DOWNTOWN — Told he didn’t have the frame to play in the majors, didn’t have the pop to climb through the minors, Shane Robinson raised his hands and changed his swing to give him the best chance possible to conjure the power he needed.

Then the Cardinals told him there was a better way to be a big leaguer.

Robinson, the Cardinals’ fifth-round selection in 2006 (and an over-slot signing), came to spring training and manager…

The final Vuch Report of spring comes with a sting. But it could have been worse.

The Cardinals minor leaguers concluded their spring training Sunday with scrimmages – one of which featured two major-league pitchers opposing each other — and a full, frontal assault by some of the locals. In the eighth inning of the Memphis-Palm Beach game, the benches cleared and players raced for cover. That is where John Vuch, an eyewitness, takes up the story:

A swarm…

JUPITER, Fla. — The Cardinals raced the rain by rescheduling their minor league games for early Saturday morning. They had more than quick games, they made quick work of the Marlins’ affiliates and swept all five games.

Nobody worked quicker or more effectively than Mitchell Boggs. The righthander came to spring training as one of the young pitchers the organization wanted to get a look at in a big-league setting. He was also one of…

JUPITER, Fla. — The moves made at the major-league level Monday began to have their ripple effect on the minors Tuesday. The Cardinals placing Colby Rasmus and Joe Mather on the Memphis roster makes for a crowded house in the Triple-A outfield, where Cody Haerther, Nick Stavinoha and Amaury Marti were already slugging it out for playing time.

Rasmus and Mather will play, no doubt. Rasmus in center. The others …

The Cardinals also expect the infield…

JUPITER, Fla. — As if John Vuch didn’t have enough to do these days.

In the wake of the Cardinals’ changes to the on-field hierachy in their minor-league system, Vuch (which is both a nickname and a last name ’round the ballpark) upgraded his title and expanded his responsibilities. Vuch, who began his career with the Cardinals as a runner, shuttling information from the press box to the clubhouse, is now the Director of Minor League Operations. He’ll help new…

JUPITER, Fla. — The Cardinals’ minor-league camp begin games today, facing the Florida affiliates from across campus. And that means the first good look for us of first-round pick Peter Kozma and a peek at the layout of the organization’s minor-league rosters.

Cardinals official John Vuch said a goal this spring was to assign players to the team they probably will open with. That doesn’t necessarily mean the starting lineups for today’s games are representative, but…

JUPITER, Fla. — The hot dog was essential to Monday’s endeavor. If they didn’t have a hot dog, they didn’t have a punchline. No punchline, no appeal. No appeal, no commercial. No commercial, no campaign. And on and on. It was all about the hot dog, that ballpark diva.

So it made sense today at the Cardinals training facility when, amid the forest of cameras and grips and reflector screens and ad company reps, some stepped…

JUPITER, Fla. — The bus just pulled out of the Cardinals’ parking lot here and is off to Viera, Fla., to see the best “Casey at the Bat” statue in the Grapefruit League and visit Ronnie Belliard’s Washington Nationals.

The lineup manager Tony La Russa takes with him:

The Cardinals (2-2)

1. Adam Kennedy, 2B
2. Rick Ankiel, CF
3. Albert Pujols, 1B
4. Troy Glaus, 3B
5. Chris Duncan, LF
6. Ryan Ludwick, DH
7. Skip Schumaker, RF
8. Jason LaRue, C
9. Aaron Miles, SS

Starting pitcher: RHP Braden Looper. Followed…

JUPITER, Fla. — Cardinals outfielder Brian Barton knows his knee isn’t fully healed, but he calls it a full-go, and apparently the club is comfortable with that description.

He’s in the starting line for today’s game against St. Louis University.

Barton drove 1 1/2-hour south to meet with his doctor Tuesday about his surgically repaired right knee. The Rule 5 pick had some swelling and soreness in the knee, and the Cardinals had limited his…

JUPITER, Fla. — On the 17th pitch Anthony Reyes threw, a hitter finally got the ball out of the batting cage. And that was lofted foul.

In a 40-pitch session, three balls were put in fair territory.

Two fly balls. Both outs. One grounder up the middle. Probably a single.

Reyes’ second throw to hitters of spring was more eye-catching. It was, in the word of one Cardinals’ official onlooker, “very encouraging”. It was also…