St. Louis Cardinals: Five things we’ve learned so far this spring

The St. Louis Cardinals have already suffered a key injury and have had to weather some negative publicity, while playing some pretty good baseball. What are five key take-aways from the first couple of weeks of spring action?

Well, yesterday’s announcement from former St. Louis Cardinals minor leaguer Tyler Dunnington is very unfortunate. If you haven’t had the chance, check out Dr. Miles’ insights on the entire situation and how we can all learn to be better because of this.

Now that the Jhonny Peralta injury news has had a chance to set in, the Cardinals have been mentioned in rumors for a handful of shortstop rentals, even though they have some pretty good in-house options to fill the void.

The Cardinals have seen exciting spring performances from up-and-coming prospects and their big club guys all the same.

Carlos Peguero, Anthony Garcia, and Magneuris Sierra have shown some promising tools so far this spring, and how about Randal Grichuk (.524/.545/.857) and Stephen Piscotty (.435/.519/.478)?

Newcomers Seung-Hwan Oh and Mike Leake have looked good on the mound thus far, as neither guy had allowed a run, until Oh surrendered a solo shot to Nate Schierholtz earlier this afternoon.

There have been some interesting story lines and some exciting stories to follow. In this piece, I will outline some of the observations I’ve noticed so far this spring, and how I feel about each as we approach opening day.

First, lets talk Mike Matheny.

Next: Matheny is all-in on 2016