Cardinals Send Four Players to The Minors And Jack Flaherty to IL; Andre Pallante Joins Opening Day Roster

CARDINALS SEND FOUR PLAYERS TO MINORS; ROOKIE PITCHER ANDRE PALLANTE TO MAKE OPENING DAY ROSTER; JACK FLAHERTY PLACED ON 10-DAY INJURED LIST

JUPITER, Fla., April 4, 2022 – The St. Louis Cardinals announced today that rookie right-hand pitcher Andre Pallante has made the team’s 28-player Opening Day roster. The team will make a corresponding roster move prior to Thursday’s game to make room for Pallante on its 40-player Major League roster.

The team also announced today that pitcher Jake Walsh has been optioned to Memphis (AAA), and that pitcher Connor Thomas, catcher Julio Rodriguez and infielder Cory Spangenberg have been re-assigned to the minors.

In addition, right-handed pitcher Jack Flaherty (right shoulder) has been placed on the 10-day Injured List.

The Cardinals Spring Training roster is currently at 28 players with the team set to break camp following tomorrow morning’s 11:05 a.m. ET game against Miami.

— STL —

Pallante is a surprise addition to the roster, but he had a pretty good spring. I would imagine that he’s not going to have a short leash initially; if he has 3-4 rough outing quickly, we could see him sent down. Walsh might be the first guy in line to take his spot if he does struggle.

Flaherty isn’t a surprise since he’s barely pitched this spring and hasn’t seen game action. Hopefully he can get to a rehab assignment quickly.

The other demotions aren’t surprising. If Spangenberg gets hot with Memphis and Brendan Donovan struggles on the bench, we could see him added to the 40-man, but I’d consider it a longshot. Rodriguez and Thomas have a ways to go before joining the Cardinals.

Pallante has been added to the Salary Matrix; also check out the Transaction Tracker for the team.