training practice.

For Albert, this successful offense can be summarized with three pillars: swing at strikes, hit line drives, and hit the ball hard. Contact rate does not ignite an offense. Quality contact does. Lineups that “are doing a good job of swinging at strikes and hitting the ball hard are having a better chance to produce runs” in any situation, in any ballpark, and against the best pitchers, Albert explained. And, with any baseball, as a new one will be used to subdue power.

At his peak, Arenado personified these traits with an elite strikeout rate, pullside power, liners to all fields, and a solid hard-hit rate.

Albert likened these skills to tools hitters use to then follow the blueprint for that game, that opposing pitcher, or even that situation, such as moving a runner over.

Some tools are sharper, he illustrated.

The Cardinals’ walk rate reached 10.2 percent in 2020, the club’s highest since 2000. The Cardinals saw an improvement in their hard-hit rate (34.8 percent) and a steep reduction in swings on pitches out of the strike zone (from 31.0 percent to 28.5 percent), according to FanGraphs. Their line-drive rate since 2019 ranks fifth in the majors. The Cardinals improved these aspects during a shortened season when 57 percent of their games were against three of the best swing-and-miss pitching staffs (Cincinnati, Milwaukee, and Cleveland). Their offense slowed. Albert said it felt “the entire group took a hit; everybody’s peak went down in exit velo.”

The Cardinals’ 87.8 mph average exit velocity ranks 27th in the majors since 2019, well behind leaders like the Dodg-

ers (90.0 mph), San Diego (89.8), and Atlanta (89.5) in 2020.

Enter spring.

On 300 of their batted-ball events tracked by Statcast in 13 spring games, the Cardinals had an average exit velocity this spring of 89.4 mph. Far closer to the sweet spot. Six players had at least one higher exit velocity this spring than at any point in 2020, informing Albert’s optimism. “The perception of the hitting coach (as) this one singular method from one singular person — I am not big on that perception,” Albert said. “To think some savior hitting coach is going to come in and say all the right things to all the right people and then magically produce runs — I’m out on that. What I think is getting better is the relationships. Let’s be clear organizationally on what we value for offense, what we think produces runs.”

Albert knew the next question coming.

The patience for this approach to manifest is a lit fuse.

Pressure mounts starting opening day because regardless of all the fancy, advanced metrics that give the Cardinals encouragement in spring, the integer by which every offense is measured and every hitting coach judged remains simple.

Runs.

“We have to keep making progress,” Albert said. “That the whole point. Say we have a great year this year. Well, we’re still going to be making more progress next year. My mindset isn’t going to change. I’m aware there is pressure out there. It’s the major leagues. If you’re in a major-league uniform, you’ve got to perform well and produce because that’s how you stay in the major leagues.”

1. Matt Holliday, OF Acquired trade, July 2009.

Before Cardinals (2004-2009): 21.5 WAR With Cardinals (2009-2016): 23.1 WAR Career WAR (Pct. Cardinals): 44.4 (52 percent) Coveted for years, Holliday arrived via trade then stayed and remains club’s largest free-agent signing. Impactful cleanup hitter has been top recruiter, too.

2. Kyle Lohse, SP Signed free agent, March 2008.

Before Cardinals (2001-2007): 9.4 WAR With Cardinals (2008-2012): 6.3 WAR Career WAR (Pct. Cardinals): 19.4 (32.5 percent) Patience paid off — for both Lohse and Cardinals.

A one-year deal signed during spring training blossomed into a five-year relationship that sets a model for other starters .

3. David Freese, 3B Acquired trade, December 2007 Before Cardinals (2006-2007): Minor Leagues with San Diego.

With Cardinals (2009-2013): 6.7 WAR Career WAR (Pct. Cardinals): 18.4 (36.4 percent) Mozeliak’s first trade sent irreplaceable Jim Edmonds to Padres for a prospect. Freese delivered October magic.

MISSES 3. Marcell Ozuna, OF Acquired trade, December 2017 Before Cardinals (2013-2017): 13.9 WAR With Cardinals (2018-2019): 4.5 WAR Career WAR (Pct. Cardinals): 21.1 (21.3 percent) “Bear” was the ferocious hitter needed to unlock lineup, on the upswing to MVP but couldn’t shoulder that production.

2. Brett Cecil, LHP & Dexter Fowler, OF Signed free agents, November-December 2016 Cecil: Before Cardinals (2009-2016): 7.1 WAR With Cardinals (2017-2020): minus-0.4 WAR Career WAR (Pct. Cardinals): 7.1 (minus-5.6 percent) Fowler: Before Cardinals (2008-2016): 17.7 WAR With Cardinals (2017-2020): 2.1 WAR Career WAR (Pct. Cardinals): 19.8 (10.6 percent) After Cubs’ title, Cardinals splashed $113 million on free agents, the most spent in open market. Cecil’s injuries lingered. Signed to leadoff, Fowler was miscast .

1. Mike Leake, SP Signed free agent, December 2015 Before Cardinals (2010-2015): 8.5 WAR With Cardinals (2016-2017): 1.5 WAR Career WAR (Pct. Cardinals): 14.2 (10.6 percent) Durable sinkerballer seemed an archetypal fit. Personality mismatch, aloof performance led Cardinals to pay $17.5 million so he pitched elsewhere.

03.28.2021 • SUNDAY • M 1

BASEBALL PREVIEW

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH • S5

MLB’S ALL-TIME BEST CORNER INFIELD PAIRINGS

CARDS PAIR AMONG GREATS Goldschmidt, Arenado have 11 Gold Gloves between them while also hitting with power

BY RICK HUMMEL

Gold-plated corners

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Although they haven’t played an official game together with the Cardinals, first baseman Paul Goldschmidt and third baseman Nolan Arenado have a chance to be one of the top all-around first-andthird combinations in history.

“Hands down,” said Cardinals voice Mike Shannon, who has been around Major League Baseball for 60 years.

“It doesn’t get any better than that,” said Jim Leyland, who managed extensively in both leagues.

The two have 11 Rawlings Gold Gloves between them, eight by former Colorado star Arenado with the two winning in the same years in 2013, 2015 and 2017 when Goldschmidt was with Arizona.

Since the Gold Gloves first were voted on in 1957, the only first-and-third combination that had more gold between them — with the stipulation that each had to win at least two — were former Cardinals first baseman Bill White (seven) and third baseman Ken Boyer (five). But Cardinals Hall of Famer White was not quite considered in Goldschmidt’s class as a run producer at first base. Boyer was a Most Valuable Player in 1964.

Don Mattingly of the New York Yankees (nine Gold Gloves) teamed with Hall of Famer Wade Boggs (two) for a while, and both had big offensive years and won Gold Gloves in 1994 with Mattingly batting .342 and Boggs .304, albeit in a strikeshortened season.

Former Cardinals first baseman Andres “Big Cat” Galarraga won two Gold Gloves in his career with Montreal and teamed with third baseman Tim Wallach, who won three. But they had only two seasons when they had impressive offensive years together with the Expos as Wallach drove in 123 runs and Galarraga 90 in 1987. Both hit 20 or more homers for the Expos in 1990, when each won the Gold Glove.

Excluding the Cardinals’ White-Boyer combination which won Gold Gloves three times in the same year as Cardinals (1960-61 and 1963) and the Cardinals’ Albert Pujols-Scott Rolen combo which won Gold in 2006, there has been only one other National League combination besides Galarraga-Wallach to win Gold as first base-third base tandems in the same year.

That was the 1991 duo of former Cardinals first baseman Will Clark and third baseman Matt Williams. “Will the Thrill” batted .301 with 29 homers and 116 RBIs,

Top five years by 1B and 3B winning Gold Gloves in same year for same team: Team

Corners

BA HR RBI

2006 Cardinals

1B Albert Pujols 3B Scott Rolen

.331 49 137 .295 22 95

1991 Giants

1B Will Clark 3B Matt Williams

.301 29 116 .268 34 98

1963 Cardinals

1B Bill White 3B Ken Boyer

.324 20 102 .291 24 93

2019 Athletics

1B Matt Olson 3B Matt Chapman

.267 36 91 .249 36 91

1990 Expos

1B Andres Galarraga .256 20 87 3B Tim Wallach .296 21 98 AP PHOTO

Teammates welcome Cardinals third baseman Ken Boyer as he reaches home on a grand slam in the 1964 World Series at Yankee Stadium.

Greeting him are Carl Warwick, Dick Groat and Curt Flood, who scored on the blast. At left is Bill White, the next batter. and Williams had 34 homers and 98 RBIs, who played for the San Francisco Giants at the time.

The Pujols-Rolen combination in the World Series championship year of 2006 was estimable in that Pujols batted .331 with 49 homers and 137 RBIs and Rolen had 22 homers and 95 RBIs while hitting .295.

That combination’s best year had come in a World Series year two years earlier, when Pujols also hit .331, this time with 46 homers and 123 RBIs and Rolen had his best year as a Cardinal with 34 homers, 124 RBIs and a .314 batting mark.

The best of the White-Boyer Gold Glove years was 1963, when White batted .324 with 20 homers and 102 RBIs and Boyer .291 with 24 homers and 98 RBIs. Their best collective year offensively was the World Series title year in 1964 when White had his best Cardinals season at 27 homers, 109 RBIs and a .304 average and MVP Boyer had 24 homers, 111 RBIs and a .285 average but no Gold Glove, won that year by Chicago’s Ron Santo.

More recently, Oakland first baseman Matt Olson and third baseman Matt Chapman collected Gold Gloves in 2018 and 2019. Their power numbers were notable, but their batting averages were not on the potential Goldschmidt-Arenado scale.

In 2019, their best year, both Olson and Chapman had 36 homers and 91 RBIs but hit .247 and .269, respectively.

Leyland, upon reflection, brought up the Colorado Rockies, whom he managed

in 1998. Colorado third baseman Vinny Castilla didn’t win any gold for the Rockies although he had a strong, true arm. He and Galarraga, then the Rockies’ first baseman, put together a stretch of three great years together from 1995-97. And three-time Gold Glove winner Todd Helton took over in 1998, posting two strong seasons with Castilla as the third baseman.

With Coors Field as the friendly backdrop, Galarraga and Castilla took the first-and-third combination where it never had been with seasons of 40 or more homers by each in 1996 and 1997, with Galarraga driving in a total of 290 runs in those two years and Castilla 226.

Castilla then knocked in 144 runs in 1998 and hit 46 homers while Helton hit 35 homers in both 1998 and 1999 and Castilla 37 in 1999. But, again, no Gold for Castilla.

Shannon cited the Joe Adcock-Eddie Mathews first-third combination from the Milwaukee Braves in the late 1950s and early 1960s, although there was no Gold for either with White, Boyer and Santo around.

In five different seasons while they were together, Adcock and Hall of Famer Mathews each had at least 25 homers, and the pair combined for eight totals of 90 or more RBIs. Minnesota third baseman Gary Gaetti won four Gold Gloves and had some large offensive seasons for the Minnesota Twins, who beat the Cardinals in the 1987 World Series when slugging Kent Hrbek, a good fielder, was at first base. Gaetti had

31 homers and 109 RBIs in 1987 and Hrbek had 34 and 90 but did not win any gold.

Leyland noted that their time together may have been short but that Hall of Famer Willie Stargell was the co-MVP at first base for the Pittsburgh Pirates World Series champions of 1979 and that third baseman Bill Madlock won four batting titles in his career.

Chipper Jones was a Hall of Fame third baseman at Atlanta, Leyland pointed out, and first baseman Fred McGriff hit 130 of his 493 homers for the Braves in what should be a Hall of Fame career.

“And how about this?” said Leyland.

“Didn’t Tony Perez play first and Pete Rose for the Big Red Machine in Cincinnati?”

Indeed, they did for the 1975-76 World Series champions.

Perez did not win Gold but knocked in 1,652 runs in his career. Rose won two Gold Gloves in his career but none at third base.

“Yeah,” said Leyland, “but he had about 5,000 hits (actually 4,256).”

Leyland, a consultant with the Detroit Tigers, is intrigued to see how good the Goldschmidt-Arenado duo can be for the Cardinals.

