JoJo Romero sees upcoming break as a chance to gain ‘peace of mind’: Cardinals Extra
When it comes to the challenges that have faced Cardinals’ reliever JoJo Romero through his first full season as a key part of a major league bullpen, the left-hander feels the innings have been one thing. The stressors that come with the role he’s carved for himself have been another.
As Major League Baseball’s All-Star break approaches and a break from baseball is days away, the lefty said he’ll get a chance to spend time with his family at their new home in Arizona as well as getting a chance for a mental break following a first half where he was one of the Cardinals’ more frequent late-inning relievers.
“It allows you to relax and not think about the stress of coming to the field, making sure the body is feeling great that day,” Romero said of the benefits the All-Star break provides. “You have to go through all the stuff you need to just to feel great to go out there and play catch, and then it’s a whole different process to make sure you’re ready for the game. I think it just provides more of that peace of mind. Peace of mind more than anything.”
Through a career-high 42 games, Romero has logged a career-high 40 innings, maintained a 2.48 ERA, and struck out 34 batters while walking eight. His 26 holds entering Saturday tied him with Washington Nationals righty Hunter Harvey for the lead across the majors.
Romero, 27, was tied for 19th in appearances among relievers across MLB and was second among Ƶ’ bullpen core in that category behind right-hander Andrew Kittredge before the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader His 40 innings of work were fourth-most among Cardinals relievers behind rookie Ryan Fernandez (42), closer Ryan Helsley (41), and Kittredge (41).
Romero described the workload as a “challenging” aspect that has come with his role. He’s taken “bits and pieces” from the likes of Helsley and Kittredge on what body maintenance is needed to be ready when called upon while getting a feel for the mental factors that are needed for the job.
“It’s not so much workload, it’s the situations that you come in. The high-stress inning. Coming in later in the game,” Romero said on Saturday. “Every time I’ve been coming in, it’s high-stress innings, game on the line, one-run, two-run (scenarios). I think just the situation itself causes more — it’s kind of stress on the body and stress on the mind, too. I think that more than anything.”
Romero came into the season as one of the relievers the Cardinals expected to fill a leverage role after he successfully filled that role in the second half of the 2023 season.
When Helsley spent nearly three months on the injured list last summer, Romero posted a 3.42 ERA and struck out 33% of the batters he faced across 26 1/3 innings before the lefty’s season was cut short at the start of September because of a knee injury. The 27-year-old collected three saves — those being the first three of his career — in five opportunities during that stretch.
His inclusion on the Cardinals’ opening-day roster this year was his first opening day inclusion of his career and came with a role he got a taste of a season prior. Romero described a sense of “comfort” he’s found in the tight spots as opposed to the “really tense” feelings he’d get in years prior for moment that can sometimes be left out of a box score.
“Late outs are tough outs, and I don’t think people can quantify sometimes what it takes in order to get the last few outs of the game,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said ahead of Saturday’s doubleheader between the Cardinals and Cubs. “There is a different mentality to it. You have to be pretty thick-skinned. … You have to be able to take criticism at a high level and forget things quickly in order to perform the very next day when you’re taking the ball pretty often. The mentality side of high leverage is one that’s — gosh, it’s so important.”
Extra Bases
Tommy Edman went hitless in three at-bats as Class AA Springfield’s designated hitter on Friday night as the switch-hitting utilityman continues his rehab assignment. Edman, who is recovering from right wrist surgery he had over the offseason, exited Friday’s game in Springfield in the eighth inning. The rehab appearance was Edman’s third since starting his assignment on Tuesday and continued his gradual build-up with his workload. He did not play the field during any of his first three games with Springfield.
Cardinals prospect Quinn Mathews pitched a scoreless inning of relief in Saturday’s Futures Game at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. Mathews struck out two batters, allowed one hit, and flashed as high as 95 mph with his fastball in his appearance for the National League Futures squad. Mathews was selected to this year’s Futures Game amid a breakout year that has included a 2.22 ERA and 120 strikeouts in 85 innings across Class AA, Class High-A, and Class Low-A. The 23-year-old left-hander was the Cardinals’ fourth-round pick in the 2023 MLB draft.
