Cardinals news and notes: 2B, Holliday, the Wizard, and Braves

In early June the Cardinals launched their Spanish Twitter account (@cardenales) and started tweeting yesterday from it regularly. According to Mark Saxon, the account is run by Alexandra Noboa, who also serves as the Spanish interpreter for the team.

I don’t know if almost every other team already has a Spanish Twitter account or if the Cardinals are trailblazers here, but this is a great idea regardless. In 2015, nearly 30% of players in MLB were Latino - a number that’s nearly doubled since 2000. It would make sense that fan demographics have seen a similar uptick. And with the Cardinals looking increasingly at the international market for talent, they are wise to use every avenue available to them in this pursuit.

And personally, as someone who’s struggled to learn Spanish for years, maybe combining the language with my love of the Cardinals will finally get me over the hump. It’s a win-win.

Here’s what you may have missed yesterday at VEB:

Second base

The Cardinals currently have three suitable candidates on the 25-man roster for second base and John Fleming opined on who he believes should see regular time at the position.

Matt Holliday

Craig Edwards argued why the Cardinals should pick up Matt Holliday’s option in 2017. It’s a tough call but I tend to agree with the point made in Craig’s last paragraph.

There has been some talk about folding the one-year option into a two-year deal, but saving $4 million to $5 million in 2017 doesn’t seem worth guaranteeing him a spot in 2018 when he will be 38 years old. We’ve come to the end and I haven’t yet mentioned intangibles. Holliday is a hard worker, a good teammate and a very good leader, and has been with the team since 2008. You can’t let those things cloud an important $16 million decision, but when the numbers are close, it certainly makes the decision to keep Holliday a lot more comforting.

Ozzie Smith

Lil Scooter found this gem of a video in which the Wizard gives us a tour of his home. Come for the homages to the Wizard of Oz, stay for Ozzie pumping iron in a polo shirt in his personal gym.

Speaking of, I own a copy of Ozzie the Movie on VHS. Many scenes take place in his house circa the late 80s, and you would not be shocked to learn that he had an indoor room just large enough for a full-size trampoline where he practiced his signature gymnastics. Bless that man.

The Braves

The Cardinals should destroy the Braves and Jaime Garcia made sure they did just that. He pitched a gem and the good guys won 1-0. Here’s the game thread and the recap.

Enjoy your Saturday!