New year’s resolutions usually consist of two things, health and personal growth. To meet those goals, people usually shed all their excess weight and put on more muscle, and MLB’s spring training allows their players to do just that. For over 100 years, America’s greatest baseball organizations have gathered to train for their upcoming season. For 23 years, the St. Louis Cardinals have practiced in Jupiter, Florida; with all sorts of talent, former and future coming in and out of their facility, but how are the Cardinals of tomorrow progressing?
JJ Wetherholt is one of the most prominent Cardinals prospects, jumping from A Palm Beach to AAA Memphis in under a full 162 game season. Playing 62 games for AA Springfield, Wetherholt scored 39 runs and 67 hits with a .300 batting average, his bat has shown amazing potential at the plate for a Cardinals team that ranked 29th in home runs and 9th in strikeout. Ranking 5th on MiLB’s top 100 prospect ranking, Wetherholt is expected to be the face of the cardinals of tomorrow, as the spearhead of the rebuild.
With a breakout season at center, lefty Victor Scott II showed his promise as the starting centerfielder, with multiple career highlight catches in just one season alone. Batting 243 at home, Scott showed up for the Cardinals in the best way he knew how; stealing bases. Topping out at a monstrous 20.5mph when running the bases, ranking him 2nd place behind Phillies shortstop Trea Turner by .1 of a second. Ranking 7th league wide with 30 stolen bags, Scott has surely made strides in his basestealing to help secure his spot in the opening day lineup.
One of the most anticipated acquisitions from Seattle in the Brendan Donovan trade is ambidextrous pitcher Jurrangelo Cijntje. At 22 years old, Cijntje is widely recognized for his ability to throw with both hands, having 4 pitches on his right, and 2 on his left. Pitching for a 4.58 earned run average through 74.2 innings pitched; the 2024, 15th overall pitcher has been building his resume in the minors, and is now fighting to get his spot in the cardinals system.
In the beginning of the offseason, one of the biggest talking points were the trades made with the Boston Red Sox, shipping off Sonny Gray and Willson Contreras. However, the return was greater than the loss, receiving Richard Fitts and Hunter Dobbins respectively. Through 2025, Fitts threw a 5 ERA through 45 innings, with 40 strikeouts, Dobbins pitched 61 innings with 4 wins through 13 games; coming out of a season-ending ACL tear in July of 2025, Dobbins is looking to make up for lost time in St. Louis.
With a new year upon us, and a rebuild underway, the Cardinals are looking to get back in the race and be contenders in the years to come.