Alec Burleson and Masyn Winn lead Cardinals offensive bounce back, drive 9-run inning
Less than 24 hours after Cardinals hitters were frustrated and left shaking their heads as though Chicago Cubs veteran right-hander Kyle Hendricks had used witchcraft against them, they bounced back with one of their best offensive performances of the season.
And they started their offensive onslaught immediately on Saturday afternoon.
The Cardinals pummeled opposing starting pitcher Hayden Wesneski for 11 runs, including a nine-run first inning when five runs scored with two outs, on their way to their highest scoring game of the season and their largest margin of victory of the season. The Cardinals stopped a three-game losing slide in the process, and they assured themselves a winning record at the All-Star break.
Cardinals leadoff hitter and rookie shortstop Masyn Winn and No. 2 hitter Alec Burleson had two hits apiece in that game-breaking first inning, and they combined for five hits, five runs batted in and four runs scored in an 11-3 win against the Cubs in front of an announced crowd of 39,129 in the opening game of a split doubleheader at Busch Stadium.
The Cardinals (49-45) also evened the four-game series between the teams at one game apiece heading into the nightcap of the doubleheader. They’ll wrap up the final series before the MLB All-Star break on Sunday afternoon.
“It was definitely a good bounce back from last night, for sure,” Burleson said. “But I wouldn’t say there was an emphasis. Obviously, any time we can get our pitchers runs in the first inning, that’s what we want to do. And we want to continue to tack them on. I think we did a really good job of taking good at-bats. Even though we scored nine runs in the first inning, we continued to have good at-bats throughout that game. We got into their ‘pen a little bit, That’s good for the doubleheader.
“But I wouldn’t say there was an emphasis on it, but we knew we didn’t do what we wanted to last night. That was probably in the back of some guys’ minds.”
Burleson sat just a triple shy of the cycle after the third inning. He went 3 for 4 with a home run, three RBIs and two runs scored. He finished the first game batting a team-leading .288 this season.
Friday night, the Cardinals scored just one run. That came in the last inning of a 5-1 loss, and Hendricks held them to five hits over seven scoreless innings.
That futile offensive performance served as the backdrop for the first inning on Saturday.
The Cardinals’ nine-run inning marked their largest single-inning scoring output of the season. Their highest scoring game of the season, through the first 93 games, was 10 runs.
Willson Contreras (2 for 4), Brendan Donovan (1 for 4), Michael Siani (0 for 1), Winn (2 for 5) and Burleson drove in runs in the first inning. Winn drove in two and scored two in that inning alone, including a two-out, two-strike, two-run single.
Winn was also on base for Burleson’s home run, a three-run blast to the opposite field that pushed the Cardinals’ scoring output to nine runs in the frame.
Donovan matched his career high for RBIs (45) when he knocked in a run in the first inning.
The first six batters of the inning reached for the Cardinals, including two runners who reached on fielder’s choices where the Cubs (46-50) failed to record an out as well as one that reached on a fielding error.
The Cardinals scored three runs before the Cubs recorded an out in the first inning, but not before Wesneski (3-6) committed a pair of errors — one throwing and one fielding.
“You just want to keep the line moving when guys are rolling like that,” Burleson said.
It felt like a merciful respite for the Cubs and Wesneski when the former Cub Contreras, who started the scoring with an RBI single, popped up for the third out to end the frame.
Winn, Burleson and Contreras singled in succession to start the inning, and Winn scored on Contreras’ single to right field.
Then Lars Nootbaar hit a bouncer back to the mound, and Wesneski fielded and threw to second in an attempt to start a double play.
Instead, the throw sailed high over the leap of Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson and into center field. That gaffe allowed Burleson to score all the way from second base for the second run of the inning.
Nolan Arenado followed with a grounder to third base, but Miles Mastrobuoni struggled to get the ball out of his glove which made his throw to second base too late to beat Nootbaar. That left the bases loaded for Donovan, who hit a soft roller between the pitcher’s mound and first base.
Wesneski whiffed on his initial fielding attempt as he came off the mound, then scrambled to the ball, picked it up and shoveled to first base too late to beat Donovan. Replay challenge upheld the ruling on the field and the Cardinals added their third run of the inning.
