St. Louis Cardinals: Sunday is the last televised spring game

The St. Louis Cardinals face off against the Washington Nationals on Sunday in their second to last spring game, the last televised one.

Spring training has flown by for the St. Louis Cardinals and fans are now just five days from Thursday’s Opening Day matchup against the Reds.

It hasn’t been the best spring ever for the Cardinals, as multiple injuries have already stretched the team thin. Miles Mikolas and Kwang Hung Kim both will not be ready for Opening Day which has forced Daniel Ponce de Leon and John Gant into the rotation.

After coming into spring training as a fringe starter, Carlos Martinez is all of a sudden penciled in as the number three starter. However, Jack Flaherty and Adam Wainwright have looked the part to stabilize the front of the rotation.

An injury to Harrison Bader has opened a spot for another young outfielder to play in right while Dylan Carlson slides into center field.

It’s been great to see Nolan Arenado in Cardinal Red, even if he has yet to hit his first homer. Tyler O’Neill has also established himself as the everyday left fielder. Matt Carpenter still only has one hit but will still surely be on the Opening Day roster.

It has been a lot of fun seeing the team playing in Jupiter and having fans in the stands, however, it’ll be nice to play teams not named the Mets, Marlins, Nationals, or Astros.

Sunday is the second to last spring game for the Cardinals but it will be the final one televised. Contrary to how it has been the case for the past few games, manager Mike Shildt isn’t playing an Opening Day lineup. Yadier Molina and Austin Dean anchor the three and four spots on Sunday, with many other fringe players also in the lineup.

Sunday will be the last time fans get to see the Cardinals in Jupiter, but the next time they are on television, the games count.