“It’s a helluva combination. I know that,” Leyland said. He ought to know.

Leyland managed them on the winning U.S. squad in the most recent World Baseball Classic in 2017.

Rick Hummel @cmshhummel on Twitter rhummel@post-dispatch.com

BASEBALL PREVIEW

S6 • ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

M 1 • SUNDAY • 03.28.2021

LIMITLESS POTENTIAL Flaherty is capable of a superstar season, one that would propel the Cardinals BEN FREDERICKSON St. Louis Post-Dispatch

W

e don’t know Jack.

Not now. Not yet. And we won’t, until Jack Flaherty knows himself.

The 25-year-old pitcher with a right arm blessed by God has a blast furnace’s worth of motivation ready to propel him. What’s missing is the destination.

It could be fame, fortune and their luxurious trappings.

It could be championships and their permanence.

It could be creating change in baseball and beyond, if he truly dedicates himself to becoming an agent of it.

Whether it’s one or another or a combination of them all, this season will help determine Flaherty’s direction. His right arm will write a telling chapter.

The success of the Cardinals in 2021 could come down to him.

Too far? Cardinals manager Mike Shildt would say so. He would prefer to spread that responsibility around. Even within the starting five.

“I don’t feel like he has to be the anchor,” Shildt said during camp. “Having that anchor there to take that ball and know what you’re going to get, I think we have several of them. And Jack’s a big part of that.”

With all due respect to Shildt and future Cardinals Hall of Famer Adam Wainwright, no. The Cardinals don’t have pitchers, plural, like the one Shildt picked to start game one of 162. Not if Flaherty pitches up to his potential, one showcased when he spent the second half of his age-23 season in 2019 making major leaguers look like Little Leaguers who had just graduated from batting tees to the pitching machine. Pitchers who can turn in a second-half ERA of 0.91 during a 33-start, 196.1-inning season are one in a million, not several in a rotation. Flaherty is a rare talent in what should be the beginning of his

COLTER PETERSON, CPETERSON@POST-DISPATCH.COM

Jack Flaherty (22) and other pitchers stretch during spring training earlier this month at the Roger Dean Stadium complex in Jupiter, Fla. prime. Period.

“I feel good,” Flaherty said late in camp. “Ready to go.”

For the Cardinals to be the best team in the National League Central, Flaherty needs to be the best starter in the division. Yu Darvish left the Cubs for the Padres. Trevor Bauer left the Reds for the Dodgers. The best chance for the Cardinals to meet and beat the Padres and Dodgers is to have Flaherty waiting for them on the mound in October, the same month he turns 26.

A season like that gets Flaherty back on track to superstardom after the Cardinals wrapped him in bubble wrap and handled him with kid gloves in 2020.

A season like that forces the Cardinals to make Flaherty the kind of extension offer that gives Flaherty what he has to this point lacked — leverage — in what has become his annual debate with the team about his worth, one that boils down to Flaherty disagreeing with how an outdated, expiring collective bargaining agreement underpays young players.

A season like that sets up Flaherty for Cy Young Award consideration and propels the Cardinals from being one of baseball’s top-10 teams toward becoming one of its best.

If Flaherty wants to use his domi-

nance on the mound to draw attention to the topics he feels called to lend his voice to, this is the season to turn up the volume on his megaphone. He has tested the waters of advocacy and influence on all sorts of topics. He says he wants his actions to speak louder than his words. His actions on the mound will give his moves off it more heft.

That’s not necessarily how it should work. But it is indeed how it works.

If Flaherty wants to be a lifetime Cardinal like his late mentor Bob Gibson, this is the season to secure security. If he dreams of being a marquee free agent in the 2024 class who uses the whirlwind to build his brand, like Trevor Bauer, this is the season to dominate headlines before making more next spring, when baseball wonders why the Cardinals are welcoming another round of contentious arbitration with a homegrown star.

If Flaherty wants to be mentioned along with Shane Bieber, Lucas Giolito and Walker Buehler as one of the best young starters in his generation, this is the season to earn it. Each of those three were named All-Stars in their age-24 seasons.

Flaherty is still waiting on his first.

Perhaps an All-Star nod would have arrived in Flaherty’s age-24 season if not for the pandemic colliding with it.

There was no Midsummer Classic in the 60-game rush that was 2020. The Cardinals’ decision to handle Flaherty with the long-term in mind after multiple virus-caused interruptions limited his impact. He pitched more than five innings just once in the regular season after the team returned from its lengthy COVID shutdown. He got pounded by the Brewers for nine runs one time. It bloated his ERA to 4.91. But he didn’t allow more than three earned runs in any of his other starts, and he allowed two or fewer in 67 percent of them. His 2020 regular season was not a referendum. It was, unfortunately, a waste.

Flaherty’s six-inning, one-run start against the powerful Padres in the postseason needs to be a preview of his 2021.

“We limited Jack’s pitches,” Shildt said about Flaherty’s 2020. “His ability to get built back up made sense for his health.

I know Jack was competing, and had the hammer down the whole way. Was it a challenge for him? I’m sure. Absolutely.

Because he is a competitor. No competitor likes limitations. Jack understood the limitations, but I can confidently say he didn’t enjoy being limited.”

The restrictor is no longer necessary.

The Cardinals say Flaherty’s often offthe-grid spring training has left him built up and ready. He needs to be, because the rotation he headlines will arrive in Cincinnati with warning lights flashing.

Wainwright was the only always-visible, reliable starter on display during camp.

Miles Mikolas (shoulder) and Kwang Hyun Kim (back tightness) are working back from setbacks. Carlos Martinez got knocked around most of the spring. John Gant and Daniel Ponce de Leon stepped forward, but there are reasons they were on the outside looking in at spring’s start. As for Flaherty, he swapped Grapefruit League starts with backfield sessions, where few eyes could watch.

“We are going to go out there and compete,” Flaherty said. “Go out there and give it everything I’ve got, control everything I can control until Shildty tells me that it’s for the game.”

We don’t know Jack. Not now. Not yet.

But we’re about to learn a lot.

YOUTH IS SERVED > Best MLB starters age 26 or younger who have made at least 10 major league starts: SANDY ALCANTARA Age: 25 Team: Marlins Games started: 45 Quality starts: 23 Innings: 281.2 Strikeouts: 230 ERA: 3.71

SHANE BIEBER Age: 25 Team: Indians Games started: 64 Quality starts: 42 Innings: 406.1 Strikeouts: 499 ERA: 3.32

WALKER BUEHLER Age: 26 Team: Dodgers Games started: 61 Quality starts: 31 Innings: 365.2 Strikeouts: 420 ERA: 3.15

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BASEBALL PREVIEW

S8 • ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

M 1 • SUNDAY • 03.28.2021

THE FUTURE IS NOW Top prospect Carlson beams with confidence while still retaining rookie status BENJAMIN HOCHMAN St. Louis Post-Dispatch

B

aseball fans proverbially and perpetually peek around the corner, stonesearching on the diamond. Who’s the next cornerstone for your franchise?

Is he in the organization? Even when your team is encrusted with cornerstones — Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado — antsy fans anticipate the future during the present.

It’s a time-honored tradition. St. Louisans can recall the thrill when they first heard about a certain guy. The initial optimism and then skepticism — Wait, he’s supposed to be how good? — and then the imagination and the managing of expectations. There was Todd Zeile and Rick Ankiel, Anthony Reyes and Alex Reyes, J.D. Drew and Colby Rasmus, Alan Benes and Shelby Miller, Albert Pujols and Oscar Taveras.

And now, there is Dylan Carlson, the current future cornerstone.

A past cornerstone believes so.

“Yeah, I really do,” Jim Edmonds, a member of the Cardinals Hall of Fame, said by phone. “I think he’s one of those rare, young guys who uses his brain, who thinks about the game, puts himself in good positions. You’ve got to remember, he’s still young, so the hitting is still going to be a little bit of adjustment. But he’s got a really nice swing — from both sides of the plate. And we saw last year that he’s able to make adjustments — and that’s key.”

Dylan James Carlson of Elk Grove, Calif., enters 2021 at 22. His 23rd birthday is October 23. If he’s as good as some people think, he could be a key reason the 2021 Cardinals are playing on his birthday.

Wait, he’s supposed to be how good?

That’s the thing. That’s the question.

JEFF ROBERSON, AP PHOTO

Dylan Carlson is congratulated by teammate Evan Mendoza after scoring earlier this month against the Mets.

Most people believe Carlson will be a quality big-league outfielder. But can he be elite? Will he be elite?

“What separates anyone from (the pack) is the person that can do it consistently — and can do it for a long period of time,” John Mozeliak, the Cardinals’ president of baseball operations, said by phone. “Dylan, only 22 years old, already having a taste of what Major League Baseball is like, it’s not hard to conclude that the first step was positive. And now getting that opportunity to play every day in the big leagues is someone that can be a very positive impact on this team, not only now but in the future. When you start talking about the future, you are hopeful that he’s someone that would be that middle-of-the-order type of contributor. That he is sustaining that for a long period of time. And then if you do that, then he becomes a household name in your city.”

A photo from this spring captured the state of Dylan. He was crossing home plate after a homer. The No. 3 on the front of his jersey reminded one of Carlos Beltran, a fellow switch-hitting right fielder who wore the Cardinals’ No. 3 in the All-Star Game and the World Series. But the angle of the photo prominently showed the back of the Cardinals prospect congratulating Carlson. His last name screamed across the screen: MENDOZA. A reminder that for all the hype, Carlson did hit exactly .200 in his first major-league season.

But there were also many encouraging nuggets from that year. His hard-hit rate was 42.1%, just behind team leader Brad Miller (43.3) and just ahead of Goldschmidt (40.9). And after his September 8 send-down, he responded resplendently.

Counting the three playoff games, he had a .389 on-base percentage and a .489 slugging percentage in his 15 games back.

“I like his hitting approach, because

it’s not all or nothing,” Mozeliak said.

“And he uses the whole field, but he still has home-run power. There’s a lot to like about how he goes about it. And part of the reason we were attracted to Arenado was a similar type of approach.”

Hype can lead to hyperbole. But a fair way of looking at Carlson is that he’s just a really versatile ballplayer. He can do so many different things, so if one thing isn’t going well for a short period of time, another might be. His skill set is trustworthy. And Carlson has a quiet belief that he belongs, even when stats suggested that something was going wrong. Prospect John Nogowski shared a story from last season — when Carlson was sent down, the two had some candid talks, and Carlson never showed even a “shred of doubt. … And that doesn’t happen for a kid his age, to have that sort of confidence. Like, it’s very rare.”

Carlson will get a second run at a rookie year. He still classifies as a rookie and should compete for the top honors, though Ke’Bryan Hayes, Pittsburgh’s Dylan Carlson, seems like the frontrunner for the hardware.

But even if Carlson doesn’t win rookie of the year, this should be the year of the rookie. The year the kid becomes a factor.

“It’s always exciting to see one of our prospects sort of blossom into a big leaguer,” Cardinals general manager Michael Girsch said by phone. “Sometimes you know it’s going to happen, like you do this year with Dylan, and other times, it sort of pops up when an injury happens and a guy gets an opportunity he hasn’t previously had. But especially with someone we’ve drafted and developed, and the whole organization has been involved in from the get-go, just seeing that person develop from something you imagined to something real on the major-league field, it’s exciting.”

Benjamin Hochman @hochman on Twitter bhochman@post-dispatch.com

THE PROSPECT OF PROSPECTS A look back at recent top prospects for the Cardinals: J.D. Drew (debuted Sept. 8, 1998) Often on base but often injured, Drew was finally traded to the Braves after 2003 for Jason Marquis, Ray King and a kid named Adam Wainwright.

Rick Ankiel (debuted Aug. 23, 1999) With a Koufax-esque curve, he bedazzled batters before ultimately losing his control. Famously returned to the majors as an outfielder.

Colby Rasmus (debuted April 7, 2009) Underwhelmed with a .777 OPS as a Cardinal.

Traded during the 2011 season to Toronto.

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Shelby Miller (debuted Sept. 5, 2012) A quality pitcher with a 3.33 ERA as a Cardinal, Miller was traded to Atlanta because the Cardinals needed a right fielder.

