Opening Day is now just a few days away, which means that teams throughout the MLB are getting down to business in terms of roster construction. Who has distanced themselves after several weeks of spring training? Which prospects and breakout possibilities have done enough to win a spot? Who needs more time in the minors? It’s time for some serious decisions.
For the St. Louis Cardinals, this procedure is especially difficult. The franchise has spent the whole summer hopelessly trapped in the middle, failing to add the type of impact talent required to return to the playoffs for the first time since 2022 while also failing to find a means to jumpstart a potential rebuild.
For the St. Louis Cardinals, this procedure is especially difficult. The franchise has spent the whole summer hopelessly trapped in the middle, failing to add the type of impact talent required to return to the playoffs for the first time since 2022 while also failing to find a means to jumpstart a potential rebuild.
Cardinals Opening Day roster decisions call supposed ‘reset’ into question
We’ll start with the positive news. Much to the joy of Cardinals fans everywhere, the organization confirmed over the weekend that Victor Scott II, not Michael Siani, would be the starting center fielder to begin the season.
Victor Scott II will be the Cardinals’ opening-day center fielder.
Scott II suffered mightily in his first taste of the Majors last year, part of a larger pattern in which the team’s young potential has recently stagnated. But he was one of the organization’s best prospects not long ago, and he recently had a fantastic spring training, indicating that he may be ready to tap into that intriguing promise. Giving him some leeway over Siani, a terrific defender who has never demonstrated any ability to hit, would make sense for a squad with its sights set on the future.
However, the positive vibes cease there. The team refused to carry that insight into its starting rotation, where Matthew Liberatore and Steven Matz will serve as the fifth and, eventually, sixth starts, while top prospect Michael McGreevy returns to Triple-A.
McGreevy, one of the organization’s top pitching prospects, performed admirably in a brief MLB appearance last season before having a fantastic spring.
His reward? Sitting behind Liberatore, who has yet to be an average big-league pitcher in three seasons in St. Louis, and the soon-to-be 34-year-old Matz, who had a 5.08 ERA last year. Who is this serving, precisely? Why wouldn’t it be in the team’s best interest to explore what they have here as they begin setting the groundwork for the Chaim Bloom era?
Even the Scott II announcement raises some concerns. Marmol has recently enraged Cardinals fans with his confidence in Siani, who provides a safer option that the manager has been all too eager to rely on. While Scott II will start on Opening Day, Siani appears to be a lock to make the MLB roster, and Marmol has no reason to keep him out of the lineup if Scott fails early on.
It’s evident that the Cardinals’ current era has come to an end; Mozeliak is leaving for a reason, after all, and it’s no coincidence that the organization spent the whole winter flirting with deleting rather than acquiring MLB quality. However, old habits die hard, and St. Louis appears to be too reluctant to pull the rip cord and lean into the curve for its own benefit.
