We move one step closer to the 2014 St. Louis Cardinals regular season today, with the beginning of spring training games. The Cards take on their Roger Dean Stadium partners, the Miami Marlins, starting at noon Central Time.

Not that the outcome of the game matters, of course. Still, it’s an interesting pitching match-up for the first couple of innings: Carlos Martinez against NL Rookie of the Year Jose Fernandez.

But it’s baseball and — even better — it’s on television and radio so you have a choice of how to keep up. It’s the first game on FOX Sports Midwest of the year, plus MLB Network will be carrying it and it’s online at MLB.TV. And, of course, Mike Shannon and John Rooney will be back on KMOX and the Cardinals Radio Network.

Ah … when you ignore the temperature outside and the weather forecast, it really does feel like spring!

Here’s the Cards lineup for today, from Brian Stull on Twitter.

Scheduled to pitch after Martinez are Tyler Lyons, Keith Butler, Pat Neshek, Jorge Rondon and Marco Gonzales.

And, from Marlins writer Joe Frisaro on Twitter, their lineup. (Yes, that’s Ty Wigginton in it.)

Interesting additions to the Marlins roster during the off-season — ignoring Wigginton altogether (because that seems the best thing to do regarding him) — with Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Garrett Jones and Casey McGehee. Of course, this is just the first of many spring meetings between the two teams so we’ll get plenty used to seeing all of the Marlins.

And it will be interesting to see the pitchers for the Cardinals too, especially with Martinez getting the start and Lyons following him. Plus it’s always intriguing to watch Pat Neshek’s delivery.

So here we go. Enjoy the fact that baseball games — even though they don’t count — are back! Just 31 more days until they do.


Christine Coleman is the lead writer for Aaron Miles’ Fastball. Follow her on Twitter, @CColeman802, or email aaronmilesfastball@gmail.com. Also follow @AMilesFastball for the latest updates and like us on Facebook if you don’t already.