St. Louis Cardinals’ rebooted 44-man roster comes with a few surprises
The St. Louis Cardinals released a list of 44 players on Sunday evening who will be attending the team’s newly-minted “summer camp” at Busch Stadium in preparation for the truncated 2020 season.
Like any roster reveal worth its salt, the group came with a few surprises.
Perhaps chief among those was the inclusion of right-handed pitcher Johan Oviedo who made 23 starts for Double-A Springfield last summer.
Oviedo’s 5.65 earned run average in those starts doesn’t accurately portray the success he had in those starts, as the Texas League plays heavily in favor of hitters. Oviedo, who turned 22 in March, was also three years younger than the average player at that level in 2019.
His 10.2 strikeouts per nine innings led all Springfield starters, and he allowed just two earned runs and struck out seven in 5 and ⅔ innings pitched in spring training games played before the pandemic-induced activity suspension.
Also included with the major league group is outfield prospect Dylan Carlson, who’s set to make his major league debut early in the coming campaign. Carlson, who started hot but tapered toward the end of spring training, may have his debut delayed by roughly a week, as doing so would provide the Cardinals with an additional year of control before he’s eligible to reach free agency.
Prospect catchers José Godoy and Ivan Herrera were also included with the primary group, owing in part to the need to have additional catchers on hand to handle the 22 pitchers included in the group. Godoy, at 25, is the older and more experienced of the two and spent some time at the club’s facility in Jupiter, FL working with pitchers during the downtime.
Herrera, who turned 20 in June, is the youngest player invited to big league camp and considered a rising star in the team’s prospect ranks.
Lefty reliever Brett Cecil, who missed all of 2019 with carpal tunnel syndrome, is among the pitchers who will be joining the team in St. Louis. Cecil was slowed by a hamstring injury in spring training, and as recently as last week, the club was unsure if he would be physically ready to compete at the outset of camp.
Hard-throwing righty Jordan Hicks, on his way back from Tommy John surgery last summer, is also included in that group of pitchers. It’s unclear whether Hicks would be ready to start the season on the active roster, but the scheduled opening day of July 23rd or 24th would roughly coincide with the timeline of his anticipated return as laid out a year ago.
The remaining players included in the group who have yet to make their major league debuts are pitchers Kwang Hyun Kim, Kodi Whitley and Jake Woodford and infielders John Nogowski and Max Schrock.
Kim was the team’s most prominent acquisition in the offseason, signing after a distinguished career in Korea’s top baseball league. Whitley, a reliever, and Woodford, a starter, each figure to admirably cover innings in the event of injuries to or ineffectiveness from other pitchers.
Nogowski is a journeyman minor leaguer who provided stout defense and professional at bats during spring training. His strong 2019 season with the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds has allowed him to carve out a space as a valuable depth player in the organization.
Schrock, who was acquired from the Oakland A’s in the deal which saw Stephen Piscotty sent west, paired with Edmundo Sosa to form a formidable keystone combination both for Memphis last year and this past spring.
The Cardinals have 16 spots remaining in their 60-man pool. Those 16 players — in addition to some who will have been cut from Busch Stadium summer camp — will report to Hammons Field in Springfield, Missouri in the middle of July for the team’s satellite camp.
Major league teams will be permitted to start the season with 30 players on the active roster and with three additional players allowed to travel with the club as emergency substitutes.
The only two players currently on the team’s 40-man roster who were not invited to major league camp are pitcher Alvaro Seijas and infielder Elehuris Montero. Those two, in addition to top prospects like Nolan Gorman and Matthew Liberatore, seem likely to be included in the group sent directly to Springfield.
Reliever John Brebbia, who recently underwent season-ending Tommy John surgery, was placed on the 60-day injured list on Saturday. He does not count against the 60-man pool limit.
Players included in a team’s 60-man pool will be in that pool for the duration of the season unless placed on the new 45-day IL or COVID-19 IL. They can also be removed by clearing waivers, though that would provide the other 29 MLB teams with an opportunity to claim those players.
Given the relative exclusivity of that 60-man pool, it’s unlikely that there will be much shifting of pools inside organizations.
