PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. _ An old saying and one fresh quote have been bouncing around in my head as the Cardinals navigate some of spring training's annual hurdles.
Spring training injuries to pitchers are as common as green grass and blue skies.
Every team knows the sinking feeling of seeing a prized prospect shake his arm one too many times on the mound, of a veteran wincing when something doesn't feel quite right, of velocity dips that send trainers scrambling for the mound.
Few teams are built to handle such scares like the Cardinals.
The old saying says, "You can never have too much pitching."
The fresh quote, from the mouth of Alex Reyes this week, said: "It's insane, you know. We have so much pitching. The depth is crazy. I feel like you can pretty much make two starting big league rotations with all of the guys we have. It's exciting. We all pretty much came up together. Even the guys who didn't, they all blend together. This organization is full of pitching."
A case could have been made not very long ago that the Cardinals' current crop of pitching is testing the limit of the old saying.
Why not swap some of these arms for bats that can help score runs?
Then starter Miles Mikolas felt something wrong in his right forearm.
Then reliever Andrew Miller's left fingers stopped feeling the baseball.
More minor blips include Genesis Cabrera's cracked fingernail and Kwang Hyun Kim's tender groin, both of which are believed to be off the list of concerns relatively soon. (We'll see.)
But for a club that has weathered more pitching problems than any team would like, Cardinals camp remains quite calm. Not fake calm. Genuine calm.
Depth _ real, meaningful depth _ tends to discourage distress.
The setback for Mikolas simply created two rotation spots for Carlos Martinez and Kim instead of having them battle it out for one. Neither have the luxury of assuming they are set, either. Austin Gomber, Daniel Ponce de Leon, Genesis Cabrera and Jake Woodford would love to push their way into the rotation and stick around.
I'm sure I forgot someone.
Yep.
Ryan Helsley.
The setback for Miller, who played catch in Jupiter on Wednesday, is still to be determined when it comes to severity. But no matter the eventual diagnosis, it won't create a need to add a southpaw from outside for the bullpen. If anything, it will just open the door for one already on the team. Cabrera and Gomber could switch gears to reliever; they've done it before, and both are lefties. Tyler Webb exists. So does Brett Cecil, who might see a flicker of light at the end of his tunnel if he can continue to put one decent appearance on top of another. No, new lefty prospect Matthew Liberatore is not part of the conversation, but it's just a matter of time until he joins the list of players pushing the pace, preparing to pounce on any inch of opportunity that arrives.
I'm sure I forgot someone.
Yep.
Zach Thompson.
The left-handed first-round pick of the Cardinals in 2019 is climbing very quickly.
If Miller is unable to hold a bullpen role to start the season, and a power arm is preferred over a left-handed replacement, how about potential closer Junior Fernandez? He cruised through the final inning of a 4-1 Grapefruit League loss to the Mets on Wednesday, pairing two strikeouts with zero hits and zero walks.
Look around baseball.
The Red Sox are in trouble while awaiting diagnosis on ace Chris Sale's sore elbow. The Yankees have lost starter Luis Severino to Tommy John surgery after learning they will be without starter James Paxton (back surgery) until at least early May. An Angels team loaded with loud bats is facing big questions about its rotation after Griffin Canning's problematic right elbow started barking this spring, especially because Shohei Ohtani can't pitch until at least mid-May. Blake Snell's bad elbow is causing headaches for the Rays.
The list goes on, and on, and on.
Spring setbacks for Mikolas and Miller are no small thing.
Zoom out, and these issues are quite common across the game.
The Cardinals' ability to pluck an answer _ sometimes temporary, sometimes permanent _ from a long and compelling list of pitchers is quite rare.
Or, as Reyes might say, insane.
