Cardinals' spring training non-roster invites features mix of excitement and snubs

One of the best parts of spring training every year is getting to watch St. Louis Cardinals prospects get a chance to display their talent against Major League talent and other aspiring big leaguers. This year's camp will be no different, but it does seem like Chaim Bloom and his regime are going to be a bit more cautious with the number of prospects we will see.

The Cardinals announced their list of 27 non-roster invites to big league camp for spring training this year, and the highlights of that list are top prospects JJ Wetherholt and Quinn Mathews. There are plenty of other names that will be fun to watch that made the cut, but fans were quick to notice that there are some big names who won't be joining the big league camp this time around.

Cardinals non-roster invites includes JJ Wetherholt and Quinn Mathews but snubs Liam Doyle and Rainiel Rodriguez

The most notable "snubs" from this list are the Cardinals' second and third-ranked prospects, LHP Liam Doyle and C Rainiel Rodriguez.

Doyle, the fifth overall pick in the 2025 MLB Draft, is seen as a top 40 prospect in the game right now and comes with immense potential after an incredible season with the University of Tennessee. This news isn't surprising to those who were following the coverage from Winter Warm-Up this year, as Bloom let reporters know that Doyle would not be in big league camp, as the focus for him is on ramping up. He did say we "might get a glimpse of him here or there".

Rodriguez had a huge 2025 season, his first stateside within the Cardinals' organization, and has also risen to the top 40 prospect in the game status according to major outlets like Baseball America and MLB Pipeline. Rodriguez just turned 19 years old this month and only has a few games of experience at the High-A level, so he's not all that close to making a push toward St. Louis. With that being said, I think fans were hoping to at least get a sneak peek of him.

This is one of the reasons I love that MLB has added the Spring Breakout games, as those are a true opportunity to watch top prospects on display in televised action during camp, and I would bet that both Rodriguez and Doyle appear in those games.

Now, if you're wondering where names like Joshua Baez, Leonardo Bernal, Brycen Mautz, and Tink Hence are, they are already on the Cardinals' 40-man roster and have an invite to camp, so we will indeed see them around the big league club this spring. Other notable names from the Cardinals' non-roster invite list include Ixan Henderson, Blaze Jordan, Luis Gastelum, and Chase Davis.