3 Cardinals players who can earn a starting role for the 2026 season

Opening Day is just around the corner. The 2026 season is about to begin and the St. Louis Cardinals have just released their Opening Day roster. The heavy favorites to finish last in the central, the Cardinals are not here to dominate, but instead build from the ground up. As one of the youngest teams in MLB, there is no guarantee for any current starter to be a positional lock for the entire season (outside of Gold Glove winner Masyn Winn). Position battles will become a daily grind and expect many players to be shuffled around the 40-man roster, as newcomers will take over the opportunity given to them.

These three Cardinals could become prime candidates to overthrow the existing roster structure and earn themselves a starting role on the 2026 team.

Jose Fermin

The greatest opportunity for any player looking for regular playing time comes from the outfield. Lars Nootbaar is out for the foreseeable future, Jordan Walker is on year 3 of discovering himself, and Victor Scott II is still learning MLB pitching. Scott II more than likely has center locked down, leaving the corner spots for anyone to grab.

The depth is of such question that the Cardinals are having Thomas Saggese taking outfield reps in camp and signed Nelson Velazquez to try and solve the power from the right side/outfield platoon piece needed. Jose Fermin has a very great chance to be a reliable corner outfielder and produce at the plate to keep in the everyday lineup. In only 60 ABs in 2025, Fermin posted a 125 OPS+ with six extra base hits and posted a 1.000 fielding percentage across six different positions. Very small sample size, but enough to showcase against an overall young roster.

Ramon Urias

Future MLB Hall of Famer Nolan Arenado is out. The Cardinals now have no surefire replacement given they moved their original option over to second base in 2021. Now that replacement is their starting option at third base for 2026. Nolan Gorman is highly projected to be the Cardinals' opening day third baseman as top prospect JJ Weatherholt will be taking over second base. Gorman is a broken prospect who cannot figure out how to reach his potential at the major league level. It seems he is being given this role based on the innings he has played and his power potential. What manager Oli Marmol is going to figure out is that Ramon Urias will provide more value at the hot corner to the team than Gorman.

Urias, a 2022 Gold Glove winner, is the best option to defend the position on the current roster. He ranks in the 88th percentile in outs above average and 75th in fielding run value added. He can also provide a more consistent bat in the lineup, as he is a career 104 OPS+ hitter compared to Gorman's 99 OPS+. This should be a fairly quick decision, if signing Urias was not a clear indicator to fans early on.

Nelson Velazquez

The Cardinals needed a right-handed platoon power bat this offseason, and potentially found it in the bargain bin. After many headlining trades during the winter months, President of Baseball Operations Chaim Bloom went quiet to solve the roster's remaining weakness. He signed Nelson Velazquez, who was regarded as a depth piece. That was until his recent 2026 Spring Training performance. In 49 ABs, he posted a slash line of .357/.449/.667 (1.116) with eight 2B, four HR, 10 RBI, and seven BB.

He was the most deserving player out of Spring Training to earn a roster spot in St. Louis, and surprisingly was not listed on the Opening Day roster. He will be reporting to AAA Memphis to be in an everyday lineup. With the current MLB roster filled with players continuing to develop and produce at the Major League level, expect Velazquez to be up to take over the corner outfield or DH to prove the doubters wrong.