How to watch Cardinals-Dodgers game Friday that will be exclusively streamed on Apple TV+
Two years ago, a high-profile late-season Cardinals game in Los Angeles was exclusively streamed on Apple TV+, the contest in which the Redbirds’ Albert Pujols hit his milestone 700th career home run.
This year, an opening-week Cardinals game in LA isn’t expected to have anywhere near the drama that unfolded there on that September 2022 night, but there is a common theme: Friday’s contest also will be streamed exclusively by Apple, meaning there is no coverage by Cards local telecaster Bally Sports Midwest or any other traditional television network.
The game is part of Apple’s “Friday Night Baseball” deal with Major League Baseball, in which its streaming service, Apple TV+, exclusively streams two games each week. For its opening salvo, Apple has the Cards-Dodgers as the nightcap in addition to showing the Yankees-Astros contest that starts two hours earlier.
Wayne Randazzo, who has done Cardinals games for Apple before including the Pujols No. 700 contest, has the play-by-play Friday and will be joined by analyst Dontrelle Willis and reporter Russell Dorsey. Former big league umpires Ted Barrett and Dale Scott serve as rules analysts.
Lauren Gardner anchors the pregame show from Dodger Stadium beginning at 6:30 p.m. and will be accompanied by Xavier Scruggs and Russell Dorsey.
Apple TV+ charges $9.99 monthly for its services but is offering a free for new and returning customers.
Apple says its MLB games are available on the Apple TV+ app on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV 4K and Apple TV HD, Windows PC, smart TVs, streaming devices and cable set-top boxes. They also can be accessed on the internet at , including on Android, Windows PC and Chrome OS devices.
The step-by-step instructions, per Apple, on how to watch its MLB streaming productions:
Establish an Apple TV+ subscription and update to the latest software.
Sign in with your Apple ID.
Set up the Apple TV app if you’re using a streaming device or game console.
Open the Apple TV app or go to the
website.
Go to the search tab.
Select Apple TV+ Major League Baseball.
Select a game.
Select watch.
Doubling up
The Cardinals’ season is just getting started, and the Blues’ campaign is winding down, creating overlap some days for both teams’ local telecaster, Bally Sports Midwest.
So it will utilize Bally Sports Midwest Extra, its secondary channel that airs overlapping games and ancillary programming at other times. That schedule:
SATURDAY
Blues at 7 p.m. on BSM Extra; Cardinals at 8:10 p.m. on BSM.
APRIL 6
Cardinals at 1:15 p.m. on BSM; Blues at 5 p.m. on BSM Extra.
APRIL 12
Blues game at 7 p.m. on BSM; Cards at 8:40 p.m. on BSM Extra.
Where to find BSM Extra
Channels on which BSM Extra is carried on some programming distributors available in the region, per Bally Sports Midwest:
Bally Sports Midwest Extra channels
TV provider
BSM
BSM Extra
AT&T U-verse
1748
1747
Bluepeak/Vast
210
208
Cable America
525
22
Cass
31
197
Co-Mo Connect
302
303 or 304
Consolidated
525
181
DirecTV, DirecTV Stream
671
671-1
Fubo
Check listings
Check listings
Grafton Technologies
77
789
Highland Communications
550
551
HomeTel
1055
1196
HTC Communications
1076
1077
Madison Communications
724
26
Mediacom (Mid-Missouri, Springfield, Mo.)
732
126
Mediacom (Southern Ill.)
732
N/A
Optimum (Branson)
38
N/A
Spectrum
824
826
Wabash Communications
370
371
Xfinity
959
520
Cardinals' Zack Thompson to showcase new arsenal in Game 2 vs. Dodgers: First Pitch
After a disappointing season opener Thursday, the Cardinals continue a West Coast series Friday against the high-powered Dodgers. First pitch is set for 9:10 p.m. (Ƶ time).
Left-hander Zack Thompson will take the mound for the Cardinals. The 26-year-old has made 10 career starts, going 3-4 with a 5.01 ERA.
He's hoping some changes to his arsenal will improve his effectiveness, and his spring numbers (2.81 ERA in five outings, four of them starts) give reasons for optimism.
