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Packy Naughton

Cardinals Re-Sign Packy Naughton To Two-Year Minors Contract

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The Cardinals have re-signed Packy Naughton to a two-year minor league deal, as revealed by the left-hander himself on his Instagram page.  The extended nature of the contract is due to another tough injury setback for Naughton, as he said that he underwent a UCL reconstruction surgery last July.  Naughton was already working his way back from a flexor tendon surgery in June 2023, though he also re-tore his flexon tendon in addition to the UCL damage.

Naughton didn’t specify if he underwent a full Tommy John surgery or a brace procedure, though in either case, it seems unlikely that he’d be able to pitch again before the end of the 2025 season.  The two-year contract therefore allows Naughton plenty of time to rehab while still keeping him under St. Louis’ control for what will hopefully be a comeback year in 2026.

The southpaw made his MLB debut with the Angels in 2021 and then came to the Cardinals on a waiver claim prior to the 2022 season.  Over 59 2/3 innings and 37 appearances in the big leagues, Naughton has a 4.98 ERA, and he last pitched in the Show on April 7, 2023.  He pitched in one more Triple-A game that season before undergoing his first surgery, and he threw 20 1/3 combined innings over three levels of the Cardinals’ farm system this year before injuries again put his career on hold.

Cardinals Announce Six Roster Moves

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The Cardinals announced a series of roster moves in advance of today’s 40-man roster deadline.  Right-handers Adam Kloffenstein and Sem Robberse and catcher Pedro Pages had their contracts selected, while left-hander Connor Thomas was designated for assignment.  (Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported earlier today that Pages’ contract was going to be selected.)  Left-hander Packy Naughton was outrighted to Triple-A, and St. Louis officially confirmed the previously-reported news that Wilking Rodriguez elected free agency after the right-hander had also been outrighted to Triple-A.

It was essentially a set of chalk picks for the Cards in protecting three of the four Rule 5-eligible prospects on their MLB Pipeline top 30 list, with right-hander Ian Bedell the only eligible player now available to rival clubs in December’s R5 Draft.  Bedell might be one of the more interesting names to watch heading into the Rule 5, but the Cardinals felt Kloffenstein, Robberse, and Pages were more worthy of 40-man roster spots.

Kloffenstein and Robberse only joined the organization at the trade deadline, acquired from the Blue Jays in the Jordan Hicks trade.  Both pitchers made their Triple-A debuts after coming to the Cardinals, and they’ll likely start 2024 at Triple-A as well.  Since St. Louis is aiming to add multiple new starting pitchers this winter, Robberse and Kloffenstein will be competing with the Cards’ other young arms to see who might be part of the first wave of depth starters.  It also isn’t out of the question that either could be on the move if the Cardinals pursued some experienced pitching on the trade market.

Pages was a sixth-round pick for the Cardinals in the 2019 draft, and he hit .267/.362/.443 with 16 home runs over 497 plate appearances with Double-A Springfield last season.  Speaking of trade depth, the Cards might also look to the catcher position, as they now have four backstops (Willson Contreras, Ivan Herrera, Andrew Knizner, and Pages) on the 40-man roster.

Thomas was a 40-man selection almost exactly a year ago, as St. Louis looked to protect the outfielder from the 2022 Rule 5 Draft.  The southpaw was coming off a 5.47 ERA in 135 Triple-A innings in 2022, but couldn’t make much headway last year, delivering a 5.53 ERA, 15.7% strikeout rate, and 7.0% walk rate in 94 1/3 frames for Memphis.  Thomas is a grounder specialist who has faced some heavy BABIP misfortune during his minor league career, but the Cardinals have seen enough to potentially move on from the 25-year-old.

Naughton has a 4.98 ERA over 59 2/3 Major League innings since the start of the 2021 season, with his first two big league campaigns spent shuttling back and forth from Triple-A with the Angels and Cardinals.  His 2023 campaign was essentially lost to injury, as Naughton underwent flexor tendon surgery in late June and figures to miss probably the first half of the 2024 season, based on past timelines for similar procedures.  Naughton will continue rehabbing and potentially also surface for at least some bullpen work at some point next year.

Packy Naughton Undergoes Flexor Tendon Surgery

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Cardinals left-hander Packy Naughton underwent surgery to repair the flexor tendon in his left elbow, reports Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat, but his ulnar collateral ligament did not require repair.

