Post Content Cardinals News
March 21st, 2023
LATEST NEWS
March 21: RHP Dakota Hudson and LHP Matthew Liberatore optionedThe Cardinals announced on Tuesday that they had optioned Hudson and Liberatore to Triple-A Memphis. St. Louis’ camp roster now stands at 41 — 31 MLB roster players and 10 non-roster invitees.
Hudson and Liberatore were hoping to crack a Cardinals starting rotation of Adam Wainwright, Miles Mikolas, Jack Flaherty, Jordan Montgomery and Steven Matz that is set for the Opening Day roster, but they failed to do so in uneven Spring Training performances. Tuesday’s moves almost assuredly mean that long reliever/spot starter Jake Woodford will be on the Opening Day roster. In 17 2/3 innings over five games (two starts), Woodford has allowed just four runs and 13 hits.
“At the end of the day, [Woodford’s] done a nice job,” manager Oliver Marmol said. “He’s done everything we’ve asked him to do.”
Hudson pitched three spring games — four when including the exhibition against Nicaragua’s World Baseball Classic team. He struggled mightily on Sunday against the Mets, allowing 10 hits and five runs. Liberatore, the club’s No. 6 prospect, per MLB Pipeline, started two of the three games he appeared in this spring. Over 10 innings, he allowed just seven hits and two earned runs while holding hitters to a .206 batting average.
The Cardinals want to see Hudson take the steps necessary to address his repeated dip in pitch velocity in recent starts.
“We do think there are some things he’s started to work on to increase his [velocity],” Marmol said. “At the end of the day, he’s much better when the [velocity] is up. He’s living at 89-90 [mph], and we need to address that. It was just a conversation about what needs to take place, and he took it well and he’s going to get after it. It was a solid conversation. … We believe there’s a path forward, but the big leagues isn’t the level to build that [velocity] up.”
March 21: Tyler O’Neill (stomach virus) close to returning to starting lineupO’Neill, who is battling for the starting center field job, could be back in the starting lineup as early as Wednesday when the Cardinals face the Marlins. The 27-year-old, who starred for Canada in the World Baseball Classic, hasn’t played since returning to camp because of a stomach virus.
O’Neill was back around his teammates on Tuesday, going through his usual pregame routine before the Cardinals hosted the Nationals. If all goes well with his recovery, O’Neill will likely play on Wednesday, manager Oliver Marmol said.
“Yeah, T.O. feels a lot better,” Marmol said. “He feels normal today, which is good. He’ll go through full activity out here — [batting practice], run around in the outfield and shag [fly balls]. Our hope is that he recovers well from that, and he can be in games potentially as early as [Wednesday].”
O’Neill, a two-time Gold Glove winner in left field, has made no secret that he hopes to win the starting job in center field for the Cards. He is competing with Dylan Carlson and Lars Nootbaar, who is still participating in the WBC with Japan. This spring, O’Neill is 2-for-14 with one RBI in six Grapefruit League games. In four WBC games with Canada, O’Neill hit .615 with four RBIs, five walks and two doubles.
March 20: Nolan Arenado cleared following HBPThe Cardinals were relieved to learn that X-rays on Arenado’s right hand came back negative Sunday night after the star third baseman was hit by a pitch in Team USA’s World Baseball Classic semifinal win over Cuba. Arenado isn’t expected to miss any time due to the issue, and should return to Cardinals camp healthy after Tuesday’s WBC final.
“He’s good,” manager Oliver Marmol said. “I was able to text back and forth with him seconds after he was hit. He responded right away. He feels great. It was scary for a minute, but glad he’s OK.”
March 19: Cardinals make three cutsRHP Kyle Leahy, Ryan Loutos and C Jose Alvarez were reassigned to Minor League camp.
March 18: Cardinals re-assign SS Jeremy Rivas to Minor League campRivas, who went 1-for-2 with a single after replacing Tommy Edman in the sixth inning of Saturday’s game against the Tigers, was re-assigned after the game, per the club. The Major League camp roster now stands at 46 players. Rivas went 3-for-12 in 15 Spring Training games.
IF Paul DeJong (back pain)Expected return: AprilDeJong was scratched from the Cardinals’ March 14 game against the Astros with discomfort in his back, and manager Oliver Marmol announced the next day that the infielder would be “sidelined for a few days.”
DeJong is able to take swings, but the pain prevents him from bending down to field grounders.
“It’s tightening up on him when he bends,” Marmol said. “As of right now, we’re not expecting him to play this week.” (Last updated: March 20)
OF Dylan Carlson (right arm fatigue)Expected return: TBDCarlson, who added 12 pounds in the offseason via a structured plan that has him downing 4,500 calories a day, is in a battle with Lars Nootbaar and Tyler O’Neill for the starting center-field job. Carlson injured his right arm on March 2 while making a throw home from right field and has been limited to DH-only duties since then because of arm fatigue. He is expected to see more time in center field in the coming days and weeks with O’Neill (Canada) and Nootbaar (Japan) off playing in the World Baseball Classic. Carlson entered play on March 6 tied for second on the team with four RBIs this spring, but he is just 2-for-10 with four strikeouts at the plate. (Last updated: March 6)
INF Jose Fermin (quad strain)Expected return: Several weeks at the earliestFermin, who has a spot on the 40-man roster and was acquired this offseason in a trade with the Guardians, is expected to miss multiple weeks with a quad strain. When asked if the injury was deemed significant, Cardinals manager Oli Marmol said, “Yeah, I would say so. Running down to first [on March 4], when he came out of the game, he strained his quad. I don’t want to put a timetable on it, but when we all hear the word ‘strain,’ we all know what that means.” (Last updated: March 6)
