As we are in the final stages of spring training, that limbo where you think you know what’s going to be the final roster but not quite, I am sort of at a loss on what to write about. So I’m going to provide some links to Cardinals-related news around the world wide web.
As it turns out the Opening Day roster is far from set. Brandon Glick observed that, according to Derrick Goold, Ramon Urias has some soreness in his elbow while swinging, and that Ivan Herrera has a little soreness in his knee, which won’t prevent him from seeing some time at catcher before spring training ends.
It sounds as if Herrera will be more of a third catcher, and that the Cardinals will be having him occupy the DH position mostly. I’m a little surprised by this, because it seemed that they had every intention of having him catch more often earlier in the year, but if he is an easily injured player, I suppose his playing time must be limited while catching, the main goal being to keep his bat in the lineup as much as possible. If there’s a knee involved, catching doesn’t seem ideal.
Urias’ injury seems to be a bit more of a mystery at this point. He will need to swing the bat again to see if it is ready to go. Maybe this is what brings Saggese back into the fold.
Bill Ladson at MLB.com gives us a good article on Herrera. He provides a little more detail on the injury. Ivan says he’s not sure how he got an inflamed knee, speculating it could’ve happened while running and then while being in a car for a long ride back to Jupiter. But it wasn’t swollen until he woke up the next day. This was back on March 6th. He has resumed baseball duties for a week now and will see playing time soon in spring training.
It’s interesting to see how DriveLine improved Herrera’s offense. On such a young team, Herrera ends up being both a team leader and a cheerleader, saying not to write them off because of their talent. I see a lot more talent than what a sub-70 win team would show. I still think the projections are lowballing the Cardinals because there isn’t enough data, and when looking at the various projection systems there is a ton of variance in projecting this roster. This is because Chaim Bloom has built in so many players with a higher ceiling and lower floor. 2026 is a gamble. But also a way to find which players are best, there is some depth there in the farm system.
Patrick McAvoy at Sports Illustrated sounds a little wowed by the potential of the future of the Cardinals middle infield. I concur! Masyn Winn hitting 16 home runs while playing some of if not the best defense in the NL sounds very much ok to me, and JJ Wetherholt being potentially one of the best hitting second basemen in the game is a future to build around. Winn’s only spring malady was some mild elbow soreness early in March. Sounds like early March was not very nice to our team. But I’m glad Winn and Herrera are feeling better.
Alec Burleson is 3 years older than Winn and 2 years older than Herrera, and is also a new father. So he seems like an elder of the clubhouse at this point. Are you worried about Burleson playing first base? Well, think again! I just had a random thought: how will Burly’s good throwing arm be a part of the infield defense?
Here is Masyn Winn talking about Burleson stealing 18 bases! And Burleson goes 3-3 with his new son in the stands. Here is Burly way back at Winter Warmup.
JJ Wetherholt is definitely generating a buzz! It would appear that JJ is probably a lock to be the opening day second baseman, and possibly leadoff hitter, at least to start the season. It is certainly possible they will make him work his way up the totem pole of the lineup order, but I’d be fine letting him lead off each game, especially since he’s sort of used to it anyway. Let’s not forget he is one of the overall top prospects in MLB. This is very exciting!
Over at third base things weren’t so clear until Nolan Gorman had a resurgent spring training. He is finding his groove at the hot corner, at least on offense, because of studying with the other Nolan’s (Arenado) hitting guru. That could prove to be a difference maker, or the end of the Gorman experiment. Because he has surely been tested with erratic playing time, moving around the infield, and just having a propensity to strike out as a major feature of your game. Maybe he can get the Ks down and the HR back up, because he did hit 27 home runs one season, and could hit 30 without too much trouble because he has always had massive power potential.
For more on Nolan Gorman, I encourage you to read this in depth article. Perhaps the most interesting takeaway is Gorman referencing Barry Bonds:
“When you can control your body in the box (it’s great),” Gorman explained. “I think Barry Bonds says it a lot. ‘Just control everything.’ The move. The strike zone. Everything. When you can do that and be in a good position to hit, you’re going to have a lot more success.” (Nolan Gorman quote stltoday linked above)
Is Barry Bonds the mystery baseball guru working with the two Nolans? I hope so! I don’t really think so. Another big takeway is that it sounds as if Gorman is now able to make mid swing adjustments. I think it’s the same as last year, if one of Gorman or Walker can figure out how to hit home runs, we might stand a chance. Add Baez to the equation and who knows. Maybe Velazquez ends up good too. Might as well enjoy the hope for now.
Victor Scott II short interview
Jordan Walker is a mystery wrapped inside an enigma proposed as a riddle and we will not speak of him here
Nelson Velazquez gives me a sense of vague hope. If we can convert an ex-Cubs/Royals player into a good player, that would be very cool. It would appear that we may have caught lightning in a bottle, but I remain skeptical because it seems most people are. From what I’ve seen, though, Velazquez has made me a spring training believer. And he did have some potential in the past.
Do you think that the Cardinals could’ve found a diamond in the rough with Nelson Velazquez? I certainly do. And that excitement is palpable.
Make Viva El Birdos your hub for entertainment!
1982
Ok so I have been going off about every year about my life. I was born in 1975. This is my 8th week in a row and I don’t plan to stop anytime soon! To change it up this week, I am going to list my top albums of 1982 first, and go back to the Top 10 format for now.