Hitters teed off on his last season to the tune of a .327 batting average.
The Dodgers will counter with right-hander Bobby Miller, who went 11-4 with a 3.76 ERA last season as a rookie.
Miller's are far better than his ERA may indicate. He's above average in nearly every facet, pairing a 99mph fastball with four other solid pitches that he throws regularly. His fastball, sinker and curve all rank well.
Both Thompson and Miller were first-round draft picks in recent years, Miller 29th overall in 2020 and Thompson 19th overall in 2019, and both played their college baseball in the state of Kentucky.
In Thursday's opener, the Cardinals managed only three hits, all by Paul Goldschmidt, their fewest hits on opening day since 1986.
Lineups
CARDINALS
1. Brendan Donovan, LF
2. Paul Goldschmidt, 1B
3. Nolan Gorman, 2B
4. Nolan Arenado, 3B
5. Willson Contreras, C
6. Alec Burleson, DH
7. Jordan Walker, RF
8. Victor Scott II, CF
9. Masyn Winn, SS
P: Zack Thompson, LHP
DODGERS
1. Mookie Betts, 2B
2. Shohei Ohtani, DH
3. Freddie Freeman, 1B
4. Will Smith, C
5. Max Muncy, 3B
6. Teoscar Hernández, RF
7. Enrique Hernández, CF
8. Chris Taylor, LF
9. Miguel Rojas, SS
P: Bobby Miller, RHP
Injury report
Sonny Gray (hamstring): On the 15-day injured list, Gray will start for Class AAA Memphis on Wednesday in his first rehab assignment appearance, and his next outing after that could be in the majors. Gray threw the equivalent of three innings in a live batting practice session Friday in Jupiter, Florida. Gray injured his hamstring in the first week of March. He is expected to join the rotation during the first home stand.
Lars Nootbaar (fractured ribs): On the 10-day IL, Nootbaar had eight at-bats during live batting practice Friday and he was able to test how his ribs felt when he had some game-speed swings and misses. He will play four innings and take four at-bats Saturday in minor-league game. The next step for him is likely to be a minor-league rehab assignment with an advanced affiliate. The Cardinals will determine his readiness to join the team for the first home series of the season based on his feel at the plate and his comfort taking game-speed swings and rotation of his torso. Nootbaar injured the ribs during a crash into the wall midway through spring training.
Dylan Carlson (sprained shoulder): On 10-day IL, Carlson returned to Ƶ for additional exams to determine the degree of separation and damage in his left shoulder. During Monday’s exhibition game against the Cubs, Carlson sustained an AC joint sprain during a collision with teammate Jordan Walker. The Cardinals were initially encouraged that he’ll miss “a matter of weeks, not months.”
Keynan Middleton (forearm strain): On the 15-day IL, Middleton has continued a throwing program that will put him off the mound around April 5. He is building strength after having to stop throwing late in spring training. He’ll have some bullpen sessions before advancing to a live batting practice with minor-leaguers in Jupiter. Within a week of testing his arm against hitters, he could be on a rehab assignment and headed toward the majors.
Tommy Edman (wrist surgery): On the 10-day IL, returned to Ƶ to shift his rehab to a strengthening program before he makes another attempt to resume baseball activities. He will strengthen the area around the wrist before attempting swings. He will have an MRI on April 3 to determine if he can begin swinging that day. The switch-hitting utility fielder has had his program slowed significantly after several setbacks during spring training. Edman had wrist surgery in October, but during spring training was unable to get deep into the hitting program because of recurring discomfort in the surgically repaired left wrist. The Cardinals do not believe that his absence will be 60 days into the season, as evidenced by them not placing him on the 60-day IL to start the year.
Drew Rom (biceps tendinitis): On the 15-day IL, Rom experienced the soreness in his left arm shortly before the end of spring training. He was able to resume playing catch and throwing at a distance before the team left Florida. He’ll be on a throwing program to rebuild arm strength and ready for a likely assignment to Class AAA Memphis’ rotation.
What intrigue prospect Chen-Wei Lin brings as Cardinals' first amateur signee from Taiwan
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While growing up in his hometown of Tainan City, Taiwan, Chen-Wei Lin was not too familiar with baseball. That was until a Dodgers game aired on TV while at home and his mother explained to the future Cardinals prospect who was pitching for Los Angeles.
