St. Louis Cardinals: Evaluating All the Infielders in This Year’s Camp
Not Likely
Dean Anna, Aledmys Diaz, Jonathan Rodriguez, David Washington, Jacob Wilson, Patrick Wisdom
Aside from the six infielders who are seriously competing for big-league roster spots, the Cardinals will bring along six more infielders who will try to showcase themselves for possible major-league openings later in the season (and man the diamond during the late innings of spring games after the starters exit).
Dean Anna and Aledmys Diaz are the two players among the bunch that are most likely to see time in the majors this season, as both are on the 40-man roster. The 29-year-old Anna surprisingly stuck on the 40-man roster all offseason after hitting .272/.382/.355 at Triple-A Memphis last year. Anna, who got one at-bat with the Cardinals in 2015 during an early-season call-up, wasn’t even recalled when the rosters expanded in September, but with Pete Kozma now departed, he’s likely the next man up behind Greg Garcia on the infield depth chart.
Diaz, who signed a major-league deal worth $5.5 million during spring training of 2014, struggled so badly at Double-A Springfield that he was designated for assignment in July of last year, but the move must have lit a fire under him, as he hit .311 with seven homers after being outrighted off the 40-man roster and in late August earned a promotion to Triple-A Memphis, where he hit .380 with three homers in 50 at-bats. Diaz was invited to the Arizona Fall League and added back to the 40-man roster during the offseason, and he now figures to start the year at Memphis and possibly earn a call-up to the bigs later in 2016. In fact, with Greg Garcia and Jedd Gyorko being better-equipped to handle second base, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Cardinals turn to Diaz as their shortstop if Jhonny Peralta were to suffer any sort of injury.
Jonathan Rodriguez (not to be confused with outfielder John “J-Rod” Rodriguez, who played with the Cardinals in 2005 and 2006) is likely to be the primary first baseman at Memphis this year after two solid seasons at Double-A Springfield. While he hasn’t been a spectacular contact hitter, Rodriguez has three straight seasons with double-digit homers, and he’s had OPS’s of .854, .762, and .769 over those seasons. The Cardinals aren’t hurting for first base depth in any way whatsoever–Matt Adams, Brandon Moss, Stephen Piscotty, Brayan Pena, and Matt Carpenter all have extensive experience playing first at the major-league level, while Matt Holliday has also been taking reps there during recent workouts–but Rodriguez will have the opportunity to prove himself as a possible future big-league contributor at the minors’ highest level this season.
Washington, meanwhile, will likely fill Rodriguez’s role as the primary first baseman at Springfield. The 25-year-old lefty hitter hit 16 homers with an OPS of .808 in just 97 games (34o at-bats) at Springfield last year, so he’ll look to build on that success with a full season in 2016.
Next: Evaluating All of the Outfielders in Cardinals Camp
Wilson and Wisdom could also be back-end candidates for big-league call-ups during 2016. Wilson has the potential to do many of the same things that a member of the 2015 club, Mark Reynolds, did; he’s capable of playing second, third, or a corner outfield spot, and he provides power (18 homers in 2015) but not a whole lot of contact (.230 average between Double-A and Triple-A). Wisdom, a compensatory first-rounder in 2012, got off to a strong start at Springfield in 2015, batting for a .784 OPS before struggling in the second half like he has for most of his minor-league career. Wisdom performed relatively well in the Arizona Fall League, though, hitting six homers with a .724 OPS, so that might earn him a promotion to Memphis in 2016.