No Worries For Garcia

JUPITER, Fla.—At the start of spring training, even the Cardinals acknowledged that their Opening Day roster was strikingly predictable, and one of those players earmarked for it was utility infielder Greg Garcia.

Given time, things changed.

Injuries happened. Players emerged.

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“He watched the ball sail out of the ballpark for (Jeremy) Hazelbaker,” big league manager Mike Matheny said, “and he knows we’re right near the end.”

Garcia needn’t have worried about Hazelbaker’s emergence.

The 26-year-old middle infielder earned a spot on the St. Louis roster with a solid spring, though the decision was made that much easier for the Cardinals by a series of injuries to position players in the early days of the season. Garcia was the first of three minor leaguers who saw their roles change or their spots on the roster opened by injury.

On the final day of spring, Ruben Tejada (quadriceps strain) made it mandatory to carry an extra infielder. And after the season opener, shortstop Aledmys Diaz received a call to the majors to replace outfielder Tommy Pham (rib cage muscle) on the roster.

Garcia and Diaz spent most of spring training as challengers for a role the Cardinals tried to fill with somebody else.

When regular shortstop Jhonny Peralta split a ligament a left hand, the team suggested that Jedd Gyorko, Garcia and Diaz would compete for playing time at shortstop. In truth, the contest was between Gyorko and an eventual addition, like Tejada.

The grandson of former big league manager Dave Garcia, Greg joined the Cardinals in 2010 as a seventh-round pick out of Hawaii. He moved steadily through the minors as a shortstop and at Triple-A Memphis began displaying the versatility the Cardinals coveted. He proved deft at both second and third base.

Garcia hit .294/.391/.364 at Memphis in 2015, and he brings a keen feel for the strike zone and a lefthanded swing.

REDBIRD CHIRPS

• Matt Bowman, a Rule 5 pick from the Mets, grabbed a spot in the bullpen when Jordan Walden (shoulder) couldn’t finish March healthy.

• Rigthander Luke Weaver had a strong spring interrupted by a collision in the outfield during batting practice that fractured his left wrist. He will be delayed about a month.