Possible next men up for the St. Louis Cardinals amid COVID-19 outbreak

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MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA – JULY 28: Mangers Mike Shildt #8 of the St. Louis Cardinals and Rocco Baldelli #5 of the Minnesota Twins greet each other at home plate before the home opener game at Target Field on July 28, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Twins defeated the Cardinals 6-3. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /

When the St. Louis Cardinals do eventually return to play, they will have to replace a fair amount of players on their roster. Who are the next men up?

The St. Louis Cardinals are in the middle of an awful situation. As of Monday, the team has 13 total positive COVID-19 tests and they haven’t played since last Wednesday. The weekend series against the Milwaukee Brewers was already scrubbed and now the four-game series that was supposed to start on Tuesday against the Tigers is gone.

The team had their first of two necessary days with no positives on Tuesday. Wednesday night, John Mozeliak announced the team was cleared to travel Wednesday. They will have a workout on Thursday and then play on Friday against the Cubs.

The players are still finding ways to have fun, but with seven players and six staffers positive, there is still a dark cloud over the entire team.

We have activated INF Brad Miller from the 10-day Injured List.

The following players have been placed on the IL:

▪️C Yadier Molina
▪️SS Paul DeJong
▪️SS Edmundo Sosa
▪️RHP Junior Fernández
▪️RHP Carlos Martínez
▪️RHP Kodi Whitley pic.twitter.com/8SgQDlcdeb
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) August 4, 2020

There is another interesting wrinkle here as rosters shrink from 30 to 28 players on Thursday. In a change on Tuesday, it was announced that the MLB is looking at keeping rosters at 28 for the rest of the season rather shrinking more to 26. The traveling taxi squad will also grow to five players from three. Because the roster is shrinking, that cuts the replacements to five, then with Brad Miller coming back, the team only needs four players.

Not listed among the names of the Cardinals going to the IL is Rangel Ravelo, who was confirmed as one of the positives. According to Jeff Jones, sending Ravelo to the IL would’ve dropped the team below the roster minimum, so a corresponding move will be made once more call-ups happen.

Either way, we are going to act like the Cardinals have four guys they need to replace for now. With 28 men on the roster, there’s no point in carrying three catchers. For this reason, the duo of Matt Wieters and Andrew Knizner will handle catching duties. Given that Miller is one man coming back, it’s reasonable to expect that the team will pull up either three pitchers and one position player or two of each. It all depends on how the big team wants the bullpen.

Here is my pool of players I believe the Cardinals will be picking from for their replacements.

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA – JULY 28: The St. Louis Cardinals dugout is seen before the home opener game at Target Field on July 28, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Twins defeated the Cardinals 6-3. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /

Genesis Cabrera

Genesis Cabrera debuted for the Cardinals last season and the lefty showed he needed a little more seasoning. The 23-year-old has an electric fastball/curveball mix that, for the time being, fits best out of the bullpen. The Cardinals didn’t lose any lefties, but that doesn’t mean they can’t use the talented Cabrera as an option.

Alex Reyes

For the time being, reports about Alex Reyes are a little shady. From the most recent report, Reyes was hitting up to 99 mph in a live bullpen at the Cardinals’ satellite camp. To me, this tells me he’s past his rusty faze he showed in spring training and is ready to rejoin the club. We all know how Reyes’ career has gone to this point and this would be the perfect time for Reyes to make a triumphant return to pitching.

Johan Oviedo

All spring, one name we heard almost endlessly was Johan Oviedo. The 22-year-old pitched between High-A and AA last year with a fair amount of success. His ERA wasn’t anything special (4.73), but his 10.0 strikeouts per nine speak to the power pitcher that he is. Oviedo was a starter in the minors and may end up being one for the Cardinals eventually, but he fits best out of the bullpen for 2020.

Rob Kaminsky

Way back in 2015, Rob Kaminsky was a top prospect for the Cardinals before he was traded away at the deadline. Since then, Kaminsky has battled almost consistent arm injuries and the former first-rounder has yet to make his MLB debut. Still just 25, the lefty signed with the Cardinals before the season as a minor league free agent. Kaminsky is currently at the satellite camp and could be a guy that is under the radar to get the call.

Nabil Crismatt

Crismatt was the one name that made no sense to put in the 60-man roster pool. The 25-year-old is a career minor leaguer who hasn’t been particularly impressive in recent years, but he has eight years of MiLB experience. The Cardinals took a flier on him and have given him a chance so far, so it wouldn’t be out of the question for them to give him a short leash on an MLB stint.

Max Schrock

The Cardinals definitely need some help up the middle. With both Paul DeJong and Edmundo Sosa on the IL with COVID-19, Tommy Edman is going to have to slide into the everyday shortstop position and Matt Carpenter will have to move to third every day. Even with Brad Miller returning, Schrock, primarily a second baseman/third baseman, may be necessary. Schrock has a good hit tool, but likely won’t ever be more than a utility infielder.

John Nogowski

If the Cardinals decide that the middle infield depth is fine, they could call on John Nogowski as an option to replace Ravelo. Nogowski is 27 but hit a slash line of .295/.412/.476 at AAA last year and has yet to make his MLB debut. Nogowski isn’t a huge power bat, but he can play first base as well as some outfield in a pinch and has a solid hit tool.

Evan Mendoza

Mendoza is primarily a third baseman who can also put in time as a first baseman or corner outfielder. Like Nogowski, Mendoza’s best offensive tool is his hit tool, but an injury-ridden 2019 makes his 2019 stat line look worse than the 23-year-old Mendoza can put forth. Mendoza was a late addition to the Springfield player pool but is one guy who has experience at AAA that could fit the utility infielder role the Cardinals are looking for at the MLB level.

Notably absent from this list is Dylan Carlson. I know that many of you probably had him as your number one player to bring up with four open spots, but the issue is that there still isn’t any room in the outfield. The MLB club still has five total outfielders on the active roster and it still makes no sense to bring him up to not play him.

If I had to guess, I would assume that the Cardinals will pull up Cabrera, Reyes, Kaminsky, and Schrock. There will also be a bias towards those players already on the 40-man roster. With that, you may see a young prospect like Elehuris Montero or Justin Williams get one of the final spots. Montero seems like he is easily more than a year away from being ready and Williams is A) an outfielder, and B) isn’t very exciting.

Next. Between 8 and 13 positives, no games vs Tigers. dark

It’s unclear how long the Cardinals will be without the seven players who tested positive, but just like anytime someone goes on the IL, the next men up need to fill bigger shoes. It will be tough to compete, but hopefully those who are positive stay asymptomatic and the Cardinals can get this outbreak past them quickly.

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