A recap of a visit to the back fields of the Jupiter spring training complex
This is going to start out as a series of vignettes recapping my journey to Jupiter, FLA, spring training home of the Cardinals. You’ve seen a couple game recaps for the main field action already. The game recaps are here and here if you want to whole picture. This story completes my trip with a backfield view. Lots to pack in. I will do my best to weave the info together in a way that makes a continuous story line.
The Complex
I find the complex environment peaceful and enjoyable to be around, including the surrounding Abacoa neighborhood. It’s good to just wander through and experience the sounds of baseball … the crack of the bat, the crack of the glove, players woofing at each other, the tempo music, all of it. In ways, it is baseball at its best.
One of the things I was looking forward to was to see signs of change. Last spring there were various notices of public hearings and so forth, portending some evolution and perhaps expansion. Although not linear in the storyline, there was a later chance to compare as we visited the Astros/Nationals complex in The Palm Beaches. Cacti Field. By comparison, the Cardinals/Marlins complex begins to feel cramped and maybe a bit dated. In the same way the new house you moved into 15 years ago feels stale after you walk through a model home in a new neighborhood. Back at Roger Dean, they have removed/moved some mature trees and appear to be staging materials for a new structure that will sit in a now open area between fields 1 and 6. Another small structure is being built out beyond the quad entrance. Any of these a pitching lab?
On the topic of Cacti Park, they do not have the Trackman System installed for Statcast data for their home park. I wondered why. Would seem like a competitive disadvantage not to have that for your pitchers in half your ST games.
Back home, they’ve made it a bit harder to access the back fields. Most pathways are now closed. You can still get to the quads by walking east on University and north on Central to the only entrance to the quads. But you can’t park there anymore. Maybe 1/2 to 3/4 mile walk. No signage. Not impossible by any means, but not as fan friendly as I’d expect from this franchise. Staff was gracious and as helpful as could be…don’t get me wrong on that. The regulars commented a lot on how thin the crowds were. There were times when there weren’t 10 fans back there. That was great for me (I liked the exercise and the access) but wondered if they might consider hiring somebody from nearby DisneyWorld who might bring a “Welcome to Our Park” mindset.
At Roger Dean, they have brought in the fences a bit, mostly on the left side. RF (325) and CF (400) unchanged. Right-center comes in from 375 to 366, left-center in from 380 to 366. Left field down from 335 to 325. That should make it play closer to neutral, less like Death Valley for young hitters. I don’t think they did this to benefit the hitters, though. More practically, it made room so they could move the bullpens off the field to back behind the outfield walls. Is San Francisco the only place with bullpens along the foul lines now?
The backfields
I must not be a true fan in some sense, since I didn’t bring my Sharpie and bag of balls or notebook of baseball cards, asking players to sign. I tried to keep out of the way and not intrude. I just like to watch and am grateful for the opportunity.
So, watch is what I did, wandering through the complex between 930a and noon each day. Whatever happened before 0930a was mostly out of view. Noon was time to head towards the stadium to catch the game.
Sometimes I’d be up close, which was easy since there weren’t many others there to compete with. Up close, one could see real-time Trackman data on pitches – the same data you see on Statcast. They had portable setups on most fields. They didn’t really make much effort to conceal the data screens, but I still suspected they would view it as proprietary data, so I will respect that, and not publish those details. Realize that most of the old timers freely admitted they knew nothing of the data displayed beyond MPH. So, I’d be a crowd of one gawking at Mathews’ IVB.
Sometimes I would stand way back and watch from a distance and see what catches my eye, then move towards whatever sticks out, and try to get close enough to figure who the player is. A lot of what follows in this story starts there.
The first day there were no minor leaguers in camp, so it was limited to the 50 or so players on the major league side. Each day after that, more players, more action. Every social system has a pecking order and camp is no different. You can learn a lot just by seeing what the hitting groups are in BP, or who faces which pitchers in live BP. Or who is taking reps at which positions on which field. Or who wears an MLB uniform, or what number they have. After all the minor league players get going, it ends up seeming like everyone is numbered 88. Some 88’s get a name on their back, others do not. You can also get clues by who is watching or coaching. Patterns emerge. As the days go on and I ask others “Who is that?”, I notice some names come up again and again. Other guys keep landing in my field of vision. What catches my eye?
Some folks figured out I had a clue on who many of the minor leaguers were and inquired. I explained VEB to them. Some were aware. Maybe we got a few new readers in the deal.
Almost immediately, standing back on day 1, I noticed J. Barrero, out of 50 or so players. Admittedly, I was looking past established players such as Contreras or Nootbar. He stuck out as I watched him play the field. He is a tall, lanky kid who is a natural defender. SS is definitely not too much for him. Very toolsy, not hard at all to see why he was a top prospect in the Reds system. He might be the best athlete out there. Tied for first as TLR would say. Tools get you noticed. Performance gets you promoted. Can he hit?
Siani still sticks out for his defensive work in CF. Jumps, routes, reads, closing speed all top notch. That guy is good. The environment at the complex is conducive to defensive hijinks. Mostly the high sky. I saw LOTS of flyballs drop around lots of outfielders. Not him. He made it look easy. Can he hit?
In the too early to draw conclusions department, Arenado was moving very well defensively. I wouldn’t say he was scorching the ball in BP, but I don’t remember him being a loud BP hitter. Contreras has added some bulk and it seems to have boosted his power a bit. Something to watch for.
I noticed all week on the main field that only Winn and Wetherholt took reps at short. Helman played everywhere.
On a different day, standing back in the quads I noticed a similar player to Barrero in the distance. As I inched closer, I noticed this kid had a rag type glove and everything went in it. He was drilling with another impressive SS who I noticed as both SS alternated reps. I wandered over, watched some more and worked to see the names on their backs. Padilla. Mejia.
