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5 surprises on St. Louis Cardinals 2022 Opening Day roster

By Miranda Remaklus

Oliver Marmol #37 of the St Louis Cardinals watches game action against the Washington Nationals during a spring training game at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches on March 16, 2018 in West Palm Beach, Florida. The Nationals defeated the Cardinals 4-2. (Photo by Joel Auerbach/Getty Images)
Oliver Marmol #37 of the St Louis Cardinals watches game action against the Washington Nationals during a spring training game at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches on March 16, 2018 in West Palm Beach, Florida. The Nationals defeated the Cardinals 4-2. (Photo by Joel Auerbach/Getty Images) /
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PORT ST. LUCIE, FLORIDA – MARCH 27: Jake Woodford #40 of the St. Louis Cardinals throws a pitch during the fourth inning of the Spring Training game against the New York Mets at Clover Park on March 27, 2022 in Port St. Lucie, Florida. (Photo by Eric Espada/Getty Images)
PORT ST. LUCIE, FLORIDA – MARCH 27: Jake Woodford #40 of the St. Louis Cardinals throws a pitch during the fourth inning of the Spring Training game against the New York Mets at Clover Park on March 27, 2022 in Port St. Lucie, Florida. (Photo by Eric Espada/Getty Images) /

Jake Woodford

The necessity of having Woodford on the roster is more surprising than anything. With Jack Flaherty beginning the 2022 season on the 10-day injured list, it is very necessary.

The Cardinals were hopeful their pitching staff would return to Spring Training healthy and ready to go. Flaherty had lingering issues he returned to camp with. He received a platelet-rich plasma injection and the club announced it would wait a couple of weeks to see how his body responded. Once they had that information, they would know how to proceed.

While the club waits, Flaherty has been placed on the 10-day injured list and the club will have to proceed with who they have.

Adam Wainwright, Miles Mikolas, Steven Matz, and Dakota Hudson are the club’s penciled-in starters. For their fifth starter, it’s believed the club could return to using an opener. This would include Woodford and pairing him with another pitcher to piggyback the start. Pairings could involve Drew VerHagen, Nick Wittgren, Brooks, or Pallante. Marmol should have a few options to consider.

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