JUPITER, Fla. — In the years since being selected by the Cardinals in the 2015 draft, reliever Ryan Helsley learned a thing or two from past springs.
Among his experiences and the lessons that have come from previous springs is a reminder to slow things down.
“I think in camp earlier years, I’d come in throwing as hard as I could and try to wow some people a little bit,†Helsley said after making his Grapefruit League debut on Saturday. “And in the last couple of years, (it’s) just really focused on my health and working out some kinks in delivery (and) you’re trying to feel some out with a pitch. You just have a little bit more feel instead of trying to come out guns a blazing, so to speak.â€
The experiences have helped Helsley focus on the major goals of spring.
Lefty reliever JoJo Romero also is using lessons from past springs, some in the Philadelphia organization, to help shape how is prepping for this season.
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“The best way to put it is to be a sponge,†he said after pitching an inning on Saturday. “That’s one thing I learned. … That was one of the things that a lot of the vets said. Just be a sponge. Never stop learning. There’s always something new to learn. There’s always a way to go about things in a more efficient way whatever it might be so.â€
Helsley and Romero are projected to be key players in a reshaped Cardinals bullpen once the regular season begins in just over a month. They both got their first innings of work on Saturday in a 9-8 home loss vs. the Marlins to kick off the Grapefruit League.
Helsley, the former All-Star closer who is entering his sixth big-league season, completed a scoreless inning of work after he entered the game at the start of the fifth. The 29-year-old’s outing began with a leadoff double and a walk. But a strikeout looking, a force out at second base and a swinging strikeout on three pitches gave Helsley a scoreless appearance on 18 pitches.
“It was exciting,†Helsley said. “I feel like the first one you always have those jitters in there, and you want to get back out there and compete. It wasn’t a smooth one by any means, but it was fun to just go out there and compete and execute when I needed to.â€
The fire-balling righty topped out at 98.3 mph with his fastball and averaged 96.2 mph with it — a few ticks lower than his season average a year ago, but an expected deceleration as he ramps up over spring.
“I think when you’re a young guy you want to open some people’s eyes because you want to make the team and it’s really easy to come in and kind of lay it all out on the line like it’s Game 7 of the World Series in spring training,†Helsley said of the lessons learned in years past. “It’s hard not to because you’re out there competing, but at the same time you need to look ahead a little bit. The main thing is getting out of spring training healthy and hit the ground running in the season.â€
An inning later, Romero worked around a pair of walks and a wild pitch to complete his scoreless inning of work on 26 pitches. The lefty induced a pair of swings and misses on his slider — the pitch that helped him to a 53.2% whiff rate in 2023..
Romero, 27, placed an emphasis on “mobility and explosiveness†coming into camp — both of which he said were limited at the end of last year and for “a little bit†of his offseason because of a knee injury that cut his 2023 season short.
“Today, the body was moving a little bit better than expected so I was really yanking my slider a little bit, but that’ll be something that I work on the next couple of days and whenever I go out there next,†he said. “That’d be one of the main focuses.â€
Descalso gets manager’s experience
Because Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol was with the split squad group that traveled to Port St. Lucie to face the Mets on Saturday, first-year bench coach Daniel Descalso got his first crack at managing a spring training with the Cardinals.
The experience for Descalso, 37, came with former teammates and fellow 2011 World Series winners Skip Schumaker, the Marlins manager, and Jon Jay, the Marlins first base coach, across from him.
“It was fun, especially with Skip (Schumaker) and Jon Jay on the other side, some familiar faces,†Descalso said. “They were giving me a hard time. But I was just trying to make sure that the guys got their work and the guys coming in were ready to go. I was just highly aware of that and just trying to make sure that went smoothly.â€
The game, however, did come with some quirks.
There was a 5-4-3 inning-ending putout that began with just a runner on third base, a tag attempt to score by shortstop Jose Fermin that would have been successful had the flyout not ended the inning, and some base running mishaps like when Nolan Arenado was picked off at first base to end the first inning.
“First day of spring training, you saw that. You saw a guy tag up from third with two outs. You saw a back pick at first. It’s spring training for everybody,†Descalso said.
Scott’s speed causes havoc vs. Mets
Victor Scott II, in the first Grapefruit League start of his young career, did not take long to reshape the game with his speed Saturday at Clover Park. In his second at-bat, Scott singled with a liner back at the pitcher, and then, without the ball leaving the reach of the infielders, created two runs.
On a groundball up the middle that found a seam, Scott beat the fielders to second base and momentarily caused confusion on making a play at either base.
A pickoff attempt to get Scott at second was called a balk.
He hadn’t taken a lead yet and was on third.
That was when Thomas Saggese, a fellow leading prospect, hit a groundball to third base. Scott dashed on contact, arrived at home the same time as the throw, and in his slide disrupted the Mets’ catchers ability to catch or control the ball. It rolled away and as the Mets looked for it, the runner behind Scott scored, too. The prospect who stole 94 bases last season, his first pro season, didn’t steal base in the box score. He stole two runs on the scoreboard.