Mathews threw live BP one day and anyone who is anyone in the Cardinal hierarchy stopped by to see. That is a tell all by itself. “How’s he doing?” they’d all ask. Even Oli skidded in on his golf cart about 30 mins before the game started, then off he went to the stadium. For the curious, I thought he struggled with his location, but his Statcast numbers were very good. Spin rate? Check. IVB? Check. Velo? Check. I wondered what they would be on a day when he was more fluid and easy. What was perhaps more telling was who he faced. Chase Davis was in the hitting group. No shock that two fast risers would be matched up. Next batter? Youngster Padilla pops up again. That’s no accident. That should tell you all you need to know in the Cardinal’s internal evaluation process about one Yairo Padilla.
On multiple days, another Shortstop by the name of Rivas popped up. I’d seen him before as a kid with a good glove. He had an unexpectedly good AA season last year, but I figured it was enhanced by the AA run environment in general plus the boost playing in Hammonds Park seems to give most players. But what I noticed most this year is how he has filled out and the crack of the bat as he seems to be hitting with some authority. Just impressions. Results TBD.
I watched an outfield drill one day. It was a high sky and coach put a ball launcher positioned so that the outfielders would be looking right into the sun to pick out the flight of the ball. I’d wager well less than half the balls were caught, as guys struggled with how to run while keeping a glove up to shield the sun. As I wandered back to the main field for live BP, I saw Jordan Walker have same struggles, and thought he could benefit from the drill the young OFers were taking. In another live BP, a group of outfielders were jaw jacking more than anything, Willie went over and asked them if they were there to make friends or learn to make money playing baseball. “Challenge yourself”, he says. “Get something out of live BP even if your group isn’t hitting. Play shallow and see what you can run down.” Boys are the same everywhere, huh? The old men Mcgee and Oquendo ended up shagging most of the balls for that group.
Got a chance to see some of the young hitters that came in the 2025 draft. Petrutz, Gazdar, Campos. Young (very) Raniel Rodriguez was in view a lot.
I had a Travis Honeyman sighting. He hit. He did running drills. He played OF. Very toolsy, in the Nootbar mold. If he stays healthy, I bet he moves fast.
Coaching, Development and Tech
Boy, I for sure don’t remember if they had all the portable pitch trackers and video playback screens last year. Maybe someone else knows? Hitters hit BP and then watch themselves on iPad moments later. Statcast data on all pitches and hits on 5 of the 6 fields. And in the 6 way bullpen.
I’m gathering they fell so far behind on staffing that they haven’t yet caught up. At times they had six fields going, plus the 6-way bullpen, plus the indoor hitting cages. Lots going on. People moving every half hour. Each location seemed under-manned at times. For example, in live BP they often have 3-4 groups. With 3-4 stations. Infield, outfield, base running, hitting. But only 2 coaches. And teaching has become so specialized now, it’s a wonder they don’t have a 1:1 coach/player ratio.
Am thinking this is one of the side effects of downsizing the minors. You lose coaches, too. I read somewhere (I can’t find the source to verify) that they nearly doubled their coaching staff this year, which seems plausible. This must be quite the gargantuan task to add all these new people and get them on the same page and somehow try and weave in the baseball knowledge that travels the lineage of Kissell-Ricketts-Oquendo.
I could see Cheo moving around a lot, filling where there were coaching gaps, whether at rookie or AAA level, it didn’t matter. He seems to enjoy working with the young people. Just looking at the demographics of the players, the Cardinals seem to be growing their Latin America presence but appear behind in Spanish-speaking coaches. Again, I’d see Oquendo ride up to PFP or bunt defense drills and translate coaching instructions into Spanish. They lean on him lot. But he can’t be everywhere.
Individual Backfield Observations – Minor League edition
I had a list of pitchers to seek out and watch. I did not catch up with everyone.
Roby – Appears healthy. Lights out stuff. Plain and simple. If healthy, no doubt will see him pitch in majors this year. Has elite closer written all over him.
Hence – Did not see pitch.
Salas – Good underlying pitch metrics. They appear ready to push him. He threw against primarily AAA hitters.
Saladin – Didn’t see enough. He threw on the one field that didn’t have Trackman system, so I couldn’t see the underlying metrics.
Franco – Did not see pitch.
Lin – I did not lay eyes on him at all.
Graceffo – Saw several times. He appears ready to pitch in MLB. Confidence appears key.
Couple of other guys popped up as I noticed their work as I was moving around.
Savacool – He might become a Statcast darling.
Carpenter – I didn’t know they had one of these. Among the highest velo in camp.
Holiday- Stuff looked better than advertised
Mills – I overhead that some of the coaches were impressed with his live BP work.
Other things I found noteworthy
One day, Sonny Gray threw a Sim game on a back field. His prep for that was elaborate, to say the least. He was very focused. Everyone stays out of his way. I saw the prep and warm up, but not the Sim game itself.
I got to watch, up close, catcher drills for the one knee down technique. I have more information collecting to do, then will have an article on this topic.
I can recall old images of guys like Red, Stan, Lou, Gibby, Shannon, et. al. watching from their golf carts. No more old-timers in golf carts. Since those guys have passed, it looks like the Cardinals have lost some connection with their history. I wonder if that is a good thing.
I really like the ball-strike challenge system. This latest introduction of tech segues to my closing thought. I’m kind of a traditionalist (in the sense I avoid fads and viral trends), but I tend to embrace progress, evolution and renewal. Sometimes, the house needs a new coat of paint, ya know? The Cardinals organization seems to have grown a bit stale, or maybe stagnant is a better word. Not irrelevant or run-down or gentrified, but just in need of some updating. You can feel the winds of change blowing in, but the sailboat hasn’t quite turned its keel yet.