JUPITER, Fla. • From the most the schedule was pinned the corkboard in the Cardinals' clubhouse there was something different about it from previous years. As detailed in Thursday's Post-Dispatch, there is a heavy Mike Maddux influence -- and that means an outside perspective unlike any the Cardinals have had since Dave Duncan slipped on a red jersey.
The second day of camp brought more examples.
For years, especially in recent years, the Cardinals would use their workout groups to pair similar players, a few veterans, with some younger players. It was a Pass It Forward model, and there have been springs when manager Mike Matheny has talked about challenging Carlos Martinez to lead a group of pitchers or getting Luke Weaver to pitch alongside Mike Leake because of their similarities, or seeing how young Michael Wacha would follow the lead of established Adam Wainwright.