Full Cardinals camp opens with question marks, youthful energy, plenty of opportunity
So many things looked and felt the same as prior years at St. Louis Cardinals camp that it was easy at times to forget that they were supposed to look different.
The team gathered for its first scheduled full squad workout on Monday morning under cloudy skies and cooler (for Florida) temperatures, looking less like a team in the midst of a transition or a reset and more like one who is simply running it back, even if that belies the truth of the changes happening underneath the surface.
“Good message,” manager Oli Marmol said of the team’s morning meeting. “It was for that clubhouse. It was intentional with where we’re at as a club and how we’re going to move forward, and there’s a lot of excitement around that.”
“It’s always nice to meet as a group and have everybody in here that’s going to be involved,” outfielder Michael Siani said. “It’s nice to get together, you know, enjoy the company of each other, just for a little bit. There’s not a ton of times when you get everybody in the same room at the same time, and it’s nice in that regard.”
Marmol, president of baseball operations John Mozeliak and chairman Bill DeWitt, Jr. all addressed the group, gathered together as one for the first time this spring. Even as the team’s decision makers spent the winter extolling the virtues of a changing development system and an increased focus on creating opportunities for younger players, many of last season’s key figures remain.
Indeed, first baseman Paul Goldschmidt is the only significant departure among position players, and his spot in the field is set to be filled internally by Willson Contreras. Contreras declined to be traded, Nolan Areando’s long odyssey toward being dealt was ultimately unfulfilled, and the same clutch of corner outfielders and second basemen among whom playing time was divided in 2024 will be in similar spots in 2025.
Marmol has several times insisted that the expectations inside the clubhouse have not changed. Players, after all, want to win, and however a roster may be constructed, there’s no fear or expectation that effort will be suppressed alongside payroll. By breaking the old mold, there are ways for players to flourish which might not have previously been considered in St. Louis.
“There’s more excitement about what we’re about to embark on than any year I’ve been here,” Marmol said. “The guys are pumped about just the perception of who we are as a club. It’s going to be a lot of fun to go on this ride with them, I can tell you that.”
That’s a fairly straightforward message for a clubhouse which spent the winter hearing about the team’s plans to tolerate a step back in the standings in the face of rebuilding a stronger foundation. To convince a group of athletes that they must come together in the face of outsiders not believing in them is a tried and true tactic, and it’s to Marmol’s benefit that he may well be able to execute it with a crowded group of players at the big league level who may need to stretch out to expand their collective reach.
Arenado fielded ground balls in his regular spot at third base on Monday, rotating with Thomas Saggese in the main group. Masyn Winn and José Fermín took reps at shortstop, Brendan Donovan and Nolan Gorman were at second, and Alec Burleson and Contreras were at first. Donovan later found himself shagging fly balls in left field during batting practice, but did not move to the outfield for any of the structured work.
Instead, all of Siani, Matt Koperniak, Lars Nootbaar, Victor Scott II and Jordan Walker rotated among all three outfield spots, hitting the cutoff and throwing to bases in turn as they called off infielders parked under fly balls. That should not be read as an indication of any of their projected positioning, but rather as a demonstration of the lack of clarity inherent in the roster which reached camp.
Arenado at third pushes Gorman to second, unless he’s the designated hitter. It can also push Donovan to left, creating a time crunch in center for Siani or Scott, and on down the line.
“As we get further into spring, I think there will be clarity,” Marmol said. “It’s hard for me today to say that we’re only going to prioritize defense or offense. I don’t think that’s the best way for me to look at it today.”
The opportunities will be created by time and attrition, and the design is for players to seize them as they’re able, turning difficult choices into obvious ones in the process.
“I think it’s nice to have a young, exciting, hungry group of guys that are around,” Siani said. “Obviously you still have guys that have proven themselves time in, time out in the big leagues that you need to have in the clubhouse to help perform at a high level, which they will.”
Whether they’ve been able to execute the necessary roster moves, and however veteran players take the winter of messaging, there is at least a profession of excitement from the decision makers. And at minimum, as the next five weeks of spring training unfold, there is belief from the coaching staff that those encouraged to make their fresh marks will be able to do so.
“They’re anxious to leave their mark on this franchise,” Marmol said of his younger charges. “I mean it. They’re hungry for that. That’s why, when you talk about playing fast and there being excitement and just being aggressive, these guys are hungry for that opportunity to be able to leave their mark.
“There’s excitement, especially as a manager, as staff, like, you want to see that. In hearing them talk about it, you want these games to start. You want to see it. That’s what I think will be exciting for fans, to watch them go.”
