Colby Rasmus (photo by Dustin Mattison)

Before I get into my column today, I wanted to introduce myself. My name is Dustin Mattison and you may have read my work at a variety of places. You will find most of my work over at the Birdhouse where I cover the minor leagues along with some major league work. Since joining the Scout.com network, I have had the opportunity to meet and interview quite a few of the minor leaguers we all love to talk about at places such as Future Redbirds.

Some of you may remember that one of my question and answer sessions caused quite a bit of stir back in early December. It was a piece I did with Mark Worrell the day before he was sent to San Diego for Khalil Greene.

I got my start at my blog, Whiteyball. The site is up and running again thanks to a good group of guys who take their Cardinal baseball very seriously.

During the summer, if my children, Anna and Zac, are not playing, you will hopefully find me in a minor league park somewhere. My first trip is already planned; I will be in Springfield during the team’s opening weekend. (Writer’s note: Luckily my wife Christina is tolerant and has developed a love for the minor league game as well.) But enough about me, let’s talk some baseball.

I know that this is a prospect site but I feel the make up of the opening day roster is pertinent to what is discussed hear on a daily basis. With the news of Joe Mather being sent to Triple-A Memphis, the St. Louis Cardinals now have 25 players on its roster. Unless there are some unforeseen changes, this is the team that will take on the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday.

Looking at the makeup of the opening day roster, it is obvious of the organization’s commitment to player development. Of the 25 players that will take the field at Busch Stadium, 13 made their big league debut with the Cardinals. (I am counting David Freese and Colby Rasmus in this discussion because each will be making his debut with the team).

Rasmus making the team is quite is exciting for most of you, like it is for me.  We prospect watchers have been waiting for his arrival since the days that FR and whiteyball started.  The pic above was taken the first time I met Colby on the night of or before his 21st birthday.

Two other players, Ryan Ludwick and Brian Barden, had made limited big league appearances but have most of their major league exposure with the Cardinals. Ludwick has logged 376 career games in the majors of which 272 (72%)have been with the Cardinals. Barden has 32 career games to his credit with 24 (75%) with the “Birds on the Bat” across his chest.

Minor league journeyman, Joe Thurston, has logged a total of 66 career at bats. With his being the only left-handed bat of the backup infielders, he might match that total this season. So like Ludwick and Barden, Thurston might get a majority of his big league experience with the Cardinals.

For sake of this article, we will include Ludwick and Barden with the 13 who have been developed by the organization. That brings the total number of players who have gotten a majority of their big league experience with the Cardinals to 15 or 60%.

Of the 13 position players, 10 (including Ludwick and Barden) have gotten their start with the Cardinals. Only Jason LaRue, Khalil Greene, and Thurston do not fall into this group. If you are scoring at home, the Cardinals have developed 77% of the position players on the opening day roster.

It has been widely discussed throughout the Cardinals blogosphere that the organization lacks in developing starting pitching. Only opening day starter Adam Wainwright made his big league debut with the team. Remember, he was not drafted by the Cardinals but came over from the Atlanta Braves as part of the J.D. Drew/Eli Marrero deal.

The Cardinals have stocked their system with interesting relief arms and the bullpen does have a homegrown feel. Four members of the seven-man bullpen are lifers in the organization. Only Josh Kinney, an indy-ball find, was not drafted by the team. Interestingly, none of the other three were drafted under Vice President of Amateur Scouting & Player Development Jeff Luhnow’s watch.

When Adam Wainwright throws his first pitch at around 3:15 CST on Monday, eight of the nine players on the field will be products of the St. Louis Cardinals. Only shortstop Khalil Greene got his break with another organization, the San Diego Padres. Looking at other opening day rosters, it is safe to say that this is the most Cardinal developed players to take the field on opening day during the Tony LaRussa era (yes, I am still including Ludwick). Just one season ago, there were five players among the nine, which was the most since the 2002 opening day lineup featured four homegrown players in the opening day lineup. Can you name the four? Answer below.

So as the Cardinals continue to focus on player development, this type of makeup of the roster should be the rule and not the exception. As recent World Series participants have shown, a team has to develop its own players to be competitive especially in this economic climate.

Lastly, I would like to thank Erik and Az for the invite.

Answer to question above: Placido Polanco, J.D. Drew, Albert Pujols, and Matt Morris

Feel free to email me at dustin@whiteyball.com

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This entry was posted on Friday, April 3rd, 2009 at 1:00 pm and is filed under 2009 opening day rosters. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.