Immediately following the first report of an outbreak within the organization, as well as postponement of the Milwaukee series to be played that weekend, rumors started flying around surrounding how the virus could’ve made its way into the Cardinals clubhouse. The biggest rumor that was circulating was that some players on the Cardinals had gone to a casino recently, contracted the virus, and brought it back to the team. As the Birds sat quarantined in a Milwaukee hotel, many reporters started throwing that claim around willy nilly, specifically former MLB player Jerry Hairston Jr., as well as the infamous Jon Heyman. Jon is a verified account and trusted source (at least up until a few days ago), mind you.

Days after this rumor arose, on August 5th, the beloved Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post Dispatch published an article citing facts to refute the casino claims and prove them false. The casino that was allegedly visited by a Cardinal was contacted by MLB and asked to review their recent security footage. As a result, it was determined that no Cardinal player or personnel had visited the casino. Due to health concerns surrounding the coronavirus, the casino had implemented a system of memberships and reservations in order to keep everyone safe. If it wasn’t obvious enough already, this system allowed the casino to check names and patrons and determine that no Cardinal had walked through the doors of the casino. Not surprising; what Cardinal would own a membership to a casino in southeast Wisconsin?

The Cardinals organization has denied that any player or staff member broke protocol on the road trip, with the support of the MLB itself. Mike Shildt speculates that the virus entered the clubhouse via an asymptomatic person from outside the organization that might have come into contact with the club.

Another possibility of the virus entering the organization stems from two Cardinals, Harrison Bader and Dexter Fowler (ironically two of the most hated Cardinals within the fanbase, much to my and many others’ chagrin), who attended a Nelly concert along with former-Cardinal-turned-broadcaster Jim Edmonds. A rebuttal can be made for this situation, too, however, considering that the concert was outdoors and drive-in style, and that the guys were all wearing masks and distanced from other spectators. 

Regardless of the cause of the breakout, the Cards quarantined in Milwaukee and were cleared to return to St. Louis for a weekend series with the Cubs. 

Uh-oh… no way… this can’t be… Mark Saxon reported on August 7th that the Cubs series had been postponed due to more positive tests from the Cardinals. More taunting from other fanbases ensued, and my withdrawals from Cardinals Baseball strengthened. That cycle repeated itself until now, as we sit on August 12 having only played 5 games. 

I think the reason the Cardinals had a second outbreak was due to the MLB’s irresponsibility in allowing the Cards to fly back to St. Louis a little prematurely. I obviously don’t have all the facts, but until new information is known, that explanation seems the most reasonable and it’s the one I’m going with. 

I don’t know when, or if, Cardinals Baseball will return in 2020, as the schedule is looking awful tough to make up. The Cards have now had roughly a quarter of their season postponed, and making up 55 games in the time it would take to tightly pack in around 40 seems highly unlikely, as much as it hurts me to say. Seeing just 5 games of meaningful baseball be played by the Cardinals in the span of 17 months would be depressing to say the least.

All that I ask of people is to get their facts straight. The Cardinals did NOT attend any casino, and that narrative needs to be put to rest, along with an apology from the irresponsible reporters who jumped on that story and doubled down in the face of factual rebuttal. Whatever the cause of these outbreaks may be, I shall patiently await the day that my favorite athletes on the planet suit up in the birds on the bat once more and take the field, whether it be 2 days or 7 months from now.

Let’s start by looking at some bright spots from the Cardinals’ win. Jack Flaherty showed us that his 2019 second half was no fluke, throwing 7 solid innings, allowing just 2 runs on 6 hits while striking out 6 and walking 1. He was credited with his first win of 2020. Flare dominated the Pirates bats early, dotting his fastball on the black and seamlessly weaving in his filthy slider and curveball. Even when he got himself into jams late in the game, he was able to avoid heavy damage by making great pitches to get clutch outs.

The Cardinals’ bats also seemed alive (for the most part) last night, slugging 3 home runs in the game. Tyler O’Neill started off his hopeful breakout season with a solo homerun in his first at bat in the 3rd, putting the Cards up 1-0. Two innings later, Dexter Fowler drove one out to right center and doubled the Cardinals’ lead. It was great to see Dex get into one like that; he had a solid night all around. Paul DeJong’s 8th inning bomb into the visitor bullpen ended up driving home the winning run. It was a huge home run from a guy that I expect a great year from. All in all, the Redbirds pounded out 9 hits, 4 going for extra bases. Two Cards had multi-hit nights: Kolten Wong and Paul Goldschmidt. 

Ryan Helsley also looked really solid out of the bullpen, throwing a 1-2-3 8th inning. He was able to mix in his offspeed effectively to record outs in play (see, I told you it would work!), which is really all we need him to do. We’re going to need Helsley to step up this season with our depleted bullpen, so it’s great to see him get off on the right foot in 2020.

