Advice for the four Cardinals on their first opening day in St. Louis: Cherish it
None of the four St. Louis Cardinals who were named to their first career opening day rosters still have rookie status, so none of the four is likely to be gullible enough to be convinced by one of his teammates that he’ll be forced to saddle up on a Clydesdale as part of Thursday’s festivities.
The collective experience is not enough to take away from the magnitude of the achievement.
Righty relievers Kyle Leahy and Chris Roycroft, catcher Pedro Pagés and first baseman Luken Baker all left spring training in Florida for a pit stop in Memphis for Monday’s exhibition game. From there, rather than staying as they did last year, they continued on to St. Louis. It’s a short trip, but it takes a long path to get there.
“It was great,” Baker said of the conversation which told him in no uncertain terms that he would be starting the season in the big leagues. “You get called in, get told the news you’ve been waiting to hear forever.”
The timing of this particular notification was fortuitous for the all-time leading home run hitter in Memphis Redbirds history. His family came down to Florida to visit for the last week of spring, and they were able to celebrate together seven years after the Cardinals selected him in the second round of the 2018 draft.
That long wait – even with uncertain opportunities ahead – was a significant payoff, and is a welcome reminder that the game will push and challenge those who are committed to it. Baker recently turned 28, plays only one position which is firmly occupied by an every day starter, and has a batting average just below .200 in 126 MLB at bats.
On Thursday, though, he will ride in a parade on the field with his name on the side of a gleaming new vehicle, and he’ll soak in adulation from a not-quite-yet capacity crowd.
“He was happy,” manager Oli Marmol said, grinning as he recalled telling Baker he’d made the club. “Yes he was.”
Roycroft’s path to this moment was somewhat more complicated. Few players make it to the big leagues who came up through the American college system but were never drafted. He pitched four seasons for Division III Aurora University, near his home in Chicagoland, and then after a year in which the pandemic broke down competition across the country, pitched a season and a half in the independent Frontier League.
When Roycroft’s Joliet Slammers came through the area to play the Gateway Grizzlies, he would find occasions to abscond with teammates simply to peer through the gates into an empty Busch Stadium, tantalizingly close to the mound in body but seemingly lightyears away from that being a reality.
It took one opportunity to grow into many more. The Cardinals, short of arms for a spring game in 2024, gave Roycroft a shot to throw his 6-foot, 8-inch frame into a game to challenge their opponents with an unusual angle of attack. The big league staff liked what they saw and brought him back across the fence for a second cameo, and by the end of last year’s spring training, suddenly his path was a great deal more defined.
At the end of this year’s spring training, he was primed for bad news. None came.
“He almost deked me out,” Roycroft said of his manager breaking the good news. “I’ve been in the [manager’s] office a few times last year, and it was kind of always the same thing – bad news, but in an optimistic way.
“He just asked me how my spring went, and I was honest with myself. He agreed, and then he was like, yeah, well, you’re gonna make the opening day roster.”
Marmol was joined in the office for that conversation by pitching coach Dusty Blake and bullpen coach Julio Rangel, and the group was able to congratulate the reliever together before he composed himself enough to step out and make a call notifying his family.
The quick trip down I-55 has the Roycroft clan coming out to opening day with a group of approximately ten people, though he stressed that the count on Monday was likely lower than it would be on Thursday. He was anticipating a fairly sizable large number of last minute requests, and logistical challenges aside, he certainly didn’t seem to mind.
Cardinals fans know well the thrill of opening day’s ceremony and celebrations. The league celebrates the occasion writ large, but despite the countless other things which have changed over the years, the full commitment to kicking off the season in grand fashion is done in St. Louis like it’s done nowhere else in baseball. Players are aware of that tradition. They celebrate it perhaps even more than the proudest fans do, and for those who have dedicated a career to reaching that moment, the celebration is somehow still more sweet.
“Staying present and just enjoying all the moments” was how Roycroft described his plans for Thursday’s festivities. “That’s gonna be the biggest thing. I worked this hard to get here, and the work’s not gonna stop. Just keep on doing what I’ve been doing and enjoy every little moment there is, and cherish it.”
