The St. Louis Cardinals are fading out of contention, and that isn’t surprising. This was never meant to be a championship season for the iconic franchise.
It was always going to be a transition for the Cardinals, with Chaim Bloom taking over as president of baseball operations from John Mozeliak, the major-league roster getting younger, and the entire organization being reevaluated. Bloom joined the Cardinals as the boss-in-waiting last year and spent a significant amount of time watching the farm clubs play.
The Cardinals were picked to finish last in the National League Central at the start of the season by most prognosticators. Instead, they are a respectable 68-70, though now five games out of the third and final NL wild card.
Bloom has had nearly two full seasons to evaluate the Cardinals’ personnel and determine which players he believes could potentially be part of a championship roster. One day before the beginning of September, three Cardinals have one last opportunity to prove themselves to Bloom over the final 24 games.
Matthew Liberatore
Mozeliak made an interesting prospect-for-prospect trade with Tampa Bay about a month before the beginning of spring training in 2020. The Cardinals shipped outfielder Randy Arozarena for Liberatore, a left-hander who had pitched at the High-A level the previous season.
Arozarena led the Rays to the World Series as a rookie in the pandemic-shortened season. Now with the Seattle Mariners, he has three All-Star Game berths.
Liberatore is 26 and in his fifth major-league season but has yet to find success. He is 5-13 with a 5.41 ERA in 27 starts this year, including 0-7 with a 6.37 ERA in eight starts since the All-Star break.
The Cardinals have nothing to lose this season, so they will give Liberatore four or five more starts to make a positive impression.
Nolan Gorman
Gorman has been good at times during his five seasons in the big leagues but really bad at other times.
Gorman hit 27 home runs and drove in 76 runs as a 23-year-old second baseman in 2023. He is the Cardinals’ primary third baseman now but is batting .187/.270/.320 with eight homers in 68 games this season.
Gorman, like Liberatore, is 26, and it is still too soon to write him off. Gorman needs to finish strong to be back with the Cardinals in 2027.
Victor Scott II
Scott’s chances of making a final impression are hampered by the fact that he was optioned to Triple-A Memphis on June 8. Rookie Nathan Church has become the Cardinals’ center fielder while Scott is hitting .237/.320/.343 in 57 minor-league games.
Scott has played 252 games over three seasons with the Cardinals since making his MLB debut in 2024. Scott has a slash line of .203/.281/.285. It may already be too late for the 25-year-old to remain in the organization’s long-term plans.
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