4 Cardinals players fighting for their jobs in final month of the season

At certain points during the 2024 season, the St. Louis Cardinals looked like a team that could realistically compete for a postseason spot. They had played so well midseason to the point where they were actually buyers at this year's trade deadline, acquiring one of the better starting pitchers moved, Erick Fedde, in the process.

Unfortunately, Fedde's performance as a Cardinal has been uneven at best, and St. Louis as a team has all but fallen out of postseason contention. At 71-69, they're 5.0 games back of the third Wild Card spot in the NL. With only 22 games to play, it'll take a miracle for the Cardinals to pull off what would be a miraculous comeback.

Things look bleak for the Cardinals and their fans. The fanbase has little reason to attend games knowing that their team is almost certainly going to miss out on the postseason for a second consecutive season. As meaningless as the games appear to be for the fans, though, the players have a lot to play for, especially those fighting for jobs.

These four players in particular have a lot to prove as the 2024 regular season wraps up.

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4) Ivan Herrera, C

The duo behind the plate of Willson Contreras and Ivan Herrera gave St. Louis arguably the best offensive upside in the league behind the dish. Contreras is one of the best catchers in the sport, and Herrera has the reputation of being an offense-first catcher and has looked good offensively this season.

Unfortunately, Herrera's defense has not been up to par. His defense is why light-hitting Pedro Pages has seen almost as much action as Herrera has. In fact, when Contreras was healthy and the Cardinals were competing, Pages was the team's backup catcher while Herrera was in the minors.

Contreras landed back on the IL in late August giving Herrera another chance at the MLB level but it has still been Pages seeing most of the playing time. Pages was the one who started two of the three games in their most recent series against the Milwaukee Brewers.

When Herrera is able to see the field down the stretch, it's up to him to prove he can defend behind the plate to stick at the MLB level. He's a better hitter than Pages - nobody is arguing otherwise. If he can't catch at a good enough level, though, it's hard to justify giving him a regular role. If Herrera doesn't improve on that front down the stretch, perhaps the Cardinals will dangle him in trade discussions over the offseason.

The fact that Herrera has allowed 10 stolen bases in seven games since his recall and has given up 51 (in 55 attempts) in just 47 games this season suggests he's no closer to earning any sort of regular role even as a backup behind the dish.

3) Andre Pallante, RHP

Andre Pallante has been a welcome surprise for the Cardinals, making the transition from a reliever into a pretty reliable back-end starter. He has made 16 starts for St. Louis since he was inserted into the rotation in late May, posting a 3.81 ERA in 87.1 innings pitched.

The right-hander has had his share of clunkers, but has allowed two earned runs or fewer in 10 of his 16 starts. That'll work, especially for a back-end starter.

He walks too many, making it difficult for him to work deep into games consistently, but Pallante has limited the home run ball well, and has held left-handed hitters to a .573 OPS, which is impressive as a right-handed pitcher.

There's a lot to like about the 25-year-old, but he has to continue to produce as the season progresses to prove that he belongs in their rotation plans for 2025 and beyond. If he struggles down the stretch like he did his last time out against Milwaukee, he might lose his shot at a rotation spot.

2) Paul Goldschmidt, 1B

Several players have disappointed for the Cardinals this season but nobody has done so more than Paul Goldschmidt. This is a player who is poised to at the very least be considered for the Hall of Fame when he hangs up his spikes and one who won the MVP just two years ago, but he's looked like a shell of himself much of the season.

Goldschmidt enters Friday's game slashing .247/.304/.418 with 21 home runs and 58 RBI. Not atrocious numbers, but not what anyone is used to seeing from the seven-time All-Star.

Things have picked up lately for Goldschmidt, though, as since August 1, the 36-year-old is slashing .297/.350/.532 with five home runs and 17 RBI in 29 games. His numbers against righties (.695 OPS) leave a lot to be desired, but if he picks it up, maybe Goldschmidt's Cardinals tenure isn't going to be over after all.

Goldschmidt, a free agent to be, will get a job in some capacity, but the question has been will he find a team willing to give himself an everyday role? If he finishes strong, the answer to that question is more likely to be yes, and the Cardinals could easily be that team, for better or for worse.

1) Jordan Walker, OF

The Cardinals have not handled Jordan Walker in an ideal manner at all this season. He started the year in the majors, but didn't get to play a full month before he was sent down to the minors due to some major early-season struggles.

His minor league performance left a lot to be desired for the most part, but after one short hot streak, St. Louis called him back up to the majors, only to use him in a platoon role. That experiment never made sense, and ended after just eight days as he was sent right back down to Triple-A.

With the team all but out of contention, the Cardinals made the decision to DFA Tommy Pham and give Walker the keys to an everyday role. It's great that the Cardinals finally gave Walker an everyday role, but doing this with one month to go in the regular season puts a ton of pressure on Walker to perform.

If Walker does play well, perhaps he'll have a starting job locked in for 2025. I mean, there's no reason for them to not give him a spot if he plays well down the stretch, right? If he struggles, though, Walker's future will continue to be up in the air. Would the Cardinals still consider him to be a major part of their future if he struggles in September? Would they consider trading him? Would they start him in the minors in 2025?

Walker had one huge game at Yankee Stadium showing his potential, but he has gone 0-for-8 since with four strikeouts. Hopefully, for everybody's sake, Walker can get things going again down the stretch.