JUPITER, Fla. — 5 On Your Side sports director Frank Cusumano is down in Jupiter covering all the ins and outs of Cardinals spring training.
Frank has been jotting down his daily thoughts and insight on the redbirds while he's there.
Here's the third entry in his 'Jupiter Journal'.
Frank's Jupiter Journal - Day 3
- Jeff Albert addressed the media and basically pulled a Sergeant Schultz from Hogan’s Heroes, “ I know nothing.” The present Cardinals head hitting coach was the Astros assistant hitting coach in 2018. Major League Baseball determined that Astros cheated that season too. He sounded convincing. Major League Baseball was pretty thorough in their investigation and they did not suspend Albert. You know what is really amazing is that Carlos Beltran will likely never work in the majors again. He may not make the Hall of Fame either because of his involvement in the scandal. I don’t know Albert at all. I know Beltran and there could not have been a nicer and more elegant man in baseball. I feel terrible that he went down in all of this. I am not saying it’s wrong. He deserves it. It’s just so sad.
- We have yet to sit down Adam Wainwright. He is making us work for it. Producer Andy Mohler has basically said if I don’t come back with a one on one with Waino, I shouldn’t come back at all. I actually agree with his logic. There are some players you have to interview because they play a big role, but you know you are not going to use much of the interview. With Wainwright, you just ask a question and get out of the way. In fact, he’s in my top 5 interviews of all time in St. Louis sports history: Waino, Brett Hull, Mike Martz, Tommy Pham and Isaac Bruce.
- I have spent zero days in my life as a hitting instructor. The only thing I know about it for sure is when you throw batting practice, which I have done 2,000 times, you have to use an L-Screen to protect you. I don’t care how young the hitter is. My youngest son, Dominic has put a dent in my head twice. (every time I screw up on the air, I blame it on those line drives). So I have no formal training on the mechanics of the swing. I also realize that having a good batting practice in Spring Training facing 75 miles per hour and a buck will buy you a candy bar. However with that said, Harrison Bader was the most impressive hitter today. Towering home runs, screaming line drives and total confidence in the box. It is not earth shattering, however it’s better to have a great bp than a lousy one. Right?
- The dog of the day belongs to Lane Thomas. His girlfriend brought her to Spring Training today. The dog is one of those lovey Goldendoodles. Florida is just loaded with great dogs. We are staying at La Quinta Hotel and they allow dogs to stay here. It’s the greatest idea of all time. Who doesn’t want to play with dogs? My next job will be at Kennelwood Resort. I would like to spend eight hours a day with dogs. Never understood how someone could like cats better, but I am not judging.
- Back to baseball, I find it interesting how players in the organization kind of liked quiet off season. I guess as a player you look at it like they believe in me and they are not trading for players or signing free agents who could take my spot. Fans don’t like this. However, I have talked to about 20 players and they don’t think they need any help. I will say this Carlos Martinez could be the most important player on the roster. He walked into offices at the end of the season and told the brass I want to be a starter. If he throws 200 innings, this could be the scariest staff in the league. He has only thrown 200 innings once before. But he is coming off the hardest working off season of his career. He is fresh and ready. He could make this team dangerous.