It was reported last week that Naughton would require season-ending surgery of some kind, though the exact nature of the procedure wasn’t known. The fact that the lefty’s UCL didn’t need any work is surely a silver lining in this challenging process.

Despite that small bit of good news, Naughton is likely still looking at a long road back to the mound, as flexor tendon surgery can also lead to extended absences. For instance, Matthew Boyd required the procedure in late September of 2021 and he got back to the big leagues in early September of 2022, missing almost a year. Tarik Skubal went under the knife in August of last year and is currently on a rehab assignment more than 10 months later. Each person and injury is different but it seems likely that Naughton will miss part of the 2024 campaign, in addition to missing the remainder of 2023.

Last year was his first with St. Louis and he posted a 4.78 ERA in 32 innings, but with strong peripherals. He struck out 22% of opponents while walking just 5% and getting grounders on 49.5% of balls in play. He started 2023 with five scoreless innings before landing on the injured list and that will now be the totality of his work for the year. He’s already on the 60-day injured list and will stay there for the rest of the year, though he’ll need to be added back to the roster in the offseason.

Turning to another injured Cardinal, Tyler O’Neill is back to baseball activity, per Jones. The outfielder is hoping to be heading out on a rehab assignment next week. He’s been on the shelf since May 5 due to a lower back strain.

The return of O’Neill will make for an interesting storyline with just over a month to go until the August 1 trade deadline. The Cardinals have had a disappointing season so far and are currently 33-45, placing them eight games back of the Reds in the National League Central and even further out in the Wild Card race. Though a hot streak in the next few weeks could get them right back into the mix, president of baseball operations John Mozeliak recently admitted that they may have to make some tough decisions this summer.

O’Neill will be returning to a crowded outfield picture. Tommy Edman started the year at shortstop but a resurgent Paul DeJong has bumped him to center field, where he has carried himself well. Through 189 1/3 innings in center so far this year, he has two Outs Above Average and a grade of 1.1 from Ultimate Zone Rating, while Defensive Runs Saved considers him exactly league average. His .238/.308/.403 batting line on the year is slightly below par, translating to a wRC+ of 96, but he’s still plenty valuable due to his defense, versatility and baserunning.

Similarly, the ascendance of Nolan Gorman at second base has often pushed Brendan Donovan into left field this year. Donovan has been producing roughly league average defense while hitting .269/.362/.384 for a wRC+ of 111. Then there’s Lars Nootbaar, who’s hitting .262/.368/.378 for a wRC+ of 111 while playing the corners. Rookie Jordan Walker is hitting .303/.369/.472 for a wRC+ of 135, slotting in as the designated hitter regularly but also taking a corner outfield spot at times. Dylan Carlson is also in the mix, hitting .248/.327/.404 for a wRC+ of 105. Alec Burleson and Óscar Mercado are also on the roster but neither has been able to get much playing time of late.

Even without O’Neill, the club is juggling plenty of different options and it won’t clear up any time soon as all of those players are still under control for 2024. The club has a $12.5MM option for DeJong’s services in 2024, with a $2MM buyout, that once seemed sure to be bought out but he might be playing his way into that getting picked up. He’s still providing strong shortstop defense while hitting .234/.297/.467 for a 109 wRC+. Even if DeJong isn’t there next year, shortstop prospect Masyn Winn is in Triple-A and will need a major league audition soon.

O’Neill can be retained for 2024 as well, though that would be his final arbitration year before qualifying for free agency. That perhaps makes him the most logical trade candidate of the bunch. Given the overcrowded roster in St. Louis and the fact that he and manager Oli Marmol got in a public argument earlier this year, perhaps O’Neill will be reading his name in trade rumors in the next few weeks.

He’s making $4.95MM this year and would be in line for a raise next year. It would likely be a modest bump given his missed time and the fact that he’s hit just .228/.283/.337 on the season so far, 73 wRC+. Nonetheless, he’d be an intriguing buy-low candidate for other clubs. In 2021, he hit 34 home runs and slashed .286/.352/.560 for a 144 wRC+. He also stole 15 bases and was graded well in the outfield, leading to a tally of 5.6 wins above replacement from FanGraphs. His production has dipped in the past couple of seasons while dealing with injuries, but there should still be some trade value there.

Packy Naughton To Undergo Season-Ending Surgery

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Cardinals left-hander Packy Naughton will undergo season-ending surgery on June 26th, with Lynn Worthy of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Joe Trezza of MLB.com relaying word from manager Oli Marmol.

