Martinez wins No. 5 spot in Cardinals' rotation; Villanueva makes bullpen
The Cardinals appear to have figured out their rotation and bullpen. All that's left to determine is the final spot on the bench.
That's the indication from manager Mike Matheny's pregame media scrum Monday morning, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writer Derrick Goold's Twitter account.
The Cardinals will take five starters into the season and one of them apparently will be Carlos Martinez, according to Goold. Martinez will start on Wednesday in an outing that would put him in line to be the club's fifth starter. Because the team has three off days before its eighth game, it could have gone with four starters. But the club will use the down time to ease their top four starters into the season rather than have them working on four days' rest from the beginning.
Also, Matheny confirmed Monday morning that right-handed reliever Carlos Villanueva has made the team, according to Goold. That would leave left-hander Marco Gonzales starting in Memphis, where he would provide insurance to the big-league rotation. Villanueva becomes part of a bullpen that also includes closer Trevor Rosenthal, Jordan Walden, Seth Maness, Matt Belisle and lefties Randy Choate and Kevin Siegrist.
A setback over the weekend to lefty Jaime Garcia, who is trying to return from shoulder surgery, made the club's rotation decision more straightforward. If Garcia had headed north as the fifth starter, the club would have been left putting Martinez in an undefined role in the bullpen or sending him to Memphis to start.
The call on the final bench spot figures to be even more difficult than the pitching decisions. It appears the final spot will go to center fielder Peter Bourjos or utilityman Ty Kelly.
Based on their performances this spring, Pete Kozma and Randal Grichuk would appear to have earned spots on the team. Backup catcher Tony Cruz and corner infielder Mark Reynolds already were considered locks to start the season on the 25-man roster.
You can follow Stan McNeal on Twitter at @StanMcNeal or email him at stanmcneal@gmail.com.
