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During Daniel Descalso’s career as a professional baseball player that stretched from 2007 to 2021, the former utilityman received countless daily schedules outlining spring training practice plans.

Did he tuck any of those away that can be pulled from his personal archives if needed today?

“No, those would go straight in the trash after the workouts,� Descalso joked on Monday during Day 3 of Cardinals Winter Warm-up at Busch Stadium. “I don't have any of those.�

Back with the Cardinals organization for the first time since 2014, Descalso will be the one making the schedules.

“We've got some old templates on Teamworks that I've gone over just to get familiar,� he said. “Just trying to make sure that everyone gets in the right place at the right time on the right field and make sure that we cover all of the fundamentals and all the stuff we want to cover before we break camp.�

This type of preparation for the upcoming spring training is new to the 37-year-old.

The former Cardinal and member of the 2011 World Series-winning club will serve as manager Oliver Marmol’s bench coach in 2024. It will be Descalso’s first bench coach opportunity in his career after he was a part of the Arizona Diamondbacks front office as a baseball operations assistant in 2023. Descalso fills the role held by Joe McEwing in 2023 after McEwing was moved into a Cardinals front office advisory role for the coming season.

Since Descalso's hiring with the Cardinals was made official last November, the first-year bench coach has been able to familiarize himself with Cardinals brass and players. That’s included some phone calls and in-person meetings, like the ones that took place during this weekend’s events at Busch Stadium.

That has been Descalso’s main priority before the Cardinals fly south for Jupiter, Florida, for the start of spring.

“The work and the baseball stuff, that'll come,� he said. “Once we get to Jupiter, that's going to be a little easier when the staff and myself are all in the same room and having those conversations face to face. But right now, it's just getting to know the players, letting them get to know me and building those relationships where we get down there."