It’s been just over a week now since the Cardinals announced, at a year-end presser, that they would not be retaining the services of pitching coach Derek Lilliquist and bullpen coach Blaise Ilsley. On the surface, at least, it seemed like a surprising move, considering how successful overall the Cardinals’ pitching staffs have been over the past handful of years.
Consider: the St. Louis Cardinals, following the 2011 season, saw their longtime pitching coach Dave Duncan, typically considered one of the two or three greatest pitching coaches of all time (depending upon what one thinks of Leo Mazzone, Dave Bamberger, Mel Stottlemyre, and Roger Craig as the group surrounding him, usually), depart from the organisation along with his compatriot Tony LaRussa.