Evaluating the St. Louis Cardinals’ extraordinary outfield depth

The St. Louis Cardinals have a great minor league system to supplement their major league talent. Let’s look at their greatest strength– the outfield.

When healthy, the St. Louis Cardinals have one of the most well-rounded outfields in all of baseball. With Tyler O’Neill in left, Harrison Bader in center, and Dylan Carlson in right, few teams can match the combined offensive and defensive output of the outfield.

As the trade deadline bears down on us, every team is evaluating their strengths and weaknesses. You can’t trade your only catcher, for example, if you have no one to replace him with. For the Cardinals, the biggest organizational strength is clear: the outfield.

There are two reasons for this great positional advantage. First, the Cardinals have made shrewd acquisitions. O’Neill is the best example– the team bought low on a former top prospect, and let him flourish in the strong St. Louis Cardinal development system. There are others in the organization who fit a similar profile.

Second, the major league team has dictated how the Cardinals draft and develop talent. Because the Cardinals have MVP candidates Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt at first and third base for the foreseeable future, talented prospects are learning to play left and right field. While not always an easy transition for a young player, we’ve seen how it can be successful with former third baseman and current second baseman Nolan Gorman.

With all that being said, here are the names to know. The incredible Cardinals outfield depth chart, broken down into three sections– Juan Soto not (not yet) included.

40-MAN ROSTER

There are currently eight members of the St. Louis Cardinals 40-man roster who play the outfield. All but one remain under team control for next season, and all but two are under contract for the next two seasons. These eight are listed in no particular order.

Tyler O’Neill

Tyler O’Neill is a gold glove winner, plus he ranks at the top of the league in both exit velocity and sprint speed. The 27 year-old even received MVP votes last season. However, he has struggled to stay on the field this season, and we’ve yet to see him at his best for a long period of time. The sky is the limit with O’Neill’s incredible toolset– plus, he’s not eligible for free agency until 2025.

Harrison Bader

The best hair in baseball belongs to the best defensive player in baseball. Harrison Bader has struggled to stay healthy as well, but when he’s in the lineup, the Cardinals win. And what Bader lacks in consistency at the plate he makes up for with his incredible speed on the basepaths. Bader is 28 years old and just signed a new contract through the end of 2023.

Dylan Carlson

Former top prospect Dylan Carlson was my breakout pick for 2022. Because of his steady nature and incremental improvements, people forget about how good Carlson can become. He didn’t have the splashy debut or meteoric rise of other top prospects. But the switch-hitting 23 year-old is a legit five-tool player with an incredibly bright future. Only in his second full season, Carlson won’t be a free agent until 2027.

Corey Dickerson

Corey Dickerson is still on the team. Unlikely to be brought back next season, he’s not really a factor going forward. Nothing against him personally, he just happens to be in a tough spot.

Brendan Donovan

How great is Brendan Donovan? He plays every position, grinds out at-bats, and is a classic late-round Cardinal draft pick. While he is technically listed as an infielder, 30 of the 72 games he’s played this season have come in either left or right field. The potential rookie of the year has shown that he belongs in the big leagues.

Juan Yepez

Although he’s currently injured, Yepez has been a crucial contributor for the Cardinals this season. While the DH might be the best position for Yepez’s below-average defense, he counts in this section because he’s played over thirty games in right or left field this season– and as the saying goes, if you can hit, we’ll find a spot for you.

Lars Nootbaar

Lars Nootbaar struggled to begin this season. However, Noot is only 24 years old. He can play all three outfield spots, he runs the bases well, and is generally a joy to watch. While Noot doesn’t have the highest ceiling of the guys on this list, the lefty is a solid addition to any major league team.

Conner Capel

Brought over from Cleveland in 2018, Conner Capel has played sparingly for St. Louis in 2022. The lefty can play all three outfield positions, and provides good outfield depth. A less exciting version of Lars, there’s a reason I listed him as one of the players most likely to be traded at the deadline.

KNOCKING ON THE DOOR

The next group of six are either ready for the big leagues, or will be ready quite soon. It’s a mix of top prospects and older minor leaguers, each showing that they will be able to contribute to a major league ball club.

