5 Cardinals who played their way onto Opening Day roster, 3 who played their way off

Nick Anderson is playing himself off of the Opening Day roster

Another non-roster invite by the Cardinals this spring, Nick Anderson used to be one of the best relievers in all of baseball. Here's the unfortunate part — we still need to use past tense for that statement.

Anderson has seen his velocity fall off a fair bit post-Tommy John surgery following the 2021 season, and while he had a solid year for the Atlanta Braves in 2023 and was a bit below average for the Kansas City Royals last year, Anderson has not shown enough in camp to gives the Cardinals confidence that he'll regain his form in 2025.

In his six appearances for the Cardinals this spring, Anderson has given up eight runs in 5.1 innings of work, including three home runs in the process. The Cardinals are not short on relief options as things currently stand, so there is no reason to force the issue here with Anderson.

The Cardinals just went out signed veteran reliever Phil Maton to a cheap deal the other day, and he can fill that "veteran presence" role for St. Louis to begin the year. Anderson was certainly a candidate for that when camp began, but I just do not see how the Cardinals can justify that now.

I, for one, was a huge fan of the signing at the time and I am still glad the Cardinals did it. Why? Because signing guys like Anderson to minor league deals are upside plays with basically no risk. The Cardinals can demote Anderson or let him walk with no skin off of their back. And if it had worked out, then they got a valuable reliever for a steal of a price.

The Cardinals bullpen mix seems pretty clear right now, and Anderson is on the outside looking in.