Kolten Wong: Kolten Wong became the first player to mosey on over to the picnic table and join the show. The guys really knocked it out of the park during the first interview discussing Wong's grocery shopping habits and the cars in the player's parking lot. Randy Choate drives a white Corvette that reads 'Holla', but Wong said the best car in the lot is Yadi's Bentley.
Randy Choate is a strong contender for best car in the player lot. #STLCards pic.twitter.com/jFDIxp60Qu
— Jim Hayes (@TheCatOnFox) February 22, 2015
After getting the hard-hitting questions out of the way, they started to talk baseball. Kolten is very excited about the team, particularly Jason Heyward who he views as a Gold Glove rightfielder capable of hitting anywhere in the lineup with speed. Heyward has already jelled with the guys in the clubhouse. Wong dislikes being described as a little guy with a surprising amount of pop. He was overall happy with his 2014 which included the up and downs between the minors and injuries. The ending was strong and his goal for 2015 is to increase his average. His 15 home runs between MLB and AAA in 2014 were the most he's ever had in a season and he admits to falling in love with the long ball a little bit last season so he's going to try and be a little shorter with his swing this year. His playoff performance was a big confidence boost and he feels like he belongs in the majors. At times last year he admits that he was playing scared and he took the time in AAA to reignite his fire and prove that he could hang in the majors. During the playoffs, it seemed like everything was going the Giants way and that continued into the World Series. He didn't think his Game 2 walk-off was gone when he hit it. Kolten is willing to hit anywhere in the lineup but describes his approach as aggressive and recognizes that he may need to talk to Matt Carpenter about being more selective were Mike Matheny to ask him to hit leadoff.
Mark Reynolds: The guys welcomed new comer Mark Reynolds to the picnic table and immediately asked him about fitting in on his new team. He spoke at length about how Matt Holliday invited Reynolds and his family over to his house for dinner and to relax after the first day of Spring Training. Matt Carpenter and Adam Wainwright were also at Holliday's and the group discussed hitting for about half an hour after dinner. Wainwright explained to the hitters how he tries to get them out, while the hitters talked about approaching Wainwright. Reynolds is looking forward to having a well defined role as last year he platooned with Lyle Overbay. He did not like having to check the lineup card everyday to learn if he'd be playing or not. He does not expect to get a full season of at-bats as he realizes he'll open the season with bench role, but he's hopeful his role will increase with a strong performance. He recognizes that he'll need to adjust his routine to get ready for taking one, key at-bat each day and he jokingly said it will be fun to face late inning relievers throwing mid to upper 90s. One example of an encounter against a reliever, and a St. Louis moment, that he fondly recalled was a home run he hit against Jason Motte which received an assist from Randy Winn. Reynolds also spoke about the BFIB as he said its great to play in St. Louis due to the fan support and knowledge - specifically when they cheer a player hitting a groundball to second to move a runner over. Reynolds is a golf buddy of former Cardinal Kyle Lohse, who has made no secret about his golfing ability. Reynolds said that Lohse is very locked in when they're on the course. Despite Lohse being a better golf, Reynolds has beaten him a couple of times. Lohse denied this:
@TheCatOnFox @TMASTL That's Mark for ya. The eternal "optimist". #NoChance #Delusional #HeNeeds3aSide #WontPlayMeFor$ #ConcentrateOnYaDayJob
— Kyle Lohse (@KyleLohse26) March 2, 2015
Interestingly, Reynolds does not hit for power on the golf course and tries to keep the ball in play, whereas Lohse makes it a point to out-drive him whenever they play.Mike Matheny: Matheny remains the only manager in the major leagues who formerly had a St. Louis sports talk radio show. The show ended shortly after a 'Sassy Cassy' advertisement inadvertently aired during his show.
Matheny said that everyone is looking good and ready to play. These days it's not as much a matter of getting into shape, but getting up to game speed. As he was sitting down at the picnic table, Adam Wainwright was preparing to throw a light bullpen and Mike is not concerned about Wainwright's side going forward. Right now there are not too many questions to answer for the team to answer, but there are a few opportunities for players to make the team and, more importantly, show the MLB staff what they can do in case they are needed during the season. He gave brief updates on the fifth starter competition noting that Carlos Martinez has brought a new attitude to the table, Jaime Garcia is surprising everyone with how sharp he looks, and Marco Gonzales has added some new skills. The coaching staff has emphasized to Jason Heyward that he is not expected to carry the lineup and he should be whatever type of hitter he wants and the team will be happy. Matheny briefly addressed his lineup philosophy and revealed that seemingly minor day-to-day changes are often made for reasons that cannot be disclosed. There are times the team does not want to call attention to a struggling player down in media, so they elevate him in the lineup to boost his confidence.
The hosts asked Matheny about the three previous postseasons and if any of them hurt more than the others. Matheny said they all stung the same and that last year San Francisco took advantage of some situations the Cards failed to do. Like 2013, he was proud of the team for getting past the Dodgers. Last year's playoff exit took a little longer for him and the team to get over but they are ready to go in 2015.
Question of the Day: The QOD is an essential part of TMA's Spring Training coverage. Each day one of the producers - this year the Peoria Plowboy - asks the players a question or two as they emerge from the clubhouse. Today's questions were 'Tanlines on a teammate - yay or nay?' and 'Which player would be most likely to get a pedicure?'
Here's how the responses shook out:
Player
|
Question 1
|
Question 2
|
Nick Greenwood
|
Ignored Question
|
|
Dean Anna
|
Ignored Question
|
|
Mike Mayers
|
Ignored Question
|
|
Carlos Martinez
|
Ignored by Plowboy
|
|
Mitch Harris
|
N/A
|
Cody Stanley
|
Jacob Wilson
|
No
|
N/A
|
Kolten Wong
|
Baseball players play in
the sun
|
Kolten Wong
|
Jon Jay
|
Yes
|
Randal Grichuk
|
Jason Heyward
|
N/A
|
Doesn’t know them well
enough
|
Mark Reynolds
|
Yes
|
Matt Carpenter
|
John Lackey
|
“Yeah, good luck with that”;
Walked to Parking Lot
|
|
Matt Holliday
|
Yes
|
Matt Carpenter
|
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