Spring Training 2014: Football is over and BASEBALL starts VERY SOON!

Sunday’s Super Bowl marked the official end of the NFL season and the unofficial countdown to the first pitchers and catchers reporting as we start Spring Training 2014. St. Louis Cardinals fans, like many other baseball fans, await the first workouts of players in Jupiter. The first official workouts, that is.
Oct 26, 2013; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Joe Kelly (middle) bumps fists with catcher Yadier Molina (4) as he waits to be relieved in the sixth inning during game three of the MLB baseball World Series against the Boston Red Sox at Busch Stadium. Image Credit: Eileen Blass-USA TODAY Sports
Until the official reporting date gets here, the only players working out are those that are doing so voluntarily. Some players, like Yadier Molina, were working out in Jupiter since before the Winter Warm-Up started. Others are enjoying the last few days of the offseason while continuing their offseason routine at home.

Spring training will see at least one race and that is who gets that fourth and fifth spots of the rotation. There’s no doubt that Adam Wainwright, Shelby Miller, and Michael Wacha are locks. Lance Lynn might get one of those spots or he might be sent to the bullpen. His offseason routine has been as if he were going to start during the 2014 season but it will come down to who has the best spring.

Carlos Martinez might be a starter but he could find himself in the bullpen to start the season.

Jaime Garcia is the biggest question mark of all. Where will he fit in the rotation? How healthy is he?

Jason Motte‘s return to the bullpen means someone will be out of a job but that’s also probably why Fernando Salas was sent to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim with David Freese.

I think Joe Kelly is the question mark. He’s capable of getting the job done in the rotation but I sense that Mike Matheny might use him as a long reliever.

It’s a long spring even if it feels like winter does not want to end.