JUPITER, Fla. — One of the most often-used bromides about the lengthy baseball season is, “It’s a marathon, not a sprint.”
But that tried-and-true saying might be put to the test in the next 23 days. That is the length of the adjusted spring training, delayed in starting by the owners’ lockout of the players before a labor agreement could be reached and camp could start.
Cardinals camp officially will begin on Monday, but fans who ventured out to the Back 40 to watch the minor leaguers go through their paces Sunday received a nice surprise. Five Cardinals, headed by Nolan Arenado, took batting practice against some talented minor-league pitchers, including righthander Michael McGreevy, the club's 2021 top draft choice who shared a conversation and a couple of laughs with fellow southern Californian Arenado after McGreevy’s impressive performance.