After back-to-back strikeouts, Wesneski hit Siani with a pitch with the bases loaded and forced in a fourth run (Siani left the game after three innings with a bruised elbow).
With two outs and two strikes, Winn lined a 1-2 sweeper lower and outside into center field for a two-run single and made it a 6-1 lead.
“That game looks different because you’ve got punch-out, punch-out, and if he flies out (they) feel good about limiting some damage there and it not snowballing,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said of Winn’s at-bat.
“But to be able to add right there, that’s a big part of that game. When you’re on the other side of that and they get that two-strike knock for two more runs, you feel the game getting away from you — especially that early. So that was an important at-bat.”
Burleson then smacked a 1-1 sweeper on the outer half over the left field wall for a three-run home run. Burleson’s 16th home run of the season capped the scoring in the nine-run frame.
Seven of the nine runs were unearned runs.
“There’s times when you can chop a ball and get frustrated and just kind of go through the motions,” Marmol said. “And our guys went hard. They sniffed out hits, and they were able to get it. That just continues to add pressure on that defense. It extends that inning. It allows you to hit that homer and that single up the middle and do some of the other things.
“Not giving in mentally when an at-bat doesn’t go your way (is important), and good teams take advantage of the other side when they make mistakes. We were able to do that today.”
The Cardinals trailed 1-0 going into the bottom of the first. After Arenado turned a double play that wiped away a leadoff walk by starting pitcher Lance Lynn (5-4), Cubs outfielder Seiya Suzuki blasted a 1-0 fastball from Lynn an estimated 433 feet to center field.
Lynn allowed two runs on five hits and two walks in six innings to record his fifth quality start of the season. He also struck out six batters, and he is now just two strikeouts shy of 2,000 career strikeouts.
“I walked the first guy of the game on four straight terrible pitches, then got a double play ball and gave up a home run,” Lynn said. “So for them to go out there and score nine gave me a chance to regroup.
“After that, I found a pretty good rhythm there besides the one inning there where I gave up a couple hits and a walk. They gave me a change to regroup, gave me a big lead and I was able to attack and do my thing.”
Left-hander Matthew Liberatore tossed a scoreless inning in relief of Lynn, and Kyle Leahy, promoted to the majors as the 27th man for the doubleheader, allowed one run in the final two innings.
Photos: Cardinals start off doubleheader vs. Cubs with 11-3 win
Cardinals snap three-game slide with a 11-3 rout of Cubs in first game of doubleheader
Just when it looked as if the Cardinals might limp into the All-Star break after they dropped a doubleheader to their I-70 rivals from Kansas City followed by a series-opening loss to their longtime rivals the Chicago Cubs, the Cardinals offense exploded for its most productive game of the season.
Cardinals outfielder/first baseman Alec Burleson and rookie shortstop Masyn Winn combined for five hits, five runs batted in and four runs scored, they had two hits apiece in the nine-run first inning that propelled the Cardinals to an 11-3 win over the Cubs in front of an announced crowd of 39,129 at Busch Stadium.
The Cardinals (49-45) snapped a three-game losing slide and evened their three-day, four-game series at one game apiece heading into the second game of Saturday’s split doubleheader.
Cubs starting pitcher Hayden Wesneski allowed the nine-run first inning as part of an outing that included 10 hits and 11 runs allowed (four earned) in four innings. Cubs infielder David Bote finished the game on the mound for the Cubs (46-50).
The Cardinals trailed 1-0 going into the bottom of the first inning, but they put the first six batters of the inning on base with the help of three hits and several poor defensive plays by the Cubs, who committed two errors and failed to record an out on two fielder’s choice plays.
Willson Contreras (2 for 4), Brendan Donovan (1 for 4), Michael Siani (0 for 1), Winn (2 for 5) and Burleson (3 for 4) drove in runs in the first inning.
Winn drove in two and scored two in that inning alone, including a two-out, two-strike, two-run single. Winn was also on base for Burleson’s 16th home run of the season, a three-run blast to the opposite field that pushed Cardinals scoring output to nine runs in the frame.
