I hope your Monday proceeded without stress – and with timely doses of happiness. Number of days remaining before the March 26 season-opening game at Busch Stadium: 17.
With the Cardinals more than halfway through springtime in Jupiter, let’s play a little game that I’ll call “Like or Dislike.”
Heads up: unless otherwise noted, all stats used in this exercise do not include the activities from Monday’s split-squad games against Baltimore and Houston. As always, spring-training numbers should be viewed with deliberation and caution.
For fans, the usual exhibition-season protocol applies: if you are up on a player, his impressive stats should be taken seriously, and completely disregard his negative numbers. If you are down on a player, then his bad stats are The Truth and the positive stats are a laughable aberration that should be stricken from the public records.
Proceeding …
LIKE & LIKE! Yeah, I’ll have a double to start. And why not? JJ Wetherholt and Joshua Baez are what the Cardinals ordered – actually drafted – with the dream of packing impact offense into their lineup. So double the fun. If this STL offense has any serious bling, this is it. Two prospect gems. Two sparklers of a shiny, showy player-development system.
JJ and JB.
Wetherholt will be in the Cards starting lineup on opening day. He should be batting leadoff – unless, of course, manager Oli Marmol can’t quit on this Masyn Winn/leadoff man thing. Baez has been ticketed for a stop at Triple A Memphis so he can do some more learnin’ before graduating to the majors (Baez was optioned after today's games.) And this makes sense; there’s no reason to repeat the mistake of promoting Jordan Walker from Double A baseball on a direct jump to the majors. The new Cardinal front-office regime is smarter than the previous baseball operation.
JJ and JB. The boys were at it again on Monday, putting on a Top 100 Prospects variety show. In a 7-2 smashing of the Orioles at Roger Dean Stadium, JJ and JB combined for four hits, two home runs, two runs scored and four RBIs.
The future stars did so with equal amounts of coolness and clout. Each rookie larruped a homer. Each new-era franchise piece knocked in two runs. Each trotted home with ease to score a run.
Here are their respective exhibition-season slash lines through Monday’s barrage:
JJ: .278 average, .480 OPB, .611 slug, 1.091 OPS
JB: .333 average, .417 OBP, .762 slug, 1.179 OPS.
Wetherholt, who bats left, is the left jab, the left hook.
Baez, who bats right, is the right cross, the right uppercut.
LIKE IT! Comments made by president of baseball ops Chaim Bloom Sunday on KMOX when asked about Baez and the opening-day roster. Bloom knew what was coming and got straight to the point.
“I'm not telling anybody, including myself, not to be super excited about the upside,” Bloom told host Tom Ackerman, in referring to Baez. “We just got to remember where he's at and where he's at in his career.
“And it's funny, I've been asked a lot of questions since being here (about) someone like Jordan (Walker) about, well, you know, did he get up here too fast? Was it right for him to skip AAA? And hindsight is 20-20, but it's important to remember those things when we're talking about someone like Josh … who again … the upside is sky high.
“What he did (at Double A) in 2025, you just don't see that. And he deserves a ton of credit for being able to run with a plan and actually make meaningful adjustments. And we've gotten to see it in this camp, he can impact the game in every facet when he squares one up, boy, he's got some pop.
“And we know we need that. And we need that both short and long term. He's going to have every chance to be a part of that. We just got to make sure we're not selling short that journey and making sure we don't skip steps.”
Bloom’s answer was correct and smart, disciplined and realistic. There’s no reason to click on the double arrow in this fast-forward process. The previous regime made a huge mistake by doing that with Jordan Walker in 2023 – and it’s been sad to see what’s happened. The new regime must be careful to avoid walking into the same type of trap.
Baez will be a Cardinal at some point in 2026. But this really isn’t about 2026. It’s about the long game, and giving Baez his best possible chance of fulfilling his talent in a way that will lead to a special career and enhance St. Louis Cardinals baseball for a long time. That’s worth waiting for.
DISLIKE: Jordan Walker’s troubles continue. In Monday’s 10-3 loss to the Astros in their ballpark, Jordan Walker went 1 for 4 and struck out three times. In 25 plate appearances this spring, the big man is batting .217 with a .497 OPS and a 32 percent strikeout rate.
In his first four games in March, Walker has gone 2 for 12 with six strikeouts. His strikeouts are piling up, and that isn’t the only problem. Walker has five hits in the exhibition games; all five were singles. This is just as alarming: this spring 75 percent of Walker’s batted balls in play have been grounders or infield pop-ups.
It would be encouraging to see Walker hit into some hard, loud outs. But there’s been little to point to for encouraging reinforcement. With so much at stake – and after all he’s been through, and after so many people have tried to help him – it’s astonishing to see Walker having such a brutal spring.
Yes, of course, spring-training digits can be misleading. We all know that. Walker has two-plus weeks to get something going. I sincerely expected to see him have a positive spring to replenish his lost confidence. That isn’t happening. Not yet, anyway.
The Cardinals will remain patient with Walker, 23. But what’s their limit? Over the past two regular seasons, Walker has been among the very worst players in the majors offensively and defensively. (That’s based on cold, hard facts.) When will he display convincing signs of making progress?
LIKE IT! The Cardinals’ starting pitching. The spokes of their six-man rotation are rolling smoothly, save for a little ding in an inning here and there. Through Monday afternoon, Matthew Liberatore, Dustin May, Michael McGreevy, Richard Fitts, Kyle Leahy and Andre Pallante had combined for a 2.91 ERA in 46 and ⅓ innings of yardwork.
