# Cardinals Name 3 New Directors For Player Development, Performance, and Pitching

- Link: https://www.nyrdcast.com/cardinals-name-3-new-directors-for-player-development-performance-and-pitching/
- Published: 2024-12-04T10:38:22-06:00
- Author: Eugene Tierney

### **_ST. LOUIS CARDINALS NAME THREE NEW DIRECTORS IN THE AREAS OF PLAYER DEVELOPMENT, PERFORMANCE & PITCHING_**

[⌊Cardinals News Header⌉⌊Cardinals News Header⌉[

**ST. LOUIS, MO., December 4, 2024 – **The [St. Louis Cardinals](https://www.mlb.com/cardinals)
announced today that they have named three individuals to director’s positions within
the organization in the areas of player development, performance, and pitching.

Named today were**_ Larry Day_** as Director, Player Development; **_Carl Kochan_**
Director, Performance; and **_Matt Pierpont_** Director, Pitching.

**_Day_**_ _joins the team after coming over from the Cleveland Guardians where 
he had coached, managed, and served as a coordinator. Prior to his time with Cleveland,
Larry coached at Ohio University and Vanderbilt University, and he played in the
New York Yankees’ farm system. 

**_Kochan_** brings a wealth of experience to the Cardinals. After having spent 
several years with the San Francisco Giants as their Major League Strength & Conditioning
Coach, Kochan spent the last six years with the Los Angeles Dodgers where he coordinated
strength & conditioning throughout their minor leagues and was a key contributor
to their performance efforts.

**_Pierpont_**_,_ who will oversee the team’s minor league pitching program, comes
to the Cardinals from the Seattle Mariners where he rose through their pitching 
development system to become pitching coordinator. Matt pitched in the Colorado 
Rockies farm system from 2013-19.

The Cardinals previously announced **_Rob Cerfolio_** as their new Assistant General
Manager, Player Development & Performance, in October.

**— STL —**

---

On the surface, these moves don’t mean a lot; when you look at where the Cardinals
have been and what they have pledged to do, these moves are huge.

The Guardians, Giants, Dodgers, and Mariners are normally ahead of the curve in 
the MLB, especially in the areas the Cardinals have fallen behind. In the last few
years, these moves were typically internal promotions for the Cardinals; since they
want to get more in tune with the game, they are poaching guys from successful franchises
and getting some fresh views on what they are doing (or not doing).

Day has a wide array of experience in Cleveland, a franchise that has stayed relevant
for almost as long as the Cardinals while having more of a limited payroll; if there
is a franchise outside of Tampa that can keep payroll down while staying ahead of
the game, it’s the Guardians. Day also brings college baseball experience, which
will help with scouting and drafting.

Kochan is coming from a franchise that works hard on the medical front of baseball;
the Dodgers have been willing to look at alternative training and recovery methods
for their players. While they have the payroll to cover major injuries, they have
also built a program that optimizes the ability of the players. They are also willing
to work with organizations like Driveline to work on mechanics. Instilling someone
from this environment should help the Cardinals at the MLB level and across the 
minors.

Pierpont has worked with Seattle’s young pitching, which has turned them into contenders.
He’ll work with Dusty Blake to create programs for the young pitching the Cardinals
have, and hopefully develop them better then we’ve seen in the last 5 years or so.
Pierpont also has a degree in Exercise Science, which allows him to understand mechanics
better than the average pitching coach/coordinator (along with his history of pitching).

These type of signings might be the highlight of a long off-season; we all know 
the Cardinals won’t be signing many MLB free agents, and the MiLB free agents don’t
move the needle like a [Juan Soto](https://www.baseball-reference.com/search/search.fcgi?pid=sotoju01,soto--004jua&search=Juan+Soto&utm_medium=linker&utm_source=www.nyrdcast.com&utm_campaign=2024-12-04_br)
or a [Jack Flaherty](https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/f/flaheja01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&utm_source=www.nyrdcast.com&utm_campaign=2024-12-04_br).
And while they aren’t flashy, bringing in these types of guys will set the organization
up for more long-term success than throwing around 10 year contracts.

### Share this:

 * [  Facebook ](https://www.nyrdcast.com/cardinals-name-3-new-directors-for-player-development-performance-and-pitching/?share=facebook)
 * [  X ](https://www.nyrdcast.com/cardinals-name-3-new-directors-for-player-development-performance-and-pitching/?share=x)
 * [  Email ](https://www.nyrdcast.com/cardinals-name-3-new-directors-for-player-development-performance-and-pitching/?subject=%5BShared%20Post%5D%20Cardinals%20Name%203%20New%20Directors%20For%20Player%20Development%2C%20Performance%2C%20and%20Pitching&body=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nyrdcast.com%2Fcardinals-name-3-new-directors-for-player-development-performance-and-pitching%2F&share=email)
 * [  LinkedIn ](https://www.nyrdcast.com/cardinals-name-3-new-directors-for-player-development-performance-and-pitching/?share=linkedin)
 * [  Mastodon ](https://www.nyrdcast.com/cardinals-name-3-new-directors-for-player-development-performance-and-pitching/?share=mastodon)
 * [  Nextdoor ](https://www.nyrdcast.com/cardinals-name-3-new-directors-for-player-development-performance-and-pitching/?share=nextdoor)
 * [  Pinterest ](https://www.nyrdcast.com/cardinals-name-3-new-directors-for-player-development-performance-and-pitching/?share=pinterest)
 * [  Reddit ](https://www.nyrdcast.com/cardinals-name-3-new-directors-for-player-development-performance-and-pitching/?share=reddit)
 * [  Tumblr ](https://www.nyrdcast.com/cardinals-name-3-new-directors-for-player-development-performance-and-pitching/?share=tumblr)

### Like this:

Like Loading…

### _Related_