Matt Wieters Has Impressive Resume, But No Guarantee From Cardinals

A week ago, two years to the day after he agreed to a two-year, $21-million contract with Washington that came tricked-out with all the latest gadgets — a player option and deferred money — Matt Wieters went back to his college, just another alum looking for a job.

Post-Dispatch

John Mozeliak's Challenge - Finding Someone Who Wants To Be Yadier Molina's Backup

It might be one of John Mozeliak’s most challenging tasks – finding someone who wants to be the Cardinals’ backup catcher behind Yadier Molina.

STL Sports Page

Half Of Players On 2017 Opening Day Roster, DL No Longer With Cardinals

When the Cardinals open the regular season on Thursday in New York, exactly half of the 28 players who were on the opening day roster or the disabled list for last year’s opener won’t be there.

STL Sports Page

Cardinals Are Making The Right Decision With Struggling Carson Kelly

Every spring training it seems like something completely unexpected happens, and 2018 is no exception for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Cheap Seats

Does Carson Kelly's Demotion Reinforce His Future With The Cardinals - Or Cloud It?

Before the 2017 season, the Cardinals sign Eric Fryer to a minor-league deal with the expectation he would serve as Yadier Molina’s backup while Carson Kelly got more seasoning in the minors. Nobody thought Fryer was the better player, but the opportunity for Kelly to hone his skill regularly was available in Memphis—it wasn’t in St. Louis. And that was the priority, until Fryer consistently produced very little in his rare opportunities, and the Cardinals called up Kelly for the stretch run of their failed pursuit of a wild card.

KMOV

Phillies Placed Eric Fryer On The Voluntarily Retired List

The Good Plight Twitter

Phillies Signed Eric Fryer To Minors Deal With MLB Spring Invite

Ken Rosenthal Twitter

Pirates Tender Contract To Gerrit Cole

As expected, the Pirates tendered 2018 contracts to all four of their arbitration-eligible players -- Gerrit Cole, George Kontos, Jordy Mercer and Felipe Rivero -- prior to Friday's deadline.

Pittsburgh Official Site

Inbox: Is Eric Hosmer On Cardinals' Wish List?

After weeks of answering questions about Giancarlo Stanton, we're going to make this a Stanton-free Inbox. There are plenty of other needs the Cardinals plan to address and decisions that must be made before 2018. Let's take a look at some of those now:

St. Louis Official Site

2017 Cardinals Final Report Card

Columnist Jeff Gordon hands out the grades after the Cardinals failed to make the postseason for a second consecutive season.

Post-Dispatch

Why Have The Cardinals Been Such A Disappointment? Here's A 13-Point List

Well that’s a loaded question, isn’t it? There are a lot of possible answers here:

101 ESPN

Too Much Competition Within A Team Can Cause Problems

Baseball prospects arrive from diverse backgrounds with varying degrees of physical and emotional maturity.

Gordo

Minor League Transactions July 18-28, 2017

Diamondbacks purchased the contract of David Carpenter from Bridgeport
Braves traded Jaime Garcia to Twins
Phillies traded Pat Neshek to Rockies
Astros signed Colin Walsh
Phillies signed Matt Williams
Cardinals purchased the contract of Zach Prendergast from Fargo-Moorhead, released Chad Huffman and Eric Fryer, traded Marco Gonzales to Mariners for Tyler O'Neill, and purchased the contract of Harrison Bader from Triple-A Memphis
Padres released Tyrell Jenkins
Rangers outrighted Pete Kozma to Triple-A Round Rock
Nationals purchased the contract of Edwin Jackson from Triple-A Syracuse

Baseball America

Cardinals Beat Nationals 8-1: Mike Leake Strikes Out Four, Induces 13 Ground Outs, Picks One Runner Off, & Allows One Run Over Eight Innings For The Win; Yadier Molina Singles Twice & Drives In Four Runs; Paul DeJong Hits A Two-Run Homer