It seems like each one of these fellers brought a brand new pitch, or an improved pitch, or an updated physique – or perhaps a little of each of those things – to the annual Grapefruit League throwing contest.
There is depth behind them in Quinn Mathews, Hunter Dobbins (soon enough) and rookie prospect Brycen Mautz. There’s another line forming after that.
The St. Louis starting pitching will not fill observers with wonderment and recall the glorious splendor of Bob Gibson, Dizzy Dean, Adam Wainwright, Mort Cooper, Harry “Cat” Brecheen, Chris Carpenter, Howie Pollet, and Pop Haines .. etc. … viva el birdos … viva el bros! … but the 2026 starting pitching will be better than the methodical mediocrity of 2025.
I’ve explained my reasons for believing this on multiple occasions … and will be happy to do so again as we move closer to opening day.
DISLIKE: A hodgepodge of disappointments – all of which have the usual caveat attached. It’s only spring training, so relax.
OK. Duly noted.
But.
– Jose Fermin is competing for playing time but is 4 for 25, but at least he’s walked three times.
– Nolan Gorman and Jordan Walker are a combined 8 for 45 this spring (.178). Not good, but Gorman has eased some of the concern with two homers, four RBIs and three walks. That said, I don’t know if a .409 slug and .649 OPS in spring is anything to buzz about.
– Blaze Jordan, obtained from Boston last summer for Steven Matz, is 1 for 23 this spring with a 34.6% strikeout rate.
– Victor Scott: 2 for 18, six strikeouts. The four walks are nice.
– Masyn Winn has a .188 average and .538 OPS, but I respect his four walks and a .350 on-base percentage.
– Not much going on with Ivan Herrera, who is slowly working his way back from the elbow thing and the sore-knee thing. Only seven at-bats so far.
LITTLE THINGS TO LIKE: Let’s check some samples, shall we?
– Nathan Church has a .409 on-base rate and is slugging .471. Keep this in mind: Bloom and assistant GM Rob Cerfolio like Church…they like him a lot. Church was overly anxious in his first big-league test last summer. But dude hit .335 with a .400 OBP and .521 slug at Triple A. He runs well and plays excellent defense at all three outfield spots. I’m thinking Church will become a lot more prominent in 2026 than we probably assume.
– Nelson Velazquez is quietly putting in a bid for the starting left field gig. He had another good day at the plate Monday and is now hitting .333 with a double and a homer, plus four walks. Nothing wrong with a .444 OBP and .524 slug. Except for Baez, Velazquez has more natural power than any outfield candidate in camp. But the Cardinals can also assign Velazquez to Memphis without the risk of losing him.
– Hey, look at outfielder Chase Davis! The team’s first-round draft pick in 2023 had an awful 2025 but is trying to make his way back from the forest of the fallen prospects. In the 7-2 win over the O's, Davis (who bats left) bopped two homers and knocked in three runs to raise his spring slugging percentage to .591. Still too many holes in his swing – no walks and nine strikeouts – so the enthusiasm level is lukewarm. But at least Chase heated up on Monday.
– Yohel Pozo: what’s not to like? He makes everyone smile even if he’s hitting .175, but this spring the not-as-big fella has a .389 average and 1.147 OPS.
Thanks for reading …
–Bernie
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Bernie was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2023. During a St. Louis sports-media career that goes back to 1985, he’s won multiple national awards for column writing and sports-talk hosting – and was the lead sports columnist at the Post-Dispatch from 1989 through 2015. Before that Bernie spent a year at the Dallas Morning News, covering the Dallas Cowboys during Tom Landry’s final season (1988) plus the sale of the team to Jerry Jones and the hiring of Jimmy Johnson as coach. Bernie has covered several Baseball Hall of Fame managers during his media career including Tony La Russa, Whitey Herzog, Earl Weaver, Joe Torre and (as an interim) Red Schoendienst. In his career as a beatwriter and columnist, Bernie covered Pro Football Hall of Fame coaches Joe Gibbs, Tom Landry, Jimmy Johnson and Dick Vermeil on a daily basis.
Bernie has covered and written about many great St. Louis sports team athletes including Albert Pujols, Kurt Warner, Brett Hull, Yadier Molina, Adam Wainwright, Jim Edmonds, Marshall Faulk, Scott Rolen, Mark McGwire, Orlando Pace, Isaac Bruce, Torry Holt, Adam Wainwright, Chris Carpenter, Al MacInnis, Brian Sutter, Bernie Federko, Chris Pronger, Dan Dierdorf, Jackie Smith and Aeneas Williams. Bernie covered every baseball Cardinals’ postseason game from 1996 through 2014 and was there to chronicle teams that won four NL pennants and two World Series. He provided extensive coverage on the “Greatest Show” St. Louis Rams and has written extensively on the St. Louis Blues, Saint Louis U, and Mizzou football and basketball. Bernie was/is a longtime voter for the Baseball Hall of Fame, Pro Football Hall of Fame, Heisman Trophy and the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame.
You can access his columns, videos and the podcast version of the videos here on STL Sports Central, catch him regularly on KMOX (AM or FM) as part of the Gashouse Gang, Sports Rush Hour, Sports Open Line or Sports On a Sunday Morning shows. And you can catch weekly “reunion” segments here at STL Sports Central featuring Bernie and his longtime friend Randy Karraker.