photo: Darryl KIle (Mike Fiala/Getty Images)
February 18 update
Recent additions Ali Sanchez (no. 41) and Matt Szczur (no. 36) have been assigned uniform numbers for spring camp. Tyler O’Neill last more 41 before shifting to 27. Austin Gomber was most recently no. 36. Tables below have been updated accordingly.
With 100 possible numbers to place on uniforms for the St. Louis Cardinals (thanks to Austin Dean’s “0”), it is once again time to review who is who as spring training camp 2021 is slated to open.
In our annual dive into the spring training number assignments for Cardinals players and coaches, two views will follow. The first is a straight 0-99 take. The second will be a more detailed breakdown, including changes from spring 2020.
As one will see below, uniforms from 0 through 99 are currently spoken for with the exception of just nine numbers. And two of those will be soon assigned to new acquisitions Ali Sanchez and Matt Szczur. 12 others are permanently allocated to Hall of Famers and two remain out of commission in unofficial retired status – nos. 5 and 69.
On that latter point, the quantity of purposely unused numbers has dropped from three in recent years. Here in 2021, for the first time since Darryl Kile’s passing in 2002, his number 57 is back in circulation. The honoree is The Cardinal Nation’s no. 5 prospect, pitcher Zack Thompson.
| # | Roster Spring 2021 | # | |
| 0 | Austin Dean | 50 | Adam Wainwright |
| 1 | Ozzie Smith (retired) | 51 | Willie McGee |
| 2 | Red Schoendienst (retired) | 52 | Matthew Liberatore |
| 3 | Dylan Carlson | 53 | John Gant |
| 4 | Yadier Molina | 54 | Jeff Albert |
| 5 | Albert Pujols (since 2011) | 55 | Angel Rondon |
| 6 | Stan Musial (retired) | 56 | Ryan Helsley |
| 7 | Andrew Knizner | 57 | Zack Thompson |
| 8 | Mike Shildt | 58 | Jobel Jimenez |
| 9 | Enos Slaughter (retired) | 59 | Johan Oviedo |
| 10 | Tony La Russa (retired) | 60 | Jesus Cruz |
| 11 | Paul DeJong | 61 | Seth Elledge |
| 12 | Jordan Hicks | 62 | Evan Kruczynski |
| 13 | Matt Carpenter | 63 | Edmundo Sosa |
| 14 | Ken Boyer (retired) | 64 | Jose Rondon |
| 15 | 65 | Giovanny Gallegos | |
| 16 | 66 | Tyler Heineman | |
| 17 | Dizzy Dean (retired) | 67 | Max Moroff |
| 18 | Carlos Martinez | 68 | Nolan Gorman |
| 19 | Tommy Edman | 69 | |
| 20 | Lou Brock (retired) | 70 | Evan Mendoza |
| 21 | Andrew Miller | 71 | Carlos Soto |
| 22 | Jack Flaherty | 72 | Bryan Eversgerd |
| 23 | 73 | Dennis Ortega | |
| 24 | Whitey Herzog (retired) | 74 | Tommy Parsons |
| 25 | 75 | Ron “Pop” Warner | |
| 26 | Justin Williams | 76 | Kleininger Teran |
| 27 | Tyler O’Neill | 77 | Roel Ramirez |
| 28 | Nolan Arenado | 78 | Connor Jones |
| 29 | Alex Reyes | 79 | Luken Baker |
| 30 | Tyler Webb | 80 | Griffin Roberts |
| 31 | Mike Maddux | 81 | Kramer Robertson |
| 32 | Daniel Ponce de Leon | 82 | Stubby Clapp |
| 33 | Kwang-Hyun Kim | 83 | Domingo Robles |
| 34 | John Nogowski | 84 | Garrett Williams |
| 35 | Lane Thomas | 85 | August Busch (retired) |
| 36 | Matt Szczur (added) | 86 | Austin Warner |
| 37 | Oliver Marmol | 87 | Scott Hurst |
| 38 | 88 | Packy Eklins | |
| 39 | Miles Mikolas | 89 | Justin Toerner |
| 40 | Jake Woodford | 90 | Dusty Blake/Conner Capel |
| 41 | Ali Sanchez (added) | 91 | Lars Nootvaar |
| 42 | Sutter/Robinson (retired) | 92 | Genesis Cabrera |
| 43 | Dakota Hudson | 93 | |
| 44 | Junior Fernandez | 94 | Jamie Pogue |
| 45 | Bob Gibson (retired) | 95 | Delvin Perez |
| 46 | Paul Goldschmidt | 96 | |
| 47 | Ivan Herrera | 97 | |
| 48 | Harrison Bader | 98 | Alexis Wilson |
| 49 | Johan Quezada | 99 | Pedro Pages |
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 28 non-roster invitees. To the right are the 40-man roster players. They are listed alphabetically within position grouping.
