St. Louis Cardinals: Predicting the 26-man roster one month out

We are about one month from the start of the St. Louis Cardinals’ 2020 season. Although only nine spring training games have been played, certain trends have emerged and some injuries have cleared a path. How could the 26-man roster look?

My colleague Matt Graves took a stab at calling the St. Louis Cardinals’ two-month away roster. Boldly so. Now it’s my turn. With the benefit of more time on the clock, perhaps a 26-man roster can be predicted with a little more certainty.

Let’s first take a look at some of the developments of the early spring.

• The Cardinals have a Grapefruit League record of 3-5-1. Not that much can be read into a spring training record. Unless you’re the Pittsburgh Pirates, whose 1-7 record on top of already poor projections, has to be a cause for concern. The Cardinals have not been blown out a game this Spring (yet). That record is adequate to the task at hand of repeating as Central Division champions.
• Injuries to Miles Mikolas, Paul Goldschmidt, Matt Carpenter, and Yairo Munoz have necessitated, at worst, replacements, and at best, back-up plans which may affect roster construction.
• 22-year old outfielder Dylan Carlson is on a hot streak. He reached base in eight consecutive plate appearances through mid-game Saturday. He is hitting .500 with 1.400 OPS.
• Fellow outfielders Harrison Bader and Tyler O’Neill are both resting comfortably over 1.000 OPS as well.
• Carpenter seems to have found his stroke and is at least at a cool 1.000 OPS in limited at-bats. That should dash any thoughts of a Plan B roster shakeup.
• Dexter Fowler has turned in an OPS that not even a mother could love: .237. But, even if writ large to the entire Grapefruit season, that OPS alone is not going to be enough to cause the veteran free agent to default on his roster spot. You can count on Fowler heading north as much as you can count on President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak heading north. But Fowler’s struggles may put outfield depth at more of a premium, or cause the “rushing up” from the minors of players with whom the organization may have thought they had more time.

Therefore. let us venture forth with a prediction, not of whom I may personally want at each roster spot, but rather of whom Mozeliak and his staff are likely to choose.