OEPNING DAY!
The moment is here. The day we’ve been waiting for. Opening Day has arrived. A de facto Holliday here in St. Louis. If you have an understanding boss, you’re either off today or get to go home early. Or you listen/watch to the game at work and the boss knows what you’re doing, but doesn’t say anything. Or you’re the boss and you can do whatever you want.
Opening Day is for unbridled optimism. Anything can happen. Victor Scott is going to be 40/20 player. Lars Nootbaar will stay healthy. Alec Burleson will learn how to take a walk. Nolan Gorman will hit 40 homers. Nolan Arenado’s improved bat speed leads him to return to an All-Star game.
So it felt appropriate that today, the day of optimism, I would share with you all that the players on the Cardinals think differently than the fans. They think they can win. Oh sure, that’s what most players will say. But remember: it’s Opening Day. Ignore that voice in your head throwing cold water on this glorious of days. Embrace the optimism.
First things first. The division helps. Yes, the NL Central is not a particularly weak division, but there’s no Dodgers, no Braves. The Cubs are clearly the favorites, but they’ve started 0-2 already – and we know that matters!. I want to go on record that I do not believe in Michael Busch and Matt Shaw is still a dude who has played 33 total games in AAA.
“There’s still a lot of really talented young players on this current roster and if you’re looking at within this division, there’s not a complete stand out team,” Sonny Gray said. “There’s not one that you’d say is above and beyond one of the other ones.”
I concur Sonny. Also with the discourse around the team, you’d kind of think that the Cardinals were coming off a much worse season than they were. Or had lost more than they had. They did lose players. They didn’t lose a Juan Soto. They didn’t even lose a Cody Bellinger.
“We were still 4 games above .500 and I feel like we had some guys including myself that underperformed what we’re capable of doing,” Steven Matz said. “In my mind, I don’t see us as a team that’s going to tank.”
Neither does bench coach Dan Descalso, responding to a question about how this season isn’t necessarily focused on winning.
“That might be the mentality from outside the clubhouse, but if I’m a player and I’m reading everything that’s been written this offseason, I don’t necessarily want to believe that,” Descalso said. “I would like to think there are talented players in that room and if guys play to their potential or even above their potential and take steps forward, there’s a possibility we are competing for a playoff spot. I think that should be the expectation no matter what we have done – trade, free agent-wise.”
You know how when any team wins, they have bulletin board material no matter how good of a team they actually are. “Nobody believed in us.” Every team does this. Well in this case, it’s actually kind of true.
“When people start doubting me or doubting the team is what I hate,” Willson Contreras said. “It’s a challenge for me to stay here and prove people wrong. Prove people that we’re going to be able to turn it around.”
Or as Sonny Gray puts it, he plays this game to win. He chose St. Louis to win.
“I’m not 100 percent sold that we can’t win here,” Gray said. “I know it may look different and may sound different and it may not be as what it’s looked like in the past here as far as signing a whole bunch of veteran guys and doing it that way. I’ve also been on teams that have won that have done it a different way. So I’ve seen it that way. I’m not sold that we can’t win here.”
Gray has been on a very wide spectrum of teams in his career. He was in Oakland when they had a 96 win season. He was in New York. He was more recently on the 2023 Minnesota Twins, a team with a middling payroll in a weak division who won 87 games. Hmm, interesting parallel there.
“Are you guys still going to compete?” manager Oliver Marmol said. “Are you really going to win? Can these young guys really do the job? The answer is yes. We’re not counting on a bunch of guys that are just reaching to be up here. These are guys that have shown really good months of good baseball and we’re going to give them an opportunity to run.”
I think people will disagree with the certainty of a manager (who is supposed to believe in his team I might add), but if you look at individual players and see them having the talent and ability to have a good season? I don’t think most people would disagree with that.
“I see this as an opportunity for us to shock a lot of people,” Brendan Donovan. “You look around. On paper, it’s a good looking roster. It’s important for us to come together as a group and I’m excited for that to happen, but I think this team is going to shock a lot of people.”
It would in fact shock people if the Cardinals won the division or made the playoffs. But (remember it’s Opening Day!) the Cardinals will win enough to make the playoffs. And hey if it only happens because Justin Steele, Kyle Tucker, and Shota Imanaga got injured doing a three-way handshake, then that’s the way it happens.
