Several storylines emerge as St. Louis Cardinals ready for 2022 season, home opener

The first full capacity opening day in St. Louis for three years marks a return to normalcy not only for those in the stands, but also for those on the field, each falling back into place in ways that may be uncomfortable but reminiscent of what feels familiar.

Consider Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina, together again as teammates for the first time in 11 years, each leaning on the other — literally, at times, on Wednesday afternoon at Busch Stadium as Molina first held a microphone and then wrestled Pujols away from a crowd of reporters with a bottomless well of questions.

Consider Jordan Hicks, returning from a recurrence of an elbow injury and climbing his way back to the big leagues only to be told he would be joining the starting rotation. That, after all, is where Hicks has wanted to be ever since he got his first call.

Consider Andre Pallante, a rookie who climbed from starting the 2021 season at Double-A through both Triple-A and the Arizona Fall League, blazing a trail behind his fastball to get to the familiar and foreign feeling of a baseball field, and left unable to share his first weekend as a big leaguer with the people closest to him because of a family tragedy.

All four of them will ride in trucks and be introduced to a roaring crowd of Cardinal fans on Thursday afternoon.

“We’ve got several distractions about us,” Molina said with a smile. “We’re just concentrating on our season, our team, and our goal is to win a championship.”

“We know how to block out those distractions,” Pujols added. “It’s great, but at the end of the day, the fans want us to come here and win a championship.”

Molina’s microphone was used for him to play the part of a reporter himself, and he asked Pujols if he’d missed him for the last few years.

“I always miss you, buddy. You know that,” Pujols grinned.

If Molina and Pujols were smiling, Hicks was beaming. Due to Tommy John Surgery in 2019, opting out of the 2020 season due to COVID concerns (Hicks is a type one diabetic), and suffering a minor re-tearing of his repaired elbow ligament in 2021, he’s thrown only 38 2/3 innings since his sensational rookie season — exactly one out less than half as much as he threw in 2018.

“It’s an amazing feeling,” a widely beaming Hicks said of being named the team’s fifth starter. “It really is. I’ve known Oli (Marmol) since I got drafted, and he’s seen me start before. He knows what I’m about when I’m out there.”

“(Being a starter has) been my mindset since 2019 ... for me, that’s been my mindset since when I was out there throwing 104, 105. I always told the guys, like, I want to start, I want to start.”

In evaluating the options for the club’s fifth starter, and in considering what the medical staff felt was the best way to maintain Hicks’s health for the duration of the season, the decision was reached to let him build on the job. Hicks estimated that he would only be able to provide approximately three innings on Tuesday against Kansas City, but the club intends to build his strength on a regular starter’s schedule during its first month.

Marmol was careful and deliberate in saying Hicks was not being used as an opener — he is, unequivocally, the fifth starter.

Part of that decision came from the flexibility provided by expanded rosters at the start of the season. With 28 players — and in the case of the Cardinals, 15 pitchers — extra protection for a planned short starter can allow a player to grow into the job as opposed to a requirement to post innings on day one.

‘That was never part of my mind’

Pallante, who started in 22 of his 23 appearances for Springfield and Memphis in 2021, provides part of that length. And, like Hicks, he provides the firepower to match.

President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak agreed with the assessment Pallante pitched his way on to the team as opposed to others pitching their way off; his high velocity upside and experience in extended outings gave him the slight edge over fellow rookie Jake Walsh, who’s strictly a short reliever, and fast-working Connor Thomas, who would’ve provided a third left-handed option.

“That was never part of my mind,” Pallante said about the possibility that he would break camp with the club this spring. “Part of my mind was that I was getting the opportunity to face the best hitters.

“I wanted to do my best, and that’s all I was focused on doing. And my best got me to this point, and that’s all I can ask for.”

Pallante’s family cannot attend

A Major League debut is a big deal, and something to be enjoyed with friends and family. Unfortunately, Pallante’s family will not be in attendance this weekend, traveling instead to Ohio for the funeral of his grandfather, who passed away last weekend at 97 years old.

“Hopefully they’ll be able to come see me soon,” he added.

His skill set and the team’s trust in him both suggest he’ll have many opportunities to pitch in front of them, and on happier occasions. Even that personal tragedy couldn’t overwhelm his palpable sense of excitement to be in a Major League stadium, having achieved a personal and professional goal that defines the lives of so many people who never quite reach those heights.

‘Look at this place!’

It was the same excitement that came across Molina and Pujols’s faces, even after 39 combined seasons of opening days between them. It was on Hicks’s, who said the excitement for a first start doesn’t quite overcome the excitement of his own debut, despite his atypically irrepressible exuberance.

And it came from outfielder Harrison Bader, climbing onto the familiar field for the first time in 2022.

He spread his arms wide and bellowed, “look at this place!”

Just wait for later this afternoon.

This story was originally published April 7, 2022 at 5:00 AM.