3 non-roster invites who will surprise people at Cardinals Spring Training

Spring Training is here! Major League Baseball is upon us, and fans freezing all winter are finally getting their long-desired sunshine. As St. Louis Cardinals fans make their way to Jupiter, FL, they will be seeing mostly young players fully competing for everyday roles in 2025. Spring Training becomes more than just a month for development, as it becomes a platform for prospects to elevate their game to the next level. Last year the Cardinals had a couple of prospects who took their game to the next level in Quinn Mathews and Jimmy Crooks. Those once thought of as players years away from possibly reaching the majors are now regarded as higher-end prospects within the system. The same can happen in 2025, and here are the three players I expected to fit this case.

Bryan Torres

Torres is one of the oldest players from the non-roster invites. He is entering his age-28 season and has not made it to the major leagues in his career. He entered the Milwaukee Brewers organization back in 2015 at age 17 and struggled to put up any strong offensive numbers. Once 2022 rolled around, Torres figured it out by putting up a .925 OPS across 93 games in Double-A. He took a dive in production over the next two seasons but returned to strong consistency in 2024. He managed to put up an .834 OPS across 120 games in Springfield while carrying his success over to the Puerto Rican Winter League, where he put up an .820 OPS across 36 games. While he is not much of a power threat, he is improving his contact and managing to get on base quite well. Given his age and how long he has been grinding in the minor leagues, 2025 Spring Training is about to be his most important yet.

Andre Granillo

Pitching has become the strongest aspect of the farm system. Rising stars in Tink Hence and Quinn Mathews, reliable middle rotation options in Tekoah Roby, Cooper Hjerpe, and Michael McGreevy, and even swingman options in Gordon Graceffo, Matthew Liberatore, and Max Rajcic. But with all of these pitchers stealing the spring spotlight, Granillo can sneak in and make some noise. He started his career off very rough but has gradually improved year over year. In split time in Memphis and Springfield in 2024, Granillo posted a combined ERA of 3.88 with a 1.262 WHIP and 11.1 SO/9. He was shaky in AAA but looked absolutely dominant in AA. He will not be the headline prospect who is filling up innings within the Cardinals' minor leagues, but the 24-year-old has a great chance to be heard this spring training.

R.J. Yeager

Only five of the twenty-six non-roster invites were infielders, headlined by top prospect J.J Wetherholt. The rest of the group seems to be project pieces, except for R.J. Yeager. The 26-year-old is coming off a down year in Springfield, where he posted a .715 OPS across 113 games. But outside of last season, he has hit the ball very well across the minor leagues. Across three minor league seasons, he is averaging a slash line of .274/.349/.433/.781 with 11 homers and 10 stolen bases across 89 games. He does average 51 strikeouts a season, but he also averages 91 hits a season. The hit tool is there, the athleticism is there; it is time to put it all together and really impress the organization. If the young players who are not projected to compete for roster spots deliver this spring, it will make it much harder for the next Cardinals front office to decide what is the future core of this franchise.