Here are some non-roster invitees to watch at Camp Cardinals as spring training nears

Taking in spring training can be a daunting, almost overwhelming task.

If tracking the action on the complex backfields seems confusing from hundreds of miles away, there’s at least some solace in knowing that it’s not a great deal easier to understand when standing on the infield dirt of any one of the four or more fields of activity buzzing simultaneously.

With so many players doing so many simultaneous things all in the service of helping the St. Louis Cardinals win baseball games, narrowing down those not on the 40-player roster to a more digestible group can be a chore. Consider relying on a cheat sheet, and keep an eye on these non-roster invite players as camp gets underway from Florida in two weeks.

Pitchers Gordon Graceffo, Andre Granillo, Packy Naughton and Wilking Rodríguez

This group of four hurlers spans the spectrum of style and ceiling, but each of them could seize what appears to be one of the very few clearly available spots on the roster entering camp.

The Cardinals have Ryan Helsley set to close with Giovanny Gallegos and JoJo Romero setting him up and Andrew Kittredge perhaps just outside of that group. Andre Pallante pitched poorly last season, but he has strong supporters in the organization and has undergone the sort of offseason makeover which seems designed to plug some of his many leaks.

That accounts for five relievers, only one of whom (Romero) is left-handed, though Pallante’s historic reverse splits and usage are strong enough to group him with the lefties. With three flexible spots, this group of four will be jousting with the likes of Ryan Fernandez, Matt Liberatore, John King, Riley O’Brien, Nick Robertson and Zack Thompson.

Graceffo, a starter whose 2023 season was interrupted by injury, remains in the organization’s future rotation plans, but his stuff could play up in short stints in a way which would allow him to follow in the footsteps of potential future teammate Lance Lynn. The Cardinals, in recent years, have not been particularly successful at transitioning minor league starters to the big league bullpen and then back again, but Graceffo could allow them to reclaim that territory.

Granillo, a 14th round pick in 2021, struck out 14 hitters and walked only three in ten innings in the Arizona Fall League. That followed a 2023 season in which he struck out 89 in 68 ⅓ innings for Springfield and Memphis, though he carried a discouraging 5.0 walks per nine innings. A pure reliever who turns 24 in May, Granillo profiles as a fast mover – and perhaps as the player least familiar to fans who’s most likely to come from off the radar and onto the roster.

Naughton and Rodríguez both would have had significant roles for the 2023 Cardinals if not for injury. Before being hurt in the first week of the season, Naughton was the team’s most frequently used reliever, spackling over innings gaps and flexible in his deployment.

Rodríguez’s eye-popping spring workouts a year ago had him tantalizingly close to securing a roster spot, but a barking shoulder limited him to only aborted rehab stints with Memphis. If healthy, his fastball can touch triple digits, and that will always draw attention.

Both had the opportunity to move on to other organizations this winter, and both opted to stay. If nothing else, that suggests each sees an opportunity to reclaim a spot that might otherwise have been his through incumbency.

Infielders César Prieto and Thomas Saggese

Both were acquired in last year’s deadline sell-off – Prieto from Baltimore and Saggese from Texas – and both quickly found themselves inserted into a mix of minor league middle infielders which has room at the upper levels.

Prieto will swing the bat, almost always. He drew only 30 walks in 540 minor league plate appearances last season but did supply a .323 batting average. Unusually strong bat to ball skills can jump off the page in the minors but be exploited in the majors. It’s rare that a player can carry that sort of outlier into big league success, but not impossible – consider Luis Arraez’s batting title for the Marlins. Prieto played some shortstop in the Baltimore system but none for Memphis despite his time there largely overlapping with Masyn Winn’s promotion to the majors, suggesting the Cardinals don’t view that as a viable defensive path.

Saggese, however, quickly jumped into the mix of the organization’s top prospects, winning the Texas League batting title and flashing notable power. While it’s unlikely that the Cardinals would want to see him sit on the bench in the big leagues, keep an eye on how much he plays in spring, and take note that the resolution of Tommy Edman’s potential arbitration dispute walks him directly to free agency just as Saggese may be arriving.

Outfielder Victor Scott II

The organization’s reigning minor league player of the year topped 100 stolen bases in 2023 if you roll in his numbers from the Arizona Fall League. If not, he’s credited with a mere 94. His speed and glove are nearly finished elite-level skills, and his ascension has been rapid enough for the Cardinals to reconsider the future of their depth chart in centerfield; again, consider Edman’s apparent expiration date.

Last spring, Jordan Walker was presented with a paper tiger competition for a roster spot and Winn was loaded up with opportunities that always led to Memphis. This spring, it’s Winn who’s been all but painted into his position (and increasingly that ink appears dry). That leaves Scott in the Winn spot – he may not truly have a path to make the team, but it’s his job to prove he could if they’d let him.