Corey Noles, staff writer for The Daily Statesman and Editor of The North Stoddard Countian, is the author of a regular baseball/St. Louis Cardinals column and also uses his blog to sound off on various happenings in sports. He also operates a weekly baseball mailbag column.

Projecting the St. Louis Cardinals Final 25 Man Roster at the Start of Spring Training

Posted Thursday, March 6, 2014, at 4:16 PM

By COREY NOLES

Somewhere 1,100 miles from the St. Louis Cardinals home of Busch Stadium, bats are cracking and baseballs are flying in Jupiter, Fla.

With ice and snow falling all across the St. Louis area, it's the perfect time to take a look at how the Cardinals' 25-man roster is shaking up for the coming season.

With young players like Oscar Taveras and Stephen Piscotty making pushes for the big league club, the competition is stiff in St. Louis. The club has impressive depth in the outfield though, which will make their push a tough one at this point.

There will be plenty of other battles for roster slots in the rotation and bullpen. The extended injuries of Jason Motte and Jaime Garcia only serve to make those battles more hotly contested than already expected.

Following is a list projecting the Cardinals full 25-man roster for 2014. It was put together assuming the Cardinals carry 12 pitchers and 13 position players.

1. Starters (5)

Projected starters: Adam Wainwright, Michael Wacha, Shelby Miller, Lance Lynn, Tyler Lyons

Despite having countless options, the Cardinals starting rotation will likely look a lot like it did at the end of 2013. Adam Wainwright, Michael Wacha, Lance Lynn and Shelby Miller are virtual locks for the rotation. The question is who will replace Jaime Garcia--at least temporarily?

The Cardinals have plenty of options, with the likely candidates being Joe Kelly and Tyler Lyons. While Kelly is the more proven of the duo, expect the Cardinals to turn to Lyons to ensure at least one lefty in the rotation.

While it's not a necessity, it's a balance the Cardinals did without in 2013.

2. Relievers (7)

Projected relievers: Trevor Rosenthal, Carlos Martinez, Kevin Siegrist, Joe Kelly, Seth Maness, Randy Choate, Pat Neshek

Much like the starting rotation, the Cardinals' bullpen will look a lot like it did in September. The same crew that made the season's final push, will for the most part hold shape in early 2014.

While the Cardinals did lose Edward Mujica to free agency, by the end of the season he had begun to fall from favor and made only 2 appearances during the 2013 postseason.

If Neshek can make the roster, he could play an interesting role for this bullpen. With so many 95+ mph fastball pitchers, Neshek's unorthodox pitching style could be valuable for keeping hitters off balance.

3. Catchers (2)

Projected catchers: Yadier Molina, Tony Cruz

As usual, the Cardinals will start the season carrying only two catchers--for obvious reasons. Molina hasn't player less than 136 games since 2008 and only played less than 100 in his 2005 rookie season.

While some teams do carry a third catcher, that's not typically the case in St. Louis. With that said, Cruz is a solid option both on offense and defense. At this point, his best hope of more playing time is to find it with another time.

4. Infielders (6)

Projected infielders: Matt Adams, Matt Carpenter, Mark Ellis, Kolten Wong, Jhonny Peralta, Daniel Descalso

The Cardinals stand to have one of the more solid defensive infields in the league in 2014. Peralta is slightly less talented defensively than Kozma, but the minimal loss is more than made up for with his bat.

Adams will continue to be a solid defender at first and Matt Carpenter will be a substantial improvement at third base as well. As a result of that move, Kolten Wong offers yet another area of defensive growth.

With this batch, they should look substantially better in 2014.

5. Outfielders (5)

Projected outfielders: Matt Holliday, Peter Bourjos, Allen Craig, Jon Jay, Shane Robinson

This list is one of the hardest predictions to make because of the sheer amount of talented outfielders within this organization.

Oscar Taveras isn't on the list. Some time in Triple-A Memphis could be of a huge benefit to him this year. He'll make an impact in 2014, just don't look for it to be in April.

The story for Stephen Piscotty and Randal Grichuk will be very similar. Each still needs a chance to continue their development, but if a need appears they would be up to the challenge.

In the meantime, there's no need to rush any of these guys.

