The Memphis Redbirds opened their season on Friday evening against the Gwinnett Stripers (Braves). Several hours earlier, the Redbirds finally announced their opening day roster.
Even with JJ Wetherholt moving up to St. Louis, there is plenty of prospect firepower on the Memphis squad led by Joshua Baez, Quinn Mathews, and Leonardo Bernal. Beyond the big-name prospects, there are a number of depth players that are likely to see St. Louis sooner rather than later. Today, I will break down the roster and highlight some things worth monitoring as the Triple-A season kicks off.
Starting Rotation
- Richard Fitts, RHP (26)
- Quinn Mathews, LHP (25)
- Brycen Mautz, LHP (24)
- Jared Shuster, LHP (27)
- Bruce Zimmerman, LHP (31)
The Cardinals have real rotation depth stacking up at Memphis. Hunter Dobbins is not technically on the roster, but will, I assume, be making his rehab starts in Memphis. Fitts and Dobbins are expected to contribute at the major league level this year. Behind them in the depth chart, Mathews will look to prove that he has solved Triple-A. You can write Brycen Mautz’s name in pen as well. After that is a bit of guesswork, but Shuster and Zimmerman seem likely to get the first shot at the rotation.
Prospect Watch
Mathews is a consensus top-5 prospect in the system, although he fell out of most national top-100 prospect lists after a wild 2025. If he can start filling up the zone, Quinn will be an absolute menace to deal with. He threw 42.5% of his pitches in the strike zone last season. The major league average is 52.4% with starting pitchers typically sitting in the 45% to 55% range. With the swing and miss stuff that Mathews possesses, he should be able to get plenty of swings outside the strike zone, but nudging his zone% up a few points will give him margin for error. Mautz turned some heads in spring training and will look to build on a breakout 2025 season in which he struck out 28.6% of the batters he faced in Double-A. Mautz could also be a candidate to help in the St. Louis bullpen this year if the options ahead of him falter.
Roster Considerations
Fitts, Dobbins, and Mautz are already on the 40-man roster, so there are not any artificial barriers keeping them from the majors once the need arises, and performance merits it. Mathews is Rule 5 eligible this December, but without a 40-man roster position, he may need to wait until some of the fringe guys on the roster get their shot. Zimmerman and Shuster both have over 100 major league innings in their careers apiece and provide fine emergency depth, but neither seem likely to force the Cardinals’ hand in any meaningful way.
The pitching picture will get even more crowded when the injured pitchers start making their way back to action.
Bullpen
- Ian Bedell, RHP (26)
- Scott Blewett, RHP (30)
- Ryan Fernandez, RHP (28)
- Luis Gastelum, RHP (24)
- Gordan Graceffo, RHP (26)
- Skylar Hales, RHP (24)
- Tink Hence, RHP (23)
- Gerson Moreno, RHP (30)
- Packy Naughton, LHP (30)
- Max Rajcic, RHP (24)
- Nick Raquet, LHP (30)
Prospect Watch
Tink Hence is going to start out pitching in relief and is the biggest name prospect in the pen. Reports out of spring training were that his stuff has not fully returned from his 2024 prospect peak, but Hence is still just 23 years old and has some of the highest upside in the whole organization. It will be interesting to see if he is used as a multi-inning reliever and kept somewhat stretched out (the Leahy protocol), or if he is prepared for more of a high-leverage one-inning role. Luis Gastelum is about as good a relief-only prospect you can ask for. After getting plenty of attention in the WBC and Spring Training, he is no longer a sleeper prospect. His changeup is going to be fun to watch the next few years.
Skylar Hales is a solid prospect in his own right. Drafted in the fourth round by the Rangers in 2023, he made it all the way to Triple-A in his second full season. He struggled with the home run ball in his 27 Triple-A innings and put up an ugly stat line, but is noted for having a plus fastball that he ran up to 98.4 MPH in spring training. Max Rajcic was once a top-20-ish prospect in the organization but has fallen down the rankings after a rough introduction to Memphis. This spring, his fastball velocity was up about 2 MPH working out of the bullpen, so there could be a path forward for him if his stuff plays up in shorter stints.
