photo: Josh Lucas (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)
St. Louis Cardinals press release
The St. Louis Cardinals will open their 127th season of play in the National League tomorrow (Thursday) afternoon when the visit the New York Mets at 12:10 p.m. CDT. The Cardinals today announced their 25-man Opening Day roster that includes seven first-time Cardinals and 14 players that were developed within their organization.
The Cardinals completed their roster preparations today by purchasing the contracts of rookie pitcher Jordan Hicks and catcher Francisco Peña, announcing the recall of pitcher Jack Flaherty from Memphis (AAA) and optioning pitcher John Brebbia to Memphis. The team also announced that infielder Breyvic Valera and pitcher Josh Lucas have been designated for assignment.
Pitchers Luke Gregerson (left hamstring strain), Alex Reyes (right elbow) and Adam Wainwright (left hamstring strain) have been placed on the 10-day disabled list, retroactive to March 26.
The following is the Cardinals 25-man active roster and disabled list:
PITCHERS (13): 67 – Matt Bowman-RHP, 27 – Brett Cecil-LHP, 32-Jack Flaherty-RHP, 49 – Jordan Hicks-RHP, 55 – Dominic Leone-RHP, 70- Tyler Lyons-LHP, 18 – Carlos Martínez-RHP, 59 – Mike Mayers-RHP, 39 – Miles Mikolas-RHP, 26 – Bud Norris-RHP, 64 – Sam Tuivailala-RHP, 52 – Michael Wacha-RHP, 7 – Luke Weaver-RHP;
CATCHERS (2): 4 -Yadier Molina, 46 – Francisco Peña;
INFIELDERS (7): 13 – Matt Carpenter, 12 – Paul DeJong, 35 – Greg Garcia, 3 – Jedd Gyorko, 38 – José Martínez, 34 – Yario Muñoz, 16 – Kolten Wong;
OUTFIELDERS (3): 25 – Dexter Fowler, 23 – Marcell Ozuna, 29 – Tommy Pham;
DISABLED LIST (3): 44 – Luke Gregerson-RHP (10-day, left hamstring strain), 29 – Alex Reyes-RHP (10-day, right elbow), 50 – Adam Wainwright (10-day, left hamstring strain).
Brian Walton’s take
The surprising news of prospect Hicks making the 25-man roster was disclosed on Tuesday, with the remaining question being which two players would be removed from the 40-man roster to make room for Hicks and catcher Pena.
Valera seemed most obvious, coming off a bad spring camp personally (.160 average in 25 at-bats). Further, newcomer Yairo Munoz not only passed him in the utility infielder pecking order, but actually made the big league roster. The closest The Cardinal Nation’s #50 prospect for 2018 came was a mid-September call up with expanded rosters in 2017.
The 26-year old Venezuelan native finished last season strongly, earning our system-wide Player of the Month honors in both July and August – a rare occurrence. Valera had been added to the 40-man in November 2016, ahead of others including a better and younger middle infield prospect, Allen Cordoba, who was then lost in the Rule 5 Draft to San Diego.
Given how well he pitched in St. Louis camp this spring, Lucas’ removal was less expected. The 6-foot-5 right-hander did not allow a run in 11 1/3 innings on just four hits and two walks. Lucas struck out 12 while holding opposing batters to a collective .118 average. He is The Cardinal Nation’s #43 prospect for 2018.
Over his six years in the organization, the 27-year old has 49 saves in 60 opportunities. After his August 2017 debut, the same time he was added to the 40-man, Lucas gave up three earned runs in five outings totaling 7 1/3 innings for St. Louis.
I feel the odds are high that Lucas will be claimed by another organization off waivers, with Valera perhaps a 50-50 proposition. They are immediately off the 40-man and if they clear waivers, they would report to Memphis.
My summary is that the likely loss of Lucas is the cost for the expected increase in performance to be gained by the Cardinals from Hicks over Brebbia.
The (not) forgotten
Though not stated explicitly in the press release, the final nine non-roster invitees were returned to minors camp: LHR Sean Gilmartin, RHR Preston Guilmet, IF Alex Mejia, SS Wilfredo Tovar, 3B Patrick Wisdom, OFs Adolis Garcia, Randy Arozarena, Cs Andrew Knizner, Steven Baron.
Cubans Garcia and Arozarena impressed with the arm, bat and legs. The former hit .291 and drove in seven. The latter slumped late at the plate, finishing at .244 including two triples and four steals in five attempts.
Knizner batted just .233 but four of his seven hits went for extra bases, including two long balls and he drew praise for his catching improvement. Baron batted .214 in very limited action.
Defense is what kept Tovar and Mejia in camp, while at the plate, the former batted .273 and the latter, .176. Wisdom had 52 at-bats, more than some starters, but true to form, hit just .173 with four doubles among his six hits.
Guilmet was charged with just two runs in six innings (3.00 ERA) while Gilmartin’s spring ERA was 3.60.
With the exception of Knizner and Arozarena, perhaps, at Springfield, the others should be members of the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds to open the regular season after gaining valuable experience in big-league camp from its beginning to end.
Related article
My full take on the 25-man Opening Day roster can be read here.
For more
The entire system view by level and position as last season ended with every transaction all year long is available via the Roster Matrix, always free, right here at The Cardinal Nation.
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