Jeff Jones

I think Bobby Witt Jr. is my favorite player to watch at present.

Nolan Gorman is the third baseman, unless for some reason Herrera can’t go, in which case he’s the DH and Urías is at third.

He is not the only Venezuelan player who experienced this over the winter.

All the credit to @hochman314.bsky.social for noticing the Flavortown Express made a stop at the Dean today:

With today's roster moves, the Cardinals have 13 position players in camp who are on the 40-man. One of those, Lars Nootbaar, will be starting the season on the IL. Replace him with JJ Wetherholt, and that could very well be your opening day group.

Báez, Hjerpe, Mautz, Raquet optioned.

Mathews reassigned to minor league camp.

Order restored to the left field competition.

I definitely know journalists who have secondary income streams which double their salary, but typically that’s because they’re doing gig work and their salary is $16,500.

Meanwhile, in West Palm, Richard Fitts touched a TV 99 and struck out two in his first inning of work.

It ain’t her, babe.

It sure looks like that number is greater than zero.

Josh Baez’s start in left today is his first there this spring. It shifts Chase Davis, who has started there regularly, to right, and it comes just days after they passed on a chance to see him there, opting for Miguel Ugueto instead. #noticing

Andre Scrubb, committed normative determinist.

I have said all the words to you that I know.

Rob Rains reported knee inflammation.

Finally the fun part of my mail pile as I return from spring.

This is the first time I’ve ever had something I wrote published in a book. Neat!

Bernal, Crooks, Hence, Prieto, Torres optioned.

Skylar Hales reassigned to minor league camp.

Points to Yohel Pozo making the team being all but a certainty.

Same reactions for a different reason with a late Herrera scratch.

Cardinals lineup today starting Winn, Burleson, Herrera, Gorman, Wetherholt, Pagés gets a star and an eyebrow raise from me.

They say you learn a lot from how hitters react.

I think it’s very interesting that Canada shut media out of practices at the Olympics against the access policy and were very lightly chided (not at all in some places), and then a bunch of big splashy stories about the Canada GM’s NHL players started popping up. Weird how that happened!

It was hard to leave him off. I don’t think he’s probably had the best camp of that group, so it comes down to roster management. Going to need at least one spot on the 40 anyway, so…

Cardinals’ roster math: Six Starters, a crowded bullpen, and an open outfield Here’s an early projection of the Redbirds’ Opening Day roster.

Left field — wide open
Three bullpen spots — open, but slotted
Deference to roster rules — not totally a thing of the past

Halfway through camp, let’s project an opening day 26-man:

www.bnd.com/sports/mlb/s...

Colton Parayko has the third most games played in St. Louis Blues history, which makes me feel positively ancient. Good Blue for a long time.

Cardinals 90-second survey: Alarms, walk-offs and who’s banned from the grill The BND’s annual spring survey of the Redbirds rarely reveals stark truths, but often reveals some entertaining facts.

Lars Nootbaar’s El Segundo A’s, Chris Roycroft’s cold showers, and Andre Pallante as both grill master and grill disaster. The 2026 low-content spring training survey has arrived:

www.bnd.com/sports/mlb/s...

It took NHL players at least 15 years to recover their salaries to pre-05 levels after their apocalyptic lockout. In that time, franchise values quadrupled, at minimum. I know the scales and cultural purchase are different between the leagues but I have no idea why that math would be.

No Nootbaar, no problem? Cardinals turn left field into an audition stage Who will it be? Bryan Torres, José Fermín, Thomas Saggese, or Nelson Velázquez?

Ten games into spring training, the Cardinals have used five left fielders, somehow none of whom have been Nathan Church. While they put off declaring Lars Nootbaar out for opening day, they’re conducting the widest-open competition in camp:

www.bnd.com/sports/mlb/s...

Only vaguely interesting move here is Shuster, who was ostensibly in a competition with Bruihl, Naughton, Raquet among others for the second lefty slot in the bullpen. Maybe Mautz?

First Cardinals cuts:

Roby optioned

Cijntje, Hansen, Henderson, Love, Rincón, Robberse, Shuster, Thompson, Tarlow, Antico reassigned

A cynical person would wonder if MLB’s committed increase of exposure for the Spring Breakout games was part of an effort to identify fans earlier with young (cheap) players and dim some of the older stars in comparison.

A cynical person! Not me!

Girl and the Goat is my favorite restaurant period. Yes, it’s now a place where people take their parents who live in the suburbs, don’t care. Still superb. Half Shell in Lincoln Park for crabs and clams. Staff is the Bill Swersky cast. Nisei Lounge in Wrigleyville is a must-do dive.