“Oh, that’s your uncle. He’s pitching on TV,” Lin, 22, said through team interpreter Huck Chen during an interview in Jupiter, Florida. “And then (I) thought that’s really cool because (I) didn’t know there’s a sport that (I) can do like that.”
That moment gave Lin, the nephew of former All-Star Hung-Chih Kuo, the notion he too could follow in the footsteps of reaching the majors like his uncle did in 2005. The dream of pitching professionally became a reality last summer when the 6-foot-7 righty with an upper 90s fastball signed with the Cardinals and became the club’s first amateur signee from Taiwan.
“(I) thought that was really cool and now (I) has a chance to be like him. So just trying to strive towards that goal,” Lin said through Chen, the latter of whom also works as a technology fellow while serving as a team interpreter for Lin.
‘Turning the corner’
Lin’s introduction to professional baseball came last summer in the Florida Complex League and with Class Low-A Palm Beach. Between the two levels, Lin totaled 16 1/3 innings and held a 6.06 ERA. He continued to flash his high velocity, which coupled with his length helped him notch 21 strikeouts. But he struggled to find consistent command and get regular effectiveness from his curveball as he allowed 18 hits and 12 walks to opposing hitters.
The introduction to professional baseball made Lin familiarize himself with the daily regimen that comes with being in the minors and faced him with “a little bit” of fatigue because of the length of the season on top of opening his eyes to how hitters might approach him.
“They pay more attention to details and the habits or the arsenal that pitchers have. It’s a thing for (me) to not to expose too much so (I) wouldn’t expose (my) kryptonite to the hitters,” Lin said through Chen.
After taking part in STEP Camp, the Cardinals’ early spring training program for select prospects, Lin continued to face batters from other minor league teams in exhibition settings on the backfields of the Cardinals complex. He’s entered the year with a new splitter to compliment his four-seam, two-seam, changeup and curveball repertoire.
In one of his most recent outings, the righty’s fastball ranged from 96 mph to 100 mph, which aided him to collect six strikeouts over three scoreless innings and limit Washington Nationals minor league hitters to no hits and one walk.
“He’s really turning the corner,” assistant to the general manager Matt Slater said in a phone interview. “Our minor league pitching coaches led by (senior minor league pitching coordinator) Tim Leveque are doing tremendous work with him. It’s pretty exciting.”
The signing process
Lin popped up on the Cardinals’ radar in summer 2022 at an international event in Obregon, Mexico, attended by Joe Almaraz, a Cardinals scout and the club’s senior international cross-checker. Ƶ was intrigued by the righty’s combination of size, downward delivery and high velocity. Slater said Lin reminded him of a teenage version of Sandy Alcantara because of his size and “explosive fastball.”
The Cardinals made the effort to be “one of the first teams to meet with him face-to-face” in May 2023 when Lin arrived at the MLB Draft League — a professional-amateur baseball league that began in 2021 and often features draft-eligible players looking to boost their stock. While there, Lin posted a 3.78 ERA and notched 15 strikeouts in 16 2/3 innings over four outings.
“Throughout that whole process is when we really cemented our evaluation that he was someone that we wanted to go after,” Slater said in a phone interview.
While the Cardinals were in London squaring off against the Cubs on June 25, Slater flew to Morgantown, West Virginia, to see Lin pitch in person and meet with the righty again after the game.
“It was a great conversation. We talked about his different pitches (and) his family,” Slater said.
That conversation included some talk about Kuo, Lin’s uncle, who Slater helped Los Angeles sign when he was a part of the Dodgers’ organization.
“That’s how the connection really came with me and Chen-Wei,” Slater said.
Lin’s signing in July 2023 made him not only the Cardinals’ first amateur signee from Taiwan but also the second amateur international signee from Asia after South Korean-born outfield prospect Won-Bin Cho signed in January 2022. With an already “large” and “heavy” brand presence in Asia, Lin’s signing can be seen as not only the acquisition of a right-hander with overpowering velocity but as a continued step from the Cardinals to explore amateur talent from Asian countries.
