JUPITER, Fla. — John Mozeliak, the Cardinals' president of baseball operations, promised his comments would be brief and he delivered at a business casual dinner last month in St. Louis.
He offered a one-word theme for spring training.
"Opportunity," he said.
With 19 players leaving camp to compete in the World Baseball Classic, including MVP Paul Goldschmidt and MVP finalist Nolan Arenado, there will be ample attention and playing time for prospects and non-roster contenders galore during the Cardinals' camp. But Mozeliak's description has more layers. The team's most — only — significant move of the winter was signing catcher Willson Contreras, an All-Star with the Cubs who will replace Yadier Molina, an all-timer for the Cardinals. That fills the one obvious opening the Cardinals had for 2023 but not all their needs. Enter opportunity.
By not going outside the organization for a starter or an outfielder the Cardinals cleared the way for unsettled spots to be decided internally with incumbents or challengers.
"I talked about opportunity, and I really believe that," Mozeliak said this past weekend at the team's Roger Dean Stadium complex. "Because when you look at the list of players who aren't here, that's going to create a lot of playing time and opportunity for others. From that standpoint, it's going to be an interesting camp. When you have the prospect hawks, this is going to be a fun camp to watch."
The Cardinals begin defense of their National League Central crown and their chase for their first pennant since 2013 on Monday with the first official workouts for pitchers and catchers going to the WBC. Position players headed to the WBC are mostly already present. Players are arriving in waves over the next week with the first official full-squad workout on Feb. 20.
Here are 10 questions welcoming the Cardinals to spring, as presented annually by the Post-Dispatch. Each question will shape their weeks before returning to St. Louis for opening day against Toronto on March 30.
After all, that's when the answers really begin.
Ask Mozeliak.
"I think a lot of the questions that have to be answered will be when we get in the season," he said. "I think the question — how are we going to know who we are? — will ultimately be determined when we are competing."
1. With full schedule and new coaches, what does Camp Oli look like?
There won't be the sudden start of last year, the condensed workouts, and a need to race the calendar after a lockout. There won't be a rookie manager orchestrating his first spring.
There also won't be some familiar coaches around.
For the first time since February 2020, there will be a more traditional feel and pace to the Cardinals' camp, from the steady rollout of pitching plans to how much access fans will have to see the workouts on the back fields. There will be some new hands engineering those schedules. In his second spring training as manager, Oli Marmol will outfit his staff with new coaches at three top positions: Joe McEwing arrives as bench coach, a late addition after Matt Holliday bowed out of the role; Dusty Blake ascends to pitching coach three years after having the same position at Duke University; and Turner Ward moves up to head hitting coach, a position he's had previously in the majors. They'll have time — and how they exploit it will reveal the priorities and precision of a manager and his staff.
Each manager reveals telling elements of his approach through a spring schedule. Tony La Russa insisted on a perpetual motion to drills — no downtime, no loitering, few if any long days. Mike Matheny peppered camp with competitions, such as keeping score in situational hitting drills. Mike Shildt introduced "Ball Talk" and reenergized fundamentals. Over time, the messages of Camp Oli will also reveal the managing of Marmol.
2. Who maximizes the World of opportunity?
The World Baseball Classic will play a double-edged factor in spring training. For players headed into the international tournament, they'll be challenged with higher-competition and higher-adrenaline earlier than others. Taking advantage of that jolt is something both Arenado and Goldschmidt said jumpstarted successful seasons in 2017. Goldschmidt had a .462 on-base percentage in April 2017, Arenado slugged .616.
Back in Jupiter, their absence will mean available innings and abundant at-bats for players who previously would have seen limited Grapefruit League time. Dakota Hudson, the Cardinals' sixth starter entering camp, won't have to hunt for starts. Prospects Gordon Graceffo and Matthew Liberatore and returning right-hander Jake Woodford are scripted for extended work, while left-handed hitters Nolan Gorman and Alec Burleson will make their case to start — with actual starts.
"Instead of our big boys wanting three at-bats every game, you'll get a longer look at certain guys and figure out what we really have," Marmol said. "
3. If Jack's back to Jack, is rotation actually stacked?
All the reports and conversations, Zoom calls and video clips about Jack Flaherty's health and offseason has given the Cardinals rising optimism. Now, for most of them, they get to see the right-hander in person. Within the clubhouse, there is a belief that the frontline starter who changes the look of the team is right there with them in Flaherty — just aching to break free from injuries and setbacks that interrupted his every season since 2019.
On the brink of free agency and 28 in October, Flaherty has a jackpot awaiting him at the end of a healthy, strong season. Peak Flaherty completes a rotation that has veteran workhorses Adam Wainwright and Miles Mikolas paired with lefties Jordan Montgomery and Steven Matz. It's a solid rotation seeking its standout. Some within the organization believe it could be Montgomery.
4. Is there an opening for leading prospect Jordan Walker?
It has been at least a decade, if not more, since a hitting prospect arrived with such fanfare at Cardinals spring training — ready to have everything from the number on his jersey to the location of his locker in the clubhouse scrutinized for clues on his chances to make the team.
Neither will be as telling as this stat: plate appearances.
