Cardinals top prospect draws first spring training start

A day after the Grapefruit League season opened for the St. Louis Cardinals, fans will get their first look at the team's new direct-to-consumer FanDuel Sports Network and get to see the organization's top prospect, JJ Wetherholt, make his spring debut. First pitch is scheduled for 12:10pm Central time.

The Cardinals had a mixed team performance in yesterday's game against the Marlins. While wins and losses do not matter during the exhibition season, there were still some notable instances during the game. Yesterday's lineup and first pitchers were full of familiar faces that can be written into the Opening Day roster, with the second half of the game featuring some lesser-known prospects and non-roster invitees.

Today's game against the Astros, who may or may not be back in on Nolan Arenado depending on the source, is expected to see more of the same. The Cardinals will be facing Houston righty Spencer Arrighetti and will fill the top three spots of the lineup with lefty hitters looking to prove their worth. Victor Scott II, Alec Burleson, and Nolan Gorman are all fighting for at-bats in different ways after not seeing any action in the game yesterday. Luken Baker, who is most likely an odd-man out this season, will hit cleanup, followed by catcher Pedro Pages and utility man Thomas Saggese. Saggese is one of the players most directly affected by the ongoing Arenado trade saga.

Hitting seventh is the team's top prospect JJ Wetherholt. Despite not seeing a pitch above the Single-A level, the Cardinals see it positive for his development if he can spend time learning at major league camp. With an already-advanced hit tool, it is very possible the lefty infielder pushes his way to the upper minors with the chance of a major-league debut during the 2025 season. Rounding out the lineup are 40-man addition Matt Koperniak, who has already received plenty of praise for his quiet personality and loud bat, and former second-round pick Ryan Vilade.

On the mound, Spring Training hero Miles Mikolas will make his exhibition league debut as he prepares for another season in St. Louis. As fans saw yesterday with starter Erick Fedde, Mikolas will most likely only throw an inning before giving way to the bullpen. Other available arms are expected bullpen pieces John King and JoJo Romero with intriguing righties Andre Granillo, Ryan Louto, Sem Robberse, and Tekoah Roby having the chance to throw.

Notes from yesterday's game against the Marlins

Shortstop Masyn Winn led off and went 0-for-3 and Nolan Arenado grabbed the team's first hit of the spring season. The starters received two or three at-bats each and outfielder Lars Nootbaar was the first Cardinal to use ABS technology, as he successfully challenged a called strike that turned into a walk.

Erick Fedd started and went one inning, allowing two hits on soft contact but did not yield a run. Matthew Liberatore followed and was the only pitcher to go two innings, notching one strikeout and hitting 97mph multiple times on the radar gun. Potential setup man Ryan Fernandez was next and worked around a walk for a scoreless inning before giving way to towering righty Chris Roycroft. The last arm expected to break camp with the team was Riley O'Brien, who flashed electric stuff as he struck out the side while allowing a walk.

From there, the Cardinals' relievers struggled. After being staked to a 6-0 lead, lefties Bailey Horn and Rob Kaminsky gave up five runs before Rule-5 protected reliever Matt Svanson gave up two more to be saddled with a blown save and a loss.