Woodford deals vs. Yankees in front of family

TAMPA, Fla. -- Locked in another battle for any role with the Cardinals, right-hander Jake Woodford made a strong case for himself on Wednesday on a mound that was quite familiar to him.

Woodford, a Tampa-area native who pitched previously at George M. Steinbrenner Field while at Plant High School and at High-A in the Florida State League, threw four scoreless innings against a stacked Yankees lineup. He used his hard sinker to get Anthony Rizzo and Harrison Bader to ground into double plays the two innings. Woodford opened the fourth inning with his only strikeout of the game -- against reigning AL MVP Aaron Judge, who watched a 92.8 mph fastball split the heart of the plate.

• Box score: Cardinals 4, Yankees 0

Woodford, 27, was optioned to Triple-A Memphis three times last season despite compiling a 4-0 record with a 2.23 ERA in 27 games (one start) with the Cardinals. This spring, Woodford has thrown nine innings over three games and has allowed just one run.

Shuffling between starting and relieving -- and being repeatedly on the St. Louis-to-Memphis express for several years -- has made Woodford long for some certainty in his career.

“It’s challenging, for sure, not knowing what your routine is going to be or what your role is from day to day, or what city you are going to be in for the next week,” said Woodford, who also pitched in 11 games (10 starts) last season at Triple-A. “That’s definitely been one of the most challenging parts of this.”

Woodford said the last time he had been on the mound at Steinbrenner Field was 2017, when he was pitching for High-A Palm Beach. His first time pitching there came in a Florida high school state championship game.

He is hopeful that Wednesday’s outing -- in which he allowed just three hits -- will strengthen his bid to stick with the Cardinals when the regular season opens March 30 at Busch Stadium.

“I definitely want to start, because I feel like that’s something I could do well at the big league level,” said Woodford, who had approximately 10 family members and friends in the stands on Wednesday. “I feel like [in 2021], I ended that season really well while I was in the rotation, and I piggybacked that into a solid year out of the bullpen last year. I feel like I’ve shown that I can do both, regardless of the role.”