Roster Considerations
Graceffo, Fernandez, Raquet, and Tink Hence are all already on the 40-man roster and primed to ride the Memphis shuttle this season as they all have options remaining. Both Hales and Gastelum will need to be added to the 40-man by the end of the year. If healthy, Naughton seems destined to be in the STL bullpen sooner rather than later. After three years lost to injury, he looked as good as ever in spring training and will provide insurance if Justin Bruihl falters as the second lefty in the pen.
Catchers
- Leo Bernal (22)
- Jimmy Crooks (24)
- Andy Yerzy (27)
Prospect Watch
Both Crooks and Bernal are both top-100 prospects with strong reputations for their defense. Crooks struggled making contact last season in Triple-A (26.5% K rate), but still managed a 105 wRC+. He has shown solid exit velocity numbers and a knack for finding the barrel, so if he can improve his plate discipline a bit, he could still find his way to being above average offensively. His chase rate and contact rates were both below average in Triple-A but not egregious so. He actually improved both metrics in his 46 MLB plate appearances, which was encouraging despite the overall struggles in his cup of coffee. Bernal slumped badly in the second half of 2025 and finished with a wRC+ of just 103 in Double-A. His batting line was remarkably similar to Ivan Herrera’s age 21 season in Springfield. As happened with Herrera, prospect fatigue may be setting in a bit with Bernal because he has been on prospect lists since 2022, but he is my pick for a big offensive season.
Roster Considerations
The catching depth/logjam has been discussed sufficiently and both Bernal and Crooks are already on the 40-man roster. It will be interesting to see how playing time is divided up between them at Memphis. Poor Andy Yerzy is going to have a tough time getting into games.
Infielders
- Blaze Jordan (23)
- Ramon Mendoza (25)
- Brody Moore (25)
- Cesar Prieto (27)
Prospect Watch
The infield group at Memphis is easily the least exciting portion of the team. Blaze Jordan is still a bit of a project but has legitimate upside if he can find a way to improve his plate discipline and get the ball in the air. His profile as a hitter reminds me a bit of Alec Burleson from a few years ago but with more ground balls. He is a longshot to be a starting-caliber player, but his combination of contact ability and power is rare enough that he has to be considered a real prospect, in my opinion. Prieto had a nice season in 2025, but entering his age 27 season, looks like a backup infielder or up-and-down guy. Ramon Mendoza earned a promotion from Springfield after putting up a .275/.390/.452 line in 2025. I had never considered him a prospect, but the Cardinals gave him 42 spring training plate appearances, so they must like him a little.
Roster Considerations
Prieto is the only player in the group to have a 40-man spot. He could be in danger of losing his spot if the Cardinals need to free up room for the promotion of a non-rostered player. Blaze Jordan certainly has a lane to STL as the team has limited right-handed power on the major league club, but he would need to be added to the 40-man.
Outfielders
- Mike Antico (28)
- Joshua Baez (23)
- Matt Koperniak (28)
- Colton Ledbetter (24)
- Bligh Madris (30)
- Bryan Torres (28)
- Nelson Velazquez (27)
Prospect Watch
Joshua Baez followed an offseason spent shooting up prospect lists with a spring training spent launching balls over the fence. Colton Ledbetter will be making his Triple-A debut after posting a solid, if unspectacular, batting line for the Rays Double-A squad. Ledbetter has the raw power and prospect pedigree (second round pick in 2023) to grab attention with a good showing in Memphis. It is noteworthy that he was given the promotion while Chase Davis will be asked to repeat Springfield.
Roster Considerations
Baez and Torres have 40-man spots, but Velazquez seems like he could be the first man up after his excellent showing in spring training.
This Memphis team looks pretty loaded to me. More importantly, there are ten-plus legitimate prospects that could be headed to St. Louis as reinforcement at any moment.
