graphic: St. Louis Cardinals Player Development
The St. Louis Cardinals top minor league affiliate, the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds, announced their initial roster for the 2026 season. Who is active, who is on the IL and inactive and how many ranked prospects are there?
Memphis Redbirds release
The Memphis Redbirds announced Friday the club’s 28-man 2026 Opening Day roster. Memphis opens the season Friday night at the Gwinnett Stripers (Triple-A, Atlanta Braves).
Eight of the top 30 prospects in the St. Louis Cardinals system open the campaign with Memphis. Outfielder Joshua Baez (No. 4 STL prospect) is the highest-ranked prospect to start the season with the Redbirds, followed by catcher Leo Bernal (No. 6), left-handed pitcher Quinn Mathews (No. 7), catcher Jimmy Crooks (No. 8), right-handed pitcher Tink Hence (No. 15), left-handed pitcher Brycen Mautz (No. 21), right-handed pitcher Luis Gastelum (No. 22) and infielder Blaze Jordan (No. 27).
Baez (No. 87 overall prospect) and Bernal (No. 98) represent the Redbirds on MLB Pipeline’s top 100 prospect list to start the season.
11 Redbirds find themselves on the Cardinals 40-man roster. Right-handed pitchers Gordon Graceffo, Richard Fitts and Ryan Fernandez, left-handed pitcher Nick Raquet, and infielders Bryan Torres and Cesar Prieto join Hence, Mautz, Bernal, Crooks and Baez.
The 2026 Memphis roster includes 16 returners from the 2025 season and a total of 18 players who have previously appeared in a Redbirds uniform.
The Memphis Redbirds return to AutoZone Park on Tuesday, March 31 to begin the 2026 home schedule against the Norfolk Tides (Triple-A, Baltimore Orioles) with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 p.m. CDT.
Brian Walton’s take
Looking behind the numbers, among the 28 active are seven Redbirds promoted from Double-A. (Their Cardinal Nation’s Top 50 Prospect List ranking is noted.)
- RHR Luis Gastelum (#21)
- RHR Tink Hence (#10)
- LHS Brycen Mautz (#18)
- C Leonardo Bernal (#5)
- IF Ramon Mendoza
- OF Joshua Baez (#8)
- OF Colton Ledbetter (Tampa Bay) (#46a)
Beyond the 28 active, nine other Redbirds open on the injured/inactive lists.
60-day (5)
- LHP Ixan Henderson (#12) (also promoted from Double-A)
- LHP Zack Thompson
- RHP Victor Santos
- RHP Tekoah Roby (#11)
- RHP Sem Robberse
7-day (2)
- LHP Alex Cornwell
- LHP Pete Hansen (#32) (also promoted from Double-A)
Development List (2)
- RHP Ian Bedell
- OF Mike Antico
Five other ranked TCN prospects are on the Redbirds roster, making the total number 15.
- LHS Quinn Mathews (#5)
- C Jimmy Crooks (#7)
- 1B Blaze Jordan (#30)
- IF Cesar Prieto (#39)
- RHR Max Rajcic (#44)
- OF Matt Koperniak (#47)
The Cardinal Nation’s Roster Matrix has been updated to reflect the new Memphis roster. The Redbirds section is also included here.
| Memphis (28+9) | |||||||
| SP | RP | C | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | OF |
| Fitts | Bedell (Dev List) | Yerzy | Jordan | Torres | Moore | Prieto | Antico (Dev List) |
| Zimmermann (L) | Z Thompson (L 60 IL) | Bernal | R Mendoza | Madris | |||
| Mautz (L) | V Santos (60 IL) | Crooks | Koperniak | ||||
| Mathews (L) | Cornwell (L 7 IL) | Velazquez | |||||
| Shuster (L) | Naughton (L) | Ledbetter | |||||
| Roby (60 IL) | Moreno | Jo Baez | |||||
| Robberse (60 IL) | Raquet (L) | ||||||
| Hansen (L 7 IL) | Hales | ||||||
| Henderson (L 60 IL) | Blewett | ||||||
| Ry Fernandez | |||||||
| Graceffo | |||||||
| Rajcic | |||||||
| Hence | |||||||
| Gastelum |
Bold = 40-man roster
The initial rotation starts with Richard Fitts, Bruce Zimmermann and Brycen Mautz. They are pitching the three-game opening series this weekend.
The home opener on Tuesday, March 31 may be started by St. Louis rehabber Hunter Dobbins. Other starters in the mix likely include Quinn Mathews and Jared Shuster.
For roster and player information
The team rosters here at The Cardinal Nation are kept up to date daily. To access them, click on “ROSTERS/PLAYERS/MOVES” located on the red menu bar on the left of the page beneath The Cardinal Nation site logo.
To see the Cardinals’ entire system by level and position on one page along with every player transaction for every club all year long, check out the always current Roster Matrix at The Cardinal Nation. It is kept updated daily and is accessible from the same menu as team rosters.
Now available – 2026 Cardinals Prospect Guide
The Cardinal Nation Prospect Guide is back for its ninth year. It includes 275 pages of in-depth commentary about the very best St. Louis Cardinals minor leaguers, including over five dozen all-new player scouting reports by Kyle Reis. Order your PDF or spiral-bound printed book today.
All paid members can purchase our Prospect Guide PDF at 50% off. Thank you for your support of The Cardinal Nation!
Order The Cardinal Nation’s 2026 St. Louis Cardinals Prospect Guide
Exclusively for members of The Cardinal Nation
Cardinals Minor League Spring Training Camp – March 26, 2026
Not yet a member?
If you enjoyed this article, please consider joining The Cardinal Nation to receive the most comprehensive coverage of the St. Louis Cardinals from the majors through the entire minor league system.
Brian Walton can be reached via email at brian@thecardinalnation.com. Follow Brian and The Cardinal Nation on X/Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Bluesky.
© 2026 The Cardinal Nation, thecardinalnation.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.