Baseball is a game of numbers – and what is more relevant than the digits players wear on their uniforms?
We have an early look into the spring training number assignments for St. Louis Cardinals players and coaches for 2017. I will provide two tables below. The first is a straight 1-99 view. The second will be a more detailed breakdown, including changes from 2016.
As you will see below, every number from 1 through 99 is currently spoken for, with the exception of five numbers – 7, 12, 40, 43 and 99. Five others remain out of commission in unofficial retired status.
As a result, it will be interesting to see what numbers players brought over from minor league camp for spot game appearances will be assigned. They would typically be given a number in the 90s for the day (with no name across the shoulders) – however, for the first time since I began tracking this, all of the digits from 90-98 are already spoken for. (99 is the only possibility, but it has not been used since the departure of So Taguchi in 2007.)
In recognition, catcher Dennis Ortega, spring training number 98, is featured in the above photo.
| # | Numeric Roster 2017 |
||||
| 1 | Ozzie Smith (retired) | 34 | Derek Lilliquist | 67 | Matt Bowman |
| 2 | Red Schoendienst (retired) | 35 | Greg Garcia | 68 | Alberto Rosario |
| 3 | Jedd Gyorko | 36 | Aledmys Diaz | 69 | |
| 4 | Yadier Molina | 37 | Oliver Marmol | 70 | Tyler Lyons |
| 5 | Albert Pujols (since 2011) | 38 | Mike Shildt | 71 | Carson Kelly |
| 6 | Stan Musial (retired) | 39 | Jamie Pogue | 72 | Rowan Wick |
| 7 | 40 | Mitch Harris | 73 | Breyvic Valera | |
| 8 | Mike Leake | 41 | Eric Fryer | 74 | Eliezer Alvarez |
| 9 | Enos Slaughter (retired) | 42 | Sutter/Robinson (retired) | 75 | Corey Baker/Jose Adolis Garcia |
| 10 | Tony La Russa (retired) | 43 | 76 | Kleininger Teran | |
| 11 | Jose Oquendo (since 2016) | 44 | Trevor Rosenthal | 77 | Chris Maloney |
| 12 | 45 | Bob Gibson (retired) | 78 | Trey Nielsen | |
| 13 | Matt Carpenter | 46 | Kevin Siegrist | 79 | Magneuris Sierra |
| 14 | Ken Boyer (retired) | 47 | John Mabry | 80 | Edmundo Sosa |
| 15 | Randal Grichuk | 48 | Todd Cunningham | 81 | Anthony Garcia |
| 16 | Kolten Wong | 49 | Blaise Ilsley | 82 | Gabriel Lino |
| 17 | Dizzy Dean (retired) | 50 | Adam Wainwright | 83 | Ryan Sherriff |
| 18 | Carlos Martinez | 51 | Willie McGee (since 1999) | 84 | Josh Lucas |
| 19 | Jordan Schafer | 52 | Michael Wacha | 85 | August Busch (retired) |
| 20 | Lou Brock (retired) | 53 | John Gant | 86 | Patrick Wisdom |
| 21 | Brett Cecil | 54 | Zach Phillips | 87 | Paul DeJong |
| 22 | Mike Matheny | 55 | Stephen Piscotty | 88 | Harrison Bader |
| 23 | Bill Mueller | 56 | Marco Gonzales | 89 | Arturo Reyes |
| 24 | Whitey Herzog (retired) | 57 | Darryl Kile (since 2002) | 90 | Dennis Schutzenhofer |
| 25 | Dexter Fowler | 58 | Jose Martinez | 91 | Robby Rowland |
| 26 | Seung-hwan Oh | 59 | Mike Mayers | 92 | Jack Flaherty |
| 27 | Jhonny Peralta | 60 | 93 | Sandy Alcantara | |
| 28 | Tommy Pham | 61 | Alex Reyes | 94 | Austin Gomber |
| 29 | Zach Duke | 62 | Luke Weaver | 95 | Daniel Poncedeleon |
| 30 | Jonathan Broxton | 63 | Miguel Socolovich | 96 | Andrew Knizner |
| 31 | Lance Lynn | 64 | Sam Tuivailala | 97 | Jeremy Martinez |
| 32 | Matt Adams | 65 | Chad Huffman | 98 | Dennis Ortega |
| 33 | David Bell | 66 | Wilfredo Tovar | 98 | Junior Fernandez |
| 99 | Jake Woodford |
Next is a view by grouping. In every case, I list the individual’s spring number as well as who wore it last spring or last season, as applicable.
On the left are the 25 non-roster invitees. In the center are the 40-man roster players.
