Cardinals quietly add power bat that could push for a regular role in 2026

The St. Louis Cardinals aren't going to be winning any home run derbies or stealing many headlines with their power in 2026, but they are open to adding more of that to this roster.

All offseason, Chaim Bloom has been open about the Cardinals' desire to add a right-handed bat to their roster, particularly one with a bit of pop in their bat and ideally who could play in the outfield. The Cardinals are very left-handed heavy right now, and their outfield production was among the worst in baseball in 2025.

While they haven't struck a deal with a right-handed bat on a major league contract yet, the Cardinals did quietly bring in a right-handed bat with major league experience on a minor league contract with a non-roster invite to major league spring training.

The Cardinals signed outfielder Nelson Velazquez to a minor league contract in hopes that he could add some power to their lineup in 2026

Cardinals fans may recognize Velazquez, who was a fifth-round pick of the Chicago Cubs back in 2017 and had a really nice stretch for them in 2023 prior to being traded to the Kansas City Royals. In an effort to upgrade their bullpen, they flipped the outfielder to the Royals after he put up a .241/.313/.621 slash line in just 32 plate appearances, but he then continued that momentum with the Royals, posting a 131 wRC+ and .579 SLG over 40 games the rest of that season.

The magic stopped for him in 2024 though, as in 64 games with the Royals that season, his wRC+ dropped to 78 and his was a -0.5 fWAR player. Velazquez did not appear in a big league game during 2025, but he did after a strong stretch with the Pittsburgh Pirates' Triple-A affiliate in September after being cut by the Royals in March and playing in Mexico over the summer.

Velázquez was a Puerto Rico Winter League All-Star this year and is projected to play for Cangrejeros de Santurce in the Caribbean Series.

This likely doesn't rule out the Cardinals adding a more established right-handed bat like Austin Hays, Miguel Andujar, or Austin Slater in the coming weeks, but it does give them a low-risk option that could reap rewards later. Velazquez was a top 15 prospect in the Cubs' system as he was making his way up as a prospect, with scouting seeing him as a future part-time outfielder who can slug against left-handed pitching. Well, that is exactly what the Cardinals are looking for right now, so Velazquez will have every opportunity to carve out that kind of role this year.