Cardinals carrying 12 pitchers on NLDS roster

ST. LOUIS -- There were no surprises when the Cardinals announced their National League Division Series roster on Thursday morning, just hours in advance of Game 1 against the Pirates.

A day after manager Mike Matheny confirmed that reliever Edward Mujica, second baseman Kolten Wong and outfielder Adron Chambers would be on the 25-man roster, the Cards officially released the roster in its entirety. It includes the following 12 pitchers and 13 position players

Pitchers: Adam Wainwright, Lance Lynn, Joe Kelly, Shelby Miller, Michael Wacha, Trevor Rosenthal, Kevin Siegrist, Carlos Martinez, John Axford, Randy Choate, Seth Maness and Mujica.

Position players: Yadier Molina, Tony Cruz, Matt Adams, Matt Carpenter, Wong, Daniel Descalso, Pete Kozma, David Freese, Matt Holliday, Jon Jay, Carlos Beltran, Shane Robinson and Chambers.

This group of 25 includes 10 rookies, six of whom will be in the Major League postseason for the first time. All five members of the team's season-ending rotation are on the roster, though one is expected to pitch exclusively out of the bullpen in this best-of-five series. That will be either Miller or Wacha; neither of the two has made a postseason start before.

With Descalso likely to be in the lineup against right-handed pitching, the Cardinals' bench for at least the first two games of the NLDS should feature Kozma, Cruz, Robinson, Chambers and Wong.