“It’s definitely a growing market and something we are exploring even more,” Slater said. “Chen-Wei just opens the gateway. He’s got such a great personality. He’s a great representative for us. I know there have been numerous Taiwanese media in camp meeting with him. Now we just got to get him to the big leagues, right? He’s just still a minor league player right now so we got to still take our time and go through the whole process with him. But he certainly has the tools to be something really good.”
Ten Hochman: A look at the Cardinals’ opening day offense, AKA Paul Goldschmidt
Inside Pitch: After Dodgers romp in opener, here comes first look at how Cardinals respond to disappointment
How familiar plot kept Cardinals from flipping the script on star-studded Dodgers in opener
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LOS ANGELES — After a completely predictable ending the audience saw coming and the final credits rolled out of the home clubhouse, the Los Angeles Dodgers successfully avoided what every big-budget summer blockbuster fears ahead of its domestic premiere.
No spoilers.
The Dodgers’ stars starred, their ace dealt and everything went as scripted while the Cardinals weren’t quite ready for a closeup in a 7-1 loss in their regular-season debut at Dodger Stadium. Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman hit home runs in the same inning and sandwiched between them, the $700 million man Shohei Ohtani did not defer to the Cardinals by reaching base three times in the first five innings. By the time starter Miles Mikolas left the mound, that trio had scored five runs off him and the Cardinals were playing catchup against right-hander Tyler Glasnow’s overpowering stuff. Paul Goldschmidt mustered what he could with a home run and three hits, and those were the only hits the Cardinals had.
For a team trying to put last year’s flop behind them, the way-too-early reviews of the Cardinals show signs of a sequel, not that fresh, hip reboot.
But they have three more games at Dodger Stadium to change that.
“(Expletive) or get off the pot: We’ve got to win some ballgames,” Mikolas said of the Cardinals’ opening road trip to Los Angeles and San Diego. “These are teams — if we want to be in the playoffs, they’re the teams we’re going to have to beat so we don’t get an early exit. And they’re teams you want to test your stuff against early. I didn’t do my job out there. I put us in a hole early and then we didn’t get the bats going because we’re trying to battle our way back.
“We’ve got three more games and 161 left, so I still like our chances.”
During his warmups, Mikolas was jeered by sections of the 52,667-strong sellout crowd for his comments about the Dodgers’ “checkbook baseball.”
And they are.
The Dodgers committed more than $1.4 billion to players this offseason, presented Ohtani the richest contract ever for a pro athlete in North America and show no signs of slowing in their pursuit of that — pause to check with accounting — second World Series championship since Gordon Gekko returned to the silver screen. Cardinals first baseman Goldschmidt suggested the Dodgers are “as good as any roster that has been put” on a major league field.
At least for the opener, they got what they paid for.
Los Angeles’ lineup is the first since “Back to the Future” debuted to feature three former Most Valuable Player winners batting first, second and third. Leadoff hitter Betts walked and scored in the first inning. He hit a home run to lead off the third inning on a pitch “you really can’t throw him,” Mikolas said. “Heater. Belt-high. Middle-in. Not a great spot.” Ohtani, at No. 2, had three looks at Mikolas and reached base three times. Hitting third, Freeman never got that third look because Mikolas left after 4⅓ innings, just before Freeman came up in the fifth. By the end of the third inning, that trio had reached base safely six times, hit two homers and opened up a 5-0 lead.
“It’s the big leagues,” said Zack Thompson, the Cardinals’ second-year lefty and Friday night starter. “Every team has nine good hitters out there. Anything can snowball on you. They’re definitely a good lineup, but the approach doesn’t change for me. Stick to my game plan and get after them. Put them on the defensive.”
The Cardinals gave a glimpse of how they’ll contend with some of the NL’s giants — let alone the actual Giants — with hints of aggressive and opportunistic defense in the bottom of the first inning. After Betts started Mikolas’ season with the unusual for him — a walk — Ohtani hooked a double into the left-field corner. For a moment, Ohtani ran like an Angel, trying to force his way to third base to generate some offense. But now he’s a Dodger and Freeman was coming up with no outs, so Betts was standing at third — and Ohtani was out. Jordan Walker’s strong, assertive throw from right played into the moment by giving Betts pause.
