The Cardinals’ rotation, already stringing along some question marks and now ravaged by injuries with two weeks to go until Opening Day, could use a vintage Carlos Martínez to pick it up this season. If Martínez has it his way, there’s one pitch that could help him do so.

Though results were less than promising in Friday’s 8-5 loss to the Mets at Clover Park, with Martínez not making it out of the first inning but re-entering in the second only to be hooked again in the fourth, he felt comfortable with the steps his sinker took.

“All my two-seamers today were like I wanted,” Martínez said. “That was a real two-seamer and a big two-seamer. … I want to stay there, because for the season, it’s going to help me a lot.”

Could it be the pitch that takes Martínez to a revival 2021 season?

“Yes, 100 percent,” he said.

Doing so would be somewhat of a throwback for Martínez, who hasn’t used the pitch as his primary weapon since pitching as both a starter and a closer in 2018. In ’17, when he was named to his first All-Star team, Martínez's two-seamer was used almost on equal footing with his four-seamer.

When it’s working, it’s inducing soft contact and jam-shots for easy outs, said Andrew Knizner, who caught Martínez for the first time in a start this spring. Otherwise, it’s setting up the rest of Martínez’s arsenal, which can prove lethal when sharp.

“I mean, it's a nasty pitch,” Knizner said. “I like calling it.”

Now Martínez’s focus turns to re-honing that pitch that made him an elite starter from 2015 through the first half of ’18. The Cardinals could certainly use him doing so, with an uncertain rotation behind Jack Flaherty and Adam Wainwright.

Daniel Ponce de Leon, who started on Thursday, and John Gant, who will start Saturday, are the candidates looking to back-fill the rotation, with Miles Mikolas and Kwang Hyun Kim currently sidelined.

The Cardinals and Martínez will need to be creative about his opportunities to fine-tune the sinker. Both he and manager Mike Shildt agree that the pitch is best sharpened in stadium settings, since its worth is much more based on batter reactions than pure movement in a bullpen session. They don’t want to run his gas tank out too early, but Martínez is likely facing one, possibly two, more starts in Florida.

“I think he just needs to get out and pitch,” Shildt said.

Gorman debuts at second
They’ve teased it, and on Friday, the Cardinals solidified it: Nolan Gorman, the club’s No. 3 prospect, played second base for the first time in a Grapefruit League game, coming on in relief of Matt Carpenter for the final three defensive innings, catching a lineout with a 103 mph exit velocity in the shift for his only putout.

“Hot corner at second on that one,” Shildt said.

A fielder’s choice hit to Evan Mendoza at third in the eighth inning allowed a run to score, and served as Gorman’s only other defensive chance on the day. Mendoza's feed to second base hit Gorman high, off his glove and deflected towards the outfield, though Shildt was wary to pass any judgement on the play.

Gorman, a natural third baseman, is learning second after the acquisition of Nolan Arenado clouded his future on the hot corner. Gorman has been in touch with former Red Sox star Dustin Pedroia as he works through the kinks of the transition from third to the keystone.

Regular season TV scheduled unveiled
The Cardinals and Bally Sports Midwest (soon to be renamed from Fox Sports Midwest) announced on Friday that all 162 games will be televised during the 2021 season, including all 81 home games with live Spanish broadcasts.

A total of 151 games will air on Bally Sports Midwest, with nine currently set to be exclusively broadcasted on a national network (ESPN, FOX or FS1). Four games will air on both Bally Sports and ESPN. Broadcasts for two games -- Sept. 19 against the Padres and Sept. 26 against the Cubs -- are to be determined, either shown on Bally Sports or one of the national broadcasts.

For locally televised games, Dan McLaughlin will return for his 24th season as the play-by-play announcer, joined by a rotating cast of Jim Edmonds, Ricky Horton, Brad Thompson and Rick Ankiel as analysts. Bally Sports will continue to produce the “Cardinals Live” pre and postgame show, with Jim Hayes, Scott Warmann and Erica Weston serving as hosts and reporters alongside Al Hrabosky as a studio analyst.

Mike Shannon will be behind the radio microphone for his 50th and final season -- set to call around 50 home games -- and will share the KMOX mic with John Rooney, who’s entering his 16th season in the booth. Horton will join Rooney for the remaining home and road broadcasts, with Mike Claiborne assisting on calls as well. Most stations on the Cardinals Radio Network will carry every regular-season game as well.

For Spanish broadcasts, play-by-play man Polo Ascencio will be joined by analyst Bengie Molina -- Yadier’s brother -- on WIJR 880 AM La Tremenda.