ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - St. Louis Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak was asked about a good portion of the 25-man roster during his 37-minute press conference from Day 1 of the Winter Warm-Up. You can read through some of his comments below and listen to our full interview with him, here:
Alex Reyes:
Reyes, 24, had his second Tommy John Surgery in as many years last summer. He made one big-league start, going four innings after tearing up his rehab starts through the early months of the 2018 season. He's still ranked among the top pitching prospects in baseball, but he hasn't pitched a healthy game in the majors since 2016.
But will he return to the starting lineup in 2019, or will St. Louis put his power arm in the bullpen? Mozeliak says they'll be careful with him, but do not want to underutilize their top prospect.
"For him to be healthy this year is paramount. When you ask what his role is going to be, I think the answer will come in time. I think the organization needs to be prudent on the best way to use him, but we also don't want to wake up at the end of the season and find out he had 50 innings."
The answer: We'll find out more in Jupiter, Fl.
Carlos Martinez:
Marcell Ozuna:
Mozeliak says Ozuna will be spending the rest of his offseason in the Dominican Republic, which isn't "ideal" for the Cardinals. The 28-year-old is headed into his contract year, as he'll be a free agent come November.
Mozeliak says he has not begun throwing yet this offseason and he was unsure if Ozuna has even been hitting thus far to prepare for spring training.
The left fielder had a minor clean-up surgery in this throwing shoulder this winter. Mozeliak says he'll be going to down to the D.R. next week and will check in with Ozuna.
Dakota Hudson:
"The one name I feel like we don't give a lot of consideration to as a starter, and probably should be doing more of is Hudson."
The starting rotation could be the most hectic competition this spring and throughout the summer of 2019. The five names who could be most-likely to begin the year in the rotation (Michael Wacha, Adam Wainwright, Miles Mikolas, Martinez and Jack Flaherty) are very closely followed by Austin Gomber, John Gant, Daniel Ponce de Leon and the aforementioned Hudson, who spent all of his 2018 big-league season in the bullpen.
But Mozliak says it's most-likely for Hudson that he does return to the bullpen this season.
Jose Martinez:
"Obviously he's a good hitter and there are some American League teams that had a lot of interest in him to either DH or platoon in the outfield, but we never got to a point where we thought moving him made sense given the returns."
Mozeliak said he expects Martinez isn't going anywhere. As far as the slugger's daily role, Mozeliak says he should prepare to see some playing time everyday. The Cardinals are still bullish on Fowler starting in right field to start the season and Martinez looks like he'll be the first bat off the bench.
"Jose has to come in with a very open mind. There's a lot of unknowns, but I think the kind of offense he brings he's going to find himself probably in every single game."
Brett Cecil:
"You're going to notice some weight loss when you see him, he's had a very active offseason ... He's been someone that has been very aggressive in his offseason stragedy to get himself in better shape and he's in a good spot right now."
There's two more seasons left in the 32-year-old's contract with St. Louis. He's 3-5 with a 4.86 ERA the past two seaons with the Cardinals. Last year he pitched in just 40 games, missing the first month and a half of the season due to a left shoulder strain.
Luke Gregerson:
"Obviously last year was not the year he wanted to have. This offseason has not be perfect for him."
Gregerson has begun his throwing program, Mozeliak says, but their "fingers are crossed" that he can contribute in 2019. He had knee surgery and shoulder problems last year, pitching just 12 total innings.
"He even has stated that he's not exactly where he wants to be, but I would not leave this with complete pessimism. There's still some time."
Harrison Bader:
"We he's definitely an All-Star defender. I think when you start defining him it will be about how he hits. So I do think (new Cardinals hitting coach) Jeff Albert is someone that should help him, especially taking advantage of his speed. But he has all the tools to be somone special."
Yadier Molina:
"I saw him down in Jupiter this past week, he felt great other than he had the flu which he's come back from. But that was a minor setback for him. In terms of his knee and baseball he's doing great."