St. Louis Cardinals’ top prospect mentored by all-star catcher. Not the one you think.
Side by side in the Cardinals’ spring training clubhouse are two long-limbed, goateed, switch-hitting players who know the pressure of being an organization’s top prospect.
They chat about the goings on of spring training and the ways in which their careers have intersected, and they talk about bridging the differences between them.
One has two Gold Gloves and has made four appearances in the All-Star Game, spread over 1,148 career games and 4387 plate appearances. The other has yet to make his big league debut.
“I remember when I was a really fast outfielder that could really steal some bags,” joked Matt Wieters, 33, the catcher, when asked about the parallels with Dylan Carlson, 21, the outfielder.
When Wieters was selected fifth overall in the 2007 MLB Draft and immediately became the top prospect of the Baltimore Orioles, Carlson was eight years old. Thirteen years later, the Cardinals have designed their clubhouse so the two are next door neighbors.
Carlson, ranked the 17th best prospect in baseball by MLB.com, is on the big league side of the room, and some observers have big league expectations to match Carlson’s aspirations.
“I definitely took notice of it,” said Carlson of his locker location. “I’m just trying to soak it all in and make the most out of the opportunity.”
The Cardinals, with a vacancy in left field, have spent the winter listing candidates for that job by starting with more experienced players. Tyler O’Neill and Lane Thomas have the next two lockers in line past Carlson, and they may have the first shots at staking a claim to the available position.
The Cardinals hope Carlson can make the last claim even if he doesn’t make the first.
“I don’t think you can worry about the expectations or what everybody else is saying about you as much, but you do have to be aware that your name’s out there and everybody that you’re facing is going to know who you are even before you’ve actually kind of done anything at the Major League level,” Wieters said. “You have to kind of have that mentality where, OK, I’m gonna step up and prove it. And that’s a good mentality to have.”
Wieters is paid to play, not to coach. In 2019, his skills reflected his pedigree.
His 11 home runs marked the first time a non-Molina Cardinals catcher hit double digits since Tom Pagnozzi hit 13 in 1996, and his .702 on base plus slugging percentage allowed the Cardinal offense to remain afloat as Yadier Molina recovered from a tendon injury in his right thumb.
“Oh gosh, you can’t measure the impact that Wiety had,” Cardinals manager Mike Shildt said. “Wiety is super high baseball IQ, always prepared, ready to go in at any moment. Did it, did it successfully, filled the bill when we missed Yadi for a period of time, and then went right back to contributing.
“He’s also really, really, really, really good with his teammates about seeing things, looking at video, helping, gaining experience. He does it when he’s working with somebody. He’s not doing anything but just trying to help. He’s a really super prepared guy, a model for what we like to do.”
Carlson said: “From getting to know Matt and talking to him more and more each day, it’s really been an honor to be around him. I’m obviously really grateful to be here, and not only him, but a lot of the veterans who have done a great job of making me feel comfortable and trying to help me any way possible.”
Shildt called Wieters an “impressive guy” and said it was to his credit that he could accept a new role in a later stage of his career, knowing he would be a backup to a player in Yadier Molina who has long been a contemporary. For Wieters, the new role means a new allotment of his time and an opportunity to work out a different set of skills.
“I always enjoyed that role even when I was starting and playing all the time, just the mental side of it and trying to learn as much as possible,” Wieters said. “It definitely frees me up when I know I can sit on the bench and really kind of dive into some of these starting pitchers and some of the young position players and just kind of hear where they’ve come from, what they think about the game.
“I also learned that from kind of seeing how the game evolved from one generation to the next. But also just kind of pretty much tell them everything that has helped me out through my career, and maybe one thing sticks and then it’ll be worth it.”
Carlson explained that a successful camp for him would involve “just trying to get better every day.”
The Cardinals are prepared for him to begin the season at Triple-A Memphis, refining his game. They are also, quietly, prepared for him to spend opening day in Cincinnati, patrolling left field at the Great American Ball Park.
Wieters will be there as well, likely on the bench, looking for the best way to make a contribution. If the two aren’t teammates that day, they will be in the near future. When they’re in the same room, they’ll be talking.
“It’s fun having conversations just to hear how mentally advanced he is for his age,” Wieters said. “Any time that I can kind of evoke what I went through and maybe it relates to something he’s going through at some point.
“Maybe it helps, maybe it doesn’t.”
The Cardinals think it does. That’s why the two are neighbors.
This story was originally published February 18, 2020 at 2:57 PM.