Then we have the right column, which begins with coaches. The only unconfirmed assignments are the #76 worn by assistant bullpen catcher Kleininger Teran and #90 of batting practice pitcher Dennis Schutzenhofer in 2016. I am assuming they will be back.
Afterward are the retired numbers everyone is most familiar with from the outfield wall at Busch Stadium.
Next are the five numbers that appear to be unofficially out of service to honor former team greats. Joining that group for 2016 is Jose Oquendo, now a special assistant like Willie McGee. This category has been reduced by one in each of the last two years. Mark McGwire’s old number 25 was re-issued to bench coach David Bell for 2015 and Chris Carpenter’s 29 was worn again by Zach Duke last summer. 69 is not used.
By simple process of elimination, the final group of five are all that remain. (Update: That is down to four. See description below the table.)
| Non-Roster Invitees (28) | 40-Man Roster (40) | # | 2016 | Coaches | ||||||
| 22 | 22 | Mike Matheny | ||||||||
| # | 2016 | Pitchers (15) | # | 2016 | Pitchers (21) | 33 | Pena | David Bell | ||
| 93 | Washington (NRI) | Sandy Alcantara | 67 | 67 | Matt Bowman | 49 | 49 | Blaise Ilsley | ||
| 92 | J Rodriguez (NRI) | Jack Flaherty | 30 | 30 | Jonathan Broxton | 34 | 34 | Derek Lilliquist | ||
| 60 | Kiekhefer | Kendry Flores | 21 | Moss (ST) | Brett Cecil | 47 | 47 | John Mabry | ||
| 94 | 94 (NRI) | Austin Gomber | 29 | 29 | Zach Duke | 77 | 77 | Chris Maloney | ||
| 75 | Littrell (NRI) | Corey Baker | 53 | Walden | John Gant | 37 | Moss | Oliver Marmol | ||
| 84 | Ohlman | Josh Lucas | 56 | 56 | Marco Gonzales | 23 | 23 | Bill Mueller | ||
| 78 | 78 (NRI) | Trey Nielsen | 8 | 8 | Mike Leake | 38 | Williams | Mike Shildt | ||
| 54 | J Garcia | Zach Phillips | 31 | 31 | Lance Lynn | 39 | 39 | Jamie Pogue | ||
| 95 | 95 (NRI) | Daniel Poncedeleon | 70 | 70 | Tyler Lyons | |||||
| 89 | Rosario (NRI) | Arturo Reyes | 18 | 18 | Carlos Martinez | # | 2016 | Unconfirmed | ||
| 91 | Hazelbaker (NRI) | Robby Rowland | 59 | 59 | Mike Mayers | 76 | 76 | Kleininger Teran | ||
| 19 | Tejada/McKenry | Jordan Schafer | 26 | 26 | Seung-hwan Oh | 90 | 90 | Dennis Schutzenhofer | ||
| 83 | Weaver (NRI) | Ryan Sherriff | 61 | 61 | Alex Reyes | |||||
| 40 | Harris | Mitch Harris | 44 | 44 | Trevor Rosenthal | # | Retired | |||
| 98 | open | Junior Fernandez | 46 | 46 | Kevin Siegrist | 1 | Ozzie Smith | |||
| 99 | open | Jake Woodford | 63 | 63 | Miguel Socolovich | 2 | Red Schoendienst | |||
| 64 | 64 | Sam Tuivailala | 6 | Stan Musial | ||||||
| # | 2016 | Catchers (6) | 52 | 52 | Michael Wacha | 9 | Enos Slaughter | |||
| 41 | Hazelbaker (NRI) | Eric Fryer | 50 | 50 | Adam Wainwright | 10 | Tony La Russa | |||
| 96 | Cruz (NRI) | Andrew Knizner | 62 | 62 | Luke Weaver | 14 | Ken Boyer | |||
| 82 | Kelly (NRI) | Gabriel Lino | 72 | Waldron (NRI) | Rowan Wick | 17 | Dizzy Dean | |||
| 97 | open | Jeremy Martinez | 20 | Lou Brock | ||||||
| 98 | open | Dennis Ortega | # | 2016 | Catchers (2) | 24 | Whitey Herzog | |||
| 68 | Aquino | Alberto Rosario | 71 | 71 | Carson Kelly | 42 | Bruce Sutter / | |||
| 4 | 4 | Yadier Molina | Jackie Robinson | |||||||
| # | 2016 | Infielders (3) | 45 | Bob Gibson | ||||||
| 87 | Wilson (NRI) | Paul DeJong | # | 2016 | Infielders (10) | 85 | August Busch | |||
| 66 | Cooney | Wilfredo Tovar | 32 | 32 | Matt Adams | |||||
| 86 | 86 (NRI) | Patrick Wisdom | 74 | S Garcia (NRI) | Eliezer Alvarez | # | Unofficially out of service | |||
| 13 | 13 | Matt Carpenter | 5 | Albert Pujols (since 2011) | ||||||
| # | 2016 | Outfielders (4) | 36 | 36 | Aledmys Diaz | 11 | Jose Oquendo (since 2016) | |||
