Cards likely to keep pitcher/position player breakdown

ST. LOUIS -- The Cardinals have not finalized their roster breakdown for the World Series, but general manager John Mozeliak suggested that it will remain as it was for the first two rounds of the postseason. If that's the case, the Cards will carry 13 position players and 12 pitchers.

There were questions about whether the Cardinals would need to keep an additional bench player as insurance in case Allen Craig does not have a clean return. That does not seem to be of much concern.

For one, the Cards could always replace Craig on the World Series roster if his foot does not respond as expected when he resumes game play. Also, the use of the designated hitter for the games in Boston limits the necessity of a deep bench.

Assuming Craig gets final clearance to be placed on the roster, the Cardinals will have to remove one position player who has been on the roster for the first two rounds of the postseason. The likeliest candidate to lose his spot seems to be second baseman Kolten Wong, who is hitless in five pinch-hit at-bats this month.