JUPITER, Fla. — Cardinals manager Oli Marmol stopped short of saying it, and Jake Woodford prefers to let his pitching do the talking, so I’ll be the one who ventures out onto a limb that grows sturdier by the start.
Woodford’s on the opening-day roster. If not, a Cardinal sin has been committed.
Last season the right-hander was more effective than the Cardinals would publicly acknowledge. Since then, he’s taken the feedback the team gave him and put it to good use, adjusting his slider to produce results that should make his arsenal and approach more sustainable at the major-league level.