- Prince – ‘1999’ I definitely have a soft spot for this album because it was one of the first tapes I owned, and I was just starting to get into music at this age. I had a cassette copy of this album from my sister, which I played through a Walkman gifted to me by my sister’s Japanese foreign exchange student, and it was twice as loud as American portable cassette players. Purple power forever.
- Captain Beefheart – ‘Ice Cream For Crow’ the Captain’s last musical adventure before he became a fine artist/painter. I feel like this one is a bit overlooked in his catalog. It may not be him at his peak, but he wraps up the musical adventure of the Magic Band very nicely here.
- Chrome – ‘3rd From The Sun’ The top three I have outlined for 1982 could go in any order, in my opinion. This one is a little more raw and bursting with new ideas than the first two, but Damon Edge and Helios Creed are piloting uncharted territory here, influencing others in the THE FUTURE. The original industrial metal band, but with a psychedelic punk edge.
- Sonic Youth – ’Sonic Youth’ only reason this isn’t any higher is that this is pretty much their demo, they’re super young *literally youth, and yeah it’s not a whole album of material. But what we hear here is a glimpse into their future as well as the future of music. They’re babies here but still a leap forward in the realm of musical expression. One of my favorite bands.
- Allan Holdsworth – ‘i.o.u.’ absolutely also deserving to be in the top 5 is this early Allan Holdsworth album, a guitarist who redefines music in my opinion. Jazz fusion for the early 80s, but this album was recorded years earlier, in the 70s, and not distributed until 1982. Some say Holdsworth played while drunk as part of his style, but whatever his secret was, he was a guitar legend. Another guy ahead of his time.
- King Sunny Adé & His African Beats – ‘Juju Music’ one of the most magical psychedelic albums I’ve ever heard. I look forward to hearing this album more, always. What a discovery!
- SPK – ‘Leichenschrei’ at the inception of the industrial music genre and still at the top, total experimental cyberpunk genius, listen to the whole thing, don’t give up. Another very interesting discovery. Uneasy listening, though!
- X – ‘Under The Big Black Sun’ another album that could easily be #1… X covers all the bases and becomes one of the most important rock n roll bands of all time, if never making it big they were originators… their variety in songwriting, and ability on all approaches make them a most definitive punk rock band to remember!
- Oppenheimer Analysis – ‘New Mexico’ actually listened to this album while moving to Albuquerque, New Mexico. For fans of new wave and goth! And early industrial dance.
- Junior Delahaye – ‘Showcase’ one of the most intense dub reggae productions you’ll hear in the early 80s or anytime, really… lovely genius. Red tape dub sound delivered with unique vocal stylings.
Honorable mentions to The Cure, Duran Duran, Michael Jackson, Kate Bush, The Clash, Bad Brains, etc. Not hating on them, I am just into these ten albums more, what can I say…
What was happening in 1982?
- Ozzy Osbourne was treated for rabies after biting the head off a bat. There’s a pizza bar that plays heavy metal music in St Louis called The Headless Bat! They have really good pizza. Maybe I’ll join you.
- The first computer virus was invented by a 15 year old. It effected Apple computers, oddly enough.
- First emoticons posted.
- E.T. blew away the competition at the box office, what would be controversial today, Tootsie, was the second highest-grossing movie of 1982, An Officer and a Gentleman, Rocky III, and Porky’s rounded out the top 5. My favorite flick of ‘82, Star Treck 2: The Wrath of Khan was 6th at the box office, and don’t forget 48 Hours and Poltergeist, a movie which scared the absolute shit out of me for at least a whole year after seeing it.
- Delving a little more obscure, you had some amazing movies like Basket Case (one of my favorite b-movies!), Conan the Barbarian, Firefox, Bladerunner (!), Tron, Fast Times At Ridgemont High, and The Beastmaster.
And of course, to wrap up, 1982 in Major League Baseball was the year I became a Cardinals fan. Obviously, the Cardinals won the World Series over the Brewers that year, but what else? Cal Ripken Jr and Steve Sax won Rookie of the Year in 1982. Dale Murphy and Robin Yount were the MVPs. Steve Carlton and Pete Vuckovich won the Cy Young Award in their respective leagues. The Brewers were really good that year with both and MVP and a Cy Young Award winner. But the Cardinals still were able to take them down.
Keith Hernandez and Ozzie Smith won Gold Glove Awards on the Cardinals. The Cards were first in the NL East winning 92 games, while the Brewers had won 95 that year. To reach the World Series, the Cardinals swept the Braves while the Brewers had a tougher path through the California Angels who had won 93 games that season.
Milwaukee would not return to the World Series until 2008, so this was the last AL postseason appearance by the Brewers. They were also in the postseason in 1981. For the Cardinals, it was their first postseason appearance since 1967! And just imagine going all the way to the World Series after 15 years! That must’ve felt quite nice. The Braves had had a nearly as lengthy postseason draught, since 1969. 1982 was the 9th World Series Championship for St Louis.
The World Series itself was a battle between two very, very good teams and went 7 games. The Cardinals overtook the Brewers at the end, winning by 12 runs in Game 6 and then the 1982 Cardinals lineup took out the Brewers bullpen and won Game 7. Had the Brewers manager kept starter Pete Vuckovich in the game, who know who what would’ve happened. Vuckovich also played for the Cardinals during the years 1978-80, and was later cast as slugger Clu Haywood in the movie Major League.