The specific details of Naughton’s surgery aren’t publicly known and it’s possible those details won’t be fully available until the procedure actually begins, but it was reported last week that Tommy John was on the table. Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat adds that Naughton was visiting Dr. Keith Meister, who has performed some internal brace procedures, the TJS alternative that could also be an option.

Either way, it seems likely that Naughton is set to miss significant time. Even in the case of the internal brace procedure, a recovery period of roughly a year is required, which would likely wipe out the first half of Naughton’s 2024 season. The full Tommy John surgery, on the other hand, usually pushes into the range of 14 to 18 months, which could put his entire 2024 season in jeopardy.

That’s surely an extremely frustrating development for both Naughton and the Cards. The southpaw had tossed 32 innings last year with a 4.78 ERA but strong peripherals. He struck out 22% of opponents while walking just 5% and getting grounders at a 49.5% clip. His ERA might have been inflated by a .364 batting average on balls in play, leading to kinder marks from other metrics such as a 3.14 FIP and 3.26 SIERA.

He was looking to build off that platform here in 2023 but landed on the injured list after just four appearances due to a left forearm strain. He seemed on track to return when he began a rehab assignment a week ago but was still experiencing pain, leading to further examination and today’s news about the necessary surgery. That means that 2023 will be an almost entirely lost season with 2024 hanging in the balance as well.

Naughton is already on the 60-day injured list and will stay there for the rest of the season. However, there’s no injured list in the offseason so he will have to be added back to the roster at that point.

Central Notes: Contreras, Naughton, Buxton

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The Pirates recently moved right-hander Roansy Contreras to the bullpen, but he’s hoping to follow in the footsteps of his teammate Mitch Keller and return to the rotation stronger than ever. “I want to find a point where I feel comfortable again,” Contreras said, with major league coach Stephen Morales translating to Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “I’m going to do my best out of the bullpen, but I feel like I belong in the starting rotation. I’m going to do my best to get back to it.”

Keller was a second-round pick and top 100 prospect but struggled in his first few seasons in the majors, having a 6.02 ERA by the end of 2021. Last year, he had a 6.61 ERA in the middle of May when he was moved to the bullpen. He made just a couple of relief appearances before being put back in the rotation and eventually posted a 3.22 ERA as a starter the rest of the way. He now has a 3.41 ERA for the Bucs here in 2023.

Contreras was also a top 100 guy on his way up through the minors and seemed to solidify himself last year when he posted a 3.79 ERA over 95 innings. However, he’s taken a step back here in 2023 with a 6.55 ERA in 11 starts and a couple of relief appearances. There’s probably a bit of bad luck in there, considering his .328 batting average on balls in play and 61.3% strand rate, but his 17.2% strikeout rate and 10.5% walk rate are both worse than last year’s marks of 21.1% and 9.6%.

The Pirates are barely above .500 at 34-32 but that’s enough for first place in the National League Central at the moment. Their current rotation consists of Keller, Rich Hill, Luis Ortiz, Johan Oviedo and the recently-recalled Osvaldo Bido. If Contreras could turn things around, it would be a huge help for their postseason push, especially with other options like Vince Velasquez, Mike Burrows and JT Brubaker out for the year. There would also be long-term benefits to the Bucs, since Contreras isn’t slated for free agency until after the 2028 season.

Some other notes from the Central divisions…

  • Cardinals left-hander Packy Naughton has been on the injured list for most of the season, making just four appearances in early April before a left forearm strain put him on the shelf. He recently began a rehab assignment but was still experiencing pain. Now he’s traveling to Texas to get a second opinion and it seems season-ending surgery is on the table, per John Denton of MLB.com. Denton relays that Tommy John surgery could still be avoided but it’s nonetheless an ominous development for Naughton and the Cards that it’s being considered, particularly at this time of year. Given the typical recovery period of 14 to 18 months, Tommy John surgery would not only wipe out the rest of 2023 for Naughton but also put his 2024 in jeopardy. In 59 2/3 career innings, he has a 4.98 ERA.
  • The Twins reinstated Byron Buxton from the injured list today, optioning outfielder Trevor Larnach in a corresponding move. Buxton has long been one of the most talented athletes in the sport but has struggled to stay healthy. He managed to play 140 games in 2017 but hasn’t topped 92 contests in any subsequent season. The Twins have kept him exclusively in the designated hitter slot this year in an attempt to reduce the chance of injury. That plan hit a snag a couple weeks ago when Buxton took a pitch from Tanner Bibee in the ribs. He landed on the IL due to a contusion but is now back after a brief absence. He’s hitting .220/.325/.445 so far this year for a 114 wRC+, stealing six bases in 50 games.

