4 Rule 5 candidates the Cardinals should add to the 40-man roster

OF Matt Koperniak

Matt Koperniak is one of the oldest players in the minor leagues for the Cardinals. The 26-year-old outfielder was signed as an undrafted free agent in 2020 out of Trinity College, and he has played four seasons in the minors for the Cardinals.

While his 2023 showing in Springfield -- .320/.386/.453 slash line -- was strong, he's taken it to another level this year with the Memphis Redbirds. Koperniak finished 2024 with a .309/370/.512 slash line with 20 home runs and 73 runs batted in. He also played strong defense at every outfield position.

Koperniak has experience on the international stage as well. He represented Great Britain in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, and he went 8-26 with five RBIs in spring training this year with the Cardinals.

Promoting Koperniak during the season proved difficult since Lars Nootbaar, Alec Burleson, Brendan Donovan, Victor Scott II, Michael Siani, and Jordan Walker all needed time in the grass. However, the Cardinals should look to add him to the 40-man roster this offseason if not just to protect him from other teams poaching him.

The same clogged situation may occur in 2025. Lars Nootbaar, Alec Burleson, Jordan Walker, Michael Siani, and Victor Scott II will all be fighting for roster spots. Brendan Donovan could also see some work in the outfield. That makes six major-league major-league-proven players who will be blocking Koperniak. If nothing else, adding him to the 40-man roster provides depth should injuries arise.

Matt Koperniak has hit quite well at every level of the minors. He's always been an underdog since playing for Division III Trinity College. He's a left-handed hitting outfielder who has tapped into some power recently; that's a tough combination to find elsewhere, particularly when you account for his plus defense at multiple positions in the outfield. If the Cardinals were to let Koperniak go this offseason, that may come back to haunt them down the road.

RHP Tekoah Roby

Tekoah Roby has not necessarily earned a spot on the 40-man roster due to his extensive injury history, but his pedigree and talent alone make him a perfect candidate. Roby is a former top-100 prospect in all of baseball, so the pedigree is in him somewhere still.

Roby has only thrown 50.1 innings since being traded to the Cardinals at last year's trade deadline, and his work on the mound has not exactly been inspirational in either the minors or the Arizona Fall League in 2023. He has a 5.75 ERA in the minors with the Cardinals, and he's struck out 58 batters. He's become a bit home-prone lately, but his last three games with Palm Beach to close out the 2024 season were a bit better than he was prior to that rehab stint.

What makes Roby an enticing 40-man candidate would be his age -- he just turned 23 -- and his former status as a consensus top-100 prospect in baseball. Baseball America had him #75 in their preseason rankings for 2024, and MLB Pipeline had him at #88 in 2023.

Roby features a fastball that can touch 99 at times with good command. He has a strong curveball that is a traditional 12-to-6 curve. He's recently added a slider that gets hit pretty hard, and his changeup could use some refinement. He's been fighting control issues in addition to his injuries lately, but he once boasted a walk rate that was consistently below 7%.

If Roby can stay healthy, and if he can tap back into his former self that featured 10-plus strikeouts per nine innings, the Cardinals may have a very serviceable pitcher on their hands. To give up on a former top-100 prospect this early would be malpractice. Roby, along with Quinn Mathews and Tink Hence, provides the Cardinals with ample pitching depth in the minors.

RHP Tink Hence

Tink Hence's story is somewhat similar to Roby's in the sense that injuries have hampered his ability to become the pitcher he was projected to be. Hence, unlike Roby, has been able to be extremely effective when healthy. The issue is that he has yet to throw more than 79.2 innings in any given season, and he's entering his fifth season as a professional baseball player.

Hence started off 2024 with a bang; he pitched all of 2024 in Double-A Springfield, and he struck out 12.31 batters per nine innings this year for a 34.1% K rate. He also walked just 8.1% of all batters he faced. However, injuries once again caught up to Tink, and he missed about a month with a hamstring injury in the middle of the year. He was able to finish the year with the Springfield Cardinals, so there's hope that a fully healthy offseason will set him up for success in 2025.

Upon his return, Hence was unable to throw more than four innings due to fear of re-aggravating his leg. He finished 2024 with a 2.71 ERA and 109 strikeouts in 79.2 innings. The organization's #2 prospect is one of the best right-handed pitching prospects in baseball, but he has not been able to be healthy enough to prove his worth.

The Cardinals will absolutely add Hence to the 40-man roster this offseason. If one of the organization's best pitching prospects can stay healthy, there's even a chance Hence makes his debut in one way or another in 2025, especially considering the fact that the organization has been open about its desire to go young next year. It's not a matter of if Hence will be added to the roster. What matters most is his health and when he will see major-league innings.

RHP Matt Svanson

The Cardinals received pitcher Matt Svanson when they traded Paul DeJong in 2023 to the Toronto Blue Jays. Svanson has been utilized solely as a reliever since joining the Cardinals' organization.

He hit his stride in 2024, as he finished with a 2.69 ERA in 53 games across 63.2 innings. Svanson also led all of Double-A with 27 saves last year. He solidified himself as a reliable back-end reliever, something every organization is searching for in their bullpens.

What weakens Svanson's case to remain on the roster would be his weak underlying numbers. He struck out only 8.3 batters last year, and his 1.461 WHIP indicated some trouble with walks and hits; he walked 3.5 batters per nine innings last year. An inability to strike out batters at a high rate paired with a propensity to give up free passes typically doesn't bode well for a reliever.

The Cardinals opted to send Svanson to the Arizona Fall League. Through seven games, Svanson has a 5.87 ERA in only 7.2 innings. However, he's struck out 15 batters in that span. Svanson has also walked only two batters in Arizona; he's allowed nine hits in total. If the organization was hoping to see him improve his strikeout numbers, he's done just that in limited time at the Arizona Fall League.

With so few spots available on the 40-man roster, Matt Svanson may get squeezed out of a spot in 2024. This would make him eligible to be drafted by another team by the time the Winter Meetings come around. While he could be a player the team will regret losing, leaving a 40-man spot open for a free-agent reliever who has proven himself in the majors may benefit the team more.