The St. Louis Cardinals announced their final roster decisions of spring training on Sunday morning, bringing both surprise and a set of further questions along with the initial group of 26 players who will travel north to begin the season next Thursday against the Minnesota Twins at Busch Stadium.
What appeared to be the final roster battle between center fielders Victor Scott II and Michael Siani was resolved by including both on the team to start the season. Manager Oli Marmol told reporters in Florida that Scott would be the team’s starter in center, leaving Siani as a defensive replacement and pinch runner on the bench.
Infielder José Fermín, who otherwise seemed set for his first opening day as the utility man and primary backup at shortstop, was instead optioned to Triple-A Memphis. José Barrero, the other contender for that spot, was reassigned to minor league camp.
That leaves Siani, slugging first baseman Luken Baker, and one of Alec Burleson or Nolan Gorman as the bench group, as well as whichever of Iván Herrera and Pedro Pagés is not catching on a given day.
On the pitching side, starter Michael McGreevy was also optioned to the minors despite his strong spring. Lefty Matthew Liberatore won a spot in the team’s rotation, and in doing so, sent fellow southpaw Steven Matz temporarily to the bullpen.
Marmol also told reporters that the team intends to transition to a six-man rotation on April 16, sliding Matz back into that group from the long relief role he will occupy in the interim.
Lefty Zack Thompson (lat strain) will be officially placed on the injured list on Monday. After being injured early in camp, Thompson remains more than a month away from readiness for game action.
The decision to not only keep Scott on the active roster but also declare him the starter in center is indicative of not only the results posted this spring, but also the process by which he has approached his work throughout the winter.
Scott was among a small group (including Jordan Walker) who spent the winter largely based out of the team’s Florida complex, working through positioning and training drills with new coach Jon Jay.
Scott parlayed that work with improvements at the plate into five steals, four homers, seven extra base hits and 31 total bases in Grapefruit League play, entering Sunday. Those numbers all rank in the top 10 among all players in Florida for spring.
Siani, by contrast, posted just a 4-for-40 mark with 17 strikeouts, but was also one of the top defenders in all of baseball last season. He ends this spring in roughly the same role he ended last spring – positioned to earn extra at bats with his own play, or to stabilize the team at the end of games with a lead.
In allowing Scott the opportunity to win a competition for his spot, the Cardinals are in some ways showing a commitment to their asserted ethic from the winter; he is a young player who earned an opportunity, and so it is being given to him.
The tradeoff, though, will seemingly come from others on the roster. His presence in center moves Lars Nootbaar to left field and therefore Brendan Donovan to second base, meaning one of Burleson and Gorman will be the designated hitter against righties and the other will be out of the lineup.
Gorman missed parts of the last week while ill, but his 50 spring at bats led the team. He recorded 10 hits (including one homer and four doubles) and struck out just 12 times, a massive improvement over the rate in the high-30s which saw him end last year in the minors. Burleson slugged three homers and posted a perfectly cromulent .740 OPS in Grapefruit League play.
The decision to go with Liberatore over Matz in the rotation comes with a similar feel, in that it gives an earned opportunity to a younger pitcher while still another young arm (McGreevy) is, in the short term, shut out. Liberatore’s start Saturday against the Miami Marlins was his first of spring, but he allowed only three earned runs in 16 ⅔ innings of game action. Matz was similarly strong, giving up five earned runs in a team-high 19 ⅔ innings.
Matz, however, is a free agent at the end of the season who is likelier to be traded this year than not. Liberatore, a top prospect as a starter who thrived last year in his first full year as a reliever, is still just 25, and the Cardinals are eager to find successes in their pitching development who can help bridge the team to its next generation of top arms.
Righty relievers Kyle Leahy and Chris Roycroft made their first ever opening day rosters in the big leagues, as did Pagés and Baker.
STARTERS (5): Sonny Gray (opening day), Erick Fedde, Matthew Liberatore, Miles Mikolas, Andre Pallante
RELIEVERS (8): Ryan Fernandez, Ryan Helsley, John King, Kyle Leahy, Phil Maton,
CATCHERS (2): Iván Herrera, Pedro Pagés
INFIELDERS (6): Nolan Arenado, Luken Baker, Willson Contreras, Brendan Donovan, Nolan Gorman, Masyn Winn
OUTFIELDERS (4): Lars Nootbaar, Victor Scott II, Michael Siani, Jordan Walker
DESIGNATED HITTER (1): Alec Burleson