Note the significant change from year to year. Only 30 of the 73 players invited to 2020 spring camp are back in the 2021 camp wearing the same number. Of course, a number of others remain on the team, but with different digits assigned.
| Non-Roster Invitees (28) | 40-Man Roster (39) | |||||
| Pitchers (11) | Pitchers (22) | |||||
| # | 2020 | 2021 | # | 2020 | 2021 | |
| 60 | John Brebbia | Jesus Cruz | 92 | Genesis Cabrera | Genesis Cabrera | |
| 78 | Ramon Santos | Connor Jones | 61 | Seth Elledge | Seth Elledge | |
| 62 | Daniel Ponce de Leon | Evan Kruczynski | 44 | Junior Fernandez | Junior Fernandez | |
| 52 | Alvaro Seijas | Matthew Liberatore | 22 | Jack Flaherty | Jack Flaherty | |
| 74 | Nabil Crismatt | Tommy Parsons | 65 | Giovanny Gallegos | Giovanny Gallegos | |
| 77 | Roel Ramirez | Roel Ramirez | 53 | John Gant | John Gant | |
| 80 | Zack Thompson | Griffin Roberts | 56 | Ryan Helsley | Ryan Helsley | |
| 83 | John Nogowski (1B) | Domingo Robles | 12 | Jordan Hicks | Jordan Hicks | |
| 57 | (reserved Darryl Kile) | Zack Thompson | 43 | Dakota Hudson | Dakota Hudson | |
| 86 | Jesus Cruz | Austin Warner | 33 | Kwang-Hyun Kim | Kwang-Hyun Kim | |
| 84 | Evan Mendoza (SS) | Garrett Williams | 18 | Carlos Martinez | Carlos Martinez | |
| 39 | Miles Mikolas | Miles Mikolas | ||||
| 21 | Andrew Miller | Andrew Miller | ||||
| 59 | Evan Kruczynski | Johan Oviedo | ||||
| 32 | Matt Wieters (C) | Daniel Ponce de Leon | ||||
| 49 | Elehuris Montero (3B) | Johan Quezada | ||||
| 29 | Alex Reyes | Alex Reyes | ||||
| 55 | Max Schrock (SS) | Angel Rondon | ||||
| 50 | Adam Wainwright | Adam Wainwright | ||||
| 30 | Tyler Webb | Tyler Webb | ||||
| 38 | Austin Dean (OF) | Kodi Whitley | ||||
| 40 | Jake Woodford | Jake Woodford | ||||
| Catchers (5) | Catchers (4) | |||||
| # | 2020 | 2021 | # | 2020 | 2021 | |
| 98 | Antonini/Alexis Wilson | Aaron Antonini | 47 | Rangel Ravelo | Ivan Herrera | |
| 66 | Matthew Liberatore (P) | Tyler Heineman | 7 | Andrew Knizner | Andrew Knizner | |
| 73 | Akeem Bostick (P) | Dennis Ortega | 4 | Yadier Molina | Yadier Molina | |
| 99 | Pages/Dennis Ortega | Pedro Pages | 41 | Tyler O’Neill | Ali Sanchez | |
| 71 | Julio Rodriguez | Carlos Soto | ||||
| Infielders (7) | Infielders (7) | |||||
| # | 2020 | 2021 | # | 2020 | 2021 | |
| 79 | Luken Baker | Luken Baker | 28 | Oscar Hernandez (C) | Nolan Arenado | |
| 68 | Dylan Carlson | Nolan Gorman | 13 | Matt Carpenter | Matt Carpenter | |
| 70 | Jose Godoy (C) | Evan Mendoza | 11 | Paul DeJong | Paul DeJong | |
| 67 | Rob Kaminsky (P) | Max Moroff | 19 | Tommy Edman | Tommy Edman | |
| 95 | Griffin Roberts (P) | Delvin Perez | 46 | Paul Goldschmidt | Paul Goldschmidt | |
| 81 | Nolan Gorman | Kramer Robertson | 34 | Yairo Munoz | John Nogowski | |
| 64 | Ramon Urias | Jose Rondon | 63 | Edmundo Sosa | Edmundo Sosa | |
| Outfielders (5) | Outfielders (6) | |||||
| # | 2020 | 2021 | # | 2020 | 2021 | |
| 90 | Kodi Whitley (P) | Conner Capel | 48 | Harrison Bader | Harrison Bader | |
| 87 | Johan Oviedo (P) | Scott Hurst | 3 | Dylan Carlson | ||
| 91 | Bryan Dobzanski (P) | Lars Nootbaar | 0 | Austin Dean | ||
| 36 | Austin Gomber | Matt Szczur | 27 | Brett Cecil (P) | Tyler O’Neill | |
| 89 | Angel Rondon (P) | Justin Toerner | 35 | Lane Thomas | Lane Thomas | |
| 26 | Justin Williams | 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. The two newest coaches, Packy Elkins and Dusty Blake, have taken non-descript nos. 88 and 90, respectively.
