Overreacting to 2 roster storylines early in Cardinals spring training camp

Ah, spring training. A time for warmth, baseball videos, and overreactions. Today, I'll be focusing on the third category.

Spring training stats should always be taken with a grain of salt. Just because a guy lights up a radar gun, bats .400, or slugs 10 home runs in 20 games doesn't mean those stats will transfer over to the regular season. More often than not, there's almost no carryover for players. Essentially, spring training stats mean nothing.

However, that doesn't mean we as fans can't overreact to every little thing that happens during spring training. That includes roster construction, batting orders, and early spring positioning.

The St. Louis Cardinals could be forecasting two major roster choices with early spring training batting practice orders and defensive drills.

The first round of batting practice groups to hit the field each year for the St. Louis Cardinals is often telling of the manager's roster preferences. This year's groups, posted by Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat on Twitter/X, have clear lines of delineation within them.

The most obvious group of starters would be Nolan Gorman, Alec Burleson, Masyn Winn, and Ivan Herrera all hitting together. These four figure to be the leaders of the team in 2026. The next most obvious group of regulars would be Jordan Walker, Victor Scott II, Jose Fermin, and Pedro Pages. Three of these players, Walker, Scott, and Pages, figure to be regular fixtures in the lineup. 2026 could be Jose Fermin's year to shine as well given the availability of at-bats across the diamond.

The most interesting BP group here is the one that includes Thomas Saggese, Nathan Church, Cesar Prieto, Nelson Velazquez, and JJ Wetherholt.

Thomas Saggese will become a super utility player in 2026 for the Cardinals, as he can play across the infield and has been mentioned as a potential outfielder all offseason. Church made his MLB debut last year, and his defense will be what gets him on the Opening Day roster. Prieto is another utility player, though his offensive ceiling isn't that of Saggese's. Velazquez was signed to a minor-league deal in late January. He owns a career .433 SLG with 31 career home runs across 194 games in the majors.

JJ Wetherholt, the club's top prospect, also finds himself in this group. I would imagine this group of hitters in batting practice would be the one to keep an eye on. Several of these players are battling for spots on the 26-man roster, while at least two are fighting for starting spots in Saggese and Wetherholt.

On Sunday, the Cardinals may have also shown their hand when it comes to defensive preferences in the infield. Trading Brendan Donovan and Nolan Arenado opened up regular spots at both second and third base. While Thomas Saggese has a chance to nab one of those two spots, it's more likely that Nolan Gorman and JJ Wetherholt will occupy the keystone and hot corner positions.

On day one of structured ground ball rotation this spring, the Cardinals had Nolan Gorman at third base and JJ Wetherholt at second base.

It's important to note that this is only one day of training and both players will see time at either spot this spring. Wetherholt will also log some time at shortstop as well. However, seeing Gorman at third base and Wetherholt at second base could be a sign of Oliver Marmol's preferences come Opening Day.

We're less than a week into spring training, but that shouldn't stop fans from overreacting to things down at Jupiter. After all, this is the first taste of baseball many of us have had in five months.