Cardinals Announce Anticipated 2023 Opening Day Roster

ST. LOUIS CARDINALS ANNOUNCE ANTICIPATED 2023 OPENING DAY ROSTER

15 PLAYERS DEVELOPED WITHIN THE ORGANIZATION; THREE NEWCOMERS ON TEAM

JUPITER, Fla., March 25, 2023 – The St. Louis Cardinals announced several transactions this evening, as they positioned their anticipated 2023 Opening Day roster.

The Cardinals announced that they optioned left-handed pitchers Genesis Cabrera and JoJo Romero, along with infielder/outfielder Juan Yepez to the Memphis (AAA) roster. The team also announced that infielder Taylor Motter was selected from the Memphis (AAA) roster, and has been added to the team’s 40-player Major League roster.

Three first-time Cardinals are anticipated to be on the team’s Opening Day roster with All-Star catcher Willson Contreras and 2020 1^st-round draft selection rookie Jordan Walker joining Motter among those who will be making their Cardinals debuts.

The Cardinals anticipated 26-player Opening Day roster projects as follows, but will not become official until Thursday, March 30:

PITCHERS (13): Jack Flaherty-RHP, Giovanny Gallegos-RHP, Ryan Helsley-RHP, Jordan Hicks-RHP, Steven Matz-LHP, Miles Mikolas-RHP, Jordan Montgomery-LHP, Packy Naughton-LHP, Andre Pallante-RHP, Chris Stratton-RHP, Zack Thompson-LHP, Drew VerHagen-RHP, and Jake Woodford-RHP;

CATCHERS (2): Willson Contreras and Andrew Knizner;

INFIELDERS (6): Nolan Arenado, Brendan Donovan, Tommy Edman, Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Gorman and Taylor Motter;

OUTFIELDERS (5): Alec Burleson, Dylan Carlson, Lars Nootbaar, Tyler O’Neill and Jordan Walker;

INJURED LIST (3): Paul DeJong-INF, Wilking Rodriguez-RHP, Adam Wainwright-RHP.

— STL —

A few surprises here…

I think we’ve beaten the Walker issue to death; he’s on the roster and he’s going to play. I bet we see a rotation of outfielders; 3 games and a day off for Carlson, Noot, and O’Neill with Walker, depending on matchups. Burleson is the extra outfielder we’ll see primarily as a pinch hitter. I felt like Yepez or Burleson would have been the casualty here, and they went with Yepez.

Motter was a little bit of a surprise. His numbers don’t support the addition to the roster, but the team played him a lot all over the field. I would have rather seen Masyn Winn in his spot, but if Motter isn’t starting, then Winn wouldn’t have either.

I was a little surprised that Naughton made the roster over Andrew Suarez, but that would have required another roster spot. The team had one open and already added Motter; they’ll need to make a move for Walker. I was also surprised to see Cabrera sent down, but since the team

The team will have to make a decision on Rodriguez when he’s ready; if they don’t add him to the active roster, they’ll have to designate him for assignment and return him to the Yankees, if no other team claims him.

Overall, I’m happy with this team. The hitting shouldn’t be an issue; there will be questions. Can Nootbaar live up to the hype he’s generated worldwide? Will Walker hit in his initial callup? Can Gorman continue to hit the high fastball? The issue will be the rotation; we have no true ace and pretty much #3-5 starters for all 5 spots. Flaherty can be more, but only if he gets to a quick start (which hasn’t historically happened). Montgomery has shown flashes, but wore down as the season went last year; his ceiling is a #3 guy.

Note that is says anticipated; the Cardinals could change course for a few reasons. Someone gets hurt between now and next week; the season starts on Thursday, March 30th and the the players will continue to work out and play some exhibition games. Look at Wainwright; he got hurt working out.