Cardinals Spring Training Off to Mixed Fashion Start With ‘Cheap’ Jerseys

Spring training is off to a rough start for some members of the St. Louis Cardinals—at least from a fashion sense.

All Cardinals players, and those on other Major League Baseball teams, will don new Nike Vapor Premier uniforms this spring and during the 2024 regular season, as reiterated by the league in a Tuesday morning announcement. In this case, the fresh product features some subtle changes to St. Louis’ iconic jerseys. And early reviews out of the Cardinals clubhouse are, well, mixed.

“Players are pretty unhappy,” Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat said on X, formerly Twitter, along with a photo with a player’s jersey. “Mike Mikolas says they also don’t fit right; pants are no longer customized, and the fabric is a very different consistency.”

One Cardinals player, Jones posted, said “they look cheap.” Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch quoted a veteran pitcher as saying, “I don’t like them.”

The jerseys debuted at last year’s MLB All-Star Game in Seattle. They are designed by Nike, while Fanatics manufactured and distributed them, as the company has done with all MLB jerseys since the 2020 season.

Newsweek reached out to Nike and Fanatics through their website contact pages and the Cardinals and MLB via email on Tuesday seeking comment. Fanatics declined official comment.

MLB said in a press release Tuesday morning that the Vapor Premier jerseys were developed by Nike over multiple years and were engineered to “improve mobility, moisture management and fit, while keeping sustainability in mind—bringing inspiration and innovation to athletes.”

Nike claims the fabric, made from at least 90 percent recycled polyester yarns, provides the jerseys 25 percent more stretch and allows them to dry 28 percent faster. More than 300 baseball players were body-scanned, Nike said, to create a more form-fitting and athletic jersey than previous models.

Cardinals All-Star third baseman Nolan Arenado was quoted in support of the jerseys in the release, saying: “The Nike Vapor Premier jersey is soft, light and comfortable. It’s almost like wearing my favorite shirt out on the field—and so easy to move around in.”

Among other athletes to endorse the jerseys, per the MLB, are Ronald Acuña Jr. of the Atlanta Braves and Adley Rutschman of the Baltimore Orioles.

Several baseball fans, though, may need some time to adjust to the new look.

On X, formerly Twitter, user @TheDudeAbides_x said: “I try not to be the guy who gets way too upset about things like how baseball jerseys look, but this is legitimately awful. It looks like a crappy t-shirt.” Meanwhile, @HeadUpPlayOnYT said: “This looks like the jersey you buy at Walmart.” The “Cardinals Live” account shared a comparison between an old Cardinals jersey and the new one, and @LandonJackson15 said: “This literally looks worse than a stadium giveaway.”

Humorously, one of the many social media users to criticize Nike’s new design said: “Looks like those cotton jerseys Costanza had the Yankees in on that episode of Seinfeld.”

Pitchers and catchers for the Cardinals officially report to training camp in Jupiter, Florida, on Wednesday, with the squad’s first full team workout set for Monday. The 2024 spring training season will get underway with a matchup between the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres on February 22. Other MLB clubs will be in action by February 24. The Cardinals open their regular season—new jerseys and all—on the road against the Dodgers on March 28.