Cardinals’ NLDS roster includes Arozarena and Muñoz; Wacha left off
Randy Arozarena and Yairo Muñoz are in, Tyler O’Neill and Rangel Ravelo are out.
The Cardinals released their 25-man NL Division Series roster Thursday morning, hours before their opening game at Atlanta. Twelve of the spots went to pitchers, 13 to position players.
While most of the names were locks, the last couple of spots were not. Among position players, the Cardinals decided to go with Arozarena’s speed and glove and Muñoz’s defensive versatility over O’Neill’s power (and outfield versatility) and Ravelo’s pinch-hitting prowess and power.
Manager Mike Shildt had announced Monday that second baseman Kolten Wong, who had been sidelined since Sept. 19 with a hamstring strain, would be on the roster and start in Game 1 against the Braves.
On the pitching side, Michael Wacha, who came out of his last start early with a shoulder injury, was left off the roster.
The roster:
PITCHERS (12): John Brebbia-RHP, Genésis Cabrera-LHP, Jack Flaherty-RHP, Giovanny Gallegos-RHP, Dakota Hudson– RHP, Ryan Helsley-RHP, Carlos Martínez- RHP, Miles Mikolas-RHP, Andrew Miller-LHP, Daniel Ponce de Leon-RHP, Adam Wainwright– RHP; Tyler Webb– LHP
CATCHERS (2): Yadier Molina, Matt Wieters
INFIELDERS (6): Matt Carpenter, Paul DeJong, Tommy Edman, Paul Goldschmidt, Yairo Muñoz, Kolten Wong
OUTFIELDERS (5): Randy Arozarena, Harrison Bader, Dexter Fowler, José Martínez, Marcell Ozuna