The Official St. Louis Cardinals' Opening Day Roster

 As Spring Training dwindles down and Opening Night edges closer, the Cardinals 25-man roster has begun to take its shape. The official Major League roster contains twelve pitchers (5 starters, 7 relievers), two catchers, six infielders, and five outfielders. (I'll list the entire 25-man roster later on.) 

 Over the past several months, one of the biggest questions around camp retained back to the pitching staff. More specifically, the last remaining spot in the starting rotation. That question was finally answered earlier this week, when Cards' skipper Mike Matheny announced that RHP Carlos Martinez will receive the nod every fifth day. 

 The 23 year old flamethrower beat out fellow young gun Marco Gonzales (Jaime Garcia was also in the race for the fifth starting role, but he is now out due to shoulder issues) for the job. After the impressive Spring runs showcased by each one, I'm sure it was a really difficult decision to make. Either man would've fit the bill, but overall I think Carlos deserved it the most. 

 Also, as most guessed, Adam Wainwright will start for the Cardinals against the Cubs on Sunday night in Chicago. He's looked decent to me in his few starts, but he has pitched without pain which is what matters to me. The rotation can now be confidentially stated due to these reasons. It looks to be 1. Adam Wainwright, 2. Lance Lynn, 3. John Lackey, 4. Michael Wacha, and Carlos Martinez in the fifth spot. 

 Another question mark that surrounded the Cardinals this Spring involved the bench guys. Not including Mark Reynolds and Tony Cruz (who are already "guarantees"), there were six potential men for 3 remaining spots. To begin Spring, those six were Stephen Piscotty, Pete Kozma, Randal Grichuk, Tommy Pham, Ty Kelly, and Peter Bourjos. The two best offensive Springs belong to Grichuk and Kozma, both who made the roster. This spring, Grichuk hit four homers and had an OPS north of .930. Kozma arguably had the best offensive camp on the team, as he has batted .435 in forty-six ABs. The guy who snatched up the third and final bench spot available on the roster is Peter Bourjos. Unlike Randal and Pete, he didn't have a Spring that was worth bragging of, as he posted just a slim .146 (6-for-41) batting average. Matheny did, however, state that Bourjos was his "fourth outfielder". After his rocky offense this month, it's very hard to say Matheny chose Bourjos because of his sense of 'pop'. I do like his speed, which gives him the ability to steal a few bases here and there. I believe it could play key in some situations throughout the season. But I also know that one can't steal first base. I hope he can straighten his hitting out, but if he can't he'll have to use his other resources to reach base. I think that bunting more often may be his best option, due to his speed. If he can execute successful bunts, he'll be able to reach first and then steal if he is given the opportunity to. 

The 2015 St. Louis Cardinals Opening Day 25-Man Roster:

P-Adam Wainwright

P-Lance Lynn

P-John Lackey

P-Michael Wacha

P-Carlos Martinez 

P-Trevor Rosenthal

P-Randy Choate

P-Kevin Siegrist

P-Seth Maness 

P-Matt Belisle

P-Jordan Walden

P-Carlos Villanueva

C-Yadier Molina 

C-Tony Cruz

IF-Matt Adams

IF-Mark Reynolds

IF-Kolten Wong 

IF-Jhonny Peralta

IF-Pete Kozma

IF-Matt Carpenter

OF-Matt Holliday

OF-Jon Jay

OF-Jason Heyward 

OF-Peter Bourjos

OF-Randal Grichuk 

Thank you for reading! 

Twitter: @Curtis_Josey

What to Expect of the 2015 St. Louis Cardinals

 Over the past two seasons, the St. Louis Cardinals have been the team to beat in the National League Central division. The 2013 Cardinals' offense was quite unforgettable if you're a fan of the team. RISP, also known as Runners In Scoring Position, is a statistic that's always thrown up when regarding that team. It seemed like every time a runner was on second or third base you could just mark a tally in the ol' run column. The 2014 offense wasn't as stellar, unfortunately. Though they made it back to the NLCS for the fourth straight year, it's easy to say their offense wasn't the biggest factor. Some games ended with pretty bare scorecards, as only three or four hits were mustered out. But this year, the amount of offensive production looks to shoot up from last year's totals. 

