Following a mediocre season and turbulent offseason which featured long-time first baseman Paul Goldschmidt departing for the New York Yankees as well as trade rumors surrounding star third baseman Nolan Arenado, the St. Louis Cardinals should look to build around young stars who will soon be called upon to replace the aging corps of veterans on the team.
Spring Training is the perfect opportunity to have new and returning players acclimate to their team, and although the Cardinals have been relatively inactive in offseason recruiting with former Minnesota Twins utility player Michael Helman being the only signing, there remains plenty of young talent that the coaching staff should look to develop over the course of 2025. However, three players shine above the rest going into this season.
The first and one of the more noteworthy young players for the Cardinals is shortstop Masyn Winn, who returns to the team on a one-year contract following an outstanding rookie season where he accrued 157 hits for 15 home runs and 57 RBI’s. While he is a great slugger, his greatest strength is on the defensive side. Winn is capable of throwing the baseball over 100 MPH when necessary and has a great ability to dive for difficult-to-reach ground balls in order to deny possible hits. With arguably the most potential out of all current players, Winn could be able to develop into a franchise player for the Cardinals, and the front office should make it a priority to develop him with this vision in mind.
The second player who is a candidate to see some improvement in Spring Training is Jordan Walker, who was given his first big-league opportunity with the Cardinals in 2023. He appeared in every Spring Training game that year and was given the nod to start the first game of the season, where he proceeded to achieve a 12 game hitting streak. After his remarkable start to the season, his performances dropped off a cliff, and he was sent back down to the minor leagues to improve his hitting. In 2024, Walker only appeared in 51 games out of 162 for the Cardinals. Walker has yet another opportunity to impress in 2025, and Spring Training is a great place for him to get used to playing at the Major League level again. Walker is an intriguing prospect, because he has shown flashes of competence at the next level, but has failed to maintain that level of play over long stretches.
Drafted in the first round in 2024, former West Virginia Mountaineer J.J. Wetherholt is the newest prospect for the Cardinals and the final player to keep an eye on this Spring Training. Wetherholt, a second baseman/shortstop, has a knack for big plays, both defensively and offensively. He had a breakout season with West Virginia in 2023, achieving a batting average of .449, which was good enough to be second in the country. He also recorded 101 hits and 60 RBI’s to go along with his stellar average. Although his stats regressed slightly in his final college season, he was drafted by the Cardinals with the seventh overall pick. The Cardinals hope that his standout college performances will be able to translate to the Major Leagues, and they will attempt to develop him during Spring Training, where he already has one home run from 11 at-bats. If given the opportunity, Wetherholt has the potential to be a weapon for the Cardinals for years to come.
