By Rob Rains
JUPITER, Fla. – There are 39 days between the Cardinals’ first full-squad spring training workout on Monday and opening day of the regular season on March 26 at Busch Stadium.
That seems like it should be enough time to answer the 10 biggest questions facing the team this spring, or the Cardinals at least hope that will be the case.
Here are the questions:
- What will be different with Chaim Bloom in charge?
This answer will likely be more apparent on the back fields at the Cardinals’ spring training complex, where the influx of prospects acquired with Bloom’s off-season trades will be getting ready for the minor-league season, greatly improving the depth of prospects within the organization. What will be noticeable among the major-league squad is the players who are no longer there – Sonny Gray, Willson Contreras, Nolan Arenado and Brendan Donovan. There still will be many familiar faces, plus the same manager, and coaches returning from last season.
- Will Bloom make any more trades?
The Cardinals believe they have made the moves they needed to make, but Bloom has said he won’t be turning off his phone and will listen if another team calls. If there is another trade to be made, it would not be surprising if it involves JoJo Romero, the left-handed reliever who is scheduled to become a free agent at the end of the season.
- How will the renovation work at the complex affect the team’s preparation?
This will definitely be something to watch, and is a question which nobody can fully answer at this point. The Cardinals were told all the work necessary for them to have the facilities ready that they need – clubhouse, batting tunnels, pitching mounds, weight room, training room, etc. – had been completed and that indeed has been the case. Some of the access to those areas is still a little more difficult than usual because of the ongoing construction and renovation, but this really will not affect the team as much as it will be an inconvenience to fans.
- Who will catch, and how many catchers will be on the roster?
The Cardinals go into the spring without many questions about the regular lineup except for one important one – who is going to catch? They have four catchers on the 40-man roster, all of whom deserve to be in the majors, at least as a backup. The team won’t carry more than three, however, and possibly only two. The decisions will hinge on if the team is confident that Ivan Herrera can improve enough defensively to be the primary catcher, They will start getting that information this spring but really won’t know the answer to that until he gets tested once the regular-season begins. What happens with Pedro Pages, Jimmy Crooks and Yohel Pozo will be something to watch this spring.
- Which pitchers will fill the back spots in the starting rotation?
Barring any injuries, the top three starters will be Matthew Liberatore, Michael McGreevy and Dustin May, but not necessarily in that order. What will be interesting will be to see who fills the final spots, and if the team will be using a five or six-man rotation. Newcomer Richard Fitts, converted reliever Kyle Leahy and Andre Pallante will be in the mix. It’s also possible that Hunter Dobbins, also acquired from the Red Sox, will be a candidate depending on how he has recovered from a torn ACL he suffered last July. At this point it doesn’t appear he will be ready to pitch in games by the start of the regular season.
- Is Lars Nootbaar going to be ready to start the season?
After undergoing surgery on both heels early in the off-season, an injury that affected Nootbaar for almost all of last year, it will be important to see where he is in his rehab process as the spring begins. It’s possible he will have to begin the season on the injured list, which would affect the makeup of the roster. Nootbaar’s arrival in camp has been delayed by a couple of days because of an issue with the training equipment he is using. When he is ready to play, Nootbaar will need to assume more of a leadership role on the team as at 28, he is the oldest and longest-tenured player among the position players.
- Does JJ Wetherholt have to win a starting spot to make the team?
Wetherholt’s path gained a lot of clarity with the trade that sent Donovan to the Mariners. The second base job is there for him to win, but the Cardinals have said they will not just hand it to him. If he has a decent spring, however, expect Wetherholt to be the starting second baseman on opening day. It is clear that the Cardinals will want him to be playing every day if he is in the major leagues. Wetherholt already is being touted by many national publications as one of the favorites to be the NL Rookie of the Year.
- Who will fill the closer role?
The two leading candidates are the two relievers who received the bulk of the save opportunities at the end of last season after Ryan Helsley was traded – JoJo Romero and Riley O’Brien. Romero, as a pending free agent, still remains a trade candidate as other teams begin to assess their bullpen situations during the spring. If both are on the opening day roster, Marmol’s decision about who closes likely will change daily depending on their usage, the matchup, and when the opponent’s top lefthanded batters are scheduled to hit in the late innings.
- Can a non-roster player make the opening day roster?
This answer is always yes, as any team wants to encourage spring competition. There appear to be two leading candidates to do that this spring with the Cardinals, outfielder Nelson Velequez, and lefthanded reliever Packy Naughton. Velequez, 27, was signed as a minor-league free agent and his chances are aided by the fact he hits righthanded – unless the Cardinals make another move to add a righthanded hitting outfielder during the spring. He hit a combined 25 home runs in the majors between 2023 and 2024, then spent last year in Triple A. His chances will be affected by how well the Cardinals think Thomas Saggese adjusts to adding outfield duties to his backup role this spring. Naughton has missed almost all of the last two years because of injuries, but he believes he is fully healthy again. His chances could come down to a decision about whether the Cardinals want to have a second lefthander in the bullpen.
- Is there room on the roster for a spring surprise?
This answer also is yes; just look back to Yohel Pozo a year ago. He wasn’t even in the major-league camp until the middle of March and got only seven at-bats in the remaining games. Even though he didn’t make the opening day roster he found himself in the majors by the 10th game of the season. Trying to predict that would be have been impossible, which is why it was a surprise – and why something similar happening this spring can’t be ruled out.
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