With one out and speedy Betts at third, the Cardinals brought in the infield — in the first inning of the first game. Clearly playing the probabilities on what Freeman would do with a ball in play, the Cardinals weren’t going to give up the run on a hard grounder. But because infield was in, they ended up giving up two runs. Freeman threaded a hopper past a diving Nolan Gorman to score Betts. Instead of a routine grounder, Freeman had an RBI single and would be on base to score on a sacrifice fly.
“We always want to play mistake-free and good at-bats,” Goldschmidt said. “That’s why those guys are good. They have some tremendous talent, great players. They play the game the right way, too. They take the extra bases. They’ve got really good pitching. They can do it all. So tough challenge. You can’t try to do more. We’ll try to make all the plays on defense. They just played better than us.”
On the field during batting practice, before the famously loud Dodger Stadium speakers got turned up to 11 and actor Bryan Cranston appeared as the surprise guest to read the Dodgers lineup, Cardinals executive John Mozeliak stood on the field.
This was his 17th opening day and yet his first coming off a losing season — and not just any losing season. The Cardinals finished in last place for the first time since 1990. The team that he first worked for in baseball, the Colorado Rockies, didn’t exist back then. He has called the season “humbling” and acknowledged the stress he and his staff felt with, even in spring, no outlet — no games to win, no standings to climb.
“Woke up this morning with butterfly feelings,” Mozeliak said. “We get to play the games and find out. A lot of excitement, and obviously I know there’s a lot of pressure on this season.”
It wouldn’t ease after one game, but it will intensify with more games like it.
One of the prized pitchers available for trade this offseason, Glasnow buzzed through the Cardinals lineup for six innings and struck out five. The lone run he allowed came on Goldschmidt’s solo homer to lead off the fourth inning. Goldschmidt singled to lead off the ninth inning and finish 3 for 4 in the game. The next three Cardinals were retired in order, so the rest of the lineup finished 0 for 27. One of the two times the Cardinals got a runner into scoring position was when rookie Victor Scott II became the first Cardinal since at least 1900 to steal a base on his first try in his major league debut on opening day.
It took Mikolas 29 pitches to get through the first inning, and not one of them got a swing and miss. The Dodgers seized on his reputation for being in and around the zone, so he said he shifted to “playing the game of, ‘How far will you reach?’” He struck out five and found ways through everywhere but the top of the Dodgers’ lineup. With the tone of someone who has a season left to play, Mikolas said it wasn’t his worst opener.
True.
It wasn’t the Cardinals’ best.
And that may be what it takes.
“It’s early in the season, (and) this game is not going to define us as a team or me as an individual,” Mikolas said. “There is a lot of season left, that’s for sure.”
BenFred: On Cardinals opening day at Dodger Stadium, two iconic NL brands looked as feared
LOS ANGELES — If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.
Well ...
Um ...
Let’s see here ...
Paul Goldschmidt’s swing snapped free from its spring training slump. Victor Scott II swiped his first of what will become many major league steals. And while no one back home wants to hear it, these Dodgers are going to make a lot of opponents look overmatched. Oh, and the weather was as great as the gas prices out here are high.
That’s the rosiest picture to paint from the Cardinals’ 7-1 season-opening loss to the Dodgers.
The winner looked every bit as dominant as feared.
The loser looked every bit as pedestrian as feared.
Two iconic NL brands played up and down to broad-brush expectations.
The cynic will remind you he told you so. The pragmatist will remind you that while game one feels like it carries a football game’s worth of meaning, it really makes up 0.6% of the season. The optimist will remind you that even the hardest-working farmers sometimes are no match for a swarm of angry locusts.
“Yeah, that stinks, right?” Miles Mikolas said after his spring training jab at the Dodgers’ big offseason spending was followed up with the Dodgers scoring five earned runs against him in 4⅓ innings.
Mikolas, everyone wearing blue remembered, made a spring camp stir when he colorfully compared the Cardinals to hardworking farmers while taking a swipe at the “checkbook baseball” Dodgers. Word spread. So much so that Mikolas was booed during his introduction at Dodger Stadium.
