BIRD BYTES 1) I’m looking forward to watching Albert Pujols dig in against Kansas City’s lefthanded starter Daniel Lynch tonight at Busch Stadium. This is the first opportunity for The Machine to plug in and do the thing he was signed to do wallop LH...
Here’s my unofficial “We’re Looking At You” list for 2022: 1) President of baseball operations John Mozeliak: Fired a successful manager to hire the youngest manager in baseball, rookie Oli Marmol. It may have been the right thing to do – but it’s also a risk that can...
The Cardinals have a gold-plated defense, an emerging offense, and savvy instincts when running the bases. But one area of the team is a source of considerable anxiety. That, of course, would be pitching. Starting pitching. Relief pitching. Before we look ahead to the...
It’s showtime for springtime. The Cardinals open their 15-game warmup in a fast preparation for the regular season. The hideous lockout delayed the opening of camps in Florida and Arizona and ruined the normal spring-training routine. This unfortunate set of...
If it’s OK with you, I’ll take a pass on offering a review of the CBA negotiations and the peace agreement between MLB’s owners and players. The entire process was fatiguing and frustrating, and baseball is boring enough during normal times. So why waste additional...
Perhaps the MLB owners and players association will engage in sincere and fruitful discussions this week and work out a deal on a new collective bargaining agreement. Or perhaps the Owners vs. Players divide will expand instead of narrow. We’ll find out soon enough....
BERNIE BITS At least one too-early projection system is down on your St. Louis Cardinals. That would be from good, ol’ PECOTA over at Baseball Prospectus. In posting the lockout-state projections the editors at BP advised us to relax. “Take them for what they...
Major League Baseball will return at some point in 2022. Until then, I’ll keep my mind and typing fingers busy by taking an advance look at the 2022 Cardinals. The roster isn’t completely set, and we don’t know if the front office will go outside the organization for...
The Cardinals already are having a good offseason. Why? Because the NL Central is weakening. — The Cincinnati Reds are in another salary-dump mode. They’ve traded veteran catcher Tucker Barnhart, a two-time Gold Glove winner, to the Tigers. They declined to...
