The St. Louis Cardinals 2016 Spring Training Media Schedule has been released and thanks to FOXMW and KMOX radio you can catch all the action

As I sit in my recliner thumbing through a copy of Peter Golenbock’s The Spirit of St. Louis: A History of the St. Louis Cardinals and Browns, I find myself getting eager for the new season. I am ready for America’s Pastime, but not just baseball, Cardinals baseball. It’s been a long offseason, but Spring Training is just around the corner. For those of us not lucky enough to be visiting Roger Dean Stadium in sunny Jupiter, Florida, go ahead don your parka, fire up the grill, and don’t forget to fill the cooler. Thanks to last July’s agreement with Fox Sports there be plenty of preseason action to enjoy.

With the notable offseason acquisitions of pitchers Mike Leake, Seung-hwan Oh, and the return of a healthy Adam Wainwright, who spent most of 2015 on the disabled list with a ruptured Achilles, the bullpen looks to be among the best in the Major Leagues. However, it wasn’t pitching that stalled a promising season, it was the lack of offensive production that sent the Redbirds home early. We’ll get our first chance to see how an off season of rest treated the power trifecta of Matt Adams, Matt Carpenter , and Matt Holliday, on Saturday March 5, when Fox Midwest telecasts the first of 15 Spring Training games with the St Louis Cardinals facing the Miami Marlins.

Winning the National League Central will be tough. After all, it took the Cardinals 100 wins to claim the title last season. When asked about the teams ability to repeat, this is what Cardinals Manager Mike Matheny had to say: “It all comes down to competing, and we look forward to the fact that you’re going to have to earn it. If you’re going to win the division in the Central, you’re going to have some scars and some bruises. You’re going to know you’re in a fight. I anticipate that’s the way it’s going to be, and I would hope that’s how they view us as well.”