Cardinals Notes: Edman, Outfield, Naughton

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Even after outfielder Dylan Carlson was activated from the injured list yesterday, the Cardinals have opted to leave Tommy Edman in center field, where he seems poised to stick for the foreseeable future, as noted by Katie Woo of The Athletic. Manager Oliver Marmol expressed support of Edman’s glovework in center field, telling reporters (including Woo) that the switch-hitter “has done a really nice job in center”, calling his work in the outfield “darn impressive.”

Edman has paired his quality glove with roughly league average offense so far in 2023, as the 28-year-old utility man has slashed .246/.306/.417 in 221 plate appearances this season, good for a wRC+ of 98. While that figure represents a definitive step back from Edman’s .265/.324/.400 slash line in 2022 (108 wRC+), it’s worth noting that Edman’s .265 BABIP so far this season would be the lowest of his career over a full season, far below his career .303 figure.

While shifting a Gold Glove middle infielder to the outfield is a risky move when it comes to preserving infield defense, the Cardinals are fortunate to have quality options in Nolan Gorman, Brendan Donovan, and Paul DeJong up the middle, with veteran superstars Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt flanking them at the infield corners. With Edman sticking in center, Carlson has been used in Right Field since his return, with youngsters Jordan Walker and Alec Burleson patrolling left.

Of course, the club will have to revisit Edman’s hold on center field as more injured outfielders, such as Tyler O’Neill and Lars Nootbaar, return from the IL. That being said, it seems that any such decision won’t be coming any time soon, as O’Neill saw his rehab paused due to continued back discomfort at the end of May. Meanwhile, Nootbaar has only just begun to hit off a tee after going on the IL with back spasms last week per MLB.com’s John Denton.

In more positive injury news, Denton notes that left-hander Packy Naughton, who has been on the IL with a forearm strain since early April, is poised to make a Triple-A rehab appearance tomorrow. Prior to his injury, Naughton impressed with five scoreless innings where he allowed just two hits and a walk while striking out five, good for a 1.88 FIP. Upon his return, Naughton could factor into the St. Louis bullpen alongside the likes of Andre Pallante and Genesis Cabrera as the club relies on Ryan Helsley, Jordan Hicks, and Giovanny Gallegos in the late innings.

Cardinals Select Oscar Mercado

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2:40pm: The Cardinals have announced Mercado’s selection, along with left-hander Matthew Liberatore being recalled from Triple-A Memphis. In corresponding moves, Carlson was placed on the 10-day injured list retroactive to May 15 while righty James Naile was optioned. To make room for Mercado on the 40-man roster, lefty Packy Naughton was transferred to the 60-day injured list. Naughton has been on the IL since April 8 with a forearm strain and will now be ineligible to return until early June, 60 days from that initial IL placement.

12:47pm: The Cardinals are set to select the contract of outfielder Oscar Mercado, as first reported by Robert Murray and Joshua Jacobs of FanSided (Twitter link). They’ll need to make a corresponding 40-man roster move, as Mercado is currently in Triple-A Memphis on a minor league deal.

Outfielder Dylan Carlson has been hobbled by an ankle injury that’s kept him out of the lineup for the past few games. He’s been available off the bench on an emergency basis but hasn’t played since exiting the Cardinals’ Sunday game after just one plate appearance. Tyler O’Neill is already on the injured list with a back strain, and it stands to reason that Carlson could also wind up headed there if he’s still unavailable. A 10-day IL placement can be backdated up to three days, so he that move could still have him available for activation within a week’s time, if the Cards go that route.

Calling up Mercado will give the Cards some additional depth in center field behind Lars Nootbaar, who’s been starting in center recently. Mercado will join Nootbaar, Brendan Donovan, Alec Burleson and Juan Yepez as outfield options on the big league roster.

