Meet the St. Louis Cardinals’ 2022 Opening Day roster

Meet the St. Louis Cardinals’ 2022 Opening Day roster that features Albert Pujols and excludes the injured Jack Flaherty and Alex Reyes.

Opening Day is just days away. Teams across the league are talking to their players about extensions and trying to settle arbitration cases before going to hearings. Most importantly, however, they are putting the finishing touches on their rosters – and on Monday, the St. Louis Cardinals have finalized theirs.

Pitchers: Adam Wainwright, Miles Mikolas, Steven Matz, Dakota Hudson.

Relievers: Jordan Hicks, Drew VerHagen, Jake Woodford, Giovanny Gallegos, Ryan Helsey, A. Pallante, Genesis Cabrera, TJ McFarland, Nick Wittgren, Kodi Whitley, Aaron Brooks.

Catchers: Yadier Molina, Andrew Knizner.

Infielders: Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado, Tommy Edman, Paul DeJong, Albert Pujols, Edmundo Sosa.

Outfielders: Tyler O’Neill, Harrison Bader, Dylan Carlson, Corey Dickerson, Lars Nootbaar.

On the injured list, meanwhile, are Jack Flaherty and Alex Reyes, who are two of the Cardinals’ most talented pitchers. Losing them is a blow, but the team is confident in its internal depth, and there remains a chance that a reliever (Jake Woodford? Jordan Hicks?) sees time in the rotation with Flaherty out.

But this roster comes as expected and with no surprises. There was some doubt about Lars Nootbaar’s status in recent days, but it became clear he would make it, as the organization has been adamant about him getting extensive at-bats in the majors. That becomes tough with Pujols and Corey Dickerson in town, of course, but he will have the luxury of learning from both before having a very strong chance of taking hold of the full-time DH spot in 2023.

The Cardinals are confident that this is the roster that can get them deep into the postseason. There are outside skeptics, myself included, especially after not adding a high-leverage bullpen arm. But the organization, specifically president of baseball operations John Mozeliak, has earned the benefit of the doubt.

Their first test is only days away. It’s time to get excited.