photo: Bill DeWitt Jr., Paul Goldschmidt, John Mozeliak, Michael Girsch (St. Louis Cardinals)
With 99 possible numbers to place on uniforms for the St. Louis Cardinals, it is once again time to review who is who as spring training camp 2019 opens.
In our annual dive into the spring training number assignments for Cardinals players and coaches, I will provide two views. The first is a straight 1-99 take. The second will be a more detailed breakdown, including changes from spring 2018.
As one will see below, every number from 1 through 96 is currently spoken for, with the exception of six numbers – 7, 15, 19, 26, 32 and 35. Three others remain out of commission in unofficial retired status, and 97 through 99 are available to be used on minor leaguers brought in from the backfields for the afternoon, once “1:00 p.m.” games begin on February 23.
# | Roster Spring 2019 | ||
1 | Ozzie Smith (retired) | 51 | Willie McGee |
2 | Red Schoendienst (retired) | 52 | Michael Wacha |
3 | Jedd Gyorko | 53 | John Gant |
4 | Yadier Molina | 54 | Jeff Albert |
5 | Albert Pujols (since 2011) | 55 | Dominic Leone |
6 | Stan Musial (retired) | 56 | Ryan Helsley |
7 | 57 | Darryl Kile (since 2002) | |
8 | Mike Shildt | 58 | Mark Budaska |
9 | Enos Slaughter (retired) | 59 | Mike Mayers |
10 | Tony La Russa (retired) | 60 | John Brebbia |
11 | Stubby Clapp | 61 | Genesis Cabrera |
12 | Paul DeJong | 62 | Daniel Ponce de Leon |
13 | Matt Carpenter | 63 | Edmundo Sosa |
14 | Ken Boyer (retired) | 64 | Ramon Urias |
15 | 65 | Giovanny Gallegos | |
16 | Kolten Wong | 66 | Lane Thomas |
17 | Dizzy Dean (retired) | 67 | Justin Williams |
18 | Carlos Martinez | 68 | Tommy Layne |
19 | 69 | ||
20 | Lou Brock (retired) | 70 | Chris Beck |
21 | Andrew Miller | 71 | Williams Perez |
22 | Jack Flaherty | 72 | Bryan Eversgerd |
23 | Marcell Ozuna | 73 | Hunter Cervenka |
24 | Whitey Herzog (retired) | 74 | Ryan Meisinger |
25 | Dexter Fowler | 75 | Ron “Pop” Warner |
26 | 76 | Kleininger Teran | |
27 | Brett Cecil | 77 | Mike Hauschild |
28 | Adolis Garcia | 78 | Joe Hudson |
29 | Alex Reyes | 79 | Max Schrock |
30 | Tyler Webb | 80 | Jake Woodford |
31 | Mike Maddux | 81 | Rangel Ravelo |
32 | 82 | Tommy Edman | |
33 | Drew Robinson | 83 | Randy Arozarena |
34 | Yairo Munoz | 84 | Andrew Knizner |
35 | 85 | August Busch (retired) | |
36 | Austin Gomber | 86 | Jeremy Martinez |
37 | Oliver Marmol | 87 | Dennis Ortega |
38 | Jose Martinez | 88 | Jose Godoy |
39 | Miles Mikolas | 89 | Brian O’Keefe |
40 | Chasen Shreve | 90 | Julio Rodriguez |
41 | Tyler O’Neill | 91 | Dylan Carlson |
42 | Sutter/Robinson (retired) | 92 | Seth Elledge |
43 | Dakota Hudson | 93 | Connor Jones |
44 | Luke Gregerson | 94 | Jamie Pogue |
45 | Bob Gibson (retired) | 95 | Evan Kruczynski |
46 | Paul Goldschmidt | 96 | Andrew Morales |
47 | Francisco Pena | 97 | |
48 | Harrison Bader | 98 | |
49 | Jordan Hicks | 99 | |
50 | Adam Wainwright |
Next is a view by grouping. In every case, I list the individual’s spring number as well as who wore it last spring, as applicable.
On the left are the 24 non-roster invitees. To the right are the 40-man roster players. They are listed alphabetically within position groupings.
