The St. Louis Cardinals have received very little utility from their bench so far this year, but an interesting roster claim today may be a step in the right direction.
The Cardinals announced today that they have claimed veteran utility man Garrett Hampson off of waivers from the Cincinnati Reds and have designated Jose Barrero as the corresponding roster move. They also announced that they have optioned RHP Roddery Munoz to Memphis to make room for RHP Michael McGreevy to join the roster today for his spot start.
Garrett Hampson is a small addition to the Cardinals roster but could fill a niche role they do not have at the moment.
Hampson is in his eighth major league season and will now be playing for his third team this year, starting the season with the Arizona Diamondbacks before latching on with the Reds on a free-agent contract last month. Hampson spent most of his career with the Colorado Rockies thus far, but had a career year in 2023 with the Miami Marlins, where he slashed .276/.349/.380 and posted 1.1 bWAR in 98 games.
It’s been a rough go of it for Hampson since that 2023 season, but the veteran utilityman has been able to latch on with different organizations due to his extreme versatility and speed. In 2025, Hampson has logged 12 games at second base, four in left field, four in center field, three at shortstop, and two at third base. Replacing Barrero’s spot on the roster, Hampson will be able to fill in at any position on the field for St. Louis whenever they need him to and do so at a high level.
Last year, Hampson recorded nine outs above average at his various positions and has been impactful in the field in his small sample size this season as well.
Offensively, Hampson has never been much of a threat outside of that 2023 season, and this year he’s held a terrible slash line of .167/.310/.188 in his 60 plate appearances. I don’t expect him to play much, like Barrero, but he may come in handy for the Cardinals more often than Barrero did.
First, Hampson’s defense is clearly a leg up on Barrero’s, so the Cardinals could bring him in later in games to help hold leads as needed at any position. While Hampson has been a positive outs above average player at every position he’s played aside from second base, Barrero is -1 OAA or worse at every position he’s played at the Major League level.
Second, Hampson has 66 stolen bases in his career and would likely have far more if he were more of an on-base threat at the plate. The Cardinals can use Hampson as a pinch runner late in games to help generate runs and trust that he can fill in defensively for whoever he subbed in for.
This is why our own Thomas Gauvain had Hampson listed as a depth target during the offseason, as a right-handed hitting position player who could fill in at both shortstop and center field made a lot of sense for this roster. The Cardinals hoped Barrero could be that guy, but Hampson seems like he’ll be a better fit.
It was a short-lived experience in St. Louis for Barrero, whom the club saw potential in due to his physical tools, but much like in Cincinnati, Barrero was unable to translate the production he saw in Triple-A to the Major League level.
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