JUPITER, Fla. • There he was, the old sage, wandering around in his underwear.

It was after a fall game at Busch, and he looked like he needed one. Derek Lilliquist, the pitching coach, needed to chat up a Cardinal. So he ambled out of the coaches’ clubhouse, through the hallway, into the players’ clubhouse. He meandered by a bunch of reporters into a back room, all while wearing a Cards undershirt and boxer briefs. It struck me then: This guy just did not care. This is who he was, an old ballplayer in his natural habitat. I’d never met the man, but I could already hear his reasoning: Why would I put my pants back on? I’m just going to take them off again.

Derek Lilliquist is a gruff and no-nonsense man’s man, who masks a depth and intelligence that he wants you to earn.

He is underestimated. He is underrated. He cannot be dismissed as a guy who regurgitates Dave Duncan gospel. After four full seasons as pitching coach, including last summer’s masterwork, the guy deserves reverence. So look at this as a Lilliquist soliloquy.