Prospects in Cardinals camp try to make an impression with whatever time they can get
The back half of a spring training game can be difficult to mine for important information.
New rules governing pace of play might have quickened the pace to an extent, but casual fans wanting to watch the stars of the game might struggle to find connection with prospects and journeymen with whom they have barely a passing familiarity.
Those innings, though, are important to those players.
For one-time prospects who have seemingly had a hard time rising past Triple-A, putting together impressive film can put a player in position to snag an unexpected call-up or perhaps even act a resume to other teams who might have deficiencies in their organizational depth.
Take first baseman Luken Baker. Eligible for the Rule 5 draft for the first time after the 2021 season, Baker didn’t have an opportunity to be selected by another club due to that draft being scrubbed by the lockout. Instead, he remained at Memphis, where he put up a career-worst .683 OPS.
Baker will turn 26 before the season starts. He’s a slugging first baseman who struggled to slug last season, and whose big league future is controlled by the team currently employing Paul Goldschmidt.
It matters that he delivered an impressive homer in the Cardinals’ third spring training game, that he made a stellar diving play in the field during their second, and that he’s clearly a well-respected leadership figure among his teammates who are still climbing through the system.
How much it matters, and what it translates to in terms of his baseball future, is difficult to say. That’s true of not just Baker, but many other, older players at advanced levels.
Tommy Parsons, 27 and heading toward his third year in the Memphis rotation, was charged with delivering the last three outs in Monday’s action. Scott Hurst, nearly 27 and with just seven games in the big leagues, rode the bus from minor league camp to spell the younger Dylan Carlson in right field during Tuesday’s action against the Washington Nationals.
“You’re trying to find out (about players) and add a level of pressure,” manager Oliver Marmol said. “You’re finding different ways to up the stakes just to see how they respond to certain things.
“These guys are going to get opportunities, and we’re going to be able to get a decent look at all of them. You try to plan it as much as possible to create the type of feel that you’re wanting them to experience.”
Kramer Robertson
The World Baseball Classic will naturally create some of those opportunities as players leave camp to represent their national teams. And yet in the first two games following Tommy Edman’s departure for Korea, the starters at shortstop were top prospect Masyn Winn and depth infielder José Fermín, claimed off waivers from Cleveland and added to the 40-man roster this winter.
Kramer Robertson is 28. In 2022, he made his Major League debut for the Cardinals, receiving one plate appearance in which he recorded an RBI groundout. He was also designated for assignment twice, claimed on outright waivers twice, and briefly property of both Atlanta and the New York Mets before finding his way back to the Cardinals. He’s yet to crack a starting lineup.
Prospect fatigue is real, and an important goal of well-run teams is to make sure it doesn’t blind them to important improvements that can come later in a player’s career. Sometimes, unlocking those skills requires an entirely different look; Miles Mikolas decamped for Japan in his late 20s and returned as one of the more reliably effective starters in the National League.
More from Marmol
Even formerly top prospects, like lefty Matt Liberatore, can be subject to those pressures as they begin to seep in. Not yet 24, Liberatore’s first spin through the majors went badly in 2022.
His ERA was closer to six than five, and big league hitters feasted on his fastball. Marmol said adjusting both the quality of that pitch as well as its usage will be an important step in helping Liberatore unlock the potential that saw him climb prospect lists — before he slid back down them.
“I think the league continues to go in that direction of heavy offspeed (usage),” Marmol said. “Even guys with really good fastballs aren’t using it as much as you think they are.”
Liberatore, then, can make a living as an effective starter using his superior breaking pitches perhaps as often as 60 percent of the time. In Tuesday’s start at the Ballpark of the Palm Beaches, he faced six Washington Nationals hitters and retired them in order, needing only 14 pitches to do so.
Ample optimism
His clock isn’t ticking nearly as loudly as his teammates’ may be. There remains ample optimism, and assuming nothing unexpected happens, he’ll be a key part of the Memphis rotation and one of the next options up when the Cardinals need a starter during the season.
Marmol did, however, express a belief early in camp that he might end up a competitor in the relief derby, considered for a spot in the bullpen. That is a feel he has not yet experienced. The Cardinals continue to search for his best fit.