| 88 | Bean (NRI) | Harrison Bader | 35 | 35 | Greg Garcia | 51 | Willie McGee (since 1999) | |||
| 48 | May (coach) | Todd Cunningham | 3 | 3 | Jedd Gyorko | 57 | Darryl Kile (since 2002) | |||
| 65 | Anna | Chad Huffman | 27 | 27 | Jhonny Peralta | 69 | ||||
| 75 | Littrell (NRI) | Jose Adolis Garcia | 80 | Tilson | Edmundo Sosa | |||||
| 73 | Diaz | Breyvic Valera | Potentially available (4) |
|||||||
| 16 | 16 | Kolten Wong | # | (last worn by/year) | ||||||
| 7 | Matt Holliday (2016) | |||||||||
| # | 2016 | Outfielders (7) | 12 | Mark Reynolds (2015) | ||||||
| 25 | Bell (coach) | Dexter Fowler | 40 | Mitch Harris (2016) | ||||||
| 81 | 81 | Anthony Garcia | 43 | Seth Maness (2016) | ||||||
| 15 | 15 | Randal Grichuk | 99 | So Taguchi (2007) | ||||||
| 58 | 58 | Jose Martinez | 60 | Kendry Flores (2017) | ||||||
| 28 | 28 | Tommy Pham | ||||||||
| 55 | 55 | Stephen Piscotty | ||||||||
| 79 | Rowland (NRI) | Magneuris Sierra |
Changes
Of the major leaguers who left the Cardinals this past off-season, Matt Holliday’s number 7 most noticeably remains unassigned. The 37 of Brandon Moss (who shifted from 21 last spring) will now be worn by new first base coach Oliver Marmol. Jerome Williams’ 48 is now the property of new quality control coach Mike Shildt.
Bell gave up his number 25 for newly-signed center fielder Dexter Fowler and has taken Brayan Pena’s old 33, for his third number in three years. Jaime Garcia‘s 54 has been re-issued to a minor league free agent signee, lefty Zach Phillips.
Other changes include Jordan Walden’s rarely-worn number 53 moving to another former Atlanta Brave, pitcher John Gant. Free agent acquisition, left-handed pitcher Brett Cecil, takes the 21 worn by Moss in 2015 but given up early last spring.
It is interesting to note that Seth Maness’ 43 remains open, as is Mitch Harris’ 40. The latter, working his way back from elbow ligament repair surgery, was removed from the 40-man roster last fall. While the 31-year-old right-hander remains with the Cardinals, he was not invited to big-league camp.
Bookmark this page. After all, with at least 20 Cardinals spring games to be televised, and potentially a few more still to be added, you are going to want to know who is who.
Updates 2/16
With the suspension of non-roster pitcher Corey Littrell, Corey Baker has been added as an NRI, taking Littrell’s assigned #75. This change is reflected in the tables above.
#60 has been vacated due to the voiding of the minor league contract of non-roster invitee pitcher Kendry Flores.
Updates 2/17
Pitchers Mitch Harris (40), Junior Fernandez (98) and Jake Woodford (99) have been added to MLB camp. These changes are noteworthy for several reasons. First of all, this is the first time to my knowledge that number 99 has been assigned to any Cardinal since So Taguchi left in 2007.
Second, Fernandez is doubling up with catcher Dennis Ortega, both wearing 98. While this is common in minor league camp, as far as I can tell, this is a first in big-league camp.
Update 2/24
Newly-signed Cuban outfielder Jose Adolis Garcia has been assigned #75. Current #75, pitcher Corey Baker, is slated to pitch for Team Israel in the upcoming World Baseball Classic.
For more
The Roster Matrix right here at The Cardinal Nation Blog and the St. Louis Cardinals 2017 roster on the main site, 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 their uniform numbers are not designated.
The St. Louis roster on the main site does include uniform numbers, with players listed based on a 25-man roster view, on their official year-ending 2016 teams until they have a firm assignment to open 2017. All eight minor league affiliates’ rosters are kept up to date, as well.
Follow me on Twitter.