Jeremy Hazelbaker Makes St. Louis Cardinals’ Opening Day Roster as Ruben Tejada Heads to DL
Seven-year minor-league vet Jeremy Hazelbaker will be part of the St. Louis Cardinals’ Opening Day roster, as recently-acquired shortstop Ruben Tejada will begin the year on the DL.
As the St. Louis Post-Dispatch‘s Derrick Goold first reported following the Cardinals’ Grapefruit League finale on Thursday, outfielder Jeremy Hazelbaker will begin the season on the team’s 25-man roster. The opportunity for Hazelbaker to stick with the big-league club was created Thursday, as shortstop Ruben Tejada suffered a quad strain that will cause him to begin the season on the disabled list. That will delay the regular season debut in a Cardinals uniform for the 26-year-old shortstop, who was signed on March 19 after being released by the New York Mets.
Hazelbaker, a seven-year pro who’s never played in the majors, joined the Cardinals organization last May after being released out of the Dodgers system. He went on to hit .308/.394/.503 with three homers and 20 RBI at Double-A Springfield, and after being promoted to Triple-A Memphis in July, he hit .333/.403/.594 with 10 homers and 46 RBI over the remainder of the season. He followed up on that strong performance this spring, hitting .279/.354/.465 with two homers, seven RBI, and four stolen bases, and that work earned him a spot on the Cardinals’ roster. While he’s with the club, Hazelbaker should complement Matt Adams as a lefthanded-hitting power presence off the bench, while giving the team some additional depth in center field behind Matt Holliday and Tommy Pham.
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With Tejada out, the Cardinals are expected to rely primarily on Jedd Gyorko as their starting shortstop, despite the fact that the 27-year-old has played just 29 professional games at the position and put together a .184/.200/.245 slash line in 49 at-bats this spring. The Cards could also incorporate utility infielder Greg Garcia at the position, though Garcia may also be held back early in the season due to a knee injury.
Despite the fact that the Cardinals will begin the season with the five-man bench that’s long been traditional throughout the National League, the bench’s versatility will be rather limited. On most days, it’s expected to be comprised of utility infielder Garcia, Hazelbaker, who’s only played the outfield during his seven-year pro career, Matt Adams, who has never played a position other than first base as a pro, Tommy Pham, who’s played exclusively in the outfield since 2007, and Brayan Pena, who’s mostly caught and played first base throughout his career. With the lack of positional flexibility, the Cardinals may be forced to rely on Pena, who has played 77 professional innings at third, Pham, who played 37 games at shortstop in rookie ball in 2006 (making 22 errors over that period), or Stephen Piscotty, who played third at Stanford and started 36 games there during his first professional season, as backup infielders in an emergency situation.
Next: Jordan Walden to Begin Season on DL
Hazelbaker, who attended camp as a non-roster invitee, will need to be added to the 40-man roster before Sunday’s regular season opener. The Cardinals could easily do that by placing starting pitcher Lance Lynn, who will miss the entire 2016 season after Tommy John surgery, on the 60-day disabled list. The Cardinals also made some expected moves to finish trimming their camp roster on Thursday afternoon, officially sending four non-roster invitees back to minor-league camp: relief pitcher Juan Gonzalez, catcher Eric Fryer, infielder Jacob Wilson, and outfielder Carlos Peguero. After Tejada, Lynn, relievers Jordan Walden and Mitch Harris, and shortstop Jhonny Peralta are placed on the disabled list, the Cards will comply with the 25-man regular season roster limit.