Stanek's perfect personality, leadership impressing Cardinals

JUPITER, Fla. -- Before signing him to a one-year deal worth $3.5 million, including a $6 million club option for 2027, the Cardinals had a Zoom meeting with reliever Ryne Stanek. They made it clear that they wanted him to do more than get outs in high-leverage situations; he had to be a positive influence to the young relief corps which includes Gordon Graceffo, Chris Roycroft and Matt Svanson.

That wasn’t a problem for Stanek, 34. He remembered when he was a young buck with the Rays. Right-hander Tommy Hunter took him under his wing and taught him how to be a pro in the big leagues. It had nothing to do with throwing the baseball; it meant treating his teammates and clubhouse staff with respect and doing the little things that keep you in the game a long time.

“As a young guy, he would say, ‘Come to dinner. We are going to do this,’” Stanek remembered. “He really didn’t give me a choice. It was like he wanted me involved. His thought was, 'This is how you take care of the young guys.' You are supposed to take them out to dinner. You are supposed to take them to do things. Show them what it means to be a pro. Not only that, Tommy was really good at taking care of people.”

Almost 10 years later, Stanek is paying it forward and manager Oliver Marmol likes what he sees from his new late-innings guy.

“Outside of his skill set, he has done a nice job bringing this group together. This is part of the Zoom we had with him prior to signing,” Marmol said. “His personality is perfect. He does a really nice job of making the entire room feel like they belong.”

The Cardinals can check the box on Stanek being a great teammate. Now, they want consistency when he is on the mound. That wasn’t the case during the second half of last season when the Mets were struggling to stay in the playoff race. In 28 games after the All-Star break, Stanek was hit hard, allowing 18 runs (17 earned) in 24 1/3 innings (6.29 ERA), while the Mets went home for the winter after they were eliminated from playoff contention on the last day of the regular season.

Stanek said he didn’t have a feel for his split-finger fastball, historically his best pitch.

“Losing your best weapon is never a recipe for success,” Stanek said. “I tried to get it back to normal and then went in a couple of wrong directions. By the time I found it again, the season was over."

Stanek has had good dialogue with Cardinals pitching coach Dusty Blake, and they concluded that Stanek needs to have more conviction on the pitches he throws and get in attack mode.

“A lot of it comes from trust and how things are feeling and all of these things,” Stanek said. “It's about trusting yourself and not overthinking things while on the mound.”