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St. Louis Cardinals: Evaluating All the Starting Pitchers in This Year’s Camp

By Patrick Karraker

Mar 7, 2015; Melbourne, FL, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Jaime Garcia (54) pitches to Washington Nationals second baseman Dan Uggla during the second inning of a spring training baseball game at Space Coast Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 7, 2015; Melbourne, FL, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Jaime Garcia (54) pitches to Washington Nationals second baseman Dan Uggla during the second inning of a spring training baseball game at Space Coast Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports /
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St. Louis Cardinals Luke Weaver
Rob Foldy-USA TODAY Sports /

Not Likely

Jayson Aquino, Austin Gomber, Jeremy Hefner, Corey Littrell, Deck McGuire, Trey Nielsen, Daniel Poncedeleon, J.C. Sulbaran, Luke Weaver

In addition to the pitchers who are seriously competing for big-league jobs this spring, the Cardinals will also welcome a multitude of lower-level minor-league starters, all of whom should see some relief innings during the early days of spring training.

While the organization’s top two pitching prospects, Alex Reyes and Jack Flaherty, won’t attend big-league spring training, four of the organization’s Top 30 prospects (aside from the aforementioned Marco Gonzales and Tim Cooney, who rank third and ninth, respectively) will be part of the starting pitching contingent as camp gets underway.

A trio that includes Luke Weaver (8), Trey Nielsen (19), and Corey Littrell (29) is likely to ascend to Double-A Springfield in 2016 after posting impressive numbers at High-A Palm Beach last season. They could be joined by Jayson Aquino, a crafty lefthander who has been with five different organizations in the past five months and was claimed off waivers from the Cleveland Indians in December.

Jeremy Hefner, Deck McGuire, and J.C. Sulbaran, all of whom were brought in as minor-league free agents this offseason, will get a chance to prove that they’re worthy of bringing up the rear in a Triple-A rotation that’s likely to be anchored by Cooney and Gonzales. The 29-year-old Hefner, a former New York Met who is the only outside addition with big-league experience among the non-roster pitchers this season, will be coming off Tommy John surgery and looking to prove his health. McGuire, who’s coming over from the Dodgers organization, and Sulbaran, who spent last year in the Royals system, will attempt to create some value for themselves after subpar 2015 seasons split between Double-A and Triple-A. It’ll be a big opportunity for all three, who could be in line for big-league starts this season, depending on how much damage the rotation suffers throughout the course of the year.

Next: Evaluating All the Relievers in This Year's Camp

Austin Gomber, a 2014 fourth-rounder, and Daniel Poncedeleon, a ninth-rounder from the same draft, appear destined for Palm Beach to start 2016. Poncedeleon, who saw brief action at Palm Beach last season, could be fast-tracked and sent to Springfield, but it’s more likely that he’ll go back down and finish proving himself at High-A to start the season. Those two will likely be last on the totem pole when it comes to getting innings this spring, but it will be a good opportunity for the big-league staff to see what they have and get a read on them for future seasons.

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