Springfield teammates Tai Peete and Michael Watson are gushing over Rainiel Rodriguez, the 19-year-old switch-hitting catching prospect. Farm director Larry Day has compared him to Jose Ramirez. The nicknames keep piling up; the Busch Stadium timeline is the open question. 🔥
JJ Wetherholt is the Cardinals' nominee for the 2026 Heart and Hustle Award, and fan voting is open. The rookie second baseman posted 4.5 bWAR with 17 homers and is in line for a Gold Glove. Not bad for a guy with a slow heartbeat. ❤️
10/27/2011 David Freese took over Game 6 of the World Series for the Cardinals. First, it was a triple in the ninth to tie things up and then a walk-off homer in the 11th.
The Cardinals dismissed hitting coach Brant Brown on Oct. 23 after the offense tied for second-to-last in MLB in OPS in 2026. With one of the league's youngest rosters, his replacement (Casey Chenoweth is a possibility) will shape the lineup's development. 🔑
Chaim Bloom won't rule out Jesus Baez as the Cardinals' long-term shortstop, saying he has the hands, arm and better-than-expected movement. That puts quiet pressure on Masyn Winn to lock down the job in 2027. 👀
Cardinals 2026 autopsy: the offense ranked 29th in OPS and 28th in ISO, so power is the cause of death. The rotation lacked strikeouts, and the bullpen's K-BB% was ugly. Defense (3rd in OAA) was the lone healthy organ, and the hitting coach Brant Brown is out. 🪦
Cardinals prospect Miguel Hernandez, 18, hit .282/.432/.492 with 11 HR across the FCL and Single-A, set the club's FCL homer record (9), and ranks No. 17 per Baseball America. A shortstop with power, he could climb fast in 2027. 📈
Cardinals are among baseball's youngest, most homegrown rosters, and 101ESPN's Brandon Kiley says that won't be enough. Brewers have six homegrown hitters but acquire most pitchers elsewhere, and the Rays have only five homegrown players on their World Series roster. 🔍
Matthew Liberatore went from Opening Day starter to rotation depth. His 2026 workload hit career highs (31 starts, 155 IP), but his ERA rose to 5.23 and hitters posted a 1.077 OPS against him the third time through. A bullpen move looms. 🔄
Adrian Morejon is floated as a speculative Cardinals bullpen target, with an estimated 5-year, $80M price. The writer admits a signing is unlikely, but calls him an elite, durable 28-year-old lefty for a weak bullpen. Cardinals lefty depth could complicate it. 🎯
Cardinals history lesson: an all-time World Series roster built on 19 appearances and 11 titles since 1926. Pujols (three-homer game, 2011) at first, McCarver at catcher, Javier at second, Freese at third. Lou Brock and Berkman headline the rest. 🏆
Chip Caray and Brad Thompson's Cardinals broadcast ranked third in baseball by household rating (4.98) in 2026. Total viewership rose 29%, pregame 57%, postgame 53%, streaming subscriptions 28%. A winning team helps, but the booth earned its hardware. 🎙️
Tai Peete just tripled in four straight Arizona Fall League games, the first AZFL player to do it since at least 2005. The Cardinals prospect owns a 1.097 OPS through 11 games. Chaim Bloom calls him an "electric player." ⚡
Offseason wish list: Tyrone Taylor, Jason Adam and Ryan Yarbrough are floated as budget free-agent targets for the Cardinals. Adam, 35 with a 2.62 ERA last season, is pitched as the closer fix for a bullpen that needs a steady ninth inning. 🔒
Cardinals missed the postseason again, but the farm is buzzing. Prospect Michael Watson says Chaim Bloom is building the system for sustained success, and calls the Double-A roster, which reached a second straight championship series, full of "dogs." 🐕
Oli Marmol's 402-408 record follows a 77-win Cardinals season that beat expectations. 2027 looms as a prove-it year: another playoff miss would make five straight, and the Yankees' one-year deal for Aaron Boone shows how this goes. 🔥
Cardinals farm report card: every player who began 2026 on FanGraphs' 53-deep preseason prospect list gets a stock-up or stock-down grade. Early marks: Sebastian Dos Santos is up after a strong age-18 season, while Branneli Franco ticks down with a 7.54 ERA. 📋
Cardinals farm director Larry Day likens top prospect Rainiel Rodriguez to José Ramírez, whom he knew in Cleveland: "your best player and your hardest worker." Day also praised how Rodriguez handled a Texas League jump at 20. Scary good, apparently. ⚾
The Cardinals dismissed hitting coach Brant Brown after two years. Their offense tied for 20th in average and OBP and nearly last in slugging, and it faded in the second half of 2025 (28th in walks). Fans were stunned; the numbers saw it coming. 📉
Cardinals are moving on from hitting coach Brant Brown after two seasons, per The Athletic. The offense ranked 16th in scoring and bottom five in OPS, wOBA and wRC+. Jon Jay and Ron Warner reportedly stay on Marmol's staff.
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