St. Louis Cardinals Remove Four from Spring Training Roster
The St. Louis Cardinals made their second round of cuts for this year’s spring training on Tuesday, optioning infielder Greg Garcia and lefthanded pitcher Tyler Lyons to Triple-A Memphis while reassigning catcher Carson Kelly and infielder Breyvic Valera to minor-league camp.
Garcia was the most surprising cut of the group, not so much because he’s not making the 25-man big-league roster, but because he’s being removed from competition so early. The Cardinals got rid of both of the backup middle infielders who they started last year with, Daniel Descalso and Mark Ellis, over the winter, so there has been a wide-open competition to fill a bench spot this spring, with Garcia, Pete Kozma, Ty Kelly, and Dean Anna, among others, in contention.
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Kozma, who is out of options, really seems to have jumped out in front in the race. In addition to his typical positions of shortstop and second base, the soon-to-be 27-year-old has increased his versatility and made appearances at third base, left field, and right field so far this spring. His performance at the plate has been fantastic as well, as he’s 8-for-20 (.400) so far.
Garcia still has a good shot to see big-league action at some point during 2015, as he’s a 40-man roster member with some major league experience, and unlike anyone on the team’s current projected bench–Kozma, catcher Tony Cruz, infielder Mark Reynolds, or outfielders Randal Grichuk and Peter Bourjos–he’s a lefthanded hitter. With that said, Anna’s a lefty hitter, and Kelly is a switch-hitter, so Garcia, who went 4-for-13 (.308) this spring, will have some competition.
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Though Lyons has two partial seasons of big-league experience, he’s in the difficult spot of being really far down the lefthanded pitcher depth chart as things stand now. Randy Choate, Kevin Siegrist, and Sam Freeman (who’s out of options) all have a good chance of beginning the season on the 25-man big-league roster. If Marco Gonzales doesn’t start the season in the rotation, he could also be a lefty bullpen option, and swingman Nick Greenwood had a very good first big-league season and should be in contention for an early callup if he doesn’t make the team out of camp. That’s not even including veteran starter Jaime Garcia, whose status is unclear as the team moves towards the regular season.
Lyons does have the advantage of having started before, but Gonzales and Carlos Martinez are obviously ahead of him on the rotation depth chart. Depending on the circumstances, Garcia and fellow veteran Carlos Villanueva could also be kept around for extra depth, and even if those options falter, lefty Tim Cooney may have moved ahead of Lyons in the pecking order, as he’s viewed to have a higher ceiling than Lyons.
With this in mind, Lyons is going to have to do a lot to get back to the big leagues with the Cardinals, and he may be a candidate to be one of the first players removed from the 40-man roster if the Cards need to open up a spot. Lyons certainly didn’t help his cause this spring by allowing seven earned runs on nine hits and two walks over five innings spanning three games this spring.
Kelly, a former second-rounder who was one of nine catchers in big-league camp this spring, went 0-for-3 at the plate during spring training and saw action behind the plate in one game. He’ll head to the minor-league side as he aims to get at-bats and prepare for the regular season, where he’ll likely be stationed at High-A Palm Beach to start the year.
Valera, a switch-hitting middle infielder, went 0-for-3 with a walk this spring. He’ll likely start the year at Double-A Springfield, though he has a chance to ascend to Triple-A after having seen some action at Springfield to end the 2014 season.