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Spring Training Tracker: Cardinals Reassign Players to Minor-League Camp & Bullpen Tea Leaves

There are only so many innings to pitch and plate appearances to take during spring training. We keep track of which Cardinals are getting the opportunity to hit and throw in the Jupiter Opportunity Tracker.

Scott Rovak-USA TODAY Sports

Veb_-_jupiter_opportunity_tracker

Since we unveiled the first St. Louis Cardinals Spring Training Opportunity Tracker, the Cardinals have been busy. They've played games, signed contracts, and made their first round of spring-training roster moves. The Cardinals reassigned the following players from big-league camp to minor-league camp this week:

  • RHP - Angel Castro (40-man)
  • OF - Rafael Ortega (40-man)
  • OF - Mike O'Neill (40-man)
  • 3B - Patrick Wisdom (NRI)
  • C - Cody Stanley (NRI)
  • C - Carson Kelly (NRI)
  • C - Casey Rasmus (NRI)
  • RHP - Kurt Heyer (NRI)
  • RHP - Boone Whiting (NRI)
  • LHP Marco Gonzales (NRI)

Because they are on the 40-man roster, Castro, O'Neill, and Ortega were simultaneously optioned to Triple-A Memphis with their reassignment from St. Louis camp to minor-league camp.

The following chart shows the current composition of the Cardinals' major-league camp in Jupiter. Likely 25-man roster members are in white (including Jason Motte even though he's injured). Players in roster competitions are in purple. Members of the 40-man roster who are unlikely to make the major-league roster out of spring training are in blue. Non-roster invitees are in yellow. Players who have been reassigned to minor-league camp are in dark gray.

Cardinals MLB Camp Matrix

IF

OF (& NRI C)

SP

RP

C - Y. Molina

$14.2MM

LF - M. Holliday

$17MM

RHP - A. Wainwright

$19.5MM

RHP - J. Motte

$7.5MM

1B - M. Adams

$500K

CF - P. Bourjos

$1.2MM**

LHP - J. Garcia

$7.875MM

LHP - R. Choate

$3.0MM

2B - K. Wong

$500K

RF - A. Craig

$2.75MM

RHP - L. Lynn

$513K

RHP - T. Rosenthal

$500K

3B - M. Carpenter

$504K

OF - J. Jay

$3.25MM

RHP - M. Wacha

$500K

LHP - K. Siegrist

$500K

SS - J. Peralta

$13.25MM

OF - S. Robinson

$500K

RHP - S. Miller

$500K

RHP - S. Maness

$500K

C - T. Cruz

$500K

OF - O. Taveras

$500K

RHP - J. Kelly

$500K

RHP - C. Martinez

$500K

IF - M. Ellis

$5.25MM

OF - R. Grichuk

MiLB

LHP - T. Lyons

MiLB

LHP - S. Freeman

MiLB

IF - D. Descalso

$1.29MM

OF - J. Butler

MiLB

LHP - T. Cooney

MiLB

RHP - K. Butler

MiLB

IF - P. Kozma

$500K

OF - S. Piscotty

MiLB

RHP - S. Gaviglio

MiLB

RHP - J. Rondon

MiLB

IF - G. Garcia

MiLB

OF - J. Ramsey

MiLB

RHP - Z. Petrick

MiLB

RHP - E. Fornataro

MiLB

C- A. Perez

MiLB

C - T. Tartamella

MiLB

RHP - K. Heyer

MiLB

RHP - P. Neshek

MiLB

IF - L. Mateo

MiLB

C - E. Easley

MiLB

RHP - B. Whiting

MiLB

LHP - L. Stoppelman

MiLB

IF - S. Moore

MiLB

OF - R. Ortega

MiLB

LHP - M. Gonzales

MiLB

RHP - J. Almarante

MiLB

1B - X. Scruggs

MiLB

OF - M. O’Neill

MiLB


RHP - A. Castro

MiLB

3B - P. Wisdom

MiLB

C - C. Rasmus

MiLB




C - C. Kelly

MiLB




C. - C. Stanley

MiLB



The following chart is color coded in the same fashion as the major-league camp matrix.

