香港三级片

When Cardinals prospect Michael McGreevy flew from St. 香港三级片 to Charlotte to rejoin Class AAA Memphis鈥� rotation earlier this month, there on the same flight, by complete coincidence, was assistant general manager Rob Cerfolio. The serendipity gave the Cardinals鈥� new director of player development and performance an unexpected head start on a conversation he鈥檚 having with all demoted players shortly after they leave the major league clubhouse.

The purpose: to plot their return route.

鈥淧itch selection and execution 鈥� how can we use your stuff to give you the best chance to get righties and lefties out, and that鈥檚 what we need to do as a starter,鈥� Cerfolio recalled discussing. 鈥淔or McGreevy, one, it鈥檚 just circumstance, man. We have starters. So how do we leverage the time with you in Triple-A to just get better?鈥�

On the journey to a self-proclaimed 鈥渢ransition鈥� year, the Cardinals took an unexpected turn in May toward contention with the most wins (18) in the National League over the past 30 days. But that hasn鈥檛 been at the expense of developing young players. It鈥檚 been driven by it.

Just beneath the surface of the standings and behind the big league box scores are several examples of how new, expanded and collaborative evaluations of players and the meetings with Cerfolio and his staff are contributing to improvements that, as in the case of Graceffo, speed a player鈥檚 way back to majors.

鈥淭here is no 鈥榣ost in translation鈥� when it comes to information or a plan of action,鈥� Cerfolio said this past week standing outside the Cardinals clubhouse at Busch Stadium. 鈥淎nd that鈥檚 why I鈥檓 in there every day trying to use all of the info from that staff and from the games so that when a player goes back to Triple-A, we have an awesome plan in place for him to work on things that can get him back.鈥�

Graceffo first experienced this approach in spring.

Within a day of being optioned to the Class AAA roster and minor league camp, Graceffo was invited to a conversation by Cerfolio. Graceffo said they spoke for 45 minutes and left the young right-hander thinking that he鈥檇 鈥渘ever had a meeting like this.鈥� Graceffo described how it began with Cerfolio, in his first year leading the Cardinals鈥� development and performance, introducing himself.

鈥淢y job is to get you back to the big leagues as soon as possible,鈥� Graceffo recalled Cerfolio saying.

Then came the details on expectations and a plan.

鈥淭he transparency there was really, really cool,鈥� Graceffo said.

Graceffo had a similar meeting with Cerfolio and Matt Pierpont, the Cardinals鈥� new director of pitching, after his first demotion and then again after his return from a breakthrough outing with the Cardinals in Cincinnati. Following his early outing at Fenway Park, Pierpont went through a biomechanics report with the right-hander on his delivery. They discussed what they look like when his velocity sizzles and what they look like when it doesn鈥檛, and then how to more consistently reach that 鈥渂aseline I need to be when my stuff is at its peak.鈥�

He worked toward that through his next several starts for the Triple-A Redbirds and had it fine-tuned for the call to help during a doubleheader in Cincinnati.

That fastball that touched 96 mph and average 93.2 mph at Fenway roared to an average of 96.5 in Cincinnati. It touched 98.9 mph. Graceffo鈥檚 slider jumped from topping out at 90.4 mph in Boston to reaching 93 mph in Cincinnati and averaging 91.6 mph.

The results were starkly different.

Graceffo allowed seven runs on eight hits in three innings against the Red Sox, and he whipsawed through Cincinnati鈥檚 lineup for five strikeouts in five innings of one-run ball. After that outing and his return to Triple-A, Pierpont showed him the biomechanics report as reassurance, and then the Cardinals waited out the clock until promoting him five days later.

Each player鈥檚 demotion to the minors begins with a meeting and a conversation about why and what鈥檚 next. By the next day, Cerfolio and his staff build off an 鈥渁fter-action mentality鈥� of evaluation and are ready to debrief the player with details on where to improve 鈥� and how.

鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to be very clear with areas to improve, and that could be pitch usage, pitch shape, locations that we need to attack more or sometimes it鈥檚 adding a new pitch,鈥� pitching coach Dusty Blake said. 鈥淭here is a clear-cut two, three or four things that we鈥檒l go through that says: This is what is holding him back from being better up here.鈥�

Added Cerfolio: 鈥淚f we鈥檙e always on top of it here, then it鈥檚 really easy for me to orchestrate a conversation the next day.鈥�

A goal Cerfolio said is to 鈥渦ntangle鈥� the natural disappointment of a demotion from a clear plan to improve and return. Position players have the same meeting, though with more coaches due to hitting and fielding, and they鈥檒l include similar plans from hitting coach Brant Brown.

A few players spoken to by the Post-Dispatch in the past week described how it gave a disappointing conversation a forward, action-oriented tone, not just the sinking feeling of going down. And the meetings harmonize 鈥� as the development staff echoes and expounds upon what the player heard from the big league staff.

Although overseeing player development, Cerfolio is based in St. 香港三级片 and regularly meets with the big league players. He explained during spring how that helps show development is organization-wide and doesn鈥檛 stop at the big league door.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 the value of me being here and in there with those guys and having all of the information and using it to our advantage and being able to relay it,鈥� Cerfolio said. 鈥淭he major league staff wanting this is because it makes our organization better. You need more than 26 guys to be a good team. So when you get all of our players better, regardless of who they are and how many years of service time they have, and then we need to have depth of players ready to impact our major league team.

鈥淥li (Marmol, Cardinals manager) and the whole group (focused) on how we just get everybody on the same page,鈥� Cerfolio continued. 鈥淥ne organization, one team mentality and then I play a facilitator role to bring that to life.鈥�

When reliever Chris Roycroft reported to Memphis after his demotion, Pierpont was with the Redbirds, and they spoke for about 30 minutes. Pierpont showed him some metrics that revealed a drift in his sinker and discussed some resolutions. What Roycroft had expressed and experienced in the majors during the first month, Pierpont had available and considered that when looking at ways to restore the sinker.

鈥淚 had told him that the ball felt foreign in my hand,鈥� Roycroft said.

After their talk, Roycroft played catch and continued the conversation, and just as he was planning to throw a few sinkers off the mound, Pierpont asked if he changed his grip at all on the sinker. Statcast data showed that Roycroft鈥檚 sinker was spinning so much that its vertical break was off 鈥� flattening out, not spiking down. Roycroft showed Pierpont his grip, and Pierpont suggested he shift it just a bit. The next pitch dove.

And so has Roycroft鈥檚 sinker since his return to the majors 鈥� by a difference of 12 inches in induced break, per Statcast.

鈥淵ou have your recipe, your standard recipe,鈥� Roycroft said, 鈥渁nd he kind of gave me the secret ingredient.鈥�

The information discussed with the players in their intake talks is also shared with them in writing and other media depending on their learning preference. While a demotion offers a distinct event for such evaluations and conversations, they are not waiting for a transaction to have them. Cerfolio said the staff is building a monthly process for every player to get 鈥渃urated plans鈥� and updated progress. His visits to minor league affiliates or directors like Pierpont or farm director Larry Day being there offer opportunities for the talks to happen casually.

When a player returns to the majors, he does so with standardized evaluations for the major league staff 鈥� part of the synergy between levels, especially with pitching, that a larger staff has helped the Cardinals streamline and improve during the past few seasons.

Delivering a prospect or booking his return flight to the majors isn鈥檛 the end goal.

The next step is residing.

鈥淲hen you send a guy down, the message is consistent and proactive with what they鈥檙e hearing up here and the staff is reiterating down there,鈥� Marmol said. 鈥淎nd then having a plan of action for all of it. That gives them an understanding of how to get back up here. And it puts the goal in mind of what鈥檚 needed to stay up here.鈥