Cardinals announce NLDS roster

LOS ANGELES -- The Cardinals on Thursday afternoon announced their roster for the National League Division Series, before the Friday morning due date. Most notably, the club will carry 12 pitchers and won't have the services of old friend Mark Ellis.

Among the 12 pitchers carried by the Cardinals will be three left-handed relief pitchers: Sam Freeman, Marco Gonzalez and old friend Randy Choate. Gonzalez held left-handed batters to a .397 OPS this season (4-for-28), Choate limited lefties to a .351 OPS (7-for-75, with 28 strikeouts), while Freeman saw lefties hit .298/.397/.421 against him (17-for-57 with two home runs and 13 strikeouts).

Ellis suffered through a tough season for St. Louis and has seen his playing time diminish with the emergence of rookie second baseman Kolten Wong. Ellis started just six times in 66 games since the All-Star break and hit .180/.253/.213 overall.

A.J. Pierzynski, acquired in late July from Boston when Yadier Molina was hurt, was left off the Cardinals roster in favor of backup catcher Tony Cruz.

Here is the 25-man St. Louis roster:

Starting pitchers (4): Adam Wainwright, Lance Lynn, John Lackey, Shelby Miller

Relief pitchers (8): Choate, Gonzalez, Freeman, Seth Maness, Carlos Martinez, Pat Neshek, Trevor Rosenthal, Michael Wacha

Catchers (2): Molina, Cruz

Infielders (6): Matt Adams, Matt Carpenter, Daniel Descalso, Pete Kozma, Jhonny Peralta, Wong

Outfielders (5): Peter Bourjos, Randal Grichuk, Matt Holliday, Jon Jay, Oscar Taveras