St. Louis Cardinals Wild Card Roster Announced

The St. Louis Cardinals have announced their 26-man Wild Card roster in advance of their series with the Philadelphia Phillies starting Friday. Though most of the decisions did not come as much of a surprise, with the Wild Card series being a best-of-three, the team needed to make an analysis on how to approach the unique format.

For every Wild Card team, the big question tends to be which pitchers in their five-man rotations should start each game. With the first pitch set for Friday at 2:07 pm ET, Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol and staff have revealed their toughest decisions heading into the 2011 National League Division Series rematch.

"A best-of-3 series on deck in St. Louis. Cardinals President of Baseball Ops John Mozeliak talks through the NL Central Champs' plan for the starting rotation and roster updates heading into the Wild Card round." - MLB Now

Here are the answers that St. Louis Cardinals fans have been waiting for:

St. Louis Cardinals announce Game 1 and Game 2 starters

All the talk heading into Game 1 has been which starting pitchers take to the mound to kick off the series. While it may come as a surprise, the club announced that Jose Quintana has been named the starter for Game 1, with Miles Mikolas set to start Game 2.

Since being acquired from the Pittsburgh Pirates, Quintana has emerged as one of the Cardinals' most reliable and consistent starters down the stretch. His recent form and history of success against Phillies stars Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber were the determining factors in handing him the ball for Game 1.

"Jose Quintana: “This opportunity means a lot. We play baseball to be in October.” - Ben Frederickson

Veteran Miles Mikolas is slated to start Game 2, with Adam Wainwright, Jack Flaherty, and Jordan Montgomery available from the bullpen. Other pitchers who made the 26-man roster include lefties Steven Matz, Zack Thompson, and Genesis Cabrera. The St. Louis Cardinals elected to bolster their bullpen with lefties in order to maximize their arms to face Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber.

Who was the most surprising selection for the final 26-man roster?

While the batters selected by Mormol and staff seemed pretty clear, they elected to go with rookie Nolan Gorman over outfielder Alec Burleson. The decision was made based off of Gorman's defensive versatility and power off the bat.

"Nolan Gorman (for power, versatitlity) and Packy Naughton will be on #stlcards roster" - Derrick Goold

Cardinals Final 26-man roster

Catchers:

• Andrew Knizer
• Yadier Molina

Infielders

• Nolan Arenado
• Paul DeJong
• Brendan Donovan
• Tommy Edman
• Paul Goldschmidt
• Nolan Gorman
• Albert Pujols

Outfielders

• Dylan Carlson
• Ben DeLuzio
• Corey Dickerson
• Lars Nootbar
• Juan Yepez

Pitchers

• Jack Flaherty
• Giovanny Gallegos
• Ryan Helsley
• Jordan Hicks
• Steven Matz
• Miles Mikolas
• Jordan Montgomery
• Packy Naughton
• Andre Pallante
• Jose Quintana
• Zack Thompson
• Adam Wainwright

The St. Louis Cardinals are expected to face Zach Wheeler in Game 1, and Aaron Nola in Game 2.