JUPITER PA TRACKER (THRU 3/11)

Player

PA

G

H

BA

OBP

SLG

OPS

Jon Jay

23

7

3

.143

.217

.190

.408

Kolten Wong

23

8

5

.250

.348

.500

.848

Xavier Sruggs

21

9

4

.267

.476

.533

1.010

Matt Adams

20

8

7

.350

.350

.500

.850

Randal Grichuk

20

8

3

.176

.250

.353

.603

Yadier Molina

20

7

7

.389

.450

.389

.839

Allen Craig

19

7

7

.368

.368

.526

.895

Mark Ellis

19

7

6

.333

.368

.333

.702

Scott Moore

19

10

5

.263

.263

.579

.842

Jhonny Peralta

19

7

4

.211

.211

.579

.789

Daniel Descalso

18

7

7

.412

.444

.471

.915

Matt Holliday

17

7

8

.571

.588

.714

1.303

Stephen Piscotty

17

10

5

.333

.353

.600

.953

Pete Kozma

16

8

5

.333

.375

.400

.775

Joey Butler

14

7

3

.231

.286

.231

.516

James Ramsey

14

9

1

.077

.143

.077

.220

Shane Robinson

14

8

5

.357

.357

.429

.786

Matt Carpenter

13

5

1

.111

.385

.222

.607

Greg Garcia

13

8

4

.444

.615

.444

1.060

Luis Mateo

12

8

4

.333

.333

.417

.750

Patrick Wisdom

12

7

2

.167

.167

.500

.667

Tony Cruz

11

4

1

.091

.091

.091

.182

Peter Bourjos

10

4

4

.444

.500

.556

1.056

Some observations:

  • The MLB roster members sure have started to take their share of the PAs.
  • Remember when Kolten Wong was batting horribly and folks were openly talking about sending him to Triple-A to start the season? Me neither.
  • Remember when Randal Grichuk got off to a hot start and the Cardinals were insinuating that he might make the big-league roster as a bench bat? I vaguely recall this. Since then, Grichuk's bat has cooled a bit. Xavier Scruggs has somehow logged more PAs than the would-be center fielder.
  • Greg Garcia has notched just one more PA than Luis Mateo.
  • It's March 12, and Peter Bourjos has played in four spring training games.

JUPITER IP TRACKER (THRU 3/11)

Player

IP

TBF

K

K%

BB

BB%

ERA

Carlos Martinez

6.0

21

2

9.5%

1

4.8%

3.00

Zach Petrick

6.0

26

6

23.1%

2

7.7%

6.00

Tyler Lyons

5.2

26

5

19.2%

1

3.8%

12.71

Keith Butler

5.1

22

5

22.7%

3

13.6%

3.38

Sam Gaviglio

5.1

25

4

16.0%

2

8.0%

3.38

Jorge Rondon

5.1

23

3

13.0%

2

8.7%

0.00

Adam Wainwright

5.1

19

3

15.8%

1

5.3%

1.69

Shelby Miller

5.0

21

9

42.9%

0

0.0%

5.40

Tim Cooney

4.2

23

5

21.7%

3

13.0%

11.57

Michael Wacha

4.2

20

4

20.0%

3

15.0%

1.93

Seth Maness

4.1

25

5

20.0%

3

12.0%

12.46

Pat Neshek

4.1

17

7

41.2%

1

5.9%

2.08

Eric Fornataro

4.0

20

1

5.0%

1

5.0%

9.00

Sam Freeman

4.0

17

4

23.5%

2

11.8%

4.50

Joe Kelly

4.0

25

3

12.0%

4

16.0%

15.75

Randy Choate

3.2

12

3

25.0%

2

16.7%

0.00

Lance Lynn

3.0

18

4

22.2%

1

5.6%

13.50

Lee Stoppelman

3.0

15

2

13.3%

1

6.7%

15.00

Some more observations:

  • It's easy to see why Derrick Goold and others seem to think that Pat Neshek has the inside track to an opening-day bullpen spot. The ROOGY has thrown well in his 4 1/3 IP this spring.
  • I find it intriguing that Zach Petrick ranks as high as he does. But this could just be a function of him getting his turn in the reliever rotation earlier than others.
  • I thought Jorge Rondon might be a dark horse to make the pen. And he's getting opportunities on par with Keith Butler early on.