Mercado, 28, was a second-round pick by St. Louis back in 2013 but was traded to Cleveland before making his big league debut. He was a fringe Rookie of the Year candidate in Cleveland in 2019, batting .269/.318/.443 with 15 homers and 15 steals in 482 trips to the plate. That landed him an eighth-place finish on the ballot and looked to set the stage for Mercado to hold down a long-term spot in the outfield, but he regressed badly in 2020 and has yet to recover. In 459 plate appearances since that strong debut campaign, Mercado has batted .200/.258/.330.

The Cardinals brought Mercado back to the organization on a minor league contract this offseason, and he’s out to a nice start in Memphis, where he’s slashed .278/.361/.421 (100 wRC+) with a pair of home runs and 15 steals (in 18 tries). Mercado is out of minor league options, so it could be a short stay on the big league roster for him once O’Neill and/or Carlson can return to the lineup. The Cards won’t be able to send Mercado down without first passing him through waivers, which would make him a DFA candidate once the outfield is at full strength.

Cardinals Place Packy Naughton On 15-Day IL Due To Left Forearm Strain

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TODAY: Manager Oliver Marmol told reporters (including MLB.com’s John Denton) that Naughton’s MRI didn’t show any structural damage, so Naughton may have only suffered a forearm strain.  The lefty will continue to be evaluated over the next few days as the Cardinals determine his recovery plan.

APRIL 8: The Cardinals placed left-hander Packy Naughton on the 15-day injured list, as Naughton is suffering from a left forearm strain.  Genesis Cabrera has been called up from Triple-A to fill Naughton’s place in the bullpen with another southpaw.

There wasn’t much doubt that Naughton would need some type of visit to the IL after he removed himself from last night’s 4-0 loss to the Brewers.  Naughton entered the game in the eighth inning, retired two batters and then walked Christian Yelich before motioning to the Cardinals’ dugout that something was amiss.  The club has yet to comment on the severity of Naughton’s strain or if the worst-case scenario of Tommy John surgery is being considered, but Naughton will almost certainly miss more than 15 days while recovering.

Naughton (who turns 27 later this month) is in his third Major League season, after initially being selected by the Reds in the ninth round of the 2017 draft.  The Angels acquired Naughton as part of the trade that sent Brian Goodwin to Cincinnati at the 2020 trade deadline, and St. Louis claimed Naughton off waivers from Anaheim prior to the start of the 2022 season.

With both the Angels in 2021 and the Cards last year, Naughton has spent a lot of time shuttling back and forth from Triple-A, working as both a spot starter and increasingly as a reliever with St. Louis.  The more permanent move to relief work has seemingly bumped up Naughton’s strikeout rates, while he has continued to exhibit the solid control that has helped up rise up the minor league ranks.  Naughton has a 3.69 ERA over 453 1/3 innings in the minors, and a 4.98 ERA over his 59 2/3 frames as a big leaguer, which includes five innings of scoreless ball this season.

It hasn’t been a smooth start to the season for the Cardinals bullpen, and losing Naughton won’t help matters.  Cabrera joins Zack Thompson as the only left-handed members of the relief corps, though JoJo Romero is at the Triple-A level.  Between a dropoff in strikeouts and an increase in his home run rate, Cabrera struggled to a 4.63 ERA over 44 2/3 innings for St. Louis last season, and a good Spring Training performance wasn’t enough to win him a spot on the Opening Day roster.

Cardinals Notes: O’Neill, Marlins, Naughton, Nootbaar, Wainwright

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Tyler O’Neill’s name was part of trade talks with the Marlins and other teams this winter, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports.  Back in January, Rosenthal wrote that St. Louis had shown interest in the Marlins’ pitching, and since Miami was known to be looking for outfield help, it stands to reason that O’Neill was part of those discussions.  No trade materialized between the two sides, of course, and it isn’t known if O’Neill was necessarily one of the Marlins’ top targets on the St. Louis roster, or if the Cards were more open to moving O’Neill than any of their outfielders.

Given all of the Cardinals’ outfield depth and the Marlins’ rotation depth, any number of names or potential trades could’ve been floated in negotiations — likewise, any team engaging the Cardinals in outfield-related trade talks might’ve had a few options in mind.  While O’Neill was coming off a relative down year in 2022, that doesn’t mean rival clubs wouldn’t have still had trade interest, perhaps hoping to nab the two-time Gold Glover in a buy-low situation.

