JUPITER, Fla. — Of the three lefthanders slated to pitch in the first half of the Cardinals' game with the Minnesota Twins, the one who you might think would have the most problems was Brett Cecil. But Cecil threw a scoreless inning and fired 16 strikes out of 22 pitches in the Cardinals' 6-1 exhibition win over Minnesota.
That 33-year-old has seen virtually nothing but trouble since he signed a four-year deal with them before the 2017 season, including missing all of last season with carpal tunnel syndrome.
Starter Genesis Cabrera had to leave the game in the second with a cracked finger nail on the middle finger of his pitching hand — he threw only 12 strikes out of 28 pitches.