Oscar Taveras (debuted May 31, 2014) The right fielder’s beautiful swing made many believe he’d be a star. But Taveras died in a car accident in October after his rookie year.

Alex Reyes (debuted Aug. 9, 2016) The movement on his pitches was magical — and remains that way — but injures have kept him from blossoming.

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03.28.2021 • SUNDAY • M 1

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH • S9

BR A N D AV E. ST U DIOS CON T EN T

Homers for Health celebrates 10 years!

Sponsored content provided by SSM Health Cardinal Glennon

Now in its tenth year, Homers for Health has been a driving force behind the mission of SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital. Since the program began in 2012 under the leadership of former St. Louis Cardinal Matt Holliday and his wife, Leslee, thousands of generous donors have helped raise vital funds to support the programs and services of SSM Health Cardinal Glennon, such as inpatient and outpatient cancer services, telemedicine, the imaging center and more.

This year, Homers for Health patient Kennedy Burger is back again to lead the way because she feels like there was unfinished work that could be done due to the shortened season last year.

With the baseball season last year not being what anyone would have imagined, that led to the Homers for Health Program needing to adjust as well. At its core, the program relies on the amount of home runs hit by the Cardinals, and if that number is smaller than normal, it can have a huge impact on the dollars raised for the hospital. So, with that, the program was based off of a set number of home runs, 195. Why 195? Because that represents the amount of beds inside SSM Health Cardinal Glennon and will truly connect the pledge you make to the patients receiving lifesaving care. Just like Kennedy received, who is one of 195.

With the success of that change last year and with hope that things go more normal this year in Major League Baseball, Kennedy suggested we select the number 195 again, and that’s just what we are doing! Kennedy is a fighter and wants to do all she can to help the hospital that saved her life.

Five years ago, Kennedy was diagnosed with nephrotic syndrome, a disorder that causes the kidneys to excrete too much protein in the urine.

“From that day on, we knew things were never going to be the same,” says Kennedy’s mom, Jodi Gruenloh. “Most

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people think that this kind of thing happens to other people, not you,” says mom.

“But it does,” Kennedy pipes in.

After her diagnosis, Kennedy had to be extremely careful with her diet, limiting her sodium intake and surprisingly, limiting the amount of water she drank to reduce stress on her kidneys. “It was so hard. If I ate too much sodium, my eyes and legs would get all swollen,” she says.

A biopsy revealed that the cause of Kennedy’s nephrotic syndrome was a condition called Minimal Change Disease, which can oftentimes be treated with medication. Unfortunately, in Kennedy’s case, they were not effective, and she required frequent hospitalizations where she received apheresis, a procedure to remove excess fluid from the body.

After about six months, a second biopsy revealed a further complication of Focal Sclerosis, which often leads to endstage renal failure. All signs pointed to a kidney transplant. Jodi remembers, “It was scary. This is a major surgery, but it was going to lead to a better life.

In July of 2019, Kennedy received her transplant and today, “Life is great!”

Kennedy says.

Thanks to all who have supported Homers for Health, we can provide lifesaving care to children like Kennedy each and every day. Make your pledge for patients today at homersforhealth.org.

This content was produced by Brand Ave. Studios. The news and editorial departments of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch had no role in its creation or display. Brand Ave. Studios connects advertisers with a targeted audience through compelling content programs, from concept to production and distribution. For more information contact sales@brandavestudios.com.

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BASEBALL PREVIEW

S12 • ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

M 1 • SUNDAY • 03.28.2021

CHANGE IN THE CENTRAL While top teams remain the same, NL Central teams have made plenty of moves

BY RICK HUMMEL

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

T

he Central Division is the only one in the National League to have three different champions the past three seasons in Milwaukee, the Cardinals and Chicago. The Central, in fact, is the only division to have any variance in champions as Atlanta and the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers have won the East and West Divisions, respectively, every year in that time, with the Dodgers having a run of eight consecutive division crowns.

So what does this mean? Is the Central the most balanced division in the league?

Maybe. At least at the top. Cincinnati hasn’t won the division since 2010 and Pittsburgh not since 1992 when Cardinals Hall of Famer Ted Simmons was their general manager, Jim Leyland their manager and Barry Bonds still played there.

An unprecedented four teams from the NL Central qualified for the outlandishly excessive 16-team postseason last season.

So did that mean the Central was the best division in the league, possessing half its eight playoff teams? Probably not.

The reason for that assessment is that of the four teams involved, the Cardinals were the only one to win a game in the four wild-card playoff rounds as the four clubs combined to go 1-8. The Reds didn’t even score in 22 innings as they were swept in two games by the Braves.

This season, normalcy in the playoff field appears to have returned. So far, unless Major League Baseball pulls a late-game surprise, there will be only five teams in each league involved — three

ST. LO U I S

division champions and two wild cards.

The most the Central possibly could have would be three playoff teams and more likely two or one.

For much of the offseason, the Central teams were quiet in player acquisition, but the Cardinals made their blockbuster deal for Nolan Arenado, and the Brewers signed Gold Glove defenders Kolten Wong (formerly of the Cardinals) and Jackie Bradley.

It says here that the contenders will remain the same as they have been — the Brewers, the Cubs and the Cardinals, with Cincinnati not quite sure whether it needs to go on rebuild mode or not and Pittsburgh clearly starting from the ground up.

Things to look for from the Cardinals’ four Central rivals: The Cubs will have to decide whether this is the last dance for potential free agents Anthony Rizzo, Javy Baez and Kris Bryant, who comprise three-fourths of the infield. Baez might be the most likely to sign a long-term deal, Bryant the most likely to be dealt if the Cubs fall off the pace, and Rizzo, the club’s cornerstone player, hoping to stay but more concerned about this year.

“My goal is bringing the next championship here in Chicago,” he told the Chicago Tribune. “It’s coming. It’s coming soon to the city, and that’s my focus — how are we going to win again?

“As far as potentially rebuilding and all that stuff, they’ve been trading guys and blowing up this team for the last few years, so it’s all part of the business and what comes with it. Just stay focused on the team.”

Chairman Tom Ricketts says the win-

M I LWAU K E E

Addition of Arenado should be a boost to the offense, as well as projected improvement from Carlson and O’Neill.

Starting pitching, which was modest, even with Kim and Mikolas in rotation and Mikolas, at least for now, won’t be. Defense and bullpen are lights-out.

Molina and Wainwright back for one last run.

C H I C AG O

Brewers have three Gold Glovers they didn’t have last year in Wong, Cain (opted out) and Bradley. They have perhaps best 1-2 starting punch in division in Woodward-Burnes and surely best left-right bullpen punch in HaderWilliams. Yelich surely won’t hit .205 again, would he?

In the Cincinnati camp, former AllStar third baseman Eugenio Suarez has moved to shortstop. Mike Moustakas, another former All-Star third baseman with Kansas City, has moved back to third base after playing mostly second last year.

Suarez, who played shortstop for the Reds in 2015, impressed the coaches with his work on the back fields once the decision was made.

“They watched me, and they said, ‘Wow, you still have the moves.’ It’s like riding a bike; you don’t forget how to do it,” Suarez said. “I feel like a baby with a new toy.”

And speaking of babies, or baby steps, the Pirates are beginning yet another climb from the bottom with 2020 late-season sensation Ke’Bryan Hayes, as their leader.

Third baseman Hayes was hitting .450 into the last week of spring after batting .376 with an OPS of 1.124 in 24 games following his promotion from the alternate camp.

Outfielder Gregory Polanco, who used to be a player the Pirates hoped to build around, is said to have recaptured form with help from hitting coach Rick Eckstein after hitting .153 last year. But presumptive No. 1 starter Mitch Keller, who finished the 2020 season with 11 hitless innings, six against the Cardinals, allowed 15 hits in his first five innings this spring, even though he was throwing harder than before.

There will be no divisional flag flying again for the Pirates, who haven’t been to the World Series since 1979.

dow has not closed.

“We’re fine. I’m really pumped about this team. I really, really am,” Ricketts told Chicago reporters.

“You know, we won our division last year, which is a great accomplishment.

But almost every guy had a down year. We really didn’t have anybody playing at their best. So we think if all of the guys come back and play like we know they can, we should have a pretty good chance of winning the division again.

“We’ve got plenty of pitching. We’ll be all right.”

In Milwaukee, the Brewers may be transferring more from an offensive club to a pitching-and-defense team. New second baseman Wong has made an impression on manager Craig Counsell.

“Probably the thing that sticks out on the practice field is how lively his feet are.

It’s really fun to watch,” Counsell told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. “His feet are magical, how they move around the infield. He’s not like a speed burner as far as pure running speed, but he’s got incredible feet, and that’s what makes him such a great infielder.”

Counsell said he also looked for more power from Wong now that Wong will be playing home games in American Family Field. “We’re hoping that coming into a different park, frankly a park where it’s easier to hit home runs, that can show up a little bit,” Counsell said.

Wong already has made his mark with his work ethic. “He doesn’t take anything for granted, that’s for sure,” Counsell said.

“It’s been fun watching a pro work, is how I’d describe it.”

Might be last roundup as Cubs teammates for Rizzo, Baez, Bryant. Bullpen portends to be better as Kimbrel appears to have regained form.

Without Darvish and Lester, a lot of innings and savvy are gone from the rotation. Could be sellers if Cubs fall out of the race.

Rick Hummel @cmshhummel on Twitter rhummel@post-dispatch.com

C I N C I N N AT I

P I T T S BU RG H

Surprisingly, worst hitting club by average in the league last year at .212 despite Votto, Suarez, Winker, Castellanos, Moustakas. Top starter Gray to miss start of season with back ailment. Closer Iglesias is gone. Will Garrett, Sims, Doolittle be enough at the back end?

Other four teams in division should fatten up at expense of Pirates, whom they all will play 19 times.

Slugging third baseman Hayes is one of most exciting newcomers in league. But middle of lineup without Bell, traded to Washington, will be light.

Rotation thin. BullFrom left: pen all right but Jackie Bradley Jr., may not have leads Anthony Rizzo, to protect.

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S14 • ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

M 1 • SUNDAY • 03.28.2021

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BASEBALL PREVIEW

03.28.2021 • SUNDAY • M 1

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH • S15

CARDINALS 2021 SCHEDULE APRIL Sun.

Mon.

Home Tue.

Wed.

Thu. 1

Fri.

Away Sat. 3

CIN 2 3:10 BSM

MAY Sun.

Home Mon.

Wed.

Thu.

Fri.

2

11 MIL 12 WAS 13 WAS 14 WAS 15 12:15 6:45 6:45 1:15 BSM BSM BSM BSM

16 PHI 17 PHI 3:05 6:05 BSM BSM

9

COL 10 1:15 BSM

18 PHI 19 WAS 20 WAS 21 WAS 22 3:05 6:05 6:05 12:05 BSM BSM BSM BSM

23 CIN 24 CIN 1:15 7:15 BSM BSM

16

SD 17 6:08 ESPN

25 CIN 26 PHI 27 PHI 28 PHI 29 PHI 30 PIT 5:35 12:15 6:45 6:45 6:45 1:15 BSM BSM BSM BSM BSM BSM

Sat. 1

CIN 3:10 BSM

10 MIL 1:15 BSM

CIN 5 MIA 6 MIA 7 MIA 8 MIL 9 3:15 3:10 5:40 5:40 12:10 BSM BSM BSM BSM BSM

4

Tue.

Away

Sun.

Mon.

PIT 5:35 BSM

PIT 3 NYM 4 NYM 5 NYM 6 NYM 7 COL 8 COL 1:15 7:15 12:15 6:45 6:45 6:45 12:05 BSM BSM BSM BSM BSM BSM BSM 11 MIL 12 MIL 13 MIL 14 SD 15 SD 7:40 9:10 12:40 6:40 6:40 FS1 BSM BSM BSM BSM 18 PIT 19 PIT 20 6:45 6:45 BSM BSM

JUNE

21 CHC 22 CHC 6:15 7:15 BSM KTVI-2

23 CHC 24 CWS 25 CWS 26 CWS 27 ARI 28 ARI 29 ARI 9:10 8:40 8:40 1:10 7:10 7:10 6:08 BSM BSM BSM BSM BSM BSM ESPN

6

CIN 7 1:15 BSM

Tue.

