6 Cardinals players who made the Opening Day roster but won't finish on it

Catcher Andrew Knizner

Andrew Knizner, 28, continues to prove that he is not the answer behind the plate for the Cardinals, even in a backup role. He has always been a decent defensive option behind the plate, but even those metrics haven't been on his side to start the 2023 campaign.

Once Knizner made it through parts of five years with the Cardinals without showing any real promise, the decision was easy for the club to replace Yadier Molina with Willson Contreras instead of him. He has virtually no bat to speak of and is a "just okay" defender. In other words, it's been clear for a while now that he's not going to be long for this team.

In the first four games and 10 at-bats of his 2023 season, Knizner has just one hit (.100 average) and an OPS+ of -45 (yes, you read that right). He, like Jake Woodford, still has one more option to his name, so a demotion would not be too wild of a prediction to make for his future.

Iván Herrera's presence in Triple-A furthers muddies the waters in regard to the Cardinals' backup catcher situation. He is still very young, but could arguably get promoted today and outperform Knizner and his lack of overall value for the club. Herrera, 22, is hitting .231 with a home run and five RBI through seven games and 26 at-bats in Triple-A so far this year.