While the left side of this Cardinals' infield is set for the next few years with Nolan Arenado at third base and Masyn Winn at shortstop, second base is to be determined.
The Cardinals are using the closing days of the regular season to audition players for 2025 roles. Hence Thomas Saggese’s big league debut.
The Cardinals will need a utility player for next season and Saggese fits the profile.
He can play second and third base. He can fill in at shortstop and he offers some offensive upside after starring at the Double-A level and hitting well in stretches at Memphis.
Overall he has hit .285 in the minors during his career with an .842 OPS. His 20 homers at Memphis this season is noteworthy, since the Cardinals could use more pop on their bench.
Saggese also adds to the crowding at second base. If he can improve his plate discipline and cut down on strikeouts, he could become a candidate for full-time work there.
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Slugger Nolan Gorman’s inability to make regular contact landed him back at Triple-A Memphis, where his first 60 at-bats produced a .233 average but six homers and an .866 OPS.
He’s just 24, so he has his whole career ahead of him. But like outfielder Jordan Walker, he needs to get into a hitting lab this winter and figure some things out.
Can he realize his full potential and become an impact player? Or will his high strikeout rate lower his ceiling?
Super utility player Brendan Donovan came back from elbow surgery and reaffirmed his value. As a hitter, he profiles better as a second baseman than as an outfielder –- so he could be a decent option as an everyday infielder.
But he lacks big power or speed, so his ceiling is not high.
Then there is top draft pick JJ Wetherholt, who impressed during his brief minor league debut. His offensive ceiling is high, so the Cardinals hope he can climb the organizational ladder next season and move into range of the big leagues.
Writing for Baseball Prospectus, Ben Spanier assessed Saggese:
Back in 2022 IÌýwroteÌýSaggese up as a “fun and interesting fringe prospect.†He ended up 83rd overall on our Top 101 this past winter, so it turns out I was wrong about the “fringe†part of that description. However, I still think I may have been right to feel ‘bullish on a nice utility-type outcome’ for him. Although it is more than possible that Saggese carves out a niche for himself in the starting lineup—second base would be the cleanest outcome for both the team and himself—his lack of a carrying tool and the in-betweenness of it all make it somewhat difficult to call this a “likely†outcome. Saggese’s hitting can be quite fun to watch, and his hard swinging combined with strong barrel feel have enabled him to tap into above-average power despite a diminutive frame. At the same time, the chase rate runs high and the exit velocity rates are below-average. Already his aggressiveness has caused his strikeout and walk rates to diverge sharply in the minors, and it may make his hit tool production difficult to sustain at the highest level. Defensively he’s always been athletic enough to handle any spot on the dirt, but has generally been stretched at short mainly on account of his arm strength. But the tools are there, even if they might blare louder for others. And 80-radeÌýmakeup won’t hurt.
Writing for Baseball America, Geoff Pontes noted Wetherholt’s strong finish at Palm Beach:
If Wetherholt’s season has come to an end, then he ended his maiden voyage on a high note. The Cardinals’ 2024 first-rounder had five multi-hit games last week, including a trio of three-hit games. He also flashed some power with an extra-base hit in four contests. He finishes his time at Low-A hitting .295/.405/.400 with more walks than strikeouts. Wetherholt has plus bat-to-ball skills, an advanced approach and shows flashes of above-average power. He’s one of the better performing hitters from this year’s draft class.
Second base will be a fun position to monitor during the 2025 spring training.Ìý
TALKIN’ BASEBALL
Here is what folks are writing about Our National Pastime:
Anthony Castrovince, : “Unless the Cubs have some magic in them, it’s four teams – Padres, D-backs, Braves and Mets – for three (NL wild card) spots. It’s conceivable that we could have a three-way or, dare I say, four-way tie for those three spots, in which case we’d have to break out the abacus and settle it via math. But even if that doesn’t happen, there are plenty of satisfying storylines here. You’ve got the Padres having righted themselves after a maddening 2023, the D-backs proving last season's NL title run was no fluke, the Braves trying to forge their way through a litany of impact injuries and the Mets making us all say (and sing) ‘OMG!’ in what had once appeared a rebuild year after last year’s high-priced squad folded under high expectations. At the start of the season, it seemed inconceivable that the Mets could make the playoffs over the Braves, but that’s obviously a distinct possibility now.”