 After the astonishing death of young, highly praised outfielder Oscar Taveras, something had to be done to fill the void left out in right field. Cardinals GM John Mozeliak went right to work, acquiring outfielder Jason Heyward and reliever Jordan Walden in exchange for starter Shelby Miller and pitching prospect Tyrell Jenkins. Adding Jason Heyward to a lineup that already has guys such as Matt Holliday and Yadier Molina to name a few, gives the Cardinals' lineup a very deep feeling. Just think about it.. Matt Carpenter leading off, Heyward batting second, Matt Holliday batting third, Matt Adams batting clean up, Jhonny Peralta batting fifth, Yadi batting sixth, Jon Jay seventh, and Kolten Wong batting eighth. When your eighth place hitter had twelve homeruns and twenty stolen bases last year, you must be doing something right. When the seventh place hitter hit over .300 last season, something must be good about the lineup. If all of these guys can have seasons like they're capable of having, there's no reason why we shouldn't see the Cardinals back in the Postseason. Hitting is only a part of the game, so let's talk about the other half; the pitching staff. 
 Without question, the Ace of the Cardinals' rotation is Adam Wainwright. He did have the slight abdominal injury earlier this spring, but he has since recovered and made a couple of starts. It has yet to be confirmed, but without any problems Waino should take the bump to face the Cubs on Opening Night. The second spot in the rotation belongs to Lance Lynn, a very deserving candidate. Last season, the only pitcher in the Cardinals rotation who didn't miss time due to injury was, you guessed it, Lance Lynn. His overall command has greatly increased over the past few seasons, as he has cut back greatly on the walks he allows.  He's a beast, no doubt, and definitely a key factor on the team. The middle spot in the rotation belongs to John Lackey. He is quite the bargain too, as he is only making league minimum (roughly $500,000) this season. He is considered to be an innings eater, which is a very nice quality to have in a starting pitcher, as it assists the bullpen tremendously over the rocky course of a 162 game season. The fourth spot in the starting rotation belongs to the right handed  young gun Michael Wacha. After an injury plagued 2014, I'm sure nothing sounds better than to have a bounceback season. If Spring Training means anything, Michael looks like he is good to go. He says he's alright, and we the fans have no reason not to believe him. All we can do is sit back and check the box scores, and that has been a pretty fun thing to do so far. The fifth spot in the rotation is still yet to be determined. A battle that looks to go right down to the wire between Jaime Garcia, Carlos Martinez and Marco Gonzales is what will determine who takes the spot. At this point, I really can't pick who I want to take the spot more. I'm on the Carlos Martinez fan bus, but the springs put together by Marco and Jaime are nothing to look over. I love the idea of seeing Carlos or Marco starting every fifth day, but I'm also thinking about Jaime getting the call since he's healthy. 

So, who's going to make it? Well, it may go down right to the final out they record. Welcome to Cardinals baseball. 



Thank you for reading! 
Questions/Comments? I'd love to hear them! 

Twitter: @Curtis_Josey 

Albert Pujols Is Slowly But Surely Returning To Old Form

After a rough first two seasons of his 10 year $240 million dollar deal, Los Angeles Angels first baseman Albert Pujols is finally starting to feel like his old self again. Pujols went homerless through the first two months of the 2012 season, ultimately finishing with poor numbers overall. The 2013 season proved to be twice as difficult as Pujols was sidelined for over half the season with knee and foot injuries, which led to Pujols finishing with his worst offensive season of his career. But in 2014, Pujols felt great and was healthy for the whole season. Pujols hit career homerun no. 500 during the season. Pujols finished with 28 homeruns and 105 RBI's for the 2014 season. Pujols has so far hit 3 HR's and 10 RBI's as he prepares for the 2015 season in spring training games. Pujols has said throughout the spring that he feels re-energized and feels like he is seeing the ball really well. He also said his knees and feet feel great as well as he hopes to play the whole season at 1B. The Angels and Pujols both have great expectations for him entering the 2015 season, but only time will tell if Pujols translates great expectations and good intentions into results.      -Jared Pate

A Q&A Interview with Former MLB Pitcher Tanyon Sturtze

I had the pleasure of doing a Q&A interview with former MLB pitcher Tanyon Sturtze recently. Sturtze played from 1995-2008 for the Chicago Cubs, Texas Rangers, Chicago White Sox, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Toronto Blue Jays, New York Yankees, and the Los Angeles Dodgers.                  

1. When did you first start playing baseball?

     
     When I was six years old playing with my dad.  I was fortunate enough to have my dad around to teach me a lot of things about the game growing up.  I played Tee ball, little league, high school, college, and then I was fortunate enough to make it to the big leagues.


