ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - Monday has been a day of reunion for the St. Louis Cardinals. Just minutes after the team will reunite with starting pitcher Lance Lynn on a reportedly one-year deal with a 2025 club option, the team are going to make up with another 2011 World Series winner. No it's not that one.
Former Cardinals infielder Daniel Descalso is set to join the Cardinals coaching staff in 2024 to become the team's bench coach, replacing Joe McEwing, who will be moving to the front office to serve as a Special Assistant to President of Baseball Operation John Mozeliak, the team announced Monday.
The Athletic's Katie Woo was the first to report the news Descalso would join the staff.
Descalso played five seasons for the Cardinals, appearing in 529 games between 2010-2014. During Descalso's time with the Cardinals, the team appeared in four straight NLCS' and made two World Series appearances, with the team of course winning in 2011.
While he was never a good hitter during his time on the team, he still made an impact with the club, especially during the postseason. Most Cardinals fans will remember his performance in Game 5 of the 2012 NLDS against Washington Nationals, where he helped claw the Cardinals back from an early deficit in the elimination game. During the game he homered, doubled, and would hit the tying two-run single in the ninth in that game.
Descalso become the latest former Cardinals player return to the team as a coach over the last few seasons, joining Willie McGee and Skip Schumaker as some of the more notable alumni to return to the team as a coach. Longtime Cardinals left fielder Matt Holliday was also set to join the team as a bench coach in 2023 before he resigned on Jan. 12, 2023 in order to spend more time with the family.
This will be Descalso's second job after his playing career ended in 2021. During the 2023 season, he joined the Arizona Diamondbacks as a baseball operations assistant.
Descalso's addition to the coaching staff will not mean that Yadier Molina won't join the staff in 2024. According to Woo, Cardinals and Molina are working to find an agreement that will work for both sides.