Note the significant change from year to year. Only 23 of the 64 players invited to 2019 spring camp were at the 2018 camp wearing the same number. Of course, many of the others are back, but with different digits assigned.
Non-Roster Invitees (24) | 40-Man Roster (40) | |||||
# | 2018 | Pitchers (11) | # | 2018 | Pitchers (22) | |
70 | Tyler Lyons | Chris Beck | 60 | John Brebbia | John Brebbia | |
73 | Patrick Wisdom | Hunter Cervenka | 61 | Steven Baron | Genesis Cabrera | |
92 | Hector Mendoza | Seth Elledge | 27 | Brett Cecil | Brett Cecil | |
77 | Josh Lucas | Mike Hauschild | 22 | Mike Matheny | Jack Flaherty | |
93 | Andrew Knizner | Connor Jones | 65 | Ryan Sherriff | Giovanny Gallegos | |
95 | Jeremy Martinez | Evan Kruczynski | 53 | John Gant | John Gant | |
68 | Austin Gomber | Tommy Layne | 36 | Sean Gilmartin | Austin Gomber | |
74 | Oscar Mercado | Ryan Meisinger | 44 | Luke Gregerson | Luke Gregerson | |
96 | Dennis Ortega | Andrew Morales | 56 | Bryan Eversgerd | Ryan Helsley | |
71 | Derian Gonzalez | Williams Perez | 49 | Blaise Ilsley (2017) | Jordan Hicks | |
80 | Edmundo Sosa | Jake Woodford | 43 | Bill Mueller | Dakota Hudson | |
55 | Dominic Leone | Dominic Leone | ||||
# | 2018 | Catchers (8) | 18 | Carlos Martinez | Carlos Martinez | |
88 | Ryan Helsley | Jose Godoy | 59 | Mike Mayers | Mike Mayers | |
78 | Randy Arozarena | Joe Hudson | 39 | Miles Mikolas | Miles Mikolas | |
84 | Daniel Ponce de Leon | Andrew Knizner | 21 | Jordan Schafer | Andrew Miller | |
86 | Arturo Reyes | Jeremy Martinez | 62 | Yairo Munoz | Daniel Ponce de Leon | |
89 | Jordan Hicks | Bryan O’Keefe | 29 | Alex Reyes | Alex Reyes | |
87 | Jake Woodford | Dennis Ortega | 40 | Luke Voit | Chasen Shreve | |
47 | John Mabry | Francisco Pena | 52 | Michael Wacha | Michael Wacha | |
90 | Conner Greene | Julio Rodriguez | 50 | Adam Wainwright | Adam Wainwright | |
30 | Jason Motte | Tyler Webb | ||||
# | 2018 | Infielders (3) | ||||
82 | Tommy Edman | Tommy Edman | # | 2018 | Catchers (1) | |
81 | Rangel Ravelo | Rangel Ravelo | 4 | Yadier Molina | Yadier Molina | |
79 | Max Schrock | Max Schrock | ||||
# | 2018 | Infielders (9) | ||||
# | 2018 | Outfielders (2) | 13 | Matt Carpenter | Matt Carpenter | |
83 | Mike Shildt | Randy Arozarena | 12 | Paul DeJong | Paul DeJong | |
91 | Dakota Hudson | Dylan Carlson | 46 | Francisco Pena | Paul Goldschmidt | |
3 | Jedd Gyorko | Jedd Gyorko | ||||
34 | Derek Lilliquist (2017) | Yairo Munoz | ||||
33 | David Bell (2017) | Drew Robinson | ||||
63 | Tyler O’Neill | Edmundo Sosa | ||||
64 | Sam Tuivailala | Ramon Urias | ||||
16 | Kolten Wong | Kolten Wong | ||||
# | 2018 | Outfielders (8) | ||||
48 | Harrison Bader | Harrison Bader | ||||
25 | Dexter Fowler | Dexter Fowler | ||||
28 | Tommy Pham | Adolis Garcia | ||||
38 | Jose Martinez | Jose Martinez | ||||
41 | Breyvic Valera | Tyler O’Neill | ||||
23 | Marcell Ozuna | Marcell Ozuna | ||||
66 | Wilfredo Tovar | Lane Thomas | ||||
67 | Matt Bowman | Justin Williams |
Then we have the coaches and next to them the retired numbers everyone is most familiar with from the outfield wall at Busch Stadium.
