MLB Home Run Derby shines light on glaring hole in Cardinals organization

The 2025 MLB All-Star week is finally here! The best All-Star event in any American professional sport airs tonight as the MLB Home Run Derby takes place in Atlanta, GA, at 8 PM EDT on ESPN. The field is yet again loaded with star names and prolific power hitters across the sport. All eyes will be on Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh, as he is having arguably the best first half of any catcher in MLB history. More notable names to watch out for will be emerging stars James Wood and Junior Caminero, flashy performers Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Oneil Cruz, and veteran boppers Byron Buxton, Matt Olson, and Brent Rooker.

As the baseball world will be tuned in to watch the electric event, Cardinals fans will be experiencing the same event every year for them. In an event that promotes the game's most prolific power hitters, the Cardinals have lacked luster in providing talent for this event.

The last Cardinals player to participate in the Home Run Derby was 42-year-old Albert Pujols, who stopped by as part of his retirement road trip. Fans got to witness one of the game's greatest power hitters of all time take one last bow on the national stage before riding off into the sunset. Pujols, who was contemplating retirement due to his very poor performance heading into the All-Star break, has the derby to thank for writing his storybook ending. After a shocking turnout in the 2022 derby, Pujols found a new spark to his game and rode it all the way to 703 career home runs. But since then, no Cardinals players have participated in the event.

Prior to this appearance, no Cardinal had appeared in the event since Albert Pujols in 2009. Since 2003, only Pujols and Jim Edmonds have represented the Cardinals in this event.

Three years have passed since Pujols' legendary moment. Who will be the next Cardinal player to participate in the home run derby? The current roster has a few names who could potentially display their power on the national stage.

The Cardinals do not have a clear-cut future Home Run Derby candidate on their roster.

The most notable name is Nolan Gorman, given his highly touted power profile. The only issue is that Gorman has vastly underperformed at the major league level and is currently doing everything he can to make the team heading into the Chaim Bloom era. So the distraction of the home run derby might not be ready for Gorman in the current state of his career. The next likely candidate is Jordan Walker, given his large stature and raw power. But Walker is in the same boat as Gorman, fighting for a roster spot due to his lingering injuries and poor performance. Other current candidates could be Willson Contreras, Alec Burleson, and Nolan Arenado, who have not shown enough production to warrant an invite to the event.

If the Cardinals do not acquire a top-end power hitter in the near future, could the next participant be within the minor league system? A very strong case could be made for Joshua Baez, who is currently playing at Springfield in AA. He has taken a giant leap forward in 2025 and looks to be a promising power hitter to rise in the organization. He has 11 HR and a .502 SLG percentage in 265 at-bats, which has led to 133 TB on the year so far, exceeding any prior season total. Another player who has the aura to participate in the derby would be Chase Davis, also in Springfield. The smooth swinging left-handed bat is not posting numbers as stout as Baez's, but his swing alone would bring nostalgia to the national audience. If you have not seen the comparisons, Davis has a very parallel swing to former Colorado Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez.

It is hard to say who will be the next potential Cardinals great slugger to represent the birds on the bat in the Midsummer Classic's biggest event. But Cardinals fans would love to be proud to be rooting for their own player to win this event.