Cardinals Off-Day

The Cardinals postseason was much shorter than any of us hoped, but after a few sobering days, we’re back for one last podcast for the 2022 season. We talk about the short series and whether there was anything to glean from the results, then we direct the recent Adam Wainwright tweets about his injury and speculate about what the Cardinals may do during the offseason. Thanks to all of you who list...

It was an incredible, historic regular season, but now the postseason has arrived. We discuss the likely Wild Card roster, as well as starting pitcher usage - including Marmol’s comments about creative deployment of his starters. Then we breakdown the match-up, marvel once again at just Albert Pujols has been, and more. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscri...

For our 2nd off day of the week, we are so glad to have Friend of the Pod Alex Crisafulli join us. You probably know Alex from the Chirps podcast, as well as his writing at Birds on the Black and Viva El Birdos. We banter about many topics related to the historic final seasons from Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina, as well as the maybe final season from Adam Wainwright. This is a public episode. If...

Remember when Albert Pujols hit 700 HRs? That was awesome. After gushing about Pujols, we talk how Wainwright’s dead arm might impact the postseason rotation. Then we look at the options for the postseason bench and wonder if the Cardinals will prioritize hitting or defense. Finally, we answer your questions. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get...

There’s just more than two weeks left in the regular season. Dylan Carlson and Steven Matz have returned. Tyler "O’Neill and Jordan Hicks have hit the injured list. We talk about these latest moves, then how the organization struggles to develop pitching. Finally, we talk about the players selected for the AFL and answer your questions. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this w...

It is an off day today, which is the only reason we can assume that Albert Pujols will not hit another home run today. We continue to stand in awe of what The Machine is doing, and talk about how this performance fits into the rich history of Cardinals Devil Magic. Then we talk about the returns of Flaherty and Matz, and what we might expect from them in a postseason. In our final main segment, we...

It’s been two weeks since the last Cardinals Off Day, and in that time, Albert Pujols has hit .429 / .487 / .914 and crushed 5 HRs. We talk Pujols in this episode: Both the amazing run he’s on now and the possibility that he might return again next year. From there, we move on to Jack Flaherty, who hopes to rejoin the Cardinals after a final rehab start. Then we dig into the Cardinals outfield in...

Ben Humphrey was lucky enough to be on assignment at Busch Stadium for the fantastic games against the Brewers Saturday and Sunday, so he’s calling in remotely to this episode. We dig back into another full mailbag and answer questions about the outfield depth, the rotation, managerial moves and much more. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get ac...

The Trade Deadline has come and gone and our mailbag is overflowing. For today’s Off Day Episode, we just answer your questions. We touch on everything from the minor league system to the major league outfield to what the rotation will look like next year. As always, thanks to everyone who asked questions @cardinalsoffday on Twitter. You can send in questions anytime - we’ll always try to get to t...

Our guiding principle here at Cardinals Off Day is to only drop new episodes on off days, but we made an exception for the Trade Deadline. Thanks to everyone who joined us live for this Twitter Spaces live recording. We discuss the Cardinals acquisitions of Jose Quintana and Jordan Montgomery, what did and didn’t happen in the Juan Soto deal and more. This is a public episode. If you would like to...

We hope you listen to this episode early. With the Trade Deadline less than 48 hours away, this latest news and speculation could lose its timeliness in a hurry. We start by recapping the Edmundo Sosa trade and what it likely means for the middle infield to have Paul DeJong back on the major league roster. Then we talk about the Luis Castillo deal, what it tells us about the Seller’s Market, and w...

The Trade Deadline approaches. We discuss Jeff Jones report that the Cardinals and Nationals have discussed a Juan Soto trade structured around Nolan Gorman and more, potentially with or without Patrick Corbin included. Then we look at other players who may be available and of interest to the Cardinals, particularly pitchers. Who will the Cardinals have to give up to make a deal? We take turns arg...

We’d like to think we have many friends here at the Cardinals Off Day podcast, but no friend of the pod has joined us more frequently than Kyle Reiss - and we’re glad to have him back. With the 2022 MLB Draft just concluded, Kyle joins us to discuss who the Cardinals selected and what that might say about their priorities, what they’re looking to develop in their pitching lab and more. We then dis...

