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Miles Mikolas pulls up the collar of his Levi’s Sherpa-lined denim trucker jacket around his neck. The weather is just starting to warm up this time of year, but when the sun goes down the small bite of cold still nips at any exposed skin. He looks down that baseball in his hand, the one that mysteriously appeared in the pocket of his jacket at the end of the day. He instinctively closes his fingers around it in his slider grip and the words he read earlier reappear:
5 starters in a rotation on the mound
26 players will be in the dugout
9 players on the field will be found
1 pitcher starts the Opening Day bout
In the Land of St. Louis in front of the Arch
One start to begin them all, one start to define them
One start to open baseball and may victory find them
In the Land of St. Louis in front of the Arch.
Opening Day is just three days away and the Cardinals have announced their Opening Day rosters. Some of the big news is that it will be missing veteran pitcher Adam Wainwright as it was reported last week that Waino suffered a groin injury during a training session and will likely miss several weeks. That will push Miles Mikolas up to start Opening Day, which is a particularly exciting occasion as Mikolas recently signed an extension for 2 years and $40 million. The rest of the Cardinals rotation will shake out like this, per Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post Dispatch:
Rotation to open season:
— Derrick Goold (@dgoold) March 25, 2023
vs TOR - Miles Mikolas
vs TOR - Jack Flaherty
vs TOR - Jordan Montgomery
vs ATL - Jake Woodford
vs ATL - Steven Matz #stlcards
Here is the rest of the roster breakdown, courtesy of Jeff Jones of the Belleville News Democrat:
Cardinals have officially announced this evening’s transactions. The 26-man roster: pic.twitter.com/jOMfXk3Jcg
— Jeff Jones (@jmjones) March 26, 2023
Some other notable roster inclusions are Taylor Motter in the infield for the injured Paul DeJong, Packy Naughton and Zack Thompson as the lefties the Cardinals went with in the bullpen, and oh yeah, Jordan Walker has made the Opening Day roster. He will reportedly wear number 18.
Jordan Walker takes over the number 18 most recently worn by Cardinals legend Cory Spangenberg.
— Jeff Jones (@jmjones) March 26, 2023
Here is the moment he found out:
That moment when your dream becomes a reality. pic.twitter.com/lHU7tiZBn3
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) March 26, 2023
This is going to be fun.
what else is going on in baseball...
Austin Gomber on Pitching at the Edge of the Atmosphere | Fangraphs
Shohei Ohtani versus Mike Trout is how the WBC needed to end | SBNation
MLB is grading batboys and batgirls on speed, and will fire them if they’re too slow | SBNation
The one player each team just can’t live without | MLB.com
Welcome to The Show, AV! pic.twitter.com/Gq5VMRvqN0
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) March 26, 2023
what the cardinals are up to...
Jordan Walker is 20 years old + won’t turn 21 until May 22
— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) March 26, 2023
Last Cardinals player to appear in a game at age 20 or younger: 2000 Rick Ankiel
last STL POSITION PLAYER to appear in a game that young: 1981 David Green
To start on Opening Day that young for STL: 1923 Howard Freigau https://t.co/6rHNeqan8V
KNOW THINE ENEMY...
the nl central
Cincinnati Reds release RHP Hunter Strickland | Red Reporter
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