ST. LOUIS — On Saturday afternoon, you couldn't find a single St. Louis Cardinals fan who was surprised that Hall of Fame-bound catcher Yadier Molina had a harsh rebuttal to Chicago Cubs' star Kris Bryant's comments about playing in St. Louis. But, were they expecting relief pitcher John Brebbia to take the cake for quote of the year?
"Cry me a river, loser!"
That just might be the official anthem of Brebbia and Cardinal Nation heading into the 2019 season. Find it on t-shirts, billboards and posters painted across the downtown area of metro St. Louis. All it took was one Cubs heel to speak up, light a fire and a few Cardinals to stoke it.
As good as Molina's comments were, the comments from his teammates on his Instagram post were even better. Matt Carpenter spoke up, as did others.
When Brebbia stepped in front of the media Sunday, there were baseball questions to ask, but most writers wanted him to elaborate, face to face, about how he brought a Justin Timberlake song back to vivid life Saturday.
"I don't know anyone who enjoys that opinion," Brebbia said about Bryant's calling St. Louis boring. He supported Yadier Molina's view as well. "He cares deeply about this city. He loved it here. It's been good to him and he's been good for it."
When it comes to the middle order of Chicago's lineup, Brebbia has room to speak, having struck out Bryant a couple times in four at-bats. For his career, the Cubs player, who still doesn't know how to give himself a proper haircut, has hit .228 at Busch and slugged just .382. As my former radio partner and Fansided journalist Matt Whitener pointed out on Saturday, that's reason enough not to like St. Louis. Facing Brebbia can be added to the list.
After a stellar 2018 season, Brebbia is the company man once again going into this season, willing to pitch any inning of relief while thinking about the idea of being the guy in the ninth inning. He has the stuff to succeed there, altering hitters expectations and abilities with a dazzling fastball and a slider that cuts 12 mph off the table and slices. He doesn't care where those pitches land.
"I've been a reliever since college. Ninety-eight percent of my innings have happened between the third inning and on," Brebbia said.
Sharing the podium with fellow reliever Chasen Shreve, Brebbia showed a lot of ease with the media, reminding me of former Cardinal, Jason Motte. After they were done, I suggested a two-man periscope team, and they were up for it.
When asked about the rotation, Brebbia said the Cardinals have enough for two rotations. "Does the American League need a St. Louis team?"
Levity and candid words seem to be a common thing with Brebbia, who doesn't care for social media, but has taken to St. Louis and his teammates.
A couple years ago, he came out of nowhere to make a dent. In 2019, he should find a firm place in the bullpen.
As soon as the beard comes back, that is.