Corey Noles is a Cardinals Writer and Columnist for The Daily Statesman. He is also a regular contributor to KSDK.com and Bleacher Report. Contact him at cnoles@dailystatesman.com or on Twitter @coreynoles.

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this is copy and pasted from bleacher report. word for word.

-- Posted by ThayerPops on Mon, Mar 3, 2014, at 8:01 AM
that's pretty cool, I enjoy bleacher report. Awesome you are apart of it.

-- Posted by ThayerPops on Mon, Mar 3, 2014, at 9:08 AM
Corey I see you've Craig in the outfield and Adams in the infieid. I assume you think Adams will start at 1B with Craig in RF? I personally am not sold on Adams as an everyday first baseman. I think pitchers are starting to figure him out. Also I understand the need for a lefty starter in the rotation, but I think Martinez will get the nod over Lyons and Kelly. Of course, alot depends on spring training.

-- Posted by Preacher Man Fan on Mon, Mar 3, 2014, at 11:29 AM
I would love Martinez in the fifth spot but they may bullpen him then send him down and stretch him out when Motte gets back and implement him in the second half like they did Wacha last year.

Adams should be fine at 1st. The man can smash.

He will probably never have the plate discipline to hit over .275 but he mash enough to get on base and use his power to produce runs. At least until Taveras gets call up in June

-- Posted by Bunk on Mon, Mar 3, 2014, at 12:17 PM
You make a good point on Martinez Bunk. As for Adams, I hope you're right, but he really struggled at the plate down the stretch last season, esp. in the postseason. I hope you're right about him, but I have my doubts.

-- Posted by Preacher Man Fan on Mon, Mar 3, 2014, at 12:27 PM
I would have to disagree on the 5th spot in the rotation.. All things being relatively equal, Joe Kelly will probably get the nod. They proved they like to stay loyal to players (Mujica on the playoff rosters) and after Kelly's performance in the playoffs, I see Matheny giving him the nod. As you yourself alluded to, competition brings out the best in people, and I think the best thing for Carlos Martinez would be some competition. Put him in the long relief role and and that's like sticking the carrot in front of him. I think Matheny values talent over simply having a lefty in there. LaRussa...a different story.

-- Posted by dnlbraden on Mon, Mar 3, 2014, at 1:00 PM
If he values talent overall than it's Martinez everyday of the week.

I try not to put to much stock into postseason slumps or booms Preach with the concept of SSS and all. But I think he needs to continue to work and continue to get better which I'm sure he has worked on in the offseason. His biggest problem besides the general plate discipline( which isn't terrible he is better than comparable players like Trumbo and Dunn) he has shown an encouraging ability to hit from power off LHP but in general it's a weakness and the shift can eat him up. He can get better though.

-- Posted by Bunk on Mon, Mar 3, 2014, at 3:54 PM
Like I said Bunk, I hope you're right but I'm afraid Adams has been exposed. I personally hope Taveras just tears it up in spring training and forces the Cardinals to keep him so Craig can play first base. I personally think Adams is better suited as a big bat PH off the bench.

-- Posted by Preacher Man Fan on Mon, Mar 3, 2014, at 4:21 PM
I agree Corey with everything except the fifth starter projection. I maybe wrong but in my opinion I think Carlos Martinez is the leader for the fifth spot at this point.

I would agree, I think Adams starts out at first and Craig in right. If Adams shows that he is not consistent you move Craig back to first base and have Adams off bench. Then I also feel like the kolten wrong will begin the year on the bench and I feel Ellis will start at second. And lastly I think the Taveras again will start off the year at AAA to build up his health and his bat and be ready to go I n may or June.

-- Posted by SportsMediaInformant on Mon, Mar 3, 2014, at 4:41 PM
Wong will and unless he also ungodly bad in the spring should start at 2nd. Starting Ellis and getting irregular at bats for Kolten in April solves nothing for when you need to know in August.

-- Posted by Bunk on Mon, Mar 3, 2014, at 5:52 PM
Wong sucks from what I've seen. Not MLB ready

-- Posted by ThayerPops on Mon, Mar 3, 2014, at 7:33 PM
http://www.vivaelbirdos.com/2014/3/4/5468732/be-patient-with-kolten-wong-struggl...

-- Posted by sideline starter on Tue, Mar 4, 2014, at 1:18 PM

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