Cards' Prospect Mather Swingin' in Memphis to Start Season

The Cardinals made their final cuts yesterday to get to their opening day roster size of 25. The makeup of that roster was a bit of a surprise however.

Just weeks after Joe Mather was all but anointed the Opening Day third baseman, he starts the year in AAA Memphis while Brian Barden, Brendan Ryan and Joe Thurston all go north with the big club.

It's interesting to see so many middle infield types making up the bench. Right now there's just one extra outfielder, though obviously some, like Thurston, have seen some time in the outfield as well. There won't be a lot of pop on the bench, as Tony La Russa will have to really decide when to use his power bat, which will usually be Chris Duncan or Colby Rasmus.

I wonder if part of this isn't as insurance on Skip Schumaker and his transition.  Of course, Skip can always go to the outfield as well, especially late in games when defense is more important. Still, I'd expect that if Mather gets off to a strong start at Memphis, he'd swap places with one of those infielders before the end of April.

The best news, in my mind, was that Colby Rasmus was going north. I know he's still going to have to fight for at-bats and won't necessarily be in there every day but we've been waiting a long time to see him on the big stage and I'm glad that we'll get that opportunity this year.

So here are the guys that get to ride in the red convertibles around Busch Stadium on Monday:

C: Yadier Molina, Jason LaRue
IF: Albert Pujols, Schumaker, Khalil Greene, David Freese, Barden, Ryan, Thurston
OF: Ryan Ludwick, Rick Ankiel, Duncan, Rasmus
SP: Adam Wainwright, Chris Carpenter, Joel Pineiro, Kyle Lohse, Todd Wellemeyer
RP: Trever Miller, Dennys Reyes, Jason Motte, Josh Kinney, Ryan Franklin, Brad Thompson, Kyle McClellan

Ladies and gentlemen, your 2009 St. Louis Cardinals!

Before all the cuts yesterday, though, they did play one last game in Roger Dean Stadium. Really was the last one there—next year the name will be different, though what it will be hasn't been determined.

There's no doubt Rasmus was the star of the game. He got his first home run of the spring in the first, a sac fly RBI later to again give the Cardinals the lead, then doubled in another run, and later scored in the four run ninth. Don't know if he was wanting to make sure he wasn't cut or what, but if there was any question, that likely settled it.

Wellemeyer threw five innings and was more effective than he's been at times this spring, but still wasn't superb. He surrendered three runs in those five innings, though he did strike out three. The bullpen came through, though, with Kinney, Franklin, Miller and Motte coming through for four scoreless innings. Motte struck out two and locked down the save, his fifth of the spring.

In other news, sounds like Carpenter is getting better. If it were a regular season game tonight, he'd probably pitch, but there's no reason to risk aggrevating it for a game against the Redbirds. More and more this sounds like it really is a minor injury and nothing to be terribly concerned with, At least until Thursday.

Cards' play in Memphis tonight and tomorrow, take Sunday off and then get to it for real on Monday. Remember to check out the United Cardinal Bloggers website for all our predictions, with today having the postseason under the microscope. 

Also, there's a special two-hour United Cardinal Bloggers Radio Hour on Sunday, from 8-10 Central.  We'll get you ready for the season and will have special guest Matthew Leach on the show as well. Hope you'll join us!