SPRINGFIELD, MO — The St. Louis Cardinals and the Springfield Cardinals have announced the Preliminary Roster for the 2016 Springfield squad. The Cardinals 2016 Opening Day Roster will be finalized when Springfield starts the season on the road this Thursday, April 7 against the San Antonio Missions.
Full of familiar faces, the Preliminary Roster features 16 players who have spent time in Springfield before, including 2015 Texas League All-Stars RHP Joey Donofrio and RHP Chris Thomas. Other returning hurlers include RHP Corey Baker, RHP Kurt Heyer, RHP Josh Lucas, RHP Mike Mayers, RHP Andrew Morales, RHP Chris Perry, LHP Jimmy Reed, RHP Robby Rowland and RHP Ronnie Shaban.
The 11 returning pitchers will be joined by five position players making their return to Springfield this year – INF Bruce Caldwell, C Luis Cruz, INF Andrew Sohn, INF Breyvic Valera and OF/1B David Washington. Entering his second season in Double-A, Washington led Springfield with 16 home runs in his debut campaign at Hammons Field last year.
Among the 11 first-year Springfield Cardinals is C Carson Kelly, who won the 2015 Rawlings Minor League Gold Glove and was tabbed as the best defensive catcher in Minor League Baseball while with High-A Palm Beach last year.
Kelly also headlines three first-year Springfield Cardinals that enter the season ranked by bothBaseball America and MLB.com as being among St. Louis's Top 30 Prospects – Kelly (BA #10 / MLB.com #13), OF Harrison Bader (#15 / #10) and 3B Paul DeJong (#16 / #18). Newcomers RHP Trey Nielsen (#23) and LHP Corey Littrell (#24), as well as returning RHP Andrew Morales (#30), are also ranked by MLB.com among the Cardinals top prospects.
Also among the highly-touted first-year Springfield Cardinals this year will be former Missouri State Bears standout 1B Luke Voit, who led High-A Palm Beach with 11 home runs last season. A trio of Voit's fellow 2015 Palm Beach Cardinals in OF C.J. McElroy, Jr., RHP Daniel Poncedeleon and OF Collin Radack will also make their Double-A debuts this season.
Adding a veteran presence to Springfield's roster will be two new additions to the Cardinals system in 1B Chris Jacobs and RHP John Brebbia. Jacobs was originally drafted out of high school by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2007 and reached Triple-A Charlotte in the Chicago White Sox system last year. Brebbia, a 2011 draftee of the New York Yankees, joins the Cardinals after a dominant 19-save season in the independent American Association last year.
The Cardinals begin the 2016 season on the road this Thursday, April 7 in San Antonio. Springfield then heads home for Opening Night at Hammons Field on Thursday, April 14 at 7:10pm. Don't miss the Great Southern Bank Magnet Schedule Giveaway (3,500), Klement's "Buck a Brat" Night with $1 bratwursts and the 2016 Fireworks Kickoff all on Thursday, April 14. For more information or to order your tickets right now, visit SpringfieldCardinals.com or call (417) 863-2143.