Donovan matched his season-season career high for RBIs (45) in the first inning.
Burleson singled and homered in the first inning, and then he added a double in his third at-bat of the day. He became the first Cardinals player with three hits in the first three innings of a game since Tommy Edman had hits in each of the first three innings in the first game of a doubleheader against the Pittsburgh Pirates on June 14, 2022.
Cardinals starting pitcher Lance Lynn (5-4) registered his fifth quality start of the season. He allowed two runs on five hits and two walks in six innings. He also struck out six batters, and he is now just two strikeouts shy of 2,000 career strikeouts.
Cubs use long ball to grab a lead
The Cubs got in the scoring column early against Lynn. After third baseman Nolan Arenado turned a double play and wiped away a leadoff walk, Lynn gave up a solo home run to Cubs right fielder Seiya Suzuki with two outs in the first inning.
Suzuki belted a 1-0 fastball in the middle of the plate an estimated 433 feet to center field for his 13th home run of the season.
Lynn gave up three home runs in his previous start against the Washington Nationals. He came into the day having allowed 13 home runs in 90 1/3 innings.
Wesneski had held his own against Cardinals
Wesneski (3-6) made his seventh start of the season in Saturday’s first game. He has also made17 relief appearances this season.
Wesneski made one previous start against the Cardinals in his career during the 2023 season. He started at Busch Stadium on July 28, and he allowed one run on two hits and one walk in two innings.
Wesneski made one appearance against the Cardinals in relief earlier this season. He allowed one run on one hit, a home run, in on inning at Wrigley Field on June 14.
In three career appearances against the Cardinals entering the day, he’d allowed two runs on four hits and two walks in 3 2/3 innings.
In his three most recent starts entering Saturday, Wesneski posted a 4.70 ERA with an opponent’s batting average of .146 and 16 strikeouts in 15 1/3 innings. He also allowed four home runs and opponents slugged .400 against him during that span.
Siani leaves game with bruised elbow
Cardinals center fielder Michael Siani, who entered the day with the second-highest oats above average of any defender in the majors, left the game after the third inning with the club described as an elbow contusion.
Siani got hit by a pitch with the bases loaded during the nine-run first inning. He remained in the game to run the bases and played the field in the second and third innings. He grounded out in his second at-bat of the day, in the bottom of the third, and Dylan Carlson took over in the field to start the fourth inning.
Photos: Cardinals start off doubleheader vs. Cubs with 11-3 win
Sonny Gray builds momentum toward 2nd half. Cardinals offense has 2 days to do the same.
The review of Sonny Gray’s first-half finale with its seven steady innings, handful of mild hits, and most of all two runs scored on outs would look and feel a lot different for the Cardinals if not for the name opposite his in the pitching matchup.
Kyle Hendricks tends to give the Cardinals two things.
Flinches and zeroes.
Gray, the centerpiece acquisition of the Cardinals’ pitching-rich offseason, had the kind of start to slingshot him into the second half if not for the hits that found holes and the offense that was full of them. Gray limited the Cubs to three runs – two of which scored on a groundout and a sacrifice fly – but during his seven innings on the mound the Cardinals managed zilch against Hendricks and eventually lost, 5-1, on Friday night at Busch Stadium.
Gray got the start to build on.
The offense has three days to do the same.
“I mean, that’s a frustrating game,” Gray said. “I threw a lot of strikes. I stayed on the attack. It just felt like when they put the ball in play it just seemed to be falling. Yeah, I just got to stay right there. I’ve got to stay right there and continue to attack the guys the way that I did, and just know that it’s not always going to fall that way.”
Gray (9-6) concluded his first half season with the Cardinals by completing seven innings for the fifth time this season and fourth time in the past month. He surpassed 100 pitches for the first time this season and covered enough for the Cardinals to preserve their bullpen for the sprint ahead this weekend against the Cubs. Gray felt he was “getting stronger” through the start and noted late Friday night that “I’m more than capable of doing that, and maybe down the second half will be my time to do that a little bit more.”
He collected a quality start and continued so many of the things he’s done well since being irritated about back-to-back starts in May. He has momentum heading into the second half.