Individual Highlights:
Matt Carpenter started at first base and batted leadoff.  1-for-4 with one double, one run, one walk, one strikeout, and assisted in three double plays.
Tommy Pham started in centerfield and batted second.  2-for-4 with one run, one walk, and one strikeout.
Stephen Piscotty started in right field and batted third. 0-for-3 with two runs, two walks, and one strikeout.
Jedd Gyorko started at third base and batted fourth.  2-for-3 with one double, one RBI, two runs, and one walk.
Yadier Molina started at catcher and batted fifth.  2-for-4 with four RBIs and one run.
Paul DeJong started at shortstop and batted seventh.  1-for-4 with one home run, two two-out RBIs, one run, one strikeout, and assisted in three double plays.
Greg Garcia started at second base and batted eighth.  2-for-3 with one two-out RBI, one walk, one strikeout, and assisted in three double plays.
Mike Leake started and pitched eight innings.  He allowed five hits, one earned run, three walks, struck four out, assisted in one double play, and picked one runner off for the winning decision (6-6).  1-for-3 with one walk.  (p-s:93-56)(g/f:13-2)
Sam Tuivailala entered in the ninth and pitched one inning.  He allowed one hit, no runs, one walk, three one wild pitch, and struck one out.  (p-s:20-12)(g/f:1-0)

Rough Outing:
Eric Fryer entered late in the game at catcher and batted fifth.  0-for-1 with one strikeout.
Randal Grichuk started in left field and batted sixth.  0-for-5 with one strikeout.

Boxscore
St. Louis Official Site Post Game
Cardinal Beat Post Game
Post-Dispatch Post
STL Sports Page Post Game

Cardinals Starting Lineup 6-29-17

St. Louis Official Twitter

Cardinals Starting Lineup 6-25-17 Updated: Eric Fryer Sits, Yadier Molina In

St. Louis Official Twitter

Cardinals Starting Lineup 6-25-17

St. Louis Official Twitter

Yadier Molina Out Again; Michael Wacha Starts Monday

As expected Dexter Fowler is back starting in centerfield tonight for the St. Louis Cardinals, however the team will again be without Yadier Molina, who is continuing to deal with tightness caused by a foul ball off his knee.

STL Baseball Weekly

Cardinals Starting Lineup 6-24-17: Yadier Molina Scratched, Eric Fryer Starts

St. Louis Official Twitter

Cardinal Beat

Pirates Beat Cardinals 4-3: Jose Martinez Singles & Hits A Two-Run Homer; Adam Wainwright Strikes Out Five & Allows Two Runs Over Seven Innings; Paul DeJong Hits A Solo Home Run

Individual Highlights:
Jedd Gyorko started at third base and batted fourth.  0-for-2 with one run, two walks, and one strikeout.
Jose Martinez started in left field and batted fifth.  2-for-4 with one home run, two RBIs, one run, and one strikeout.
Paul DeJong started at second base and batted sixth.  1-for-4 with one home run, one RBI, one run, one strikeout, and one throwing error.
Eric Fryer started at catcher and batted eighth.  0-for-1 with three walks.
Adam Wainwright started and pitched seven innings.  He allowed two hits, two runs (one earned), one home run, two walks, and struck five out.  0-for-1 with one sacrifice and one strikeout.  (p-s:97-66)(g/f:9-2)
Brett Cecil entered in the eighth and pitched to one batter.  He allowed no hits or runs.  (p-s:4-1)(ir-s:2-0)

Rough Outing:
Matt Carpenter started at first base and batted leadoff.  0-for-4 with one walk and one strikeout.
Chad Huffman entered late in the game as a pinch hitter and batted ninth.  0-for-1 with one strikeout.
Trevor Rosenthal entered in the eighth and pitched to five batters.  He allowed two hits, one earned run, one walk and struck one out for the blown save (2).  (p-s:23-13)(g/f:1-0)
Seung-Hwan Oh entered in the ninth and pitched one inning.  He allowed one hit, one earned run, and one home run for the losing decision (1-4). (p-s:19-13)(g/f:0-1)

Former Cardinals:
David Freese started at third base and batted fourth.  1-for-3 with one two-out RBI, one run, and one walk.

Boxscore
St. Louis Official Site Post Game
Cardinal Beat Post Game
Post-Dispatch Post Game