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St. Louis Cardinals Manager Oli Marmol on Viability of a 6-Man Rotation
The St. Louis Cardinals offered us an unprecedented opportunity to have direct access to the thinking of manager Oli Marmol. We were given a 30-minute online session to ask questions and one of the top recommendations from the community here was the viability of a 6-man rotation for this season. Here’s what Oli had to […]
Spring Training Game Discussion for St. Louis Cardinals vs Miami Marlins
The St. Louis Cardinals are now less than two weeks from the regular season. They’ll get one game closer as they take on the Miami Marlins in Roger Dean Stadium on Saturday, March 14, 2026. According to MLB.com, Andre Pallante will start the game for the Cardinals. The starter for the Miami Marlins is to […]
Spring Training Statcast Notebook: Liberatore, Baez, and Gorman
More than half the Spring Training games are in the books. The Cardinals have played to a winning record, showed off some top prospects, and avoided catastrophic injuries. This is the first year that all spring games have been Statcast tracked, giving us plenty of data to keep an eye on while we wait for […]
Spring Training Game Discussion for St. Louis Cardinals vs Houston Astros
The St. Louis Cardinals will tangle with those garbage can banging Houston Astros (sorry, but I can’t let it go) in a Spring Training game on Friday, March 13, 2026. According to MLB.com, Kyle Leahy will get his 4th start of the Spring while the New York Mets will send RHP Kai-Wei Teng to the […]
St. Louis Cardinals 2026 Spring Training Observations on the ABS system
Introduction This short article continues my effort to articulate some of the observations I made during my visit to Spring Training, 2026. Short Topic of the Day I will start out with showing my bias. I’m a fan of the system. Although I’m an old guy, I tend to like new technology. I’m not a […]
St. Louis Cardinals 2026 Spring Training Observations, Ramon Urias
Introduction As part of my 6 days in Jupiter, I collected lots of observations and I’ve given to breaking them down and passing them along in manageable (ie. readable) chunks. I passed along some nuggets in game recaps if they were short and relevant to pre-, in- or post-game happenings. Last week, I published an […]
Spring Training Game Discussion for St. Louis Cardinals vs New York Mets
The St. Louis Cardinals will play host to the New York Mets at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, Florida for the Spring Training game on Thursday, March 12. According to MLB.com, Michael McGreevy will get the start for the Cardinals while Sean Manaea will take the mound for the Mets. The game is scheduled to […]
Deniel Ortiz is your #18 St. Louis Cardinals prospect
I am genuinely kind of surprised Ortiz is this low and it’s not necessarily because I disagree with his ranking so much as he certainly felt like a prospect that would be ranked a lot higher based upon the last three top 20s I’ve run. Speaking for myself, I think what hurts him is that […]
Who Should Be the St. Louis Cardinals 4th & 5th Starters?
As Spring Training rolls on, the St. Louis Cardinals roster is starting to come into focus, but there’s still no obvious choice for what the back of the rotation will look like. Who do you think should be the 5th starter? The same question could be asked about who the 4th starter will be, too. […]
St. Louis Cardinals vs Washington Nationals Game Discussion
The St. Louis Cardinals will travel to the Spring Training home of the Washington Nationals on Wednesday, March 11. According to MLB.com, Dustin May will get another start for the Cardinals while Cade Cavalli will take the mound for the Nationals. Here’s the starting lineup according to the St. Louis Cardinals website:
How are the StL Cardinals doing now that Spring Training is over halfway over?
Last week I used creative accounting measures on the projections systems to come up with a scorching hot take taken from the end of days (of the hot stove season): the Cardinals could win over 80 games. I have predicted 85! Several players will outdo their best projections. As winter is winding down and spring […]
St. Louis Cardinals vs New York Mets Game Discussion
The St. Louis Cardinals are traveling to the New York Mets Spring Training home at Clover Park. According to MLB.com, the Cardinals will have Jared Shuster take the mound while the New York Mets are expected to start David Peterson. The game today will not be televised.