Going clockwise, next are the numbers that appear to be unofficially out of service to honor former team greats.
By simple process of elimination, the final group of six remains (plus the 97-99 digits). All six were active last season. Two players were traded, two departed as a free agents, one changed his number, and one was claimed off waivers. The common thread is these numbers remain open and ready to be assigned.
# | 2018 | Coaches (11) | # | Retired (12) | |
54 | Alex Mejia | Jeff Albert | 1 | Ozzie Smith | |
58 | Preston Guilmet | Mark Budaska | 2 | Red Schoendienst | |
11 | Jose Oquendo | Stubby Clapp | 6 | Stan Musial | |
72 | Rowan Wick | Bryan Eversgerd | 9 | Enos Slaughter | |
31 | Mike Maddux | Mike Maddux | 10 | Tony La Russa | |
37 | Oliver Marmol | Oliver Marmol | 14 | Ken Boyer | |
51 | Willie McGee | Willie McGee | 17 | Dizzy Dean | |
94 | Jamie Pogue | Jamie Pogue | 20 | Lou Brock | |
8 | Mike Leake (2017) | Mike Shildt | 24 | Whitey Herzog | |
76 | Kleininger Teran | Kleininger Teran | 42 | Bruce Sutter/Jackie Robinson | |
75 | Adolis Garcia | Ron “Pop” Warner | 45 | Bob Gibson | |
85 | August Busch | ||||
Available (9) | |||||
# | (last worn/year) | # | Unofficially out of service (3) | ||
7 | Luke Weaver (2018) | 5 | Albert Pujols (since 2011) | ||
15 | Matt Adams (2018) | 57 | Darryl Kile (since 2002) | ||
19 | Carson Kelly (2018) | 69 | |||
26 | Bud Norris (2018) | ||||
32 | Jack Flaherty (2018) | ||||
35 | Greg Garcia (2018) | ||||
97 | Minor league guy | ||||
98 | Minor league guy | ||||
99 | Minor league guy |
Notable changes
Of the major leaguers who left the Cardinals this past off-season, the numbers of Luke Weaver, Carson Kelly, Bud Norris and Greg Garcia remain open. Jack Flaherty shifted from 32 to Mike Matheny’s old 22, with his former no. 32 open – at least for now.
Randal Grichuk’s former number 15 most noticeably remains unassigned, as it was last spring. However, when Matt Adams returned mid-season in 2018, he took the no. 15. Despite the fact it has been worn by a number of others since, some Cardinals fans will always think of it as team Hall of Famer Jim Edmonds’.
As part of Jose Oquendo’s return to the minor leagues, his no. 11 has been passed on to new first base coach Stubby Clapp. Of course, Clapp’s familiar retired no. 10 with Memphis is also retired by St. Louis for Hall of Famer Tony La Russa.
The team’s newest marquee acquisition, first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, took over Francisco Peña’s no. 46, with the reserve catcher moving up one to 47. New reliever Andrew Miller has picked up no. 21, assigned last spring to outfielder-turned-pitcher Jordan Schafer and later worn by infielder Patrick Wisdom. Newly-added utilityman Drew Robinson, acquired for Wisdom from Texas, was given a veteran’s number, 33.
After all, with at least 18 Cardinals spring games to be televised, and potentially a few more to be added, you are going to want to know who is who!
For more
The Roster Matrix and the St. Louis Cardinals roster here at The Cardinal Nation are fully up to date. The former indicates all players invited to Major League spring training camp, 40-man roster players and non-roster invitees, but uniform numbers are not designated on the Matrix.
Our St. Louis roster here at TCN does include uniform numbers, with players listed based on a 25-man roster view. All players remain on their official year-ending 2018 teams until they have a firm assignment to open 2019. All nine minor league affiliates’ rosters are kept up to date, as well. The Matrix and all rosters can always be accessed from the menu on the left column.
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