ST. LOUIS • If you happened upon a recent Maryville baseball practice and thought, hey, that outfielder sure looks like Luke Voit, you are not losing it.
The Cardinals' backup first baseman told the Post-Dispatch in November that he was going to tinker with corner outfield work in an attempt to diversify his game. That plan has progressed, in part thanks to the hometown product's connection at a local college.
"I know their pitching coach," Voit said Saturday at Winter Warm-Up. "He’s actually helped me out a lot in the off-season. His name is Travis Griffin. They (Maryville) have an all-turf field now. I went up there, and have gone to a couple of their practices and stuff. Just try to get routes and reads on balls."
“Most guys will say that the outfield, you’ve just got to take balls off the bat. But it’s more getting my hips engaged, and kind of learning different ways --the slicing, the hooking, taking the perfect route. But again, it’s stuff that you just can’t do overnight. It’s experience."
Voit is not envisioning a position change. The point is to do everything in his power to secure a position on the major-league roster. Similar to his role as backup catcher, adding outfield -- even if it's in case of emergency -- to his resume could help his staying power.
"That’s what could decide for them to make me the 25th guy if they need that," Voit said. "I’m trying to make outfield a spot for a day that Dexter (Fowler) or (Marcell) Ozuna or whoever needs a day off. Just trying to do what I can.”
Voit, 26, averaged .246 and slugged .430 with four home runs and nine doubles in 114 at-bats during his rookie season.
He hasn't played outfield since he started 12 games in left field at the Class AA level in 2016.
-- Ben Frederickson
Wong heads to Florida for work with DeJong, Oquendo
Cardinals second baseman Kolten Wong will report to Jupiter, Fla., on Monday -- weeks ahead of spring training -- in order to get some early work with shortstop Paul DeJong and third-base coach Jose Oquendo. Wong and DeJong, who has already been working out at the team's spring training facility, have been in contact and coordinating their meet to work together with Oquendo on double plays and fielding. Wong usually reports early to spring training to get some individual work in with coaches, and he suggested that Oquendo's return to the major-league staff will help him "get to the next level."
-- Derrick Goold
Kelly seeks more power
Carson Kelly, 23, has remained in St. Louis this off-season. One reason is that this puts him closer to his girl friend, who is a track coach at Grinnell, a small college in Iowa. More to the point, besides getting to go to a lot of Blues games, he is spending time conditioning himself to be a more productive player, especially at the plate but behind the plate, too.
Kelly, relegated to the bench for much of the second half of last season after he was recalled, batted just .174 in part-time duty and didn’t hit a homer in 69 at-bats after hitting 10 at Class AAA Memphis.
“I made a lot of adjustments this off-season with my workouts and my approach at the plate and catching and everything,” said Kelly Saturday at the Cardinals’ Winter Warm-Up.
“A little bit more power. More power and more consistency. With maybe not getting at-bats every single day, it's going to be an adjustment. Being very consistent and simple with my approach and my swing is going to help me out in the long run.”
Eight-time Gold Glover and All-Star Yadier Molina has signed on for three more years and Kelly, while prepared to play, also is prepared not to play much for the next three years, if he is here all that time.
“I'll be ready for whatever presents itself,” he said. “I'm still young. I have a lot to learn.”
— Rick Hummel
Mikolas eschews lizards in Florida
Miles Mikolas, the righthander the Cardinals signed to a a two-year deal after he had played in Japan for a couple of seasons, will be heading to spring training soon in Jupiter, Fla., where he grew up watching spring training. He said at the Winter Warm-Up on Saturday he hasn’t dabbled lately in eating lizards, as he did when he was in the Arizona Fall League a number of years back.
The opportunity, however, has presented itself.
“In South Florida, all the iguanas are falling out of the trees because of the cold weather and I know people are scooping them up left and right,” he said. “So, somebody’s eating them.
"Thankfully, it’s not me.”
Mikolas, who labored with Texas and San Diego in previous major league action, said the pitches he developed the most while in Japan were his curveball and slider.
