2022 Cardinals home opener: 10 things to know as Pujols, Molina, and Wainwright reunite (2024)

photography by mike miller

Three hours after taking off from Palm Beach International Airport on Tuesday evening, the Cardinals’ charter flight began its gradual descent over the city of St. Louis. En route to the tarmac at St. Louis Downtown Airport, it passed St. Louis Hills and Lindenwood Park, banked eastward above Tower Grove South, then dipped over Benton Park before finally touching down across the river. It was 7:02 p.m. when the first of many flights home for the Cardinals this season was complete.

This familiar aerial tour of St. Louis marked the start of a baseball season that signals both the end of one era and the first chapter of another. When the Cardinals host the Pittsburgh Pirates for Thursday’s Opening Day matinee at Busch Stadium, they will begin a long goodbye to two long-standing pillars of franchise success in catcher Yadier Molina and designated hitter/first baseman Albert Pujols, both of whom plan to retire at year’s end. At the same time, they’ll also welcome Oliver Marmol to the well-worn manager’s seat in the first base dugout. All the while, the club will hope that its reliance on the All-Stars of yesterday isn’t just a schmaltzy exercise in nostalgia, but a reliable way to chart a course toward future glory—or at least one more playoff appearance with Molina, Pujols, and starting pitcher Adam Wainwright on the roster.

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The projections for the quality of the season vary:

Baseball Prospectus’ PECOTA model sees a 79-83 record for the Redbirds in 2022.
Fangraphs’ standings forecast an 82-80 finish for St. Louis.
The ZiPS projection system calls for a 88-74 run for the Cards.

Taken together, these models illustrate how much is still unknown—and, frankly, concerning—about this team’s potential. Do the Cardinals have enough reliable pitching to propel them through a long season? Do the veterans have enough meaningful contributions left to offer a team eager to make a postseason push? Is the lineup potent enough? Is Marmol, a longtime Cardinals coach who served as the right-hand man to former skipper Mike Shildt, the right person for the job? Questions abound regarding St. Louis’ course through the National League this summer. The answers will determine whether Molina and Pujols—and possibly even Wainwright—hang up their spikes in late September, or prolong their careers for a few extra, unforgettable weeks in October. In time, those answers will start to surface.

On Thursday, though, the Cardinals and their fans will simply cherish the sights, sounds, and pageantry of the first normal Opening Day in three years. In many ways, it will feel like old times. And for one afternoon, at least, it will feel like anything is possible.

Ahead of Game No. 1 of 162, here are 10 things to know about the start of the season:

Pujols will make his 22nd career Opening Day start. Forget about the matchups. The right-handed hitting Pujols will be penciled into Marmol’s first lineup card despite the fact that Pittsburgh is sending right-hander JT Brubaker to the mound. It’s expected that Pujols, who hit .294 with 13 home runs and a .939 OPS against southpaws last season, will see the bulk of his work against lefties in 2022. But the Cardinals also clearly respect Pujols and what he means to the fan base, and want to give him a homecoming assignment befitting of arguably the greatest hitter of his generation.
With the start, Pujols is set to join a select group. His 22 Opening Day starts will tie him with Boston Red Sox legend Carl Yastrzemski and Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves icon Henry Aaron for the second-most in Major League Baseball history behind Pete Rose’s 23. Pujols will also pass Cardinals great Stan Musial, who started 21 Opening Days during his Hall-of-Fame career.
It's been a while since Pujols last donned the Birds on the Bat. Since his last regular season game with the Cardinals in 2011, 3,844 days have passed. In that span of 10 campaigns, 32 different Cardinals have appeared in at least one in-season game at first base. Matt Adams tops the list with 381 games at the position during the past decade.
Pujols’ return means the Cardinals have three of the five oldest players in MLB. The 42-year-old Pujols is reuniting with longtime teammates Wainwright, 40, and Molina, 39. Not since 42-year-old Walker Cooper suited up in 1957 have the Redbirds leaned on a catcher older than Molina.
Pujols and Molina are tied for the franchise record for most Opening Day home runs. The longtime teammates have four homers apiece. With a run driven in during last season’s opener at Cincinnati, Molina moved into third place in Cardinals history with 11 all-time Opening Day RBIs.
Molina and Wainwright are on course to make history together. If the tandem is able to stay healthy enough to start 21 games together, they'll have 325 as a battery—enough to break the record owned by the Detroit Tigers' Mickey Lolich and Bill Freehan. Two more starts and they’ll tie Red Faber and Ray Schalk of the Chicago White Sox for third all-time.
It's not Opening Day in St. Louis without these two. Molina (19 seasons) and Wainwright (17 seasons) are also the two longest-tenured active big leaguers to appear with the same franchise. Only Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter of the New York Yankees (1995-2013) and Lou Whitaker and Alan Trammell of the Detroit Tigers (1977-1995) shared more time on the same roster than the Cardinals’ stalwarts.
Thursday’s start will push Wainwright past Bob Gibson for the most home opener starts in Cardinals history. This will be the Georgia native’s seventh career home-opening start, having also toed the rubber in St. Louis in 2009, 2010, 2012, 2015, 2018, and 2021.
The more, the merrier. Due to the condensed spring training schedule, big league teams are carrying 28 players on the active roster through April. Just because the Cardinals are going all-in on the old-timers doesn’t mean they’ve forgotten about the next wave of contributors. Three of the players to make the team—outfielder Lars Nootbaar (No. 6), and right-handers Andre Pallante (No. 16) and Kodi Whitley (No. 19)—are among the organization’s top 20 prospects, as ranked by Baseball America.
The Cardinals will welcome 15 franchise hall-of-famers for Thursday’s opener. The list includes Ozzie Smith, Tim McCarver, Jim Edmonds, Ray Lankford, Mike Shannon, Ted Simmons, Whitey Herzog, Vince Coleman, John Tudor, Bruce Sutter, Jason Isringhausen, Willie McGee, Mark McGwire, Scott Rolen, and Tom Herr. The on-field parade of Cardinal greats will begin at 2:53 p.m.

Mike Miller

Miller isSt. Louis Magazine's associate editor. Like this story? Want to share other feedback? Send Miller an email atmmiller@stlmag.com.