The offense is still searching. Coasting from a strong road trip that saw a healthy outpouring of runs, the Cardinals have lost three consecutive at home, and narrowly avoided a shutout Friday night with a ninth-inning run.
While they’ve played fewer home games than most NL teams, the Cardinals have also scored the fewest runs at home of any NL team. They have three games in two days to change that and improve upon a .243 average and a .382 slugging percentage at Busch.
Hendricks slowed them down.
Per usual.
“We didn’t take very good swings against him, bottom line,” manager Oliver Marmol said. “We haven’t hit him well. Other teams have lit him up. We did not.”
Hendricks has an 8.08 ERA in his innings against other teams this season and a 0.00 ERA in his 11 1/3 innings against the Cardinals. The veteran right-hander, a holdover from the Cubs’ most recent World Series championship, has 14 wins in 27 starts against his club’s archrival. Since the advent of the wild-card era, only Hall of Famers Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux have more wins against the Cardinals, and they each have 17.
Give Hendricks (2-7) time.
“Adam Wainwright said that to me a couple of series ago, when we were here, that you should just pitch Kyle out there against the Cardinals,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “I do think there’s something to a mound that you go on and you just love throwing from that mound. Maybe that’s what Kyle has got going here.”
Removed from the rotation and relocated to the bullpen earlier this season, Hendricks emerged due to an effective, emergency and scoreless outing against the Cardinals. Who else? Back as a starter, Hendricks pitched seven shutout innings Friday and struck out three. The one walk he allowed was quickly erased on a double play ball, and he did not allow a Cardinal to reach second base against him. Two were thrown out trying. With mix of a below-average fastball, a slower changeup, and a slower curveball, Hendricks toyed with the Cardinals timing and lured them into some of the most uncomfortable swings of their season.
Twice Paul Goldschmidt missed a pitch down the middle because Hendricks had him ready for pitches that held to the edge.
“He just has so much movement on that fastball, and he’s able to use it on both sides of the plate. It’s almost like two different pitches,” Goldschmidt said. “He’s using it up, down, in and out, and it’s like two pitches that can feel like six or seven.
“Look, he still makes plenty of mistakes,” the Cardinals’ first baseman said. “Look at my at-bat. I had some pitches that I should have hit, and I didn’t hit them. He just has so much movement on his pitch, and that’s the biggest thing. He can throw his fastball up and in for a strike and that 87 in going to play like a 92-mph fastball. And he uses it down and away, and now that’s probably going to play 85 mph. So, you’re looking at his fastball basically for what it feels like, timing-wise, there’s an 8 to 10 mph difference. Then the changeup, that’s another 8 mph off of that, and then the curveball – that’s another 5-plus mph. He’s made a career of having really good movement and mixing it up.”
The Cardinals have had a season of stalled streaks, a few of which fizzled out because of how they’ve done at home. The Cardinals have not lost a home series since the first week of May, and yet they’re only 23-21 at Busch Stadium this season. After Kansas City’s doubleheader sweep Wednesday, the Cardinals are 0-3 so far on this home stand with three to play in two days.
Some of that stems from a sluggish offense. Two of the team’s top power sources, Goldschmidt and Nolan Gorman, have combined for 15 homers at Busch but are batting .198 and .174 at home, respectively.
Gray did not need much support to change the view of his outing.
The right-handed sped through the first two innings, and the first run he allowed the Cubs conjured out of three balls that did not leave the infield. A bunt single propelled the inning. A sacrifice bunt put two runners in scoring position. A groundout scored the run. In the seventh inning, the Cubs widened their lead to 3-0 with a sacrifice fly off Gray. The right-hander allowed a season-high nine hits, but one of the ricocheted off of him, another was a bunt, and at least two others were flares not hit all that hard.
“They touched the ball and it seemed to fall over the infield and in front of a guy,” Gray said. “I’ve got to continue to stay right there and know that it’s not going to play out that way over the course of the long haul.”
Had he watched Hendricks, he would have had evidence.