    2.  What was the feeling when you were first drafted by the Oakland A's?

     "SHOCKED!"  I was at a game, and afterwards my cousin was driving me home.  My lights were on in my house and I thought it was weird at that time of the night.  My brother was usually asleep by then but when I walked into the house he was up and waiting on me.  I asked him what was going on he said "you've been drafting by the Oakland A's!" it was an amazing feeling.


   3.  Do you remember the brawl that you were involved on July 24, 2004 vs the New York Yankees?

         I was starting that game.  Arod had been hit in the previous game causing tension that overlapped into the next game when Arod was hit yet again causing him and Jason Varitek to start throwing punches.  I had nothing against Gabe Kapler or any of those guys, I was just trying to protect a team mate.  It escalated a little than it should have.


4.  Who was someone, either a coach or team mate you looked up to during your career?

      In the early 90's, the Oakland A's were stacked.  We had guys like Ricky Henderson, Mark McGwire, and Jose Canseco.  But the guy I looked up to the most was Bob Welch.   He really looked after me. I'll never forget the day we were taking ground balls on the field as he was giving me advice about how to play the game.  He took me under his wing.  We hung out.  We ate together.  We hung out in the clubhouse.

5.  What was your favorite moment during your Major League career?

    It was the first game after 911 I was pitching for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays at that time.  I was starting that game opposite of Roger Clemens and before the game we were singing the National Anthem, while they were holding the American flag in the middle of the field, as the planes flew over the stadium the emotions were incredible.  Everyone was crying.  I ended up beating Clemens that day 2-1.  

6.  How is the retirement life treating you?                                                                       

     I miss baseball. It was a hard adjustment.  It was tough adjusting the first two years of retirement after doing baseball for 20+ years.  It was hard to come to the realization that I wouldn't be playing baseball anymore.  Now, I have my wife and two year old daughter whom I spend a lot of time with.  I have more time to do a lot of golfing.  The retirement life is really great now!   
                                                                  -Jared Pate

Ryan Howard Looking To Find His Old Self

After tearing his Achilles tendon at the end of  Game 5 in the 2011 NLDS against the St. Louis Cardinals, it has been a long road back for Philadelthia Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard. Howard missed half of the 2012 season and half of the 2013 season with various injuries. The 2014 season saw Howard 100% healthy for the entire season for the first time since 2011. Howard would go on to hit .223 with 23 home runs and 95 RBI for the season. And while the home runs and RBI's were more like the old Ryan Howard, he lead the MLB with 190 strikeouts. With Howard having underperformed the last three seasons, the Phillies tried hard to trade the former NL MVP, but to no aveil. Howard has three years left and more than 65 million owed to him over that three year span, so the Phillies would love to get some value back for their money. Howard said during spring training last week that he doubled his workouts and batting practice during the offseason to try and help him get back to what made him one of the top 3 best hitters in baseball from 2006-2011. The Phillies are expected to be awful again this season as they transition into the rebuilding phase, but a healthy Ryan Howard hitting .270 or better, 30 or more homers, and 100 or more RBI's like the old Ryan Howard used to do would make the season ahead a little more easy to bear.   -Jared Pate

Players to Watch in 2015

As the 2015 season is getting closer and closer here are my list of players to watch in 2015. These players could have had a rough 2014 or been traded this past winter. These players could also be in their final year or trying to be called up for the first time. Here is my list which is in no order whatsoever.

• Carlos Martinez, RHP, STL
• Chris Davis, 1B, BAL
• Will Myers, OF, SD
• Pat Neshek, RHP, HOU
• Shelby Miller, RHP, ATL
• Bryon Buxton, CF, MIN
• Kevin Siegrist, LHP, STL
• Brett Lawrie, 3B, OAK
• Matt Wieters, C, BAL
• Derek Norris, C, SD
• Tyler Clippard, RHP, OAK
• Juan Uribe, 3B, LAD
• Troy Tulowitzki, SS, COL
• Wilin Rosario, C, COL
• A. J. Burnett, P, PIT
• Cole Hamels, P, PHI
• Ryan Howard, 1B, PHI
• Allen Craig, UTL, BOS
• Wade Miley, RHP, BOS
• Lance Lynn, RHP, STL
• Carlos Beltran, RF, NYY
• Zach Wheeler, RHP, NYM
• Jose Fernandez, RHP, MIA
• Dee Gordon, 2B, MIA
• Devin Mesoraco, C, CIN
• Michael Wacha, RHP, STL
• Jonathan Lucroy, C, MIL
• Evan Longeria, 3B, TB
• Howie Kendrick, 2B, LAD
• Matt Joyce, OF, LAA

These are my top 30 players to keep an eye on in 2015. -Chris Suddeth