4 Cardinals who will no longer be on the roster by June 1

James Naile may be off the Cardinals roster by June 1

Speaking of more stable relief arms, Naile has struggled to be that for the Cardinals since being called up.

On Sunday, he pitched a third of an inning, giving up two hits and three runs. This was his first appearance with St. Louis in 2023. Not a promising debut at all. Given his struggles, it will be interesting to see how long the Cardinals keep him up with the team and on the roster.

It’s easy to see the Cards will likely move him from his roster spot before the end of the month to make way for a steady rotation arm. The organization has many arms being developed that could debut this season in his place.

Tres Barrera may be off the Cardinals roster by June 1

Barrera was promoted from Memphis to help with pitching duties as Andrew Knizner took over full-time catching responsibilities. Willson Contreras will take on the role of the team’s designated hitter while he works on things to acclimate himself to the Cardinals’ way of preparation with the catching duties.

Taylor Motter was designated for assignment to make room for the promotion of Barrera to join the team in a backup catching role. Barrera has not debuted with the Cardinals, but it will be interesting. While in Memphis, Barrera was slashing .255/.314/.532 with an OPS of .846. He had a double, four home runs and 15 RBI. That’s pretty impressive, and it will be interesting to see how he performs. It will also be good to give Knizner a break during this time.

But Contrereas is a professional. Contreras is a former All-Star. It seems inevitable that this will not be the drawn-out issue purported through Marmol’s explanation of the problem. Instead, he should earn the team’s trust to retake the reins of the catching duties. There could be an issue if Barrera outperforms Knizner. But Barrera will likely be designated for assignment back to Memphis before June 1.