St. Louis Cardinals add four prospects to 40-man roster ahead of Rule 5 Draft

Ahead of Tuesday night’s deadline to protect players from the Rule 5 Draft, the St. Louis Cardinals selected four players to the 40-player roster and removed one. Right-handed pitchers Tink Hence, Tekoah Roby and Matt Svanson and left-handed outfielder Matt Koperniak had their contracts selected. Left-handed pitcher Drew Rom cleared waivers and was assigned outright to Triple-A Memphis, leaving the 40-player roster at 39. Hence, 22, is a righty starter who was a second-round pick in the shortened 2020 draft. He was the third Cardinals selection in that draft, picked behind Jordan Walker and Masyn Winn, and has a chance to solidify it as one of the team’s most successful draft classes in years. Alec Burleson, taken seven picks after Hence, has also blossomed into an impact bat in the big leagues. With 303 strikeouts in just 236 career minor league innings, Hence’s skill and upside are obvious. That innings total, though, highlights a clear concern; through four full minor league seasons, Hence has yet to top 96 innings in a single season and is averaging just short of 60 per year. Whether his path continues to push him toward the starting rotation or perhaps suggests a future in the bullpen is an open question. Either way, there is little doubt that Hence possesses the raw stuff to handle big league hitters. All that’s left to settle is whether his body can hold up to the rigors of a full season. The same concerns trail Roby, 23, who was a third round pick of the Texas Rangers in the same 2020 draft.

Acquired from the Rangers as part of the Jordan Montgomery trade at the trade deadline in 2023, Roby has run up a similarly scant innings total over his four professional seasons. He has just 223 ⅓ minor league innings pitched, mustering just seven starts for Double-A Springfield last season along with three more in a rehab setting for Low-A Palm Beach. Roby has dealt with a series of arm injuries throughout his professional career, and was in fact on his way to a facility to continue his rehab on the July day in 2023 on which he was called and informed he was now a Cardinal. An invite to big league spring training and a few encouraging outings against major league hitters had the Cardinals prepared to aggressively promote him in 2024, but injuries stood in the way.

Neither Hence nor Roby has yet reached Triple-A, but both are now on the doorstep of the majors by virtue of their selections to the 40-player roster. Of all the players to spend time on the St. Louis 40-player roster last year, only righty Sem Robberse lasted the entire season among that group without reaching the big leagues.

This will be a season in which both righties will be expected to take major developmental leaps forward, or at a minimum, will help define whether the organization should be still considering them as major pieces of their future following the advertised reset in player development. Svanson, 25, is another right-handed pitcher who was acquired at the 2023 trade deadline, in his case from Toronto in exchange for Paul DeJong. Pitching this season for Double-A Springfield, he recorded a team record 27 saves and notched a 2.69 ERA in 63 ⅔ innings pitched. He then allowed seven earned runs in 10 ⅔ innings pitched in the Arizona Fall League. A pure reliever, Svanson also has yet to debut at Triple-A. Given his age and experience, however, he seems in line to play a major role in Memphis’s bullpen in 2025, and would be a prime candidate to act as a depth arm and provide coverage in the big leagues when necessary.

Koperniak, who turns 27 in February, was a strong candidate for a September call-up at the end of this season, but the Cardinals opted instead to provide extra instruction time for Victor Scott II and allow a spot for Thomas Saggese to debut. Arguably Memphis’s MVP last season, the London-born outfielder hit 20 home runs and posted an .882 OPS while playing all three outfield positions. This fall, Koperniak has been playing winter ball in the Dominican Republic for Leones del Escogito, the team managed by Albert Pujols. That exposure and valuable opinion no doubt played some role in the team determining that Koperniak could contribute as a depth offensive player in the majors. Rom, 24, spent the entirety of the 2024 season on the major league injured list after injuring his left, throwing shoulder during spring training and subsequently undergoing arthroscopic surgery. At one point early in the season, the Cardinals were hopeful that he would be healthy enough to pitch in minor league games before the end of the year, but he was not. As this was Rom’s first time clearing waivers, he was required to accept an outright assignment. He therefore remains in the organization and figures to be a factor in the rotation for Triple-A Memphis in 2025.