“You have to be perfect when he’s on the bases; you really do,†manager Oliver Marmol said. “As an infielder you go into that game knowing, hey, if it’s hit to me – one, you’re playing more shallow than you want to be because you have to get rid of it and, two, you’re thinking you can’t bobble it. You’ve got to be clean. So reputation plays a part. There’s a rush factor to that.â€
Thompson, O’Brien zip to scoreless outings
The Cardinals left their one PitchCom set back in Jupiter for the home half of the split-squad opener, so that meant pitchers and catcher Ivan Herrera had to go old school and even improvise some pitch calling. Thompson wanted to test his hard, sharper curve against hitters for a third time, so Herrera set a signal to separate that from the bigger, slower curve.
Thompson struck out the first batter on three pitches, landed the harder curve multiple times for strikes, and pitched two scoreless to open the 10-5 victory.
Riley O’Brien, acquired in the offseason from Seattle, needed 13 pitches (11 strikes) to overpower the Mets he faced. He threw 11 sinkers, eight of the fastest pitches in the game, and got four swings and misses on that pitch during his scoreless inning.
Extra Bases
Pitcher Sonny Gray, the Cardinals’ headline free-agent signee this winter, is scheduled to have his spring training start on Tuesday, Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said Saturday.
Miles Mikolas is set to make his first spring of the year on Wednesday while Kyle Gibson, one of the three free-agent starters acquired over the offseason, is scheduled to make his Cardinals spring debut on Thursday.
Prospect Tekoah Roby, acquired from the Rangers last summer, is set to start for the Cardinals on Monday. It will be the first big-league spring start for the 22-year-old righty.
After he resumed hitting on Friday following a two-day pause because of tightness in his back, shortstop Masyn Winn continued to be a full go on Saturday with live batting practice on the backfields of the Cardinals complex. Winn, 21, could be in a Grapefruit League game as early as Sunday. He was listed as a part of the traveling group that will head to West Palm Beach on Sunday to face the Astros, a game in which Drew Rom is scheduled to be the Cardinals’ starting pitcher.
Outfield prospect Won-Bin Cho made his Grapefruit League debut on Saturday when he replaced starter Dylan Carlson in center field to begin the fourth inning. Cho, 20, finished the game with two walks, a hit-by-pitch, and a run scored in three plate appearances.
Right-handed pitching prospect Michael McGreevy allowed four runs (three earned) on five hits, including a home run in relief of starter Matthew Liberatore. McGreevy said his pitch arsenal felt “good†across the two innings of work, but noted postgame that “everything was just up and good hitters capitalize on pitches up in the zone, especially with my profile. I need to live down.â€
Astros 7, Cardinals 1
ºüÀêÊÓƵ ab r h bi Houston ab r h bi
Donovan 2b 3 0 0 0 Altuve 2b 2 1 1 1
Prieto 2b 2 0 1 0 Dubón 2b 3 0 2 0
Nootbaar lf 2 0 1 0 Alvarez dh 2 0 1 1
Koperniak lf 1 0 1 0 Hamiltn dh 2 0 1 1
Burleson dh 3 0 0 0 Bregman 3b 3 0 0 0
Stauss dh 1 0 0 0 Wagner 3b 1 0 0 1
Baker 1b 3 0 1 0 Tucker rf 3 1 1 1
Rivas 1b 1 0 0 0 Julks rf 1 0 1 0
Carlson rf 2 0 0 0 J.Abreu 1b 3 0 0 0
Young rf 1 0 0 0 Leon cf 1 0 0 0
Winn ss 2 0 0 0 McCrmick cf 3 0 0 0
Gamboa ss 1 0 0 0 Brewer 1b 1 0 0 0
V.Scott cf 3 1 1 0 Peña ss 3 0 2 0
Antico cf 1 0 0 0 Bastidas ss 1 1 1 0
Pagés c 2 0 0 0 Cabbage lf 3 0 0 0
Raposo c 1 0 0 1 Palma c 1 1 1 2
FermÃn 3b 3 0 1 0 Caratini c 2 1 1 0
Saggese 3b 1 0 0 0 Loperfido lf 0 2 0 0
Totals 33 1 6 1 Totals 35 7 12 7
ºüÀêÊÓƵ 000 000 100 — 1
Houston 002 001 13x — 7
LOB: ºüÀêÊÓƵ 9, Houston 8. 2B: Baker (1), FermÃn (1), Caratini (1), Altuve (1). 3B: V.Scott (1). HR: Tucker (1), Loperfido (1). SB: Nootbaar (1), Winn 2 (2), Peña (1), Koperniak (1). SF: Wagner (1).
ºüÀêÊÓƵ IP H R ER BB SO
Thompson L,0-1 3 3 2 2 0 3
Middleton 1 0 0 0 0 0
King 1 2 0 0 1 1
Robberse 2 4 2 2 1 1
RodrÃguez ²â„³ 3 3 3 1 0
Cornwell ¹â„³ 0 0 0 0 0
Houston IP H R ER BB SO
Javier W,1-0 3 0 0 0 2 3
Montero 1 1 0 0 0 1
Hader 1 1 0 0 0 0
B.Abreu 1 1 0 0 1 2
Suero 1 3 1 1 0 0
T.Scott 1 0 0 0 0 0
Strotman 1 0 0 0 1 2
T: 2:39. A: 4,093 (6,500).