Highlights of the Cardinals First Live Action

The St. Louis Cardinals are finally back in action and we have real baseball to talk about! Well, sort of.

The Cardinals faced off against the Cardinals in a 4-inning scrimmage on Thursday, the first intrasquad matchup of Summer Camp.

The game included the typical non-competitive hijinks, with players batting out of order and a trade — Max Schrock was traded from the Red team to the Blue. No word yet on compensation for the deal. Starters were Jack Flaherty for Cardinals Red and Dakota Hudson for Cardinals Blue.

The first runs of the game came from Paul DeJong, who drove in Kolten Wong and Paul Goldschmidt with a double.

DeJong wasn’t done. The Cardinals power-hitting shortstop — who set a club record for HR’s at the position in one season last year — hit the first bomb of summer camp off lefty Andrew Miller.

Flaherty exited the game after 43 pitches, going 3 innings where he allowed 2 hits and 1 run. He struck out 2 and walked 2. Shildt’s goal was for the two starters to get to 60 pitches. Flaherty finished his outing in the bullpen.

Hudson also went 3 innings and 43 pitches. He allowed 2 runs on 3 hits and 2 walks without a strikeout.

Daniel Ponce de Leon replaced Flaherty and Miller, who gave up the homer to DeJong, stepped in for Hudson. The club played one more inning and called it quits, with Flaherty’s Red Team claiming victory.

Afterward, Cardinal manager Mike Shildt quipped “DeJong’s on pace for about 480 RBIs for the season.” We’ll keep you advised of his pace.

Derrick Goold noted that pitchers who threw on Thursday would be on a schedule that could lead them to Opening Day. Jack Flaherty threw Thursday, as did Dakota Hudson.

On Friday, the club did not play an intrasquad game. They did hold live batting batting practice, with Kwang-Hyun Kim and Adam Wainwright throwing around 40 pitches each.

The most moment of the outing was provided by Paul Goldschmidt. (Sorry, no pictures, just words.)

Wainwright, meanwhile, is reportedly feeling great on the mound and he’s already in mid-season quotable form:

If Flaherty is in-line to start the Cardinals first game, Wainwright and Kim might be up for Game 2. It’s interesting that Kim is tracking with Wainwright’s schedule. The two have been inseparable all summer, working out together. Waino also inoculated KK on some of his southern favorites. The Korean veteran now eats Chick-fil-a a couple times per week.

Since the starters will have little time to stretch out this spring, the Cardinals could use 2nd-tier starters in a relief role early in the season. Wainwright could throw 50 pitches, or 3-4 innings in his first few outings, with Kim set to go behind him for another 2-3.

Today, the Cardinals will play another intrasquad game. Carlos Martinez will face off against Johan Oviedo for a three-inning affair. Sunday’s game will push into the fifth inning.

The Cardinals do have one minor injury update. Brad Miller has not yet appeared for the Cardinals during Summer Camp. Anne Rogers reports that he is dealing with a minor issue in his heel.

As of a few days ago, Gio Gallegos was still having trouble traveling to St. Louis from Mexico. Alex Reyes is also not in camp and there is no report on his status.