St. Louis’ Michael Wacha in bullpen, Mark Ellis not activated

Former Dodger Mark Ellis was left off the St. Louis Cardinals’ postseason roster while right-hander Michael Wacha, who beat the Dodgers twice in last fall’s National League Championship Series, will pitch out of the bullpen, Manager Mike Matheny said.

Ellis batted a career-low .180 for the Cardinals in 73 games this season. In his place the Cardinals have activated Pete Kozma, who spent most of the season in the minor leagues.

Wacha, who shut the Dodgers out for 13-2/3 innings in two victories last fall, will start the postseason as a reliever after missing significant time this season with a shoulder injury. He finished the year 5-6 with a 3.20 ERA in 107 innings but has made just four starts since June 17. The Cardinals will go with a rotation of Adam Wainwright (20-9, 2.38), Lance Lynn (15-10. 2.74), ex-Angel John Lackey (3-3. 4.30) and Shelby Miller (10-9, 3.74).

Also left off the roster was veteran catcher A.J. Pierzynski, leaving Tony Cruz (.200 in 135 at-bats) with the job of backing up Yadier Molina.

Cardinals roster:

Pitchers (12): Randy Choate-LHP, Sam Freeman-LHP, Marco Gonzales-LHP, John Lackey-RHP, Lance Lynn-RHP, Seth Maness-RHP, Carlos Martinez-RHP, Shelby Miller-RHP, Pat Neshek-RHP, Trevor Rosenthal-RHP, Michael Wacha-RHP, Adam Wainwright-RHP;

Catchers (2): Tony Cruz, Yadier Molina;

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

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