St. Louis Cardinals

One of the Cardinals’ offseason objections was to improve the defense after committing 107 errors, sixth most in the major leagues.

With that in mind, they hope the 44 double plays they turned in 32 Grapefruit League games this season will be a sign of good things to come.

The biggest move was the signing of center fielder Dexter Fow

ler to a five-year, $82.5 million contract as a free agent after he helped the Cubs win the World Series last year. His addition enables Randal Grichuk to move to left field.

The Cardinals also think the infield will be better with third baseman Jhonny Peralta returning from thumb surgery. That enables Jedd Gyorko to move to second base, where he will platoon with Kolten Wong. Matt Carpenter shifts to first base from second. Outfielder Stephen Piscotty agreed to a six-year, $33.75 million contract extension with an option for 2023. He would have been eligible for arbitration after the 2018 season. Trevor Rosenthal (back strain) began the season on the 10-day DL. After his bid to become a starting pitcher was stalled by the injury early in the spring, he was expected to be a setup man for Seung Hwan Oh, who took over as the closer last year when Rosenthal struggled.