7 key stats from Cardinals Opening Day that could shape the 2025 season

1981 - Youngest Cardinals Opening Day Lineup in 44 years

The "youngry" Cardinals are a real thing in 2025, and while we knew they were taking more of a youth approach this year, I'm not sure any of us truly understood how historic of a shift this would be for the organization.

Admittedly, I have not been able to fully fact-check this, but in my research, I have found Tom Orf (@MU4124) on X to be correct — the Cardinals' Opening Day lineup on Thursday is the youngest Opening Day lineup the team has had since 1981.

Outside of Nolan Arenado (33) and Willson Contreras (32), the other seven starters the Cardinals had in their lineup on Thursday were 28 years old (Brendan Donovan) or younger.

Jordan Walker (22), Masyn Winn (23), Victor Scott II (24), and Ivan Herrera (24) all are extremely young players, and Donovan, Lars Nootbaar, and Alec Burleson are still just a few years into their big league careers. It's a young, fun, and dynamic group and one that may actually get even younger as the year goes on.

Their bench consists of Nolan Gorman (24), Michael Siani (25), Pedro Pages (26), and Luken Baker (28), just one year after having guys like Paul Goldschmidt, Matt Carpenter, and Brandon Crawford on the roster. Thomas Saggese (23), Jimmy Crooks (23), Jose Fermin (26), Jose Barrero (27), and Matt Koperniak (27) will likely factor in at some point as well.

On the pitching side of things, only Mathew Liberatore (25) and Andre Pallante (26) are sub-30 in their rotation, but their bullpen is half-constructed by 20-year-olds as well. Soon enough, Quinn Mathews (24), Michael McGreevy (24), Gordon Graceffo (25), and perhaps even Tink Hence (22) and Tekoah Roby (23) will become factors as well.

As the Cardinals look to "surprise" people in 2025, veterans will play a role in that, but the young talent can act as either an accelerant or repellent for success this year. Almost all of these players I named have ceilings that they have not reached yet that could benefit this club big-time, and they also are fully capable of hitting floors that hurt the club's track toward on-field success.

That's part of the fun of this year, though, and why I think fans may fall in love with this team, or at least be draw in by them, in a way that the past two seasons of Cardinals baseball have not been able to do.