photo: Matt Koperniak (Memphis Redbirds)
The St. Louis Cardinals have added RHP Tink Hence, RHP Tekoah Roby, OF Matt Koperniak and RHP Matt Svanson to their 40-man roster. LHP Drew Rom was outrighted to Memphis.
St. Louis Cardinals release
The St. Louis Cardinals have added RHP Tink Hence, RHP Tekoah Roby (tuh-KOH-uh), OF Matt Koperniak (koh-PUR-nee-ack) and RHP Matt Svanson (SVON-suhn) to their 40-player Major League roster, protecting them from next month’s Rule 5 Draft and bringing the Cardinals roster to 39.
Hence, 22, was the Cardinals Competitive Balance Round B selection (63rd overall) in the 2020 MLB Draft. The 2024 Texas League Pitcher of the Year ranks as the No. 3 prospect in the Cardinals organization entering the 2025 season by Baseball America. He finished the 2024 season making 20 starts at Springfield (AA) and was 4-3 with a 2.71 ERA and 109 strikeouts over 79.2 innings pitched. His 12.3 strikeouts/9 IP ratio was tops in the Texas League of those with 60 or more innings pitched. He started one of the Cardinals Spring Breakout games during the 2024 Grapefruit League schedule.
Roby, 23, was acquired by the Cardinals from the Texas Rangers in a 2023 trade that sent LHP Jordan Montgomery and RHP Chris Stratton to Texas. The 2023 Arizona Fall League All-Star was a 2020 3rd round selection by the Rangers out of Pine Forest High School in Pensacola, Fla. Roby made 10 starts between Palm Beach (A) and Springfield (AA) in 2024 while recovering from a right-shoulder injury. Roby was rated as the No. 6 prospect in the Cardinals organization entering the 2025 season by Baseball America.
Koperniak, 26, was signed by the Cardinals as a non-drafted free agent out of Division 3 Trinity College in Connecticut in 2020. Born in the United Kingdom, Koperniak played for Great Britain in the 2023 World Baseball Classic. Since he began his professional baseball career in 2021, Koperniak leads all minor league baseball players with a .298 career batting average and led the International League with 143 hits in 2024 while at Memphis (AAA).
Svanson, 25, was acquired by the Cardinals from the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for INF Paul DeJong at the 2023 trade deadline. The right-handed reliever compiled a 4-3 record with a 2.69 ERA while leading the 2024 Texas League with 53 appearances and 27 saves. Since joining the Cardinals, Svanson has converted 32 straight save opportunities and has converted 38 straight dating back to May 2023 with the Blue Jays organization at 38, the longest active streak in Minor League Baseball.
Left-handed pitcher Drew Rom cleared waivers and was out-righted to Memphis, remaining in the organization as a minor league player.
Brian Walton’s take
I was too conservative in my predictions this year, hitting the obvious selections of Hence and Roby, but incorrectly guessing the Cardinals would pass on protecting the two Matts – Koperniak and Svanson.
All four are ranked prospects here at The Cardinal Nation and are certainly deserving.
My thought was that the Cardinals would want to head into the Rule 5 Draft with multiple 40-man roster spots available, with the hopes of snagging another Ryan Fernandez or two.
They do have one spot to deploy, thanks to the outright of Rom. And they could also make another move or two between now and the December 11 draft.
Koperniak is the only one of the quartet who is MLB ready, but all four will be in 2025 Spring Training Camp as members of the Cardinals 40-man roster for the first time.
Congratulations to each of them!
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