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It's March 18. The Cardinals have nine Florida exhibition games remaining and one in Memphis against the Triple-A Redbirds. Opening day is less than two weeks away. Which players are the Cardinals giving spring opportunities to as the regular season takes shape on the horizon?
The Cards have reassigned quite a few players from major-league to minor-league camp of late. As a result, the players who are all but certain to make the opening-day MLB roster and those with a legitimate shot at being one of the final 25 Cardinals at the close of spring are receiving a larger share of the opportunities.
The Final Bench Spot
The fight for the last bench spot has become interesting. While we've viewed this as a contest between Shane Robinson and Pete Kozma, the Cardinals aren't giving them as many opportunities as right-handed minor-leaguers Randal Grichuk, Xavier Scruggs, and Stephen Piscotty. The organization made rumblings earlier this spring about Grichuk having a shot to make the big-league roster as the last bench bat and Scruggs is providing some righthanded pop of his own. Grichuk is on the 40-man roster at present while Scruggs is not. And it seems like a stronger possibility with each passing game that either might unseat both Kozma and Robinson for that last MLB bench spot in the role they signed WIG to fill one a year ago (and will pay him not to fill this season). Top-prospect Piscotty, on the other hand, might very well be destined for St. Louis, just not on opening day this year.
Spring Training PA Tracker (thru 3/17)
Player |
PA |
G |
H |
BA |
OBP |
SLG |
OPS |
Kolten Wong |
37 |
12 |
13 |
.394 |
.459 |
.727 |
1.187 |
Jon Jay |
36 |
11 |
6 |
.176 |
.222 |
.206 |
.428 |
Randal Grichuk |
35 |
13 |
8 |
.267 |
.343 |
.467 |
.810 |
Matt Adams |
33 |
12 |
9 |
.281 |
.303 |
.406 |
.709 |
Xavier Scruggs |
33 |
15 |
6 |
.250 |
.455 |
.500 |
.955 |
Stephen Piscotty |
32 |
16 |
9 |
.346 |
.438 |
.615 |
1.053 |
Allen Craig |
30 |
10 |
11 |
.379 |
.400 |
.483 |
.883 |
Jhonny Peralta |
30 |
10 |
7 |
.233 |
.233 |
.500 |
.733 |
Daniel Descalso |
29 |
10 |
10 |
.370 |
.414 |
.444 |
.858 |
Yadier Molina |
29 |
10 |
8 |
.308 |
.379 |
.346 |
.725 |
Scott Moore |
28 |
16 |
6 |
.231 |
.286 |
.462 |
.747 |
Matt Carpenter |
27 |
9 |
6 |
.261 |
.370 |
.348 |
.718 |
Matt Holliday |
27 |
10 |
9 |
.391 |
.444 |
.522 |
.966 |
Pete Komza |
27 |
12 |
6 |
.231 |
.259 |
.308 |
.567 |
Shane Robinson |
27 |
12 |
8 |
.308 |
.333 |
.346 |
.679 |
Peter Bourjos |
24 |
8 |
6 |
.300 |
.364 |
.400 |
.764 |
Tony Cruz |
21 |
7 |
3 |
.150 |
.190 |
.150 |
.340 |
Mark Ellis |
21 |
8 |
6 |
.300 |
.333 |
.300 |
.633 |
Joey Butler |
19 |
10 |
4 |
.235 |
.316 |
.294 |
.610 |
Greg Garcia |
17 |
13 |
5 |
.385 |
.529 |
.385 |
.914 |
Luis Mateo |
14 |
11 |
4 |
.286 |
.286 |
.357 |
.643 |
The Two Bullpen Spots
As with the bench, the bullpen derby is heating up. The Cardinals have relegated a handful of would-be relievers to minor-league camp. All that currently remain are:
- RHP Pat Neshek (NRI)
- RHP Scott McGregor (NRI)
- RHP Jose Almarante (NRI)
- LHP Tyler Lyons (40-man)
- LHP Sam Freeman (40-man)
- RHP Keith Butler (40-man)
- RHP Jorge Rondon (40-man)
Spring Training IP Tracker (thru 3/17)
Player |
IP |
TBF |
K |
K% |
BB |
BB% |
ERA |
Carlos Martinez |
10.0 |
36 |
5 |
13.9% |
2 |
5.6% |
1.80 |
Adam Wainwright |
9.2 |
37 |
5 |
13.5% |
1 |
2.7% |
3.72 |
Joe Kelly |
9.1 |
45 |
6 |
13.3% |
4 |
8.9% |
7.71 |
Shelby Miller |
8.2 |
38 |
9 |
23.7% |
3 |
7.9% |
6.23 |
Michael Wacha |
8.1 |
33 |
9 |
27.3% |
3 |
9.1% |
1.08 |
Tyler Lyons |
8.0 |
42 |
6 |
14.3% |
4 |
9.5% |
14.63 |
Seth Maness |
7.2 |
39 |
7 |
17.9% |
3 |
7.7% |
9.39 |
Keith Butler |
7.1 |
38 |
5 |
13.2% |
5 |
13.2% |
9.82 |
Lance Lynn |
7.1 |
32 |
14 |
43.8% |
1 |
3.2% |
6.14 |
Jorge Rondon |
6.1 |
27 |
6 |
22.2% |
2 |
7.4% |
0.00 |
Pat Neshek |
6.0 |
24 |
7 |
29.2% |
1 |
4.2% |
3.00 |
Randy Choate |
5.2 |
20 |
6 |
30.0% |
2 |
10.0% |
0.00 |
Sam Freeman |
5.2 |
25 |
6 |
24.0% |
3 |
12.0% |
3.18 |
Trevor Rosenthal |
5.0 |
18 |
5 |
27.8% |
3 |
16.7% |
1.80 |
Kevin Siegrist |
5.0 |
21 |
5 |
23.8% |
2 |
9.5% |
1.80 |
Scott McGregor |
2.0 |
10 |
1 |
10.0% |
1 |
10.0% |
9.00 |
Correction: The original version of this post incorrectly stated Scruggs is on the Cardinals 40-man roster. Scruggs is not currently on the Cardinals 40-man roster.