Molina served as both coach and traffic cop during the first full-squad workouts. He bounced from field to field to watch Adam Wainwright and Michael Wacha pitch. He offered pointers to Carson Kelly about hitting. And when he realized Kevin Siegrist didn’t have a lefty to throw to during his session against hitters, Molina organized a way to get one, Greg Garcia, in the box for Siegrist.

SIEGRIST FLIPS CURVE

That proved valuable for the Cardinals’ lefthanded setup man as he worked on a curveball for the first time against hitters.

Siegrist has spent the winter developing a breaking ball to play off his fastball and changeup. He has been taking reviews and hints from fellow pitchers but had yet to test it against a hitter willing to swing. Siegrist was able to throw the curveball for a strike to righthanded batters and as a chase pitch in the dirt. Garcia yanked one foul because he was so out in front of the slower-paced pitch.

Facing Garcia gave Siegrist a feel for an improvement he has to make.

“I noticed when a lefty gets out there I try to make it curve with my body,” Siegrist said. “I like the spin on it. I like how it feels. But I was trying to force the movement on it, and I don’t need to do that.”

ALUMNI, ETC.