The All-Star Break is the longest off-day of the season, so we’re unleashing a super-sized episode. We begin by recapping the comments Cardinals President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak made over the weekend on Blogger/Podcaster Day at the ballpark. He touched on a wide range of topics, from managing people, to how the manager seeks input from the front office, what happened to the study of...

Since our last off day, Jack Flaherty has returned to the disabled list, and while Steven Matz is now making rehab starts, his return to the majors is still a ways off. So… will the Cardinals make a trade to bolster the rotation? We discuss that in detail, plus answer your questions. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes,...

We want to be honest with you: We recorded this episode before the Mikolas near no-no and Jack Flaherty’s start. But to give you our take on these developments: No-hitters and the return of a staff ace are both good. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, we hope you’ll enjoy this episode: Main Topics11:35-Pitch Value vs. ERA - A tale of Woodford, Hudson and how the Cardinals operate-Starting Pit...

After an unusual 5-game series in Chicago, the Cardinals get an off-day with their two corner outfielders expected to return to the team soon. We discuss how the return of O’Neill and Carlson might shake up the lineup and playing time. Then we talk pitching and how this Cardinals team will get the innings it needs from the arms it has available. We answer listener questions, then wrap up with what...

On our last episode, we talked about the team being on the cusp of #Gormania, but concerns about his strikeouts and defense still kept the top prospect down on the farm. Now Nolan Gorman is a St. Louis Cardinal… and he brought his friends. **You can celebrate #Gormania with a t-shirt in a variety of styles and colors. Get yours at: http://bit.ly/gormania Proceeds go to the nonprofit More Than Base...

We are back after a long hiatus, with our precious off days being repurposed for make-up games. There’s a lot to talk about, and we kick things off with: 0:11:00Gormania - When will Nolan Gorman get the call to St. Louis? Should he be there already? What will be his role when he arrives? 0:30:17April Awards - Most Surprising Player, Most Likely to Rebound, and with apologies, Most Likely to Contin...

10 days into the season, we try not to react to Small Sample Size Theater. But we still found some topics worth bantering about. 09:56Adam Wainwright is among a rare group of pitchers who not only pitch at age 40, but often well beyond. 18:53Albert Pujols weird (in a good way) early returns on contact. 25:36Jake Woodford’s pitch mix may have changed, but the underlying metrics still don’t predict...

You probably know Kyle Reis from Prospects After Dark, Birds on the Black, The Dirty Flirty, and his nightly GIFs of Cardinals minor leaguers. He joins us for another Super Sized preview episode to discuss everything going on down on the farm. 04:26Gorman, Liberatore, Yepez and the prospects who might make a major league impact this season. 29:56Triple-A and the overall organizational philosophy o...

We are back for a new season of The Cardinals Off-Day Podcast, complete with new theme music from de Vant. (Thanks, Micah!) In this super sized episode, we preview the 2022 Cardinals season. 04:00We draft the 2022 Cardinals based on who will accumulate the most WAR, and also recap how they did in last year’s WAR draft. 48:32 We each predict the Top 5 pitchers in terms of starts for the 2022 season...

It’s a Spring Training off-day, and in consideration of our recording schedule, the St. Louis Cardinals agreed to terms with Franchise Legend Albert Pujols on a one-year, $2.5 million contract to return to the team as a bench bat and mentor. 00:40Albert Pujols returns to the Cardinals. We discuss our feelings about seeing Albert return as well as what it means from a baseball perspective. 32:14Sta...

Our long national off-day nightmare is over. With the owners and Players Association agreeing to a new collective bargaining agreement, we are now looking at a month of whirlwind free agent signings and a truncated spring training, followed by an April 7 Opening Day and a full 162-game season. After a few choice words for the owners and the lockout they put us all through, Ben and Ben dive into th...

There are many ways to celebrate the holiday season, but as Cardinals fans and lovers of advanced stats, I hope we can all come together to celebrate the annual tradition of ZiPSmas. Cardinals Fans must have been very good this year, as not only did the ZiPS projections release just before Christmas, but they included some very promising projections for a number of Redbirds players. We were lucky...