“People might think we don’t have enough talent to reach October, but we’ll see what happens,” Contreras said.
Quotes about Cardinals
In the spirit of optimism, I have some fun quotes to share that I couldn’t figure out a way to squeeze into an article by itself.
Masyn Winn on Nolan Arenado
“Playing on the left side of the infield with that guy, I couldn’t think of another person I’d rather do it with. Just listening to him every day, looking at his work ethic every day, what he does defensively every day. How he shows up to the ballpark and works every single day, that was great for me. Obviously, Nado is not the type of guy you show up and you know he loves you. You got to earn his respect. I feel like I did that last year and as soon as that happened, it was like our relationship took a whole nother jump. That dude is one of my favorite teammates I’ve ever been around.”
Sonny Gray on Nolan Arenado
“I love Nolan, he has been nothing but great to me and great to my boys. Having said that, if it works out and Nolan gets traded and it’s a situation that works for me, then I wish him nothing but the best. If he gets traded, I hope he goes to a situation that he’s happy to be on and has success and maybe plays or competes for a World Series. If he’s here, nothing would make me happier.”
Oliver Marmol on Quinn Mathews
“I like the way he thinks. I just like the way he approaches the game. There’s a part of this as a young player of not caring. I say that and I want to make sure I explain it. They don’t care what Mo thinks or I think. They’re sure of themselves and they’re going to compete. They’re coachable. I’m looking forward to actually seeing him on the field.”
Michael McGreevy on Quinn Mathews
Did not throw the ball as hard back then, saw the ball really well off him, he won’t tell you that. It was a good time. We’re from the same area, know each other fairly well. I’m very happy we got closer this year, being on the same team and not playing against one another. He had such a great year. Just ran out of gas I think at the end of the year and he is losing his mind.
‘I’m like ‘Quinn you could give up 20 runs tomorrow, you’re still going to win Minor League Pitcher of the Year. You’re still going to win Cardinal Pitcher of the Year. You’ll be fine I promise you.
‘Oh dude I suck.’ I’m thinking this guy is an idiot.”
Quinn Mathews on Michael McGreevy
“I’ve known McGreevy forever, like I said unfortunately. Yeah that’s tough. Michael is one of the most detail-oriented human beings I’ve ever met. He does his preparation. He does his recovery. He does everything that he needs to do in order make his next start. That’s just who McGreevy has been and will always be.”
Victor Scott on JJ Wetherholt
“He’s a Cardinal through and through, how he goes about his work, he’s got that blue collar mentality”
Masyn Winn about Willson Contreras and then Sonny Gray
“He’s a dog. He plays like he’s 24 still. He’s fighting for a spot. Having a guy like that, having a guy like Sonny, it’s going to be special.”
Tink Hence on Jimmy Crooks
“When we first got him, I could tell right off the bat that he was a really gritty player. I really got a chance to know him. Great guy, works hard, and really cares. He put in the work. I see him each day doing little things and when it’s game time, he don’t like to lose. Great arm, catching, and you know he gonna hit that ball.”
Sonny Gray on Herrera and Pages and then Willson
“Their skillsets are different, their personalities are different. Willson is an incredible athlete so the transition to wherever he’s going to be, I think he’s an incredible athlete and he has a really good work ethic. Will there probably be some bumps in the road that people will panic on? Sure. What’s he going to do? He does something and everyone freaks out. Give him a break, give him a chance. Going back to Pedro and Ivan, I enjoyed getting to know both of them, throwing to both of them.”
Jon Jay on Victor Scott
“Victor’s all-in and that’s all I can ask for. We’ve been doing different things to challenge him. He’s got great hands. We’ve worked on his first step, his routes. He’s on the right path and he’s all-in which is what you want.”
Oliver Marmol on Lars Nootbaar
“He’s fun and he’s good.”
(Fun fact: While I was writing this, a tune was stuck in my head. I didn’t think about it, it was just there. When I finished, I realized it was “Demon Days” by Gorillaz which is a VERY uplifting song. Appropriate for the spirit of the post I think.)
