Cardinals Announce 2026 Opening Day Rosters for Minor League Affiliates
CARDINALS ANNOUNCE 2026 OPENING DAY ROSTERS FOR THREE MINOR LEAGUE AFFILIATE CLUBS
ST. LOUIS, Mo., April 3, 2026 – The St. Louis Cardinals have announced the 2026 Opening Day rosters for their Double-A, High-A and Single-A affiliates. Double-A Springfield and High-A Peoria will open today on the road at Amarillo (7:05 PM CT) and at Cedar Rapids (6:05 PM CT), respectively. Single-A Palm Beach opened their season yesterday with a 6-3 win vs. St. Lucie, their eighth consecutive Opening Day victory.
SPRINGFIELD CARDINALS (Double-A)
PITCHERS (16): Tyler Bradt, Mason Burns, Jurrangelo Cijntje, Braden Davis*, Liam Doyle*, Hunter Hayes, Chen-Wei Lin, Austin Love, Mason Molina*, Ryan Murphy, Edwin Núñez, Domenic Picone, Hancel Rincón, Darlin Saladin, Brandt Thompson, Michael Watson*
CATCHERS (3): Ryan Campos, Carlos Linárez, Graysen Tarlow
INFIELDERS (5): Jon Jon Gazdar, Dakota Harris, Noah Mendlinger, Deniel Ortiz, Jeremy Rivas
OUTFIELDERS (4): Chase Davis, Travis Honeyman, Zach Levenson, Miguel Ugueto
DEVELOPMENT LIST (3): C Chase Adkison, RHP Randel Clemente, INF Trey Paige
INJURED LIST (2): LHP Brandon Clarke (60-day), LHP Cooper Hjerpe (60-day)
PEORIA CHIEFS (High-A)
PITCHERS (17): Blake Aita, Sam Brodersen, D.J. Carpenter, Nate Dohm, Yhoiker Fajardo, Jack Findlay*, Tanner Franklin, Dominic Freeberger, Aaron Holiday, Bobby Olsen, Jawilme Ramírez, Gerardo Salas, Jason Savacool, Leonel Sequera, Zack Showalter, Nolan Sparks, Christian Worley
CATCHERS (3): Sammy Hernandez, Josh Kross, Rainiel Rodriguez
INFIELDERS (6): Jesús Báez, Anyelo Encarnación, Jalin Flores, Cade McGee, Tre Richardson III, Miguel Villarroel
OUTFIELDERS (4): Won-Bin Cho, Jose Cordoba, Tai Peete, José Suárez
INJURED LIST (5): RHP José Davila (7-day), RHP Frank Elissalt (60-day), RHP Joseph King (60-day), RHP Bruno López (7-day), OF Ian Petrutz (7-day)
PALM BEACH CARDINALS (Single-A)
PITCHERS (17): Yadiel Batista*, Liam Best, Alex Breckheimer, Cade Crossland*, Antoni Cuello, Dylan Driessen, Kaden Echeman, Jovi Gálvez, Yordy Herrera*, Robbie Knowles, Jack Martinez, Rubén Menes, Jacob Odle, Jake Shelagowski, Ty Van Dyke, Nelfy Ynfante, Ethan Young
CATCHERS (3): Alex Birge, Heriberto Caraballo, Chase Heath
INFIELDERS (6): Michael Dattalo, Jack Gurevitch, Trevor Haskins, Christian Martin, Jonathan Mejía, Ryan Weingartner
OUTFIELDERS (4): Ryan Mitchell, Cameron Nickens, Yordalin Peña, Luis Pino
DEVELOPMENT LIST (1): INF Johnfrank Salazar
INJURED LIST (5): RHP Andrew Dutkanych IV (60-day), LHP Bernard Mack (7-day), OF Matthew Miura (7-day), INF Yairo Padilla (7-day), RHP Anthony Watts (7-day)
Below is a breakdown of where the Cardinals top prospects, as ranked by Baseball America, will begin their respective seasons:
| Memphis Redbirds (AAA) | Springfield Cardinals (AA) | Peoria Chiefs (High-A) | Palm Beach Cardinals (A) |
