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

By Patrick Karraker

Sep 12, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Matt Carpenter (13) fields a ground ball hit by Chicago Cubs center fielder Dexter Fowler (not pictured) during the first inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 12, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Matt Carpenter (13) fields a ground ball hit by Chicago Cubs center fielder Dexter Fowler (not pictured) during the first inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports /
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Mar 5, 2015; Melbourne, FL, USA; New York Mets shortstop Wilfredo Tovar (70) throws out Washington Nationals player Bryce Harper (not pictured) during the first inning of a spring training baseball game at Space Coast Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 5, 2015; Melbourne, FL, USA; New York Mets shortstop Wilfredo Tovar (70) throws out Washington Nationals player Bryce Harper (not pictured) during the first inning of a spring training baseball game at Space Coast Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports /

Not Likely

Eliezer Alvarez, Paul DeJong, Edmundo Sosa, Wilfredo Tovar, Breyvic Valera, Patrick Wisdom

Alvarez (22) and Sosa (20) were added to the Cardinals’ 40-man roster in December to protect them from the Rule 5 Draft. While they’re a couple of the team’s best middle infield prospects, they’re likely to remain in the lower minors as 2017 begins, and they’re both probably a couple of years away from potentially being big-league ready. They might get some work during the early days of spring training, but they’ll probably be among the first cuts from camp.

DeJong, Tovar, and Valera, meanwhile, are much more likely to contribute at the major-league level this season. The Cardinals have a very versatile infield, limiting the need for the utilization of replacement players–Jedd Gyorko can play all four spots, Matt Carpenter and Greg Garcia can each play three and Jhonny Peralta can play both third and short–but the three aforementioned players have plenty of additional versatility if necessary.

The 25-year-old Tovar, who has nine games of big-league experience with the Mets, can play short, second, and third and is an under-the-radar candidate to see major-league action in 2017. If the Cardinals end up having to part ways with Garcia, Gyorko, or Peralta due to a roster crunch, he could end up being a steady utility backup.

Valera, who’s also 25, does many of the same things as Tovar, but he has three advantages that Tovar does not: he’s on the 40-man roster, he’s a switch-hitter, and he’s even more defensively versatile. He’s seen action at every position as a minor-leaguer and would likely be utilized to the max by noted versatility lover Mike Matheny. He may be the first infielder the Cardinals call up this season if they’re in need of help.

Finally, DeJong is a player who could burst onto the scene this season if the Cardinals’ odd plan to convert him from third base to shortstop–a conversion that’s much more frequently performed the opposite way–turns out to be successful. He was considered a below-average defender at third, so it would be surprising if he turned out to be playable as a major-leaguer at short, but he’s definitely got the offensive skills to cut it in the show. In his first full pro season, the 2015 fourth-rounder from Illinois State hit .260/.324/.460 with 22 homers at Double-A Memphis.

Next: Evaluating the Catchers in Cardinals Camp

Wisdom, a former first-rounder, has seen his career stall out in the upper minors and hasn’t had an OPS above .700 since Low-A ball, but the Cardinals are obviously still hoping that he’ll figure it out. Since there aren’t too many organizational infielders ready to play in Triple-A this year, Wisdom will probably have a rather significant role in Memphis.

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