Following each of the innings the Cubs scored runs, Hendricks followed with an expedient inning. The Cubs took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning, and Hendricks retired the side on 10 pitches in the bottom of the inning. Ian Happ’s double coupled with Dansby Swanson’s single for a 2-0 lead in the top of the fourth. With help from a strikeout/throw-out double play that the Cardinals tried to avoid a double play, Hendricks needed only nine pitches for the bottom of the fourth inning.
“I think just being aggressive,” Hendricks said of his efficiency. He added about his success vs. Cardinals: “Honestly, it’s still a lot of luck. There are so many good hitters over there, and I just keep putting my head down and trying to make pitch after another.”
Gray used a similar phrase about “continuing” to make pitches.
There was enough in his first half finish to want to take into a second-half start.
“I feel good physically; that’s a good place to be,” Gray said. “Physically, I feel very, very good. Mentally, I feel good. Obviously had some ups and downs going through the first half. I don’t think I finished it the way I would have liked. I would stay right there and pitch every single game the way I pitched tonight. Nine out of 10 of them would go our way.”
Photos: Cardinals drop first game of Cubs series 5-1
BenFred: Brendan Donovan's sustained climb looks even better with career context
Something struck me while sorting through the soon to be finalized statistics from the unofficial first half of this Cardinals season.
Some of the players who talked a lot this past offseason about the Cardinals needing more leadership added to the clubhouse are wrapping up disappointing before-the-break showings.
Meanwhile one player who talked a lot about wanting to become a better leader has stacked one strong month atop another while continuing an impressive start to his career.
Brendan Donovan won’t be joining closer Ryan Helsley at the All-Star game. He doesn’t create as much discussion as more recent breakthroughs Alec Burleson and Masyn Winn. And that’s just fine with Donovan.
Donovan is as solid as he is versatile. That’s the brand he’s been building since he first appeared as a 25-year-old rookie in 2022. His understated reliability tends to get him overlooked at times.
Some of these numbers surprised me.
Donovan this season leads the Cardinals in hits, and number of times hit by a pitch.
He leads the Cardinals in doubles, and in extra-base hits.
He’s second on the team in runs, third in RBIs, fourth in walks, fifth in home runs — and has the fewest strikeouts of any Cardinals batter who has matched him in at-bats.
He entered this series against the Cubs averaging .270 with a .339 on-base percentage and a .408 slugging percentage. That’s good for an on-base plus slugging percentage of .746, which trails only Burleson’s among Cardinals hitters with 300-plus first-half at-bats.
These numbers include Donovan’s slow start, an understandable one considering he was playing his way back from last year’s season-ending elbow surgery that knocked him out of the final two months. The Cardinals had to all but yank Donovan out of last season as he was determined to play through his pain. What finally helped convince him to shut things down was a reminder that addressing the problem then should mean he would be back at his best now.
Good call, because the last-place Cardinals were going nowhere last season, and this team has a chance, thanks in part to Donovan’s surge.
He has slashed .291/.353/.423 since the start of May, leading the Cardinals in average and on-base percentage while striking out less than 14% of the time. He’s done all of this, as usual, while playing wherever he’s needed, almost always in a better than average way, whether it’s in left field, where most of his work has come this season, or on the infield dirt.
Donovan spoke this offseason about how he had pursued more leadership opportunities. It’s a desire the Cardinals have encouraged, because they see traits within Donovan they want to continue to cultivate, like his tendency to look out for younger, newer teammates. There are examples out there of team tone-setters not being the biggest on-field producers, but usually the most impactful voices check both boxes. This season, while some of the team’s best known stars have struggled or missed time due to injuries, Donovan hasn’t just talked the talk. He’s walked the walk.
Here are some other numbers that surprised me.
Of the six current Cardinals who have totaled 1,000 or more plate appearances for the team since the start of the 2022 season, guess who leads the Cardinals in batting average? It’s Donovan (.279). Same for on-base percentage (.368). He’s done it while playing at least 65 innings at six different defensive positions.
And of the 100-plus active major leaguers still in their their 20s who have totaled 1,000 or more plate appearances across baseball since the start of that 2022 season, Donovan ranks 16th in average and sixth in on-base percentage.
Here’s that on-base percentage list, in case you were wondering ...
