Sporting a new cutter and a brand new season and league to use it, lefty Connor Thomas spent the fall rewriting his place in the Cardinals' plans.
On Tuesday came the reward.
Thomas, already the Arizona Fall League's pitcher of the year, was added to the Cardinals' 40-man roster so that he could be protected from the upcoming Rule 5 Draft. Thomas, 24, led the elite fall league with 34 strikeouts, and in six starts he had a 1.75 ERA in 25 2/3 innings for Salt River Rafters. That performance elevated him to a spot on the Cardinals' depth chart as a possible lefty reliever or long reliever, and he'll come to spring training as part of the major-league roster.