Cardinals Demote Phenom Slugger To Minor League Camp Amid Latest Roster Cuts

The St. Louis Cardinals are nearly two weeks away from their season opener against the Minnesota Twins on Mar. 27th but still have several roster cuts to make.

Wednesday's major league camp cuts have helped the Cardinals inch closer to solidifying their 40-man roster for 2025. The two newest St. Louis prospects to be optioned down to the minors includes the organization's top prospect.

"Left-handed pitcher Oddanier Mosqueda and infielder JJ Wetherholt have been re-assigned to minor league camp," the franchise announced Wednesday morning. "Our Major League camp roster now stands at 49 players."

Wetherholt, the Cardinals No. 1 overall top prospect struggled during his major league spring training debut this year -- batting .100 with one home run, three RBIs and a .558 OPS in 20 at-bats for the Cardinals.

After belting a home run against the Houston Astros in his first big-league spring training exhibition with St. Louis, Wetherholt's bat cooled off. However, the 22-year-old displayed confidence and professionalism -- garnering Cardinals manager Oli Marmol's praise.

The Cardinals 2024 first-round draft pick, described as the "best pure hitter" in his class, hadn't played in a league higher than Single-A prior to this year's spring training, so Wetherholt's underwhelming performance shouldn't be taken too seriously.

As for Mosqueda, who was selected from the New York Yankees by the Cardinals in this winter's Rule 5 Draft, he posted one earned run on five hits, three strikeouts and one walk in three innings pitched for the Cardinals this spring.

The 25-year-old reliever hasn't struggled at the Triple-A level since climbing his way to the top of the Boston Red Sox farm system in 2023. Mosqueda logged an 11-5 record with a 4.85 ERA, 162-to-76 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .217 batting average against and a 1.40 WHIP throughout the last two seasons pitched for Triple-A Worcester and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes Barre.

Both youngsters clearly have some developing left to complete before they earn their big-league debuts. Fortunately, the Cardinals are focused on revamping their player development system, so hopefully, they'll improve this year in the minors.