9 Cardinals who took advantage of their runway in 2025

INF Thomas Saggese

Thomas Saggese, Matthew Liberatore, and Michael McGreevy are in similar buckets in my mind. Not one of these players is a superstar or even an All-Star. But these are the types of players you surround with stars to raise their potential.

Saggese, Liberatore, and McGreevy are essential to a championship-caliber team. The problem with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2025 is that these three were tasked with being far more important than they should be.

For Thomas Saggese, the optimism in his future lies in his versatility and offensive potential. The former Texas League MVP showed in the minors that he can mash, and he's shown flashes of that potential in the majors. Saggese once posted a .530 OPS as recently as 2023 in the minors. Clearly, there's pop there.

This year, Saggese was used primarily as a role player and a utility man. He was called upon when regulars in the majors got hurt, and he filled in nicely all things considered. Entering games on Saturday, Saggese had a .266/.312/.353 slash line for an 88 wRC+, 12% below league average, in just 261 at-bats.

Saggese has been striking out too often (28% of the time), and his walk rate (6.1%) isn't consistent with his approach in the minors this year. He's hit only two home runs all year.

Saggese has been a viable defender at multiple infield positions this year. He's a negative defender at second base in 289 innings, but he grades out as a positive defender at third base and a neutral defender at shortstop according to various metrics. It's possible that, with the potential for an offseason trade of one or both of Nolan Arenado and Nolan Gorman, Saggese could find himself as the club's everyday third baseman in 2026 — depending on what happens with JJ Wetherholt, of course.

Thomas Saggese is a core player for the near future after a decent showing in the majors this year. Don't confuse him with a leader in the organization or an offensive powerhouse, but he has the skills necessary to be a complementary player on a team that is entering a rebuild.