Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol had reviewed video, mined scouting reports, and explored the universe of data available, mapping the constellations of spin rate and velocity, but there was one thing he could not glimpse about Jose Quintana until right before the lefty’s debut.
As Quintana walked from his warmup in the bullpen to the Cardinals’ dugout, about to make his first start for his new team, Marmol positioned himself to look into Quintana’s eyes.
“The human side,” Marmol said later. “Through the eyes you see what’s inside.”
The manager had a word for what he saw.