ST. LOUIS, Mo., September 28, 2021 – The St. Louis Cardinals today announced eight players have been selected to participate in the 2021 Arizona Fall League (AFL) season. The list of players is highlighted by Major League reliever Jordan Hicks and outfielder Lars Nootbaar, top 10 prospects Nolan Gorman and Zack Thompson, and minor leaguers Brendan Donovan, Andre Pallante, Jake Walsh and Juan Yepez. All eight players will play for the Glendale Desert Dogs, whose roster consists of players from the Cardinals, Chicago White Sox, Houston Astros, Los Angeles Angels, and Los Angeles Dodgers organizations.

Additionally, Palm Beach pitching coach Dean Kiekhefer and Springfield athletic trainer Chris Whitman have been assigned to serve in those same positions for Glendale. The Desert Dogs will play their home games at Camelback Ranch, the spring training home of the White Sox and Dodgers, in Glendale, Arizona.

The six-team AFL will begin its 29th season on Wednesday, October 13, with each team playing a 30-game schedule. The League’s annual Fall Stars Game will be played on Saturday, November 13, while the AFL Championship Game is scheduled for Saturday, November 20, both of which will air live on MLB Network as well as streaming on MLB.com and in the MLB app.

Recent Cardinals to participate in the Arizona Fall League include Kodi Whitley (2019), Tommy Edman (2018), Jordan Hicks (2017), Andrew Knizner (2017), Edmundo Sosa (2017), Harrison Bader (2016), and Paul DeJong (2016).

A brief description of this year’s player selections and the full 2021 AFL schedule follow below. League information, including scores, standings and statistics, can be found at mlb.com/AFL.