St. Louis Cardinals: The unheralded promotion of Bryan Eversgerd

The unheralded promotion of former Memphis Redbirds pitching coach, Bryan Eversgerd, to bullpen coach, was one of the key coaching moves this off-season by the St. Louis Cardinals.  Eversgerd will be important to the rebuilt 2018 Cardinals bullpen.

Bryan Eversgerd‘s promotion to the St. Louis Cardinals bullpen in October was one of the most under-the-radar moves made by the front office for 2018. In fact, it barely registered with the media.  The additions of Jose Oquendo, Willie McGee, and Mike Maddux to Mike Matheny‘s coaching staff absorbed much of the news.

However, Bryan Eversgerd is no stranger to the St. Louis Cardinals.

Eversgerd has served as a pitching coach in the Cardinals organization for the last 15 years, including the last five with the AAA Memphis affiliate.  His teams won league championships with Memphis in 2017 and AA Springfield in 2012.

Many of Evergerd’s pupils at Memphis are now with the big league club.  Luke Weaver, Jack Flaherty, Sam Tuivailala, and Alex Reyes are some of the prospects he’s groomed at Memphis.

New Cardinal pitching coach, Mike Maddux, says Eversgerd is invaluable because of his established relationship with the young pitchers he’s already mentored in Memphis. As quoted in a recent Benjamin Hochman article in the St. Louis Post Dispatch, Maddux says, “It’s been invaluable with (the young pitchers).  He knows them personally and they already trust him.”

Eversgerd’s staff, in 2017 in Memphis, had league lows in ERA(3.77), walks(366), and WHIP(1.26).  Ryan Sherriff, Josh Lucas, Mike Mayers, John Gant, Luke Weaver, Jack Flaherty, and Dakota Hudson are some of the pitching prospects that were part of that staff.  Expectations are they will likely see time with the major league club in 2018.

In addition, veterans such as Tyler Lyons, Sam Tuivailala, and John Brebbia have also received tutoring from Eversgerd.  In Hochman’s article, Tuivailala calls him “the bulldog” because Eversgerd has an attack mode mindset on pitching.  Furthermore, Mike Mayers spoke of Eversgerd’s mental approach, finding that fine line between aggressiveness and control.

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Also, expectations are that Eversgerd’s coaching could have a positive impact on other members of the 2018 bullpen.

Veteran Brett Cecil is looking for a comeback season after a up-and-down 2017.  In addition, new comers Luke Gregerson and Bud Norris are hoping for an improved 2018 season.

Finally, the Cardinals are hoping that  Dominic Leone and Conner Greene will benefit from Eversgerd’s instruction.

I don’t want to overstate Bryan Eversgerd’s influence on the St. Louis Cardinals 2018 pitching staff.  But as Benjamin Hochman says in his recent article, Mike Maddux and Eversgerd will be working together in concert with each other.  They have the responsibility of taking the Cardinal pitching staff to the next level.

As stated earlier, Eversgerd has coached many of the young Cardinal prospects in Memphis and the front office hopes his presence will ease their transition into the major leagues.  Furthermore, the Cardinals hope that Eversgerd’s coaching will have a positive impact on the veterans in the bullpen.

Hochman says Mike Maddux and Bryan Eversgerd must change the “question marks on the pitching staff into exclamation points.”   Consequently, the “unheralded” promotion of Eversgerd will be one of the  keys to the St. Louis Cardinals success in 2018.

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But, this is just one observation.  What is your opinion?  How important is Bryan Eversgerd to the success of 2018?