ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - Spring Training effectively was underway for the Cardinals Tuesday with pitchers and catchers reporting to Jupiter, Florida.
Longtime Cardinals Beat-Writer for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch beat writer Derrick Goold joined Chris Rongey and Amy Marxkors on 'The Chris and Amy Show' Tuesday to discuss some Cardinals related topics from the first day.
CARDINALS JERSEYS
The biggest story from Cardinals camp Tuesday wasn't what happened on the mound, but rather it was something when it comes to the Cardinals uniforms.
On Tuesday, MLB announced a new jersey template by Nike dubbed 'Nike Vapor Premier' chassis, which will be the template for all 30 MLB teams uniforms.
The chassis made it appearance in the Cardinals dugout Tuesday, but it has seen some rather unfavorable reviews, notably with the name template on the back of the jersey. Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas told reporters including Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat "it doesn't fit right" while an anonymous player telling Jones "It looks cheap".
Goold discussed the jerseys on KMOX Tuesday, while the jerseys have the Nike logo on them, the jerseys are actually manufactured by Fanatics.
"Fanatics now runs (those jerseys) with a Nike Swoosh on them," said Goold on KMOX. "It's the same group that took over all sorts of fan apparel, merchandise, and also owns Topps Baseball cards."
Alongside the name template, the Cardinals uniforms will look different on the front, with the team no longer chain stripping the Birds on the Bat Logo directly on the jersey, but rather a new dual-patch style.
"Just some of the classic touches that Bill Dewitt III brought back to the jersey, just some of the things that have been a thread that has tied the Cardinals history together from Rogers Hornsby all the way to Albert Pujols and Pujols' return, they just aren't there anymore." said Goold. "It's not like it was."
Along the jersey conversation, Goold also discussed the Cardinals soon-to-be released City Connect Jersey, with MLB officially announcing Tuesday the Cardinals will be one of nine teams to release a City Connect Uniform in 2024.
The Cardinals will likely wear a jersey that has red as a dominant color and a little of blue that would resemble the same shade the Cardinals wear with their road hats, according to Goold.
"(The Cardinals) have been workshopping or focus grouping whatever you want to call it 'The Lou'," said Goold. "Nike has obviously put it on T-shirts, and it's even on the banner on Cardinals website mainpage. So you can kind of see indications of what the City Connect will look like."
Goold says he hopes the uniforms take inspiration from St. Louis City's Flag.
"It such a great city flag," said Goold. "The Colorado Rockies took inspiration from the state's license plate which is great. The Cubs had a Wrigleyville Jersey which I think is cool. To pull from the city flag would be really nice."
SONNY GRAY
In on the field news, new Cardinals acquisition Sonny Gray threw a bullpen session Tuesday.
"Gray went out there an threw a bullpen session to Willson Contreras," said Goold. " (Gray) is very vocal, very animated, very much trying to egg his teammates on and compete. It was very interesting. It wasn't a bullpen suitable for a library let's put it that way."
CARDINALS BULLPEN
Bullpen was a rather big area the Cardinals addressed this off-season, with the Cardinals targeting bullpen pitchers who could generate swing-and-misses. Some of the new additions to the pen included Andrew Kittredge, Keynan Middleton, Riley O'Brien, Ryan Fernandez, Nick Robertson, and bringing in Josh James on a minor-league deal.
The Cardinals bullpen was a area of need, with the 2023 bullpen blowing nearly 30 saves last year. Goold believes that while how the 2024 bullpen looks to begin the season will not likely be the one that it ends the season with,
"They are going to have to take this group into the season and there's a rigorous schedule to begin the season for the Cardinals and a rigorous schedule usually means a ton of strain and a strong test for the bullpen and how it can hold leads," said Goold. "Right now, the Cardinals are going to throw quantity at it, stuff, at it, metrics at it, possibility and promise at it."
"By the end of spring, they probably want to know what certainty they can throw at it and that's something that is only going to develop right now a lot of it is on paper, on potential. They didn't go after the surefire reliever and got guys who maybe are on the upside, but that has to manifest."