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Home

Away

Fri.

Sat.

1

LAD 2 LAD 3 CIN 4 CIN 5 CIN 1:15 7:15 7:15 8:10 9:10 BSM BSM BSM BSM BSM

8

CLE 9 CLE 10 7:15 7:15 BSM BSM

11 CHC 12 CHC 6:15 1:20 BSM KTVI-2

13 CHC 14 MIA 15 MIA 16 MIA 17 ATL 18 ATL 19 ATL 6:15 6:20 6:20 12:15 7:15 7:15 1:20 BSM KTVI-2 BSM BSM BSM BSM BSM 20 ATL 21 12:20 BSM

22 DET 23 DET 24 PIT 25 PIT 26 PIT 1:15 7:15 7:15 12:10 6:10 BSM BSM BSM BSM BSM

27 PIT 28 ARI 29 ARI 30 ARI 12:15 7:15 7:15 1:15 BSM BSM BSM BSM

30 ARI 31 LAD 8:10 3:10 BSM BSM

JULY Sun.

Mon.

Tue.

Wed.

Thu. 1

SF 8 SF 7 SF 6 COL 5 8:45 8:45 4:05 2:10 BSM BSM BSM BSM

4

11 CHC 12 1:20 BSM 18

14 13 All-Star Gm, Atl.

15

Home

Away

Fri.

Sat.

27 CLE 28 CLE 29 12:10 6:10 BSM BSM

Sun.

Mon.

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Home

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SEPT./OCT. Sun.

Mon.

KC KC 7 ATL 4 ATL 5 ATL 6 6:15 7:15 7:15 7:15 7:15 BSM BSM BSM BSM BSM

Tue.

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Thu.

COL 2 COL 3 COL 8:10 7:10 7:40 BSM BSM BSM

1

MIN 2 1:15 BSM

3

9

CHC 10 CHC 6:15 1:20 BSM KTVI-2

8

KC 9 1:15 BSM

10 PIT 11 PIT 12 PIT 13 KC 14 KC 6:10 7:10 11:35a 6:05 6:05 BSM BSM BSM BSM BSM

5

16

SF 17 SF 6:15 7:15 BSM KTVI-2

15

KC 16 1:10 BSM

17 MIL 18 MIL 19 MIL 20 PIT 21 PIT 6:15 7:15 6:45 6:45 6:45 BSM BSM BSM BSM BSM

12 CIN 13 NYM 14 NYM 15 NYM 16 6:10 6:10 6:10 1:15 BSM BSM BSM BSM

22 PIT 23 1:15 BSM

24 DET 25 DET 26 PIT 27 PIT 28 PIT 6:05 6:05 6:05 12:15 6:45 BSM BSM BSM BSM BSM

19

SF 19 CHC 20 CHC 21 CHC 22 CHC 23 CIN 24 CIN 6:10 6:10 6:15 7:15 7:15 7:15 1:15 BSM BSM BSM BSM BSM BSM BSM

25 CIN 26 12:10 BSM

AUGUST

30 MIN 31 MIN 6:15 7:15 FS1 BSM

29 PIT 30 CIN 31 CIN 5:40 5:40 12:05 BSM BSM BSM

1

All games are St. Louis times and subject to change. BSM is Bally Sports Midwest, the new name of Fox Sports Midwest effective March 31.

Away

Fri.

Sat.

3

MIL 4 MIL 6:10 7:10 BSM BSM

MIL 6 LAD 7 LAD 8 LAD 9 LAD 10 CIN 11 CIN 6:15 7:15 12:15 6:45 6:45 1:15 1:10 BSM BSM BSM BSM BSM BSM BSM 17

SD 18 SD 6:15 7:15 BSM BSM

SD 20 MIL 21 MIL 22 MIL 23 MIL 24 CHC 25 CHC 1:20 1:20 1:10 6:40 6:40 6:40 1:15 BSM BSM BSM BSM BSM BSM TBA

26 CHC 27 1:20 TBA 3

CIN 2 5:40 BSM

Home

28 MIL 29 MIL 30 MIL 1 12:15 6:45 6:45 BSM BSM BSM

CHC 2 CHC 6:15 7:15 BSM BSM

CHC 2:15 BSM

Adam Wainwright, pictured during the 2019 National League Championship Series at Busch Stadium, will start the home opener.

DAVID CARSON, DCARSON@POST-DISPATCH.COM

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Photos by Ballpark Village

S16 • ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

M 1 • SUNDAY • 03.28.2021

BASEBALL PREVIEW

03.28.2021 • SUNDAY • M 1

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH • S17

Jack Flaherty

SP After ace Flaherty and veteran Wainwright, uncertainty lingers

NUMEROUS QUESTIONS

BY RICK HUMMEL | St. Louis Post-Dispatch

WHAT DOES SUCCESS LOOK LIKE? Success depends largely on the health of prospective starters Miles Mikolas (shoulder) and Kwang Hyun Kim (back), who don’t figure to be ready for the start of the season although the Cardinals hope they won’t be too far behind, especially in Kim’s case.

Mikolas, who had some “barking” in his shoulder as he was trying to come back from forearm flexor tendon surgery of last season, projected as the No. 4 starter in the rotation.

And Kim, brilliant in his rookie season after coming over from South Korea, projected as No. 3.

At the start of the season, the Cardinals are committed to valuable swing man John Gant to take one spot in the rotation and it appeared Daniel Ponce de Leon, who has had his moments in his first two seasons and this spring, would have the other.

The top two are in place in Jack Flaherty, who has No. 1 type stuff but still seeks that consistency that will vault him to elite status, and longtime ace Adam Wainwright, whose mastery of pitching never was better at age 38-39 last year. He showed no signs of slowing this spring at age 39 going on 40.

The third spot, so far, is Carlos Martinez’s.

The erratic righthander’s five-year contract is expiring after this season and he is pitching for 29 other clubs besides the Cardinals this year.

Martinez’s oft-balky shoulder appears strong and his dedication and “focus,” as he puts it, seem on point, also, although he has not quite mastered a two-seam fastball he wants to incorporate more.

Martinez still has to deal with the poor first innings of starts, a malady that has plagued him during his tours in the rotation in recent years.

A big miss will be righthander Dakota Hudson, whose 16 wins were highest for any rookie

in 2019 but who had Tommy John surgery at the end of the 2020 season and won’t be back until 2022, unless he comes back in September/ October this year, which isn’t likely.

It all begins, though, with the 25-year-old Flaherty, who posted a remarkable 0.91 ERA in the second half of 2019 and finished at 2.75, meriting a fourth-place finish in the National League Cy Young voting. He was not quite that good in a shortened season last year but was healthy and threw well in the spring. He has the determination and, like, many of the greats, he has the swagger.

Carlos Martinez

WHAT IS THE LIKELY REALITY? Like most teams, the Cardinals will have to dig into their depth to cover injuries, which they already have had to do with Mikolas and Kim. But they feel they have enough depth to leave starter candidate Alex Reyes in the bullpen. The front office doesn’t want Reyes, who hasn’t pitched much in the past four seasons due to injuries, to pile up more than 80 to 100 innings this year, preferring to start him fullbore next year. But it will be interesting to see if it can maintain that posture if the rotation fails or takes on more injuries. A longshot to look at is Johan Oviedo, a hard-throwing Cuban who made five starts last season. He could be next after Gant and Ponce de Leon.

CARLOS MARTINEZ AS A STARTER

3.54 ERA W-L: 50-37

723 KS 732 1/3 IP

2 CGS 2.6 SO/W

1.3 WHIP 123 GAMES

RP Depth in the ’pen will help keep starters’ outings short Alex Reyes

BULLPEN BY COMMITTEE

BY RICK HUMMEL | St. Louis Post-Dispatch

WHAT DOES SUCCESS LOOK LIKE? Jordan Hicks

Gallegos could close and has done so but has seemed to do his best work as a setup man, which he was in 2019 when he allowed just just 44 hits and 16 walks in 74 innings while striking out 93 and holding opponents to a .170 batting average.

Other than the days Jack Flaherty and Adam Wainwright start, the Cardinals’ pitchers may be lifted after five innings if the club’s relief corps is as solid as it looks.

The last four innings of any game could feature the likes of Jordan Hicks, Alex Reyes, Giovanny Gallegos, Ryan Helsley and Genesis Cabrera, all capable of throwing in the mid-to-high 90s. Then there are veteran lefthanders Andrew Miller and Tyler Webb, who don’t have any trouble pitching to three—or even more— batters if they have to.

When the rotation solidifies, veteran swingman With some rotation uncertainty and some unJohn Gant and perhaps Daniel Ponce de Leon will proven parts of their offense, the Cardinals may be back in the bullpen to add depth. have to try to play to their strengths — defense and Cardinals Hall of Fame manager Whitey Herzog, who bullpen. In this age, the bullpens have taken on more knows a little something about managing bullpens, says, importance — and innings — and the Cardinals, long known for having the Clydes“With Gallegos and Reyes and Hicks and Helsley and those 95 dales parade around the park BULLPEN SPEED lefthanders in the bullpen, I on opening day, have the The average fastball velocity horsepower and firepower to don’t think Mike Shildt will let from the Cardinals bullpen any (starter) go longer than six play this kind of game. innings. They’ve got about 16 or Righthander Kodi Whitley, from 2011 to last year.

17 guys that could pitch in the 94 who also has a searing fastball, big leagues right now. might make the club, too, al“They’re going to have a though, if not, he will close at lights-out bullpen,” Herzog Memphis. said.

If Hicks returns full bore later this spring or summer, Hicks was brought along 93 carefully in the spring, not he could take over as the closer having pitched since June, but the Cardinals don’t mind 2019 when he suffered an the bullpen by committee (or injury to his right elbow, rematchups) until then. After quiring Tommy John surgery. all, it was Herzog who coined 2020 “bullpen by committee” in the Hicks, who has Type 1 diabe- 92 2011 tes, chose not to play last sea- Source: Fangraphs first place when his Cardinals won the 1985 National League son because of coronavirus pennant. concerns, but he was lighting up the guns at 100 to 102 mph early this spring and was having pain-free outings.

Under any circumstance, the Cardinals don’t have He won’t be installed immediately as the closer and to concern themselves too much with the three-batter rule, which might be the total number of hitters they maybe no one else will either although Reyes finished need to face to get three outs in an inning. Perhaps all up the Cardinals’ one playoff win last year and was the outs would be strikeouts, too. pitching some ninth innings this spring.

WHAT IS THE LIKELY REALITY?

BASEBALL PREVIEW

S18 • ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

M 1 • SUNDAY • 03.28.2021

CL Hicks may ultimately reclaim role, but Reyes could close early

DEPTH OF FIREBALLERS

BY RICK HUMMEL | St. Louis Post-Dispatch

WHAT DOES SUCCESS LOOK LIKE? Maybe the Cardinals don’t need a closer, per se, because they have a number of pitchers who have closed games, including veteran lefthander Andrew Miller, who is in more of a setup role now.

Ideally, the answer is the fireballing Jordan Hicks, who blazed through National League hitters in 2018-19 before sustaining a torn elbow ligament pitching in a game against the Los Angeles Angels in June 2019. He has not appeared in a regular-season game since but is feeling no pain and still throwing at or near 100 mph with a crackling slider.

Manager Mike Shildt is leery about running Hicks out as his closer from the first day of the season but surely will use him among the chorus of pitchers who will get late-inning assignments in the bullpen early on. But once Shildt is convinced that Hicks can handle the closer’s workload, including pitching on back-to-back days, and the inherent pressure — the second part of which shouldn’t be a problem for the unflappable righthander — Hicks again might be the Cardinals’ ninth-inning man.

But the closer at the beginning of the year well could be a member of the 2022 rotation.

Alex Reyes’ innings are being governed because he has worked so little since 2016 when he broke into the majors with a bang. But those innings might be the eighth or even the ninth. Next year Reyes projects as a starter, but until then he often will be pitching with the game on the line late.

