Talkin' Redbird Baseball

This is VERY encouraging. May hasn’t touched this velo since 21/22. He averaged 95 last year.

This doesn’t equal results of course. But very good to see

Deep arsenal doesn’t even do Kyle Leahy justice.

Threw 6 pitches today over 10% of the time. 4 of which had above average ‘Stuff’ grade. His bread and butter is his Sweeper. One of the best in the division and NL. Great first start for him!

- Rainiel Rodriguez making his debut
- Kyle Leahy first appearance as a starter
- Jordan Walker’s swing mechanics change over the offseason.

Numerous things to watch for in this game.

Grapefruit Game 2

Cardinals signed INF Ramon Urias to a 1 year, 2 million dollar dear, with a mutual option for 2027. The deal also includes some statistical bonuses if he reaches certain amount of innings of playing time.

Urias played with the Baltimore Orioles most of his career, but was traded to the Astros last season at the trade deadline. He has contributed positively every season of his career, peaking at 2.6 WAR back in 2022. He was a 1.1 WAR player in 2025, with most of that coming from his defense. He has innings at the 1B and 2B positions, but plays primarily at 3B, where he won an American League Gold Glove award at the position in 2022.

He is a very average hitter with a career slash line of .257/.321/.403 for a .724 OPS. He has a career BB% of 7.4% and K% of 22.5%, both of which are slightly above average.

He is currently slotted to be the backup infielder according to RosterResource at FanGraphs, but will most likely still start 2-3 games a week giving Wetherholt and Gorman plenty of days off at 2B/3B. Gorman also is projected for numerous starts at the DH position, and could even become the full time DH, if an injury to Herrera or Pages occurs and they stop splitting time at C. He is a nice addition to a team that does not have aspirations to compete for the playoffs, and depending on availability and production, could be a nice trade candidate at the end of July.

The have inked infielder Ramon Urias to a one-year, $2 million deal, per Ken Rosenthal

His contract includes a 2027 mutual option with a $500k buyout -- in addition to $2 million in incentives based on PAs

Urias, 31, put up an 87 wRC+ and 12 DRS between 3B and 2B in 2025

Quinn Mathews’ first pitch of 2026: a 96.0 MPH fastball w/ 18.4" of IVB.

After a down year by his standards and some injuries he had to deal with that resulted in his fastball velo dropping and becoming more flat - this is GREAT to see.

Day 1 of Spring Training in the books!

Notable Items:

- Jurrangelo Cijntje threw a bullpen today from both sides. Just before the trade, the Mariners reportedly made the decision to only have him throw from the right side. Maybe the Cardinals have other ideas? I highly doubt he will do so in-game, but we will see! He throws 98 with a low arm slot from the right and 93 from the left. The splits in the minors last season were staggering, so throwing from the right only is a smart decision.

- Matthew Liberatore is toying with a Splitter! He was photographed with a splitter grip today in his bullpen. He already sports a typical FB - SL - CU - CH pitch mix, but adding another offspeed pitch to widen the arsenal is never a bad thing. The splitter is going to be the 2026 'IT' pitch this year, similar to how the 'Sweeper' was the last few years. Expect to see it added to a lot of arsenals around the league.

The first of many prospect highlights! Let’s get right into it. Let’s do a deep dive into JJ Wetherholt:

1st round draft pick of the Cardinals in 2024. Had some buzz to go #1 overall but a hamstring injury in college and the Guardians wanting to go under slot at the pick, he fell to #7, where the Cardinals jumped at the opportunity.

In 513 AB’s across 2 seasons in the minors, he sports a .304, .418, .487 slash line for a .905 OPS. In that time he has walked 88 times and K’ed 88 times.

Scouting grades across the board have him as having arguably the highest floor of any prospect in the minors. He has and always will hit for a high average, makes elite swing decisions and will always sport an above average BB%. He has just enough power for a 30-35 double 15-20 HR EXBH as well. He plays slightly above average defense in the fact he never makes mistakes, but doesn’t have any defensive tools that jump off the page. He also steals just enough bases to keep the pitcher and catching on edge (48 steals in 2 seasons in MiLB).

With Donovan being traded, it is almost a certainty he will open the season in St. Louis as the starting 2B hitting in the bottom third of the order. Coaches all along the way of his career have praised his baseball IQ, and his work ethic. He is going to be a fan favorite the minute he steps on the field.

Chaim Bloom acquired Banda in 2018 and helped him make a pitching change. Over doubled his slider usage from 21% to almost 50%. His slider is plus plus, while having an above average sinker to go with it.

He had a 3.12 ERA out of the Dodger bullpen the last 2 seasons with 114.2 IP in that span.

The Cardinals only have JoJo Romero as a primary lefty out of the pen, and with Banda being a victim of the Dodgers 40 man roster crunch - this could be a nice move for the Cardinals. Flip him at the deadline candidate, but if he doesn’t pan out you have virtually nothing invested and can cut him loose

Projected Lineup:

LF - Lars Nootbaar
DH - Ivan Herrera
1B - Alec Burleson
3B - Nolan Gorman
SS - Masyn Winn
2B - JJ Wetherholt
RF - Jordan Walker
C - Pedro Pages
CF - Victor Scott II

I normally have a pretty good understanding of lineup configuration but trading Contreras, Donovan, and Arenado, I have no idea how they are going to configure 4-7.

I am fairly confident Herrera and Burleson will be 2-3 in some order, but you could make an argument for Winn leading off as well.

*sigh*