Several of the Cardinals' top prospects were re-assigned to minor league camp Sunday
The St. Louis Cardinals are inching closer to figuring out their 26-man roster for Opening Day against the Tampa Bay Rays on March 26.
The Cardinals made the latest round of roster cuts Sunday, which featured several of the most notable players in the organizations.
St. Louis re-assigned right-handed pitcher Luis Gastelum, right-handed pitcher Gerson Moreno, left-handed pitcher Packy Naughton, outfielder Matt Koperniak, infielder Blaze Jordan and infielder Jeremy Rivas to minor league camp.
The Cardinals also optioned right-handed pitcher Ryan Fernandez to the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds in the same round of roster moves.
St. Louis' spring training roster is now at 36 players.
The latest round of roster cuts include multiple top prospects with the Cardinals organization.
Gastelum is ranked as the 22nd-best prospect and Jordan is the 27th-best prospect in the organization, according to MLB Pipeline.
Jordan was picked in the third round of the 2020 MLB Draft by the Boston Red Sox out of high school. St. Louis acquired him in a trade with Boston in return for left-handed pitcher Steven Matz on July 31, 2025.
This spring was Jordan's first with the Cardinals. He slashed .118/.189/.235 with a .424 OPS across 17 Grapefruit League games and hit one double and a home run with two RBIs.
Jordan played 41 games last year with the Redbirds. He finished his first stint with the Cards' Triple-A club with a slash line of .198/.242/.366 with a .608 OPS and hit six doubles, a triple and seven homers with 37 RBIs.
Gastelum was signed as an international free agent out of Mexico on April 26, 2023. This spring, his second with St. Louis, he struck out two batters in two innings pitched across a pair of appearances. He didn't issue a free base or allow a hit in his two outings.
The 24-year-old righty spent all of last season with the Double-A Springfield Cardinals. He had a 4.02 ERA and struck out 92 hitters in 62.2 innings pitched across 46 outings.
Gastelum competed for Mexico in the World Baseball Classic. He fanned one batter in one inning across two outings. He allowed just one hit and didn't issue a free batter.
Both players' best odds to make the major league roster when the season began were in the final spots on the bench and bullpen, respectively.
Currently, FanGraphs projects catcher/first baseman Yohel Pozo, infielder Ramon Urias, utility player Jose Fermin and outfielder Nelson Velazquez to make the Opening day roster on the bench.
The same website predicts Gordon Graceffo, who's also in the WBC as a member of Italy's roster, to be the team's long-relief option out of the bullpen.
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