My (Somewhat) Bold Offseason Predictions – 2026 edition (revisited)
With only a couple of weeks remaining in spring training, I think it’s time we revisit how we did with our predictions from the end of October. https://www.vivaelbirdos.com/st-louis-cardinals-sabermetrics-analysis/65354/somewhat-bold-offseason-predictions-2026-edition#comments If you were one of the participants who included your predictions, here is a quick link to help you find them! Like last year, this is a […]
The Viva El Birdos Podcast: Episode 55 – Interview with Ben Clemens
Old friend, formerly of VEB, Ben Clemens of FanGraphs, stopped by to talk some ball! Ben covered several topics including: his VEB lineage and career arc, Ivan Herrera dealing with lower body injuries again, Josh Baez and where would make the most sense to begin the season, Dustin May looking like he’s returning to form, […]
St. Louis Cardinals vs Baltimore Orioles and Houston Astros Split-Squad Game Discussion
The St. Louis Cardinals will take the field at Roger Dean Stadium today as the Baltimore Orioles roll in for another Spring Training game. It’s a split-squad day as another Cardinals lineup will be playing the Houston Astros. According to MLB.com, Matthew Liberatore will make the start for the Cardinals and the starter for the […]
Yairo Padilla is your #17 St. Louis Cardinals prospect
It’s kind of unfortunate for Yairo Padilla that he came up at the same time as Rainiel Rodriguez. Some sites had him as the better prospect entering 2025. And then, well, 2025 happened. I think the perception of Padilla was certainly negatively affected by Rodriguez’s rise, even though that doesn’t really make sense, just because […]
St. Louis Cardinals vs Miami Marlins Game Discussion
The St. Louis Cardinals will spend Sunday on the diamond taking on the Miami Marlins at Roger Dean Stadium. It will be Andre Pallante starting the game for the Cardinals while MLB.com says LHP Braxton Garrett will take the mound for the Marlins.
Comparing the Cardinals: Are we seeing the middle infield of the future?
Week 1: Starting Pitching Week 2: Catchers Week 3: Corner Infield This could be a long article made short with the simple word: yes. I truly believe we are seeing the middle infield that will be standing at Busch Stadium for the foreseeable future. But Doc probably would not be happy if my write up […]
Should Jordan Walker or Joshua Baez Be St. Louis Cardinals Starting Right Fielder?
I realize that it’s a big mistake to overreact to Spring Training performances and I don’t intend this to be that, but I think there’s a legitimate question as to who the St. Louis Cardinals should put on their opening day roster as their starting right fielder and who should start the year in Triple […]
St. Louis Cardinals vs New York Mets Game Discussion
Kyle Leahy will have another opportunity to prove to the St. Louis Cardinals that he has what it takes to be a starter as he’ll be on the mound to do battle with the New York Mets at Roger Dean Stadium. According to MLB.com, Kodai Senga will make the Spring Training start for the Mets. […]
The Cardinals’ Hidden Advantage: A Lineup Built for Career Years
The age of the Cardinals position player core could be the team’s secret weapon in 2026. While the roster is young, this isn’t a team built around 20- and 21-year-olds that are expected to contribute immediately. The projected starters on the position player side of things are all either in their prime or about to […]
St. Louis Cardinals vs Baltimore Orioles Game Discussion
The St. Louis Cardinals who didn’t depart for the World Baseball Classic will take the field today starting at 12:05pm central against the Baltimore Orioles at Ed Smith Stadium. According to MLB.com, Michael McGreevy will start the game for the Cardinals while it’s Chris Bassitt on the mound for the Orioles. The St. Louis Cardinals […]
St. Louis Cardinals Spring Training Update from the Jupiter Complex
We got into Jupiter Wednesday 2/25 and stayed through Monday 3/2. Here is a rundown of various discoveries and observations outside of the game reports. This will be a fair amount of surface level observations. I will follow up with a couple more in-depth articles where it appears more attention is deserving. Ask questions, and […]
St. Louis Cardinals vs Pittsburgh Pirates Game Discussion
As many players have departed for the World Baseball Classic, the remaining St. Louis Cardinals will continue their Spring Training schedule by taking on the Pittsburgh Pirates in LECOM Park today. According to MLB.com, Dustin May will get the start for St. Louis while Mitch Keller takes the mound for Pittsburgh. The Cardinals Spring Training […]
Ixan Henderson is your #16 St. Louis Cardinals prospect
After being relatively close to winning for the last few votes, Ixan Henderson won the vote for the 16th prospect pretty handily. Both polls I ran in fact weren’t really contests at all. I am been pretty vocal in wondering if Henderson would be higher if not for his current injury scare. I don’t think […]
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