Bench coach Daniel Descalso takes Cardinals' top prospects back to school

While hazing rookies is becoming a thing of the past, there is still room for playful instruction and banter between veterans of the game and newbies. This deviation from traditions of old has compelled coaches and veterans of the game to get creative with how they initiate rookies and prospects into the game.

Gone are the days of players dressing like cheerleaders, female superheroes, or other potentially harmful costumes. Now, rookies are wearing coordinated outfits like St. Louis Blues sweaters, or they're being given free rein when it comes to the annual dress-up day.

St. Louis Cardinals bench coach Daniel Descalso took the initiation process a bit more seriously this year with two of the club's top prospects.

In their first go at spring training, St. Louis Cardinals' top position-playing prospects JJ Wetherholt and Chase Davis were given homework by bench coach Daniel Descalso.

Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch posted on Twitter/X that Descalso, a former player himself, had Wetherholt and Davis create historical presentations to share with the team on Thursday morning. Wetherholt was tasked with researching Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith, and Davis was assigned Cardinal legend David Freese; both Smith and Freese are present at spring camp this year. Since this was Wetherholt's and Davis's first shot at spring camp, nerves were probably already high for the two young players.

Wetherholt's presentation was probably quite lengthy given The Wizard's career. The former Cardinal has a World Series ring, 15 All-Star game appearances, and 13 Gold Gloves, and he was awarded the Roberto Clemente award during his career. It's no accident that JJ Wetherholt, an infielder in his own right, was assigned one of the best defenders in baseball to research. It's currently unknown if Wetherholt can do a back flip himself.

What was shared in Wetherholt's presentation hasn't become public knowledge as of now, but we can assume that he talked about Smith's walk-off home run in the 1982 National League Championship Series; his 13 consecutive Gold Gloves, a feat that has yet to be matched in the National League; and Smith's Hall of Fame election in 2002.

Chase Davis, on the other hand, was assigned a research project on David Freese. According to Derrick Goold, at least a portion of Davis's presentation discussed "a night in October." One would assume this night in October is a reference to Freese's heroics in Game 6 of the 2011 World Series against the Texas Rangers where he hit a game-tying triple in the ninth inning and later walked off the game in the 11th inning with a home run to deep center field.

Freese's heroics in 2011 were enough to induct him into the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame, but he respectfully declined the induction.

Chase Davis hasn't been in a real classroom since he was at the University of Arizona in 2023. However, the team's first-round pick that year was once on the Honor Roll in high school, so he has a pedigree of academic success. JJ Wetherholt was no slouch when it came to academics, either. He was on the Big 12 Honor Roll and the Garrett Ford Academic Honor Roll while at West Virginia University.

Assigning two future leaders of the team homework related to two former legends of the team isn't an accident. Daniel Descalso is trying to get the players to understand the history of the St. Louis Cardinals, one of baseball's most storied franchises.

"The Cardinal Way" has been lost these last few years. As more outside veterans have been brought in, the draft-and-develop model that the Cardinals were well known for has faded. Now, thanks to an infusion of talented youth, the organization is able to revert to its old ways of success. Young players like JJ Wetherholt, Chase Davis, Masyn Winn, Jordan Walker, and Quinn Mathews, among others, should be aware of the Cardinals' history if they aren't already.

While this meager "homework" assignment could be pushed away, it will surely be a lesson that Wetherholt and Davis never forget.