It’s not every day a major league pitcher gives up a home run and can point to the equipment room.
That’s exactly what happened to Michael McGreevy during a Cardinals spring training outing against the Marlins. Before he even finished his warmup, he knew something felt off. The baseball in his hand was scuffed. Not lightly worn. Marked up.
He asked for another. Same problem.
Three pitches later, Miami’s leadoff hitter sent a cutter over the right-field wall.
The culprit wasn’t a mechanical flaw or missed location. It was the wrong bucket of baseballs.
When Feel Makes All the Difference
Pitchers are creatures of feel. Grip, seam height, tack, texture. They notice everything. When McGreevy felt that first ball, he immediately sensed it wasn’t a fresh “gamer.” It was worn, slick in spots and rough in others.
Home-plate umpire Lance Barksdale even asked if the baseballs felt unusually slick.
They didn’t just feel slick. They were batting practice balls.
Manager Oliver Marmol and special assistant Yadier Molina spotted the issue from the dugout once a few balls rolled their way. The markings were obvious. Those weren’t game balls.
In spring training, where multiple buckets sit around the field and logistics move quickly, mix-ups happen. It just rarely happens on the first batter of your afternoon.
To casual fans, a baseball is a baseball. To a pitcher, the difference is measurable.
Game balls are carefully prepared, rubbed with mud to reduce gloss and ensure consistent grip. Batting practice balls can be reused, scuffed, and carry uneven wear patterns. That affects spin rate, release consistency and feel on breaking pitches.
A cutter thrown with a compromised grip can flatten. A fastball can sail. A slider can back up.
For McGreevy, the pitch that left the yard was a cutter. Whether the ball made the difference or not, the feel certainly wasn’t what he expected.
The Response That Matters
What matters more than the home run is what happened next.
McGreevy retired the next three hitters and finished two innings allowing just one run. No visible frustration. No rush to overthrow. No unraveling.
Marmol has repeatedly praised the 25-year-old’s ability to stay even-keeled. That trait isn’t always common in young pitchers trying to secure a rotation spot.
McGreevy himself has described his goal on the mound as being a “flatliner.” Not too high after a strikeout. Not too low after a mistake. Teammates feed off that steadiness. When a pitcher looks in control, the defense relaxes behind him.
In a weird way, a spring training mix-up became a showcase of poise.
Fighting for His Spot
The bigger context here is opportunity.
McGreevy is expected to contend for a rotation role with the Cardinals this season, but nothing’s guaranteed. Last spring he posted a 1.08 ERA across 16 2/3 innings and still didn’t break camp with the club.
That experience changed his mindset. He knows performance alone doesn’t always dictate roster decisions. Injuries, options, depth charts and front office evaluations all factor in.
He’s joked that he could be perfect and not make the team, or struggle and still land in St. Louis. The reality is somewhere in between. What he can control is how he throws and how he responds.
The moment also arrives during a transitional year for the franchise. In 2026, local games are being streamed directly to fans through Cardinals.TV, part of MLB’s broader shift in in-market broadcasting.
As the Cardinals prepare for Opening Day, they’re balancing a rotation competition, new distribution models and the normal unpredictability of spring baseball.
Sometimes that unpredictability shows up in the form of the wrong bucket of baseballs.