With this all in mind, Rosenthal wonders if O’Neill could potentially be tangled in trade talks again, perhaps in an outfielder-for-pitching swap similar to the deal that sent Harrison Bader to the Yankees for Jordan Montgomery at last year’s trade deadline.  As The Athletic’s Levi Weaver noted, Bader was traded within a couple of months after Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol removed him mid-game for a perceived lack of effort.  On Wednesday, O’Neill wasn’t in the Cards’ starting lineup, which Marmol publicly said was due to what the skipper felt was a lack of hustle on O’Neill’s part in running the bases in Tuesday’s game.  O’Neill both denied that charge, and also wasn’t pleased that Marmol went public with the criticism.

It should be noted that O’Neill still appeared in Wednesday’s game as a pinch-hitter, and after Thursday’s off-day, O’Neill was back as the starting center fielder in the Cardinals’ 4-0 loss to the Brewers on Friday.  Talking to Derrick Gould of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and other reporters, Marmol said it was “one hundred percent” important to have O’Neill back in action, calling him “one of the most talented players in that clubhouse.  There’s a next step for Tyler in his career, and my job is to get him there.”

The manager also explained his perspective on “holding someone accountable” as it related to his decision to call O’Neill out, saying “it’s your ability to sit down with a player before the lights come on before the stadium is packed and ask them what they want for themselves and what they want for the team.  And allowing them to articulate that and then asking for permission to hold them to that.  And when it doesn’t look right, you hold them to that.”

Beyond O’Neill’s return and the shutout loss, Friday’s game was also notable for what might be a significant injury to left-hander Packy Naughton.  After pitching to three batters in his relief outing, Naughton left the game with what the club later described as forearm tightness.  Goold wrote that Naughton was slated to have his left arm examined last night.

It seems like Naughton is headed for the injured list at the very least, and he and the team can only hope that a serious injury has been avoided.  Naughton is just a few days shy of his 27th birthday, and he is in his third MLB season.  St. Louis claimed Naughton off waivers from the Angels in March 2022, and his first season with the Cardinals saw Naughton post a 4.78 ERA over 32 innings, working mostly as a reliever.

In other injury news, Lars Nootbaar might be activated from the 10-day IL as early as Monday, since Marmol told MLB.com and other reporters that the club will wait to see how Nootbaar’s injured left thumb feels after batting practice.  However, Nootbaar said that his thumb is more of an issue when trying to catch a ball or even when wearing a glove, moreso than any pain caused by taking swings.

Adam Wainwright is on the 15-day IL recovering from a groin strain, and is slated for his second 28-pitch bullpen session on Sunday.  If all goes well, Wainwright might throw more pitches in another bullpen tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, and a minor league rehab outing could then follow in the coming days.

Cardinals To Select Jordan Walker

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Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak tells reporters, including MLB.com’s John Denton, that top prospect Jordan Walker has made the Opening Day roster in St. Louis. Walker, who is not on the 40-man roster, will require a corresponding move to be added. According to Denton, Mozeliak expects this move to come on Wednesday or Thursday. Outfielder Alec Burleson and left-handers Zack Thompson and Packy Naughton have also made the big league roster, according to Mozeliak.

Walker, 20, is a consensus top prospect in the sport, with MLB.com ranking him as the 4th best in the game. Should Walker finish in the top three of NL Rookie of the Year voting or the top five of NL MVP voting this year, the Cardinals will receive an extra draft pick thanks to Walker’s inclusion on the Opening Day roster.

That’s not out of the realm of possibility for Walker, a career .310/.388/.525 hitter in the minors who has yet to play above the Double-A level in his career. In skipping Triple-A entirely for Walker, the Cardinals are giving the potential superstar a notable vote of confidence. With Walker’s native third base occupied by 2023 NL MVP finalist Nolan Arenado, Walker figures to factor into the club’s outfield and DH mix alongside Burleson, Lars Nootbaar, Tyler O’Neill, and Dylan Carlson.

Fellow Top 100 prospect Burleson, meanwhile, struggled in his 2022 big league debut, slashing .188/.264/.271 in 53 plate appearances. With that being said, he dominated to a .905 OPS in 109 games at the Triple-A level last season, leaving plenty of room for a big breakout for the 24 year-old.

Following St. Louis’s decision to option lefty Genesis Cabrera earlier today, it’s of little surprise to see Thompson and Naughton make the roster. Thompson dominated to a 2.08 ERA in 34 2/3 innings for the Cardinals last year, and though Naughton didn’t fare as well with a 4.78 ERA in 32 big league innings, he did dominate in Triple-A last year.

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