The St. Louis Cardinals have announced their 25-man Opening Day roster as they prepare to open their 125th season of play in the National League today at 12:05 p.m. CDT in a nationally televised game on ESPN when they meet the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park. Adam Wainwright has been tabbed by Manager Mike Matheny as the Cardinals Opening Day starter.
St. Louis has a total of six first-time Cardinals on their Opening Day roster including pitchers Matt Bowman, Mike Leake and Seung Hwan Oh, catcher Eric Fryer, infielder Jedd Gyorko and outfielder Jeremy Hazelbaker.
Pitcher Lance Lynn (recovery from Tommy John right elbow surgery), pitcher Mitch Harris (right elbow strain), pitcher Jordan Walden (right shoulder strain), catcher Brayan Pena (left knee), infielder Jhonny Peralta (left thumb ligament) and infielder Ruben Tejada (left quadriceps strain) begin the year on the disabled list.
Lance Lynn was placed on the 60-day disabled list and Springfield (AA) pitcher Jayson Aquino was designated for assignment to make room on the team's 40-man Major League roster for both Fryer and Hazelbaker who were purchased from Memphis (AAA). Fryer wears uniform no. 59 and Hazelbaker will wear uniform no. 41.
The Cardinals 25-man Opening Day roster for 2016 is as follows:
PITCHERS (12): Matt Bowman-RHP, Jonathan Broxton-RHP, Jaime Garcia-LHP, Mike Leake-RHP, Tyler Lyons-LHP, Seth Maness-RHP, Carlos Martinez-RHP, Seung Hwan Oh-RHP, Trevor Rosenthal-RHP, Kevin Siegrist-LHP, Michael Wacha-RHP and Adam Wainwright-RHP;
CATCHERS (2): Eric Fryer, Yadier Molina;
INFIELDERS (6): Matt Adams, Matt Carpenter, Greg Garcia, Jedd Gyorko, Brandon Moss and Kolten Wong;
OUTFIELDERS (5): Randal Grichuk, Jeremy Hazelbaker, Matt Holliday, Tommy Pham and Stephen Piscotty;
DISABLED LIST (6): Mitch Harris, Lance Lynn, Brayan Pena, Jhonny Peralta, Ruben Tejada and Joran Walden.