Cardinals' Double-A affiliate caps off historic 2025 season in epic fashion

The Springfield Cardinals are the 2025 Texas League Champions!
Springfield Cardinals v Amarillo Sod Poodles
Springfield Cardinals v Amarillo Sod Poodles | John E. Moore III/GettyImages

While the St. Louis Cardinals have floated around .500 for most of the 2025 season, their Double-A affiliate, the Springfield Cardinals, just put together a historic campaign on their way to the 2025 Texas League championship.

The Double-A Springfield Cardinals defeated the Midland Rockhounds by a score of 13-1, behind six innings of one-run baseball from All-Star Brycen Mautz and huge offensive games from Leonardo Bernal and Zach Levenson. This championship capped off an 88-50 season

The Springfield Cardinals won the Texas League championship to cap off a historic 2025 campaign

This was one of the best individual seasons by a Cardinals affiliate in franchise history. Their team's success will be remembered for a long time, and it was fueled by an MVP season from JJ Wetherholt, pitcher of the year award from Ixan Henderson, and postseason All-Star nods for Joshua Baez and Mautz.

While the performance of a Double-A team may not feel like a big deal, for a club looking toward the future, it is of the utmost importance. Throughout the Cardinals' history, whenever a minor league affiliate performs at the level that Springfield did this year, it's a sign of future success coming at the big league level.

Wetherholt is a top-five prospect in the game and looks like a future star, while Baez and Leonardo Bernal are arguably top-100 prospects in the game. Mautz and Henderson had breakout campaigns for their rotation, and high upside arms like Liam Doyle, Tink Hence, and Cooper Hjerpe are on that roster as well.

Many of these names may end up playing a big role in the future success of the Cardinals and the next era of contending baseball in St. Louis. Chaim Bloom, Rob Cerfolio, and their new hires from this offseason already seem to have their fingerprints on this farm system in a positive way, and fans should expect many more fun stories to occur as this new leadership changes the ecosystem of player development.

The future is the priority for the Cardinals these days, and if Springfield is any indication of that, things are heading in the right direction.