Yes, on a day that included a blue-carpet introduction to under-investigation Shohei Ohtani, a multiple-plane flyover and a rare early arriving crowd crammed with celebrities, there was a special recognition of Mikolas’ comments. He was the only Cardinals player audibly booed.
“Money talks, right,” Mikolas said after the defeat. “I ended up on the losing side of that one. Talk a little smack here and there. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.”
Mikolas complimented the fans for letting him hear it, then gave them a new reason to ridicule him when he took what sure sounded like a fresh jab at baseball’s ongoing investigation into Ohtani after the superstar’s interpreter was fired due to alleged involvement in illegal betting.
“I’ll play the Vegas odds, I’ll roll the dice, I’ll bet on that all day, that weak contact is going to turn into outs,” Mikolas said. “So, you know, I’ll just keep rolling with that.”
The Dodgers don’t need bulletin board fodder to bludgeon.
Batting first and second and third for Dave Roberts, Mookie Betts, Ohtani and Freddie Freeman on Thursday combined to go 5 for 8 with four walks, one double and as many home runs (two) as strikeouts. There’s a reason they cash those big checks.
“Look,” Paul Goldschmidt said, “their roster is probably as good as any roster that has ever been put on a major league team.”
Criticize Mikolas all you like, but you’re going to have to score runs to beat these Dodgers, and the Cardinals failed to do so — unless it was Goldschmidt swinging the bat. He had three hits including a solo homer. His teammates had none and just one walk. Watching it stirred memories of the 2021 wild-card loss here, perhaps because such pregame pomp and circumstance was followed by such lineup fizzle.
Dodgers opening day starter Tyler Glasnow’s first pitch of the game was a 95 mph fastball to Cardinals leadoff man Brendan Donovan, whom the PA announcer kept calling Brandon. Donovan’s swing whiffed. Tone set. An afternoon of awkward and uncomfortable swings continued.
Glasnow’s fastball hummed. His slider disappeared. He looked every bit of an ace.
The Cardinals looked like a team forced to start a No. 3 starter on their opening day because the potential ace they signed, Sonny Gray, got hurt at spring training, and because they stopped short of adding two starters better than Mikolas this offseason instead of just one in Gray. No offense to Kyle Gibson and Lance Lynn, but if the Cardinals thought they were better options than Mikolas, one of them would have started here Thursday. I’m sorry to ask this once again, but it was on my mind as this game got out of hand and Scott Boras, baseball’s most powerful agent, watched from one of the most exclusive seats in Dodger Stadium:
Would the Cardinals have had a better opening day outcome if Jordan Montgomery made this start? More importantly, would they have a better season if he was in this rotation? The Cardinals were not, the Boras camp confirmed, in the mix on Montgomery down the stretch of a free agency that finally sent him to Arizona.
The Cardinals during spring training were of the mindset that Montgomery wanted too much. Too many years. Too many dollars. Well, he signed with the Diamondbacks for one year and $25 million with a vesting option for 2025. Doesn’t sound like too much.
We’ll find out what Montgomery can do against this Dodgers lineup now that he shares their division. Boras headed for the exits at the top of the ninth inning. The Cardinals were down six.
Let’s end with one more piece of nice news: There’s another game Friday night. And it’s worth just as much.
“We still have three here,” Mikolas said. “We’re not an easy team to beat four games.”
Cardinals rookie Victor Scott II steals his first base, takes in opening day in LA
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LOS ANGELES — On a day when Cardinals rookie outfielder Victor Scott II realized a childhood dream and got to share the moment with family in front of an announced sellout crowd of 52,667 at Dodger Stadium, he wasn’t the one overcome by nerves or acting out of sorts. Instead, Scott forced the opposing team to play uncomfortably in the field.
Scott, a 23-year-old former fifth-round draft pick (157th overall) in 2022, entered spring training as a non-roster invitee and already had a resume that preceded him thanks to 94 stolen bases last season in the minors as well as the distinction of being given an “80” grade for speed on the scouting scale by Baseball America — an elite grade given to just nine prospects.
In his major league debut, Scott gave the Dodgers and everyone in attendance an example of how his speed can have a large potential impact on a game in small bursts.