Going clockwise, next are the numbers that appear to be unofficially out of service to honor former team greats.
| Coaches (13) | # | Retired (12) | |||
| # | 2020 | 2021 | 1 | Ozzie Smith | |
| 54 | Jeff Albert | Jeff Albert | 2 | Red Schoendienst | |
| 90 | Kodi Whitley (P) | Dusty Blake | 6 | Stan Musial | |
| 82 | Stubby Clapp | Stubby Clapp | 9 | Enos Slaughter | |
| 88 | Tommy Parsons (P) | Packy Elkins | 10 | Tony La Russa | |
| 72 | Bryan Eversgerd | Bryan Eversgerd | 14 | Ken Boyer | |
| 58 | Jobel Jimenez | Jobel Jimenez | 17 | Dizzy Dean | |
| 31 | Mike Maddux | Mike Maddux | 20 | Lou Brock | |
| 37 | Oliver Marmol | Oliver Marmol | 24 | Whitey Herzog | |
| 51 | Willie McGee | Willie McGee | 42 | Bruce Sutter/Jackie Robinson | |
| 94 | Jamie Pogue | Jamie Pogue | 45 | Bob Gibson | |
| 8 | Mike Shildt | Mike Shildt | 85 | August Busch | |
| 76 | Kleininger Teran | Kleininger Teran | |||
| 75 | Ron “Pop” Warner | Ron “Pop” Warner | # | Unofficially out of service (2) | |
| 5 | Albert Pujols (since 2011) | ||||
| 69 | |||||
| Available ( |
|||||
| # | (last worn/year) | ||||
| 15 | Brad Miller (2020) | ||||
| 16 | Kolten Wong (2020) | ||||
| 23 | Marcell Ozuna (2019) | ||||
| 25 | Dexter Fowler (2020) | ||||
| 93 | Alex FaGalde | ||||
| 96 | Carlos Soto | ||||
| 97 | Ivan Herrera |
Notable changes
Of the major leaguers who left the Cardinals this off-season, the numbers of four remain open. They are Brad Miller (no. 3), Kolten Wong (no. 16) and Dexter Fowler (no. 25) and Austin Gomber (no. 36). Marcell Ozuna’s old no. 23 is unallocated for a second year.
Tyler O’Neill shifted from no. 41 (which was not reassigned) to Brett Cecil’s old no. 27. Daniel Ponce de Leon grabbed former catcher Matt Wieters’ no. 32 and when called up last August, John Nogowski took over the no. 34 worn last spring by Yairo Muñoz.
Noteworthy progress is made by Nolan Gorman, moving up to no. 68. Not only was it worn by Dylan Carlson last year, it was also the number assigned to Albert Pujols in his only year as a non-roster invitee.
New 40-man arrivals Nolan Arenado (no. 28) and Johan Quezada (no. 49) take veteran-like lower numbers. Same for prospects Ivan Herrera (now no. 47) and Angel Rondon (new no. 55).
As noted above, numbers for recently acquired catcher Ali Sanchez and non-roster invitee, outfielder Matt Szczur, have not yet been announced.
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 roughly 26-man roster view. All players remain on their official year-ending 2020 teams until they have a firm assignment to open 2021. All nine minor league affiliates’ rosters are kept up to date, as well. (Note that State College and Johnson City remain here until their players have been disbursed to other team rosters.)
The Matrix and all rosters can always be accessed from the menu on the far left column.
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