| OF Joshua Báez (#4) | LHP Liam Doyle (#2) | C Rainiel Rodriguez (#3) | INF Yairo Padilla (#13) |
| LHP Quinn Mathews (#5) | SHP Jurrangelo Cijntje (#6) | RHP Tanner Franklin (#8) | OF Ryan Mitchell (#14) |
| LHP Ixan Henderson (#9) | LHP Brandon Clarke (#7) | RHP Yhoiker Fajardo (#12) | LHP Cade Crossland (#22) |
| C Jimmy Crooks (#10) | LHP Cooper Hjerpe (#21) | INF Jesús Báez (#18) | 1B Jack Gurevitch (#26) |
| C Leo Bernal (#11) | LHP Braden Davis (#25) | OF Tai Peete (#20) | |
| RHP Tekoah Roby (#15) | OF Zach Levenson (#30) | INF Deniel Ortiz (#23) | |
| RHP Tink Hence (#16) | RHP Frank Elissalt (#27) | ||
| LHP Brycen Mautz (#24) | RHP Nate Dohm (#28) | ||
| UTL Bryan Torres (#29) |
— STL —
Here’s the Memphis Redbirds’ roster, who started their season already:
PITCHERS (15): Ian Bedell, Scott Blewett, Ryan Fernandez, Richard Fitts, Luis Gastelum, Skylar Hales, Tink Hence, Quinn Mathews*, Brycen Mautz*, Gerson Moreno, Packy Naughton*, Max Rajcic, Nick Raquet*, Jared Shuster*, Bruce Zimmermann*
CATCHERS (3): Leonardo Bernal, Jimmy Crooks, Andy Yerzy
INFIELDERS (4): Blaze Jordan, Ramon Mendoza, Brody Moore, Cesar Prieto
OUTFIELDERS (6): Joshua Baez, Matt Koperniak, Colton Ledbetter, Bligh Madris, Bryan Torres, Nelson Velazquez
DEVELOPMENT LIST (1): OF Mike Antico
INJURED LIST (6): LHP Alex Cornwell (7-Day), LHP Ixan Hernderson (60-day), RHP Sem Robberse (60-day), RHP Tekoah Roby (60-day), RHP Victor Santos (60-day), LHP Zack Thompson (60-day)
And here’s the Nyrdcast Rankings by level:
| Memphis Redbirds (AAA) | Springfield Cardinals (AA) | Peoria Chiefs (High-A) | Palm Beach Cardinals (A) |
| OF Joshua Báez (#5) | LHP Liam Doyle (#2) | C Rainiel Rodriguez (#3) | OF Ryan Mitchell (#19) |
| LHP Quinn Mathews (#6) | SHP Jurrangelo Cijntje (#4) | INF Jesús Báez (#12) | INF Yairo Padilla (#20) |
| C Jimmy Crooks (#7) | LHP Brandon Clarke (#8) | RHP Tanner Franklin (#13) | LHP Cade Crossland (#27) |
| C Leo Bernal (#9) | LHP Cooper Hjerpe (#11) | INF Deniel Ortiz (#15) | RHP Ethan Young (#36) |
| RHP Tink Hence (#10) | RHP Chen-Wei Lin (#21) | OF Tai Peete (#16) | 1B Jack Gurevitch (#41) |
| RHP Tekoah Roby (#14) | LHP Braden Davis (#22) | RHP Nate Dohm (#23) | OF Matthew Miura (#46) |
| LHP Ixan Henderson (#17) | RHP Hancel Rincon (#28) | RHP Yhoiker Fajardo (#25) | RHP Andrew Dutkanych IV (#48) |
| LHP Brycen Mautz (#18) | OF Chase Davis (#30) | RHP Blake Aita (#31) | RHP Jack Martinez (#49) |
| INF Blaze Jordan (#24) | OF Zach Levenson (#32) | RHP Frank Elissalt (#34) | |
| RHP Luis Gastelum (#29) | OF Travis Honeyman (#35) | RHP Leonel Sequera (#39) | |
| INF Cesar Prieto (#37) | LHP Mason Molina (#40) | ||
| OF Colton Ledbetter (#43) | |||
| RHP Max Rajcic (#44) | |||
| UTL Bryan Torres (#47) | |||
| OF Matt Koperniak (#50) |
That’s fantastic news for the Cardinals’ minor league teams. It’s great to see them planning ahead like this.