Carlos Martinez, who ended the 2018 and 2019 seasons as the closer, is back in the rotation, even though he was good as the ninthinning man, knowing he had only one inning to pitch. But the Cardinals are better if he’s in the rotation, which is more shallow than the bullpen.

There is more closer-type stuff coming, too, in hard-

SPEED KING There were 106 pitches of 102 miles per hour or faster thrown in 2019. Jordan Hicks had 74 of them.

JORDAN HICKS, Cardinals

throwing Kodi Whitley.

And Giovanny Gallegos and Ryan Helsley, who already were here, have some experience at the back and the horsepower to do it.

12: AROLDIS CHAPMAN, Yankees 8: TAYRON GUERRERO, Marlins (now CWS)

WHAT IS THE LIKELY REALITY?

8: ANDRES MUNOZ, Padres (now SEA) After decades of the club having a lockdown closer, from Al Hrabosky to Bruce Sutter to Todd Worrell to Lee Smith to Tom Henke to Dennis Eckersley to Jason Motte to Trevor Rosenthal, the Cardinals don’t quite know how the role will evolve. Do they have to have a closer? Ultimately, yes. But there are ways to go by matchups, whether it is by team or opposing hitter late in the game. And whoever is in the game generally is throwing at 95-plus.

The Cardinals have a high number of relievers who are effective against both righthanded and lefthanded hitting, which comes into play both with the rule that a pitcher has to face three batters and the ninth inning when the opposition will be pulling out all stops to get its best available hitters to the plate.

The key to making the bullpen work to its height of efficiency is for it not to have to use all its best weapons in the same game. The Cardinals’ closer shouldn’t have to work two days in succession often and almost never three in a row, given the depth of the bullpen.

3: FELIPE VAZQUEZ, Pirates 1: THYAGO VIEIRA, White Sox

Jordan Hicks

Rick Hummel @cmshhummel on Twitter rhummel@post-dispatch.com

Alex Reyes

OF Cards need to see improvement in their uneven outfield play

MAKE OR BREAK TIME

BY RICK HUMMEL | St. Louis Post-Dispatch

WHAT DOES SUCCESS LOOK LIKE?

The weighted runs created plus of National League outfields over the last two seasons. 100 is average.

NYM ATL SFG LAD SDP WSN CHC ARI PHI MIL CIN MIA STL COL PIT

lineup often enough. O’Neill also runs well, as does Carlson, and Thomas is speedier than adequate.

142 127 121 120 112 112 109 106 101 99 89 87 82 79 47

Source: Fangraphs

from Seattle four years ago.

O’Neill seemed determined this spring to show better plate discipline, and that helped him display his power to all fields.

He was the Cardinals’ best hitter for much of camp and could hit higher in the lineup than the sixth or seventh that had been forecast.

Williams has the advantage of being one of the few true lefthanded batters on the club. He and Dean have power and are capable outfielders.

If Bader isn’t out too long, he could be a 15-15 man (home runs, stolen bases) if he could stay in the

WHAT IS THE LIKELY REALITY? If a couple of the regular outfielders don’t pan out, second baseman Tommy Edman could come into play. Edman has made many starts in right or left in his career, but none in center.

Carlson could hit second but probably will start out seventh. Williams/Dean/Thomas probably will hit eighth, as Bader would have. O’Neill seems ready to hit fifth or even fourth.

The outfielders don’t have to produce a lot ... but they do have to produce something to make this a complete lineup.

Tyler O’Neill

Rick Hummel @cmshhummel on Twitter rhummel@post-dispatch.com

liams n Wil Justi

If two of the three projected Cardinals outfielders break through offensively, that might quiet a lot of the discontent in the fan base. But which two?

Switch-hitting Dylan Carlson wound up hitting cleanup last year in the playoffs, but he batted just .200 for the season. Carlson didn’t hit appreciably above that for much of spring training, although he came on strong near the end of camp. With the addition of Nolan Arenado to the lineup, Carlson doesn’t necessarily have to be a middle-of-the-order hitter at the start of the season.

The switch-hitting Carlson projects best as either a right fielder or left fielder but will play center field for a month at least now that Harrison Bader is out with a right forearm injury.

Ideally, the club would prefer Bader play the position because he is the best defender among the outfielders and one of the top center fielders in the league, although his batting average has dipped to .205 and .226 in the past two seasons.

Hampered by his bad arm, Bader was hitting .107 when he went on the injured list.

But Carlson has shown himself athletic enough to handle center field in the past and got a week’s worth at the position before spring training ended.

To replace Bader, the Cardinals probably will go with some sort of platoon involving lefthandedhitting Justin Williams, who had more hard-hit balls than anybody else this spring, and righthanded-batting Lane Thomas or Austin Dean.

Williams and Dean particularly had good camps.

There is even a chance that righthanded-hitting John Nogowski, usually a first baseman, could see some outfield time this season, if not at the beginning.

The big news of the spring was that Gold Glove left fielder Tyler O’Neill finally seems ready to approach expectations since being acquired

OUTFIELD PRODUCTION

< Dylan Carlson

BASEBALL PREVIEW

03.28.2021 • SUNDAY • M 1

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH • S19

1B Slugger will likely occupy the 2 hole with Arenado behind him

Paul Goldschmidt

GOLDY IS MOVING UP

BY RICK HUMMEL | St. Louis Post-Dispatch

AGING GRACEFULLY Paul Goldschmidt has managed to fend off Father Time thus far. A look at his rolling expected weighted on-base average, based on exit velocity and launch angle. The red line is league average.

When there has been a full season, Paul Goldschmidt has played a full season. From 2015-19, he played between 155 and 161 games every year and, even in the shortened 58-game season in 2020, the righthanded-hitting slugger started all 58 games, with six of those starts as a designated hitter. That is dependability. He also hit 30 or more homers in four of those five seasons, including 34 in his first year with the Cardinals but he had just six last season as teams declined to pitch him with no reliable cleanup man behind him. He had 37 walks in 58 games and his on-base percentage was a high .417 compared to his low slugging mark of .466 and a mere 21 runs batted in.

But with Nolan Arenado hitting behind him, Goldschmidt figures to see more to hit and the slugging numbers should rise to go with the .304 batting average he had in 2020.

Goldschmidt is 33 and likely on the back side of his career but he hasn’t often had an offensive sidekick like Arenado. The probability is that Goldschmidt will hit second this year after starting the 2019 season as the No. 2 hitter before hitting mostly third in 2019-20. Arenado will be hitting third but the pair could end up third and fourth, with Goldschmidt likely ahead of Arenado in either circumstance.

Overlooked by some perhaps but not internally is how important Goldschmidt is to the team’s defense, which may be the best in the majors.

Not only does Goldschmidt track down off-line throws, which eighttime Gold Glover Arenado already has noted, but Goldschmidt covers ground to his right although one of the issues he will have to figure out this year is how far to his right must he go because former second baseman Kolten Wong had such good range to his left.

0

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

.500

’20

In a full season, you should be able to put Goldschmidt down for 25 to 30 homers and 75 to 85 RBIs if Tommy Edman can get on enough as the leadoff man and Goldschmidt bats mostly second.

WHAT IS THE LIKELY REALITY?

.400 .300

Goldschmidt probably will play 150 games or more again if he remains healthy. He will have veteran Matt Carpenter as a backup but you don’t have to run for Goldschmidt or take him out for defense so he generally will be out there for nine innings every day.

He has found that Busch Stadium has not been an extra-base paradise for him as he has had just 15 doubles in 107 games there in his two seasons with the team but he can help just as much by keeping rallies going, driving in runs with singles, and teaming with Arenado and perhaps Paul DeJong to create the big innings the Cardinals have been lacking.

In 2020, Goldschmidt showed the patience to draw nearly as many walks as times he struck out (43), which was a departure from his first season with the Cardinals when he struck out more than twice as many times as he walked (16678).

John Nogowski, who hit .295 at Class AAA Memphis in 2019 and led the club in RBIs this spring while hitting well over .300, could help if Goldschmidt were to be sidelined for any length of time.

.200 Source: Baseball Savant

Matt Carpenter

WHAT DOES SUCCESS LOOK LIKE?

2B Edman expected to make all the routine plays, hit atop the lineup

NEW FACE AT SECOND BASE

BY RICK HUMMEL | St. Louis Post-Dispatch

WHAT DOES SUCCESS LOOK LIKE? In large part, to be able to trade for a high salaried, eight-time Gold Glover in Nolan Arenado, the Cardinals made the decision early in the off-season to cut ties with two-time Gold Glover Kolten Wong instead of picking up his $11.5 million option. Their feeling is that Tommy Edman, a standout utility player in his first two seasons, was ready to handle the position at a lot less money and Edman showed well defensively this spring with good range and a strong arm, plus he hit well over .300 as their leadoff man, even though most o f his on-base proficiency stemmed from base hits rather than walks.

Edman knows he needs to mix in the latter, too.

By playing Edman every day, the Cardinals weaken their reserve corps and their ability to make moves during games but they feel it is his time to be a regular.

If the 25-year-old switchhitter would falter, or even if he doesn’t, veteran Matt Carpenter, displaced at third

by Arenado, could get some time at second. Carpenter looked surprisingly nimble defensively in the spring at a position he manned before Wong arrived but the jury still is out on whether he can be a productive offensive player again. He had only one hit with just a week of spring training remaining.

When Carpenter plays second, Edman could even turn up at shortstop, on occasion.

UP-AND-DOWN CAREER A look at Tommy Edman’s rolling expected weighted on-base average, based on exit velocity and launch angle. The red line is league average. .500

2019

2020

.400

.300

.200

Source: Baseball Savant

In short, the Cardinals aren’t expecting Edman to be Wong. But they do expect him to make all the routine plays and beyond and be good enough offensively that they can hit him at the top of the lineup to set the table for Goldschmidt, Arenado and the like.

Most of the opposing pitchers in the National League Central Division are r i g h t h a n d e rs and Edman has had only a modest .330 on-base mark against them while it is a solid .361 against lefthanders.

WHAT IS THE LIKELY REALITY? Edman has proven durable during his first two seasons and could play close to 150 games, although they wouldn’t all have to be at second base.

Edman has played mostly at third base so far in the majors but has plenty of second base in his background and this appears to be the spot he is best suited for as a regular. He has studied Wong closely in their two seasons together and has tried to incorporate some of Wong’s best traits defensively. But Edman is sharp enough to know that he can’t be Wong, just himself. The Cardinals probably will have another reserve infielder who could back up at second and Edmundo Sosa, out of options, could be that player although Jose Rondon, who carries a power bat, intrigued club officials with his power this spring and isn’t that much of a liability in the field for short bursts of time.

And then there is 2018 top draft pick Nolan Gorman, who doesn’t project to be here for a while but made strides in the spring at second base, which was a new position for the lefthanded batter signed as a third baseman. By the end of the year, though, Gorman could be in the majors and second base could be one of his spots.

Tommy Edman

Jose Rondon Tommy Edman

BASEBALL PREVIEW

S20 • ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

M 1 • SUNDAY • 03.28.2021

3B New third baseman will shore up the lineup as well as the infield

ARENADO ADDS PUNCH

BY RICK HUMMEL | St. Louis Post-Dispatch

WHAT DOES SUCCESS LOOK LIKE?

TOUGH SEASON

It would look the best if newly acquired Nolan Arenado plays out the rest of his contract, keeping him with the Cardinals through 2027.

However long he is here, Arenado should give the Cardinals one of the best all-round third baseman they have had, rivaling former Most Valuable Player Ken Boyer from the 1960s and Hall of Fame candidate Scott Rolen from the 2000s.

All were big men with power, quick first steps, strong arms and the ability to hit for average, too.

On a starting staff which doesn’t have a lot of high strikeout pitchers, Arenado will be a welcome addition defensively, let alone his ability to hit third or fourth in the lineup. The lineup configuration manager Mike Shildt seemed most intrigued

Nolan Arenado is coming off a tough 2020. A look at his rolling expected slugging percentage, based on exit velocity and launch angle. The red line is league average.

