Second baseman JJ Wetherholt, widely considered a top-five prospect<\/a> in baseball and one of the most anticipated position players in the last two decades of Cardinals baseball, has made the team, Bloom confirmed. He is the only position player who will make the roster without needing to be added to the 40-man roster, as outfielder Nelson Vel\u00e1zquez<\/a> will be assigned to Memphis despite slugging four homers and posting a team-best 1.116 OPS in spring action.<\/p>\n Outfielder Nathan Church also made the team, as did utility players Jos\u00e9 Ferm\u00edn and Thomas Saggese.<\/p>\n \u201cThis allows us to keep everybody in the organization,\u201d Bloom said of the final roster choices. \u201c(If) Nelson keeps doing at Memphis what he did in spring training, I would think that he\u2019ll be a part of this at some point.\u201d<\/p>\n As far as Wetherholt goes, his inclusion in the group was seemingly a foregone conclusion from the moment the Cardinals consummated the trade which sent Brendan Donovan to Seattle. He was clearly marked as the first-string second baseman from the first official day of spring training, and despite a slight lag in on-field production toward the end of camp, only strengthened his case as spring wore on. Indeed, he\u2019s also a leading candidate to hit leadoff on opening day, marking a symbolic beginning to a new era of baseball with whom the team hopes will be one of its most essential players.<\/p>\n \u201cJust been trying to focus on the process and kind of let everything else take care of itself,\u201d Wetherholt said. \u201cI came in wanting to have the end goal of making the team, but wasn\u2019t going to let that decision ruin (the camp) or anything like that. Just worked every day hoping that it would be good, but if it was a different decision, I would\u2019ve been able to roll with it.\u201d<\/p>\n It was, indeed, the \u201cgood\u201d decision, and Wetherholt was able to step out of a meeting with the coaching staff on Monday morning in time to catch his mother, a teacher, as she was in a Starbucks drive through on her break.<\/p>\n \u201cTypical her, as soon as the good news emotions were gone, it turned into stress of how do we get there, what\u2019s this and this and this,\u201d Wetherholt cracked. \u201cI was like, mom, let\u2019s just have a good moment.\u201d<\/p>\n The moment was also good for Wetherholt\u2019s seven teammates who made the opening day roster. In addition to him, the group includes Church, Ferm\u00edn, Saggese, Yohel Pozo and pitchers Michael McGreevy, Matt Pushard and Matt Svanson. They start the year at home Thursday against Tampa Bay.<\/p>\n Where will the Cardinals get power?<\/p>\n It is a young group, and one without proven power. Lars Nootbaar starting the season on the injured list means that the career home run leader on the active roster is Nolan Gorman, with 74. He\u2019s followed by Ram\u00f3n Ur\u00edas (50), Alec Burleson (48), Jordan Walker (27) and Masyn Winn (26).<\/p>\n \u201cThat decision has several layers to it,\u201d manager Oli Marmol said of sending Vel\u00e1zquez to Memphis, echoing Bloom. \u201cThe way we\u2019re breaking, although a tough decision, allows us to keep everybody. If he continues to do what he\u2019s doing\u2026he\u2019ll force our hand, and that\u2019s what good players do.\u201d<\/p>\n Without Vel\u00e1zquez on the roster, some combination of Church, Ferm\u00edn and Saggese will handle duties in left field. Despite Church hitting left-handed and the other two hitting right-handed, Marmol cautioned against describing the situation as a pure platoon. There will be some days, he explained, where Church will spell Walker in right field, likely against pitchers with ferocious breaking balls who have bedeviled Walker in the past.<\/p>\n Both Ferm\u00edn and Saggese, despite a lack of experience handling the position defensively, have strong bat-to-ball skills, and for a team which will hope to be competitive through pressuring opponents and being active on the base paths, cutting down on strikeout rates will play an important role in establishing a consistent identity. Despite striking out just four times in 49 plate appearances in spring, Vel\u00e1zquez holds a career strikeout percentage approaching 29%, six percentage points worse than league average.<\/p>\n The Cardinals also do not anticipate facing a great deal of left-handed pitching in the season\u2019s opening weeks, further putting a squeeze on his opportunities, especially with Ivan Herrera likely to soak up a large percentage of at bats as the designated hitter. That leaves St. Louis in the midst of the sort of power outage they have not seen on the active roster in decades, with the hopes that the things they do well will allow them to play a style which puts the right amount of pressure on opponents.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we\u2019re going to build winning players, we do that through developing them the right way,\u201d Bloom said. \u201cIt\u2019s not just about what happens at first pitch. It\u2019s about everything that they do going through their day so they learn how to win together.\u201d<\/p>\n Related Stories from Belleville News-Democrat<\/p>\n