1. Juan Soto: .412 OBP
2. Yordan Alvarez: .400
3. Shohei Ohtani: .386
4. Ronald Acuna Jr.: .383
5. Luis Arraez: .373
6. Donovan: .368
Sure, only Arraez has fewer homers than Donovan among those listed. But how about those names? And none on the list have played as many defensive positions as Donovan.
I’m going to stop being surprised by Donovan. He’s earned an expectation. I’m also going to stop calling him an emerging leader, because he looks (and sounds) emerged.
Cardinals prospect Ian Bedell allows one run across seven frames: Minor League Report
A week after earning his first win in Class AAA, Cardinals prospect Ian Bedell delivered perhaps his strongest outing since being promoted to Memphis.
The 24-year-old right-hander and Mizzou product completed seven innings and allowed one run for Memphis in an 11-1 loss to Norfolk. Bedell’s seven innings matched his career and season high. He completed seven innings on May 17 and May 29 in starts with Class AA Springfield.
The one run allowed by Bedell was unearned and came in the first inning after a throwing error from shortstop Jose Fermin on a single from Garrett Cooper allowed Connor Norby to score from third. Following Cooper’s single, Bedell retired 19 of the next 20 batters he faced. Norby, who singled with one out in the third inning, was the only batter to reach batter across that stretch.
With the seven innings and one unearned run allowed, Bedell lowered his ERA to 2.78 across 22 2/3 innings in Class AAA. He’s struck out 16 batters and walked 13 while keeping opposing hitters to a .163 average over his first four starts since he was promoted from Class AA on June 20.
Here are other Cardinals prospect performances:
Catcher Jimmy Crooks, Class AA Springfield:After going hitless in back-to-back games, Crooks delivered a three-for-four performance that included a home run — his fourth of the year, a double, and three RBIs. Crooks' three-hit game helped lift Springfield to a 9-7 win over Wichita and improved the catching prospect to a .307 average and an .866 OPS. Crooks entered Friday’s ballgame having batted .348 with a .412 on-base percentage and a .565 slugging percentage in 13 games since June 23. His three-hit game in Friday’s win against Wichita was his seventh game this year with three or more hits.
Catcher Leonardo Bernal, Class High-A Peoria:Bernal produced his third multi-hit game of July and 17th in 2024 as he went two-for-four with a double and two RBIs in Peoria’s 4-3 loss to the Quad Cities. The two-hit game continues the surge Bernal began near the end of April. After he opened the year with a .196 average in his first 14 games, the switch-hitting catcher has a .283 average and 32 RBIs in his last 54 games. At the start of Friday, Bernal had posted a .369 on-base percentage in his previous 53 games. The 20-year-old’s two hits on Friday improved him to a .268 average and a .780 OPS.
Right-handed pitcher Jose Davila, Class Low-A Palm Beach:Utilizing an arsenal that relied mostly on a four-seam fastball and a curveball, Davila collected 12 strikeouts across seven scoreless innings in Palm Beach’s 4-0 win over Clearwater. Davila allowed three hits and walked one batter in his start. He induced 17 swing-and-misses and had 36% of his 94 pitches lead to either a called strike or a whiff, per Statcast. The right-hander got seven whiffs on his fastball, seven on his curveball, and three on his changeup, the latter of the three pitches was thrown seven times on Friday. The 21-year-old Davila’s start was his second consecutive of at least seven innings. He completed seven innings on July 4 and allowed one run while striking out five. The 12 strikeouts from the 6-foot-3 native of Venezuela matched a career-high. He struck out struck out 12 batters across six innings in a start with Palm Beach on Aug. 10, 2023.
First baseman Chandler Redmond, Class AA Springfield:Redmond made Springfield history with his fifth-inning home run against Wichita. The three-run blast from the first baseman was his 60th for the Springfield Cardinals, making him the franchise’s all-time home run leader. Redmond began Friday tied with Xavier Scruggs for the franchise lead. The history-making home run from Redmond was his third of the year. Redmond, who hit a career-high 31 home runs last season, had not homered since April 23 — a stretch that lasted 46 games. Along with the home run record, Redmond also leads Springfield for most RBIs in team history.