St. Louis Cardinals: Spring Training Information

By C-70
Location: Roger Deal Stadium - Jupiter, FL
Pitchers and Catchers Report: Feb. 14th
First Game: Feb. 25th
Schedule

Projected Opening Day Lineup

1. Colby Rasmus, LF
2. Brendan Ryan, 2B
3. Albert Pujols, 1B
4. Ryan Ludwick, RF
5. Rick Ankiel, CF
6. Yadier Molina, C
7. Khalil Greene, SS
8. Adam Wainwright, P

Projected Rotation

1. Adam Wainwright
2. Chris Carpenter
3. Kyle Lohse
4. Todd Wellemeyer
5. Joel Pineiro

Projected Bullpen

Long: Brad Thompson
Situational: Trever Miller, Royce Ring, Jason Motte
7th: Kyle McClellan
8th: Ryan Franklin
Closer: Chris Perez
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Key battles: With the surprising release of second baseman Adam Kennedy only days before spring training started, the keystone position is completely up for grabs. The traditional options would be Brendan Ryan, Brian Barden and Joe Thurston. All of these are utility types who can typically "do the little things" and would be considered poster boys for the "scrappy white guy" role, save the fact that Thurston isn't white.

Former first round draft pick Tyler Greene may slide over from shortstop to challenge for the slot after impressing some in the front office with his Arizona Fall League. He has some pop for a middle infielder, but his contact numbers aren't what you'd hope for.

Finally, there's another one of Tony LaRussa's grand experiments as outfielder Skip Schumaker, who hasn't played infield since college (and, well, there's a reason he's an outfielder) will take ground balls at the position in the spring. With the glut of outfielders, it's one way to get them all time, but the odds of Schumaker making a successful transition are pretty slim.

The outfield will also be a focus of interest, but for the opposite reason. There are too many good, talented outfielders for the number of slots. Ryan Ludwick and Rick Ankiel both will be playing with a little nervousness, as they realize they are prime trade bait, especially if they win their arbitration cases. Prying a young pitcher away from a team to shore up the fifth spot in the rotation would be a good return for either of them.

Also in the outfield is a supposedly healthy Chris Duncan, who claims to have not been healthy since the first half of 2007. If that's the case, his bat will play. Schumaker, when he's not playing with the infielders, also figures into the mix out here. Last year's Rule V selection Brian Barton would normally be projected to get at least a bench role, but with so many outfielders it's likely that he'll start at AAA Memphis to get regular at-bats.

Finally, there's the phenom. Colby Rasmus, the top prospect in the Cardinals system, comes to spring training a little more confident that a strong spring will get him a job. Last March, he produced well but was eventually sent down. This year, the team seems to be looking for a way to keep him on the roster.

What to expect: Expect to see a lot of the outfielders playing some B games to get regular at-bats. Rasmus and Duncan may get the bulk of them to see what they have and, in Duncan's case, to potentially build up trade demand.

There will be a lot of activity at second as well, with a different player there every day for the first couple of weeks. Also expect that, if none of them steps up, John Mozeliak to call Ray Durham to see if he'll come cheap.

There will be a lot of eyes on the rotation as well. There's not a competition there--unless one of the young pitchers impresses enough to bump Pineiro into the bullpen--but the health of Chris Carpenter is something that will be monitored, discussed, debated, and worried about until April 6.

Cardinal70 covers the St. Louis Cardinals on his blog, C70 At The Bat.