The 2025 season is about to begin, and the Cardinals have still done nothing, though Derrick Goold notes that they’ve been in contact with a few free agent relievers, so perhaps an interesting move or two could be made.
The goal this offseason for St. Louis was to trade Nolan Arenado, and that didn’t pan out. They should have pivoted and traded Ryan Helsley and Erick Fedde, but I’ll save that for another day. The time has come to evaluate the 2025 Cardinals and examine their strengths and weaknesses.
While it was a disappointing offseason, it’s fun to size up the team and take a look at each area of the roster, so let’s get into it!
Offense
Brant Brown is the new hitting coach after Turner Ward was fired. I do think the younger players are going to benefit from his approach, and it could also help Arenado bounce back too. As such, I believe the Cardinals offense can be better in 2025 than it was in 2024.
Still, I’m skeptical, and it has nothing to do with Brown. The Cardinals didn’t add anybody from the outside. I guess you can count Michael Helman, but that was such a minor move in my opinion.
On top of not adding anybody, the Cardinals are banking a lot on Lars Nootbaar, Jordan Walker and Nolan Gorman, two guys that really struggled last year. I have more faith in Walker than I do in Gorman, and Nootbaar’s problem isn’t his production. It’s his ability to stay healthy.
We saw what Walker is capable of in 2023, and I do think with a new hitting coach he can bounce back. If Nootbaar stays healthy, then that’s another weapon. Gorman, I don’t have as much faith in.
His game is really just power and nothing else. He needs to put the ball in play more. That said, there is upside with the offense. If Gorman, Walker and Nootbaar perform well and Arenado bounces back, then we could see some improvement. I don’t think this is the team’s greatest weakness, especially with Alec Burleson and Thomas Saggese in the picture if things go wrong, but I’m not ready to call it a strength just yet.
Rotation
This is where I’m most concerned. Sonny Gray staying helps, and I do believe we’ll see improvement from him this year. But the rest of the rotation is a question mark, and there isn’t a lot of depth waiting in the wings.
Sure, some pitching prospects are about to be MLB ready, and Michael McGreevy and Andre Pallante pitched well. But they aren’t my concerns. My concerns are with Miles Mikolas, Erick Fedde and Steven Matz.
With Mikolas and Matz, the concern is obvious. Mikolas has been abysmal the past two years, and I don’t see any reason to expect a return to his 2022 form. Matz can never stay healthy, and if he gets hurt, the Cardinals are at a disadvantage. I personally like him better in the bullpen.
Fedde was great last year and pitched well after the Cardinals got him from the White Sox, but my concern is this. Can he repeat his 2024 success, or do teams now have a good read on him now that they’ve seen him?
I think Gray and Pallante should be good in 2025, but the rest of the rotation worries me, and it might not be long before they need to give McGreevy another look, something I think they should be doing anyway.
For this reason, I believe the rotation is the biggest weakness with this team.
Bullpen
The bullpen took a big hit with the loss of Andrew Kittredge, and it’s fair to be skeptical about them repeating their 2024 performance. However, I liked what I saw out of a lot of guys.
While I believe the Cardinals should have traded Ryan Helsley, it’s good to still have him in the closer’s role. He’s arguably the league’s best closer, and even if they wait to trade him until the deadline, his value is high barring an injury or serious regression.
Ryan Fernandez and JoJo Romero were terrific last year, and having them as setup guys for Helsley certainly helps. But this is also where some of the team’s top prospects can make a difference, and it even appears that the Cardinals aren’t done searching for bullpen help, so it could get better.
I also think having Matthew Liberatore in the bullpen for a full season will be beneficial, both for the Cardinals and for him. I think I speak for most fans when I say I prefer him in the bullpen. That doesn’t mean he can’t occasionally give you a spot start, but having him in the ‘pen is the right approach, and if he’s there for a full season, he could take the next step.
The bullpen, I would say is one of the strengths of this club.
Defense
The biggest strength of the team, in my mind is defense. They’ve got a lot of guys who really get the job done out in the field. Masyn Winn has a chance to be a plus defender, Nootbaar, Michael Siani and Victor Scott, are all great defensive outfielders, and of course, you still have Arenado and Brendan Donovan, who have won Gold Gloves.
There are a lot of different ways the Cardinals can go if they want to prioritize their defense. This is where they have the most flexibility. Donovan can play anywhere on the field and give you Gold Glove-caliber defense.
They’ll miss having Paul Goldschmidt’s defense, but they do have enough solid fielders to compensate for that loss.