In terms of negative aspects of last night’s win, you could throw out Kwang-Hyun Kim. He struggled in his MLB debut, getting the opportunity to earn the save with a 5-2 lead heading into the 9th. Kim ended up allowing 3 straight baserunners (although one reached on an error), and the Pirates tacked on 2 before Kim was able to force a lineout, and finally a 4-6-3 double play to end the game and secure the win. I’m not too concerned about Kim as I expect him to improve as we go along. Hopefully, he can find success in the closer role for us in 2020.

Overall, the Cardinals had quite the Opening Day. No matter what would’ve happened, I’m just excited that Major League Baseball is officially back. There’s a lot to be happy about from what we saw with the Redbirds tonight. They showed promise in the first game of the season, and although it was just that, I think we are in for a great season of Cardinals Baseball in 2020.

The biggest part to the Cardinals’ success in 2019 was their solid bullpen, which featured a mix of underrated arms, veterans, and young talent. The Cardinals spent the entire second half of the 2019 season without the services of flamethrower Jordan Hicks, who required Tommy John surgery midseason. In his absence, Carlos Martinez stepped into the closer role and was very good, posting a bullpen-best 2.86 FIP, along with a solid 3.66 SIERA. On Monday, Hicks announced that he would be opting out of the 2020 season due to his Type 1 Diabetes, opening the door for any pitcher to fill the void. Assuming that Carlos Martinez re-enters the rotation, there are a lot of paths that Mike Shildt and the Cardinals can take.

The obvious choice for closer would be Giovanny Gallegos, who broke out and was one of the best relievers in baseball a year ago. His 2.31 ERA and 3.05 FIP are both certainly impressive, with each ranking in the top 20 among all qualified relievers. There’s nothing not to like about Gallegos; he strikes out a ton of batters, doesn’t walk guys a whole lot, and has tremendous expected-stats-against. His .231 wOBA actually ranked in the top 1 percent of all pitchers in baseball in 2019. Great stuff from Gio in his first full year as a Cardinal.

Another option to close games could be veteran lefty Andrew Miller, who has had some experience closing games back in 2015. Miller is coming off of one of the worst seasons of his career, posting an ERA/FIP/xFIP line (we’ll refer to this group of stats as a slash in this article, for the sake of efficiency) of 4.45/5.19/4.43 and putting up a career low -0.4 fWAR. His strikeout numbers remained fairly consistent with 2018, hovering around 11.5 K/9, and his walk percentage didn’t take too high of a jump, either. Miller’s real issue in 2019 was his inability to keep the ball in the park, as his HR/9 jumped from 0.79 in 2018 to 1.81 in 2019. Having Miller close this season likely wouldn’t end up going too well for St. Louis.

The final guy who could possibly slide into that closer role for the 2020 season is young flamethrower Ryan Helsley. Helsley had a serviceable year in 2019 for St. Louis, posting a slash of 2.95/4.22/5.11. Not the prettiest peripherals, obviously, but he seems to have the tools necessary to succeed. Helsley has tremendous strikeout potential, with his fastball clocking in at upwards of 100 mph. Another promising sign is his .030 xBA and .024 xwOBA on the 37 curveballs that he hurled in 2019. Obviously it’s a small sample size, but if Helsley can mix that breaking ball in more to counteract his hard fastball and sharp cutter, this could show great results and could result in a lot more strikeouts. It’s also worth mentioning that in his 5.1 innings of work in the 2019 Postseason, Helsley posted a slash of 0.00/0.78/2.27.

With all things considered, the safest bet to close games for the Cardinals in 2020 seems to be Giovanny Gallegos. Although, I do think it would be beneficial to give a few of those save opportunities to Ryan Helsley, as his stuff is just too good. Mike Shildt seems to be open to any opportunity that presents itself, so it’s up to the players to prove themselves in the next week that we have left before the season is set to start. And who knows? Maybe Shildty feels more comfortable using Carlos Martinez in the back end of the bullpen instead of the rotation. That wouldn’t be a huge issue considering the great depth that the Cardinals have at starting pitcher. Is there a situation where a guy like John Gant or even Tyler Webb is called upon for the 9th inning of a game this season? I’d say that no possibilities are off the table. Regardless of what decision is made and who will be shaking hands with Yadi at the end of Redbird Winners in 2020, I’m extremely excited to get the season underway.

First off very big thank you to Will Guay for doing this interview, make sure to follow him on Instagram (@will_guay) and Twitter (@WillyGuay).

What was your favorite team and player growing up?

“My favorite team was the Marlins, and my favorite player was Jose Fernandez and from the older teams it was Hanley Ramirez.”

What is your favorite and most effective pitch you throw?

“Favorite pitch to throw is the fastball, there is something fun about throwing a fastball by somebody.”

What is the best thing about being in the Cardinal’s organization?