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

’20

.800 .600 .400 .200 Source: Baseball Savant

with in the spring had Arenado third behind first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, but Arenado has similar career numbers whether he hits third or fourth. Batting third, he has an OPS of .928 and fourth it is .924 although, significantly, his OPS is .985 at Coors Field in Colorado, his former home, and .793 on the road, which isn’t that bad, but it’s not .985.

Arenado has the discipline to settle for runscoring singles in Busch Stadium, and Gold-

schmidt can reinforce to him that hitting home runs is not necessarily the way to go at Busch.

The idea of having him hit third and Goldschmidt second means the club would be assured of having its best two hitters bat in every first inning.

Arenado experienced no difficulty this spring with his left shoulder, injured while diving for a ball last year, and is likely to be good for 150 or more games.

Former third baseman Matt Carpenter, reassigned to a utility role, should be able to pick up the other dozen or so starts.

At age 35, Carpenter is playing for his baseball life after two horrid seasons. To do this, Carpenter will have to do a better job of hitting to left field and not into the stifling shifts he faced the last couple of years, and also drawing walks, a trait he confirmed he still has this spring.

WHAT IS THE LIKELY REALITY? Arenado is good for six or seven games a week, and he will hit behind Goldschmidt as the two will be a “double whammy,” as Shildt puts it, meaning they will be together in the lineup no matter what the batting order, whether it is second and third or third and fourth.

With Goldschmidt, this could be the Cardinals’ best combination since the 1-2-3 punch of Albert Pujols, Jim Edmonds and Rolen of some 15 years ago.

Arenado probably won’t be a 40-homer slugger playing half his games at spacious Busch, but he could challenge for an RBI crown if the hitters in front of him can get on base.

He seems happy with the Cardinals and says he has no plans to opt out of his $35 million a year contract after this season. If he stays for seven years, that means that prized third-base prospect Nolan Gorman will wind up as a second baseman or an outfielder.

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Nolan Arenado

BASEBALL PREVIEW

03.28.2021 • SUNDAY • M 1

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH • S21

SS DeJong should be afforded more chances to hit with men on base

MORE REST FOR DEJONG

BY RICK HUMMEL | St. Louis Post-Dispatch

PAUL DEJONG’S HALVES

Paul DeJong reached the 30-homer plateau for the first time in 2019, his second full year in the big leagues. But he has yet to establish himself as a reliable clutch hitter with men on base, hitting only .248 with men in scoring position in his career. He has made strides defensively at his position, meriting Gold Glove consideration in 2019 but there is a thought that DeJong has worn down in the second half of the season because he plays virtually every day at a high stress defensive post.

Additionally, last season he had to shake the coronavirus which hit him and many other members of the club. But the year before DeJong played 159 games and batted only .202 in the second half of the season. Last year, his second-half average was .212, so manager Mike Shildt says he will look to give DeJong more rest, but DeJong says he doesn’t need it. He will concentrate on cutting back sometimes on his pre-game work to preserve himself for the game.

DeJong, who came on offensively late in the spring, will hit fourth, which he did last year at times when he batted .229 in that spot.

With new new third baseman Nolan Arenado, who can take much of the load off DeJong, and also, with Paul Goldschmidt ahead of him, DeJong should be afforded plenty of chances to hit with men on base.

DeJong has worked hard to improve his range and his ability to backhand the ball in the hole. But it is asking a lot of a shortstop to play 150 or more games and be a productive middle-of-thelineup hitter.

Given a bit more rest and with a bit less stress, DeJong, who says

FIRST HALF/SECOND HALF IN CAREER

BA: .269/.236 OPS: .814/.762

BB%: 8.1/6.9

SLG: .473/.461

K%: 23.2/26

he needs to make the game fun again instead of demanding so much of himself, easily could top his career high of 78 runs batted in if the top of the Cardinals’ lineup cooperates. He could be good for 90, especially if he can maintain his strike-zone discipline with runners on and hit his pitch and not the pitcher’s.

WHAT IS THE LIKELY REALITY? Shildt will leave DeJong in the fourth spot as long as he produces because Shildt wants Goldschmidt and Arenado to bat together in front of him. But DeJong could drop to fifth or sixth if he struggles at cleanup and Tyler O’Neill could move in there.

The most likely backup to DeJong is 25-year-old Edmundo Sosa, who is out of options. Sosa has power, as evidenced by his 17 homers for Class AAA Memphis in 2019 when there was a minor league season. He plays second base and third base as well but as long as Tommy Edman is playing second, Sosa ranks as the only other shortstop on the team.

Jose Rondon, who showed a big bat in spring training, also plays the position but the former Chicago White Sox prospect probably is more of an offensive player than defender and most teams seem to want their backup infielders to be defensive-minded first.

Paul DeJong

Edmundo Sosa

WHAT DOES SUCCESS LOOK LIKE?

C Molina in good shape as he envisions a fifth World Series trip

YADI’S FINAL YEAR?

BY RICK HUMMEL | St. Louis Post-Dispatch

WHAT DOES SUCCESS LOOK LIKE? It will be a successful season for Yadier Molina if he can play 120 or more games and produce offensively besides handling the staff as only he can in his 17th consecutive season as the Cardinals’ starting catcher. It will be a successful one for the Cardinals if Molina plays well but also sits out often enough to allow a potential future starter, like Andrew Knizner, to show whether he is regular timber or not. Molina will be playing about half of this season at age 39 and may not be back after signing only a one-year deal with the Cardinals.

Whatever expectations the Cardinals have for him, Molina’s are even higher.

But last season, other than his bout with COVID-19 which set him back a bit, Molina came through it relatively healthy. That he had to play only 42 games shouldn’t have worn him down that much.

Molina often seems to hit with more power in the second half of the season.

For instance, even though he played 29 fewer games in the second half of his last full season in 2019, Molina had more homers (6 to 4) than he had in the first half and his OPS was .802, compared to .654 in the first half.

After years of Molina catching runners at higher than a 40% clip, only 11 runners tried to run on him in 2020.

Molina threw out five of them, With the addition of Nolan Arenado, Molina will drop down a spot in the lineup and most often will hit sixth. If he could play 120 games, he could drive in 60 runs because there should be more runners on in front of him.

But that won’t matter all that much.

Molina’s biggest value doesn’t lie in his bat. Manager Mike Shildt once said, “Processing information and being able to execute it and being able to change as the games goes on. . . this guy’s got a mental Rolodex that is second to none.”

Yadier Molina

WHAT IS THE LIKELY REALITY?

INNINGS EATER Innings caught by Yadier Molina every year since his debut June 3, 2004.

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

344.0 959.1 1,037.1 861.1 1,002.0 1,176.2 1,138.0 1,150.0 1,161.1 1,115.1 931.2 1,149.2 1,218.1 1,125.2 1,017.2 939.1 337.1

Molina appears still in good shape and had a jump in his step again this spring as he envisions another chance of going to a fifth World Series before his career is over. He is 2-2 in the first four.

The Cardinals aren’t likely to carry three catchers on the club, especially with the taxi squad close by if there is an injury. But, contrary to the past couple of seasons when veteran Matt Wieters was the primary backup ahead of young Knizner, the latter should be the backup this year, especially since there will be no Triple-A season before May if the Cardinals had wanted him to play every day at that level.

Knizner is perceived as more of an offensive catcher so far but he has a strong arm and has the trust of the pitchers, including Adam Wainwright, who pitched to Knizner on minor league rehabs before Knizner even was in the big leagues.

There should be more starts for the backup catcher this year than ever before in Molina’s time here, as long as he has been healthy.

But 20-year-old Ivan Herrera, not Knizner, may be the heir apparent to this job a year or two from now.

Andrew Knizner

BASEBALL PREVIEW

S22 • ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

03.28.2021 • SUNDAY • M 1 • S23

JACK FLAHERTY • RHP • 22

ADAM WAINWRIGHT • RHP • 50

CARLOS MARTINEZ • RHP • 18

JOHN GANT • RHP • 53

DANIEL PONCE DE LEON • RHP • 32

ALEX REYES • RHP • 29

JORDAN HICKS • RHP • 12

ANDREW MILLER • LHP • 21

TYLER WEBB • LHP • 30

GIOVANNY GALLEGOS • RHP • 65

GENESIS CABRERA • LHP • 92

PROJECTED 26-MAN CARDINALS ROSTER T

RYAN HELSLEY • RHP • 56

he following 26-man roster is based on reporting and observation at the ballpark, but the possibilities of injuries and COVID-19 protocols makes it an estimate, not a final roster. This is based on the performance and health with five days remaining in spring training. The Cardinals are also permitted to carry a five-man taxi squad on the road.

KODI WHITLEY • RHP • 38

YADIER MOLINA • C • 4

TOMMY EDMAN • UT • 19

NOLAN ARENADO • 3B • 28

TYLER O’NEILL • OF • 27

DYLAN CARLSON • OF • 3

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Injured List (4): Kwang Hyun Kim, LHP; Miles Mikolas, RHP; Dakota Hudson, RHP; Harrison Bader, OF.

ANDREW KNIZNER • C • 7

PAUL GOLDSCHMIDT • 1B • 46

PAUL DEJONG • SS • 11

MATT CARPENTER • 2B/3B • 13

JOSE RONDON • UT • 64

LANE THOMAS • OF • 35

JUSTIN WILLIAMS • OF • 26

AUSTIN DEAN • OF • 0

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BASEBALL PREVIEW

S24 • ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

M 1 • SUNDAY • 03.28.2021

AMERICAN LEAGUE CAPSULES

FAMILIAR CONTENDERS Top teams hope they have enough pitching

BY JEFF GORDON | St. Louis Post-Dispatch — Associated Press photos — Teams in projected order of finish

Gerrit Cole

Lucas Giolito

Alex Bregman

AL EAST

AL CENTRAL

AL WEST

NEW YORK YANKEES

CHICAGO WHITE SOX

HOUSTON ASTROS

2020 record: 33-27, 2nd

2020 record: 35-25, 2nd

2020 record: 29-31, 2nd

Outlook: The Yankees will score. They led the league last season despite the usual injuries to OFs Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge. Their offense could be notably better with those two in the batting order. They need SPs Corey Kluber and Jameson Taillon to make strong returns from shoulder and elbow injuries, respectively. Their early spring returns were promising.

Outlook: Nostalgic owner Jerry Reinsdorf brought back 76-year-old Tony La Russa for a second managerial tour for his team. So far the young and talented White Sox are taking to La Russa, but will that relationship hold up through the 162-game grind? La Russa can win the arms race with former Cardinals SP Lance Lynn supporting SPs Lucas Giolito and Dallas Keuchel in the rotation and RP Liam Hendriks bolstering the bullpen.

Outlook: The Astros want to put their sign-stealing scandal behind them and resume winning. They lost OF George Springer to free agency and SP Justin Verlander to Tommy John surgery, but they got DH Yordan Alvarez back from the knee injuries that sidelined him in 2020.

The late signing of SP Jake Odorizzi bolsters the rotation, and the retention of OF Michael Brantley maintained offensive depth.

Cornerstones: Though OF Eloy Jimenez (.891 OPS) will miss 5-6 months, 1B Jose Abreu (.987) and SS Tim Anderson (.886) are elite offensive talents. OF Luis Robert and 1B Andrew Vaughn carry that potential, as well.

Cornerstones: Superstar 3B Alex Bregman is ready to forget 2020. Back in 2019 he produced an insane 1.015 OPS and 8.4 WAR. Also looking to rebound is 2B Jose Altuve, who hit .298 with a career-high 31 homers in ’19.

Cornerstones: The rotation is built around SP Gerrit Cole, who lived up to his $324 million contract last season (73, 2.84 ERA). The offense should be built around 2B D.J. LeMahieu (1.011 OPS) and SS Gleyber Torres, who slumped last season after his monstrous campaign (38 homers, 90 RBIs, .871 OPS) in 2019.

TORONTO BLUE JAYS

MINNESOTA TWINS

OAKLAND A’s

2020 record: 32-28, 3rd

2020 record: 36-24, 1st

2020 record: 36-24, 1st

Outlook: The Jays are in it to win it this season. They added OF George Springer and INF Marcus Semien to an already loaded lineup. SPs Hyun Jin Ryu (5-2, 2.69 ERA) and Robbie Ray head a strong starting rotation. The loss of newly added RP Kirby Yates (Tommy John surgery) could hamper the bullpen.