Alec Burleson

On practically any other team, Alec Burleson would have a spot on the 40-man roster. This man has done nothing but hit, and is deserving of a major league opportunity. Unfortunately, as I explained a few weeks ago, there’s just no room for him. I’m already annoyed by how many runs Burleson will drive in when he faces the Cardinals next season.

Moises Gomez

If you want to talk about improving your stock overnight, Moises Gomez is the place to start. Although he still strikes out a lot, Gomez burst onto the scene in 2022 by launching a ridiculous amount of home runs in Double-A. He earned a promotion to Memphis a little over a month ago and has continued to hit for power. Only 23 years old, the former Rays prospect might be the diamond in the rough discovered by the Cardinals this season.

Scott Hurst

Like Burleson and Capel, I covered Scott Hurst a few weeks ago. Hurst was the Cardinals top pick in 2017 after the team lost their first two selections. Hurst is 0-5 lifetime in MLB (in a short stint with the big league team last season), but he plays all three outfield spots and boasts a .776 OPS at Memphis this season.

Jhon Torres

Part of the deal that brought over Conner Capel, Jhon Torres has struggled a bit since the pandemic took away the 2020 season. However, Torres has shown in the past that he can hit for power and average, and he has a strong enough arm for right field.

Ben DeLuzio

Ben DeLuzio– or as I like to call him, Mr. Stolen Base– is an exciting baseball player. A third round pick by the Marlins in 2013, DeLuzio is slashing .278/.365/.451 with 27 stolen bases at Memphis this season. DeLuzio might be the weakest member of this list. However, he plays all three outfield positions and boasts a plus tool (speed) that has legitimate major league value.

Jordan Walker

And now we’ve come to the big one. I should mention that Jordan Walker has never played the outfield in his professional career. At this point in his young career, the 20 year-old former first round pick is still a third baseman. And the counter to that point is nine-time Gold Glove winner Nolan Arenado, currently at the hot corner and not going anywhere.

Jordan Walker is a top ten prospect in all of baseball, with a special ability to hit a baseball very well, very far, and very consistently. At some point within the next two years, the St. Louis Cardinals will find a spot for Walker on the big league team. And unless he becomes a permanent DH, that spot will be in right or left field. Walker is on this list for a reason.

SUMMARY

To recap: eight outfielders on the 40-man roster, with ten notable names behind them– including seven currently ranked as top prospects in the entire Cardinal system. Of the eighteen players on this list, at least four can play centerfield, while four others are comfortable as corner infielders.

All those outfielders, and Jordan Walker is the only member of the Springfield Cardinals I mentioned! Mike Antico, Chase Pinder, Matt Koperniak, and others could still make the leap and become valuable major league ballplayers, plus countless other young prospects like Tre Fletcher and Justin Toerner. Oh, and Tommy Edman is a solid outfielder, too. Truly, it’s remarkable what the Cardinals have done developing the position.

The depth is especially remarkable considering the amount of outfielders the Cardinals have recently traded away or released. Oscar Mercado, Lane Thomas, Jose Adolis Garcia, and Randy Arozarena have all seen success after leaving St. Louis. Even Nick Plummer has made it to the big league level. Despite losing all of these talented hitters, the outfield depth has continued to improve.

Of course, the problem is that you can only start three outfielders at a time. Even with the DH, you can probably only roster five outfielders. There’s only one solution: consolidate the talent in a trade.

Right now, the St. Louis Cardinals need starting pitching. Next year, they’ll probably need something else. But barring catastrophic injuries, they will never need ten outfielders. And the success of Arozarena, Garcia, and the others shouldn’t scare the Cardinals from making future trades. In fact, they need to make deals while their prospects are younger, in order to avoid a logjam of major league talent and reduction in trade value.

Of course, the big story right now is Juan Soto. I don’t know how this piece factors into that equation. Although Soto is also an outfielder, he is such an otherworldly talent that any organization can and should make room for him– at the right price.

The minor league system as a whole has been spectacular this season, but clearly the Cardinals have a special talent for finding outfielders. As the trade deadline approaches, and continuing to the offseason, the Cardinals need to capitalize on their surplus. The outfield depth deserves to be celebrated– more importantly, it needs to be used correctly.