Scott went 0 for 3 in the Cardinals’ 7-1 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday afternoon. However, he reached base in the fifth inning on a throwing error by Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts, a seven-time All-Star and former Most Valuable Player. His speed caused Betts to rush an off-target throw to first base, which allowed Scott to reach. During the ensuing at-bat, with Masyn Winn at the plate, Scott registered the first stolen base of his major league career.
“That’s what he’s going to do to a lot of people,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “You have got to be on point whenever he’s up to bat. I mean, you bobble anything and he’s going to be safe. So he’ll continue to put pressure on the defense.
“Then a nice bag there. He picked his spot well. Yeah, it was a good taste of it today.”
Scott’s stolen base in the fifth inning, on his first career attempt, made him the first Cardinals player to steal a base in his major league debut on opening day since 1900.
He also became just the seventh Cardinals player to steal a base in his MLB debut, the first since Tyler Greene did so on April 30, 2009. Scott’s stolen base came with Dodgers starting pitcher Tyler Glasnow on the mound and Will Smith at catcher.
“It’s every child’s dream just to be out there, and especially being Dodger Stadium,” Scott said. “Mookie Betts is a guy who I grew up watching, who I idolized as a kid. Going to Turner Field, going to Truist, at the time watching Freddie Freeman, being on the same field as those guys was kind of breathtaking honestly. But you kind of realize that it’s the same game at the end of the day.”
Scott now has his first career stolen base even though he hasn’t yet recorded a hit in the majors. Scott said he and third base coach Ron “Pop” Warner went over tendencies in preparation for the game. He got a very detailed understanding of Glasnow, a pitcher he’d been watching as a fan dating back to his college and high school days.
“I knew that if I got on base I was going to have a good chance of stealing one with the homework that I did,” Scott said. “So I ended up getting a pretty good jump, and I ended up sliding in there. I almost slid past the bag.”
Scott lofted a fly ball to the left fielder on the first pitch he saw in his first at-bat. He reached on the Betts throwing error in his next plate appearance. At that point, he’d put two balls in play after having faced just three pitches. He struck out swinging in his final at-bat after he fouled off three pitches.
“That’s how I ended up making it up here, being aggressive with a line-drive approach,” Scott said. “It didn’t shake my way today, but there’s always tomorrow.”
Scott seemed to take all the pomp and circumstance in stride despite what has been a whirlwind few days.
He’d originally been sent to minor league camp on the final weekend of spring training in Florida. Following a shoulder injury to outfielder Dylan Carlson, Scott got called and told to join the team in Arizona for its final exhibition game.
Two days after he showed up in Arizona, he started in center field for the Cardinals on opening day against a star-studded Dodgers team that includes three former MVPs in its lineup and that has been picked by many as the favorite to win the World Series.
“Making my way out to center field looking at everybody, kind of seeing how Dodger Stadium has four decks to it, it was like yeah, this is real,” Scott said. “This is as real as it gets. ... I told myself prior to, I was going to act like nobody was there. That didn’t happen.”
It didn’t happen because the volume in the ballpark after the first hit of the game struck him. He couldn’t ignore it or pretend it wasn’t present.
That crowd noise wasn’t the only sound that struck a chord with Scott during the game.
Scott said he heard the familiar loud, high-pitched whistle of his father, Victor, from behind him when he got to home plate. Scott also recognized his father yelling “Victor D,” a reference to his middle name being Dwanyne.
“It was an opening day for my parents and my family as well, for those people that had been there since I was a kid,” Scott said. “So seeing them after the game was unbelievable. They had the biggest smiles on their faces. Knowing that I have them behind me, I can’t go wrong.”
Meanwhile in Florida, Sonny Gray, Lars Nootbaar set for significant steps: Cardinals Extra
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LOS ANGELES — While his teammates packed their gear and readied to leave Florida, Cardinals starter Sonny Gray remained behind, succinct in what he needed to do before he could join them.
He had gone almost a month with it.
“I’ve got to get into a game,” the right-hander said.
The next step toward that game comes Friday in Gray’s recovery from the hamstring strain that interrupted his spring training and delayed his Cardinals debut. Gray will throw live batting practice at the team’s complex in Jupiter, Florida. Among the hitters he’s expected to face in the simulated game is teammate Lars Nootbaar. A Cardinals official said that is “probable.”
