Expectations are fairly low for the St. Louis Cardinals coming off their least eventful offseason in the John Mozeliak era. They have enough talent to potentially hover around the NL Wild Card race, but they didn't trade veterans away to worsen the MLB roster, and didn't add anyone to improve their team, either.
Given the fact that the playoffs are probably unlikely, Cardinals fans are mostly interested in seeing how their young players perform in spring training. There are a slew of exciting young players who can make an impact at the MLB level this season, and a strong spring training will improve the odds of that occurring.
Some of these players have made strong first impressions in the spring, while others have gotten off to slower starts than Cardinals fans might've hoped.
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5) Matthew Liberatore is picking up right where he left off
The 2024 campaign might've been a frustrating one for the Cardinals, but that doesn't mean there were no bright spots. Matthew Liberatore's emergence certainly was one of them, and he has picked up where he left off in spring training.
Liberatore's regular season numbers from the previous campaign might not be eye-popping, but he finished the year by posting a 2.67 ERA in his final 25 appearances and 30.1 innings of work, proving to be an important piece of the Cardinals bullpen.
So far this spring, Liberatore has made three appearances and has gone seven innings, going at least two frames in each outing. In those three outings, Liberatore has not allowed a single hit, has walked just one batter, and has struck out seven — that'll play!
Will this carry into the regular season? Not at this clip, but the 25-year-old is throwing the ball as well as he ever has. With how he has pitched, Liberatore figures to earn some late-game work in the bullpen, and could even get a chance to convert back to a starting pitcher at some point if the Cardinals trade some of their veteran starting pitchers.
4) A bad start for Jordan Walker might have gotten even worse on Tuesday
Perhaps no Cardinals player needed a big spring more than Jordan Walker, a player who was once a top prospect and has not found any sort of consistent success at the MLB level. His 2024 campaign was one to forget, but Walker, armed with a new hitting coach, hoped for better luck in 2025. The early results have not been great.
Walker has gone just 2-for-14 in his six games this spring, and has struck out eight times. That, for obvious reasons, isn't stellar. It's early, but it's hard not to be concerned considering how difficult it has been for Walker to make contact.
As if his early spring struggles weren't concerning enough, Walker left Tuesday's game due to a knee injury. All Cardinals fans can do is hold their breath and hope he comes out of that all fine.
3) Michael McGreevy is showing why the Cardinals need to make a trade
St. Louis' focus has been on trading Nolan Arenado, which makes sense, but the Cardinals have a plethora of veteran starters that they could trade and have not. Not only would trading veterans get the Cardinals younger players back, but it'd open spots for younger players like Michael McGreevy to enter the rotation.
McGreevy, the Cardinals' No. 11 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, made four appearances (three starts) for the Cardinals last season and pitched extremely well, allowing just five runs in 23 innings of work (1.96 ERA). Given his success at the MLB level, Cardinals fans would love to see what he can do in a larger sample size, but the veterans in front of him are going to prevent that from happening.
This is especially unfortunate because the right-hander has dominated in each of his spring starts, allowing just one hit in five innings of work while striking out three without issuing a walk. McGreevy will get more chances to display what he can do, and might even have a shot to be a part of the bullpen, but for him to start (which is what Cardinals fans likely want), Mozeliak is going to have to make a move.
2) Nolan Gorman might end up costing himself playing time if he doesn't turn things around
Nolan Gorman looked like a budding star when he launched 27 home runs and posted a .806 OPS in just 119 games in 2023, but his 2024 campaign was one to forget. The 24-year-old did hit 19 home runs in only 107 games but slashed .203/.271/.400 while striking out a whopping 37.6 percent of the time. His struggles led to the team optioning him down to Triple-A in late August through the remainder of the regular season.
Gorman entered spring training eager to prove he should be the team's starting second baseman, but his early production suggests anything but. The 24-year-old has just two hits in 19 at-bats and has struck out eight times. The sample size is small, obviously, but Gorman is continuing to struggle when it comes to making contact, which is incredibly frustrating.
There's still a long way to go, but if Gorman continues to struggle, it will be tough to justify giving him much playing time for the Cardinals as a starter, which would be an extremely disappointing outcome.
1) Victor Scott II is well on his way towards being the Cardinals' Opening Day center fielder
Walker's struggles were discussed the most, but Victor Scott II is another former top prospect who really underwhelmed when given chances to play in the majors last season. In his 53 games, Scott slashed .179/.219/.283 with two home runs and 10 RBI.
Scott's struggles at the MLB level last season made it less than certain that he'd get another chance to be the team's starting center fielder on Opening Day this season, but his production in spring training has been encouraging enough to the point where he is squarely in that discussion, if not the favorite. Scott has seven hits in his 12 spring training at-bats (three of the extra-base variety) while also drawing three walks and stealing four bases.
There's no disputing that Scott has the speed and the defensive ability to shine as a starting center fielder, but his bat has always been the X-Factor. Well, Scott has really impressed on that front this spring. If this continues, the center field job could be his.