Projecting the St. Louis Cardinals’ 2014 Postseason Roster

Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

With this being the last weekend of the MLB season with the St. Louis Cardinals having clinched a playoff spot, manager Mike Matheny and general manager John Mozeliak are undoubtedly thinking about what will be the best group of players for them to go with as they’re forced to reduce their roster back to 25 players for postseason play.

The construction of a playoff roster is always a little bit different than the type that we see during the regular season. For starters (no pun intended), teams generally only use four starting pitchers during the playoffs, although it’s common practice to stash at least one other starter in the bullpen to be used as needed. In addition, many teams feel safe going extra-heavy in the ‘pen, carrying eight true relievers in addition to a reassigned starter.

That often results in a different look for the bench, and this has been especially true for the Cardinals in their recent playoff runs. Outfielder and pinch-running specialist Adron Chambers, who made the Cards’ postseason rosters in 2011, 2012, and 2013, saw very little action during the regular season and only played in 84 games over the course of the his three-year stint with the club. But the Cardinals saw him as a difference-making postseason player, and as a result he appeared in 22 postseason games as a Cardinal.

We shouldn’t see anyone making the roster in a Chambers type of role this year, although outfielder Randal Grichuk seems to have earned himself a playoff spot after showing very little until a late August callup which has enabled him to catch fire over the final month of the season.

Here’s a guess at what the Cardinals’ active roster will look like come next week.