Outlook: The Twins will encounter heavier division competition this year. They didn’t get the desired payoff on their $88 million investment in 3B Josh Donaldson last season. He must stay healthy and replicate his 2019 production for the Braves (.900 OPS, 94 RBIs). The Twins also need more from OF Byron Buxton, who hasn’t progressed since posting a 5.1 WAR in 2017.

Outlook: The A’s will remain a budget operation until they get a new stadium and/or new ownership. Once again their offseason was more about subtracting (RP Liam Hendriks, OF Khris Davis, INFs Marcus Semien and Tommy La Stella) than adding (RP Trevor Rosenthal, SS Elvis Andrus, 1B Mitch Moreland). But this team does have pitching upside if starters Sean Manaea, A.J. Puk and Jesus Luzardo can stay healthy.

Cornerstones: DH Vladimir Guerrero Jr. showed up to spring training lighter and more limber. He heads a talented nucleus that includes SS Bo Bichette, 3B Cavan Biggio and OFs Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (.882 OPS last season) and Teoscar Hernandez (.919).

TAMPA BAY RAYS

Cornerstones: SPs Kenta Maeda (6-1, 2.70 ERA) and Jose Berrios (14-8, 3.68 in 2019) lead a strong rotation. Ageless DH Nelson Cruz returned for another swing after posting a .992 OPS last season.

KANSAS CITY ROYALS

Cornerstones: The two Matts, 3B Chapman and 1B Olson, can provide long-term power on the East Bay if they can rebound from rough 2020 seasons. Olson launched 65 homers in 2018-19 and Chapman blasted 60 during that stretch.

LOS ANGELES ANGELS

2020 record: 40-20, 1st

2020 record: 26-34, 4th

2020 record: 26-34, 4th

Outlook: Winning another American League pennant won’t be easy after the loss of SPs Blake Snell (traded to San Diego) and Charlie Morton (signed with Atlanta).

The Rays’ strength is their bullpen, but what will they get from SPs Chris Archer, Rich Hill and Michael Wacha? The resourceful Rays often overachieve, but doing so in this division will be tougher this season.

Outlook: With the Indians taking a step back, perhaps Royals manager Mike Matheny can move his team up the division ladder. He really likes the young pitching coming up behind starters Brad Keller (5-3, 2.47 ERA) and Brady Singer. The Royals will need bounce-back years from OF Jorge Soler (.922 OPS in 2019) and 1B Carlos Santana.

Outlook: OF Dexter Fowler and DH/1B Albert Pujols are playing out their contracts. These former Cardinals will be hard-pressed to relive past postseason glories despite Joe Maddon’s motivational mastery. SS Andrelton Simmons could provide a lift in his comeback from an ankle injury.

The Angels added middling SPs Dylan Bundy and Jose Quintana, but new pitching coach Mickey Callaway will have his hands full.

Cornerstones: Cardinals OF castoff Randy Arozarena smacked 10 homers during a magical playoff run. The Rays hope he has staying power after finally sticking in the majors. But the biggest building block for this lineup is SS prospect Wander Franco, a toolsy 20-year-old widely regarded as the game’s top prospect.

BOSTON RED SOX

Cornerstones: C Salvador Perez rebounded from an elbow injury to smack 11 homers in 150 at-bats last year and post a .986 OPS. That earned him an $82 million contract extension. Future rosters will build around power-hitting SS/2B prospect Bobby Witt Jr.

CLEVELAND INDIANS

Cornerstones: OF Mike Trout has been among the best all-around players for some time. 3B Anthony Rendon finished strong last season, and SP/DH Shohei Ohtani is back from elbow surgery.

SEATTLE MARINERS

2020 record: 24-36, 5th

2020 record: 35-25, 2nd

2020 record: 27-33, 3rd

Outlook: After sitting out last season due to his role in the Houston Astros’ sign-stealing scandal, Alex Cora took the managerial reins of a team that collapsed last season.

The Red Sox went into retooling mode after moving on from OF Mookie Betts, but they have weapons in DH J.D. Martinez, 3B Rafael Devers and OF Alex Verdugo.

Outlook: The Indians went into cost-cutting mode, opting to trade SS Francisco Lindor rather than sign him to a massive extension to keep him from free agency. They also cleared out RP Brad Hand, SP Carlos Carrasco and 1B Carlos Santana, leaving manager Terry Francona in charge of a rebuild. Emerging SP Logan Allen could help that process.

Outlook: GM Jerry Dipoto is an old-school horse trader whose roster churn turned the Mariners into an also-ran.

He finally accumulated an impressive prospect base, but will he be patient enough to build on that? OF Kyle Lewis, 2B Ty France and former Cardinals SP Marco Gonzales — who is 36-24 in his three full seasons in Seattle — are solid building blocks. SPs Justin Dunn and Justus Sheffield have some long-term promise, and SP James Paxton could offer stability this season.

Cornerstones: SS Xander Boagerts had a .502 slugging percentage and .867 OPS — and those were his worst numbers in three years. SP Eduardo Rodriguez is back from COVID-19 complications. He went 19-6 with a 3.81 ERA and 213 strikeouts in 2019.

BALTIMORE ORIOLES

Cornerstones: SP Shane Bieber (8-1, 1.63 ERA) is a true ace, so the Indians will either rebuild around him or trade him for a mother lode of prospects. The same goes for 3B Jose Ramirez, who delivered a career-best .993 OPS last season.

DETROIT TIGERS

2020 record: 25-35, 4th

2020 record: 23-35, 5th

Outlook: The Orioles are in full tank-and-rebuild mode.

It could be years before they can contend in this division.

Many current players are holding spots while passing through town. The only player with a contract beyond this year is struggling 1B Chris Davis, who will be owed more than $21 million in 2022. The team’s one feel-good story is OF/1B Trey Mancini, who is back after his successful battle against colon cancer.

Outlook: Manager A.J. Hinch gets to relaunch his career with a team rebuilding a roster from the ground up. He needs to get once-promising SPs Michael Fulmer and Matthew Boyd back on track. The only legacy talent left is DH Miguel Cabrera, the yesteryear slugger who will collect $102 million over the next three years. Cabrera has been a replacement level player (or worse) since 2017.

Cornerstones: The O’s are banking on C Adley Rutschman, the first overall pick in 2019, to provide better days ahead. Lefty SP Keegan Akin could earn a spot in the long-term pitching nucleus.

Cornerstones: The Tigers hope to rebuild around top prospects like SP Casey Mize, OF Riley Greene and 3B/1B Spencer Torkelson, the first overall pick of the 2020 draft.

They also have the third overall pick in this year’s draft.

Cornerstones: OFs Jarred Kelenic and Julio Rodriguez are players to build around. But locking in Kelenic could be difficult after the club manipulated his service time.

TEXAS RANGERS 2020 record: 22-38, 5th Outlook: New GM Chris Young came aboard to help guide the major rebuilding project. OF Joey Gallo is a classic all-or-nothing slugger. He is a two-time 40-homer hitter, but his OPS sank to .679 last season. The Rangers held on to 2B Rougned Odor, who has hit 30 or more homers three times but saw his batting average sink and strikeout rate climb in recent years.

Cornerstones: 3B Isiah Kiner-Falefa won a Gold Glove on the hot corner, but he moves to shortstop to replace longtime fixture Elvis Andrus, now with Oakland. He is just reaching his prime at 26 and could be part of the long-term plan. The same goes for SP Dane Dunning, a first-round draft pick who recovered nicely from Tommy John surgery.

BASEBALL PREVIEW

03.28.2021 • SUNDAY • M 1

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH • S25

NATIONAL LEAGUE CAPSULES

A FEW MAJOR ADDITIONS League’s best teams augment rosters in the offseason

BY JEFF GORDON | St. Louis Post-Dispatch — Associated Press photos — Teams in projected order of finish

Nolan Arenado

Charlie Morton

Trevor Bauer

NL EAST

NL CENTRAL

NL WEST

ATLANTA BRAVES

ST. LOUIS CARDINALS

LOS ANGELES DODGERS

2020 record: 35-25, 1st

2020 record: 30-28, 2nd

2020 record: 43-17, 1st

Outlook: Adding crafty SP Charlie Morton to support SPs Max Fried (7-0, 2.25 ERA), Ian Anderson (3-2, 1.95) and Mike Soroka (13-4, 2.68 ERA in 2019) positions the Braves to win another division title. The lineup has ample depth with OF Marcell Ozuna (1.067 OPS), SS Dansby Swanson (.809), C Travis d’Arnaud (.910) and 2B Ozzie Albies (.852 OPS in 2019).

Outlook: SP Adam Wainwright and C Yadier Molina will get at least one more playoff chase together. Re-signing them and acquiring 3B Nolan Arenado kept the Cardinals viable. But they may need young hurlers to step up after losing SP Dakota Hudson to Tommy John surgery and seeing SP Miles Mikolas suffer shoulder woes while coming back from flexor tendon surgery. They also need more production from young OFs Dylan Carlson, Harrison Bader (out to start the year), Tyler O’Neill and Lane Thomas.

Outlook: This organization did not get complacent after finally winning a World Series. The Dodgers added Cy Young Award winning SP Trevor Bauer (5-4, 1.73 ERA) to the top of their rotation and welcomed SP David Price back from his COVID-19 opt-out. They join SPs Clayton Kershaw, Walker Buehler, Julio Urias and Dustin May in baseball’s best rotation.

Cornerstones: 1B Freddie Freeman (1.102 OPS) has been one of baseball’s steadier producers since 2011. He is flanked by OF Ronald Acuna Jr. (.987), one of the game’s more explosive young talents.

NEW YORK METS

Cornerstones: With Arenado and 1B Paul Goldschmidt, the Cardinals feature elite fielding on the infield corners.

But they will need Arenado to regain his 2019 stroke (.962 OPS, 118 RBIs) and add offensive muscle to the lineup.

MILWAUKEE BREWERS

Cornerstones: OF Mookie Betts (.927 OPS) arrived in a blockbuster trade with the Red Sox and became the catalyst for an already talented team. OF Cody Bellinger (1.035 OPS in 2019) is another MVP-caliber player, and SS Corey Seager (.943) adds power at a premium position.

SAN DIEGO PADRES

2020 record: 26-34, 4th

2020 record: 29-31, 4th

2020 record: 37-23, 2nd

Outlook: Finally this franchise has a rich owner brimming with ambition. Steve Cohen will invest in success, to the chagrin of NL East rivals. He gave the green light to acquire SS Francisco Lindor in a blockbuster trade. Adding free-agent RP Trevor May to a team with RP Edwin Diaz (21, six saves) strengthened the bullpen. The Mets overspent on free-agent C James McCann, but it’s just money, right?

Outlook: They will be back in the chase again after regaining OF Lorenzo Cain from his COVID-19 opt-out and adding 2B Kolten Wong and OF Jackie Bradley Jr. to upgrade the defense. The rotation is solid with SPs Brandon Woodruff and Corbin Burnes at the top. The bullpen is one of baseball’s best, with RP Josh Hader serving as the hammer.

Outlook: This franchise is tired of living in the Dodgers’ SoCal shadow. The hyper-aggressive Padres added high-end SPs Yu Darvish, Blake Snell and Joe Musgrove to an outstanding staff featuring Dinelson Lamet (3-1, 2.09 ERA), Chris Paddack and Drew Pomeranz. OF Tommy Pham hopes to regain his power after recovering from an offseason stabbing.

Cornerstones: Lindor (.854 OPS in 2019) is a transformative talent. SP Jacob deGrom (104 strikeouts in 68 innings, 2.38 ERA) offers shutdown potential for postseason play.

SP Noah Syndergaard could do the same if he makes a full recovery from elbow surgery.

Cornerstones: Like many Americans, OF Christian Yelich would like to forget 2020 (he hit just .205) and pick up where he left off in 2019. That year he produced a 1,100 OPS and 7.1 WAR. RP Devin Williams (Hazelwood West) emerged as one of the game’s best last season while striking out 53 batters in 27 innings and allowing just one earned run.

