St. Louis Cardinals: Spring Training Recap Day 5

Yesterday was another fun filled day of Spring Training for the St. Louis Cardinals. There were more important and news worthy items that deserve mentioning today.

Over the weekend we had news of Wainwright being the opening day starter, Martinez being held out of a bullpen and more. Yesterday the St. Louis Cardinals were back to work in Jupiter, FL and the doubters were back at it again.

Oh, the doubt is rich

In case you missed it yesterday, the World Series odds were released and the “wonderful” Chicago Cubs were given 4-1 odds to win the World Series (despite their uninspiring pitching staff). The Cardinals were given 18-1 odds to win the same World Series.

This wasn’t yesterday, but SI released their power rankings last week, pegging the Cardinals 13th in the league. This is while they too ranked the Cubs first. They stated that the Cards’ pitching staff will regress, but the Cubs’ offense is apparently immune to regression. Can you tell I am a tad tired of all the Cubs’ hype?

In all seriousness, the Cubs are good, and I could handle it if the media wasn’t fawning over them, as if they were the 1927 Yankees. So, media if you could tone the Cubs’ love down a tad, that’d be great.

Holliday wants to finish in St. Louis

ESPN’s Mark Saxon had probably the story of the day yesterday, as he said that Cardinals’ LF Matt Holliday wants to retire as a St. Louis Cardinals’ player. This is good to hear from Matt, and I am glad he feels that way. However, a downturn in his play could see the Cardinals deny his option for 2017 in the offseason.

Holliday told Saxon, “I have a passion and a love for the organization. I take a lot of pride in being a Cardinal and being part of the organization for seven years, I hope that’s the way it goes, but it’s not always the player’s decision.” Holliday is priming for that big season, and with him working out at first, he is trying to help the club in whatever way possible.

If the first base situation doesn’t work out and he wants to give it a shot, it could be his ticket to playing longer in St. Louis.

Martinez is fine, but precaution exists

Mark Saxon spoke with Matheny yesterday regarding the bullpen exclusion from the weekend and Matheny told him there were no issues. Saxon reported that Matheny informed him that Martinez is on a “different program” in order to limit his workload.

Matheny told Saxon in regards to Martinez “We always check out how he’s responding, but he feels good”. This is good news, as the bullpen skip was a little concerning for the fan base.

Cardinals know Kelly could be Molina’s heir

Derrick Goold had a wonderful story yesterday on a topic we have covered a lot here this offseason. The Cardinals are coming to grips with Carson Kelly being the replacement for Yadier Molina.

Goold states, “This spring, the Cardinals are getting a preview of reality they haven’t had to consider since Opening Day 2005 and don’t plan to confront for several more years: life without Yadi.” While Molina may not be retiring anytime soon , he is likely to miss Opening Day, and is clearly on the downside of his career.

Kelly has all of the defensive tools to be the Molina heir. However, it will be interesting to see how the offense reacts to a promotion to AA Springfield (a more offensive league and park).

Goold has an interesting quote about Molina and Kelly from GM John Mozeliak, “I definitely think at some point, some point down the road, you want somebody to be challenging him. That’s like any position. But with regard to the timing of it, this year is going to tell us a lot, and a lot about Carson.”

I agree wholeheartedly here. It is going to be an interesting season for all parties. It will also be interesting to see where Mike Ohlman is developmentally at the end of the season. Is he at all a barrier to Kelly or a bridge between the two? Time will tell.

Next: Preseason Roster Prediction Part 1

That will do it for Day 5. We will try to bring you coverage from Day 6 later today, thanks for everything Cardinal Nation!