St. Louis Cardinals: Spring Training Recap Day 8

Another day of Spring Training has passed, the St. Louis Cardinals got their first bit of national media attention and their first injury scare.

The St. Louis Cardinals had yet another day of camp today, as we can now say that we have gone through eight total days of Spring Training and now sit at five days until the team starts playing games. Let’s take a look at the stories from Day 8.

Injury scare for Cooney

The Cardinals got their first injury scare today that could be of significance for the team as Spring Training goes on and the team starts to prepare for the season. The commish Rick Hummel, wrote today that left-handed starter Tim Cooney has been shut down for what Manager Mike Matheny is calling an “achy” arm.

Hummel, who turned 70 today (and continues to pump out quality material for the St. Louis Post Dispatc), quoted Matheny as saying, “It just didn’t feel like the strength was right there. It didn’t respond great so, in February, we pump the brakes”. Hummel mentioned that Matheny said they will be putting Cooney on a program to strengthen his arm.

Carpenter “officially underrated” 

The national media actually took a break from parading around their eventual 2016 World Series Champions (Chicago Cubs) and spent some time covering the Cardinals today, as MLB Network was on hand at the Cardinals’ camp today, as well as releasing their top 100 players in the MLB.

Our friends at Viva El Birdos caught that the Cardinals’ Matt Carpenter wound up 88th on the list out of 100 MLB players. They mention that the reasoning for this is quite confusing, as Carpenter ranks 11th in fWAR from 2013-2015.

Randal Grichuk was the only Cardinal to make the top 50, but to no surprise to anyone the Cubs wound up with five players in the top 50, including Ben Zobrist coming in 40 spots higher than Carpenter. This is just stupid.

I know these lists are meaningless, but the constant overrating of every player who wears a Cubs’ uniform really is getting old. The Cardinals and Carpenter will be on a mission to prove the doubters wrong this season.

New Rules

Brian Stull covered a bit of under the radar but important news today, as he took a look at a few new rules that will be implemented this season. In an effort to continue to speed up the games, Stull mentions that MLB is shaving 20 seconds from all local and national broadcasts, and requiring mound visits to be 30 seconds or less.

I absolutely love that they are taking time way from the commercials. If you want to speed up the game, that’s the way to do it. Don’t change the game for those who enjoy the game, change the way it’s televised. There are natural breaks between innings, but they shouldn’t be exaggerated for television purposes.

Stull also mentions that MLB is chaining their stance on the “neighborhood play”, here is the press releasee:

"Under new Rule 6.01(j), which has been added to the existing Rule 6.01 on “Interference, Obstruction, and Catcher Collisions,” slides on potential double plays will require runners to make a bona fide attempt to reach and remain on the base. Runners may still initiate contact with the fielder as a consequence of an otherwise permissible slide.A runner will be specifically prohibited from changing his pathway to the base or utilizing a “roll block” for the purpose of initiating contact with the fielder. Potential violations of Rule 6.01(j) will be reviewable using instant replay. Also reviewable will be “neighborhood play” calls, which previously were exempted from replay review. Rule 6.01(j) reads as follows:"

You can find more information on this rule change inside Stully’s piece.

Next: Spring Training Recap Day 7

While this is a bit short, there’s not much else to report on for Day 8, and it is getting late for this writer. Have a great night Cardinals’ Nation!