JUPITER, Fla. • Aledmys Diaz, the Cuban shortstop to whom the Cardinals gave an $8 million, four-year contract in the spring of 2014, hadn’t delivered much on that in his first season-and-a-half of pro ball.
But he finished strongly at Springfield and then at Memphis last year before enjoying a .300-plus season with power in the Arizona Fall League.
The 25-year-old has continued to impress. He singled to set up the go-ahead run in the seventh inning Thursday and then made a nifty short-hop pickup in the eighth inning as the Cardinals held off the Miami Marlins for a rare 4-3 exhibition win over their Roger Dean Stadium housemates who usually dominate these spring engagements.