How many Walker gets will be directly related to how much he makes of them, and as spring continues if the plate appearances accumulate that will show the magnetic north pointing him toward St. Louis. The Cardinals arrive at camp open to the possibility that Walker, 20, has a spring they cannot ignore, but not penciling him into the opening day lineup just yet. Walker hit .306 with an .898 OPS at Class AA, and then followed up his 19 homer-22 steal season with a .925 OPS in the invitation-only Arizona Fall League. The new Collective Bargaining Agreement, the negotiation of which delayed last year's start, has mechanisms in place to address service time manipulation. If the Cardinals try to squeeze another year of contract control by delaying Walker's promotion, it won't matter if he finishes high in the Rookie of the Year voting and is awarded a year of service time.
5. How will new rules change the game?
The way a Cardinals official described it, Major League Baseball has urged teams not to "get cute" and find ways to hack the ban on extreme shift. The rules will just be rewritten to ban the cuteness, too. So maybe the Cardinals won't spend too much time having their left fielder get comfortable fielding grounders in shallow right.
Spring will be geared toward preparing players for a pitch clock, the elimination of infield shifts, pickoff limits, and larger bases. Teams will also explore the frontier of the rules, where they blur and can bend into an edge.
Late to the shift game as an organization, the Cardinals feel banning it will play into their strength — defense and (permitted) positioning, two tenets of spring. Hitters believe they'll adjust quickly to the pitch clock, and the Cardinals have plans to help reliever Giovanny Gallegos improve on his league-leading lag between pitches. The larger bases, coupled with a two-toss limit to pickoff attempts, is meant to spur more base-stealing, and the Cardinals like to give the green light each spring to test their chances. Maybe the brakes don't go on come April.
6. What role will Paul DeJong have, if any?
Despite all the attention sure to be given the prospects, it's possible the player who will benefit most from WBC-related playing time is an All-Star and the Cardinals' record-holder for most homers in a season by a shortstop: Paul DeJong.
His performance in 2019, the extension he earned, and its $9-million salary for 2023 has bought DeJong the opportunity to prove this spring that a winter of work will lead to a bounce-back year.
A gifted fielder at shortstop, DeJong also provided 30 homers there in 2019. Since, his swing has gone awry, batting .182 with a .352 slugging percentage in his past 190 games.
7. Who will be left after camp's most crowded competition?
It won't garner the attention of the high-profile prospects or be the first thing mentioned like leadoff. It may even be decided on the back fields, out of sight. But the most competitive spot in camp is likely to be who is right for left-handed relief. The Cardinals identified two favorites for the bullpen, Genesis Cabrera and Zack Thompson, though challengers seem to be added to the roster each day. There are eight lefties coming to major-league spring training — any of whom could leave as one of the one, two or three lefty relievers in the bullpen. The Cardinals are eager to see if Cabrera has regained the zip on his fastball and can be that high-leverage lefty. Thompson's uptick in velocity and effectiveness as a reliever fit the Cardinals' need, but is starting still the long-term goal? Does that create an spot for relievers Packy Naughton or JoJo Romero? Or, could Liberatore, a starter and prospect, overtake Thompson on the relief route?
8. Of these three, who can be center field?
When the Cardinals traded Gold Glove-winner Harrison Bader to the New York Yankees for pitching help, they thought they had his position well-covered. During Bader's injury, Dylan Carlson excelled in center — a position that played to his true arm and revealed his broader range. By season's end, Carlson had started almost as many games (62) as Bader (65) in center.
But he didn't start the season's final game there.
When the Phillies eliminated the Cardinals, Lars Nootbaar manned center, hit leadoff, and hinted at a decision the Cardinals would postpone till at least spring.
Carlson returns to center with Nootbaar considered an "everyday outfielder" per the team and Tyler O'Neill out to regain his breakout form. When it comes to center, glove matters, but the bat will decide who runs away with the role.
9. Who can spring a surprise?
Albert Pujols won't be walking through the right-field gate to theatrically confirm his return to the team, so surprises are likely to be less dramatic this spring. The roster is more crowded and less elastic this year — opening with 26 spots, not 28 — but there's always room for an unexpected spring sensation who sets the stage for his arrival. Some names to know:
— Wilking Rodriguez, RHP (roster) — A pick that impressed other teams at Rule 5 draft, 100-mph revitalized right-hander is nine years removed from his last major-league appearance. Yankees wanted him, Cardinals got him — as long as he stays on active roster.
— Michael McGreevy, RHP (non-roster) — Who better to pull an Andre Pallante than his high school teammate who has several similarities and a fastball that sizzles?
— Moises Gomez, OF/DH (roster) — Former Tampa Bay prospect reanimated his career with better conditioning and set Cardinals' minor-league record with 39 homers. His power has their attention.
10. Are there extensions or additions to address the future?
On the horizon, there in the distance, is the biggest concern facing the Cardinals. Four of the five current starters are not signed after this season, leaving a gaping and expensive hole in the rotation after this summer. The Cardinals plan to engage in extension talks with at least two of their starters, with Mikolas the obvious pending free agent to discuss a deal that keeps him a Cardinal. He is open to an offer.
It used to be an annual event in Jupiter: the extension presser.
If that's part of the normalcy returning this spring or if it's not, the Cardinals will offer a glimpse into future decisions. Those spots will be filled by someone. That's the truth of spring. They'll leave camp with a center fielder, a leadoff hitter, and at least a lefty in the bullpen because opening day isn't going to wait for a decision. It's going to force one. With Hudson, the Cardinals have six returning starters, but aren't fretting trimming that down to five. They want performance to make the decision for them, one way or the other.
"That stuff over the next few weeks answers itself," Marmol said. "It always does."
It always must.