Jordan Shusterman, Yahoo! Sports: “AsÌýthe MetsÌýandÌýBravesÌýduke it out for the final wild-card spot in the National League, the AL postseason race has taken a different form. There might not seem to be quite as much drama in the Junior Circuit as September draws to a close, but Minnesota’s struggles in recent weeks, including being swept byÌýKansas CityÌýthis past weekend, have put theÌýTwinsÌýin a somewhat delicate position. In turn, they’ve cracked open the door for three teamsÌý— the Tigers,ÌýRed SoxÌýandÌýMarinersÌý— to dream of a surprise, late entry into the postseason field. According to FanGraphs, the teams with the five best records in the American League — theÌýYankees, Guardians,ÌýOrioles,ÌýAstrosÌýandÌýRoyalsÌý— all have aÌýbetter than 95% chance of playing in October. The Twins, meanwhile, sit at a comfortable but not certain 85%. Barring a stunning, late collapse from the aforementioned five, it will be on the Twins to fend off the competition over the final few weeks and secure the last AL postseason spot.â€
Ken Rosenthal, The Athletic: “Tell A.J. Preller this is his best team, his best job as general manager, and he probably would demur. The 2024ÌýSan Diego PadresÌýare good. The 2023 Padres, at least on paper, were better. Ah, but the game is not played on paper, or even the precious laptop of your favorite analytically obsessed executive. The failure of the ‘23 Padres, who finished 82-80 and failed to make the playoffs, will endure as one of baseball’s great mysteries. The success of the ‘24 club, without Juan Soto, Blake Snell, Josh Hader, Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha, also contains its share of the unknowable. This much is clear: Preller, making trades at his usual breakneck pace, built a deeper roster and more functional offense, despite opening the season with a payroll nearly $85 million lower than it was a year ago. The 2024 Padres are not simply a collection of stars. They are a team, dotted with complementary parts. And Preller seems far more at peace with this year’s manager, Mike Shildt, than he did with last year’s, Bob Melvin.â€
Michael Baumann, FanGraphs: “(Pete) Crow-Armstrong was built in a lab to have his fame outstrip his usefulness as a prospect. He was a first-round pick with flashy tools, a distinctive name, and a memorable, if unimaginative, initials-based nickname. Crow-Armstrong was bought out of a major college commitment (Vanderbilt) by a big-market team (the Mets), then quickly traded in a deal Mets fans would probably rather have back. Good news: Mets fans aren’t easily rattled by that sort of thing. I should take a trip up the Turnpike and see how they feel about Jarred KelenicÌýthese days. Even so, players like PCA can still get lost in a sea of Aidens and Gunnars unless there’s a tentpole piece of trivia to remember them by. Playing in the Little League World Series is a good one, or having an unusual haircut or an interesting non-baseball-related skill. Crow-Armstrong has one, and it’s a blessing and a curse. More than 100 games into his big league career, the most-known fact about him is probably still that his mother played Mrs. Heywood inÌýLittle Big League. The one way to change that is to perform, and Crow-Armstrong is still the second-most-successful child of actors who matriculated from Harvard-Westlake School, was drafted in the middle of the first round by an NL East team, got traded, and then established himself as a big leaguer in Chicago. And there’s a ways to go before he catches Lucas Giolito.â€
Bob Nightengale,ÌýUSA Today: “The Royals, in one of the greatest turnarounds in baseball history after losing 106 games last year, weren’t satisfied with just a winning record. They made the most moves at the trade and waiver deadlines, coming up with infielder Paul DeJong, outfielders Tommy Pham and Robbie Grossman, starter Michael Lorenzen and reliever Hunter Harvey. The Royals, in a stretch of playing 20 consecutive games against teams currently in a playoff spot, are hanging on for dear life but would be on the outside looking in without the moves. DeJong has been fabulous since leaving the White Sox, hitting six home runs and driving in 15 runs while the waiver claims of Pham and Grossman and minor-league acquisition of Yuli Gurriel have combined to hit .324 with a .500 slugging percentage.â€
R.J. Anderson, : “(Anthony) Santander is evidence that the Rule 5 draft can still launch notable careers. (The Orioles plucked him from the Guardians in 2016.) He's about to wrap up a three-year stretch that has seen him develop into a switch-hitting, middle-of-the-order dynamo. Teams aren't as quick anymore to hand over massive long-term deals for corner outfielders with below-average gloves. Even so, we think it's fair to write that entering free agency after a 40-homer season helps your chances of achieving generational wealth.”
Jorge Castillo, : “(Juan) Soto has thrived in his first year in New York. He is on track to post the best season of his career and has become a fan favorite as the Yankees' first bonafide Dominican star since Robinson Cano more than a decade ago, slugging alongside Aaron Judge on a nightly basis. His time in the Bronx has, so far, been a rousing success. But even as October and a chance to win a pennant approaches, Soto's impending free agency continues to hover over it all. This offseason, Soto will face the most important decision of his life: Will he be in attendance for the next Old Timers' Day or one-and-done in the Bronx? In May, Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner said he would be open to signing Soto to a contract extension during the season, adding that he wants to see Soto in pinstripes ‘for the rest of his career.’ But that was always unlikely -- Scott Boras, Soto's agent, strongly prefers having his players reach free agency. Soto's fusion of talent, durability and age -- reaching free agency at 26 is a money-making anomaly -- is expected to spark a bidding war starting at $500 million. Several big league clubs are likely to engage, perhaps none more aggressively than the crosstown Mets.”
MEGAPHONE
“Late in the game, extra innings, you want to come up clutch for the team. I’m just trying to get the runner from third, first and foremost, and I put a good swing on that one for sure.â€
Boston Red Sox slugger Tyler O’Neill, after hitting his walk-off homer against the Baltimore Orioles.