CHICAGO • In the fifth inning of Saturday’s game, as he and bench coach David Bell tried to sort through decisions and the immediate possibilities facing them in a close game, Cardinals manager Mike Matheny took a moment to think about the future he saw on the field.
He nodded toward the mound where top prospect Alex Reyes had just sizzled through a scoreless inning, and where earlier Luke Weaver had made his major-league debut with four solid innings.
“This is real impressive,” Matheny told Bell.
They could be real important.
After years of hearing all the hype about the baby-bear bats that are leading the renaissance at Wrigley Field, the Cardinals used the Cubs’ Friendly Confines as a stage Saturday to unveil their own power prospects.