“I feel I got a lot more consistent with my curveball, being able to work it to both sides of the plate. Keeping it down and throwing it for strikes more often,” he said.
— Rick Hummel
Quick Hits
- Jim Edmonds appeared on crutches on the main stage. He had knee surgery after what he said was an accident playing basketball with his son.
- John Brebbia shaved his Game of Thrones-ready beard, suggesting that he starts all over every offseason.
- John Mozeliak had some thoughts on pace of play and the designated hitter during his talk with fans.
- Kolten Wong shared in the panic as everyone back home in Hawaii was "freaking out" after the error that sent a missile alert to residents.
- Jedd Gyorko missed the Warm-up because his grandma was ailing and he remained home in West Virginia.
-- Derrick Goold
Leaner, stronger Reyes ready to pitch
When he pictures his major-league career, Alex Reyes is a starter.
And the Cardinals share that vision.
But there is a chance the Redbirds' top pitching prospect spends his first season back from Tommy John surgery working out of the bullpen. Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak said here at Winter Warm-Up that, as of now, new bullpen addition Luke Gregerson would be considered the club's closer (scroll down for more information on that). Mozeliak also acknowledged Reyes could be considered for that role.
Reyes just wants to pitch.
"Whatever they throw at me," Reyes said.
The 23-year-old right-hander arrived at Winter Warm-Up in noticeably different shape. He's dropped 10-15 pounds. The scale now reads around 230.
He's stronger than ever before.
He says his mind is sharper, too.
"My arm feels good," Reyes said. "My body is feeling great. I feel like I learned a lot throughout this year being able to watch, read hitters, read approaches. And being able to dissect video was something I was able to learn this year. Once I get the ball, we will see where it goes from there."
Reyes plans to start throwing bullpens in Florida early next week. Live bullpen sessions will begin a week after that.
"He’s gotten very fit," Mozeliak said of Reyes. "From a throwing standpoint, it’s still a little bit of a TBD, because we’re not rushing him. I think when you do actually get down in Jupiter and see how he’s progressing, it’s something we aren’t going to rush or push. As you’ve heard me say in the past, we’re sort of soft circling like a May 1 (in terms of when Reyes could pitch for the Cardinals). But we’re extremely encouraged where he’s at."
In 2016 Reyes went 4-1 with a 1.57 ERA in 5 starts and 12 games (46 innings.)
— Ben Frederickson
Gregerson is Cardinals closer for now
Saturday morning at Winter Warm-Up, Mozeliak said Luke Gregerson will be the Cardinals' closer “going into the season. … He has experience doing it.” The former Houston Astro returns to the Cards organization with 66 career saves, including 31 for the 2015 Astros club that made the postseason.
The 33-year-old righthander had a 4.57 ERA last season, while giving up 13 homers in 61 innings. But in his eight previous seasons, the highest ERA he ever posted was 3.28. And for his career, Gregerson has a 9.1 strikeout-per-nine-inning rate.
“I do think, when you look at our bullpen, there are going to be opportunities for other people to take on more responsibilities or roles,” Mozeliak said. “There's no doubt last year was a disappointment when you think of the blown saves and the close games we lost. But we also feel like this year we have a group of guys ready to take that next step up.”
Asked if the role of closer is changing, meaning the Cards could have multiple guys closing games during the year, Mozeliak said: “We've tried to build flexibility into our bullpen, first and foremost. I do think that the Memphis to St. Louis corridor might be more active than we've seen in the past. But having said that, I do think managers, in general, like to have someone they can count on in the ninth. … (We have) younger dynamic arms to take that role as well if we feel we can manage it properly, in terms of usage.”
A key dynamic arm, of course, is Alex Reyes, the stud young pitcher returning from Tommy John surgery. Mo said it's possible that Reyes will return around May 1. Mozeliak also anticipates lefty Tyler Lyons having an imperative role in the bullpen. And two young power arms, Ryan Helsley and Jordan Hicks, could very well make contributions in 2018.
— Benjamin Hochman
