Headlines

  • Astros, Martin Maldonado Finalizing One-Year Extension
  • James Paxton To Undergo Tommy John Surgery
  • 2021 Trade Deadline Will Be July 30
  • Diamondbacks Sign Josh Reddick To Minor League Deal
  • Jonathan Hernandez Undergoes Tommy John Surgery
  • Dexter Fowler To Undergo Season-Ending Knee Surgery
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Indians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2020-21 Top 50 MLB Free Agents With Predictions
    • 2020-21 MLB Free Agent Tracker
    • 2020-21 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2021-22 MLB Free Agent List
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2021
    • 2021 MLB Arbitration Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • Last 100 Comments
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

John Nogowski

Cardinals Finalize Opening Day Roster

By TC Zencka | March 28, 2021 at 4:44pm CDT

The St. Louis Cardinals have set their roster for opening day, per MLB.com’s Jeff Jones, Derrick S. Goold of the St.Louis Post-Dispatch and others (Twitter links). John Nogowski, Austin Dean, Edmundo Sosa, and Jake Woodford will be on the roster, while Lane Thomas and Kodi Whitley become two of the final cuts. Goold lists the final opening day roster here.

Nogowski required a strong spring to make the roster, as the 28-year-old first baseman doesn’t bring a lot of utility to the roster. He did exactly that, however, slashing .379/.526/.586 in spring action. He’ll be the first right-handed bat off the bench. With Matt Carpenter on hand to serve as Paul Goldschmidt’s primary backup, it’s hard to imagine Nogowski seeing much action in the field.

The Thomas demotion might have the most impact, as without him, the Cardinals don’t have a true centerfielder on the roster. The Cards are all-in on rookie Dylan Carlson as their man in the middle until Harrison Bader returns from injury. Justin Williams and Austin Dean will be among the players replacing Carlson in right. Tommy Edman, who won the starting second base job, could also see time in right while Carpenter or Edmundo Sosa step in at the keystone. Starting left fielder Tyler O’Neill, meanwhile, is most likely to backup Carlson in center.

Woodford, 24, wins a spot in the bullpen on the strength of a 1.04 ERA this spring. Whitley, 26, heads to the minors to begin the season. Woodford can serve as a long man out of the pen, which may be important given the uncertainty in the back end of the rotation where Carlos Martinez, John Gant, and Daniel Ponce de Leon will take their turns until Miles Mikolas and/or Kwang Hyun Kim return. From the left side, Tyler Webb and Genesis Cabrera join Andrew Miller in the bullpen.

Share 0 Retweet 3 Send via email0

Austin Dean Dylan Carlson Edmundo Sosa Jake Woodford John Nogowski Kodi Whitley Lane Thomas St. Louis Cardinals Transactions

52 comments

NL Central Notes: Pirates, Cards, Reds, Brewers

By Connor Byrne and TC Zencka | March 22, 2021 at 6:29pm CDT

Here’s the latest from the National League Central:

