Constructing a Postseason Roster for the Cardinals

Now that the Cardinals have clinched a playoff spot, it’s safe to look at who would be available to the team in October. 2 things to remember is the roster construction can change between rounds, and only players on the 40-man roster prior to September 1st are eligible for postseason play (except if they are an injury replacement – AKA the Francisco Rodriguez rule).

The starting 8 should be set:

C – Yadier Molina
1B – Paul Goldschmidt
2B – Tommy Edman
3B – Nolan Arenado
SS – Edmundo Sosa
LF – Tyler O’Neill
CF – Harrison Bader
RF – Dylan Carlson

For the wild card round, the Cardinals should expand their bench. They only need to carry 1 starting pitcher and a normal bullpen, meaning they can add a few bats to the bench. Andrew Knizner, Paul DeJong, Jose Rondon, and Lars Nootbaar (see next paragraph) should be givens.

Note on Nootbaar: While he’s been announced for the Arizona Fall League, he’ll stay with the Cardinals per Derrick Goold:

Right now, the Cardinals have a 5-man bench and we know 4 of the locks. I’d include Ali Sanchez to have an extra catcher; this also frees up Knizner as a pinch-hitter. That leaves Ivan Herrera, Matt Carpenter, Justin Williams, and Austin Dean as the available fielders on the 40-man roster (although Dean is on the IL at Memphis); Max Moroff is on the 60-Day IL and is not available after June shoulder surgery. Carpenter probably gets the nod for the Wild Card round because of experience; his current play probably means he’s the last guy they’d use. I don’t see Williams or Dean being called up, as neither were all that impressive this season. Herrera is getting his first taste of Triple A, so I don’t think they’d throw him into the playoff picture.

As much as I don’t like it, the Cardinals will probably use the same 6-man bench if they advance past the Wild Card round. Carpenter is a liability in the field and unreliable with the bat; he’s essentially an out waiting to happen. The front of the bench looks strong, but the front office needs to be held accountable for the lack of options available for the back end. Carp probably should have been let go a while ago. They traded off Lane Thomas (who could be lumped with Williams and Dean) and let John Nogowski walk (who wouldn’t have helped either). There have been options available on the market; Maikel Franco, Adam Eaton, Marwin Gonzalez, Josh Reddick, David Dahl, Pablo Sandoval, Ender Inciarte, and Nomar Mazara are all veterans that had varying degrees of MLB success that were released in July or August. They might not have been the best upgrades, but people thought the same things about Luis Garcia and T.J. McFarland.

So, 8 starters and a 6 man bench; you’ll have 12 spots for pitching.

In the Wild Card round, that gives you a starter and 11 relievers. Adam Wainwright is your go to pitcher in a do or die game; he’s a no brainers. You’ll probably want Jon Lester and Miles Mikolas as depth if Waino can’t go long. You have recently returned starters Jack Flaherty and Dakota Hudson that are being used in short stints right now that make sense. With the final 7 spots, you go with your typical bullpen: Alex Reyes, Giovanny Gallegos, Genesis Cabrera, Garcia, McFarland, Kwang Hyun Kim, and Andrew Miller. I’d want to add Jordan Hicks, but as Goold stated in the tweet above, he’s not an option for the team.

If Hudson isn’t available, or proves ineffective the rest of the week, Jake Woodford is the best option for that spot.

If you advance past the Wild Card round, you’ll need another starter. The team could get away with a bullpen game in Game 4 (if it’s not do or die at that point); Flaherty, Hudson/Woodford, and Kim could eat the bulk of the innings. There are 2 other options: dropping a typical reliever (Miller, KK, or Hudson/Woodford) and adding J.A. Happ as your 4th starter, or dropping Carpenter for Happ. Carp has no value, but 12 pitchers might be overkill.

Trying to put together a roster for the postseason really shows the short comings of the Cardinals when you look at what the Dodgers and Giants can throw at you; both teams are a lot deeper then the Cardinals. The good news is we’ll be facing one of these teams in a 1-game series where anything can happen; it’s often about who’s the hot team, not the best team. In that case, the Cardinals are looking pretty good right now.