Nootbaar, who fractured his ribs earlier this month, has advanced to facing game-speed pitching, and it will be Gray who delivers it.
“All our guys on the IL are progressing in the right direction,” said John Mozeliak, president of baseball operations.
That group includes Tommy Edman, who relocated rehab to Ƶ on Thursday. The team’s planned starting center fielder was unable to advance to games as hoped because of setbacks with his surgically repaired wrist. Edman’s focus in Ƶ is building strength around the wrist so he can return to hitting without experiencing the discomfort and weakness that slowed his spring training.
The Cardinals opened the season with six players on the injured list — their most on opening day since 2016. That year, Lance Lynn and Jhonny Peralta were two of the six players on the list. This season, the Cardinals open the year with their announced opening day starter, two starting outfielders and a setup man on the IL. Nootbaar is the closest to a return, though the club is hopeful both he and Gray could join the team early in the homestand that begins next Thursday.
The Cardinals’ splashy addition this past offseason, Gray injured his right hamstring during his second start of spring training. He was diagnosed with a “mild” tear that put him two weeks behind his fellow starters. Originally set to face hitters Thursday, Gray threw a bullpen session instead on Wednesday in Florida and shifted that live BP a day to get on schedule for a possible return.
If he recovers well from Friday’s work, which could be around four simulated innings, his next outing will be on a rehab assignment with a minor league affiliate. A start in the middle of next week will put him on turn to be available the first day he’s eligible to come off the IL.
The Cardinals backdated his IL stint, so that date is April 9.
How Cardinals sorted speed
By the time the Cardinals added Victor Scott II to the roster officially and named him their opening day starter, manager Oliver Marmol had already started to sketch out what the bottom of the lineup would look like with rookies Scott and Masyn Winn in it.
While neither has established himself offensively in the majors, both have speed that can cause problems at any level if and when they get on base.
Creating an avenue for that guided Marmol’s decision.
That and handedness.
Marmol put Scott at No. 8 and Winn at No. 9 to separate Scott and another left-handed bat, Brendan Donovan. Marmol said he wanted to give opponents something to consider before going with a lefty reliever in late innings who could pitch around Paul Goldschmidt and face three lefties in four at-bats. Also, getting a gap between Scott and the top of the lineup buys the speedy rookie more time to get into scoring position.
“It can be a lot of fun to watch (because) they do create havoc on the bases, and hopefully they do,” Marmol said. “And if you can divert that pitcher’s attention to something that is not the hitter, we’ve got some guys at the top who can do some real damage. It will be an exciting mix for sure. ... Scott will be able to have some more freedom to do what he needs to do — get in scoring position.”
Marmol was asked if Scott, who stole 94 bases and led the minors in his first full pro season, has the green light whenever on base.
“Scott will be ready to go,” Marmol said.
He sure was. When Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts rushed a throw in the fifth inning and committed the error that put Scott on base, it wasn’t long before Scott stood on second. He stole his first big league base after his first at-bat — with Winn taking the pitch to let it happen.
Opening day extras
Marmol plans to get every member of the roster into the starting lineup at some point during the opening series. That would include starts for Brandon Crawford, Matt Carpenter, Michael Siani and Ivan Herrera. The Cardinals expect to get Herrera and Willson Contreras into the same lineup at times against lefties. ... With their fourth opening day starts together as the Cardinals’ first and third basemen, respectively, Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado joined three other tandems with that many for the Cardinals. The others: Albert Pujols and Scott Rolen (four times), Keith Hernandez and Ken Reitz (four), and Bill White and Ken Boyer (five). ... Jordan Walker is the 11th player in major league history with multiple opening day starts before turning 22. The most recent member of the group is Jason Heyward, former Cardinals outfielder and the Dodgers’ starter in right field Thursday. ... This is the 10th time in 15 years the Cardinals have opened the regular season on the road. As an organization, they welcome doing that because of the chance of poor weather in Ƶ in late March and the confidence they’ll sell out the home opener because of its traditions even when it’s not the first game of the new season.