photo: Jimmy Crooks, Quinn Mathews, Eric Peterson (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)
On Saturday, five 40-man players and one non-roster invitee were shifted to St. Louis Cardinals minor league spring training camp. They include three top 10 prospects.
St. Louis Cardinals release
The St. Louis Cardinals announced the team has reduced its Spring Training roster to 51 players today (Saturday, March 7), with six players moving to minor league camp.
The team optioned pitcher Tink Hence, infielder César Prieto, infielder/outfielder Bryan Torres, and catchers Leo Bernal and Jimmy Crooks to the Memphis (AAA) roster and re-assigned non-roster pitcher Skylar Hales to minor league camp.
The Cardinals currently have 34 major league roster players and 17 non-roster invitees in Major League camp.
Brian Walton’s take
Hence (The Cardinal Nation no. 10), Prieto (no. 39), Bernal (no. 5) and Crooks (no. 8) are ranked prospects, with perhaps Crooks the most surprising cut this soon in camp. He is the most experienced of the group, with 15 MLB games logged late last season.
However, it has been clear in spring camp that the big three catchers – Pedro Pages, Ivan Herrera and Yohel Pozo – were considered above the others.
A possible complication to watch is that Herrera was scratched from Saturday’s game with knee inflammation.
Also worth noting is that the chance of Torres fighting his way onto the Opening Day 26-man roster was hurt by his decision to leave the Cardinals to play in the World Baseball Classic for Yadier Molina and Puerto Rico.
Bernal is also currently away for the WBC (Panama).
As noted, big-league camp is down to 51 players as minor league camp grows to 160.
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