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES

CINCINNATI REDS

Cornerstones: The Padres spent big dollars to create the “Slam Diego” offense. They invested $300 million in 3B Manny Machado (.950 OPS) and $340 million in SS Fernando Tatis Jr. (.937) — making the earlier $144 million deal for 1B Eric Hosmer seem piddling.

SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS

2020 record: 28-32, 3rd

2020 record: 31-29, 3rd

2020 record: 29-31, 3rd

Outlook: Aggressive ownership doesn’t guarantee success, so new president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski has work to do. The rotation is led by SPs Aaron Nola (5-5, 3.38 ERA) and Zack Wheeler (4-2, 2.92). Adding RP Archie Bradley should bolster a bullpen that buckled last season. 1B Rhys Hoskins (29 homers in 2019) will provide a lift returning from surgical repairs. 3B Alec Bohm (.881 OPS) offers clout at the other corner.

Outlook: The Reds loaded up last year and returned to postseason play. Rather than build on that breakthrough, the franchise stepped back. SP Trevor Bauer signed with the Dodgers, and RP Raisel Iglesias was moved to the Los Angeles Angels. A breakout season from SP Tyler Mahle would help offset Bauer’s exit. The Reds need 1B Joey Votto (.226), INF Mike Moustakas (.225) and OF Nick Castellanos (.230) to rebound.

Outlook: President of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi sees a rebuild on the horizon. He has C Buster Posey, SP Johnny Cueto, 1B Brandon Belt, and SS Brandon Crawford on expiring contracts. That’s about $75 million in potential payroll space for 2022. In the meantime, manager Gabe Kapler must scrape out victories with the likes of OF Mike Yastrzemski (.968 OPS) and INF Donovan Solano (.828 OPS).

Cornerstones: C J.T. Realmuto was a must-keep player — and the Phillies wisely kept him at a cost of $115.5 million.

OF Bryce Harper looked worthy of his $330 million contract last season while posting a .962 OPS.

Cornerstones: SS/3B Eugenio Suarez smacked 83 homers and drove in 207 runs from 2018-19 before struggling last season. He was built to play in the Great American Band Box. SP Luis Castillo (4-6, 3.21 ERA) takes the lead for the rotation with Bauer gone.

Cornerstones: Posey, Cueto, Belt and Crawford were pillars in the old structure. The foundation for the new structure has yet to be laid.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS

CHICAGO CUBS

ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS

2020 record: 26-34, 5th

2020 record: 34-26, 1st

2020 record: 25-35, 5th

Outlook: After their magical world championship run, the Nationals succumbed to endless adversity last season.

They will need strong rebounds from SPs Stephen Strasburg (carpal tunnel surgery), Joe Ross (COVID-19 opt-out) and newcomer Jon Lester (gland removal surgery) to compete this year. SP Max Scherzer, 36, is a good as any when healthy.

Outlook: By trading top SP Yu Darvish, the cost-conscious Cubs signaled their looming rebuild. They let OF Kyle Schwarber walk, but replaced him with OF Joc Pederson.

They let SP Jon Lester go, but brought back SP Jake Arrieta. RP Craig Kimbrel will try to build on his strong 2020 finish (7 1/3 scoreless September innings). Should the Cubs fade, president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer will trade more veterans for prospects.

Outlook: The Snakes will watch from a safe distance as the Dodgers and Padres battle it out for NL West supremacy. They have some decent pieces with SS Nick Ahmed and OFs David Peralta and Kole Calhoun (.864 OPS).

Switch-hitting 2B Ketel Marte posted a .981 OPS in 2019.

INF Josh Rojas (.886 OPS in minor-league career) could help the rebuild, but SP Madison Bumgarner (6.48 ERA) is searching for his lost velocity.

Cornerstones: The big-three hitters — 3B Kris Bryant, 1B Anthony Rizzo and SS Javier Baez — return. They all struggled last season, but in 2019 they combined to hit 87 homers.

Cornerstones: The injured former Cardinals SP prospect Zac Gallen (3-2, 2.75 ERA) is a foundation piece for the rotation. Former Cardinals C Carson Kelly demonstrated his upside in 2019 (.826 OPS).

PITTSBURGH PIRATES

COLORADO ROCKIES

Cornerstones: OF Juan Soto (1.185 OPS) and SS Trea Turner (.982) are rising stars. This team needs OF Victor Robles (4.1 WAR in 2019) and 3B Carter Kieboom to realize their full potential, too.

MIAMI MARLINS 2020 record: 31-29, 2nd

2020 record: 19-41, 5th

2020 record: 26-34, 4th

Outlook: Derek Jeter’s budget operation figures to fail in this deep division. His offense is a collection of loose veteran parts like 1B Jesus Aguilar and OFs Adam Duvall, Starling Marte and Corey Dickerson. Perhaps 3B Brian Anderson and flashy SS prospect Jazz Chisholm will become worthy building blocks.

Outlook: The painful tank-and-rebuild process is underway. New GM Ben Cherington is selling off veterans and acquiring prospects. OF Gregory Polanco could be the next to go if he hits this summer. This teardown is fine with billionaire owner Bob Nutting, who prefers small payrolls. There’s not much on the mound beyond SPs Mitch Keller (2.91 ERA in five starts) and Steven Brault (3.38).

Outlook: By trading 3B Nolan Arenado to the Cardinals for a modest return, the Rockies waved the white flag for this season and more. The top of their rotation is solid with SPs Antonio Senzatela (5-3, 3.44 ERA) and German Marquez (4-6, 3.75). But the Rockies lack offensive depth in a hitter’s park, and the Mile High conditions can wear down a pitching staff.

Cornerstones: The Marlins hope to build around dynamic young SPs Sixto Sanchez (3-2, 3.46 ERA), Pablo Lopez (64, 3.61) and Sandy Alcantara (3-2, 3.00) — who was the key acquisition from the Cardinals in their ill-fated Marcell Ozuna trade.

Cornerstones: 3B Ke’Bryan Hayes (1.124 OPS in 85 atbats) arrived as an elite fielder with massive offensive upside. He and OF Bryan Reynolds (.880 OPS in 2019) are solid pieces to build upon.

Cornerstones: With Arenado gone, SS Trevor Story (.874 OPS) is the remaining player to build around. But this assumes he will be willing to commit to the franchise as it sinks into the division cellar. OF Charlie Blackmon has been a mainstay in Denver, but he turns 35 this season.

S26 • ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

M 1 • SUNDAY • 03.28.2021

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BASEBALL PREVIEW

03.28.2021 • SUNDAY • M 1

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH • S27

MEDIA VIEWS

RATINGS REVERSAL? Cards, FSM hope return to normal ends team’s viewership slide DAN CAESAR St. Louis Post-Dispatch

T

he Cardinals have a new, highprofile third baseman who has boosted interest in the team. Fans are abuzz about being allowed back in the stands, albeit on a limited basis at first, after a year of locked gates in a coronavirus-caused truncated season.

Optimism abounds. But will it carry over to television ratings? That is a key question for the team and its soonto-be renamed television partner, Fox Sports Midwest — which becomes Bally Sports Midwest on Wednesday.

The team’s TV viewership numbers were on an alarmingly downward trend even before bottoming out amid the tumult of last year.

It is fair to dismiss the Nielsen ratings numbers of 2020’s very abnormal season, in which Fox Sports Midwest carried just 55 games. There were a lot of off-Broadway starting times, with 28 of those telecasts beginning before 6 p.m. And there were 11 doubleheaders, seven-inning affairs that rankled some traditionalists. There were many other extenuating circumstances, including social-justice stances by the club and some players that angered a significant number of fans.

So the fact that the Cardinals drew the worst rating they ever have under the current system of measuring viewership, which dates to 1990, is understandable. Nielsen reported that just 5.4% of homes in the area tuned in, on average, to FSM’s telecasts.

What is more eye-opening is a look at what was going on before that. In 2019, the last “normal” season, the Cards had their worst rating on FSM in two decades. That figure was a whopping 34% decline from what it was just four years earlier. And the last three full seasons have produced the three worst-rated years of this century. The combined rating for 2017, ‘18 and ‘19 was 7.0. For 2015, ‘16 and ‘17, it was 8.7.

It is true that YouTube TV and Hulu + Live TV have joined Dish Network and Sling TV as programming providers no longer carrying FSM, but the percentage of the total audience they had is far less than the overall decline.

The big picture The ratings cited are raw numbers that call for perspective. Television viewership in general has substantially declined, yielding to the rapid growth in popularity of video streaming services in recent years. Many major events, entertainment as well as sports, have had record or near-record lows in the last six months. A prime example is this year’s Super Bowl, which while not a record

COLTER PETERSON, CPETERSON@POST-DISPATCH.COM

Fans watch a recent Cardinals spring training game in Jupiter, Fla., this month. Spectators also are set to return to Busch Stadium, which should enhance the TV product. drew its smallest TV audience since 2007.

“Everything’s down,” FSM general manager Jack Donovan said. “Television continues to be more and more splintered.”

So all things considered, Donovan said “we feel like (in comparison) we’re killing it.”

He points out that FSM’s Cards spring training ratings are up — 22% through last weekend over the same point last year. And the network’s regular-season Redbirds telecasts are the top-rated program on St. Louis television most nights they play. Overall, Cardinals telecasts have ranked in the top four of all U.S. MLB teams’ TV ratings every season for the last two decades.

So with the arrival of third baseman Nolan Arenado, the return of fans to the stands (creating “a more exciting backdrop,” Donovan says) plus a more “normal” season expected, he is bullish about viewers returning. Things get underway when Bally Sports Midwest has the Cards’ season opener, at 3:10 p.m. (St. Louis time) Thursday in Cincinnati.

“Can’t wait,” he said. “... We expect a really strong start to the season.”

But, as always, viewership throughout the year can fluctuate based on the

team’s performance.

“We’re at the mercy of the ballclub,” he acknowledged.

“We’re on board with what’s best for the fans, what’s best for the team.”

Early birds

As previously reported, it will be a special year on the air for Mike Shannon. Not only will it be his 50th season in the Cardinals’ radio booth, but it will be his final one.

Plans call for him to broadcast about 50 home contests, and he is to be saluted at Busch Stadium periodically with video remembrances of his broadcasting and playing careers — he was on three Cardinals World Series teams in the 1960s as a third baseman and outfielder.

In addition, there will be tributes on radio broadcasts throughout the year, and flagship station KMOX (1120 AM) plays to have additional remembrances during other times of the day.

It not only will be an end of an era for Shannon when the season ends, it will be the conclusion of a long chain of stability. Since the 1961 season, Shannon and/or Jack Buck have broadcast the Cardinals on radio.

Buck died in 2002, at 77. Shannon, who survived a nasty offseason bout with coronavirus, turns 82 in July.

The Cardinals are going back to 6:45 p.m. starting times for most weeknight home games during the school year — in April and May, then from mid-August through the end of the season.

That’s a half hour earlier than for summertime games, and something the team experimented with in 2019 in an effort to get kids home from the ballpark earlier on school nights. That was not needed last year, what with no fans attending.

The move also figures to boost concession-stand sales, because the quicker turnaround time from normal work hours to the first pitch increases the likelihood that fans will not have enough time to eat dinner at home or in a restaurant before arriving at the stadium.

The early games in 2019 did a tad better in the ratings than did the traditional starting times, but the difference was negligible. FSM had 13 contests beginning at 6:45, and they averaged a 7.8 rating. Its 21 starts at 7:15 were at 7.4.

“I don’t think it’s a game changer one way or the other,” Donovan said.

Shannon’s finale

Dan Caesar • 314-340-8175 @caesardan on Twitter dcaesar@post-dispatch.com

WRITERS’ PREDICTIONS DERRICK GOOLD

NL CENTRAL

NL WEST

NL EAST

NL WILD CARDS

NL CHAMPION

AL CENTRAL

AL WEST

AL EAST

AL WILD CARDS

AL CHAMPION

WORLD SERIES CHAMPION

RICK HUMMEL

BEN FREDERICKSON

BENJAMIN HOCHMAN

JEFF GORDON

S28 • ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

M 1 • SUNDAY • 03.28.2021

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