  • Pirates manager Derek Shelton expects recently signed right-hander Trevor Cahill to break camp with the team, Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic relays. “I don’t plan on him staying behind in Florida,” Shelton said of Cahill, whom the Pirates inked to a one-year, $1.5MM guarantee earlier this month. The Pirates aren’t yet sure which role Cahill will fill when the season starts, though. The well-traveled 33-year-old has amassed 225 starts in 352 appearances, and he’s coming off a season divided between starting and relieving with the Giants. Cahill wound up with 26 innings of 3.24 ERA ball and posted an excellent 29.2 percent strikeout rate, but he also walked 13.2 percent of the batters he faced, recorded a 4.38 SIERA and logged a personal-worst 33.3 percent groundball rate.
  • John Nogowski has made himself a surprising candidate for a roster spot in Jupiter with the Cardinals, per Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The 28-year-old first baseman has an uphill climb ahead of him even after hitting .391/.533/.522 in 30 plate appearances this spring. Thanks to his limited defensive utility, however, there may not be an avenue for the Florida native to make the roster. The Cardinals would basically have to resolve themselves to keeping a roster spot solely for pinch-hitting duties. With Paul Goldschmidt set at first and Matt Carpenter also on the roster, Nogowski wouldn’t even necessarily be the first left-handed bat off the bench. Because of the injuries in the rotation, the Cardinals could choose to go with a four-man bench to help fill the innings, deepening the need for versatility from their bench bats. Also working against Nogowski is that he has two option years remaining, whereas Justin Williams, another left-handed bat, has none. If Carpenter, Williams, and backup catcher Andrew Knizner all make the roster, the Cardinals will still need someone capable of backing up Paul DeJong at shortstop. Tommy Edman would be the backup shortstop if another infielder is not added to the Opening Day roster.
  • The Reds are considering using Tejay Antone as a multi-inning option out of the bullpen, writes C.Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic. Whenever he pitches, the Reds are going to lean on Antone. They don’t expect to get as much length out of their starters as they had in 2020, feeding the thinking that Antone might be most impactful as an innings eater out of the bullpen. Pitching coach Derek Johnson stressed the importance of the bullpen, saying:“I don’t look for our starters to necessarily go out and give us six or seven every time. I think it’d great when and if they do, and that’ll be a bonus, but I do think our games — like they have in the last couple of years — they have been won or lost, a lot of times, in the sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth inning. Our bullpen has to be solid if we’re going to have a chance.” Amir Garrett and Lucas Sims, two of their prime bullpen arms, have been slow in making their spring debuts, which could also play a part in the Reds’ using Antone in relief.
  • As long as he’s healthy, Daniel Robertson appears to be a sure bet to earn a roster spot with the Brewers as a utility player, according to Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. Robertson, who doesn’t have any minor league options remaining and was out the past couple of days because of a knee issue, returned to Milwaukee’s lineup Monday. The ex-Ray and Giant signed a one-year, $900K deal with the Brewers in free agency.
Share 0 Retweet 2 Send via email0

Cincinnati Reds Daniel Robertson John Nogowski Milwaukee Brewers Notes Pittsburgh Pirates St. Louis Cardinals Tejay Antone Trevor Cahill

37 comments
Show all

ad: 300x250_1_MLB

    Top Stories

    Astros, Martin Maldonado Finalizing One-Year Extension

    James Paxton To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

    2021 Trade Deadline Will Be July 30

    Diamondbacks Sign Josh Reddick To Minor League Deal

    Jonathan Hernandez Undergoes Tommy John Surgery

    Dexter Fowler To Undergo Season-Ending Knee Surgery

    MLB Inspecting “Suspicious Baseballs” From Trevor Bauer’s Latest Start

    Trevor Rosenthal Undergoes Thoracic Outlet Surgery

    Blue Jays Sign GM Ross Atkins To Five-Year Extension

    Yankees Acquire Rougned Odor

    Recent

    Yasiel Puig Issues Statement On Sexual Assault Allegations

    Several Former Big Leaguers Sign With Mexican League’s Guadalajara Mariachis

    Angels Make Handful Of Roster Moves

    Royals Select Ervin Santana

    Latest On George Springer, Teoscar Hernandez

    Rangers Place Ronald Guzman On 10-Day IL, Select Adolis Garcia

    Cubs Place Matt Duffy On COVID IL, Select Ildemaro Vargas

    Astros, Martin Maldonado Finalizing One-Year Extension

    MLBTR Chat Transcript

    James Paxton To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Kris Bryant Rumors
    • Francisco Lindor Rumors
    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Go Ad-Free
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • 2020-21 Top 50 MLB Free Agents With Predictions
    • 2020-21 MLB Free Agent Tracker
    • 2020-21 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2021-22 MLB Free Agent List
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2021
    • 2021 MLB Arbitration Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Indians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    ad: 160x600_MLB

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • Feeds by Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    hide arrowsFOX Sports Engage Network scroll to top
    Close

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version